MERDEKA!!!

Today is the 51st year of Independence for Malaysia, my country. I'm proud that we have been free for that long but we still have a long way to go. We may be free from outsiders but the freedom of ones self is another. Though sometimes we look upon others taunting and bragging about freedom but we ourselves aren't free from our egos. We are still in the mind set of those who dictate us. The law is the law and take good out of them all. Too much freedom can cause catastrophes but too little may not budge to move on. It is the state of mind which will make us free like water. A famous quote from bruce lee.

"Don't get set into one form, adapt it and build your own, and let it grow, be like water. Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless — like water. Now you put water in a cup, it becomes the cup; You put water into a bottle it becomes the bottle; You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend."

CLASS TRIP: Malay Art and Culture Part 2

Continuing from my last posts...









Day 3 (August 17th)

This day we went to KB crafts where they make hand made silverware and jeweleries. The price was quite reasonable and their skill of making it amuse me. They can even make jewelery out of those dimes and nickels if you wanted to.
Next to it was the wau making workshop. Wau is a malay kite usually is very large and makes buzzing sound during flight. There are many types of waus but most common is the wau bulan which it looks like a crescent moon at the bottom of it. It is usually decorated with batik pattern.

Then we went to Cik Minah Songket where we see how they produce Songket (Cloth material which is weaved with thousands of strings to produce patterns). They have a shop upstairs and i actually bough some stuff there..hehehe
After that we went to a batik factory..forgot the name of it. Anyway..we watched how they made batik design on silk with wax and coloring it. So we gave it a try...
It was late evening we went to the Muzium. We only had a couple of minutes there till it closes.
Well its better than nothing.
After that we went around town and went to the famous marketplace. It was damn stuffy but full of interesting items. Bough some shredded beef jerkies traditionaly made..yummy.

Day 4 (August 18th)

That morning we checked out and headed to Kandis resource center. Another master craftman, a wood carver. It was the late Nik Rashidin's home and workshop. It has become his gallery of past works and collection.

After that we went on to Desa Ukir, more collection of master craftman's work and a study place for young carvers to master techniques and philosophy of wood carving (traditional malay style)

Then a couple of hours of bus ride to our next destination Terengganu. We arrived very late that night at Pantai Indah resort. It was right next to the beach...that night we checked in but we wanted to explore the area. We went on a late night beach walk till we saw A&W...wowza!!! hahaha...we ate there..very very late supper..huhuhu..we then walked back...and went to bed about 3am..still planning to swim at the pool before we go..

Day 5 (August 19th)

Its our last day!!! i woke up about 6.45am and looked out the balcony and saw the swimming pool signed that says "open from 7am to 8pm"...thats good enough form..without delay, called the guys and we all jumped in the pool. We were shouting and having a blast...the girls woke up and watched us by the pool and some watched from their balconies. Breakfast isn't serve till 8..so we just fool around and took some underwater pics..


At 9am we went straight to Muzium Terengganu at Losong. Its tremendously huge!!! with all the original architecture and boats surrounding it. We minggle around there but couldn't finish touring the whole place..such an interesting muzium...i suggest that next time we have to be there the whole day coz that day we had to go early for home. We stopped at pasar payang another market place and then off we go...back home...

We arrived late like 2am and we slept the whole night...satisfied but not too satisfied..hehehe..we wanted more!!!

enjoying the moment













With some of the classmates

ClASS TRIP: Malay Art and Culture

Hey everyone!!! Last week me and my fellow classmates went to East Coast Malaysia (Kelantan and Terrengganu) where we stayed there for 5 days. Yipee!!! I love trips but this one was totally new to us since we were doing quite well on our project, the lecturers wanted us to see a closer look of what the real craft making was like. Yada yada..hehe..that's what always buzz in our heads when it comes to academic trips. I mean we all expect it would be a boring trip listening to people talking about there stuff. Well, we did just that...and MORE!!!

The trip consists of visits to master craftsman's workshops to see their works. We also went to the massive Museum in Terrengganu to see historic artifacts and vernacular architecture of the malays.


DAY 1 (AUGUST 15TH)
It was a Friday and I barely wake up to the 6am call. We stayed up late last night doing some packing and chit chattering about how anxious we were about the trip. At the house there was Bob, Fadzli and Along. All were talking about what they're gonna do and planning for some craft shopping hehe. Well, back to the story of day one..
We woke up got ready with our baggage. Called my lil' sis the night before to come and send me to the Faculty's bus stop since i had to send my car home before the trip. The others just walked all the way up..wasn't that far from where we live. I even offered Bob and the rest a lift but they insisted on walking.

At the bus stop, i was the only one early. So last minute check, i went to the studio to get a couple of things to bring like measuring tape. Oh yeah, i forgot to tell that our site for the project will be in Kelantan.

Got down and saw others are already waiting for the bus. Its been an hour and the bus didn't show up. We got news that we didn't get the University bus (that sux). Instead, we got a school bus. We were all feeling a bit uncomfortable hearing that we're gonna ride in a school bus. Well, I don't mind as long there is air conditioning hahaha..
The bus came off schedule but we all got in the bus. Nobody seems to complain about the bus anymore coz it got to television set with dvd players. Nice..plus..a nice collection of movies!!! that's great coz its gonna be a very long ride to Kelantan like 10 hours on a bus.

Basically for Day1 was the bus trip. We watched movies, a couple of stops here and there like Pahang and we arrived at about 11pm. So which makes it a 12 hour trip. phew... We checked in at Dynasty Inn hotel in Kota Baru, Kelantan. Went out for late night supper hehehe..and off to sleep and prepare for Day 2!!!

DAY 2 (August 16th)
Saturday, the cold air conditioning of our hotel room seeps in our skin..owh what comfort..but then the wake up call spoils the mood. Along picked it up (rooming with Along) and we got ready and went upstairs where we have our buffet breakfast looking out the sky view of kota baru. Not what you see as a modern city. Differ by its non tall buildings and Islamic bill boards and few cars passing by in the morning.

Well, off to master Latif Long's place. He's a master carver in Malaysia and honed his skill from generation to generation from his forefathers and late father.

We arrived there and the master prepared us morning tea with traditional sweets. We ate by the massive workshop where tons of his work is in the making while watching his workers polishing up on details of door panel carvings.

After he introduces himself and his works, we wonder off the area and i saw this interesting looking boat where an ancient bird carving depicted on the head of the boat. He said that he made it when he was 23 years old and he would never sell it. The guy now is almost 70 years old and he was still looking steady.
The master told us his story on making the head of the keris (an ancient malay weapon still use today in royal ceremony), we had lunch there where we ate rice with some grilled chicken i think heheehe...after that we then moved to the area where we suppose to design a gallery for him from our project. After all the measurements taken, we sat and listen to more stories. He is quite a story teller and he's drawings are incredible..very very good and steady hands for an old fella.
I managed to get his signature and a little drawing of a keris.
The whole entire day we were at his place and we left to our hotels and rest.




More pics of DAY 2

LONG TIME!!!

Izinkan aku berbahasa inggeris blea? hehe....Got some international readers who might not understand malay or my 'pasar' style malay.
Its been a long time since my last post and am sorry for that (if there are any readers). Been quite busy since the semester start. To top it off now i'm the president of IDEAS. LOads and loads of stuff has to be done. Meetings and stuff. I'll just take time to re adjust my timing and make time for blogging.
Well, since the semester start, now i'm in Bachelors Degree Studio 06 Interior Architecture in UiTM Malaysia, a project which is very challenging for me because it involves a deep understanding and creativity. The project is to choose a traditional item (malaysian crafts) and study the meaning behind it. I chose a Dayak item from Sarawak called a Terabai. It is a long shield with pointed ends where there are motives painted on it.
After choosing and studying the subject, we then have to reinterpret the meaning in visual like an example: a fruit which is an apple, and understand its shape and nature..how can we visualize an apple without making it look like an apple figuratively. It has characteristic and feel of an apple but it doesn't look like an apple. To interpret an apple in a sense where it looks conceptually meaningful. I'll tell more about it later on about the project. Right now i'm in the process of developing my ideas with sketches and study model. I'll be updating on it as soon as i can.

And oh yeah...about TIGABELAS..you'll find the details at BOB'S blog..check it out.

A lot of things i missed on writting about for the last month. I'll be updating some more sooner or later.