Archive for Architecture
December 12, 2007 at 5:43 pm · Filed under Architecture, Thailand
What is this guy doing?? Trying to steal someone’s car?
This lady looks like she’s doing the same thing! Is the officer going to stop her??
Wait a minute … why is the officer helping the lady here …..
Ohhh … as it turns out. This is Bangkok’s brand of solving the double parking problem. Basically the allowance for parking in older carparks (like this one, near Jatujak market) is just impossible in today’s traffic load. So the solution is to allow cars to be parked LEGALLY in marked boxes with one rule … FREE YOUR HANDBRAKE.
So if you happened to be blocked by a car (or 2 or 3 or more), you just a play a GIANT game of Sokoban!
With officers in uniform to help you out! Brilliant!
December 8, 2007 at 9:03 am · Filed under Architecture, Thailand
I’ve once told a friend, “Don’t underestimate humanity’s ability to evolve original & completely workable solutions without professionals (ie. architects!),” adding that there are plenty of examples in Third World (or formerly 3W) countries. Jatujak market is one of those bizarre places where the market just kept growing … and growing … and growing.
The total area is IMMENSE, but the shops are like mini-stall size. So ..
Teeny Weeny Shops x Over Several Football Fields = Extreme Hardcore Intense Shopping
Look closely at the “solid grey” – they’re actually a tight series of alternating grey and white lines that indicate the lanes within the complex !! The map is useless because …
- Inside everything just looks the same, even to locals.
- The numbers are illogically numbered (you’ll discover later in this blog that this is a uniquely Indochinese trait)
As if the shops weren’t small enough, the environment has further packed the shelves to the 101% capacity.
I left very early to get some rest so I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. But Julius snapped this gem..
1:1 scale of Robocop?!?!
December 4, 2007 at 6:13 pm · Filed under Architecture, Thailand
This city of 10 million people with the longest name in the Guiness Book of Records could have easily been one of my more interesting posts. Unfortunately two things happened …
1 – Allergic Contact Dermatitis
I checked into hospital twice!! Doctors say I’m the hundredth over foreigner who walked in with this for year 2007, postulating there must be some new kind of toxic insect in the Krabi and Phuket region. It took a full week before I began to look normal again.
So any of you hanging around those places, if you have a rash that is not reacting to anti-histamines, go see a doctor !!
2 – Because of my allergic reaction, I had to stay at home.
The rest of the Rat Pack still went out but in their eccentric brand of wisdom decided AGAINST visiting the Grand Palace and Wat Pho, despite never being there before!
When I later enquired, “Do you know coming to Bangkok and missing the Grand Palace is like going to Sydney and missing the Opera House?”.
The reply was a paltry … “Hmm, never thought about it that way.”
Astute readers will note that since my photographer decided to go AWOL, I’m left without photographs of Ko Ratanakosin. Flickr to the rescue again!
November 29, 2007 at 8:22 pm · Filed under Architecture, Thailand
If the airport I am heading to happens to be spanking new especially if it claims to be the biggest in Asia, I always put effort into arriving during daylight hours.
Sidenote: This odd behaviour can be explained by the gargantuan amount of airports completed in Asia during the last 10 years.
Sadly, we have to settle with a night flight to catch the Sapam Street Procession of the Phuket Vegetarian Festival. And sure enough the Great Cosmic Interference made sure we MISS the street procession(!!). Two missed opportunities … que sera sera~
I was impressed at the scale of the airport, but the quality of the finishes (especially the bare concrete) looks pretty dubious. And the steel frames are too coarse for my liking. Hmm, I guess that’s the furthest extent of my comments.
However, I am officially duly fully impressed with quality of photos on Flickr these days. I’ll find a way to integrate it into this blog soon …
EDIT:
Here you go! Magazine quality photos of Suvarnabhumi Airport !! Man, I love Web 2.0~
While I am still in this state of euphoria, I will add some Phuket Vegetarian Street Procession photos as well !
November 4, 2007 at 6:44 am · Filed under Architecture, Malaysia, Nature
Kuala Lumpur Batu Caves is the only worthwhile attraction near Kuala Lumpur (that surprisingly) a lot of Malaysians never make the effort to visit. Since we have to pass through KL to take a flight to Thailand, I decided to make sure I find my way there.
That golden statue of Lord Murugan, said to be the highest of this deity, is indeed very big. There are 272 steps to the top, which can be tiring if you rush yourself. It is also relatively steep so keep you should keep your head facing upwards.
By some weird cosmic coincidence (that my life always seem to attract), there was a troop of uniformed men at the top that day coordinating crowds around a filming session for some Bollywood movie. Which explains the baffling presence of this Styrofoam kavadi I saw on my way up … that will hardly break anyone’s sweat.
After making a way up the steps and squeezing past a few seconds of Bombay-like pedestrian activity, I can see why this place in “divinely” inspiring.
There’s a shrine at the end which you can place donations and get flowers as well as ash thumbed on your forehead in return. Tried chatting with the Hindu priest but he seems more concerned with doing his rituals thing.
November 4, 2007 at 6:36 am · Filed under Architecture, Malaysia
Kek Lok Si Temple is actual a complex of temples. The intensely unique pagoda is usually the main point of attraction (besides the really really big bronze Kuan Yin which I didn’t feel the urge to pay the entrance fee for).
I didn’t expect Kek Lok Si temple to be this big but this temple complex is HUGE … and it’s getting bigger! They have a very interesting way of raising donations for the building fund, but I don’t know if it’s traditionally “chinese” or not.
Everyone who gives a donation gets their name written on these roof tiles. I presume that when the roof gones on, these tiles get used, so your donation is then immortalised on the temple roof. Interesting …
October 24, 2007 at 11:33 pm · Filed under Architecture, Malaysia
Other than Dutch Square in Malacca, Fort Cornwallis is probably one of the most mentioned location in our school textbooks. So it’s incredibly sad to say that it not only did not live up to its hype, but I fail to see anything worth hyping at all.
There’s really nothing more than a few rusting cannons pointing at the sea on an earth-rammed wall. Can’t believe they’re charging an entrance fee for this!
They should pay us for having to walk through this, the most boring stretch in Penang!
October 24, 2007 at 11:31 pm · Filed under Architecture, Malaysia
Family clan temples is a cultural phenomena that can only arise from the deeply-rooted Confucian values of the far east. Khoo is a family name and Kongsi is a Hokkien word meaning “share” (imported unchanged into Malay) which gives some insight to origins and purpose.
Built in 1906, it is a traditional Qing dynasty temple with some overt European influences, most notably the art deco railings (yes, they were not added at a later date) and a Baroque-esque type of entrance.
What struck me most was, the quality of the materials and craftsmanship. Every granite stone is hewn to fit perfectly and they still do after 100 years. The ornaments look like they could be tacked-on but they are carved in place to “appear” like that, meaning it’s all still one big piece of stone.
October 21, 2007 at 6:54 am · Filed under Architecture, Malaysia
Ipoh is surrounded by huge limestone karsts. Occasionally they have huge caverns that are so beautifully inspiring that they are turned into places of worship. The most famous one is Sam Po Tong Temple.
What you began to realise is that the site is not only what is underneath you, it is what’s in front of you, at the sides, and even on top of you. The chambers are filled with the smell of incense, and a light meditation chant sets the mood.
At the end, you crawl underneath a tunnel and appear in a bright chasm. Once your eyes adjust to the light, you find yourself surrounded by sheer cliffs with lush rainforest vegetation precariously hanging on all sides. And when you least expect it, a towering temple makes the space even grandier …
Here you can only hear water dripping from above. The light rays from the sky almost seem to sway (very gently) whenever clouds slowly pass by above.
October 5, 2007 at 1:32 pm · Filed under Architecture, Malaysia, UNESCO
Can’t help but notice it’s many times REDDER than impression (from school textbooks), but it’s clearly excessively painted this year for Visit Malaysia 2007.
Thankfully across Dutch Square and Melaka river, original shophouses from the colonial days are still intact. Beautiful, would return to sketch given time.
Midway through the old city, we met a rambling old man. Very very educated with perfect English rambling about his paintings and reciting crazy bits of trivia perfectly, like postcodes from Sydney suburbs and all the Presidents of the United States.
Can you spot me ?
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