adrian foo's personal blog

erm.

Thu, 21 Apr 2005 07:14:20 GMT

Your dating personality profile:
You matched the following traits:

Stylish - You do not lack for fashion sense. Style matters. You wouldn't want to be seen with someone who doesn't care about her appearance.
Big-Hearted - You are a kind and caring person. Your warmth is inviting, and your heart is a wellspring of love.
Liberal - Politics matters to you, and you aren't afraid to share your left-leaning views. You would never be caught voting for a conservative candidate.

Your date match profile:
You match with women who have following traits:

Practical - You are drawn to people who are sensible and smart. Flashy, materialistic people turn you off. You appreciate the simpler side of living.
Stylish - You cannot put up with someone who is lacking in style. You want an original, someone with flare, someone with good taste.
Intellectual - You seek out intelligence. Idle chit-chat is not what you are after. You prefer your date who can stimulate your mind.

Your Top Ten Traits, Ranked
1. Stylish
2. Big-Hearted
3. Liberal
4. Religious
5. Intellectual
6. Traditional
7. Athletic
8. Sensual
9. Outgoing
10. Wealthy/Ambitious

Your Top Ten Match Traits, Ranked
1. Practical
2. Stylish
3. Intellectual
4. Religious
5. Traditional
6. Adventurous
7. Big-Hearted
8. Athletic
9. Wealthy/Ambitious

Fri, 18 Mar 2005 01:18:12 GMT

READ MY LIPS: NO CASINO!

WHY? This is MY HOME, and I DON'T WANT ONE.
Yes, sure, the government decides ultimately.
Which government? The one that represents me?
The PAP-majority government.
The one I DID NOT VOTE for.
The one MANY DID NOT VOTE FOR (66.8% of eligible voters were in walkover-constituencies).
The one that only won 75% of the remaining 33.2% eligible voters.
The one that only approx 24.9% of Singapore voted for.

SO parliament can just take their billion dollar investment strategy and SHOVE it.

Wed, 16 Mar 2005 14:54:26 GMT

Is Muji having a sale now? I would like a Muji bicycle.
That and a transistor radio...

Crazy crazy day at work, non stop rush.

Fear and Loathing

Tue, 15 Mar 2005 13:47:24 GMT

...which brings to mind, a scene from Gattaca.

Vincent: Hate to think of you stuck alone in that room for a year ..
我不敢相信你要一个人呆在那房间一年⋯

Jerome: Don’t think about it, anyway, the room I’m stuck in is bigger than your tin can.
别想了, 我呆的房间要比你的火箭大.

Vincent: What are you gonna do?
你将要做什么呢?

....

Jerome: I have my books, I go places in my head.
我有书, 我在脑海中旅行.

Tue, 15 Mar 2005 13:35:43 GMT

Driving home on the SLE, I felt fear for the first time. Not fear-FEAR per se, just a sense of the unfamiliar. I miss having that. The unfamiliarity of a random street, driving on a road for the first and probably last time in my life, the possiblity of being lost in a crowd. The lack of friends from a long time ago. It's probably time to move on. But where to? (I also destined that I am to work in finance and real estate)

Resident's Council work

Wed, 09 Mar 2005 15:44:36 GMT

Since the Singapore govt ain't doing jack shit about diversifying the built environment, I think it's time we joined Resident's Councils. Not to earn brownie points mind you. I plan to join one to bring to those geezers a real estate perspective. and i mean, REAL estate. Resident's Councils should continue to outsource the management work of their precincts to outside companies, and focus on the branding of their estates. Define the ethos of the community. Capture the spirit and attitudes that sum up life in that neighborhood. Focus on bringing in retail stores that are an honest reflection of that style of living.

Take Serangoon Gardens, where I live. It remains notable for few things: Chomp Chomp, the Newton Hawker Centre char kway teow man, and one of the few remaining traffic circles in Singapore. The terrace shophouses are poorly managed, and end up being a hodgepodge mix of neon karoke bars and wannabe-hip cafe joints. Yet the residents tend to be well-educated, middle to lower-upper class. A well-stocked independent bookstore/reading library/DVD rental would do wonders for the estate. Couple that with an indie record store, a import store for bicycles from China and Scandinavia, specialist cuisine stores, a tiny brewhouse, dedicated men's and women's boutique bringing in one-off pieces from Bangkok's Greyhound and its flea markets, a chic pharmacy (Wei Min clinic is making the right moves), a decent bar/lounge with a fantastic lunch menu, another stand-alone boutique for modernist furniture and housewares. Think of the possiblities. Of course, this fantasy caters to my own needs.

However, and here is the key point, if neighborhoods can attract a select group of retailers, eateries, it provides a focal point to attract more like-minded residents, creating a perpetual cycle that culminates in a more identifiable resident core - instant community feeling! Bonding through conspicuous consumption! A veritable circus of Mini Coopers and pedestrians with skinny lattes! BoBos 4eva.

iSync, iPhone

Wed, 09 Mar 2005 02:37:38 GMT

forget your Nokia PC suite, the installation CD that came with your oh-so-cute Siemens SL55... forget them all. just get yourself a handy dandy Bluetooth-enabled cellphone (preferably SonyEricsson, only the closest thing we'll get to an iPhone for now)

I finally scrounged up enough cash for a secondhand SE t610 and a bluetooth dongle for my iBook. Two clicks and a shake of a lamb's tail later, I was whizzing down the Bluetooth expressway with iSync in the driver's seat. Click - all addressbook entries are synced wirelessly with the cellphone's phonebook. Click - all calendar and birthday reminders are synced to the phone's organizer function. No worries about losing the cellphone and all its digital contents anymore. No matter what you say, there are no hiccups when it comes to the seamless experience that is a Apple computer and the included software - iCal, AddressBook and iSync. See Adri's blog for more Apple gospel!

Download Bluenotes - voila! text notes and reminders are saved wirelessly via BT to the phone. Useful for shopping lists, books to borrow, music to check out, list of restaurants/bars to check out, reminders of life goals etc etc.

Download Romeo - voila! instant wireless remote control for my iBook. Shuffle iTunes, change playlists, choose songs. All information is relayed back to the phone, which displays it with an iPod-esque interface (a line for Song, Artist, Album listings). Applescript for Romeo is programmable, so the possiblities are endless. Downloadable plugins already let me control the DVD player, click through Powerpoint slides, shut down system, control volume and brightness. If this ain't the cat's pajamas, I don't know what is!!

Sigh. Sexy tech for the straight guy.

Admittedly, the t610 is already 1.5 years old, and I'm late into the Bluetooth game. But the phone is still one sexy piece of mobile goodness. its sucessor, the t630 looks like a pale rubber-keyed imitation. But this phone has it all! a sleek piano-ebony texture, metallic back-casing. It looks solid and it works as hard. Screen is nice and big, a great ease on the eyes. It's light, the buttons are firm, and the ridges on the side to make gripping it easier. would i change anything? sure - an SD slot and mp3 playback would be good for starters, a slideout keypad would be another. but for now, this phone coupled with a handmade notepad (a4 sheets torn into quarters/eighths and held by a bulldog clip, or a simple postitpad) and an ipod shuffle will serve all my portable media needs.

All in all, a classic cellphone design, both visually and tactilely. in my book, the sonyericsson t610 is worthy of a place next to other classic cellphones, like nokia's 8210 (those irresistible faceplate colors, the ease of use, the sleek compact design only recently inherited by the also-excellent 6100), motorola's original startac, and the egg-shaped siemens sl55 (compact to the max, april o'neal-esque turtle communicator, like a little teardrop that fits snugly in your diesels)(the sl65 is unfortunately clunkier and heavier).

are there other well-designed cellphones? the new sonyericssons are nice and tiny, and bursting with functions, but somehow don't look as elegant. motorola's recent forage into design with the Rzr and Slvr have to be applauded for their techno, laser-cut keypads. if japan's kddi gets its act together, we could be looking at wonderful soapbar-esque PENCK phones soon.

Wed, 02 Mar 2005 06:17:44 GMT

Author of the Rise of the Creative Class, Richard "Diversity and Tolerance are good" Florida has managed to attract a sizeable fanbase of urban economists.

Until now!!

Let the cyncical backlash begin!!

Wed, 02 Mar 2005 05:48:04 GMT

Super Mario Brothers is a Marxist conspiracy???!

my childhood pasttime was a contribution to the Commies!

Tue, 01 Mar 2005 01:08:56 GMT

although i drive to work now, i often think fondly of my previous job that, due to its location, allowed me to take a bus to work. travel time was almost twice as long, but it was much more relaxed, and i got a whole hour to myself to read/listen to my iPod. this was again brought to mind when i read this article on one-car families and the use of public transport as a form of luxury.

ah, to be curled up in a bus-seat at 7.20am with a good book and the kings of convenience crooning away. none of this traffic stop-sign, reckless driving BS.

Sun, 27 Feb 2005 15:56:48 GMT

i'm late to the boat. i know. i'm awfully sorry. late to the boat.

this past weekend, i spent time looking at websites selling swiss underwear and pajamas.
apparently zimmerli is worn by great men like harrison ford! prince charles!! (76 USD a pair)
calida looks pretty tight and proper whitey tighties. (27 USD a pair)
calvin klein still wins for contemporary tightey-dom, and inevitable evocations of lunjdberg/markymark/etc
brooke shields?
then there is the danish jbs system (classic/executive) and not to forget your basics: jockey (a fave of warhol)
montagut, crocodile, byford...
it's an underwear world afterall - who says men have no choices.

well seriously, i was esconsced in my room listening to BBC radio.
all weekend. i listented to interviews with tazanian rulers, something about the heartbeat economy.
and ooooh radio 1! gilles peterson... listened to him talking about his busy week ahead - ah got a tour down in bangkok, singapore..
looked up zouk's website - the dude's coming on friday.
and ooh essential mix! essential selection! soulful sessions with the dreem team!
and just when i thought it couldn't get better - they have this "end-the-show" bit with a blast from the past.
afromedusa's pasilda comes on ... those lazy fat beats, oooh man. freshman year all over again, sitting at my desk in wigglesworth, playing DJ with some dinky mixing software.

ooh man.

if i keep the BBC world service on, and buy myself a shiny camel-colored Kronan bicycle, i could maybe just, just convince myself I live in scandi-swiss land. all i would need: transistor radio, broadband connection, swiss army knife, subscriptions to the Economist, FT arts and weekend and nytimes.com. the requisite piles and piles of books, and flannel PJs! maybe a little goldfish to keep me company.

Wed, 02 Feb 2005 00:59:47 GMT

i've just started running again.

after work, between 1830 and 1930 hrs, i run. down braddell road against the evening traffic, under the CTE, pass K's workplace, past my secondary school. it goes on for about an hour.

maybe it's the solitude that keeps me going. or the excuse to plug into my iPod for just that hour and rock out to weezer. or physical exertion that gets me higher and higher. but it's been really good and quiet and sweet.

just running, waving to passing fellow runners, trying to speed up at the crowded busstops so i don't look like a wuss. running is amazing.

and the fatigue after my post-run shower, helps me settle down, and continue a night of reading and writing... writing especially. i need to write.

which reminds me, i have to pick up the shoes and bags from the shop, return my library books, start emailing all those i haven't contacted in a while, work on the business plan and figure out my investments. sigh. what doesn't kill you, keeps you busy!

Sun, 02 Jan 2005 13:54:44 GMT

Greetings! A Merry New Year to one and all!

Perhaps overdue for a bloooggging entry, here's my entry.

Life has been good thus far, returning to Singapore, exploring the depths of our ethnic quarters, easing myself into local cuisine, smoking, not smoking, getting stranded in Jakarta, romancing, Esplanading, bitching about the SSO, catching movies, latenight movies, watching the ballet, shopping for designTshirts, rediscovering little nooks and crannies in this city i enjoy chilling in with a good book and a good friend, making my usual food/drinks/cafe/shops/artgallery lists, redoing lists, contemplating projects, indulging in the sensory overload that is skinnyass singaporean girls in their tightass skimpy getups, starting a life of 8am mornings, and 6pm drives home (not bad i must say) although they could pay me a heck lot more, meeting some interesting (but damn it, a heck load of smart but whiney/pessimistic losers) people, both Singaporeans, and foreign. finding wondrous little art galleries with overfriendly owners (iPreciation! Utterly Art!) and their bourgeois, yuppie counterparts (Whatever Cafe! Ant Colony!)

In short, it's been one awesome trip so far. I remain extremely unaccomplished, and completely unfazed. In the words of the Cheat Commandoes, Rock Rock On!!!

final note: an inattentive viewing of the Virgin Suicides has sent me on a precarious exploration of 70s popadelia. oooh! Carole King!!! Ooh!!! 10cc!!!!
second note: must play golf in bright pink pants.

Thu, 29 Jul 2004 18:32:58 GMT

jackson 5 says - "i want you back!"

"oh baby give me one more chaaaance...
won't. you. please. let me... back to your heart!"

ah... pop music at its finest.

Thu, 24 Jun 2004 18:25:13 GMT

twas an interesting dinner conversation with the 'rents - they didn't flinch when i broached the topic of purchasing/renting an apartment/flat/shithole in chinatown. looks like my keongsaik road fantasy might arrive sooner than expected. hotel 1929, whatever cafe and yoga center, here i come!

looks like life gets easier as you grow older.

in other news, life is the boondocks. i'm stuck here going through 500 or so applications for the business conference. and also. need to get all my copy written in time for posting back to cambridge before i leave for mersing. 6 weeks of cybercopy hell. woo fricking hoo. the plus points? diving at the BEACH, seeing stupefying steve, ipoh hor fun, becky!! and of course, the twin towers of KL. the tide beats on, eternal waves of shit beating against the ivory tower. my ivory tower, which as of now remains un-airconditioned.

mambo night was awesome. never have i seen such an inspired parade of inanity. of course, with a formidable dosage of ironie, one can easily deal with and (gasp) enjoy such spectacles. this applies, for the matter, to most of singapore. i.e. everything is a circus. i.e. i am my own party, and ahem, most of the time, i am also my own martini glass. "cybill darling!"

hdb heartland, i won't do what you tell me!

note to self: get rid of all yuppie friends, no matter how shiny their BMWs, no matter how expensive their handbags. replace with edgy, artsy, tyler print institute types.

Tue, 18 May 2004 05:43:36 GMT

Ahhhh, a book that vindicates my preferred choice of lifestyle.

I give you: Lapham, Lewis. "Rules of Influence"

GRAVITAS:
Careers rise on the appearance of gravity, sink with shows of levity. Remember at all times that you bear the burden of inside information, which is very heavy and not to be thrown around like confetti. When sitting at a conference table, think of yourself as a speech by Alan Greenspan or a trunk by Louis Vuitton.

my favorite part!!!
THE MASK OF IRONY:
The correct expression is slightly contemptuous and faintly amused. Admire everything and nothing. Never show surprise. Do not gawk. Remember that you have seen everything worth seeing, not once but many, many times before. The attitude defers judgement - also commitment and possible mistakes (oh how useful!) - and when displayed in the form of writing or speech, it serves as a substitute of dissent.

CLICHES:
Make unsparing use of them. The empty word is the correct word. Contrary to the opinion of snobbish New York intellectuals, the placid murmur of cliche is always preferable to sharp insight or strong feeling. Think of waterfalls in the lobbies of Hyatt hotels.

BOREDOM:
Dutiful attendance at the knee of privilege presupposes the capactiy to endure long bouts of stupefying boredom. Because the topics of conversation never change, it is by no means easy to stay awake, much less remember when to utter sudden exclamations of delight and surprise. Practise with inanimate objects. Look at a balloon for ninety minutes with an expression of close attention and profound respect. Talk to a box of Cheerios about Monica Lewinsky and Martha's Vineyard; ask a fern for its view of the Mexican debt.

Ta-da!

Mon, 17 May 2004 05:14:00 GMT

more musique! soul, house, downtempo, man-da-rin pop, i've got it all baby. i also included some choice rolling stones for good measure.

ahhh. jay chou brings me back to the summer of 2003. shuo bu dao wei shen me, wo bian de hen zhu dong.

packing up, moving on. usually it's easy. because you know, come fall, you'll be back on mt. auburn st, smelling the dampness of the T, hearing the sounds in the square, being comforted by the stifling boundaries of the yard and the monstrosity that is widener. it's hard this time, but i'm going to let it all go!!! wheee! new places, new faces! new places new faces!

xiang... jian jian dan dan ai....

Thu, 13 May 2004 15:22:23 GMT

pigpog's entry on Urban Planning:

"What she says seems to pin down exactly why so many people see Singapore as 'soulless' and 'sterile', even when they are faced with the facts that on the surface, it is probably one of the most well-designed cities in the world. Traffic flows smoothly, areas with historic significance have been restored and revitalised, housing estates are not just concrete blocks, there's plenty of greenery everywhere.

But it's not the kind of place that's "full of hope and expectation", its not self-organising and it is definitely not messy. Because when a state creates a design approaching flawlessness, that leaves a city's residents with no share in the space that they inhabit. Design ultimatey is about serving people's needs, and not just in a mechanistic way, but anticipating their needs and giving shape to their aspirations and emotions. Which is something that is easily lost in today's rush to design for designers, not people."

Singapore: soulless, sterile, flawless, pristine, smooth traffic, restore, revitalised, greenery.

In a perverse way, I love how this tropical ShangriLa functions. I always compare Singapore to your local 7-11 store, it's convenient, air-conditioned, at an arm's reach you have anything you could possibly desire: instant noodles, chocolate, condoms, magazines, free speec ... ok just kidding. Ever been to a 7-11? It's nothing more than a mamak store, and yet I find myself strangely drawn to this hub of self-sufficiency. Given the right amount of money, I could toast myself a hot dog, down a Slurpee and perhaps end the meal with a can of cold espresso. Why leave?

Friends who go back to Singapore whinge about its dullness, it's slow choke on your personal expression, the land where all girls look the same with their rebonded hair and skinny asses. And yet after a few years, they settle into a routine, they don't want to leave because - it's comfortable. Of course it is. This is ShangriLa baby.

But everyone knows that life cannot be interesting if it were merely continuous comfort. Singapore epitomizes comfort. You can traverse the entire island in a crisp cool MRT carriage or taxi, spend an entire day in aircondition despite the 33 C weather outside. What we need to keep us happy, when we are indulging in an inert state of comfort, is pleasure. Pleasure arises from tension, from new experiences that test and tease us. Which is where the clip above comes in.

NYC has streets filled with hope and expectation, the people are self-organizing, the city is messy. In a sense this is true. (But look at the rigidity of the grid, how awful!) Hope and expectation can't come from urban planning, it comes from the people. Self-organization and messiness as well. What the state needs to do in Singapore is to create social space for minds and souls to connect, from this, arbitrary messiness and self-organization can arise. Such messiness will only lead to inevitable conflicts and tension, with other citizens, or with the state, but the tension should be one that excites and inspires. Currently, our social space is largely limited to airconditioned junkspace within our malls. These are comfortable but they do not encourage social interaction - I have a hunch that aircondition is a form of social disinfectant, the dead recycled air an opiate for the senses.

I think we need more ghettos. Ethnic locales. Arab St, Chinatown, Little India, Little Filipina. Ghettoes that aren't only for the new immigrant workers, ghettoes that engage the local citizenry through their offerings of diversity, energy, cuisine, etc. In a city where every housing estate looks like another, a different manner of construction should be considered. Public housing tends to be boring, but it doesn't have to be. Of course, here I leave you with a titbit of Wallpaper-dom: Amsterdam has some magnificent public housing projects that have been archived in conspicuous consumption glossy, Wallpaper*.

Eg:

Wed, 05 May 2004 06:13:19 GMT

I LOVE PHANTOM PLANET! LAUGH ALL YOU WANT! =D

I ALSO LOVE RAINY DAYS, and milkshakes! =P

Sat, 01 May 2004 06:42:42 GMT

bewitched, bothered and bewildered, am i.

Fri, 30 Apr 2004 20:08:09 GMT

dear world, let me announce my thoughts to you.

1. olsen twins turn 18 soon/ olsen was that pig in a tube on olsen's friends? and what did that cartoon have to do with garfield?
2. some professors are actually nice when you get to know them
3. quick-get-rich plan needed so i can move out
4. did you know the way to KL?
5. the miata is a throwback to the best of british roadsters, without the hassle of oil leaks. but why oh why must it be a mazda???
6. abodeon allows you to fulfill your deepest darkest Jetsons/Wallpaper*/urbanist fantasies, too bad those retro GE fans are 150 bucks a pop
7. i don't have a favorite sports team, which makes me sad. who can i root for asides from the Lions when they used to play in the M'sia cup?
8. charles and ray eames aren't brothers.
9. be happy! when someone dumps out his entire sinatra record collection
10. who do I have to sleep with to get my own column in Today?

Fri, 16 Apr 2004 04:53:12 GMT

how much diesel can a diesel boy wear if a diesel store diesels diesel diesel.

can someone recommend new urbantype brands that are fun to wear and not too mainstream or hiphoppy? cannot say gstar or energie. maybe i should start stocking up on muji again. or those wonderful minimalist teeshirts from zara?

Wed, 14 Apr 2004 14:43:44 GMT

saketome!

Tue, 13 Apr 2004 14:43:33 GMT

i swear, the iPod is a drug.

everyone, please do yourself a favor and get one.

walking to class is so much fun now i wish class was further away.

this is also why i haven't been updating.

Mon, 29 Mar 2004 22:59:00 GMT

here's a blast from the past for all you geriatrics:

"Diggin’ the scene
Diggin’ on you
Diggin’ on me
Baby bay’ooo’baby baby
It’s on like that
It’s on like that
I gotta be in love or somethin’ like that"

I WAS CHILLING WITH MY KOOL AID.