Bottled Sky

Of all the places I got to visit because of my job thus far, Melbourne is my hands-down favorite. I was there several weeks ago with two other colleagues to attend agIdeas 2010. Highlights of my trip included being equally star-struck by Theo Jansen and by the Twelve Apostles, losing one of my travel buddies while trying to board a sardine can of a tram, and simply basking in the brisk autumn air.

One thing I learned during my week in Melbourne… was that a week in Melbourne simply wasn’t enough. I guess I’ll just have to go back sometime.

Continue reading Mad About Melbourne »

Bubbling Up, my second Tumblr theme, made it to the Theme Garden not more than a week after I blogged about my newfound love of Tumblr and its bevy of hipster puppies. What do you think? I personally prefer this theme over my first one.

On a totally related note (you’ll see how at the end), I recently went on a business trip to Brunei, where my coworkers and I were lucky enough to stay at the swanky Empire Hotel under a sky this blue:

Continue reading Bubbling Up in Brunei »

I was at the supermarket with some friends the other week, when we came across these handy reusable shopping bags shaped like various produce. We oohed at the chubby little carrots and aahed at the squish-worthy watermelons. Then we saw the cherries.

That, my friends, is what happens when designers get lazy. I can almost picture it:

Hey, how do you feel about using PANTONE 12-0643 for the color of the lemon? Or should we just stick with 13-0752? — Monday

I checked with the bag supplier, and we’re good to go on the irregular shape for the carrot. — Tuesday

I just e-mailed you the revisions for the dragonfruit design. The seed spacing wasn’t quite right on the first version. — Wednesday

Make sure that the seeds are not too evenly sized. We want the watermelon to look somewhat realistic. — Thursday

Ah, fuck it. Just slap some damn cherries on it and call it a day. Anyone up for a drink later? — Friday

Last December my parents flew in for a two-week visit, and I got to spend Christmas with them for the first time since I moved to Singapore. We did the tourist thing for a couple of days, which is just another way of saying that we barely managed to squeeze in a couple of museum visits in between marathon shopping sessions.

You guys, my folks are adorable! I snapped this photo on our way to the MINT Museum of Toys, a thin slice of a building that houses thousands of — you guessed it — vintage toys. The admission price was on the steep side at S$15, but I thought it was worth it to see all the quirky childhood memorabilia. Toys were so much more charming in decades past. Now it’s all factory-perfect plastic and high-tech gadgetry.

Continue reading MINT Museum of Toys »

The average office desk can hold all kinds of strange and awesome things. Unfortunately for those reading this post, mine is of the tamer variety. Considering that these are the more interesting items on my desk, just imagine how mundane the rest of its contents are.

Oh, Crap. I stuck a random cow-shaped clip on top of my computer, and one of my brilliant coworkers took time out of his busy schedule to complete the scene with a heaping pile of poo that he fashioned out of Blu-Tack. He even used a marker to give it a surprisingly realistic greenish brown tint. Nice.

Continue reading Stuff on My Desk »