DAY 34

We designers set off for the day’s excursion at 8 instead of the usual 9. First stop was to be a graphics company but some of us were distracted by Subway. Finally had something Western after a week.




Going back to the first stop; it was 180 China, an advertising company. The speaker was a pleasant man who shared plenty of amusing advertisements which sparked something in me. I might just divert to advertising design or something in the future.




Next stop was a cluster of Mediterranean-style townhouse by Fifth County. Initially we were more excited about riding the buggy than visiting the showflats.







After the second showflat out of the total 4 or 5, I grew bored of looking at similar vintage European-style interiors already. I took more interest in snapping photos of the decorations instead.



Lunch was at a restaurant different than the previous weeks. Hooray for something new (no, I did not consume the seahorse or snake stuff).


Last stop for the day was Ascendas IT Park (again). I almost believed that the bus driver took us to the wrong destination but it turned out the design company we were going to was located in the Park. As we waited to be let in, we visited the deserted café where I foolishly ordered chocolate milk tea. Presentation was all right but taste was something different altogether. I could barely taste the chocolate, milk or tea. Nevertheless I was glad for something cooling.



Upon entering the office, something which resembled a beach scene greeted my eyes; my immediate thought was it’s a pretty cool company. If the beach scene wasn’t surprising enough, the sight of a sole Caucasian designer who could converse in English was. He turned out to be French and had been living in China for 5 years. As he explained how the company works and showed samples of advertisements, I found myself getting excited about the graphics skill involved in making such ads.

DAY 33

Geared with only 3 hours of sleep, Anglia went for interim review which actually went all right. It goes without saying that we still have to develop the scheme such as in terms of furniture and lighting. I foresee more daybreak slumber.


Lunch consisted of noodles, chili and pork which came with a disgustingly generous helping of fat. Of course I didn’t eat the lump.



During the weekly post-lunch design talk, I almost instantly fell asleep due to exhaustion. It’s embarrassing for me and disgraceful to the speaker but I snoozed for ¾ of the talk. I tried my hardest to chase away the need to sleep and instead focused on the remaining quarter of the talk.

The evening was spent playing badminton rather intensively. I have no idea where we got the energy from seeing how we didn’t get enough sleep the night before.

DAY 32

Today’s 3D modeling lecture was about animation. The steps were complicated but surprisingly yours truly managed to follow.




After a day’s worth of lecture and tutorial, a night’s worth of project followed suit in order to be ready for tomorrow’s interim review. Time seemed to creep slowly at first, but after midnight came everything changed. Before we knew it, the sky brightened up and birds started chirping. We slept at daybreak.

DAY 31

This is Anglia who petted a lot of dogs during lunchtime today. They brightened up the day but did nothing to the level of motivation to do work. Was supposed to have a rather intensive work session at night but I knocked out at 1.30am and felt guilty when I woke up 6 hours later.

DAY 30

Today’s GEMs lecture was most interesting for it was about the Chinese philosopher, Laozi. Anglia is intrigued by his concept of useful emptiness.


What’s more interesting is that the lecturer let us watch an animated series of Laozi, with English subtitles thankfully. Cheesy as it was, I enjoyed listening to the muses of Laozi.

DAY 29

The strong wind shook the trees outside so violently their swaying silhouette was enough to create an artwork on the door. Chaotic as it was outside, the creative piece induced serenity. Anglia wasted another Sunday by not doing work and instead playing badminton in the sports hall. The hall was actually fully booked but the nice staff allowed us to play anyway (after finding out we’re from Singapore?).