UTS 2009 Graduate Design Show - Republic of Design

1 December was the opening night of the Graduate Design Show at  UTS.  After 5 years of  studying design, I finally finished my course and put my project on display along with 231 other creative citizens.

Citizens include:

80 Visual Communication Students

68 Interior Design Students

55 Industrial Design Students (one being me XD)

60 Fashion and Textiles Students

13 Design Research Students and

124 Designing out Crime Exhibition (from both 3rd and 4th year students)

My page from the Industrial Design Graduate Collection Booklet of 2009

Being an exhibitor, I was entitled to 4 free drinks!

My Display Panel

My plinth has became a bar table =.=

I went to uni to pack up my design today and it ended on a sad note. Alot of our works has been damaged or even stolen. Some of the works has been rapid prototyped which means it costed hundreds even thousands to make and all of the works has been created with the most care and passion.  We have dedicated alot of effort into this and clearly some people just don't appreciate it.

Many has chosen to take their models away before the show was finished because they do not want further damage or feared of it being damaged during the show.

My model was severely dented from people touching and poking it but it wasn't anything too serious though, I was quite upset from the lack of morals of some people.

Britney Concert - The Circus

I have pulled this blog out of the grave!!!!!!!!! It has been a longgg time since I've touched this blog because I have been very active on my food blog Sugar's Sweet Blog and it gets quite tiring managing the two.

I am going to fish out some past event and slowly catch up...if ever.

Anyway, went to Britney's Sydney Circus Tour on Tuesday 14 November 2009 with some friends.

Row 3 Section 9!! It's like...wowzers spot

DJ Havana Brown got the party started

After she left, the screen showed this...

WTF....

At first, I thought they were joking but the time went from 25 minutes to 19 minutes second by second...so we walked around to get some churros only to find they are sold out :(

Came back to our seats for some cam whoring time

Lucy and Me

When the show started, the acrobats did some pretty cool stuff

A guy spinning himself in a big metal hoop

Britney finally came out at like 9:30pm

Ringmaster Britney

I didn't take alot of photos and certainly none of them are good as she was always dancing and the pictures always came out blurry.  Alot of recordings but I couldn't show it here :(

Britney dancing in (and on top) of a cage

Dancing in a frame hung in mid air

Alot of ending photos because that was the only time she didn't move around

Despite what critics and other people say, I think she did a massively impressive job in making this successful. 

The Circus Concert is a 360 degrees stage located in the middle of the arena. During the show, Britney and her dancers prances from one corner to the other for a full on 1.5 hours so I don't know why other people are not impressed with her efforts.

It was a clear fact that she lipped synced except for 'Everytime' because the audio sounded completely different.  Um...let's see YOU sing and dance perfectly at the same time. Give her a break people!

It's time to PARTYYYY (well almost)

It's the end of the year and that's when everything starts to be hectic.  School kids have exams, uni students have assessments and I will be graduating from my dreaded 4 year Bachelor course in 2 weeks.  Putting the stressful part aside, it is also a time of celebration.

Melbourne Cup Day is the closest one that comes to mind.  I have been invited to the Melbourne Cup Day exclusive Luncheon on 3 November 2009.

The invitation is so pretty!  The cover has a gloss print of horse and horseshoe canvas on thick wax paper.  True professionalism.

Unfortunately, as my assignment due date draws near, I am unable to attend such event.  Oh what shame :(  But I will be at the Cocktail Cruise on 'The Blue Room Vessel' on 8 Novemeber 2009.

It just so happens that the event is held on my birthday. YAY!  I shall be 23 in just 15 days.  Only two more years till I can't say that I'm in my early twenties anymore.  It seemed like yesterday when I turned 18 and partied like a wild animal.  Now I'm just old.

It is a known fact that my photography fails so bare with me.

The Blue Room – Sydney Harbour features:

Top entertaining deck with retractable roof and bar perfect for pre dinner drinks and canapés.

Dining Room featuring 360 degree views of Sydney Harbour, with ceiling to floor glass, dance floor, lounge area and full air conditioning.

Contemporary décor throughout the vessel.

Lounge area with ottomans.
(Description and image copied from http://www.harbourfunctionsrus.com.au/v92-MV_Blue_Room.php) 

Blue Room Vessel

Dining Area with panoramic views of the Sydney harbour 

I've been invited last year but didn't go for reasons I cannot recall so this year I have to make up for it by eating twice the amount of canapés (and also eating for...you know who you are XD). 

Checking the Blue Room website, the cocktail menu is $48.00 per head! 200 guests would be $9600. I guess thats quite cheap considering how most Sovereign Room members lose that much in 20minutes.

I have been slacking in updating this blog simply because I have nothing interesting going on in my life apart from eating, uni, chatting on msn and skyping.

My food blog is much more active and that shows how much I spend on food (THAT MEANS GO HAVE A VISIT - Sugar's Sweet Blog).  It's quite depressing where I am struggling to find $2000-$3000 to rapid prototype my model but I'm still eating out so much.

Star City

Website: http://www.starcity.com.au/

Blue Room Vessel

Website: http://www.blueroomsydneyharbour.com.au/

Lancome Gift Set - Exclusive to Myer

I was buying lipstick with my mum at Myer when we saw the Lancome Gift Promotion.  Spend $70 or more at Lancome and you'll recieve a 9 piece gift set (your choice of skincare)!

Here is my feeble attempt to photograph this at night...

Compared to a professional finish...

The package contained:

Intensive Reinforcing Anti-Wrinkle Cream 15mL

Intensive Reinforcing Anti-Wrinkle Eye Cream 5mL

Intensive Reinforcing Anti-Wrinkle Serum 5mL

Bi-Facil Eye Make Up Remover 30mL

Hypnose Masacara 2mL

Colour Fever Lipstick

Colour Design Palette (4 shades of eye shadow)

Hypnose Snese EDP 5mL

Lancome Cosmetics Bag

To be honest, I find the anti-wrinkle creams quite useless as they are currently non existent on my face.  My mum chose this skin care~not me. The bag is butt ugly but very big so it may be good for travel and you can stuff everything in one bag.

My makeup remover has just ran out so it was perfect that the pack contained it and although small, the Hypnose Mascara has always been my favourite. It makes your lashes 6 times thicker and does not clot or run down ur eyes!

Overall I think it is a good deal when you need to refill your make up bag with something.  In our case, mum needed lipstick so she bought 2 which costed around $100.  *Side note* the sales consultant was extremely helpful and knows her products well.  We showed her an empty lipstick container from a different brand and she matched the colour so perfectly that it was identical.

This promotion is on from 24 September 2009 - 25 October 2009 so girls you still have 2 weeks!!

Play Yiruma if you want a girl

A couple of days ago, my friend told me his secret in getting girls.  You need a TALENT or at least something to impress a girl with.  For him, his method of 'impressination' is to play the piano.  Although he had never had any piano lessons nor he could read notes, he memorised all the keys and learnt a piece in 2 months.  

Yes, he learnt piano just to hit on chicks.

Nothing can beat a live demonstration.  He quickly hopped on the piano and played the piece for me.  Having to fail for the first 5 times, the 6th was a success.  Considering that he never had any training, he played pretty well with minor mistakes which can pretty much fool any girl who does not have a musical background.

The piece he played is called River Flow Into You by Yiruma who is a Korean New Age artist that married Miss Korea Son Hye-im!!! Lucky duck. 

Hear the original here.

It's actually Edward's Lullaby from Twilight! Some say it's not but oh well~

Good music combined with gorgeous looks? WINNER!!! 

I have summarised this equation to this ~> (GM + GL = W)

Addicted, I quickly Googled the sheet music and started to learn the piece.  It's not that hard and anyone that have a Level 4 or above in Piano should play it with ease. Having only completed Level 3 in Piano (Oh the shame), I'm still in the process of coordinating both my hands to work at the same time.

Heard the piece? Loved it?
Now... PLAY IT!

 

Learnt it? Good :)

Now boys~ you switch on your girlfriend searching radar, find a girl and play that piece for her.  Tada!! You got yourself a girl :D

Just don't forget to thank me when you do.

A series of (Wonderful) Events

October 2009 has so far been an excellent month.  1 October was the 60th Chinese National Day where the whole nation celebrated with pride. The advantage of having a huge satellite dish is that I can watch everything broadcasted in China live (minus the laggy download via the internet).  I got up nice and early and glued myself to the TV. 

The military parade was the highlight of the extravagant celebration. I heard the minimum height of each person is 1.83m! Sorry dad, 1.81m doesn't make the cut.  It might sound cocky but seeing China being so powerful has brought tears to my eyes.

Being an Chinese born Australian, I am very proud of my heritage and background. It might be my upbringing, my parents doesn't let (or at least attempted to) me and my brother speak English at home. Until now, after 16 years of white washing, I can still speak, read, listen and write in fluent Chinese.

During the parade: the boys...

and the girls.  Their uniform is so pretty.

After the military parade, it was followed by beautiful floats with the first one being the portrait of Chairman Mao, the founder of the Republic of China. Others resembled different stages of growth in the nation, Mao's famous quotes, our 56 different nations, children, our provinces, SAR and many more.

The night was filled with a National Day's evening musical party with many of China's celebrities and cultural displays.

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Another thing that happened on the 1st was the birth of my little niece.  When you reach a certain age, friends around you start to get married and have kids.  It's not the first time that I have been slapped with the 'aunt' status but being blood related to one of them is something I've never experienced before.

Meet my little niece...Camilia! (Strictly speaking she is my cousin's daughter but I'm still an aunt).

This is my cousin Vicky pinching her cheeks.

I met her for the first time today after just returning from the hospital.  She is such a cute bundle of joy.  I can't believe my grandad is now a great grandfather.  He would've been ages ago if my eldest cousin could settle down. Camilia is still waiting for a Chinese name.  According to Chinese traditions, we need to find a fortune telling master to give her a nice name to fit with her date of birth. 

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3 October is the Moon Festival!  Our family celebrated with a lovely dinner of steamed scallops, barramundi, fresh oysters, stir fried beans and cabbage followed by a surplus supply of mooncakes!

I've been stuffing them down my throat for the past 2 weeks or so.  Do you know how many calories these babies have? I certainly don't want to know. I'm currently on Mooncake overdose and my waistline is already feeling the dangerous side effects. People just keep sending them to our office! How could I resist?

I love those Icy Mooncakes where you have to refrigerate them and eat them cold.  They come in pretty colours too like pink and purple.  They even have abalone and ginseng mooncakes!  People in China love giving these elaborate mooncakes away.

Holiday on the Gold Coast

Wheeeee! Surprise holiday to the Gold Coast on Saturday.  Since mum cancelled her flight to China due to the dust storm~she have decided to go to the Gold Coast as previously planned :D.

Upon arrival, we were whisked away by an extended Limo courtesy of Conrad Jupiters. We stayed there for 2 nights.  The room was MUCH smaller than Star City but their hospitality was great so no complaints there!

Our room wasn't ready so we safekept our luggage with the concierge and went to Movieworld via...TAXI.  It was a very stupid idea as the cab fare was $50 dollars!! WTF.  Such a rip. 

The place was the same as the last time I visited in 2005 except they changed the show 'Police Academy' to 'Stunt Driver'.  Both are very exciting shows mind you. 

Some of the cool stunts during the show "Stunt Driver"

I admit that I'm a whimp and therefore did not try out any of the so called 'thrill rides' like the Superman Escape or Lethal Weapon but hey I went on the Scooby Doo ride and that was pretty much the most thrilling ride that I am capable of handleing.

Superman Escape Ride. This rides goes from 0 - 100km in just 2 seconds! And look at that almost vertical drop!  You can't blame me for whimping out can you?!

The sky is grey due to the Dust Storm :'(

Tired and hungry, we went back to the hotel via bus only to be lost in the middle of nowhere since my mum pointed to some random building claiming to the Conrad Jupiters.  Finally arriving back to the hotel, me and my mum fought for the shower while my dad and bro decided to be stinking men and watched the Simpsons.

Dinner was served at Spinners inside of Conrad Jupiters.

Entree: Caesar Salad with Smoked Salmon, Egg and Advocado

Garlic Prawns

Grilled Snapper with Garden Salad and Chips

200g Sirlion in Mushroom Sauce (Medium Rare) with Cesear Salad, potato and bacon

and...Beef Fajita to pop my Mexican Food cherry

Beef with capiscum, onion, advocado mash, salsa, sour cream and tortilla

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The second day was spent at Dreamworld.  Of course being a whimp, this world is totally not for me but tickets were complimentary of Conrad Jupitors :P

The tiger show was very exciting even for the second time.  My family were obviously impressed.  Did you know that tigers can leap more than 6 meters, climb trees and knock an elephant on the ground with its paws?  If you happen to anger one of those babies~your chances of survival are... pretty slim.

11 Year old Bengal Tiger enjoying the good'o Aussie Pura Milk

Leaping off the pole

Look at those lazy koalas.  They sleep for 22 hours a day and the 2 hours awake are spent chewing on gum leaves.  What a wonderful life.

Me touching a CUTE wombat :D

We shuffled ourselves to White Water World at 2pm.  To be honest, this place is a crappier version of Wet'n Wild with minimal rides (probably around 6).  I can't believe we got changed at 2pm and managed to leave by 4:30pm.  My mum didn't even get wet!

We spent the rest of the day at Surfers Paradise Bouverlard.  It has a Galleria (duty free shop with all the nice designers), Hard Rock Cafe, the BIGGEST Timezone I've ever seen, Bowling, a...CONDOM KINGDOM and ASA (Australia Shooting Academy) where my dad and bro had a nice time shooting with 2 different types of rifles.

 

Shooting at a 30 meter distance.

And the end result...

What can I say...my dad is too pro!

Wicked is so wickedly AWESOME!!

I am a HUGE fan of musicals and which musical fan could miss out on Wicked - The Untold Story of the Witches of Oz which is on show now at the Capitol Theatre in Sydney. The story involves two best friends Elphaba and Glinda and how they became the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good Witch.  Behind the surface, the truth is never so simple. It's a touching story of friendship, love, greed, envy, jealousy and lies.

Winner of 20 major awards including the oh so exclusive Tony award (they won 3) and a Grammy,the 18 million dollar production is sure not to be missed...by anyone!  If you hate musicals or have never been to one then Wicked will make you change your mind.

The production includes 450 costumes, 120 or so wigs, high technology lighting, massive stage that comes out to the audience, thousands of props, ingenious creative team and producers, two main characters Amanda Harrison (Elphaba) and Lucy Durack (Glinda) who have voices so strong, powerful and pure, Rob Mills (Fiyero)who is a common household name after coming the Top 12 in the 2003 Australian Idol competition.

The song "Defying Gravity" was one of the best songs in the musical. Have a listen to it here. Sung by Idina Menzel as Elphaba and Helen Dallimore as Glinda.  Really not a fan of Helen though~no offense.

Another song I enjoyed would be the song "Popular".  I watched this on youtube before going to see it and still found it quite funny.

Although sitting at row D, I was placed on the very corner *cries*.  That's what you get for ordering your tickets too late :(  I took some VERY BLURRY pictures cause I was trying to hide my camera from the guards.

This dragon breathes out smoke too!

It's a musical not to be missed out!