Richard K H Wee

Now, this mosque would make a wonderful project for architects and students. I can imagine the challenge - the site is awkward, and who would have seen a mosque surrounded by carparks?

I thought this was a rather nice corner with the sloping road. It was a good session and there was no shortage of styles - from the very graphic to the very illustrative.

Melaka Town

The view of the Melaka skyline from my hotel window. Melaka remains charming simply because life is simple. Shophouses are still shophouses. Hopefully, they don't get rebuilt into modern buildings without souls. Hopefully also it's UNESCO-protected status will see that it remains that way.

Tanquerah Mosque, Melaka

This mosque in Melaka was where Singapore's Sultan Hussein's remains were interred. His `kramat' (tomb) is located in one corner of the compound. It is housed in a pavillion and is very well-maintained, complete with the history of the Sultan in Singapore - definitely a must for history students.

Medan railway yard

The railway yard in Medan has seen better days but it was charming nevertheless. One gets almost `transported' to the past just watching the trains in operation complete with manually-controlled signals and tracks.

Medan Post Office interior

This was the octagonal main hall I was referring to. Stained glass murals below the arches were abstracts of local sceneds. The architectural detailing was strong, almost fascist with bold vertical columns spanning the arches.

Medan Post Office

I thought this Dutch building was one of the most interesting buildings in the city. The main hall was an octagon with service counters located in 2 wings attached to the octagon.

Tjong A Fie Mansion airwell

This is the airwell in the Tjong A Fie Mansion. It follows exactly the same feng-shui configuration in Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion in Penang. Because there are no mountains or hills behind the house to block the outflow of wealth, a split-level was created after the airwell to simulate the hill/mountain. Airwells are important as they allow water (wealth) to flow into the house.

Tjong A Fie Mansion

Tjong A Fie Mansion in Medan, Sumatra. Tjong A Fie was a Hakka migrant who made good in Sumatra in the 19th century. By co-incidence, I found out that he was the cousin of Cheong Fatt Tze (The Blue Mansion) of Penang, another successful pioneer in South East Asia.

Nepal series

Alleyway, Bhaktapur


View from my window, Nagarkot


Shiva shrine, Lalitpur


Swambhu Temple, Kathmandu

Liner's upper deck

QE2 opened Queenstown from this building, Block 38

Entrance walkway to Block 40A

Block 40A, soon to be demolished

Shophouse facade

Corner shophouses

Tamang village houses at Nagakot

Inside ferryboat to Phuket and the Beach

Port Klang

Kluang

This is a cute little stall next to the Kluang Railway Station. It sells really good roti prata - round and compact, about 12 cm thick solid, complete with egg. The kua (gravy) is slightly sweeter than those in Singapore.

Penang

Another fabulous piece of architecture in Georgetown called the Leong Yin Kean Mansion. This mansion is located at the far end of the famous E & O Hotel along the coastline. The story of the building revolves around rival families building their homes as close to the sea as possible, thus blocking their neighbours. Early version of `one-upsmanship' I suppose.