Reminiscing and Graduation

Finally, after 4 (and a half) years, I'm done with my Architecture Degree~ And though it was really tough, like seriously, if you dunno what to take and you're a person that hates working constantly, don't take architecture... I've got to hand it to my friends for helping me get through it, so to repay them, I'm going to post dumb photos I managed to capture of my friends in this post. Because that's how you repay friends, especially close ones, you post dumb photos of them, all conveniently in one post, online, ready for blackmail in the near future. But I love them so they'll forgive me even though I literally labeled the album "Dumb Photos of Friends" (right guys?). Let the shaming commence!

Semester 3:

Some of the few photos I have of my old studiomates, we were doing our assignment for Engineering Survey, where we learned about Land Surveying and Geomatics.

There's Aiman, and we're at the jetty waiting to go on to boat to explore the river and see the eagles feeding and rock formations.

This is us on the boat doing the thing I said we were going to do.

My friends on the other boat and we were acting like we were racing to see who's first even though we weren't the ones driving the boat.

We went to Kilim Geoforest Park in Langkawi then Datai but I dunno where the other photos are =(

Semester 4:

Because our project was based around Tea, our lecturer brought us to a Tea House in KL so inquire about tea and methods of preparation.

Yeah, we sat down anywhere we could and acted like we owned the place but we didn't buy anything because it was expensive, haha

And there's Aiman again!

Because it was Tea, of course, for our studio trip we HAD to go to Cameron Highlands to the BOH Tea Plantation, there's Coet looking all deep and stuff gazing into the landscape.

We wanted to capture experiences, hence, sketching and taking photographs

I just got a new camera before this semester, hence the selfie with Syafiq and Ain

... and Azim Malik

Dell and Farah doing I'm not so sure what anymore

Ain with her photogenic scarf demonstrating the difficulty in navigating the hilly terrain, and workers climb this plantation everyday!

When night came, we planned to do a barbeque but since it took a while to cook, we ended up posing and taking photos, the lighting and the smoking made everyone look extra bad***

The next day we went to visit the BOH Tea Plantation, they had a factory, a walk through the history of BOH and a tea house (which was what we were gonna design). Andy, Rose, Faris, Ain and Jimmy all wanted to be in the shot.

I asked everyone if I had to bring a sketchbook, they all said no, so I didn't bring a sketchbook, then what happens? They all take out sketchbooks and draw.

Our third and last day in Cameron, we visited a park which names escapes me and I was taking pictures of the flowers when these three came along.

I thought this was embarrassing photos of friends but oh well.

When all was said and done, we displayed our work, and I wanted to take a photo of it, at least that's what I wanted to do, then these two came along, hahahaha.

Yasmin intended to take a "sleeping duck face" photo and I wanted to document the photo taking process, hence, this photo.

When I had free time or wanted to ask for extra advice, I'd come to meet these cool people, there's Nurin, the only one invested in the photo taking.

This was taken near the end of my 4th semester, I was lying on the bed resting before packing my things when my stuff fell on my face, so what do you do? Take a picture.

Semester 5:

For Semester 5, we went to Pangkor for our project which was a Tourist Information Center.

Boat ride pic with Zarith Lisa caught on camera.

We wanted a bite to eat so a camera magically appeared and we casually all looked at the camera at the same time and someone happened to press the shutter button (yeah, that's exactly what happened)

It was a 30 minute boat ride, and everyone wanted a picture of them at the edge of the boat so I had to take a snap ;)

Including yours truly =D

When we finally reached our chalet, we went for a walk along the beach and found a tree with hammocks.

Not a bad way to watch the sunset, I might add.

Semester 7:

Semester 6 was when I went for industrial training so I there weren't many photos of the different places I went, for Semester 7 we went to Kuching, so there's bound to be some photos of that!

We were out and about doing our site study and I wanted to take a photo and Yasmin's like "Curse you!" and Dell's like "I don't care..."

To get from the waterfront to Kampung Gersik, we took a boat to ferry us across the river (which was the quickest way)

The next day, we went to the Cultural Village, and Aiman told me her love of Skittles, because that's totally related to culture and we're always gonna be able to go to the Cultural Village but we'll only get Skittles in Sarawak #priorities

Obligatory selfie on the traditional Iban Kampung House balcony.

Coet and Hanis ready for a quick photoshoot.

Syafiq and Nik on the bus so I took a picture because why not?

During our free time, we went for walks along the waterfront, so I took a photo of Lisa and Wani while I was at it.

Back in our faculty in Puncak Alam, when you let your friend look at your phone and they decide to test the front camera.

Syafiq was lying down on the floor because that's what you do when you have nothing even though your work is piling up so I was like, "Let's eternalize this image!"

Man a lot happened during my 7th Semester, we went to visit Tasblock for our Construction Technology Course and it was 12 noon so everyone was hogging the shade provided by that wall.

Close up to what you might have seen if you looked real close, I appreciate our friendship Nikky, just throwing it out there, for no apparent reason.

Ain and Coet were "matchy matchy" so *snap*

The three of us went out from afternoon to night, from Sunway to Ikea just to release stress from our workload. Sunway happened to have Lego versions of characters to rest our hands on.

Me trying to contain my joy from seeing all the food at Ikea

Because I went out the whole day, when I came back my car was clamped for parking in the student parking... yeap, it's illegal. So my friends had to send me all the way to my dorm on top of driving all the way back to their house at 11pm at night.

The next day, all of us waiting for our cars to be unclamped.

Our other trip to Ikea, Coet and Ajay thought wearing fur rugs passed as wearing fur coats.

I was in my 7th Semester, they were in their 8th so I wouldn't be able to see them again next semester =(   Lisa, Anna, Sam and Darrell

Miss you guys!!!

Farah forcing people to take ice cream because we had already bought a bunch and didn't want it to go to waste.

The mascots for our event, (from the left) Khalid, Ain, Coet and Farah

Semester 7 was probably my favourite semester, it was great meeting everyone again after our one semester apart.

Semester 8:

Semester 8 was more grounded, we didn't go anywhere far for our field trips because the lecturer wanted us to make frequent visits to our site, so it had to be somewhere easily accessible. The furthest we ventured was Putrajaya. Farah and Alia on the rooftop.

This University building had a green roof so we all took the opportunity to take pictures. Aishah and Nurin.

Around this time was Ramadhan, the fasting month so this was one of our Sahur (meal before the fast) sessions before the day. Nik, Syafiq and Khalid in the shot.

Semester 8 was a tough one, so after our Crit Session, Jimmy decided to take a nap, under the table.

To celebrate Aniq's birthday, we gathered at Domino's before he arrived, and because it took a while, I took photos, Dell doesn't care, Farah has strong feelings, Syafiq's talking to Nik and Jimmy's just staring at me... Dunno why tho.

Graduation:

Then, 1 year later, after all that happened, I would go back to Shah Alam for my graduation.

I managed to take a photo before we entered the hall, although a bit blurry. Me, Hanis and Yan

I went to grab my parents so my mum took this picture after.

And.... the photo shoot I missed, but I don't care, as long as I have a picture of you guys to remember and look back on whenever I feel like it, without you guys, I dunno if I'd ever survive those 4 years. Thanks guys!! And we should totally hang out whenever I go to KL! =D

That's all and have fun with your friends! You'll never know when you'll get to see them again!!!

Some Very Interesting Airline Safety Videos

I love how I had just chosen to change my blog's title because I've been posting about Heroes of the Storm lately and the reason it was Open Mind for a long time was because so many things interest me, like books and earphones and games and such. So the moment I change my title, I write something Open Mind worthy. Oh well. Due to the recent buzz about British Airways' new Airline Safety Video (which we will get to shortly), I've decided to see if any other airlines have interesting safety videos that are worth checking out. And given the time and effort it took to make them as interesting, we should give credit where credit's due. So hence, this post. Here are some interesting airline safety videos in no specific order:

British Airways:

Yeap, the first video that got me started on this journey. The safety video included cameos from a cast of familiar faces, some of which (if not all) you might know. Very simple with very little visual clutter, it gets the point across all the while including subtle humour very akin to how Brits like their comedy. The language and presentation used is both hilarious, concise and endearing to listen to, so definitely give this one a watch!

Virgin America:

And next we have, in very stark contrast, Virgin America's Airline Safety Video. Nothing subtle about this video with the very in your face presentation with the music and visuals. I don't think anyone can sleep while this video is playing. I love how they incorporated different music styles for different scenes and you seriously won't get bored watching this safety video.

Turkish Airlines:

Some airlines call upon online sensations or YouTube stars to make their videos more interesting. That's definitely something Turkish Airlines did. Nice forced perspective shots and CGI tricks really make this interesting but not too much to the point of distracting from the purpose of the video. I could say they could have done a few things more creatively but we must remember that the initial point of a safety video is to inform, anything else is just icing on the cake.

Air France:

This is one of those videos that really impress. One, because it's obvious they didn't spend a lot to make it, the whole video is shot in the same set but it's still very visually appealing. And two, it's very minimal yet with a whimsical charm of elegance and simplicity. The message is very clearly presented, but they still managed to include a few hints of France culture, and the video is interesting enough to keep you watching till the end.

Philippine Airlines:

I love how the Philippine Airlines attempted to kill two birds with one stone and how they actually nailed it! (Trust me there are a few that try this and then end up too visually cluttered) It shows off what you can expect from the Philippines (I had trouble spelling Philippines, after this post, not anymore) bringing you to different parts of the country, and at the same time, giving you safety instructions. A few nods here and there to their language and culture, very well placed and delightful and it never gets too distracting or cluttered. Elegant and breathtaking, well done Philippine Airlines, thumbs up to you!

LATAM Airlines:

This has got to be the most visually interesting safety video without becoming too cluttered or confusing. They make great use of colour and textures, as well as showing off what they have to offer for tourists. There's an apparent tropical theme going on there which is refreshing just like the Philippines' safety video.

Air New Zealand:

If you're a Lord of the Ring's fan, this video's for you. From the scenery to the references to the characters and presentation, there's an obvious Lord of the Ring's theme going on. And I'm not complaining. So elaborate and playful, they weren't pulling any punches with this video and you can really see it. Though I try to include the latest safety videos the airline has published, this one is still better than their current ones.

Alas, we are at the end. Let me just get a few questions out of the way, yes, I did binge watch airline safety videos to come up with this list. (Probably never have to watch another airline safety video in my life thanks to this) And yes, only when I binge-watched these videos, the simple occurrence of ohhh what's this one like and what's this one like, did I get the idea of writing this post. There were a few airlines that disappointed me as well, I expected some anime-ish type of presentation from Japan but they opted for a more straight-forward style, the same was true for Korea. Australia's was similar to Philippines but it became too confusing and cluttered. Most airlines kept it professional and straight-forward but I loved these ones because the culture of the country shows through. Like the humour in the British Airways and the very loud and noisy Virgin America ones, it gives you an idea of the country their coming from. Since you already have to put in the effort of making the video, a little extra effort goes a long way and for those videos up there, it clearly shows~

Have fun watching these videos! And then you can proudly say to others that you have just binge-watched airline safety videos. Remember, whenever you're flying, just watch the video, most are around 5-6 minutes long so you can afford to spend a few minutes watching, as they say, the safety procedures may differ from other aircrafts ;)