Field Trips

The Holiday Hackathon is an excellent excuse to do all the touristy things in Singapore I’ve always wanted to do but never had the time. Today was a trip to Jurong Bird Park, Asia’s largest aviary.

I had a great afternoon surrounded by beautiful birds and three iguanas sunning themselves. I learned new things—a group of pelicans is a squadron, ostrich only have two toes, scarlet ibises get their color from the carotene in their diet, etc.

I love penguins, but I do wonder about animals kept in climates obviously not meant for them. This isn’t the first time; in Seoul’s Children’s Zoo, I saw a polar bear and a camel. But if their original habitats are disappearing, is it justifiable that they’re here, fed and watered at least? People who may never get a chance to go to polar regions only have places like these to go to. And maybe it would inspire some kids to be conservationists. I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments. I just hope these animals are happy.

Penguins. In the tropics. Hmm.

I loved seeing birds I didn’t know existed, such as a cassowary, which is a descendant from the dinosaurs. (Or as I like to call it, a rainbow turkey.) This one was a bit shy. Or perhaps because it was a really hot afternoon and needed the shade.

My first cassowary!

Another bird I had no idea existed. Here is a rare shoebill from Sudan. There was only a fence between it and me. It did not look happy to see me. Or did it?

A rare shoebill.

And for the heck of it, I tracked my trail around the park when I was: A. In the tram, and B. Walking.

Happy Trails. (L) Track made by riding the tram. (R) Track made by walking.

Obviously, the latter made me look at more things, but by how much? The tram ride was about 15 minutes and walking and mindful looking took me about two hours, walking more than twice the distance the tram covered. The experience designer in me is taking notes.

The Holiday Hackathon is an exploration/discovery project of me spending my last couple of weeks in Singapore. I just finished an art/science residency, and I’m hoping that asking questions and going to new places will help me figure out that next step/project.

Holiday Hackathon Day 2: What Does a Soon-To-Be-Ex-Gravesite Look Like?

December 15, 2013

Environment, Exploring, Field Trips, Journal, Singapore, Time

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Today, I headed out to Bukit Brown, a Chinese cemetery here in Singapore that is going to be torn down to make way for a road. It is the first Chinese cemetery in colonial Singapore—lots of pioneers are buried here. It has been listed as at risk site on the 2014 World Monuments Watch.

I really hope I never have to do this to any of my dead relatives.

It is such a lovely cemetery. I like coming across the ones under huge trees. It was a very peaceful oasis, surrounded by a country club and homes for rich people.

There were many graves where I saw recent offerings of food, as though an apology to those who were to be exhumed. The unclaimed ones, I read on the signs, were to be cremated and the ashes cast into the sea.

I loved these pinwheels in this graveyard.

There is something about walking that untangles my thoughts and gives me clarity. Such a beautiful place! Go see it before it’s gone.

Holiday Hackathon Day 1: What Happens When You Go through All of the Stations in Singapore’s Circle Line?

December 13, 2013

Creative Learning, Experiments, Exploring, Field Trips, Journal, Singapore

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Due to strange circumstances in the past 24 hours, my flight tonight from Singapore has been moved to December 31. After the last few weeks of being on full throttle—giving talks, doing photo and video shoots, running around Singapore getting materials, storyboarding, prototyping, packing, and vainly figuring out what my next step is—I just hit the brakes.

I am quite relieved. No, excited! My exhaustion from this residency was from a managerial standpoint, as this was project where I had a lot of collaborators. This was unlike the last one, where the stress was more from physical sources: I still can’t believe I hiked more than 43 mountains in less than 2 months. Still, in both cases, exhaustion bordered on nausea. But hey, I regret nothing.

I can’t believe it—two weeks of hermetic silence, completing The Apocalypse Project and prototyping new ones while avoiding the holiday rush. Now this is my version of a holiday miracle. To make this retreat a bit more fun, I will try to see this as the Great Holiday Hackathon. Unlike most hackathons, I’m still not sure what I’ll have in the end. My goal is to do certain tasks all over Singapore, asking specific questions or turning some urban expeditions into a photographic data gathering session of a sort. I want to know some things I’ve been mildly curious about in the past months I’ve lived here. Perhaps in this short time of experimentation, I will be able to see what I’m supposed to do afterwards.

So for Holiday Hackathon Day One, I wanted to ask the question, What happens when you go through all of the subway stops in Singapore’s Circle Line?

The Circle Line of Singapore MRT comprises 28 stations. I started at Harbourfront (on the lower left) and went clockwise. Sadly, GPS doesn’t work at this underground level, so the only data I have is the time of the journey. It’s not a complete circle, so to get back to Harbourfront, I got off (well, “alighted” as they say here) at Dhoby Ghaut station and transferred to the North East line (the purple line), riding 4 stations to go back to my original point. I killed time by reading a book. You can see my route via the black dots:

So, 32 stations, 0 displacement, and a few dozen pages later, I learned that this journey takes 1 hour and 22 minutes, and that it costs 0.78 cents. I’m sure my transit card doesn’t know I rode all those—I imagine I’d be charged the same if I accidentally entered the station and left it again, thinking it was a mistake.

I have no clue when this information will be useful, but I was just itching to know.

Looking for Smells to Counter the Apocalypse at Sifr Aromatics

October 18, 2013

Design, Environment, Field Trips, Singapore, Smell

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In the middle of researching for smells for The Apocalypse Project, I came across Sifr Aromatics, an independent niche perfumery located on Arab Street in Singapore.

Oh true apothecary! Johari Kazura of Sifr Aromatics

Mr. Kazura is a third generation perfume maker. He learned the business on the job, and also took some courses in Grasse, the perfume capital of the world. Perusing his shop, I came across all the books I read during the time I was doing some of my graduate school projects on smell. His store is a beautiful cornucopia of beautiful Eqyptian bottles, as well as antiques.

Thanks to the store, I finally came up with a list of smells for relaxation for The Apocalypse Project. You know, when that time comes when we have to evacuate climate change disaster areas and people are panicking. The list includes lavender and lemon. Rose was a good candidate, too, however, it’s too expensive and thus not a practical choice. Peppermint was added to the list because it promotes alertness.

Sifr is Arabic for “zero.” Johari says that in perfumery, “You start with nothing … you are a blank slate … and then later you end up with something.” And that something, smell, permeates.

Sifr is located at 42 Arab Street. Contact Johari Kazura at info@sifr.sg and visit their website here. Many thanks to Mr. Kazura and Hanz Monifiero Medina for all the help!

Wild Nights at the Singapore Night Safari

October 18, 2013

Environment, Exploring, Field Trips, Nature, Singapore

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This past Hari Raya Haji, a holiday in Singapore, I went to the Night Safari with a couple of friends. I’m always interested in how cities look at conservation, which to me has the tension of having flora and fauna thrive in their natural habitat and having humans be a non-intrusive witness to them in the hopes that they will be inspired to care for these organisms.

No flash allowed, people! But thanks to the safari’s simulated moonlight, I was able to take some photos.

Here’s a pride of lions (siblings, I’m told). I love big cats!

An otter!

Birds hanging out.

This photo is a bit blurry, but it’s all I have left of my first glimpse of a Malayan tapir. What a beautiful creature!

Prototyping for the Apocalypse: Singapore’s Army Market

October 1, 2013

Design, Field Trips, Singapore

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Last weekend, I visited Singapore’s army market to pick up some things for prototyping. I usually go to dollar stores or markets to buy cheap readymade objects that I can potentially hack into, but this is the first time I’ve visited a market that specializes in military gear. Of all the fields I’ve looked into, the military is the one that uses wearables in potential apocalyptic scenarios I am looking at.

These patches give me ideas.

I bought a pair of goggles, a head mask, and a face mask. I’m trying to see how the design of each can possibly fit into one of my projects.

This design space is fun. A bit scary, but fun.

Jack and the Kite Wars: An Aerial Fairy Tale

September 4, 2013

Exploring, Field Trips, Journal, Singapore

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As I recover from the flu, allow me a bit of hallucinatory storytelling from the highly entertaining 2013 Singapore Kite Festival last week.

—

Once upon a time, there was a yellow smiley faced kite named Jack.

He liked to fly.

So off he went. Doot doot!

He flew to the city, where there were very tall buildings. Woo!

He met a lot of friends of different sizes…

…shapes, and colors.

One day, Jack was recruited by the Penguin…

…who worked for Kung Fu Panda…

They wanted him to join their kite army to go against a great villain, who wanted to take over the skies.

Jack said yes, so off they went.

Jack was scared and excited at the mission. They patrolled the skies in search of the great villain.

Then finally, Captain Squid screeched, “Chaargggee!!!”

Sure enough, Spiderman was just around the corner.

And the kite wars began.

It raged for two hours, and finally it stopped. And they won.

Hurray.

Afterwards, Jack went off on his own.

And met a girl.

They dated and lived happily ever after.

And made kite babies.

The end.

Flying Nemo and the Cricket Match in Singapore’s Chinese Garden

August 25, 2013

Exploring, Field Trips, Singapore

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Nothing gives me more perspective into a city better than its people and what they do. Today, I visited Singapore’s Chinese and Japanese Gardens. After getting off the metro, this balloon of Nemo immediately attracted me, as did the cricket match happening several meters below it.

I’m adoring the contrasts that Singapore seems to be about. I can already tell the next few months will be interesting.

Haenyeo: The Mermaids of Jeju

July 27, 2013

Exploring, Field Trips, Korea

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Among the fascinating people I have met or seen in Korea are the haenyeo, or Korean female divers. I encountered them in Jeju, an island in the south. The haenyeo dive for abalone, clams, and seaweed without any special diving equipment. The women are mostly old, as the younger ones do not want to become haenyeo any longer. I am told that the youngest is in her fifties. There are only a few thousand haenyeo left.

In a diving show, the women sang before getting in the water.

They could be mermaids, after all!

Seoul43 Scavenger Hunts: In Progress

June 21, 2013

Art, Exhibitions, Field Trips, Korea

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For my Seoul43 project, where I hiked all the mountains in Seoul and borrowed soil samples from each mountain, the public was invited to plant using the mountain soil. Afterwards, people were invited to go on scavenger hunts to plant the soil back to the mountains of their choice. I have held two children’s workshops where participants planted using the soil, and together we went to a nearby mountain to do the scavenger hunt.

The scavenger hunt is designed to use small tasks that will promote positive hiking habits in the participants.

1. Greet and bow to the elderly.*
2. Give candy to fellow hikers.
3. Pick up trash.
4. Arrange fallen leaves or flowers into a sculpture.
5. Recite poetry.
6. Balance rocks.**
7. Use an exercise machine.
8. Write on a postcard.
9. Read official signs.
10. Plant!

* In South Korea, it is considered polite to bow to one’s elders.
** Many Korean mountains have Buddhist temples, and rock balancing is a common sight in and around them.

In addition, some people who previously learned about this project from my participation in the International Sculpture Festa in the Hangaram Art Museum at Seoul Arts Center this May signed up to participate. During the exhibition in the National Art Studio of Korea, they came to pick up a plant and hike a mountain. They told me the mountain they wished to hike, and I gave them their task list. Later, they will email me with documentation of what they did. Participants will be featured on the Seoul43 site with their permission.

The project website will be regularly updated, but here are some photos. If you are interested in doing a scavenger hunt even after this project is finished to join a community of city hikers here in Seoul, please email me at csgyoung[@]gmail[dot]com.

Hiking in Choansan: