Teh Partayy! =D

It was just as second mate postulated; the best really is for last. =)

Introducing

TEMASEK POLYTECHNIC

By far this was the most impressive entrance, with two blocks of institution curving in to make a giant ''C'', forming an almost natural square in the middle (or circle, in this case).



Ffirst of all, let me list out a bunch of reasons why I like this place:

1. It's spacious. Like Jusco, sans the air-conditioning.
   
2. It's got the most variety of design courses =) And the students' work is AWESOME.
   
3. It's got a lotta things going on (more on this later) and,
   
4. People here know how to LET DOWN THEIR HAIR, YEAH.
   

But why take my word for it? Let the pictures speak (mostly) for themselves :

Below is a snazzy performance by the Drama CCA of TP, emoting to a song from the noir musical Chicago;

Everyone is here hollering along to the live band's (totally rocking) rendition of Bon Jovi's "You Give Love A Bad Name"! Oh yeah.

A footnote: The colours correspond to which field they're in. (Blue for IT, Red for business admin, etc.)

When I addressed this man here I thought he was just a repairman or something....

Little did I realise I was actually talking to da big boss himself, a guy running the whole place with less presumption in his demeanour than the janitor!

Suffice to say I was nonplussed. And throughout the whole thing while I was struggling to make a witty comback he just stood there and looked at me to gauge my reaction wtf.

Lagi pressure wei!!

After an eternity all I could cough up was a feeble

"So . . . what's up?" >_<

Later on though, he graciously acquiesced to a photo, but only if I were in it as well.

Probably 'cos I make him look taller. Ah yes, the quintessential cafeteria, complete with cuisine of neopolitan variety. And once again, I see 'Muslim' food. After getting my really cheap chicken chop (S$3 for a set!) I glanced over at the malay menu; they didn't even have hash for crying out loud.

I gotta say, TP is really big on cheers, chants, and all manner of youthful extroversion. Damn semangat wei~

Not Yet Premier

But getting there, no worries. View from the entrace.







Bah, 5 minutes walk from the bus terminal. At least it's a covered walkway so the only ones with grounds for protest would be my feet.

At the end of the walkway we ascended on the escalator (the only one I've seen in any poly) to the scene before us. Yah, that's a mini-blimp over there. Powered by four really tiny engines, you know, the ones that drive cheap toy racers around their grey tracks and which absurdly was popular enough to spawn its own shounen anime....Huh.

Boring facet of architecture #3: Seems every poly has to have its own glass case for their flights of stairs. Saw this before in SP and NP, but I thought it was just a design quirk to modernify the place. Must be the same contractor. No doubt Batam will have the same staircases.



Chanced across the Japanese Culture Society whilst taking a stroll. Apparently it's so big they have 3 subdivisions:
The kimono and sake-swilling tea preparation club (forogt the real name)





The origami enthusiasts' club



And the anime & manga appreciation club. The girl on the left is wearing something in the Harajuku District style, I believe.









The whole place is invariably grey...Not quite the stimulating environs for creativity, but at least the greens break up the monotony.
There was a whole row of these along some of the corridors. Rates are cheap too, going at around S$3 a month. Why can't all schools have this? I accredit my slouch to you, primary 1-6, you who made us lug 5kg of textbooks up 4 flights of stairs, every single frickin' day! >=O

Curiosity unsatiated, I made a tour of one of the blocks (apparently accessible only by lift, since nary a flight of stairs could I locate)
It just so happened I was in the Design Wing, so there were quite few pieces of art, most of which I won't put up since I'm lazy and a miser. But since I'm in a good mood, I'll concede two:

Visually striking, yet it probably only took a few choice snips of the scissors to create this. Inspiring.



Looks like anime still has fans well into their early 20s...W00t, D.Gray-Man! =D


And then there was the School of Engineering.

Lake of Fire vs. Plain of Ice: Who will survive? (Half-formed idea just waiting for fruition 5 years down the road, mental note)

Later they did some performances, and Jean Danker played DFTL with the adoring crowd.
NYP's stage was way more accessible than SP's, at any rate.

Went back up to the Japanese Society where this fair maiden was sitting demurely at a table =)

And back at the main hall, a very well-choreographed dance was to be had, with individual acts taking turns to strut their stuff, and later coming together in the finale for a smashing performance. Click to enlarge.

Finally, got this one done. Can't believe it took me all of two hours to do >_<

Last up: Temasek Polytechnic!

Noisy Percussionists

Yeah so the next on the list: Ngee Ann Polytechnic. (Short form is NP not NAP, only Nan Yang has a 3-letter acronym)

As I alighted from the bus, what sprawled out before me was this:

If you squint, you may be able to make out the Poly's name on the building way at the back.

So yes, Ngee Ann. Also pretty big, from what I could make out, with booths displaying talent and course-exposure halls aplenty.

As I meandered in, a cacophony of percussion beats began to assail my ears. Upon further exploration they were found to be radiating from this.

They called themselves the Barracuda. Or some such Jamaica-originated bohemian name. From where I was taking this shot the drums were loud enough to beat a tattoo into my skull. I can only surmise after a preformance they all probably go deaf for a few days. (I doubt even earplugs could stop the onslaught of throbbing bass.)


Further on into amongst the buildings the surround sound melted into some soothing if rather monotonous acoustics. The source:

Or for the not-all-that-observant, the Song Composing booth. Quite the quirky CCA for a poly. Since 'ços most people are interested in the sing a few bars and get famous part, not the behind the scenes squeezing of creative juices and only a footnote in the platinum-selling album to show for it part. Go figure.

In other news, the cafeteria is post-modern as usual...Menu here is also reminiscient of the shopping complex, with the ubiquitous local dishes and some foreign fare. Here too, malay food is called Muslim Cuisine wtf.

Wow, there appears to be a trend emerging. NP seems to be really big on music, 'ços the next thing that caught my optic lens was this-

People here apparently don't mind photographers much, ços they happily let me in to their Radio Station, where they broadcast music live from in here to around the whole campus. You can request dedications and the like, just like a real station. =) The place probably often gets hijacked though,no doubt for spammage purposes.

What strikes me when I look back at the architecture is how very neo-japanese high school the buildings are. It's like they're really big on bright and contrasting colours on some so-straight-it's-linear cinderblocks. The only exception to this rule is the auditorium,

Greek in derivation and round as a mushroom.


Some other random pics:

Spotted this on one of their feedback boards. Guess I'm not the only thorn among the roses. =)

Yet another plus point of toting a huge official-looking cam around: People will automatically pose for you, thinking their pics will be splashed all over the school mag. Ha!

Sorry for the delay...you know you feel less like doing work when there's a whole mountain as opposed to a tiny molehill. Next up: Nanyang Poly!