Small Homes and Tiny Houses

If one think about small, it is natural to associate it with tiny, less, little or even unimportant. However, small is also synonym with cozy, easy and more often saving. I found a documentary video on youtube about small homes that really open my eyes and my mind to new perspective, just like the old saying less is more.

The documentary titled "We the Tiny House People" was made by Kirsten Dirksen for her channel on youtube (i think its for the channel, don't know if the documentary was for TV somewhere). And I find her channel very interesting where she covers the life of all this people who live in tiny apartments/homes and how they manage that. She also have a websites here.

Previously, I had an entry where I talked about a Lego style Apartment, turn out its from her channel. She also got tons of other video with the same theme.   I've list some of the episode which I think is more interesting than the others.

1. Maison garage: old parking as tiny home in Bordeaux, France

 From a garage, it is turn into a small yet cozy home. It has everything, even a patio.

2. 16 year old builds tiny home to guarantee mortgage-free future

There's no doubt that he is thinking of his own future, so his parents must be relieved. Do you remember what we did when we're 16? I do - play all the time and not worry about mortgage or anything. It's really amazing what this kid is doing.

3. Simple life Manhattan: a 90-square-foot microstudio

90-square-foot is roughly the size of an MPV (motor power vehicle). Imagine that cramp with your stuff - bed, closet, desk, 'kitchen', bathroom - its hard right? Well this girl has done it.

4. Tiny, Portable, Prefab Cube Shelter

Look at the adorable little house. Serves perfect as hotels or homestay-like house for tourist or whoever wants. I am falling in love with the small and tiny houses like these. Aren't they cute?

Extras:

5. A downtown live/work dream house

6. House in a Suitcase

7. Bus as a House

8. Tiny Home Cube: Bathroom + Kitchen + Closet.

9. Living on a Boat

10. The use of different level Platform

11. Bathtub under a bench

12. Toolshed as Homes

13. Shipping Container Homes

So, thats that. There are lots of others scattered on the internet, feel free to search about them. I''ll probably write again something similar to this in the future. So stay tuned (",)

Japan's Apartments / Nihon no Apato

Do you know that apartments in Japan are superb, yes tiny but wonderful at the same time. I wish there are small apartments like that here in Kuala Lumpur. I find them very practical for a single tenant, you don’t have to search for housemates (which often lead to various problems because you don't really know them). But off course it’s only an opinion from one person, others may find the small space a ridiculous thing.

Basically, there are different types of tiny apartment or apaato as they called it; 1K, 2DK, 2LDK and probably some more that I don’t know. The number signifies rooms, K means kitchen, D means dining room and L means living room. Want to know more about the different types of apartment, go here.

So basically 2DK apartments are 2 bedroom plus kitchen plus dining room (no living room, but I think the room can doubles as both). The shower room is separated with toilet because that’s the culture (very much same to Malaysia but modern houses nowadays combines them both). Most apartments also come with a fridge, a microwave oven, stove, washing machine, internet access and closet (sometimes TV).  Here are some pictures and videos, enjoy;

Key for the apartment, a very strange one in my opinion

Then you have Genkan which is a place where you take off your shoes because Japanese culture do not wear shoes inside the houses (same like Malaysia)

The basic Hallway that lead to your room. Most of the apartment layouts are toilet and shower on one side and kitchen, washing machine, closet/storage on the other side.

Among the cool thing about the toilet is the fact that a sink is placed on top of the water tank for the convenience of washing your hand after you're done and recycling the water for flushing, ain't that green?

Also a cool thing is the dryer in the shower which are meant to dry clothes. Just hang it and turn it on to the setting you want, it's that simple.

These are different interior that I found (it's not limited to only these). Personally prefer the top-left, seem so much bigger than the other. Here a tour video, credit to the owner (",)

Also, I find that apartment in Korea shares similar styles as these tiny apaato. Comparing the two, Korean use keypad thingy to replace key which are useful if you left your key in the apartment), the shower don't have tub, kitchen area is not in the hallway but integrated as part of the room, some have loft for sleeping area and some don't have specific sleeping area at all. Also, they have floor heat system which is important I guess. Whatever the differences, I love both Japanese and Korean apartment (",). Here is one video I found on youtube;

Furniture of the Future

Cool title right? So today I want to talk about some really cool furniture design that I found on youtube (off course, where else?) and I’ve been kinda obsessed about them these past few days. These are absolutely amazing furniture, some made by companies, some by individuals. Without further ado, lets take a look.

Resource furniture

A New York based company that have been around for more than 10 years, provides the solution to tiny spaces problems with a stylish design. According to the president of the company, his furniture serves double and sometimes triple purposes instead of conventional one purpose furniture. What I like about them is that they are very useful and practical and modern and maximize space at the same time. Check it out.

A coffee table transform into a dining table. Neat right?

 A desk which elevates when the hidden single bed opens

 A two seat sofa that later be revealed as bunk bed (I honestly didn't see that coming)

An end table doubles as extra dining table for guests or it could double as your work table, you choose

Hiddenbed
A company specializing in designing furniture that always transform into bed, usually a single bed. Everything stays on the desk while you pull the bed from the back.

Christy Oates

These are just plain awesome. The design concept totally blow me away. See for yourself. The pictures alone don't do justice, you need to see the video here to be totally amazed.

From the wall to a desk

The stool did come from the painting too (is it a painting?)

Yep, it doubles as a nice looking coffee table (how cool is that?)

I can obviously see that this is going to be hot item if it ever be marketed

Expandable table

Using some mechanism of gear i presume, it expand the square table which come in handy when you want larger table space.

With black glass top finish, you really can't complain

If that’s not enough, here some extras;

* Folding Bed 

* Folding Chair

* Folding Table

* Eco-furniture

* Portable bookshelves

The furniture are also eco-friendly and portable too! 

Although most of the stuff is not available in my country, I just want to appreciate just how creative one person can be and I am jealous by their thinking and creative ability. I hope someday I can contribute some useful ‘thing’ to the world like they had no matter how small the contribution is.

Justin Bieber Look-A-Like

Justin Bieber has doopleganger all around the world. Let’s take a look into some of the famous one.

1) Dani Shay
She is a 22 year old from Florida, USA. She has her own youtube account where she post video of her singing covers and also her own original song. The singer caught national attention when she went to America’s got Talent as per video below. She also has an active website which is here if any of you want to check out.

Credit to AmericanBestTalent

Dani on the left, JB on the right

2) Alejandro Avilez

He is a 17 year old singer from Peru. Also has his own website (its in Spanish but we always have google

translate (“,)) . The Bieber look-a-like starts off with performing the star's song but later wants to have his 

own songs and be more than a clone. Good for him. For more info, go to this website.

Alex on the left, JB on the right

3) Jamie Laou

From Sydney Australia, the 17 year old Jamie used to tour around Australia before the real Justin Bieber’s 

just to pump the heat. He have his own youtube account where he wants to make people laugh. He also 

have an official blog but there’s nothing but just one photo.

Jamie on the left, JB on the right

4) Theo Cavalcanti

The 18 year old guy is a pride of Brazil because of his Bieber resemblance. I am not sure if he sings or not 

but there’s a playlist in youtube about him.

Theo on the left, JB on the right

5) Other infamous Justin Bieber doppelganger

Kalia, a winner of a Justin Bieber look-a-like contest. More info here 

Don’t know anything about him. Found him here 

Justin Bieber impersonator, found him on a website offering  shows and performance service.

MicroExpression

Lately, I’ve been indulged in the body language reading in Lie to Me (click here if you don’t know about it). Is it for real or is it a hoax? I don’t know for sure but it’s a shame the show didn’t get renewal for a new season.

One of the focus of the show is Micro-expression (click here for the Wikipedia explanation). So, basically micro-expressions are involuntary emotion express by someone in a matter of less than a second. We cannot control it because we didn’t realize we are expressing the emotion at the time it happened, and by the time we realize it (if we ever) the emotion is already gone.

Now, in my understanding, no matter where or who we are in the world, we tend to express emotions in the same way. If we’re happy = we smile, if we’re sad = we cry or at least the eyes will show you are sad. So the micro-expression is true for everyone regardless of age, race, religion or sex because we are from the same species =homo sapiens aka human.

There are a lot of emotions to cover, but these are the one that I found on the internet (credit to google images). Also, there are seven universal emotion; anger, disgust, fear, sad, happy, surprise and contempt.

 

Something extra;

1.   Apparently there are extensive studies regarding Micro-expression. (click here for the brief history)
2.  Want to know if you have the ability to detect these micro-expressions? Take these test = Facial expression test

I'm Coming Home - Skylar Grey

I'm coming home
I'm coming home
Tell the world I'm coming home
Let the rain wash away all the pain of yesterday
I know my Kingdom awaits
And they forgiven my mistake
I'm coming home
I'm coming home
Tell the world I'm coming home

Very deep lyrics there. It could be interpret in so many ways by different people.
Here's what I think; (for the sake of my interpretation lets assume a she)

[ I'm coming home, I'm coming home ] - Someone who have been 'outside' her home for a very long time, either pursuing dreams or just want to live the world, suddenly have enough of what the 'outside' world has to offer and decide that she will go home - to where she feels best at being her true-self

[ Tell the world I'm coming home ] - She feels that everyone should know that she is going home because she is sick and tired of the world 'play' - all the lies and bullshit that the world corrupt us with

[ Let the rain wash away all the pain of yesterday ] - She is going to let her 'home' (home equivalent to the family and friends) heal all the wounds that she got during the 'outside' stay

[ I know my Kingdom awaits ] - Kingdom in the sense of her old world, the one that she grow up with, the one that she is comfortable with

[ And they forgiven my mistake] - Perhaps she went to the 'outside' world without permission and that her parents (obviously) have long forgotten about the misunderstanding and await her home, or the other way around, where people of the 'outside' world release her to return home

[ I'm coming home, I'm coming home, Tell the world I'm coming home ] - Just to make a clear stand that he/she have made up his/her mind and nothing will change that

Journey to find yourself - Personality Test

Human is complex, thus understanding humans is by right also a complex process. In some other times, it is difficult to even comprehend your own action, why others will act differently – your inner-self. I feel the need to acknowledge and find the right path for myself – one that I enjoy while at the same time approved by my family and close friends (because they mean the world to me).

Therefore, I have been searching online for personality test that can help me with myself (if that makes sense) and I found out about The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, Carl Jung theories, Big five personality and other psychological ‘thing’.

Basically, The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) assessment is a psychometric questionnaire designed to measure psychological preferences in how people perceive the world and make decisions. The original developers of the personality inventory were Katharine Cook Briggs and her daughter, Isabel Briggs Myers. Click here if you want to read the Wikipedia version.

To cut the thing short, Myers-Briggs suggest there are 16 type of personality in this world, each and every one of us belongs to one of these personality. These 16 types of personality are built up from four pairs of preferences which are;

Extraversion – Introversion ( E / I )

Sensing – Intuition ( S / N )

Thinking – Feeling ( T / F )

Judging – Perceiving ( J / P )

Myers-Briggs also explained that their type indicator only reveal preferences and that it may change from time to time. You can only prefer one of the four pair. Therefore, if we calculate it mathematically it will give (2 x 2 x 2 x 2 = 16) 16 possible combination of personality.

Source : http://stjameslongbeach.org/myers-briggs-type-indicator-workshop

Source : http://web.forret.com/tools/personality

Source : http://donigan.blogspot.com/2011/05/know-your-strength-weakness--myers

These test, in my opinion, are essential in knowing your inner-self, not that I suggest that I don’t know myself but sometimes I found it hard to choose between two things and the description in the test do help in my life-decision, especially in career development.

So, there are lots of test on the internet but one that I found very helpful and accurate is The Myers-Briggs Test Indicator (which is available here)

The explanation of each personality type can be found at this amazing website here.

I post this entry in the hope that everyone can benefit from these test, either understanding yourself, your friends, family or whoever.
Enjoy and have a nice day (“,) 

Pixar's Short Movies and Bloopers

Did you guys know that Pixar's Animated Movie always put something extra for each movie they made?
I'm talking about the animation movie such as Toy Story, Monster Inc. and off course many more.
Before going to the 'extra stuff', lets take a look the list of all Pixar's Animated Movie (the ones that I know, sorry if I skip any title)

A Bug's Life Bloopers (Woody from Toy Story make an appearance)

Jack Jack Attack (this is my favorite)

Mater & the Ghostlight

I love how Pixar go the extra mile to make these kinds of things, it shows how much they appreciate the audience aka viewers. Also, it shows just how creative they are and separate them from the rest of the other animated movie maker.
Now, these are just icing on top of the cake, there are bunch of other short-films that Pixar made, for the full list, check out here.
p/s : I do not own all of this, PIXAR do (",)

Cool and Awesome Fonts for free

Who doesn't like free stuff?
Everyone love it right...
I found this amazing website that have over 300 hand-writing fonts for free !!!
>> Kevin and Amanda << My personal thanks to Kevin and Amanda.
You guys really should check it out, its really cool, here's some example :-

Odd & Weird Pictures

Still continuing my optical illusion's collection pictures (this is the last one, here is part 1 and part 2)

Pictures below is just some odd and weird pictures that I find interesting (hope that it find you interesting as well)

Its the magic word

Black or White? Choose

Can you figure out what's written  on the face?

Its not where you go, its who you met (very inspiring right?)

Its more than just a lovely rose

Picture speak more than words, there is so many thing in this pictures (these are among the famous one)

Ship or Bridge?

There is something fishy about this cow

Guess what is this? (if you go straight to the answer, it wouldn't be fun at all, trust me)

Some explanation;

Second picture = Choose black you will see the word 'LIFT' and choose white you will see random black 

                            blocks.Off course most people see white only. I did.

Third picture = It's a word 'LIAR'

Sixth picture = there is a hidden dolphin outline inside the rose

Eleventh picture = Off course its fishy, there is a world map on the cow!

Twelfth picture = Its the picture of a cow (see, its not fun anymore now that you know)