I thought of doing a '2007 in review' post to end the year, but then I don't want to celebrate things I don't believe in, like New Year celebrations, Mother's Day, Wear Everything Backwards Day and others. A new year is nothing more than a time to change the calendar [that's what it means to me, anyway], so I am just going to write about the things I saw / did / attended / experienced in the month of December.
Buildings and architecture.
A new building is fast a-rising at the corner of Jalan Esfahan and Jalan Raja Laut. It's CIMB's [a local bank] new building, possibly going to be its HQ. How do you find the criss-crossing frame? Does it serve a purpose, to hold the entire structure together like a massive scaffolding, or is it just to hold fluorescent lamp tubes so that it will outstand DBKL building's light display at night?
I was having a leisure walk in the old parts of KL, from Masjid Jamek to Jalan Gereja to Central Market when I saw this old-school kopitiam at a row of pre-war shophouses nearby Medan Pasar called Sekawan Kopichop. I've never eaten Siamese Lemak Laksa and Mee Jawa in my life, so I might consider this place if I were to be hungry when I am in the area [and also if it conforms to my eating standards].
I was about to head back to PJ the other day using the Dataran Merdeka - Padang Merbok route. Just behind Bank Rakyat's Modernist-looking building, there is a street called Jalan Tangsi, where Wisma Ekran is located. I see this Art Deco building each time I go through this route, but only now have I the chance to check it out.
I am very glad to see such architecture still standing in KL. No need to destroy old buildings to build skyscrapers when we've got so much land! But then... we'd have to clear out forests and all, so...
A leap away from Wisma Ekran is Galeri Tangsi, an art gallery that's a hit among the intellects and PAM-heads [to be explained in the next paragraph]. Check out the elaborateness of this one.
Galeri Tangsi is connected to Pertubuhan Akitek Malaysia's [PAM] office. It was closed for the day, but what I saw from the window is a pretty airwell in the middle of the building, with some posters of projects PAM has done.
Culinary adventures.
I've written a bit about this restaurant in TTDI called Wak Chai, which serves Johorean cuisine and free WiFi to MacBook Pro users. I was there with my mother to enjoy a plate of Mee Siam, which is a favourite of Loloq, a very famous local composer [who was there to enjoy Mee Siam, too].
For some peculiar reason, Mee Siam is very popular in [and might be from] Singapore. It's rice noodles served with sourish gravy filled with Tau Choo.
And since that I am well-known for my Mac fangirl tendencies, I approached this man [named Hafiz, I believe] to congratulate him for using a MacBook Pro.
On a different day, my mother and I had a lunch of Laksa Johor at the same restaurant. The portion was huge, which is good enough for two people. My mother commented that it would be perfect if there weren't any excess oil.
This will be the third time I am posting a picture of Capital Cafe's Meehoon Hailam. This is probably my Food of the Year [though, Mee Bandung comes close]. There is nothing extraordinary about it, but only Capital Cafe can give you the lovely 'dining' experience [sharing tables with strangers, the multi-racial crowd, the smoke from the satay grill].
Luncheon with my mother at Sentidos Tapas, Starhill Gallery, which we think, has the best Tapas in KL [we don't agree with La Bodega]. A wonderful meal of oxtail, prawns, stuffed potato and grilled button mushrooms. Layer them on top of an olive oil-drenched bread and chew slowly. It will put a smile on your face.
One night, my mother made a su'un soup with potato and beef, and cereal-covered butter prawns to eat while watching Friday night TV shows.
Spending [more like wasting] loads of valuable time at Pavilion makes me hungry. My favourite stall in the food court Food Republic is Toast Box, a stall that grills their bread the old-school way. My favourite item on their menu is Nasi Lemak special, which has some meat floss-looking thingies and a piece of fish cake, alongside sambal, anchovies, cucumbers and a tiny piece of omelette. Though, the amazing-looking thing at this stall is the butter mountain, which goes onto your roti bakar that you will dip in a tasty cup of kopi.
The next post will be about the events I have attended, and some special sights I have shot during my long long KL walks.
People and where they spend their time at.
The first half of December was mostly spent on shooting people for my very important magazine assignment. I walked through Jalan TAR, Chow Kit area, boring malls, concerts and gigs, and a club night in search of fashion victims, gila glamours, conversationalist uncles and whatever else. Here are some of the places I have visited.
My Chemical Romance at Stadium Merdeka - 09.12.07
I was immediately enchanted by the presence of teenagers, some who were celebrating the end of secondary school, mostly in black. Some were with their schoolmates, some were with their parents, some were with their rombongan all the way from another state. All of them looked happy in their own emo way.
I hope all of them had fun.
There was a night when I decided to check out this 'be your own DJ' night at Palate Palette. It works by bringing your own music to be played on a PowerBook. But all I heard were blah tunes that are significant to Twilight Actiongirl. The event was swarmed by the after office hours and loose kids who have made it into every issue of JUICE.
I have been digging on Taman Aman, the park I have written about several posts back. Here is a picture of some joggers emerging from a slope underneath an LRT track.
Somewhere near Jalan Masjid India is a push-cart selling delicious bubur [of the cha cha, jagung and kacang hijau variety] on a cloudy weekday afternoon. I will join them if I happen to be there on a cloudy weekday afternoon.
And just to annoy myself, here are some people who were spotted with a DSLR at a particular skate event near Bukit Kiara.
And a guy who was wearing a funny t-shirt.
Some pictures from a not-so-inspiring 'art stall' event at CM Annexe called Kurasa Something. For half of the time I was there, I chatted with Ben from Defy.
Rare sightings.
Anyone interested in old Malay songs and recordings of the holy Quran recitals? I saw these at the Masjid India Bazaar.
Several minutes spent at a back-issue magazine store and here's what I found.
The title sounds so serious that it makes me think if it's just a joke.
A visit to KLue magazine's office to talk about my first article for the January 2008 issue. For the interns, they have blah-looking non-Macs, and for the old-timers, they use Macs.
A very sad-looking Christmas tree was found at Kamdar in SS2. It's just a frame draped with fabric, netting and a stream of tassles.
Full moon promises a brighter sky, and a better picture. I have discovered one more advantage to my camera's adjustable lens.
Expect more of my night landscape pictures to look like this.
Not too long ago, my mother and I went to Jalan TAR. She wanted to get a rug and some fabric for curtains and cushions. We parked the car at Semua House and walked to the oldest Indian Muslim restaurant in KL, Bilal.
There we ate some roti and chicken korma. Now recharged, we crossed the road to get to several carpet shops. My mother wants a medium-sized circular rug, but nothing pleased her.
Most of the stock were expensive Persian carpets, soft Belgian runners and rectangular abstract print rugs.
Nearby was SSF Home Deco Mart, a hit among middle-class Malay families who enjoy watching Casa Impian. 5 stories of pure fancy, frilly, contemporary home furnishings.
This shop is spectacular. Everything you need to decorate, upgrade, makeover or transform your house is here. From the redundant [spongy bread decorations] to dust-catchers [fake lily and chrysanthemum] to taste-enhancers [porcelain naked bodies], and many more, can be bought here. Let's check some stuff out.
Crockery and tableware, candles, mobiles, lamps, buckets, teddy bears, wrought iron lawn furniture, posters, vases and all that can make a housewife go crazy. The top floor is where you can find wedding supplies like ribbons, baskets, netting and the like, and suddenly my mood change.
From faintly-glowing chandeliers to bright fluorescent lights. Not too surprising to find the most crowd on this floor.
After more than an hour of scouting around, my mother bought some jars, fake flowers and other accessories. This shop is so fancy that they wrap glassware in printed wrapping paper. I mean, Robinsons use grease paper for wrapping!
A walk down the road and we saw a young man stepping out of a bus with a trolley full of snacks. This young entrepreneur sold us some cekodok pisang and buah melaka. The cekodok was rubbery, but the buah melaka makes up for it, thanks to its wonderful lemak-y dough and pure brown palm sugar. It's an instant hit for me.
Back to the main purpose of this shopping - find fabric. My mother wanted to check out this new fabric superstore called Jakel [you might have heard of it while listening to ads on Hot FM].
Look at how elaborate the store is. It was having a school holiday sale, and families, mainly the ladies, went ballistic over the choice of chiffon, Korean silk, jacquard and even pricey cloths by labels like Valentino, costing RM 300+ per metre.
My mother was running here and there to find a match for this striped orange organza which she had just ordered the sales assistant to give her a swatch. I was eyeing on several brocade fabric that were perfect for making into a skirt, but my sewing skills are limited to re-attaching buttons.
In the end, the only thing we bought were patchwork bedspreads that were a bargain price of RM 89! Other shops will sell these for double the price, or more.
My mother didn't even buy any fabric, which was what this outing was supposed to be all about, because she hasn't made up her mind yet...
Several days earlier, we were shopping for kitchenware at an improvised warehouse in Kelana Jaya, very near to Kompleks Tabung Haji called Super Rubber.
Like how SSF had everything you need to fancy up your home, Super Rubber has everything a kitchen should have. Brooms, plasticware, food preparation utensils, pots, craters and woks, glassware, baskets for your dirty laundry, stools for you to sit on as you manually do your laundry, stoves and clothes hanger..... it just goes on.
This is the real deal, IKEA's for sell outs. Now that I've got myself thinking about the last time I went to IKEA... haven't been there for months! I hope by now my ex-co-workers have forgotten how I looked.
The year is going to end in hours, so expect three more posts being published in less than 24 hours.
A visit to Bangsar Baru on the twenty-second where a fashion bazaar, known as 'Fashionistas Secret Meeting' was held at a shop which I have featured before...
The shop was filled with trendy shoes and accessories, old clothes [some would call them 'vintage'], new clothes that were made to look like they are old clothes, one-off shirts and dresses from brands that are not available here [like Roberto Cavalli and H&M], and stock clearance.
Many of the stuff that are on sale were very cheap; if you're smart enough, you'll get an outfit for less than RM 100. Although there were some nice things, it wasn't my kind of scene because my fashion tendencies lean towards high street stuff, whereas what you may find at this bazaar were folk-thrift store-DIY things.
Of course, for events like this, half the fun comes from the people who showed up. And just like every place hipsters are found, electronic-indie music and cigarette smoke will be there, too.
One of the main people behind this shop is Ethan, seen giving away tiny cream icing-laden cupcakes [probably sponsored by a certain graphic design firm] to everyone present.
My former classmate during my days in cenfad, Bee, was there to shop some stuff. He is very into DIY and street clothing, and was infamous for wearing a ridiculously-expensive hat with two naked girls kissing each other. Nowadays, his Japanese LED wristwatch becomes the priciest item he wears [which you won't get to see].
A few cupcakes later I was seen shooting more people, before the place evolved into a Lapsap night at Palate Palette. Many online celebrities dropped by to show face, but left quickly probably because there was no free booze.
The only thing I bought was a Libertine for Target shirt.
Fast forward to 9 p.m. Somewhere near Subang airport is a popular seafood restaurant called South Sea Seafood.
My mother had a wonderful idea to tell my father to bring the whole family out on a dinner. This was the first time in a decade [or more; I seriously can't remember the last time we had dinner when all of us were present]. We all sat at a big round table, in a sea of dining families of all races. We took one dish for each seafood - butter prawns, sweet & sour crabs, lala special, steamed siakap fish and venison cooked with peppery sauce.
While waiting for the food to arrive, I checked out other tables and the aquariums.
See the photo frames hung on the structure? They were photographs of celebrities and VIPs who have patronised the restaurant.
You can't miss their shark's fin collection which disgusted me out. Were they for display only, or is that the way they store their supply?
I found a tank full of Mantis prawns. They look unbelievably scary, like cockroaches, complete with antennae, segmented abdomen, needly legs and furry wing-like thingies hanging from their mouth. Argh!
The water the animals live in magnifies the details on their scales... even worse when some of them are already belly-up. Jikes!
I have discovered seafood to be very freaky. Luckily they live in the sea, and not in places like my attic, or creeping up my neck while I am driving in the car.
A lobster was trying to terrorise me as it cautiously creep up from its tank. Go away, lobster!
Ah, back to the safety of the dining table. Time to eat!
I avoided the crabs because I don't want to get my hands messy and be hitting around with a meat-tenderising hammer. While waiting for others to finish their meals, I took out my first Kam Raslan book, purchased in Bangsar earlier, called 'Confessions of an Old Boy'. On the way back to our houses, my mother told me that he knows Kam [or Karim] way back, and that got me excited, asking if he's married. Then my mother gave me a disappointing answer. Haha! But the book is easy to read, and it tells me some stuff that I wish to be a part of [like living in Kenny Hills, for example].
I think that's enough story for this post. I will cover two more outings in the next post. I must make sure to have ten posts by the end of this month!