56 posts from 2008

If the most of us who live in flats have the warong Tom Yam downstairs, Dua Residency too have a new place to wine and dine it up. This posh condominium priced in the millions neighbours the Singapore embassy, Menara Tan & Tan, Istana Hinggap Perlis and is aligned towards the Petronas Twin Towers.

Back when I saw the 'delicious days ahead' cladding around Dua Residency's former showroom months ago, I had this wonderful vision of having my plate of rarebit and rosemary potatoes a table away from some intellectual-looking, Missoni robe-wearing Henk, secretary from the Belgian embassy, who just popped in for supper.

One recent night, I did a drop-by and asked the parking attendant to not charge me RM 5 because I just wanted to survey the area. There are three different restaurants within the block; delicious, delicious ingredients and Kirishima [a boring Japanese restaurant]. The regular delicious sits on the first floor [or second floor, if you're not a local], where you can expect perennial hits like Caesar salad, Nyonya curry laksa and sticky date pudding.

Back on the ground floor is concept fine dining delicious ingredients, which incorporates a bakery, gourmet grocery shop that also sells Kitchen-aids, and a selection of wines and spirits.

No Henk-like personalities were spotted within the premises, just local families who are first-timers having their ritual Saturday night dinner. Oh well, maybe I can find a better luck at delicious at Marc Residency [a person like Henk is most likely to rent a unit at a service apartment, rather than buying an RM 6 million unit at Dua].

I've been thinking... that I should stop writing the way I usually do, and change the format of my Notebook without changing its medium. Now that I am preparing a little side dish in a form of a magazine, I might publish my posts as if they are pages of a magazine. This would mean that I won't be using VOX anymore... which is good because VOX feels like a home for happy, life-loving people... not my kind of thing. Hm, if I get a mobile me account, I could publish my posts using iWeb, which is highly customisable. And I can add that little 'Made on a Mac' badge at the bottom of the page.

Regular posting will go on as usual... so wait for my updates. Meanwhile, here is a special picture of a leaking air duct on an LRT train.

Malaysian Mac users, both existing and to be, rejoice!

This must be the result of knowing very little people because I see no one here getting excited over Kraftwerk's show in Singapore on the third of December. Why?!

I'm fairly anxious to see this German band in person, although only two out of four of the current line-up are founding members. There was a time when I got fascinated with the resemblance of Ralf Hütter and that singer from Interpol [a band which I can't stand].

I expect the show to be very flat because the four men are just going to hover over their non-Mac laptops, with Ralf reciting an ode to the transportation system in Germany and a love affair with computers, in a monotonous voice. There might be a possiblity of them not being on stage at all, and have dummies in their place like how some of their shows are!

Watching Kraftwerk perform back in their prime would be amazing because they had their various machines, keyboards, synthesizers, and other various contraptions [basically the entire Kling Klang studio] on stage. I've seen a number of old-school recordings on *cough* Youtube *cough*, and find their live performances very inspiring. The beautiful neon-lit signs of the band member's name is one of the most striking feature that's missing from today's Kraftwerk. And Florian shouldn't have stopped using the flute.

Some of the songs I am looking forward to hear at the show are the classics Ohm Sweet Ohm, The Hall Of Mirrors, Schaufensterpuppen, Neon Lights... but it seems that they are more into playing the remixed versions [which I am not too fond of] during shows.

There is an unmistakably romantic feel in many of Kraftwerk's tracks, such as this one called Antenna [I know it's not from Trans-Europe Express, but this album cover is too beautiful!]. If they're going to play this at the show then I'm definitely going to sing along.

I will photograph the notable techno-geeks and other kinds of Kraftwerk enthusiasts for I Got Shot, which is in desperate need of an update.

My Kraftwerk music library is less than complete so if there's anyone out there who wants share some nostalgic tracks [pre-Computer World, mostly], give me a ring.

If all of that did not interest you, here's a totally unrelated fun fact. Anwar Ibrahim's picture is featured in the latest issue of Monocle [the one about building the perfect embassy], along with a tiny write-up on alternative news channels in Malaysia. Haha!

How's the weather at your end? I have been experiencing heavy showers from 5 p.m. onwards, which can be very frustrating because I can't go out to cycle, and it has been nearly two months since my last proper bike ride. I have plans to have an early morning bike ride this weekend, but it all depends on how early I can wake up. Nonetheless...

I think my 'unibody-trackpad is the button-endless praise for Jonathan Ive' craze has subsided, due to the very disappointing decision of making all Macs the most expensive mirror in the world. Hate. Glossy. Displays. To. The. Dual. Core. Glossy displays are for caffeine-binging WoW gamers having LAN parties in a darkened hall. Glossy displays are for showy anime-crazed, BenQ-utilising, waxed hair kids. Glossy displays are for television sets. And in some events, glossy displays are for real people who actually depend their lives on something like Y'PbPr ITU-R BT.709.

If Apple wants to go glossy all the way then they should use a kind of anti-glare glass [if my eyeglasses' lens have anti-glare, so should all glossy displays!]. After I followed the live coverage of the media event on engadget, I seriously considered to sandpaper and thinner off my identity that I've marked on my MBP, to make it ready for a trade-in. But after many thoughts on living with the glossy display, and Phil Schiller's semi-insensitive answer on how to counter-glare the display by saying, "You offset the reflection by the brightness, and consumers love it. One of the great things about a notebook is you can turn it however you want!" [which leaves us with 30 minutes worth of battery life], I decided not to give in. My MBP is now a discontinued item, which officially makes it an antique [on its way to, at least].

Have a look at this unboxing post. Someone should get a MacBook's body and lay over a real mirror over the display, then make it into some sort of practical joke.

But then, maybe I should check out the laptops in real life, and only then make comments on how bad glossy displays actually are.

Lastly, just to answer the Google searches on MacBook Pro caps lock lag leading to my Notebook. Yes, it is for real, not a hardware error or whatever. Verify for yourself here. I hate it. By the way, I am glad that Apple retained the caps lock key in the new portables. I hope they'll be there forever. Caps lock key for life.

In other news, I have discovered several amazing Apple-related sites like Folklore, described as "Anecdotes about the development of Apple's original Macintosh computer, and the people who created it". Another site, The Mothership, has an extensive collection of before-I-was-born ads, such as this ancient ad for an Apple Gift Catalog [?!].

And this ad on the Macintosh Performa 6400 gets me a little sentimental, considering it's the longest-serving Mac in my life [6 years]. Now I am slowly walking down memory lane to the days when some man [named Kenny, who is a self-confessed playboy] would come by to teach the kids in the household how to install software and make spreadsheets; having 'countless hours of fun' playing Sim City 2000, Glider Pro, Wolfenstein, Math Heads and Bill Nye's Stop The Rock; coming to a freeze whenever I try to play the Female, Deranged voice in Speech [and having the restart bomb dialogue box popping up as one of the scariest things in the world]...

Postscriptum: Anyone psyched about Kraftwerk coming to Singapore on the third of this December? I am. Excessively. I'll comment about this later.

Many happy Hari Raya Aidilfitri wishes to my intelligent readers. I thought this year's celebration will be a very sober one, but I thought wrong. I had a delightful trip to Muar, Johore with my relatives. We were off in the morning of the second day of Raya and reached Muar by 11 am. I was very very eager to try the Mee Bandung which is said to originate from here. My uncle brought us to this restaurant on Jalan Abdullah which I don't know its name, but have photographed how it looks like.

I was reminded of Capital Cafe because of the crowd, the satay stall, the multi-racial staff and old-school furniture [not seen]. I sat beside baskets of yellow noodles...

... as I tucked into a plate of pungent Mee Bandung, which tasted considerably authentic.

The satay was quite tasty but I'm not a fan of satay. However it's not the same as the regular satay because the version here is less chunky.

Nearby was an optical shop which had only Ray Bans in the window display. I've never seen the original wayfarers being sold anywhere until I saw them here. But what I dig is this board thing.

Haha, those glasses is made me think of the ones in Tom Ford ads.

On the way back to our car, we passed by this super-old printing press which has been around for about 100 years. According to the tauke, the machines, made by Heidelberg, was brought into the shop by a Singaporean company that imports them from Germany.

The tauke was very eager to show me the spider web-covered... plate thing where each character is arranged and... you know how it is, right?

So if you want to hang out with printers, both mechanical and human, visit Weng Soon Press, identifiable by this seasoned plaque.

My clan was scheduled to check-in to a hotel at two, so while we wait, I was sent off for a 40-minute boat ride on the river [Muar is a town by the sea, hence its name taken from the word 'muara' or 'river mouth']. Under the mid-day sun I floated and photographed some of the prominent architecture on the bank, like these...

and happy families with the camera phones.

After checking-in to the hotel and a short nap, I went out to survey the town. Pre-war shop houses still dominate the scene, with nostalgic signs and old people on bikes. Let me serve you some sights.

I found a very fascinating restaurant called New Eastern that has been in operation since the year 1928. I spotted some diners having a delicious plate of chicken chop. I'd have my chicken chop in one of those booths [kind of like what I've seen in old films where the men would have drunken card games with prostitutes].

And the decades-old menu:

There is a massive collection of Coke cans in one cabinet -

and shelves of beer glasses with humorous illustrations.

There is one street that's filled with Chinese stalls selling snacks, drinks, breads... you should try the oyster omelette sold nearby Tin Ah cafe. Very tasty! Here's how our cook did it.

There is a stall that sells fried snacks in the form of char kue / cakoi / ? which is kneaded and fried on the spot. Looks appetising.

On that night, I attended an open house in Parit Pinang Seribu. It was this very old Malay-style house which is just massive on the inside. I lurked about to admire its interiors and talked to relatives I've never met before. I am touched by their warmth and friendliness, especially Tok Yusof's, who was wrapped up in a blanket in the hall. Sadly, no pictures were taken because it's very difficult to photograph in the dark [I don't like flash photography]. I was also approached by this man who asked if I am an 'emo' and to a certain extent, 'gothic' [WTF?] when he found my hairstyle and eyeglasses peculiar, which annoyed me because it dampened my hopes of being asked if I am a Scandinavia freak even further.

The rest of the night was spent with the very spontaneous the 'Tok Nah, kuat melatah' and her amusing antics. Haha! There is still hope for those who suffer from depression.

The next morning, I had breakfast at 434 cafe and ate some toast served by 6-year-olds and a simple Nasi Lemak which was sold out within 15 minutes. More scene pictures continue:

Pear water, served cold but I prefer to drink it warm.

Back to the hotel after a good walk and got ready for another open house of the local ADUN. Along the way, I saw bus stops that resembles a trishaw.

Back to the hotel to pack our things, checked out by 2 p.m. and lunched on some pseudo-Asam Pedas [Tok Nah was right about her 'penyapu longkang' comment]. Then, we all headed back to KL.

Many thanks to my relatives for making this Raya an eventful one and many thanks to Muar for existing so that I have something to write about on my Notebook.

No bike rides, no sponge-taneous field trips, no trendie-friendly event coverage for the entire month. I think you know why...

Well, here are some notables that happened since my last real-life update.

My grandmother cooked some nice food for my 'family' during the Merdeka weekend. I requested her to cook Air Beyh for us, which is a unique syrup concoction made out of pandan leaves, ginger, seedy-looking things, cinnamon and sugar. I think this is the best ordinary drink in the world. Like... something I'd like to swim in, hot or cold.

Ramadan bazaar-hopping is quite overrated. I think I've been to enough bazaars last year. The only bazaar that's new to me this year is the one at SS 18 Subang Jaya. There is one stall that sells jacket potatoes [or potato jackets?], which I like a lot. Rice bores me; cereals and soy milk are now my bowel's best friends, but I do enjoy occasional doses of kuih keria, kuih jongkong, kuih lopis... but only if they are REALLY good.

There was one weekend when I was in the city to shop for new clothes, and naturally Saturday's the day when everyone is out, especially the fashion ridicules. I am not just referring to the trendies but also teenagers of the late-adapters who... just look amusingly absurd. I could've photographed them for my very depressing I Got Shot but... hey. You know how the European street style blogs are, where the subject would be standing in a modern corridor or bricked alleys or a bike track in a park, in overcast weather? If I am shooting someone here, the background would either be a fluorescent-lit shop lot, a shopping mall façade or something that's ugly and distracting. This is the biggest challenge I face when I want to photograph someone.

Well, my original point I was trying to make on being in the city to shop for new clothes is to introduce to you a kind-of new shop at Pavilion called Matériel. I discovered this shop quite by chance; I was doing some research on Scandinavian denim brands and one of them was Göteborg-born Dr Denim Jeansmakers [recently inherited the Best Denim award from Nudie and Acne, by Sportswear International]. The shop list tells me that the brand sells through two shops, one of them Matériel. I've never heard of this shop and it's in Pavilion?!

Looking highly inconspicuous, and even more so with the opposing Topshop flooded with trying-to-bes. But! There is a semi-decent variety of deconstructed blouses and tunics in black by... er, some brand from Helsinki, simple denim and unconventionally-tailored shirts by Fifth Avenue Shoe Repair [!], New Zealander urban street clothes by Federation, not-too-inspiring uniform for the casual society from J.Lindeberg, and a sizeable choice of jeans by Dr Denim. Though, their basic raw jeans is the only item I bought [perhaps because it's the cheapest trouser-item sold]. It would be great if the shop sold some nice shoes and accessories. But for now, let us all do minimalist avant-garde for a change [and not washing our jeans for half a year]!

Lastly, for randomness' sake, I have two descriptive pictures of what happened at the RaNtAi [however you capitalise it] event at Jaya One, on the last day of August [which I proudly cycled to (special greetings for Hani who is the first person in the world to identify me as Linolumixa)]. Two amusing sights are as follow...

Things like these should happen near where I live more often.

[Pseudo-] Typographic shot of the moment:

I had a buka puasa meal at my club [first time I had a buka puasa buffet in half a decade] and this one reserver didn't turn up at all. I wonder why.

Aaaaand... song of the moment.