2 posts tagged “lot 10”

Mac fans, you know what will happen tonight [or this morning, depending on where you reside]. Somewhere in San Francisco, Steve Jobs and his friends will be introducing several new things like... I'm not sure what they will be this time, but the most anticipated announcement shall be the release of the so-called MacBook Air [which I will own by the middle of this year (I hope!)].

When will it happen? The time is 9 a.m. PST [plus sixteen/fifteen hours for those in GMT+8]. That should be around midnight. Where to check it out? Naturally, everyone will be hanging out at macrumorslive for almost real-time updates [pictures included, I believe]. Be sure to have the Apple site open, too, and refresh it once in a while to confirm that the existence of this 'MacBook Air' is real.

Update: MacBook Air is for real.

Initial responses, first impressions and comments [so far]:

• How the hell is it so confoundingly thin?! Will it crack easily?
• Glossy screen? Not my cup of tea. Glare is rarely my cup of tea.
• Where are the speakers? No speaker at all? It says in the Tech Specs page that there is a built-in mono speaker, but where is it located? Could the little holes beside the iSight serve as the speaker and the microphone?
• No optical drive. OK, great, I rarely stick in CDs into my computer. This won't do well in Malaysia because we don't have an iTunes store, so we can't buy any music and download / rent movies. And even if we did have an iTunes store, it would take hours to download a movie, thanks to the amazing broadband speed we have.
• About the whole 'access another Mac or PC wirelessly / install a programme from it' feature. That's only possible when both computers have wireless capabilities, right? Like which regular desktop PC have a built-in wireless card?!

Conclusion: It's a beautiful machine, more soft curves, or should I say, slopes. In my opinion, its future might be like the Titanium PowerBook because the design will be more polished eg. the keys will be in silver colour, improved hinges. Will I get it? No, not really. It's more of a want than a need. A MacBook Pro is better for me because I still need the ports and optical drive.

A little odd note: I've noticed that the PC guy from the Apple ads have slimmed down [judging by the latest ads], just like a MacBook Air. Nevertheless, I am amazed by both of them.

And just to add a little relevant additive to this post, check out this visual commentary based on observations of an amazing illustrator called Peter Arkle [his latest design for graniph is high on my wishlist, currently].

Not to forget, my visit to the alleged three-storey Apple store in Lot 10 [it's just two-storey; the third level empty]. Machines wasn't quite open yet, but I think by the time this post is published, they have sold dozens of Nanos and some Mac Pros.

OK. One thing I don't fancy at all. Why are they using the Arial typeface for the shop's name?! Machines have been using the standard Myriad for the rest of their stores. I hope that these are just a stand-in while the Myriad ones are still in the making.

Another sad sight. Why are the 'i's capitalised?!

Now that Machines will be the most-visited shop in Lot 10 [its entrance is right after the mall's entrance], they should keep their visitors in the store for as long as possible by not having the WiFi turned off or Safari on block.

Salutations! Saturday the seventh was the most eventful one I've had this year. JK and I went to Bukit Bintang to finally start on my little street fashion project. I drove to Taman Jaya LRT station to board the train to KL Sentral, where I met up with JK [who was made late by the horrible Komuter].

We took the Monorail to BB, which was my first time this year, because I enjoy driving too much. When we first got into the train, it still had free standing space, but when we got to Hang Tuah station, people started to flood the train, since it crosses the Star Line.

   
 

 
  
  
 
  
  
It was such a hot day so we headed to Lot 10 to feel some air-conditioning and also a sushi snack bought at the Isetan supermarket. After that we went back out to walk along Bintang Walk to see if there were anyone fashionable that's worth to blog about. But we saw none. Then we decided to stroll down Jalan Walter Grenier, where the famous but defunct Music Exchange store is. There were nice townhouses lining the street, and we spotted this dizzy orange building.

By now we were seeking shelter from our umbrellas and felt like we were baked alive. I wanted to continue scouting people to photograph so we went into Sungei Wang to take the exit near Giant supermarket which leads to where the real traffic is. People use this route to get to Times Square from Sungei Wang, and it was a smokey, noisy alley with people dodging cars and motorbikes. We decided to stand near this wall where we could see crowds passing right in front of us. The weather was cloudy then so there was no need to hide underneath our umbrellas.

We saw A LOT of people. Mostly they were the boring Chinese Times Square types, who dressed like the mannequins of wholesale boutiques at Pudu. Then there was a good amount of Rempit types, tudung girls with body-hugging outfits, J-Rock fanatics, poseur skinheads and the most interesting ones -  13-year-olds decked in striped socks, black lace skirts and white shirts with ruffles, sucking red lollipops with their eyes lined in black. JK commented that they are a quirky example of Chanel, all in monochrome. We approached them to have their pictures taken but they declined [which is odd because the purpose of them dressing up like that is to gain attention, and being photographed SHOULD be the best thing to happen to them]. Then there were these boys coming to us and suspected that we were some reporters who might give them 'bad press' and told us to photograph other people. After much negotiation, they insisted to not have their pictures taken, and we left the place for Times Square, using the overhead bridge.

I have read somewhere that the seventh level is where the detrimental Malay youth hangs out to do nothing. We noticed that they like to loiter around the public phone corridors, sucking on their red lollipops [both boys and girls do it]. It really made us go "What the hell?!" seeing 'lollipop-suckers' everywhere we went. Other people on the seventh floor include dating couples, dazed skinheads and rowdy Rempits who looked like they were going to bash us up.

After getting bored with the kind of crowd we got to see, we left Times Square and headed back to the main BB area to get some of that devilish Hotcakes [or 'decadent', as JK exclaimed] at McD. We got the best seats which overlooked the busy BB pedestrian crossing and was disgusted by these nightclub performers playing crappy music at this stage which was supposed to hold cultural performances. Oh, Hotcakes are so lovely. I really should limit them to at most once a week.

When we got our guts stuffed, we decided to visit Little Havana, which is a bar / gig spot, a favourite place for local bands to perform, located at Changkat Bukit Bintang. I know that whenever there's a performance, many teenage music fans would be concentrated there and they would be very easy to photograph.

We walked down the street known as Jalan Berangan, where the Arab Square is located [a homage to Arab tourists who love visiting our country]. There were more of these quaint townhouses where we both dreamed of living in, and hoped the whole area being converted into chic shops and cafes.

I noticed that we were approaching Jalan Nagasari, where the new restaurant Palate Palette is. It was just a few steps away from No Black Tie [good place to catch jazz bands and poetry readings and wines]. Palate Palette was just so... Singaporesque. We've rarely [or maybe, never] seen these kind of simple yet quirky restaurants in KL. We had a look of their menu, which had nothing spectacular, but we will make sure to have a snack there just for its ambience.

I took pictures of the upper level first, where the lounge / artspace is. There were people painting a cube-licious mural, and the walls were painted with contemporary graphic prints, and there were painted panels on the ceiling, with a stuffed giraffe sticking out.

The furnishings were a big mix of Victorian, Mod and old-school Chinese.

We went back to ground level the check out the dining area, when JK informed me that DJ Blink [not really from Twilight Actiongirl] was one of the painters, and sort of owns the place [actually the last statement was incorrect]. Each table has different chairs, so before you can sit down and decide on your meal of choice, you first have to decide which chair to sit on!

There was an outdoor seating area which has an Astroturfed wall, coloured canvas-clad tree trunks, hula hoops and more choices of chairs.

After a good survey of Palate Palette, we headed next door, to this New Age shop called Lightworks [which I initially thought that it sells lighting]. Its entrance was full of leafy trees, with stepping stones and concrete furniture. We were greeted by its yuppie owner and had a look of some books and 'alternative healing' products on sale, placed upon levitating shelves.

There was a little reading corner beside an air well, with retro armchairs positioned next to an air well that has been converted into a pretty pond with a bamboo-lined wall.

Health juices and soothing tea are served at the little bar next to it, with funky tooth-like partitions and good-looking molded plastic chairs. Nearby is a music section, selling New Age CDs, which I'm not really into.

We were brought upstairs to check out the Yoga studio which also had a sound mixer, and a massage room. This is the view of the ground floor from above :

I had a view of its restroom which had a funky essential oil scent lingering. There was a curtained section with a padded wire chair, which can be used as a breastfeeding area or a changing area.

After spending enough time at Lightworks, we headed back out and spotted this amazing apartment next door, which looked like a capsule hotel [or Genting Highlands back in the 1970s].

Some of the units were for sale, and JK considered to invest his money on it, which is a dead cool idea. I wish I could, too. So radical!

We left Jalan Mesui [the street off Jalan Nagasari] and headed to Little Havana. Unfortunately, there wasn't any performance for the day so there weren't anybody worth photographing. Then we passed by Frangipani [which is famous for its gay Friday nights at their bar upstairs, and might I add that its architect is Zaini Zainul] when JK asked if I have been to its restaurant, which I haven't, so we entered and lurked around its beautiful dining space with an air well in the middle, filled with water. It gave a perfect reflection of the white colonial-style columns and a sense of tranquility. The old design of shophouses always had an air well in the middle of the building, for ventilation purposes. Nice.

When we walked out of Frangipani, I realised that I am without an umbrella! I tried to remember the last time I held it, and we immediately went back to Jalan Mesui to see if it's sitting in Palate Palette or Lightworks. I walked in and asked the painters if they have seen it, but they only said "We didn't see you holding an umbrella, just a camera". After that we leaped to Lightworks and I headed to the restroom. No sign of my checkerboard umbrella. I went back out and thought it out with JK, and I decided to go back in to Lightworks to see if it was inside the toilet cubicle. And it was! Harhar, how forgetful of me.

And this forgetfulness brought me to a wonderful situation. When I walked out, I saw JK talking with this very pleasant-looking white man [which I have been eyeing on while he was sipping tea at the cafe inside, when we first got there]. I shamelessly asked him if I could photograph him, and he agreed! I was about to shoot him when he went "You want to photograph me alone? Why don't you get in the picture?" so I passed the camera to JK and stood next to Cute Man. JK snapped like, 5 pictures, but only one turned out to be good because I couldn't stop making funny faces in attempt to hide my excitement.

After that we introduced ourselves, and I wanted to shake his hand when he said "My hand is still wet from trying to catch the goldfish". Isn't that cute? He was playing with the fishes in the pond near the entrance!!! So he stuck out his left hand, and let us know his name [which I pathetically forgot! Argh! (next time, whenever I meet someone, I should repeat their name aloud right after they tell it to me, in order to remember it)]. We talked a little and he told us that he's originally from Austria, which made me went "Guten Tag!".

Oh wow this is too much, I'm getting all hyper so I won't go on about my encounter with Nice White Man. After we said goodbye [or to be precise, Tschüß!], JK commented that there should be more friendly white people like him in this country. I totally agree.

It was close to 7 p.m. when we decided to end our adventure. I took one last photo of a typical shophouse which faces a row of restaurants, like Deutsche-Haus, Relish and other trendy tourists-geared eateries.

We walked towards the monorail station, beside the cultural performance stage [held in conjunction with the F1 weekend], where the crowds just stood beside the road with not much facial expressions.

I got my train ticket and captured the amount of people about to board the train heading to Titiwangsa [luckily our train is heading towards the opposite direction, which is KL Sentral].

After boarding our train, it suddenly had a swarm of people flooding in at the Times Square stop. We were nearly packed like sardines until we reached KL Sentral, where JK took the KTM Komuter to head home, and I took the LRT to head back to Taman Jaya. That day was my first time I took the LRT this year and was taken back to my days in cenfad when I had to take the LRT to go to school. Luckily there weren't many people on the train, and I immediately took a seat and took some pictures of the cabin.

And for your additional information, one of my favourite places to stand is at the end window to get a full view of the scenery I'm passing by.

I arrived at my house by 7.30 p.m. and felt really tired. My feet were in pain, which kept me off sleep for half of the night.

Attention :  I am not going to post the pictures of the fashion people for now because I'm compiling them until I have enough pictures to appear in a single post.

Read me later!