Linolumixa's Notebook

This way please.

2010-10-11T21:34:00.000+08:00

http://linolumixa.typepad.com/blog/

IKEA's Futura is Verdana.

2009-11-01T13:50:00.003+08:00

Trademark blue and yellow tiles and flatpack trolley.

This post discusses IKEA's move to use Verdana, a typeface mainly used for its notable legibility on web pages, but also closely associated with Microsoft. In-between paragraphs are images of IKEA which I have captured for the past four years (serving mainly as a documentation of the transition and a last look at IKEA before Verdana).

First, let's know about Verdana's origins (but this, you can Google it yourself).

Second, let's think of where we usually see Verdana being used. After the age of home-made websites read in Times New Roman, along with animated GIFs, 'Sign My Guestbook', MIDI background music and scrolling titles, Verdana came about as the primary typeface of the body text on web pages. One website that sums up what the web looked like in the year 2003 is Myspace (and it still does).

Thankfully Helvetica came to clear things up and became the prominent typeface for the past 4 years. Despite that, Helvetica has been given an unfair treatment, especially by whom I would call militant revivalists and pseudo design practitioners, but that's a totally different story altogether.

Although Verdana is quickly being phased out online, many message boards and online forums today still use this typeface (like lowyat and macrumors, which isn't much of an issue). Very rare do we get to see Verdana in real life, except on printed announcements made on the spur of the moment (like notice boards you'd find in schools).

But all of a sudden, without warning, surprisingly and so on, IKEA is adopting Verdana as a part of its identity, replacing Futura (or a variation of it), which they have been using for decades. Naturally, my reaction was "WTF?!". This was when I downloaded the US edition of the catalogue, released way earlier in August. I noticed the usage of Verdana but subconsciously dismissed it, thinking that it's just some electronic formatting error or something technically similar to that.

I'll return it when I am done with it.

New 2010 catalogue.

Then I noticed many design blogs making a lot of noise about IKEA's latest typographical paradigm shift. Some unsuccessfully defended that it is IKEA's effort to be 'truly accessible', but most protested that it is 'one step backward' and 'a backlash to the utilitarian chic which IKEA has been advocating' (not real quotes; just a summary of the majority of the comments).

Always on time!

I like the design, the price, but not the typeface.

This has got me thinking to myself not just why IKEA switch to Verdana, but also the motive behind this degrading decision, what sort of justification IKEA would state for their move, the connection between using Verdana and the 'expected' rise in sales (which company would want to make a move that decrease sales, eh?), and what beauty does IKEA see in Verdana which Futura does not have?

2007 catalogue ad.

2010 catalogue ad.

I mean, let's face it. Verdana is not a good-looker in print. Other than that, I won't comment onto the complex details; I'll leave that to the experts. Would it make sense if I were to speculate that Verdana is just some one-off thing and it's back to Futura next year? Probably not. It's not just the catalogue that is being morphed into some Verdana junkyard, but also the store signages and website. However I haven't seen Verdana on its product packaging, but we can expect that soon.

A bunch of GNEJS.

An item from the latest IKEA PS line, a lamp by Front design.

TÅRTA MÖRK CHOKLAD.

If you can recall, IKEA was using another typeface, a serifed one (which I can vaguely remember seeing it printed on its product packaging and instructional booklets [in off-white recycled paper]) 13 years ago (this was around the same time I first knew of IKEA through their billboard of a cow-print sofa with a copy that says "Home is where IKEA is", located on the Federal Highway somewhere near Angkasapuri).

What typeface am I?

One way I can think of to refer to this particular typeface is in the picture above, which is a small tray which the restaurant had back in 2006, the one similar to the numbers printed on the DEKAD alarm clock. I am not sure if it had any significance to anyone when IKEA stopped using that typeface. If you are familiar with this, do share it.

Meatball ad in parking lot.

The menu's new look.

New type vs. classic type.

So how do I talk about IKEA's switch to Verdana without getting emotional? Not possible. Instead of checking out the lovely new items and room designs and admiring Swedish-looking families in the kitchen, featured in the catalogue like how it should be every year, this year's has got me shaking my head all the way through.

smaklig måltid back then.

SMAKLIG MÅLTID now.

I could go on and on about the horror of Verdana + Microsoft, making very bitter remarks and then conclude that life must go on. But I am not even a typography specialist; if I see a typeface that looks good and has no disturbing connotations with renowned ugly brands like Microsoft, I'll support it. And Verdana is no way one of them.

Ugly leaflet design.

Take a number.

Yes, please improve by regretting over Verdana.

And while being on topic, I would like to touch on the local IKEA's effort to include the Malay language in their signage, advertisements and promotional items. It's about time IKEA gave recognition to the national language. To this date, all local IKEA catalogues are published in the English language, but I hope there would be a Malay version soon. IKEA is quickly gaining attention from the Malay middle-class (who uses Malay as their first language) market who are getting familiar with the IKEA culture of buying furniture and accessories as frequent as buying groceries. From my own observation, the Malay that is being used in IKEA are mostly English-isms and direct translations. I hope they will improve on this.

Just say 'Meja membungkus'.

Who doesn't love a KLIPPAN?

Actually, there are many other things I'd like to bring up about IKEA today, like the wonderfulness of the new IKEA PS line, people who don't clean up their tables, a man who spent an hour wrapping his purchases at the wrapping tables before sending it through air mail, and a space age-looking booster seat, but I'm putting the full stop here.

Thanks.

How do you feel about IKEA's switch to Verdana?

The house from Ringgit Kasorrga.

2009-10-27T20:01:00.000+08:00

I found the house which was used as Meera's residence in the 1995 film Ringgit Kasorrga, which I have written about early this year.

A freeze from the film-

Nice house.

How it is today-

P1160386

Architecturally, nothing has changed, other than the shelter extension on the balcony. No bamboo trees, too. This house is located in the bowels of Bukit Tunku, together with other good-looking houses.

Next post will have more substantiality - IKEA's switch to Verdana.

Back to cenfad / KLCC architour.

2009-07-22T22:20:00.003+08:00

After hearing and seeing the no-longer-existent cenfad, I've been getting nostalgic on the route I used to take twice a week back in the years 2005-2006, for my inconveniently-late drafting class at 6 pm. Starting from my house at 4.30 p.m., it took a brisk 9-minute walk to the LRT station. I spotted at least 4 people in the cabin with white Apple earphones, like mine. An improvement.

Taman Jaya looks quite the same like before. The house at the end of the area, the one which had a nice-looking swimming pool, is no longer visible due to the noise shield [installed quite some time ago].

Taman Jaya.

Many of the squatters in the Pantai Dalam area were burnt / demolished to make way for this new development called 'Bangsar South'. A new, ugly-looking building complex can be seen from the Federal Highway.

Ugly buildings.

10 stations later I reached KLCC. The platform was abnormally warm, even though there weren't many people yet. I surfaced to the concourse level, seeing Rotiboy still baking aromatic bread, and the news stand where I used to buy my monthly dose of ELLEgirl. Before heading to the underpass to the convention centre, I dropped by the news stand at Cold Storage. Now, it has a nice shelf displaying niche fashion magazines, although the shop still makes one move around like a crab.

In the tunnel, the advertisements have obviously changed. I used to walk past Samsung/Chelsea ads, LG air-conditioner ads, but today, it has an iPhone ad in English and Malay.

Tunnel.

The ascending escalator took me to the park level, where I would walk past ticketing counters and exhibition halls. This time, there were considerably more passer-bys, chiefly Arab tourists and expo people in suits.

Conventioners.

This corridor is directly connected to Traders Hotel, which still has the same-looking lobby.

Traders Hotel lobby.

Out of the hotel and on to Jalan Kia Peng, there were several more familiar sights, like this RapidKL bus parked by the roadside, where its driver would take time to clean their bus and sleep.

Resting bus.

I was a little odded out to find a house belonging to the ambassador of Germany. I could have sworn it was Belgium's.

Not Belgium?

Right after the cross-junction, a new firm has taken over the old house next to cenfad. It's Design Development Centre [DDEC], owned by MARA.

DDEC sign.

I took a look at this house where I used to by my lunch at the grilled fish stalls behind it. I realised that its architecture and layout greatly resembles that of cenfad's.

business Corporate

At the courtyard, I saw two men playing a game of badminton. I asked them what this place was, and what happened to cenfad next door. Very friendly people. They advised me to check with the receptionist to know more, before continuing their game.

A badminton duo.

At the reception, I was greeted with a man who was trying to conceal his Kelantanese accent. He allowed me to look at the company's works after I asked him some questions, like is there a connection between DDEC and cenfad [there isn't]. What would describe DDEC best is a design consultancy firm.

I noticed there were people still working, like the CEO, who, even though is not a Mac user [based on his display, anyway], is quite a looker. I particularly enjoyed the see-through floor at the reception area.

Glass floor.

For comparison purposes, here are two pictures of the gate, taken from the same location four years apart. The first picture includes some of my former classmates running in the rain, back to class after a lunch of grilled fish. The second picture is the current view.

Running.

No running.

If anyone's curious on how cenfad's interior design studio looks like now, it's on its way to become a jungle.

May have foxes and snakes.

Here is the same cross-junction [Jalan Kia Peng x Jalan Stonor], about three years apart.

16th February 2006.

23rd July 2009.

I walked towards KLCC park, passing by new luxury condominiums, which all look uncreatively-alike, except for The Troika, but only for hanging on to Foster+Partners' design, which is designed so that each unit has a KLCC view.

The Troika from open-air parking lot.

Balconies.

Actually, the view from the site is more of the KLCC park rather than the twin towers. Other new high-rise homes in the area include The Oval, Suria Stonor, Dua Residency, Stonor Park and an unidentified condominium beside The Binjai's showhouse.

Naza building, Dua Residency, Suria Stonor.

The Oval.

Upon entering the park, I asked the DBKL enforcers hanging about near the under-renovation Masjid Asy-Syakirin if bicycles are allowed in the park [in case I happen to bring mine in for fun]. They told me that you can't ride it, push it, nor carry it. Crepes! But walking along the jogging path is fun enough. Fun to sight-see.

Sight-seeing indeed.

Sliding kid.

Kid and non-kid.

Away from the humidity of the water fountain, I headed to Kinokuniya to read some Bauhaus and Swiss design-related books for about an hour. I went back to the LRT station after some dinner and reached my starting point 5 hours after I left it.

Nisaa' and Me.

2009-07-05T20:21:00.000+08:00

I was walking in a quiet neighbourhood somewhere in the outskirts of KL, where security guards patrol on bicycles, one late afternoon on a weekday. I was walking very, very slow, and noticed a girl lurking about on the sidewalk across the street. She openly sneaked up to me, with a cup of corn flakes in hand. Sentences in italics are spoken by me.

"I've been spying on you,"

First thing I noticed about her is the lack of shoes.

Little Nisaa'.

"I prefer to go barefoot. It feels so free..."

In my mind, I thought, "Yes, and maybe one day you'll start to get into nudism,"

"When I am not barefooted, I usually wear my crocs,"
"Every household seems to have them, I notice,"
"The only thing I don't like when not wearing shoes is when I step into sticky floors that are covered in syrup at school,"

"My name is Nisaa' - double 'a' with an apostrophe,"
"No 'Nurul' or 'Nor' or 'Siti' at the beginning?"
"My full name starts with 'Siti', and sometimes my friends mistakenly call me 'Siti Nurhaliza' because our names sound alike in full,"

"I like peanut butter with jam but sometimes I just scoop the peanut butter from the jar and then eat then my mouth will get sticky,"
"And then, will you brush your teeth?"
"No. There's no toothpaste [in my bathroom],"

We passed by some shop houses where all the grocers and cafés were, and received some odd looks from other people, but both of us know we are cooler than them. I decided to take off my shoes when we reached the pavement at the main road.

Without shoes.

"Where is your school?"
"Just next to my house. I am famous for that. My teachers often refer me as the girl who lives right across school,"
"So, that means, if you forget to bring something to school, you can just rush back to your house to get it?"
"No, we're not allowed to leave school while in session,"
"Which school are you going to for your secondary education?"
"Next year we'll be moving to France [pronounced the American way],"
"France? You mean France [pronounced in the British way]?"
"Yup, my dad's company is sending him there. They've got branches all over the world,"
"And what about your mother?"
"She works nearby. Her job is related to construction, and she's always a busy woman,"

We reached Nisaa''s house, which is really just 10 metres away from the school gate. Inside, her siblings, all below the age of ten, are busy playing chess and Risk. This is too ridiculous. I don't even know how to play chess!

Nisaa' brought me to her room which she shares with her younger sister. Here's how she reacted after I gave her some drugs...

Nisaa' reads a story.

No, no drugs were involved. That is just how kids her age act when they are being recorded. She will end her childhood very soon, and will enter teenagehood, and lose all her kiddie wisdom and perhaps, start wearing shoes. No, I don't want that to happen.

I also taught her how to draw the dojob man.

But she really did read to me the entire book [in a localised American accent (the kind you'd hear from an upper-middle class teenager with a quilted Chanel purse look-alike who enjoys a Mocha Frappuccino on weekends at Pavilion)]!

After all that story-telling, we headed to the dining table, where we waited for Nisaa''s father [referred to as 'Dada']. He burst through the door with plastic bags full of groceries from Mercato. "Come, let's eat. Have you taken your shower, all of you?" he asked his little kiddies.

While eating, Dada asked me the question I do not like to answer - "What are you doing now?". After a few sentences, he start to go on about the goodness of imaging software, and commented, "Even Ansel Adams uses Aperture to make his blacks blacker! You should try it one day,"

After a dinner of rice with black pepper beef, omelette and broccoli, Dada summoned me. "Aina, come and take a look at my comics; I've got some titles you might like," as Dada took me to his bookshelves. He handed me about 5 kg of books. Unfortunately, Dada doesn't read Tintin. But he has mad love for Bone. "Read it. I did, and I literally laughed out loud!". Hm, that explains all the comics I saw at Nisaa''s room.

It was close to nine at night, and Dada got busy in the kitchen with his Jamie Oliver cook book [another trait of an upper-middle class household, or should I say, yuppie], caramelising onions for his spring chicken dish.

"Er, sir, I think I should leave now. My bed time is in thirty minutes,"
"Oh, OK. Which books are you borrowing?"

Borrowed items.

I hope to return them as soon as possible; I'd like to meet Little Nisaa' again.

Let's go grocery-shopping.

2009-04-10T19:55:00.003+08:00

Due to the majority of the visitors of this Notebook coming from Google searches on 'Cold Storage Jaya One', this post will be all about it. I was there today. The official opening is on this coming Thursday, 16th of April. On to the report...

There are two ways of accessing the supermarket [that I know of]. One is from the basement parking lot [if you're from B1, there's a travelator to lead you to the main floor], and one is from Jalan 13/6, along Wai Sek Kai.

From B1 - going down.

Main entrance.

Secondary entrance [closer to Guardian Pharmacy].

Odd choice of colour [red] for the panel, because Cold Storage's colours are green and blue. The corridors in this side of the building are filled with small shop lots, a current trend in shopping centres where there are many food outlets, convenience and service shops located nearby the supermarket floor.

Signage.

Empty corridor.

Just like how it was in Jaya Supermarket, there is a Guardian pharmacy; very good for getting antiseptic cream, cough lozenges, hairspray and vaginal douche.

Guardian pharmacy as a corner lot.

The supermarket itself is sealed so I didn't get to wander about. It looks bigger than its Section 14 predecessor, has a special deli-looking section, live seafood tanks and organic produce.

Side entrance / check-out.

What's inside?

Check-outs at the front.

By now the security guard was trying to chase me out of the floor, so that's it for now. I may update this post when I visit this place when it's officially open, and compare it to the nearby Jaya Grocer [where I usually shop my groceries at].

There is one more thing missing from this setting. A bookstore! Seriously, there is not one bookstore in the neighbourhood, unlike back in the day when there were two MPHs and one Popular in Section 14 alone. Borders would be a nice addition [so I don't need to travel so far to browse my favourite imported conceptual magazines].

Extra info: The Cold Storage in Section 14 was the finest supermarket around back in the day, and where even our late Tunku Abdul Rahman bought his groceries [my mother told me this]! There is an article on The Star Online about the Tunku launching his book there. Haha!

JB mari.

2009-03-20T11:24:00.005+08:00

I took over a hundred of pictures when I was out of my backyard recently, but I won't write it in a regular 'out-of-town weekend in review' method because I don't go by that format anymore.

Somewhere in the southern part of the Malay peninsula...

Putu Piring Larkin.

This special putu piring is yellow in colour, thanks to the turmeric powder added into the flour mix. Only good to eat when it's steaming hot.

Queue.

These people are serving themselves a lunch of a typical Malay wedding cuisine, which happens a lot during school holidays. You can't see the dishes, because it's supposed to be mysterious.

Ais kacang and cat.

I had a massive lump of special ais kacang at a food court nearby the Diamond Jubilee Hall, that also serves really tasty roasted char kueh [?] and apparently the best sotong kangkung [according to two SMSs found at the foodie section on the last Sunday Star]. Really tasty Kacang Pool / Foul beans can be found at the same food court, but only for breakfast.

Mind-spinning!

A stall at the Sunday night market near the Larkin Stadium sells Laksa Pening. The stall operator knows it's a typo... and currently waiting for someone to redesign the label.

Welcome to High City.

About a half hour away from the capital is the old capital city of Kota Tinggi [back in the day, I think], which is quite a lifeless place, unless you're into outdoorsy stuff like mining for bauxite in Teluk Ramunia or climbing Gunung Panti [good for collecting mineral water]. The government buildings are apologetically stuck in the 1980s...

Dress code when in Sultan Iskandar building.

Old teacher's chairs.

Chair with a bum imprint.

Conversations With Strangers, #1.

2009-03-10T22:49:00.004+08:00

Introducing the very first edition of 'Conversations With Strangers', where I have... conversations with strangers. My first subject is Mrs. Majidah Majid, an interior designer originating from Kajang.

On one early Sunday evening, my friend JK and I wandered along Jalan Damansara and found this lady feeding a colony of monkeys. We started a conversation about what she was doing there.

"I live just down the road. My neighbours have seen me feeding the monkeys, and scolded me for doing so. I don't listen to them. There are some people who would come all the way from Ulu Klang to feed this lot. You can see in my car I'd always have six long loaves of bread. I used to feed the monkeys with bananas, but I've noticed that they prefer bread to bananas. I bought this loaf at TMC Bangsar."

"There is a rambutan tree on my lawn, and sometimes the monkeys take some of its fruit. My Japanese neighbours are very annoyed by that. They have a dog, and it has bitten a monkey's bottom before. I feel so sorry for the monkeys. I told my son to not be friends with our neighbour's daughters."

Other than monkeys, Majidah talked about the fate of this area known as Bukit Damansara, one of the greener and well-aged affluent residential area in Kuala Lumpur, mentioning several 'personalities' such as Ling Leong Sik's son and Pak Lah's son-in-law whom she finds "corrupted", and how our politicians wear Hugo Boss suits but behave badly in the Parliament.

After a half hour at the monkey-feeding spot, Majidah invited us to follow her to her house. This is the exciting part, because I never thought I would actually step into one of these million-Ringgit homes.

Green plants are everywhere, even on the exposed brick walls. I wish I knew how to identify plants, so that I can name-drop the hundreds of plant species one can find in the lawn. According to Majidah, the main purpose of the plants is to shield off the noise from the road. The traffic can get quite heavy during weekday evenings.

Inside, JK and I were served some mango juice, and continued our little dialogue. Between quotes you can find photographs of the house's interiors [could be better because sunlight was disappearing], which I have captured with the apartamento aesthetic in mind [I hope I succeed in this].

"My house is made out of Port Dickson fair face bricks, which costs only 10 sen at the time it was built. This land belonged to one of the Chinese engineers who wanted to migrate to England and Australia after the May 13th 1969 attacks. I paid RM 20 000 for this land when the price should have been RM 40 000. This house was completed in the year 1970. The total price for this house was RM 53 000, not including the cabinets. The area is about 7 000 square feet."

"I am 65 years old. After my husband passed away, I started to wear the tudung. Now I am back to being single. I have the freedom to do whatever I want. I think of myself as a liberal person. I believe in hikmah; behind every bad thing, there is always something good coming out of it. My husband is gone, and that's sad, but I get to be independent and live my life the way I like, and that's a good thing. I studied Interior Design in England in the 1960s, and became one of the first interior designers in this country. Only since a few years ago that it is recognised as a profession here. I was a judge at the recent Malaysian International Furniture Fair. It flooded, and many furniture were ruined. I am very sure next year's will be very unsuccessful."

"My cats are sleeping in my room upstairs. One of my grandsons lives with me; his name is Adam. My oldest grandson is now 14 years old. I love to collect ceramics and shells. I never pay the zakat through the government. They would just take the money for themselves. What I do is I help my relatives who are in need of money. Everyday I read newspapers cover-to-cover, including the sports section. But I don't like football. What I like are tennis and golf."

20 minutes and 20 shots later, JK and I put our shoes back on, as it was getting dark. Majidah let us have a peek of her one-week-old BMW 5 series.

In true Malaysian fashion, it took us another 10 minutes to reach the car because we couldn't stop talking about many more random things, such as other neighbours, advice on life, and a hilarious comment on a wife of a prominent politician.

"The family living opposite of my house are very well-bred. All of the children are now working as an accountant, lawyer, engineer. When you go overseas, don't just stick to the people of your origin. Mix around with everybody. And if you hold on to your values, you should know the limits of socialising with other people."

"Did you see her at the (so and so's) funeral? She was wearing high heels, and her legs resemble pig trotters! Haha!"

And so, that was the end of our encounter. I hope I get all the statements right, because they were mostly mentally-recorded. Next thing I'll do is to get a sound recorder, and make sure my digital camera is fully-charged. And then maybe I'll meet a stranger who lives in The Troika.

The Mega Magazine-Matching Game!

2009-02-21T01:22:00.001+08:00

The Mega Magazine Matching Game is finally up. For the past few months I have been collecting a 25 cm-tall stack of magazines. Before these printed mediums of communication find their homes in my bookshelf, I've photographed most of them to make a little game out of it. Here's how it works:

1. The first four rows are made of sixteen magazine front covers.
2. The final four rows are made of sixteen magazine back covers.
3. Just pick a magazine front cover and match it with a magazine back cover [correctly, of course!].
4. Take note that there are five magazine front covers that do not have a back cover.
5. There are also five magazine back covers that do not have a front cover [just to make our lives a little more difficult].
6. Answers will be provided upon request.
7. Have life-enriching fun!

* please direct yourself to my VOX for a more detailed view of the magazines.

FRONT COVERS

BACK COVERS

Sight-seeing.

2009-02-04T21:53:00.000+08:00

I have expanded my carbon footprint by driving on scenic old trunk roads to Teluk Intan [formerly known as Teluk Anson], recently. I took an exit from the PLUS highway to Tanjung Malim, hoping to find a pau, but all shops were closed. But that's only because it was the first day of Chinese New Year. But I did get a crate of guava at Bidor. Very crunchy and light guava it was.

Bidor fruit stalls.

It took me more than two hours to reach Teluk Intan, but it wasn't a difficult journey as I thought, because the roads were quite well-kept, and there were no toll booths. The first place I headed to was the leaning clock tower at the town square. This tower used to be a water tower, where a tank still sits at the top of the building.

Hole on top.

Just for scaling purposes, here's myself about fifty metres away from the tower. It really is leaning, but not visible from this angle.

Gilbert & George was here.

Other interesting buildings in Teluk Intan include numerous old-school elevated brick houses with wooden shutters and organic engravings, abandoned clubhouses [such as this one below]...

Gentleman's club?

... and schools. Looking at this night school building, it reminded me of my late grandfather who used to go to night schools to learn shorthand.

Chung Chen Public Free Night School Building.

Some cubist art can be viewed at a particular Convent school.

Damian Hall.

The highlight of this Teluk Intan trip was a queer phenomenon in the clouds... it looked like a piece of luminous cling film soaked in a foamy solution being laid upon a dark cloud, with the sun at its top. Beautiful!

Excuse the glare.

Other than Teluk Intan, I visited Nilai 3 several days before. It's supposed to be a really happening wholesale centre but in reality, it's all carpets and wedding supplies and fabric stalls. I got out of that place after lunch and used the old road to get to Seremban. I passed by this factory that makes... those signs. For some reason it reminds me of a backlot at PIXAR's Toy Story film set, especially at Dinoco and Pizza Planet.

Way more epic in real life.

If anyone is attracted to a sign leading to a Homestay at Kampung Pelegong, don't be fooled. Driving down winding roads through palm oil estates was a complete waste of time because this Homestay is a complete phoney. Even the route to alleged waterfall Jeram Tebrau came off as a scene from a horror film.

Eventually I reached the congested Seremban. There were banners and buntings all over the city, with the mayor's face and New Year greetings. I didn't like it. What I like is this avocado sedan used as a wedding car.

Still looks new.

A building resembling an old cinema theatre...

Green block.

... and a bowl of cendol at Sharif's ends this trip.

Fresh bowl.

Not too long ago, I travelled to Klang by the old road, and photographed several interesting views. Such as the poor man's Loftcube...

OCT cabin.

... zinc roof collage...

Cool roof.

... and a forklift showfield.

Towering.

The upcoming post shall be about a stack of magazines on my table.

Revisiting the 1990s - Ringgit Kasorrga.

2009-01-11T22:00:00.004+08:00

Down in selected hypermarkets across the Klang Valley, all great for lurking and finding something unexpected, there are bins full of outdated Malay film DVDs. Many titles were from the 1990s; among them were Selubung, XXRay, Maria Mariana, Jimi Asmara, Sayang Salmah... perfect to watch when you've got RM 8.9 to spare.

Ringgit Kasorrga.

One film I would like to highlight is by Shuhaimi Baba, called Ringgit Kasorrga. I suspect this film came out in the year 1995. The plot goes like this; a dance studio called Blaze Studio headed by Meera [Tiara Jacquelina]...

Tiara Jacquelina as Meera.

...is selling its dancers as social escorts for the rich and elite.Then comes Nina [Deanna Yusoff]...

Deanna Yusoff as Nina.

...from the village to work as a receptionist at the studio. Back in her village, her uncle is a politician who is working for a parliamentary seat, backed by a Datuk [Zaidi Omar]. This Datuk is also a lover of Meera. One day, Nina became a talent for a mobile phone ad [for ancient brand NEC, to be precise], because the actual model fell ill on shooting day.

"Hello, I'm the seducer."

The Datuk became interested in Nina from watching the ad, and wanted to 'get it on' with her. Nina thought it was for her modelling portfolio, and she had to help out her uncle by being friendly with this Datuk. But, this Datuk had something else in mind.

Nina and Datuk Shah have some juice.

Nina did not like it at all, of course! And things got worse when Meera tried to sell her to Kasorrga, the island resort where all the social escorts were being 'screen-tested'. Nina learned that her fellow colleague was also being 'sold' there, and they went back to Blaze Studio to confront Meera. It didn't go well because Meera claimed that it's the girls who were willing to sell themselves.

Nina confronts Meera.

Actually, the objective of this post is to remind me what the 1990s looked like. This film featured a lot of chunky gold jewellery.

Old gold.

foil brocade blazers, waistcoats teamed with A-line skirts...

With special guest star, Yasmin Yusoff [is she related to Deanna?].

oversized t-shirts...

XXL t-shirts.

really gaudy dance routines...

Sunflower dance.

Ah, no wonder. Yaohan department store sponsored all the clothes!

Main sponsor YAOHAN.

And also, familiar KL scenes...

Recognise any buildings?

Bangsar before the Sprint Highway.

Looks like one of the shops at Jalan Telawi.

Pusat Bandar Damansara - where's the jam?

The bad guys die at the end.

Anyone who used the Federal Highway to get to KL back then will not miss a massive Konica billboard near the Old Klang Road exit [which then became an ad for Salem cigarettes, and now, ~~Vincci~~ Nose shoes].

The house that was used as Meera's residence is very attractive, in a sort of, post-modern-ish, kind of way.

Nice house.

Studio doesn't exist.

Written in chiseled tip Artline marker on a big brown envelope is Blaze Studio's address. In real life, it's not an actual bungalow lot, but rather a shophouse located adjacent to Penang Village restaurant / Maybank.

The year 1995 looked quite swell back then, eh? I may 'review' more 1990s local films in the future, perhaps a film that had Sidi Oraza acting in it, or Ramona Rahman. Hmm...

Business or pleasure?

2009-01-02T02:25:00.003+08:00

Recently, I got to see my favourite German product, Kraftwerk. But only one fourth of the Kraftwerk I know was there on the stage; Ralf. Our beloved Florian was missing, replaced by a much younger man.

The Man Machine.

Delighted to hear Showroom Dummies and Neon Lights. As expected, Kraftwerk changed into their neon grid outfit, after The Robots, when four robotic figures appeared before the laptop stands.

I was a little upset that the present Kraftwerk doesn't do crazy things on stage anymore, like bringing in their ENIAC-like synthesisers and drum machines, dancing awkwardly like how they were in the video for Showroom Dummies. Ralf looked a little sad and grouchy, unlike 30 years ago when he showed no emotions.

Elektro Kardiogramm.

It's printed clearly on the ticket that no photography is allowed, but the floor was filled with little LCDs coming from digital cameras.

The show ended at 10, and I waited at the lobby to see if there are any photo-worthy attendees. A massive flock of the tall, well-dressed, after-office-hours kind washed me aside and I can only afford to look at them with hidden glee. Not just from Kraftwerk's show, but from a separate hall where an orchestra performance by middle school students of an international school was held. Later I reunited with my mother, who called the show "not a concert, but a music presentation". We caught a cab an hour later and had chilli crab and fried mantou for supper.

There was a day when I was travelling by cab and found that our driver shared his name with one of the richest man in the country [some time ago].

Lim Goh Tong.

Back in my homeland, I saw a bus stand with a fascinating roof on my way to a breakfast of Kacang Pool.

Chiseled design.

And even more recently, I was back in the island formerly known as Temasek for a business meeting with an influential streetwear retailer [unfortunately, not my kind of taste]. My entourage rendezvous-ed with our boss at a lovely neighbourhood centre for a coffee.

Quadrolingual.

Later we headed to the warehouse to survey the merchandise...

Stock check.

I spotted a punch card by the lift lobby that had a very interesting name...

Read card 82.

After one hour at the meeting room, we were taken to a mall in the shopping district to visit the shop that we are going to invest in. I examined several bags but that's it. We all had lunch at a local chain restaurant that offered me a membership card because it was my birthday month, which entitles me to get some sort of discount off the bill, or something. I told them that I am a foreigner, and the manager immediately presented me a bottle of wine. Oh! Goodness! Alcohol? I couldn't accept it, so I gave it to our hosts.

As we were about to part, one of our hosts came running with a non-woven shopping bag. Inside it was a present for me, in a form of a backpack. Aww... I haven't used one of these ever since I left secondary school. Now, I plan to use it for work.

Back to the car with the investors and our consultant. One of them announced that we would be checking in to a five star hotel nearby. My brain floated for awhile. The keycard envelope says that my room's rate is around € 200 per night. ?! It's like the moon fell onto my lap. The room number was memorable, too.

Three sixes.

Down on the driveway, I saw a row of special cars with the letters 'TMJ' printed on its number plate. My mother pointed out that those cars belong to the Johore royalty [the letters stand for 'Tengku Mahkota Johor']. Oh boy!

For the rest of the day, we were out shopping [but not really buying anything]. I visited my favourite Japanese store, MUJI, to get some stationery and snacks. What does it mean by this?

No discrimination?

The next morning, I had a very noisy breakfast by a construction site that is on its way to become a brilliant, unordinary mall/apartment, which is something for a Malaysian like me to cry about. A bookstore nearby is selling a very lovely magazine called apartamento. Another publication that's avoiding glossy paper usage. There were only two copies left when I first saw it; this photograph was taken after I saw a man grabbing a copy.

Waiting until it ends up at my favourite back issue magazine store.

A very amusing afternoon it was, as I watched our investors deciding on a Ferragamo bag. They gladly sponsored a bag and a pair of shoes for my mother just when she laid her sight on one. After the purchase, one of them asked me, "Aina beli apa?" ["What did you buy, Aina?"]. I answered, "Aina beli... air," [I bought... a drink] while holding up a carton of chocolate soy milk. Haha, we had a giggle as I thought, "Yeah, I can only afford a drink". Sentimental times...

We unexpectedly returned to our homeland at around sunset, and had a fun conversation [where I only listened] in the car while queueing at the Tuas checkpoint. One of the topics we discussed was the Johore royal family tree...

Conversation.

A dinner of spicy Mee Rebus we enjoyed at our investors' home followed, before going to the bus terminal to return to KL. As usual, the talk about comparing Malaysia and Singapore came up when a wafting breeze wandered from the nearby butchery. I don't know how we will pull off Legoland in five years...

New ground for expatspotting.

2008-12-22T00:06:00.001+08:00

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.

From the front.

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.

From the lounge area.

Creeping branches.

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.

Managers preparing for opening day.

Fruit conserves for your tartine.

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].

Notebook revamp.

2008-12-21T16:02:00.000+08:00

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.

Leakage.

Our very own Apple Online Store!!!

2008-11-11T18:21:00.005+08:00

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

Let's raid the Apple Online Store right away! Get education discounts! Free shipping for orders above RM 250! Limited edition t-shirts to be given away with every Mac or iPod purchase!

No more being on the waiting list for a month! Because you can enjoy your Mac within "1-2 business days*"! Haha, now, let's see how Machines and epiCentre put up with that.

Next, how about an iTunes Store?

Now, we're just waiting for a glass cage of a physical Apple Store right here in Malaysia! Argh!!!

*after shipment [I understand that I am buying overseas from Apple Singapore Pte Ltd for shipment to Malaysia and that I am covered by the Apple Store's global warranty and return policy. All prices displayed are inclusive of duty and taxes.]

Who else is going to Kraftwerk's?

2008-11-09T03:10:00.003+08:00

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.

Antenna

Kraftwerk

I'm the antenna, catching vibration
You're the transmitter, give information
Wir richten Antennen ins Firmament
Empfangen die Töne die niemand kennt
I'm the transmitter, I give information
You're the antenna, catching vibration
Es strahlen die Sender Bild, Ton und Wort
Elektromagnetisch an jeden Ort
I'm the antenna, catching vibration
You're the transmitter, give information
Radio-Sender und Hörer sind wir
Spielen im Äther das Wellenklavier
I'm the transmitter, I give information
You're the antenna, catching vibration
I'm the antenna, catching vibration
You're the transmitter, give information
I'm the transmitter, I give information
You're the antenna, catching vibration
I'm the antenna, catching vibration
You're the transmitter, give information

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!

Mac afterthoughts.

2008-10-17T04:49:00.005+08:00

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.

I think I just saw how the most beautiful rectangle in the world is made.

2008-10-15T11:00:00.003+08:00

New MacBook video.

I think I just saw the most beautiful rectangle in the world...

2008-10-15T02:34:00.001+08:00

Muar calling.

2008-10-04T01:35:00.002+08:00

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.

Wah San coffee shop.

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...

Oodles of noodles.

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

Yummy yum yum.

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.

I see the pretty light.

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

As a reminder.

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.

Unlike your printer.

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?

The plate thing.

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

Agent for half-tone & tricolor blocks.

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...

Blue building.

Istana Hinggap.

and happy families with the camera phones.

Gambar kenangan.

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.

Antennas to receive Indonesian television.

In other words, food court.

Seen at Rex cinema.

One of the many closed shops.

The Surgery... very catchy!

H&M! But a fake one.

Fat Babes.

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].

With booths.

And the decades-old menu:

Order?

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

Coke cabinet.

and shelves of beer glasses with humorous illustrations.

Be like the birds.

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.

Breaking the eggs.

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.

Kneading and frying.

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:

One of the three trishaws I've seen.

Net-making action.

Pear water.

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

Funky pattern on sofa.

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.

How comical!

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.

Development / Pembangunan.

2008-09-21T01:49:00.003+08:00

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.

Sans lovely scent.

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.

The one from Bangsar.

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?!

Plain-looking.

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...

Chiptuner and his Gameboys.

Tee hee hee.

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

[Pseudo-] Typographic shot of the moment:

No turn-up.

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.

Under the Water It Glowed

Eluvium

My Mac on psychedelics.

2008-09-13T02:34:00.001+08:00

iTunes Visualiser - first variation.

iTunes Visualiser - second variation.

Jelly.

The third picture reminds me of a drawing of a cat by Louis Wain...

Psycho kitty.

Delightful, yet terrifying. The new iTunes visualisers are just that.

And also: New Windows ads = WTF?

iPods?

2008-09-10T05:17:00.002+08:00

A: What do you think of the new iPods?
Q: I think nothing of it. I think nothing of portable music players.

Q: "Eight and a half millimetres thin".
A: Metric!

Q: I like Hanna better than Jon.

A: I've never liked any musician that has been featured as an album art on any iPod ads.
Q: Good! Hope it stays that way!

Work philosophy.

2008-09-06T02:41:00.000+08:00

Words of wisdom.

Translation:

Like To Talk, Like To Work
- Good -

Like To Work, Lazy To Talk
- Get Bullied -

Lazy To Work, Lazy To Talk
- Useless -

Lazy To Work, Like To Complain
- Senile -

Lazy To Work, Always Skip Work
- Better Quit -

Lazy To Work, Like To Be A Pest
- Better Off Dead -

- Prof. Ungku Aziz.

Shot at a construction site somewhere in PJ, last year.

Wall•E sucks / blows.

2008-09-01T22:44:00.003+08:00

To understand this review, you need to watch Wall•E first.

I watched Wall•E the other day with ten other people at a movie theatre somewhere near Jalan Dang Wangi. None of those people were below the age of twelve. None looked like PIXAR buffs, either. OK, so I chomped down my regular popcorn and for the first quarter, I am smitten with the Apple references [the iPod, the Mac startup 'chime', the Ping notification sound, how outer space looks like Leopard's desktop background (if that counts as an Apple reference) etc.] and how the animation behaved like it was filmed on a camera [especially with the focuses and aerial shots].

Again, for the first quarter, I cried [but only a little] seeing Wall•E roaming about the junk yard city by itself, doing its own thing by itself. I will definitely go psycho in a world like that. This is the part where the film asks the audience to sympathise [or empathise?] the little robot and settling down to see the way Wall•E does. Then came this... thing called EVE.

While Wall•E had an 'emo' disposition, EVE had the uncomfortable bitchy persona; both equally annoying. I wish the both of them could just cool it. And who said that Wall•E is the masculine character and EVE the feminine one? Just by their names and voices? Show me their reproductive organs! From Wall•E's urge to hold EVE's 'hands', there must be something to follow that, right? No, robots don't / can't fuck, and Wall•E didn't seem to have any porno videos to play on repeat to use as an example. I wonder what would Wall•E feel if it watches porn. Probably destroys itself to discover that it has nothing to call a 'private part'.

When I first saw the teaser trailer for Wall•E, I was really looking forward to... feeling like I received a revelation. Something to change my idea of existence.

I had no feelings for the Captain, nor EVE, nor Wall•E [after the first quarter of the film]. I think the Captain was being really fake about wanting to go back to Earth. He does nothing at all, wants to do nothing at all, and suddenly he wants to make the Earth green again, based on his research of Earth on a very advanced space-age version of Wikipedia?

And those 'humans' aboard Axiom. Living there for 700 years, the spaceship looks too brand-new to me. Wouldn't there be someone, some human, coming out as a renegade and form a rebellion? In real-life, there would be several revolutions within 700 years.

My impression of PIXAR's films went down since Cars was released [I've never seen Ratatouille]. I no longer find the jokes laughable [the sense of humour became less intelligent]. What made me love PIXAR is how they are so clever to animate symbols that represent feelings of light-heartedness, discovery and appreciation for the all the talent in Emeryville in a colourful world seen from a non-human perspective. Only certain parts of the brain can understand something when it is brought to a standard of a child's mind, and that's where their imagination and childish creativity get released and one forgets being an adult, going into a mode where you are in a different life and everything is new and intriguing again [like how kids see the world]. PIXAR does this very well, or rather, did.

Now that PIXAR is 'totally' under Disney [not sure if that includes creative control], their films are having lower standards. The idea for Wall•E came out way back, before PIXAR's first full-length film so this might mean that PIXAR had a really great story for Wall•E, but Disney wants them to be all unoriginal and stay within their guidelines. I guess PIXAR can't go against Disney on that. What a waste of weeks on rendering.

What Wall•E really lacks is a strong, deep story-line. PIXAR's stories always focus on the importance of emotional bond between its characters [like how in Finding Nemo, each character has a special connection with Marlin and Nemo] and how the viewers are able to relate to each character with ease. In Wall•E, there's no real hero; there are two different situations being played simultaneously - the Captain's struggle for controlling the spaceship, and the two lovebirds. I wouldn't cheer for the Captain, I wouldn't cheer for Wall•E.

The only thing that saved this movie is the animation that made everything looked more than realistic. If you take the basic story and replace the robots and spaceships with humans and normal geographical conditions on Earth, it would probably turn out to be an old-fashion Bollywood movie.

I think the most well-made PIXAR film is The Incredibles and Toy Story 2. While all of them [pre-Cars] I would give at least 8 stars out of 10, Wall•E deserves a mediocre 6.8/10.

Hari Ini Dalam Sejarah / Today In History - 21.08.

2008-08-21T22:50:00.000+08:00

2007

Approximately a year ago, I discovered a thick red book in a school library. A very special catalogue, to be precise, of a Bauhaus exhibition at Putra World Trade Centre 18 years ago. I find this version of the Bauhaus font more authentic-looking than the 1993 revision [?]. Cool stuff like this never happens in KL nowadays.

Bauhaus in KL.

2006

Lining up.

A field trip to Teknion's manufacturing plant in Klang. The picture above was a suspended conveyor belt with shelving system parts dangling on its way to a massive... thing that coats them with pigmented powder. It made me think of a horror film where the victim would be hooked on the conveyor belt and get sprayed and baked in the massive... thing.

And speaking of pigmented powder coating, the digital IKEA catalogue 2009 has been out for some weeks on the US site... you can view [then download] it here [now in Spanish, too!]. You can then welcome its arrival to your mailboxes in the middle of next month [September]. Also, the claims IKEA make, saying that their products are getting cheaper by the year is not a hundred percent true! This year they may lower the price of a MELLTORP table by RM 40, but a FRITZ chair may be RM 40 more expensive than last year's prices. Makes no difference! I am also very disappointed to find my desired IKEA PS locker priced at RM 399 when last year's price was RM 249.

I like magazines... and some music.

2008-08-20T00:51:00.004+08:00

I was very very surprised to find HE magazine at a back issue magazine shop somewhere in Mutiara Damansara [distinguished by the embossed semaphoric typography on its spine]. I paid RM 15.9 for the Winter/Spring 07/08 issue.

Photo 125

Its pages are filled with vulnerable-looking Scandinavian boy models in zig-zag jumpers and white denim in shades of sulphur. And being very lean, too. Sometimes I like boys so much, I embarrassingly try to look like one.

Photo 97

The fashions spreads reflect what the shops in Denmark sells, so it's not really a magazine for 'international' style [except for a sizeable amount of clothes from Opening Ceremony]. Ads only appear in the beginning. A waxy wooden scent lingers every page turn, and I don't want to ruin the pages, so I lift each page on its edge. Also, to know if a fashion magazine isn't the predictable UK-based publications type, the ads on the back page are not of alcohol, jewellery, watches or cosmetics [am I right?].

Other new titles bought in the past week: ROGER, a design-discussing bilingual magazine from Germany, and Capricious, a photography... compilation / catalogue / portfolio.

And speaking of magazines... there are at least three magazines named 'Beast'. One, two, three.

Issuu is a really nice place to browse through independently-published magazines [there are big-scale publication titles, also], be inspired, then make your own magazine, which you can upload and let others be inspired to make their own magazines, which they can upload and let others be inspired to make their own magazines, which they can upload and let others be inspired etc. Plus, it's embedable, like a video or a slideshow. Damn nice, right?

Get your own - Open publication

And... music I've been listening to nowadays.

Far From Fields

Pelican

New Moon

Cave In

Two usually-noisy bands, but the tracks above are quite tame.

Ohm Sweet Ohm

Kraftwerk

This amazing song, from the album Radio-Activity, reminds me of TV Pendidikan programmes shown in the early 1990s which used a lot of Kraftwerk-sounding music [I think?].

Bukit Nanas adventure.

2008-08-16T12:01:00.004+08:00

There was a Friday when my friend and I did a little roam-about on Jalan TAR to browse through fabrics. I was very convinced that it's my 'lucky day' because I got a parking spot just in front of SEMUA House. We both went to lurking at Jakel and found RM 585/meter hand-made French Lace. When hunger came by, we headed to Capital Cafe [where else?] for some Mee Hoon [what else?]. The tauke sat with us and had his Koay Teow noodles and we had a chat of little things. As a dessert, he treated us with roti bakar with kaya. Oh, dear! Argh! Tasty! Before we left, I photographed this man which had an intriguing build [on the right].

Sembang-sembang.

We left the area after visiting Kamdar, before my parking ticket expires. I originally planned to drop by CM Annexe to collect our profit from magazine sales but... we had a detour to CAP Square, a very boring complex where everyone is concentrated at Starbucks. By now, the roads were clogged up with traffic and we know it's very hard to get out of the city. I had a bright idea to travel up the slope near St. John's cathedral. Down the road St. John's Institution and Convent Bukit Nanas [Pineapple Hill, where the KL Tower sits on]. Hm, looks like a nice school to explore. So we got off-board and passed the gates without being called to report ourselves. There was loud rock music being played from a hall... this band was singing a Fall Out Boy song.

Had to be stopped because they were too noisy.

I thought we'd be having a fun time watching this showcase but after 5 minutes, the event ended and we didn't bother to collect the door gift, which we don't deserve anyway. Time to check out the corridors and classrooms. The whole school was being rowdy and noisy because it's the last day before their week-long mid-year break. But it's not seen in this picture...

Vernacular vs. Modern.

Keep right in single file.

Nor in this tiled corridor...

Lonely.

Nor this teacher's table, with the pile of exercise books, fake flowers and a portrait of Pak Lah...

Teacher not in class.

... because the action is happening at the badminton court.

KL Tower was too tall to fit in frame.

Dancing partners.

I took the opportunity to photograph some schoolgirls for a Merdeka special for I Got Shot. Very informative!

Then, right on 6.45 p.m., the final bell rang and everyone stormed for the gates, wishing everyone happy holidays.

Selamat bercuti!

Then, my friend and I thought of the boys at St. John's Institution. Should be fun to harass them with our suspicious smiles, right? We discovered this alley filled with graffiti and a group of potentially violent schoolboys were loitering.

Rolling alley.

The actual school was already empty within 10 minutes, after the last bell and we couldn't go in past this column because the guard didn't like our presence.

Multilingual goodness.

Down the road was St. John's Cathedral, lit in fluorescent lamps.

No fancy ceilings.

In deep prayer.

Donations.

The entire stretch of Jalan Bukit Nanas leading to Jalan Raja Chulan was very, very jammed so we decided to wait it out...

Congestion.

by sitting with these girls at a badly-graffitied wall.

Perfectly-censored.

Who loves who, who hates who, who's homosexual...

One of them was frustrated with her parents who forget to fetch her because they were busy shopping at Pavilion. We offered her a ride but she decided to follow her grandfather's friend.

Before we left, I took a picture with a group of 14-year-olds, who were also waiting for the jam to clear. Heheh...

Odd one out.

Happy holidays, school children!

Bike rides; Section 8 and PJ State - 05/11.08.08

2008-08-11T21:11:00.004+08:00

Section 8 - 05.08.08

One of my bicycle's tyres was flat and the only place I know that offers complimentary tyre-fillings is the Bridgestone workshop nearby the police barracks in Section 8. I drove to the food court nearby to have a plate of Mee Bandung, before inflating my inner tube and set out to explore the old houses in the area. I was chased by a mad stray dog after I photographed this dead squirrel.

Roadkill.

The houses in this area are small and linked, but many of them are expressively-decorated with lawn furniture and variety of shrubs.

With wind chimes and stone benches.

There is an orphanage/shelter on a dead-end road, and here's what they have for rubbish collection.

Waste.

Jalan Templer is, from what I have read, the first road built in Petaling Jaya. It's named after one of the state's British... er, important person back in the pre-Independence days, Sir Gerald Templer. There is a golf course in the north of Klang Valley named after him, too.

Mailbox.

A living quarter for government workers with its gates open invited me in to check out the simplicity of compact, fence-less link houses with its pseudo-chimneys and nostalgic wooden shutters.

Backdoors.

By the Federal Highway is a dual-sided billboard of PIXAR's new movie Wall•E, which I must go watch at the theatres [preferably a near-empty one on a weekday] next week. Last time I watched a PIXAR film at a movie theatre was for A Bug's Life [how come no one likes it?!], nine years ago.

6 p.m. congestion.

MBPJ is approving building projects like crazy! PJ 8 is about 75% complete and will welcome more traffic congestion near the Jalan Utara exit.

Modest playground, massive skyscraper.

PJ State - 11.08.08

The PJ State area has a famous landmark - the State cinema. I've watched a movie here once... Batman Forever, I think, back in 1995 [I also remember seeing posters for Apollo 13]. The road system here is badly-designed; all roads within the State commercial centre is narrow and one-way.

Warning! Narrow path!

I dropped by a newsagent [plenty in this area] to buy the latest issue of TeenVOGUE. Apparently, MBPJ hates cyclists. These signs were placed all around the MBPJ building.

It's a bicycle, right?

Near the entrance of the MBPJ building, I spotted a man called Mazidul Akmal Sidek, a presenter for a popular TV show called '360'. He likes to intimidate mat rempits [illegal motorcycle racers], bohsias [a type of promiscuous people] and bapak ayams [pimps] in his shows, and I find it funny. I approached him for a photograph, when he questioned me "Ni lelaki ke perempuan ni? [is this a boy or a girl?]" and I thought, "Oh crap he's suspecting that I am one of those 'pengkid' [lesbians of the butch variety]", which is a popular subject in his shows. I think he was just joking [I hope].

"Perempuan lah!"

There was once a corner shophouse with ferns and ivy creeping up its exterior, which I thought of photographing, but now it has been renovated and look brand-new. Unlike this newsagent, which you can see its base coat paint from the 1970s.

A season for seasoned looks.

On my way to Amcorp Mall, I stopped by Kelab Syabas, behind a curry house. Decades ago, it was a well-patronised public pool, until 2005. Now it's a great place to breed mosquitoes.

Eingang verboten.

Down the road is the iconic A&W drive-in dating back to our parent's time. I saw a pleasant-looking man in a green t-shirt with bicycle logos, standing in the parking lot. I wanted to photograph him after making one round within the drive-in, but by then he was already driving off in his grey Proton Saga. I went to Amcorp Mall to get a travel magazine from the back-issues store, then headed home, passing by BB Boys School, which is embarrassing because the schoolboys just love to yell out pointless remarks of me riding a bicycle.

Bike ride; Section 13 - 01.08.08.

2008-08-02T11:02:00.001+08:00

The weather was too sunny for my liking but I couldn't stand being indoors. I cycled down Jalan Semangat and dropped by a lighting shop. Right now I am looking for a wall spotlight, but I saw none with bendy or directional arms [hm, time to go back to IKEA]...

Massive.

Across the six-lane road is the Dutch Lady factory sporting two Holstein-Friesian cows of different generations.

Mother cow and kid cow.

Nearby was a very old soda factory abandoned for at least ten years, filled with thousands of crates of Kickapoo bottles. You may have seen pictures of this factory in newspapers when they are talking about the kind of places where Aedes mosquitoes breed.

Piped soda.

Kickapoo mound.

It's all very disturbing. Don't look at this picture below while you're having your tea.

Aliens?

Other than that factory, Section 13 has several futsal courts, churches and colleges occupying old warehouses. If you live in nearby sections, you may have seen this yellow piece of paper in your mailbox sent by MBPJ about their proposal on remodelling the entire section, since that many factories have moved out. There were no busy traffic because I was there after office hours.

Silent section.

A mini mailbox standing by the pavement

Rectangular red thing.

a geometric concrete fence

Polygony.

a futsal court hosting a match for the staff at Acson

Futsal court.

and another abandoned warehouse that may be converted into a church.

Switchgear accessories maker.

TAMCO gate.

So that was Section 13 on a bike ride.

End of tour.

Bike ride; Section 11,12 - 29.07.08.

2008-07-29T21:19:00.001+08:00

Section 12 is just across the road from Filem Negara, and the houses are usually big, with a spacious lawn to roll about with dogs. Like how it was at PJ Old Town, guards dogs bark at me almost wherever I go.

Usually when you see signs telling you not to throw rubbish on that spot, there will be a heap of rotten eggs, mattresses, Styrofoam TV packaging and others. But not on this spot.

"Don't throw rubbish here"

Up the little slope leading to Section 11, is the house of... JUST. There are many other houses in this area which have been converted into offices and senior citizens' home.

International Movement For A Just World.

After a soy bean drink break, I continued exploring the roads behind the shoplots where Sri Paandi is, whirring past this abandoned house with a weathered plywood panel [?].

Plywood's a-peeling.

Then, I heard a very disturbing noise. Sounds like... engines. Ah, it's the Federal Highway!

Traffic.

Here are some flowers for you, with a telco tower in the background.

Smell me.

I quite like the lighting and the leafless tree in this picture. The billboard is showing its back, and so, you don't know what it is promoting. Mysterious!

One-way communication = fail.

Another home-made notice, this time nailed on a tree bark. The road was a dead-end, and narrow. The house behind this notice board had a BMW sedan and a VOLVO SUV. The house at the end of the road is an old folks home.

One-way communication = success.

Next bike ride, I hope to tour the Universiti Malaya campus [I tried before, but was sent off for driving suspiciously slow].

"Bukan Mee Hoon, Mee Siam"

2008-07-29T03:09:00.002+08:00

There was a kenduri doa selamat at my grandmother's last Saturday [my dengue fever adventure has something to do with it]. I followed my mother's brother's family back to Johore Bahru on Friday afternoon. The four-hour journey had an interval at Pagoh R&R, where the five of us had tasty Mee Bandung. The weather that day was... like how forecasts would describe as 'overcast'. By sundown, we reached the familiar Larkin Garden.

Several hours into the night and the kitchen was getting choppy and slicey. What's going on? Laksa Johor's what's going on.

Stumps of cucumber.

Making 'chaps'.

Another interesting sight was a heap of rambutans in the garage, plucked off the tree at the back of the house. They were very delicious, but not for me, because I don't like the lengkang / wood thing that sticks to the flesh.

Furry balls.

Bedtime only came at around 3 in the morning. I thought it was impossible for me to be up by 7 a.m. for the famed Pasar Tani at the stadium, but I thought wrong! I was happily skipping away to the market by 7.30 a.m. I am typically a pasar malam person because I can never wake up so early on a weekend so on that morning, I was fascinated by the crowd with their basket trolleys, buying live seafood, breakfast and second-hand quilts. Have a look:

Caged plastics.

Burnt cake.

Not eels.

I recommend the nasi lemak stall on the highest tier of the parking lot, next to the roti naik stall; the spices used in the sambal in quite different from the rest.

Also, when in Johore Bahru, remember to stop by the Kacang Pool / Fool / Foul stall by the fire station. This stall even has its own website!

Don't be fooled, it's Kacang Pool.

Now that I've done the market and breakfast, time to get ready for the kenduri. I was initially freaked out by the amount of ladies who were there to recite some prayers... and then came the lead 'imam', Datin Leha [Tun Musa Hitam's sister]. I stayed outdoors while observing my relatives pack goodie bags for the guests. I was quite sleepy so I took a half-hour nap at the porch. After the prayers were done, everyone swarmed the buffet table of Mee Siam, Roti Naik, Nasi Ambeng and of course, Laksa Johor. For some unknown reason, I underindulge by eating just one chap of laksa and a piece of layer cake. After everyone has left, I headed in to have a proper nap. Sleeping on the floor was never this comfortable.

Two hours later, I had an idea of visiting the city. With my cousin, we went to the area known as City Square. I was a little self-conscious, knowing that it's a Saturday and there will be numerous little crowds of teenagers who will stare at my hair, so we moved away from the mall and walked into the area of old-school shophouses. Many shops were closed and the ones that are open are lottery agents, kopitiams, sundry shops and Tamil music shops [which inspired me to want to buy a Sivaji The Boss DVD]. If you have read one of my recent entries for I Got Shot, you should be familiar with Bee, who runs a shop on 9, Jalan Dhoby. It's called 'the girl next door', and apparently it's the only shop of its kind in JB. So, if you're stuck in JB without a passport and miss the shops at the Jalan Telawi area in Bangsar, this should do the trick.

Beside the bar next door.

Mmm clothes.

From the land of Cyrillic alphabets.

This little boutique neighbours a bar, equally intriguing with its vintage furnishings. Bee was telling me about an olympic-themed party happening on that night with Twilight Actiongirl on the decks, where she will be dressed as a boxer. Hmm, it should be a little interesting to check out how Johorean hipsters get it on...

Have a seat.

Here are some sights of abandoned shophouses that are up for rent. Will someone turn this into a Haji Lane or something?!

Back alley arch.

That's opening soon.

Successful Father restaurant.

Another closed shop.

The next day, before returning to KL, I walked around the neighbourhood to look at the windows and gates of the small bungalows.

White and green.

A repetition of tall rectangles.

Houses back then did not have driveways.

It's time to head back to KL.

Bike ride; PJ Old Town - 20.07.08.

2008-07-21T21:47:00.002+08:00

I had PJ Old Town in mind, since my last post where I said that cycling in Pulau Ketam is way more exciting than PJ Old Town. The Sunday was boring so before the sun goes off, I drove to PJ Old Town and parked the car behind the very filthy-looking Pasar Besar Jalan Othman.

I went by some houses, but I am not uploading its pictures because it's for the Residential Architecture post [which has been delayed for a year]. One thing unique about this neighbourhood is that it has a paved.... pavement which runs behind houses and act as a short cut to different streets.

Paved pavement.

There is also a pretty monsoon drain than somehow works to control floods.

With Bukit Gasing in the background.

A mailbox sits by the street where collections are made every Monday. I've never posted a letter through a free-standing mailbox. When people want to buy stamps, they don't go to the sundry shop or 'drugstores'; it's all there at the post office. So who uses these mailboxes today?

Next collection Monday.

There were many derelict houses [this area dates back to the 1950s], and this one had a cylindrical post box.

An abandoned house with a little garage.

The land was quite flat so it was easy to cycle around. Many houses had guard dogs, which make too much noise.

The town centre was quite busy because everyone's having their open-air dinner of duck rice and pork noodle soup. I didn't expect to see a massive flock of immigrants but I guess it happens almost everywhere on Sundays. A stall was selling some durian and but it peculiarly had no strong smell. The last time I ate durian right off the rind was... in the last millennium. Hm, wonder how it tastes like now.

Prickly rind.

And it is back to the car, after this quartet of phone booths stuck by the food court.

Four times.

Have a nice day.