mental blog

Whom do you write? Yourself, or for the readers? Censorship or open book. Painting expectations or don't give a damn. Perfect grammar or lantag buang lah? Aim to please, or just speak your mind.

Write to drive traffic or to documents life's journey. Either way or what ever the reason, you just Write lah.

Opening of DUKE

click for more pictures

I took a ride on my scooter today towards the newly opened DUKE express way that connects Taman Hillview, Ulu Klang to Jalan Duta Interchange. It was a strange experience especially riding through unfamiliar territory. More strangely is the sudden downpour of rain right in the middle of a sunny day as though as the heavens are welcoming me. 

It sure felt like Stevie Wonder's Sir Duke, especially when the 6 lane road is empty and no toll being charged, at least for now but obviously not for long.

Ground Zero Memorial Park Bukit Antarabangsa

This is the spot where one can engage a clearer perspective on the landslide in Bukit Antarabangsa where 5 lives were tragically lost.

Could this be a potential site for a Memorial Park ?

Almost everyday scores of visitors keep coming by at this location to have a closer look.

After all if we still fail to learn from the past, we anticipate that life will return to normalcy in a couple of months and all will be forgotten.

Our prayers goes out to the families of the victims. Amin.

first short ride of the year 2009

Its been a while.

What better way to start the year with a short ride up Karak especially when accompanying a friend's newly purchased '97 Fat Boy by Harley Davidson. A bit of a drizzle along the way which makes it more cooling and relaxing when speed is not a factor. 

Parted ways at the Toll Plaza and headed for home with  a 'Kundiger' feeling especially when the good old ST has been left idle for about a month, not surprising that the engine started without problems. 

Trust Honda.

 

Ondeh Paih, Sontiang. 

Kalau wa'ang nak tahu Afbizul, pajo ko memang teringin nak Harley juo.

Cirit di labuoh.

Wishing everyone a 

Happy New Year, 

hope it will be a

productive one.

Like I have nothing else better to do

About a week ago, we had our residents meeting with the joint management committee of my condominium. As usual during these kind of meetings, there were the usual hostility and grievances about service fee etc. 

I suggested that we should organise more social events , like  makan-makan , garage sale etc. to forge a better understanding of our neighbours whom we don't know very much of.

Suddenly I found myself being appointed as the unofficial volunteer to make things happen. As though as I have nothing else better to do, I have to quietly take up this responsibility and started to activate the following steps. 

The first thing that comes to mind is of course communication. A line that connects to as many people as possible. A quick google search found that there are quite a number of residents who are bloggers. Therefore creating a blogspot is the obvious thing to do.

Check it out...  http://sinaranukay.blogspot.com/

smalltalk on bukit antarabangsa

Last night at 'Ole Cafe' Changkat Bukit Bintang I presented an informal kakireka smalltalk about the recent Bukit Antarabangsa landslide. What was suppose to be a personal account as a designer reserved for my blog ended up as a public presentation to my fellow comrades in the creative industry.

At first I was quite sceptical on the topic with regards to its relevance but as I dwelt deeper into it I realised that it was actually an eye opener for our well being as responsible designers.

Thanks to Gary and of course Kenneth for persuading me into presenting this talk when we had our brainstorming session in Mid valley a fortnight ago.

Thank you for those who have given their relentless support to the smalltalk.

Its one way of realising our hope that designers be 'thinking' designer rather than just a 'visualising' designer.

click here to access the link to the presentation on pdf.

In conclusion, the talk ended with a question thrown at the audience on the willingness of us designers going down to 'ground zero' and contribute like the good people from the SPCA.

Ole ole bandung

A short trip to Bandung helps rejuvenate the soul. This time there was no shopping nor excessive spending. Its fundamentally a 'get away' trip for the mind.



Resided at Dago Pakar Resort, excellent view from a higher altitude. No air-cond but cooling mountain air. About rp 1.5 million ( about rm 500) for a five bedroom bungalow.




Lunch at Kampung Daun and dinner at the Rock, both outdoor dining with the cool mountain air. Gives another meaning to 'makan angin'.




And of course, for those shopaholic especially among Malaysians is the unavoidable Rumah Mode.

Just when the mind was about to achieve a state of Alpha Beta, my peaceful state of nirwana was short lived when calls kept coming in from friends and relatives enquiring about the safety of my house in Bukit Antarabangsa.

We were in Bandung when the tragic landslide occured.

I will cover that topic in my next posting as I am busy preparing a talk related to the landslide.

'Any publicity is better than no publicity'

For those who have been following my blog with regards to Gempak Desa Astro which I have been covering and promoting, with regret as owner, writer and the one responsible for its content, I would like to announce that I will cease to continue writing about it, due to reasons that is sadly or shall I say too frivolous to mention.

Felda Palong 5.

..is venue number 6 for the Gempak Desa Astro roadshow. It is also the venue that I did not attend. However courtesy of our dedicated photographers Hazwan and Apai the following images were captured.

There were familiar faces among the crowd, which totaled close to around 4500 people. There were those who were from the last venue in Keratong who travelled all the way to Palong to attend the concert for the second time.

6 venues done, 6 more to go.