[Semi-Filler] Je t'aime...Moi non plus. (et ainsi de suite)

Titre en Anglais: I love you...Neither do I. (and so on.) *perasan sophisticated because it's in foreign language.*

Pardon the cliche but time does flies and it has finally reached that point of the year again. 31 December, the very last day of the year, the supposed day of reflection, reminiscence and celebration of what has been (or failed to) achieved for the past 364 days.

In fact, time passes so fast that I didn't even got to do my usual noting of rental invoice as indication of passing time in this sadly often neglected little cloister of mine. 

As I look back and examine the past 364 days of my life however, I realized that there's little to be celebrated or worth reminiscing of but more of overarching sense of underachievement, inadequacy and the looming void of nothingness. OK I might be exaggerating a little too much being culpable of aching metaphor or soppy sentimentalism and I do admit there are memorable moments dotted here and there but most of the 364 days that I went through is either inconsequential or actually painful.

Have I done anything meaningful for the past 364 days? Has the year 2012 been good or kind to me? In any case, I think this musical interlude would sums up my feeling for 2012 in strange, abstract and vague sort of way.


(Reminder: You might want to put your earphone on. You know, for maximum sensory pleasure. 60's and 70's ballad are redolent of unbridled sensuality, of pulsing and gyrating guitar and keyboards and organs.)

Je t'aime...Moi non plus - Jane Birkin et Serge Gainsbourg

(refrain)

Je t'aime, je t'aime

Oh oui je t'aime !

Moi non plus

Oh mon amour

Comme la vague irrésolue

Je vais, je vais et je viens

Entre tes reins

Je vais et je viens

Entre tes reins

Et je me retiens

(refrain)

Tu es la vague, moi l'île nue

Tu vas, tu vas et tu viens

Entre mes reins

Tu vas et tu viens

Entre mes reins

Et je te rejoins

(refrain)

Comme la vague irrésolue

Je vais, je vais et je viens

Entre tes reins

Je vais et je viens

Entre tes reins

Et je me retiens

Tu vas, tu vas et tu viens

Entre mes reins

Tu vas et tu viens

Entre mes reins

Et je te rejoins

(refrain)

L'amour physique est sans issue

Je vais, je vais et je viens

Entre tes reins

Je vais et je viens

Et je me retiens

Non ! Maintenant viens !

(In case of any of you wondering what exactly the song is about, here's English translation courtesy of lyrictranslate.com. Well translated I must say except may be between your/my kidneys which is the literal translation but could have been translated a bit more sensually as loins as noted by users' comment. Opps, that's some image for you all to imagine.)

I am not entirely sure whether the year 2012 fucked me or I fucked the year 2012 but in either case, it's certain that we both fucked. Probably both of us did try to reach out to each other at each crescendo proclaiming our love while we gasped for air but at the end of the day, the feeling were not reciprocated, love unconsummated and everything we had done has left meaningless...and yet, we can't resist of each other for too long of interval and we gone back to the cycle of love and rejection yet again.

*hand imaginary barf bag for readers due to bad sexual metaphor*

As crowding revelers armed with horns and confetti and party hats gather at various countdown concerts unfazed by intermittent drizzle waiting in anticipation for the clock to strike midnight heralding the arrival of a brand new year, here I am in my room typing away this post forlornly as I wonder wistfully what 2012 meant to me and whether the coming year will be nicer to me (or I should be nicer to 2013.).

Do I have resolution for 2013? Did I achieve anything in 2012? Did I actually made any resolution for 2012 364 days ago anyway? I don't know. Should I care? Must I care? I don't know either. The only thing that I am actually certain is that I don't know anything.

So instead, I wrote this post and lacing it with a sexual crooning.

Epilogue: By hook or by crook, I do know that 2013 will be the end of a couple of major things and how it's going to end (good or disaster) is going to be mostly my own bidding. I have full knowledge about that fact and yet just look at me and what state of mind that I am in. Meanwhile, looks like backlogs accumulated way back in 2012 will be only appear next year in 2013 or for anyone who didn't have the patience of waiting, there's always my Facebook profile. Thus, 2012 has hit another new low in this blog's five years run.

"Doomsday" Georgetown Round and About.

...or how the earth has confounded humanity (or rather, a certain feeble, idiotic and paranoiac section of it) once again by defying purported doomsday prophecy and thus surviving yet another non-event that has been recurring since the beginning of humanity. Oh human, how we never learned. 

This time around, it was New Age/Conspiracy Theories nutcases who were convinced that the Mayan Long Count calendar that so happened to end on 21/12/12 also signifies the end of our world as we know it. Just so you know, it didn't. It's just another beginning of a new long count cycle. That meh disaster movie has certainly exacerbated the phenomenon if not piquing the fascination and intrigue of public and thus kickstarting the whole bloody thing especially (and oddly enough) in China in which it actually turn into a full-fledged cult and posited to be the key motive behind yet another school stabbing incident in China. (Meanwhile in an unrelated story, condolences to victims of Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. How much more blood that has to be spilled before American realized the warped and flawed logic of incorporating bearing arms as fundamental "human right" in their constitution. Sadly however, probably they won't just like how they believed in Rapture.) At the end of day, I would say there aren't many people who truly believed in this phenomenon (save from those loonies of course) aside from seeing it as yet another passing fad or things to poke fun of. For better and for worse, there isn't any report of idiots committing mass Darwinism ahead of THE EVENT (tm) so the rest of the globe will have to stuck with them just little more.

Anyway, while the earth didn't spontaneously explodes or underwent cataclysmic upheaval as 21 December came, I was idling away in stifling boredom wondering what should I do to mark this non-event. Then I came across this food review over Tastiest so hop on a bus I go to Georgetown at late evening of Friday 21 December.

Oh but before that, a shout out to Me'chelle for the cheesecake. It was delish~ Doomsday tea time sorted and happy birthday!

Yeap Noodle is a cozy family owned establishment located over Lebuh Chulia just a short walk up from Eu Yan Sang HQ junction. Their specialty is novelty handmade noodles which incorporates a variety of flavourings and ingredients. While I am not sure whether you can actually choose your noodle or not because I didn't ask, all their menu items has already been matched with a specific noodle deemed best to go along with its content such as the turmeric noodle for Dry Curry Sotong/Squid Noodle that I ordered that night. For RM5, the portion is just alright but I am willing to give it a try again just for the novelty purpose and I am sure the soup noodle will be more filling than dry noodle.

In conjunction of (and an attempt of hyping up) of the impending non-apocalypse, 12, a group exhibition by 12 artists is held over The Warehouse, 212, Lebuh Pantai/Beach Street starting from 12.12.12 until (and since the world didn't end) 2/1/2013. (Opening hours: 10am-6pm daily.) I actually planned to visit this exhibition on Friday 21/12 itself but inclement weather in the afternoon as well as other distractions (note: mostly internet) has stalled my plan to the next day, Saturday 22/12. Hey, some part of the earth hasn't gone through 21 December yet when I went to the exhibition at noon so it still counts, right?

The Warehouse at 212 Beach Street has actually been left most untouched in its original dilapidated, leaky state even when re-appropriated to its current purpose as an art gallery. I have actually been here a couple of months ago for Rescube in conjunction of Georgetown Festival 2012 and I think most of the artist participated in 12 have been involved in Rescube as well. Kudos for the organizers for making modern art more accessible for public as evidently shown with a family of tourist ogling at the exhibits. Oh the best thing about this exhibition: no camera ban (unlike most private galleries spruced up recently around Georgetown) so feel free to pose with their quirky exhibits!

On the subject of quirkiness, one exhibit will immediately catches your eyes as soon as you enters the premise: a painting of a naked man taking a dump squatting while peering at his smart phone, rounded up with tagline in transliterated Hokkien colloquialism: Pangsai pun boh eng (Lit: Even one has to be busy while taking a shit/Can't even shit in peace). Despite being crude, such lack of subtlety has actually tied in neatly with the theme of this exhibition as a critique of the 21 December Doomsday Prophecy being given disproportionate attention by the public and media, occupying our psyche and the information (and disinformation) overload so much so that it has even crept into the most intimate, vulnerable moment our daily life such as taking a shit, bringing in our 3G enabled smartphone peering at it 24x7. The usage of Hokkien and all the four digits number sequences appearing on the screen of the phone can also be seen as a jab towards a very Chinese obsession towards numbers especially if it's in 4 digits because of lottery. With that being said, any taker for this "masterpiece" to grace your home?

Then there are a few other exhibits that frankly, give me the creeps such as those that involve babies. From left: babies in munition box, probably on anti-war theme about the innocent death of children in warzone, baby standing upside down and carved into a tree and loads of white babies/humanoid suspended with strings while awash with lights, both of which I can't determine its meaning. Frailty of life?

At one corner is an multimedia projection of various frames onto one screen. The projection starts off relatively harmless with random snapshots of natural scenes in each small frame before actually rounding up with one frame depicting a caterpillar writhing being attacked by swarm of ants while footage of Hitler and Stalin delivering their speech appeared on other frames. On the floor right in front of the benches set up for the projection is chalk writing of people's dream including "日本に行きたい" and "Lovely, I "saw" particles dance! Really..."

In comparison with those mindfuck, what Ernest Zacherevic (of Georgetown murals) offered in this exhibition in tamer such as kids piggybacking and a roast duck made on a rusting steel plate for browning. 

Other exhibits includes an art that has been suspended on the ceiling which can be seen with a corresponding mirror on the floor, portrait of girls posing on a shophouse and sold on Doomsday Discount price of RM18,000,  a psychodelic painting accompanied with various quotes about Quantum theory from Niels Bohr and Richard Feynman, the emo tapirs over Komtar as well as wall of glass shards.

It right about lunch time when I am done with 12 and I am feeling peckish. As I sauntered to Lebuh Chulia wondering where should I go next, I went past Lam Ah Kopitiam located strategically at Beach Street/Chulia Street junction facing directly Chulia Street Fire Station...which immediately reminded me that a famous Beef Koay Teow Thng stall is housed in this kopitiam so make a turn back, ordered my large bowl of Koay Teow Thng and sat down. Manned by a couple of charming ladies (especially the taukeneo who still entertain orders despite being busy with cooking. Must be all the collagen in beef), apparent the stall originates (and still labelled as so on its signboard) from Acheen Street/Lebuh Acheh/打石街 but has been in Lam Ah Kopitiam since 1996. Despite yet again rather steeply priced with RM8 for large bowl, the rich flavour of its soup base and all the beef meats, balls and entrails made up for it. Apparently further research told me that there are at least two other places that lay claim as the best beef kuey teow thng so definitely jotting down for future exploration purpose.

To wrap a cold evening as well as because its Saturday which means Sungai Dua Pasar Malam is on, me and my bro decided to go to the famous corner house bak kut teh for dinner. Miraculously, there are empty seats because usually it's packed to the brim during dinner time every night. Warm herbal pig meats and entrails, yam rice and ginger in soysauce for the soul.

Epilogue: If there's anything that actually came to an end on 21 December, it's the end of the semester. A smart of me do wish the earth spontaneously explodes on that day so that I could end it all but since it didn't, the impending end of my life (on various level of meaning and existence) has to be postponed to a later date...some of which in fact looms way too close for my comfort. 

Jelajah Janji Ditepati: A Side Way Look.

...well to be precised, an About-850m-off-from-Ground-Zero-Way Look (from the comfort of my cloister). For the past one week, Universiti Sains Malaysia has been operating in a state of suspended judgment and blissful ignorance about one particular event that has taken place in our otherwise uneventful campus. What better way to begin the fleshing out of details than rewinding the clock back to the previous weekend when the event begin to slowly bubble up...

As mysterious structures of gargantuan scale began to rise and taking shape in humdrum over the marching ground, piqued interest turned into torrents of speculations across campus. What are these structures for? Plain commentary: It has to be one of the largest unsupported temporary tent structure that I have ever seen. In terms of gross space, I think it's actually larger than DUP/Exam Hall Buildings.

As the event slowly unfurl, USM netizens has taken to cyberspace with those selected actors postulating various conjectures in various USM Facebook groups (especially the official Majlis Perwakilan Pelajar Universiti Sains Malaysia group) but with most of the clues seems to pointing towards ONE usual suspect. The official position of USM Student Representative Council on that particular juncture (as stated by the President of SRC himself, Ammar on their official Facebook group.) is that "they were not informed about the purpose of the event and they will be seeking clarification from the official or waiting for briefing." So far, so mysterious.

Comes mid-week however and the truth about the scheduled event has finally came to light. It is indeed the usual suspect: Jelajah Janji Ditepati roadshow organised by ICU, PM Department which has been touted as "a different approach by Federal Government of Malaysia to reach out to the grass root and delivering information about various government policies, measures and actions that will improve the life of ordinary Malaysians." On the other hand, Jelajah Janji Ditepati has also been alleged by detractors as wasteful extended PR campaign by the (currently Barisan Nasional held) Federal Government ahead of the coming 13th General Election. (To be frank though, I do think the Ubah Dream Machine is actually a much more blatant PR *in both sense understood within advertising and Malaysian politics* campaign but that's other story.)

As soon as the cat's out of the bag, the netizens (but especially those selected...active individuals...and occasionally me.) has took the Student Representatives to task about a couple of contentious issues that may occur (and DID in other occasions) in the course of the roadshow. The politically inclined (or in the very least, anti-establishment inclined) has (justifiably and rightfully) alleged this roadshow is essentially a political campaign vehicle by Federal Government and holding it within a public university's ground may actually violate provisions within AUKU/UUCA especially when federal government leaders or PM himself deliver speeches that contains blatant reference or denigration to the federal opposition, teetering towards political campaign speech and thus putting university and its students in a difficult position. The ever panicking, fun-hating, self-appointed arbiter of moral and vice (OK, it's those orthodox conservative in PMIUSM who would prefer to rewind progress of humankind as a whole by a millennium.) has claimed that the music concert performed by celebrities is hedonistic and will ultimately leads to loose moral (in their usual parlance, "melalaikan" and downfall of civilization. Me? Along with a few others, I am poking fun on how the organizer failed to recognize the difference between kawat and kawad (just see it for yourself.) despite being a government-sanctioned event done in mostly Bahasa Malaysia, the official and national language. As for constantly pestered Student Representative Council themselves, they're all on defensive mode dodging bullets with their recurring and painfully predictable justifications for the events while answering questions from pressing netizens centered around "it's an official federal government event and as a public university, we should give our cooperation to the organizer" or "ambil yang jernih, buang yang keruh" or "it's your own freedom whether you want to come or not." or "it's rare to have Prime Minister visiting our campus hence we should welcome him with our open hand."

Comes Friday on the eve of the actual event with preparation work has gone into full-swing with trucks coming into campus clogging up the already congested space around Padang Kawad. Without any physical announcement (apart from the hastily written notices pasted around various USM Facebook communities' groups hence essentially operating mostly on word of mouth and observation), the campus commuter bus service has been altered to avoid the congested Padang Kawad by not going to pass through the end terminal at the pedestrian bridge on the far corner of Padang Kawad that serves students staying in RST. Besides that, the limited commuter bus service on Saturday will be cancelled for the event as all the buses will be moved to the parking lot at PHSII to provide extra parkings for incoming public. What happens subsequently is confusion and travel mayhem. Now if there's anything with unquestionable veracity that has emerge of this event is how woefully unprepared and uninformed USM is for this frankly last minute event of such large scale and how the organizer (ICU, PM Department) has failed to work in tandem with USM by not providing any contingency plan that minimizes the effect of the event towards the daily running of this campus and acting mostly on their own aside from appropriating campus property for own usage. Of course, the debates remains quite heated over Facebook groups with MPP and selected vocal netizens trading barbs with each other even until wee hour of the night.

Saturday. The campus road is buzzing with buses ferrying people across the northern region to come for the event, cars honking indiscriminately and occasional sirens and motorcades zipping through delivering VIPs including Prime Minister himself. As I venture out of my room, going about the close proximity of my hostel, the campus is litteredstrewnsoiled adorned with buntings and banners of different flavours that has been spruced up overnight.

Official Jelajah Janji Ditepati buntings by the organizer proclaiming various schemes and initiatives by the government  that has improved life of ordinary Malaysians.

Welcoming banners ostensibly by students of USM (with legitimacy through the official USM coat of arm attached to it) along with the moniker of Anak Muda Sayang Malaysia. A few questions that surfaced almost immediately: are these banners actually officially sanctioned by USM? I am certain that it's freshly made, so professionally well-made that it doesn't have the usual inexperienced, wonky, rustic design sense common among student-designed banners and Anak Muda Sayang Malaysia is certainly not one of the usual names of student bodies in USM that always sucks up to the establishment (like MPP for example.) If it's true that Anak Muda Sayang Malaysia is not one of us, I am pretty sure the usage of USM's official coat of arm must have violated some copyright rule which would definitely render these banners illegal. Then again, rules can always be bended and "tak apa" attitude as usual prevails.

On the subject of banners with questionable legality, the one prepared by UMNO Penang State Liaison Committee is definitely a cunning example on how to exploits legal loopholes (open display of political party logos is still a big no-no according to UUCA/AUKU): the banner was hanged on the outside facing wall of USM over Sungai Dua Gate hence LEGALLY not within the campus compound where UUCA/AUKU is enforced. As for the second banners by PIDO (Penang Indian Development Organization) which was set up adjacent to Padang Kawad hence within campus compound, it definitely breaks the university rule of outsiders putting up banners in campus. Then again, a smiling portrait of our PM means that banner is probably immune from university rules. 

As for the event itself, I didn't went there during daytime when it's in full swing simply because it's Saturday, the weather's ridiculously hot for the past two days (despite frequent rain at the end of the year), bus service has been cancelled and I am just too lazy to walk that 850m. Only when the night falls and it's cooler that I made my trip over there after my onlining and pasar malam dinner session but almost every booths has closed and packing up at that point and the concert performed by Malaysian celebrities that I have no idea about (probably product of those reality shows) to massive tent which is only half filled.

Malaysians being Malaysians, any place that played host to events with large crowd will be immediately befouled by third world mentality Malaysian with their indiscriminate littering. And how indiscriminate indeed, leaving paper bags of fine quality filled with plastic bottles and empty food containers on the ground, on the field, on a fire hydrant, any place in which the orange shirted plague of bused in public went and camped. Looks like a daunting task for whoever task of cleaning up this mess.

Talking about rubbish, New Straits Times Press which is one of the participating company in this roadshow has dumped piles of newspaper originally intended for public distribution over my hostel, calling it a freebies to give away for the tenant. Initially I thought it was alright if it is New Straits Times because it has been a while I've been reading newspapers. Upon closer inspection however...

It's actually Berita Harian. While I certainly have no problem reading news in BM, those NST Press obviously didn't know that my block is postgraduate block in which at least half of the tenants here are international students with no knowledge of BM thus rendering the intended freebies pointless. At one point, I do wonder whether other block around Bakti Permai actually receive New Straits Times and perhaps can exchange a pile or two. Oddly enough though, the pile of BH was cleared by today (Sunday), most likely ending up as being recycled or re-purposed. As for me, my reading mood was certainly turned off by the frankly BULLSHIT front page story of idiotic public being amazed by pile of UNPROCESSED rare earth (which is indeed inert and harmless) that has reached our shore for LYNAS Processing Plant. As much as I occasionally hate the incoherence and hysteric of LYNAS opponents (ok specifically idiotic Facebookers with their relentless and error prone sharing), I do hope these punters who appeared in this BS story will take a cup full of residual by-product of rare earth processing enriched with yummy Uranium and Thorium and bottoms up. BS aside, apparently LYNAS is still have no idea what to do with the residual by-product except it WILL NOT go back to Australia and it's more convenient to leave it here. The saga continues...

As the day drawn to a close, any mentions of the event (especially those labelled potentially provocative by the admin of Facebook groups) will be summarily purged while calling for a return to normalcy and humdrum of assignments, blissful ignorance and unconditioned LOVE for this university. But hey, at least USM students got to show off all those volunteer work done by USM student as well as securing verbal commitment from PM himself of RM500,000 to Gaza/Palenstine Education Fund. Let's show the best of our university and stop harping on those petty issues (despite evidences) because the event's already over. The end.

Epilogue: Blogging quota fulfilled but suspended progress in actual writing while currently increasing unsolvent  financial state necessitate austerity measure...am I going to give the Sushi buffet a miss then?

Selected Highlights of Mid-Semester Holiday Escape Down Under to KL: Tickling Taste Buds. (and Other Miscellany)

Alt Title: Is KL More Than Bland Food?

Prologue: Back to back post and fulfilling the December quota of blog posts by talking about something happened in mid-November. Wait, I haven't write about the customary "Oh Crap It's December" post.

Continuation from previous post to cover another sensory experience: taste. Come to think of it, I never really have a proper impression about local food in Kuala Lumpur and if there's anything that I can derive from my limited scope and experience, it's mostly about 1) I am scared local kopitiam because I have to speak Cantonese 2) Their large wantan mee is really large. 3) Why do they call curry mee "laksa" anyway? and 4) Everything is bloody expensive and it's all RM4 upward. If it's not kopitiam, then it's mall food which is nothing special despite the novelty. Of course in all my previous eating experience, I have been brought around by a guide hence diminishing the sense of satisfaction. For this one week trip down under however, I've made a couple of exception by making own research and go there on my own effort though in the end of the day, there are recommendation from guides as well. Anyway, here's a collection of food pictures in KL.

First up: First Time Mall Food.

13 Nov Wednesday: Ninja Joe Pork Burger at The Garden-Midvalley Megamall Lower Ground. Ninja Joe is a fast food franchise operating around Klang Valley specializes in PORK burger complete with cutesy ninja logo and has a penchant for cheeky menu item such as Sloppy Joe (my order with spicy salsa) and Brucely. While the taste isn't bad, for some reason (probably being a fast food chain and all) I found that there something lacking when compared to the 43 Cafe Pork Burger that I am used to back in Penang. Probably is because of the plain boring crinkle cut fries.

On the subject of extraordinary mall food, Midvalley Megamall's Jusco Deli section has a much larger range of Japanese boxed food including Cold Soba and forgot its name-yaki that's not Okonomiyaki which I snapped up because it's already 8pm and Deli food is up for clearance with 20% discount!

Hanging out with Tauke Owen on 14 Nov in which we had mango desserts for tea at Hoi Lau Shan, Pavilion. Hoi Lau Shan came from Hong Kong to join to ever growing oriental dessert chains in Malaysia.

Talking about oriental dessert chain, how about Taiwanese Taro Ball and Grass Jelly? While there are several names that's bucking the trend of Taiwanese shaved ice dessert and even making their way up north to Penang (Meetfresh at Gurney Paragon or the aggressively expanding Blackball came to mind), Snowflake is still confined within Klang Valley but apparently (according to Tate at least) that's it's the best. Since there's a branch right around the corner at IOI Boulevard Puchong, we decided to pop in after one tiring evening of exploration (16 Nov Friday) for a dessert supper. The only think I can sum up about my virgin experience with Snowflake is that I should've gone for a safer option of their specialty rather than doing something adventurous by ordering Ocha'ryo green tea shaved ice...because it's not nice.

Rounding up mall food with a proper meal, Rak Thai at Amcorp Mall through recommendation of local guide (Tate's Coursemate). Its set meal is reasonably affordable which is why I order Sukhothai Chicken Rice (which is basically Salad Chicken Rice of Kuching fame with different topping while Ah Wee ordered Pineapple Rice served in a pineapple.

Now moving towards local kopitiam food and family haunts INCLUDING my own gourmet research work!

Firsts: First lunch of the week down in KL at a kopitiam right beside Pasar Seni LRT Station, first dinner at my elder brother (and apparently Puchongites) favourite haunt (special mention for the specialty tofu which is shaped like a dome as well as pork ribs) and first breakfast of the week in the form of dried noodle with pork soups. Both the beef noodle and pork soup noodle is a testament for the notion that KL operates on a different scale in both quantity and price term. It's quite filling but it's expensive.

Beef noodle showdown between Shin Kee (left) and Lai Fong (Lai Fong's Chinese name certainly reflects its Cantonese root: 丽丰茶冰室. According to my research, this two outlets which located just right across each other serves the best beef noodle in town so I went to try both them for comparison purpose. I ordered the basic dried version at Shin Kee in which my favourite part is actually the bed of minced meat sauce on top it. I ordered a large soup noodle for Lai Fong which I didn't expect to be such humungous size. Going large means addition of extra tripes and slices as well as more noodles. Verdict? Well, it's not a fair comparison considering I had different version of beef noodles but I would say it certainly filling (the dried noodle at Shin Kee fill up just enough but bloated for Lai Fong because I slurp it dry.) but if there's anything I would gripe about both of them...

....is definitely their prohibitive price with both of them starts from RM7. My large order at Lai Fong is RM8. *shudder* Not a thing to be had everyday I would say.

I had also made an excursion to Kajang in the late evening just to try what's so alluring about Kajang Satay. As initiation, I tried the ubiquitous Sate Kajang Haji Samuri chain in which their headquarter at Kajang is located at a massive two storey arcade complete with it's own parking area. Being the most frequented outlet of all, one has to place the order yourself at the counter and the waiter will deliver it to you. Even though Haji Samuri offers an eclectic choice exotic satay such as rabbit, venison and mutton, we go for the safer and cheaper choice of beef and chicken satay. Their peanut sauce is free flow upon request and it comes along with spicy sambal at the side to add to your peanut sauce according to your taste. I feel it's fine as satay goes though Tate says that the beef is a bit too hard for his liking but he liked the tenderness of the chicken. My research also suggest that there's another famous satay place at Chinese operated cafe called Nyok Lan at the other end of the main road which opinion says that it's much more local oriented rather than commercialised fare of Haji Samuri. Definitely will make a mental note about it and pay it a visit if I ever gone down again.

-Miscellany-

The main reason I went down to KL in the first place is because my cousin's getting married and all of my family has come over just for the occasion. Congratulation for your holy matrimony, Shir Min and Wai Leong! The two separate book of life authored by both of you has finally bound into one and a new chapter unfold penned by both of you, together.  Meanwhile, another rather worrying newlywed fad that's has become one of the ritual in wedding is to have sisterhood of the bride dishing out humiliating challenges for the brahs of the groom before the groom can actually get the bride. I think it's supposed to signify love and marriage is hard to get but I thought years of courtship is not easy already? Last but not least, the pork is delish and the dinner is great though still marred with delay (apparently common in West Malaysia which my mom is dismissive of being raised in the punctual environment of Kuching) and in house MC that's too colourful and keen to promote their restaurant.

Spotting half truth in official notice around public spaces and media. Left: Obvious PR exercise by Federal (Barisan Nasional) Government to win the heart and mind of Selangor (currently under Pakatan Rakyat Government) through Sayangi Selangor. It's rather annoying how Najib's grinning face plastered across ALL Sayangi Selangor billboard (this one taken over KTM Midvalley) along with testimonies on how various Federal Government's schemes and initiatives have improved their livelihood and wellbeing. (Co-indicentally, Selangor PR Government's PR exercise is called Selangorku and both of them shared the heart motive.)  Specific attention to public transport because while the new KTM six-car set has improved the general comfort of the journey, their punctuality remains ridiculously questionable while at least two changes of estimated arrival time (which is exactly what happened when I took that picture before the train actually arrives. Pfft. Right: Ministry of Transport Public Service Announcement about the controversial Automated Enforcement System which is essentially a system of speed trap with camera. While as a non-driver, AES doesn't concern me much (it's controversial however because of private contractor's involvement in law enforcement) but I can't to feel a sense of irony for its placement in the newspaper at the horse betting section. Yes, driving at speed is certainly a gamble either you get a electronically issued ticket or you escape scot free. Besides that, how many people actually reads the horse betting page anyway as if all the other lucrative space in the newspaper has been taken and they have to settle at an insignificant back pages.

-Wrapping Up-

Our mid-semester holiday escape down under at KL has drawn to a close with me and Tate boarding a noon Firefly flight from Subang back to Penang with a hastily booked flight ticket a few hours earlier in the morning. My family's generosity despite being cash-strapped middle class sometimes leaves me speechless and riddled with guilty. After a rather bumpy descend due to inclement weather, we're landed back to Penang and back to reality in Universiti Sains Malaysia. Meanwhile, Penang International Airport's expansion work is shaping up well since the last time I went through it.

Concluding words: while initially repulsed by the thought of going down to Kuala Lumpur due to my rather negative and somewhat unfair impression about KL being a massive, crime-ridden. unnavigable, faceless, capitalistic urban blight, this mid-semester holiday escape has certainly gave me a new found appreciation about KL that there's treasure if one really made his research and effort. The feeling of personal mobility through public transport (despite large of improvement) certainly aids quite a great deal in making sense of Kuala Lumpur and meeting up with long time besties from different stages of my life certainly brighten up my rather gray social life. It's still awkward meeting my extended families from my father's side and sometime they still can't differentiate between Sabah and Sarawak (dammit) but it's a good thing to gather once in a while especially in times of celebration such as a wedding. All these good feeling was maimed however with the news that my youngest brother (who spent a few extra days in KL together with my parent after me and Tate had gone back to Penang.) were pickpocketed somewhere at Pasar Seni or Petaling Street does snapped me back to my initial position of KL being a crime-ridden shithole unfit for human habitation. As final parting words, thank you and "THANK YOU."

Selected Highlights of Mid-Semester Holiday Escape Down Under to KL: Discovering Metropolis.

Alt title: A Different Sights and Sounds of Greater Kuala Lumpur. By the way for those who couldn't be bothered about my rambling thought, go to my Facebook profile to browse through all the photo albums arranged chronologically of all the things that tickled my fancy about KL.

Prologue: Crap, 2012 is coming to an end is less than a month.

Sultan Abdul Samad Building Clock Tower. 

Being a bustling conurbation of 7.2 million people, Greater Kuala Lumpur is teeming with shopping malls fulfilling the ever growing spending power of consumer not just for daily needs but as well for their insatiable desire for material gratification. Thus, shopping malls mushrooming across the ever expanding metropolis has become focal point for people to congregate, hang out and spend time with eachother by having a cuppa at upmarket cafe, perusing the latest merchandizes in shiny outlets, trying out fashion items in the season, twiddling with new gadgets while the trailing salesperson ever so keen to reach their sales target of the month keeps on pitching their latest and/or the best (note: expensive) product for you.

Due to its strategic location on my part with bus connecting directly from my family apartment, Midvalley Megamall and The Gardens has become the most frequent hangout place during my one week down under. It's also at The Gardens that I got to hang out with my SISTAHs KL Chapter namely Ah Pheng and ZZChuah spending one whole Sunday (11 Nov) evening at Papparich catching up with each other and talking about every little thing on the surface of the earth from career to love life and travels.

From all KLCC to Bukit Bintang: an evening with Tauke Owen Lim on Wednesday 14 Nov 2012. Meeting up KLCC while checking out Kinokuniya, walked all the way to Bukit Bintang via the pedestrian skyway, lunch at Sushi Zanmai, Fahrenheit88, marched over to Debenham at Starhill while guffawed at the ridiculously opulent renovated interior complete with chandeliers and RED escalators,  desserts at Pavillion (more on that later), went back to KLCC again for a reasonable dinner before wrapping up the day checking out Lowyat Plaza, the epicenter for all things electronic. It has been forever the last time I got to hang out with Tauke Owen (especially since I am actively avoiding KL.) and I wonder when will be the next time we got to meet up again.

A new addition to mall exploration: 1Utama at Damansara including an interesting visit to Candylicious, a Willy-Wonka-esque outlet with everything sweets that's imaginable lining the walls and shelves. One other mall that's not included in this collage during our dayout on 16 Nov (Friday) is Amcorp Mall which is a rather quaint mall compared to all the larger newcomers but has BookXcess in which you can buy imported books and such with vastly discounted price!

However, I can't help to feel that behind the glass facade and towering atrium is something incredibly hollow and shallow. Anything else after fulfilling your material gratification? Is this what KL is all about, hanging around shopping mall? This is why I am keen to discover more about Kuala Lumpur beyond material gratification for sights, sounds and senses that more fulfilling through out my one week escape down under.

The one place that I found incredibly loathsome, ubiquitous and tasteless (despite being touted as must visit) is Petaling Street, quintessential tourist trap lined with dubious stalls selling counterfeit watches and handbag, mostly manned by immigrants (who cares if they can speak Cantonese?!). Sure, there might be sights of local fares if you searched hard enough (like the fish porridge or the Chinese temple. I've been there before the last time I was "kidnapped" down under.) but dodging shoulder to crowd shoulder on dirty pavement while being mindful of pickpockets is not what I want for an enlightening discovery. With the ugly pedestrian roof blocking sunlight and view, any old  post-colonial shoplots around the area suddenly became uninspiring or even ugly.

Only when I marched over to Medan Pasar and environ that I can find relatively unadulterated architectural gem especially all those Art Deco building of the 1930s with some of them renovated in the 70's into Modernist design usually owned by banks reflecting the area's original role (and at certain extent, still is though most banking corporation do have glitzier towers as headquarter) as the financial heart of Kuala Lumpur. Medan Pasar currently undergoes renovation so I wonder how will it turn out to be a year or two later.

Anyway, I spent a decent amount of time on 14 & 15 Nov (Wednesday and Thursday) frolicking about the heritage core of Kuala Lumpur both night (14 Nov, together with Tauke Owen immediately after we're done with Bukit Bintang at night) and day (15 Nov, this time alone after excursion to the other end of Klang Valley to find another acquaintance of mine.) so here's a night-day comparison of (from left) Sultan Abdul Samad Building, Victoria Fountain (looks like Queen Victoria got herself quite a lot of fountains across British Empire during her Diamond Jubilee), Masjid Jamek in the middle of Klang River-Gombak River confluence and last but not least, Pasar Seni/Central Market. 

There are a host of other colonial era's buildings around Dataran Merdeka mostly in Moorish design (top left and center, bottom right) together with Sultan Abdul Samad Building but other style of design are featured as well such as the Tudor styling of Royal Selangor Club (top right) as well as Gothic style of St. Mary Cathedral. Merdeka Square serves as  the only sizable green patches of wide open space in the metropolis of glass and steel skyscraper including one that's adorned with a gigantic inflatable Octo of CIMB Bank at the lower right and another rather curvaceous looking tower coming up soon (top right).

One particular highlight for Dataran Merdeka I would say is Kuala Lumpur City Gallery and not just because it's free! Coming from Kuching in which museums are mostly free of charge, I am still puzzled why a lot of museum in West Malaysia (regardless of Penang or Kuala Lumpur) charge entrance fee for visitor. Imagine my surprise of finding something that is both enlightening and free!

Housed in a government printing house with ample amount of space for exhibition, a section of the ground floor is devoted to the history of Kuala Lumpur as well as heritage sites around Padang Merdeka and environs, complete with looping archive documentary about Tunku Abdul Rahman and the struggle for Merdeka/Malaya's independence. 

The 2nd floor features Discover the City Diorama which is a combination of promotional/informational video presentation about Kuala Lumpur and a large, flickering and shiny 3D model of Kuala Lumpur.

On the ground floor right before the exit, there's a massive space devoted to specialty woodcraft souvenirs. Turns out that KL City Gallery is the idea of a large arts and craft company which in my opinion, corporate involvement in museum done smart.

Of course being KL City Gallery, Kuala Lumpur manifest itself in various forms and sizes ranging from ceiling light, benches and an 800kg heavy I *heart* KL right outside the gallery for visitors to camwhore.

On Friday 16 Nov with the help of a local guide in the form of Tate's coursemate, we venture further into the hidden hinterland of Kuala Lumpur...

To be precised, the urban forest of Taman Tasik Perdana. We started our journey from Pasar Seni LRT Station, walked across the pedestrian bridge to KTM station and walk a little bit more before reaching National Mosque (left). There are other sights dotted around the massive park (signboard, 2nd from left. Most of it requires entrance fee unfortunately) but one particular intriguing "sight" I would say is Bukit Aman, Polis Diraja Malaysia's headquarter occupying a sizable corner of Taman Tasik Perdana and now with an addition of gleaming skyscrapers as office building (3rd from the left). I wonder what espionage and CSI is going on inside building...or how the public's tax money is spent. At a far corner (but usually inaccessible by public) is the modernist 1960's Parliament of Malaysia Building. 

Some where right the middle of Taman Tasik Perdana on top of a hill is Tugu Negara or National Monument, commemorating all fallen soldiers during WWII and Communist Insurgency. The monument compound actually consist of two parts: the front part (1st and 2nd from left) is the post-Merdeka (1966 by Felix de Weldon) creation featuring the heroic imagery of soldiers raising the Malaysian flag despite many of his comrades has fallen. Curiously enough though, the coat of arm featured at the base of the post-Merdeka monument is actually of Malaya (i.e. without Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore and still features billingual motto of Bersatu Bertambah Mutu (in Jawi)/Unity is Strength.) despite the fact that Malaysia has already been formed for three years by the time the monument is completed. No effort to amend it either I suppose. The back part (3rd from left) is a pre-Independence cenotaph commemorating the fallen soldiers of WWI, WWII and Communist Insurgency with emphasis on WWI soldiers of Federated Malay States fighting for the British Empire complete with four  bronze plaque listing down all the names of fallen soldiers on all four faces of the cenotaph. It's also the one with poppy wreath laid down by visitors. In between the two monuments is a pavillion with its ceiling adorned with all the insignia of armed regiments/battalion/troops from Malaysia, Britain and Commonwealth that saw battle in WWI. WWII or Communist Insurgency.

Taman Tasik Perdana itself. (1st from left): an encounter with an unfamiliar word. According to PRPM, siarkaki is actually an old Malay coinage for pedestrian path/sidewalk. It made me wonder though, how many coined Malay words has actually fallen into disuse because lack of effort by Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka while those language vanguards keep on  moaning and harping about the state of our national language. 2nd from left: a barrier with a story. According to my local guide, it was actually made of wooden sleeper from dismantled railway lines. At least it's a new lease of life rather than being chucked away. 3rd and 4th from left: a long walk in the park. After our time at Tugu Negara, we continued walking about to another end of Taman Tasik Negara....

...reaching National Museum/Muzium Negara. Turns out there's another way to go to Muzium Negara, located at the most nonstrategic of all places being surrounded by highways. I didn't enter it either because I need to pay for it so we hang around museum compound for its outdoor exhibition. Nationalism in post-colonial countries means that any connection to the former colonial master must be diminished...hence the bust of King Edward VII (2nd from right) and Statue of Frank Swettenham (right) being nestled in between tent for exotic animals and trees, unattended and forgotten.

The oversize outdoor exhibits featuring vintage fire engines and locomotives is much more interesting for a rail fan like me. Unfortunately however at this point of time, a part of the museum compound is under renovation especially with MRT KL Sentral Station in construction encroaching the compound.

...which also means that Muzium Negara is at the corner of the massive KL Sentral. Walking from Muzium Negara to KL Sentral however is a challenge with a inconspicuous pathway right beside a six lane highway leading up to an on ramp which then the pathway disappear and one has to go resort to walking along the yellow line in order to reach the entrance safely. Rested for a while with soft drink machine that sells RM1 Pepsi and mozzarella cheese finger from Burger King which is located right in front of KLIA Transit ticket counter (top right). Turns out KLIA Transit wants its share of pie on the LCCT passenger business (competing with the shuttle bus service departing from KL Sentral) by offering a combined KLIA Transit and Shuttle Bus service from Nilai. After catching a breather, we went off to Taman Jaya via Kelana Jaya Line LRT for lunch at Amcorp Mall (more on that later). Went past a few other architectural sights such as Telekom Tower (lower right) and Angkasapuri of RTM headquarters.

That's all for sights and sounds of Kuala Lumpur. Stay tuned for one more post about my time in KL!