Month: July 2017

The Cardboard Camera Is Very Practical For A Beach Outing

Someone asked me today about my favourite local beach. Not for swimming or water activities. For sunset photography.
Sunsets are almost always fabulous from the seaside. KL is landlocked. So what do we do? We can travel to the nearest beach. Where can we go? Morib is on the west coast facing the Straits of Malacca and facing the setting sun.

1. The sunsets are consistently good.
2. It is relatively near to KL.
3. The hotels are fairly cheap.
4. We get to stop at Banting where there is good food.
5. If you are adventurous, you may want to drive south to AVANI Sepang Goldcoast Resort in Bagan Lalang.

A long time ago, a Chinese provision (grocery) shop lady in Morib warned me to not walk on the beach at night. She said there were cases of couples getting robbed. The beach is now less deserted at night but always stay safe and alert.
.
On the Morib esplanade, Carmen was photographed showing off her IKEA cardboard camera known as KNÄPPA. It was a one time issue, was not for sale nor did it require assembly. Just insert the two included yellow IKEA batteries. Memory is built in. It is fully functional albeit the brutalist design. I like that it uses a peep hole as viewfinder.

The blurry images are like those from Holga and Lomo. Unlike the two, this is digital but minus the cost of film. Blurry and unique should make it a sought after hipster collectible. Is there a tripod screw hole? IKEA wants you to buy a chair for stability.

At the beach, we need not worry about rust from the salty air and sea spray corrosion. However, at home; you might need to worry about silverfishes and other bugs eating your cardboard camera when stored in the drawer! LOL.

Seaside sunsets are unpredictable because of the travel distance and can fade fast because of changing weather.

See Hotels in Morib and the Gold Coast, if you need to spend a night.
http://www.mycen.my/hotels-in-morib-and-gold-coast-selangor/

sunset, dusk, beach, twilight, morib, goldcoast, selangor, ikeacamera, knappa, carmen

The Badass Kong Kong

I love this pic post from my friend Sheril A. Bustamanl ‘s Instagram,
now dated as a memory from 31st July 2014. She’s with her maternal
grandfather; the Badass Kong Kong. Lol! The funny hashtags may suggest
an extreme generation gap but yet there is so much affinity between
the two.

Sheril’s father, Tengku Mohd Ali Bustaman (Pok Ku), and I were fellow
bloggers during its hey days. We became friends at the Commodore Amiga
User Club many years ago.

Kong Kong is grandpa in Chinese dialects.

Happy Raya to the happy family!

The Joker Of Singapore And Jus Katira

Singapore is good at promoting foreign food or “hipterising” local food favourites such as nasi lemak’s conversion into a McD burger for National Day. At their Ramadan bazaars, I kept seeing a Katira drink that was a big hit. The crazy Chinese seller who looked like Batman’s Joker, assured me it is halal and showed me the MUIS logo which is similar in mileage to our JAKIM logo.

I thought he was a PRC (local racist and discriminatory slang word for workers from People’s Republic of China) but he is local since he kept using Hokkien (Fujian) expletives when I pushed him for an explanation of the unusual green drink.

What is Katira? It is Tragacanth gum from a shrub mostly found in Iran, Iraq and Western Asia. It is considered a herb and good for detoxing in the Middle East. I didn’t feel like trying after he called it “kapo nerg” or frog’s eggs or tadpoles. Thanks for your honesty, Sir. Wonderful Basil seed drink suffers the same. Finally, I saw one solitary stall selling it from a corner at TTDI’s bazaar this year. The Singapore stall was at Geylang Serai and local Malays loved Air Katira and Jus Katira.

#singapore #food #katira #ramadan #geylangserai

Somewhere I Belong

I am like a newspaper. When something major happens, I tell myself. Wait a minute, I have some pictures of Linkin Park somewhere. Problem is finding them from my blogs.

It was October 2003, Stadium Merdeka. I saw the concert with first time concert goer Florence Wan. Maybe she can remember the setlist?

I wrote:
“Last night’s Linkin Park concert was closely watched by a man in a serban and another in a bow-tie. The rap-rockers, the concert-goers and their minders behaved as the strict rules dictated. Nevertheless, Linkin Park rocked the stadium and even chanted ‘Malaysia Boleh!’ to the delight of the energetic, multi-racial crowd. Some opponents of the concert may not have realised that some half a century ago, at the very same venue, modern Malaysia was born. Our founding forefathers, gathered there, intended a place for every one under the colourful Malaysian sun. Somewhere we belong”

Bow tie man was the then Tourism Minister and the man in serban was part of PAS energetic protesters and that was 14 years ago. Three years later in 2006, I saw them again at the Bukit Kiara Equestrian Indoor Arena, They were not the headliners. I met Sharon Lam there.

I like Mike Shinoda’s wasteland rapping in In The End:
I tried so hard
And got so far
But in the end
It doesn’t even matter
I had to fall
To lose it all
But in the end
It doesn’t even matter

Recent Individually Featured Hotels At MyCen Hotels

Recent hotels individually featured at Mycen Hotels website at http://www.mycen.my/

You can book and see all featured hotels directly. It ranges from the RM 4200 a night Waldorf Astoria of Beverly Hills to the RM 23 a night Polo Regatta in Saint Petersburg Russia.

1. The Polo Regatta Hotel on the Gulf of Finland
http://www.mycen.my/the-polo-regatta-hotel-on-the-gulf-of-finland/

2. The Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills
http://www.mycen.my/the-waldorf-astoria-beverly-hills/

3. The Oberoi Amarvilas, Agra, India
http://www.mycen.my/dining-with-one-of-the-seven-wonders/

4. Berjaya Eden Park London Hotel
http://www.mycen.my/berjaya-eden-park-london-hotel/

5. Makkah Clock Royal Tower, A Fairmont Hotel
http://www.mycen.my/makkah-clock-royal-tower-a-fairmont-hotel/

6. Jumeirah at Etihad Towers
http://www.mycen.my/jumeirah-at-etihad-towers/

7. Four Seasons Resort Maldives at Landaa Giraavaru
http://www.mycen.my/four-seasons-resort-maldives-at-landaa-giraavaru/

8. Le Apple Boutique Hotel KLCC
http://www.mycen.my/le-apple-boutique-hotel-klcc/

9. Salcombe Harbour Hotel and Spa
http://www.mycen.my/salcombe-harbour-hotel-and-spa/

10. Sea Lion Firefly Concept Hotel Kuala Selangor
http://www.mycen.my/sea-lion-firefly-concept-hotel-kuala-selangor/