Art for Grabs

So, as promised, I managed to drag my arse out this weekend. It was one of those beautiful weekends, when you're walking around your city by yourself and you think "I am so lucky to be here... I love my city"


(Since 1914)

As I've mentioned before, I have always loved the old parts of KL, the beautiful architecture, the history behind it. I walk by buildings and imagine what it would have been like, back in the day, with horse carriages and markets going on right under your window. With greeneries everywhere. It makes me sad when I see these buildings being torn down with new buildings put up. I wish these buildings were preserved. If I had enough money, I would LOVE to buy a few of these, and maybe this one in particular.


(Imagine building a home here)

Imagine standing over that balcony, and just watching the world go by... though sadly if I did that from this particular building I would be covered with bus smog.

But this post was about the Art for Grabs which is happening in Central Market. It would be going on tomorrow as well for those interested. You can catch a cab or take the Putra train to Central Market. The Annexe is located at the back of Central Market on the second floor. So when you see the new building block behind CM, keep climbing up those ladders all the way to the top.

Lots of interesting art, I myself fancied the home made lip balm being sold there. There were a few different flavours, one being an extremly delicious choc smelling one. You can find more details here

http://mynrose-shop.blogspot.com/

(Artists selling their wares)

As for dinner, well if you like fine dining, would love Il Lido (btw I am LOVING how more and more fine dining restaurants are popping up in this fair city of ourse)

http://www.il-lido.com.my/

Good food, very good service, reasonably priced and best of all... this...

Beautiful view of the KL skyline from their rooftop bar



Happy Sunday everyone

Weekends 33-36 : Post raya walk

After my actual birthday weekend, I spent the next weekend celebrating my birthday in Bangkok. My friend Miss Prancy had invited me up on a spur of the moment whim and said to me "why dont you celebrate your birthday in Bangkok"

So I went, and danced the night away, and the next day we went over to Chatuchak for a little market shopping followed by actual shopping in Central Chitlom. Was a great weekend of celebrating with good friends, what more could a girl ask for.

The weekend after that, I got sent to a Women's conference in Singapore, followed by preparation for the big day - Raya! I told my mom that I wouldnt be able to go back home that weekend. When asked why, I told her I needed to get ready for Raya - needed to do my hair and nails and all, to which my mother responded "La, I thought you were going to bake some cookies"

Raya was spent chomp chomp chomping and nom nom noming on great food all over. We visited my grand aunts and uncles, and just met up to catch up. My fathers side of the family is quite big you see. He has 11 other siblings, which translates into ~60 direct first cousins (including the married partners) and translates into ~15 nieces and nephews right now. Always a great big fun because we all try to meet up, and travel and visit together.






For those of you still looking for a good nom nom noming place, just remember that Raya is celebrated for a month. So just go hunting for "open house" or "rumah terbuka" which essentially translates to "come on over and eat!"

Now, as for this weekend (yes, apologies for cramming in 3 weekends in one post) I started the evening by going through my old time out magazines. Then being prompted that tonight was the Lantern festival. So, I grabbed my new Spanish friend A and we headed out to Jalan Tuanku first for the supremely amazing and famous Nasi briyani at Restaurant Insaf (I truly recommend the nasi briyani ayam madu, or known as nasi briyani with honey chicken). Ive brought quite a number of friends there and so far have not heard any complaints!


(The beautiful Sultan Abdul Samad building at Dataran Merdeka)

Then we ventured on to walk downtown in search of the Tanglung (Lantern) Festival which was supposed to be from 4-11 p.m. in Petaling Street area. After showing off the beautiful Dataran Merdeka area, and walking through my old KL, we finally stumbled on the crowd of people in front of Central Market!


(The festival started at Central Market)

Lanterns lanterns everywhere! to celebrate the mooncake festival. It was quite a lot of fun, though of course could be better managed, i.e. where are all the lanterns that we can buy, and most importantly, why didnt anyone bother to advertise it in the papers today, so that people would know?? after all, not everyone would be like me and actually lock it down in my calendar when I read about it a few weeks ago.


(Mini lions! blink blink blink)

There were a few mini lions (so cute!) leading the way, with everyone else following behind. Quite a fun procession, though of course would be great if they could turn off the street lights, and everyone walks with their lanterns. Ah well, always room for improvement, though agreed it was quite fun.


(Little boys lighting up their lanterns)


(Hanging up your wishes)

As for tomorrow, its Arts for Grabs at Central Park again! After missing a few rounds before I think Ill walk on over for a sneak peek for this weekend.

Week 32... I think

This weekend happened to be my birthday weekend!! It was a great full weekend. On Saturday I decided to head out to the National Art Gallery with Miss C. If you've never been, well I dont know how I feel about it. This is my second time visiting within the last 3 years. The first time I happened to go with The Sculptor (Named so since he actually is an artist... a sculptor to be exact). It was nice back then, he brought me to the National Art Gallery and explained all the pieces to me including his very own piece. It feels great to hear first hand the point of view of the artist who created the pieces himself. It was also the top 30 under 30 (?) (I think) exhibition and had really amazing exhibitions.


(Entrance to National Art Gallery)


(In the lobby)

This time around though they're showcasing a lot of Nationalistic themes as well as Islamic art since its the fasting month. They also had closed down the third floor galleries as well as one on the first floor and in typical Malaysian style never even mentioned it to us nor did they put up any signs to say it was closed. I fel that the art was a little too ... literal and didnt bring much depth. Even though Im not a 'serious' art critic, it was definitely not up to my expectations.


(Miss C and the peace sign)


(The Art exhibition in the middle gallery)

From the outside the building itself looks a little run down with the roof tiles not being well maintained. Its quite sad since inside I thought it would be great to do little events and gatherings there like we used to do at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. Of course this being Malaysia and the National Art Gallery being the 'National' space, I dont think they would be big on doing events especially if it also involves serving alcohol. Though as pointed out by Miss C, people who drink alcohol would be the big spenders.


(This reminds me of the Vatican stairwell. Would be great to do an event here, but of course... no one would allow it)

The galleries themselves could also be done a bit better. There was a video exhibition being shown but the lighting and the wall made it almost impossible to actually see the video. Another thing I learnt from The Sculptor, the floors at an art gallery should never be relfective since it detracts from the piece itself.


(They really should do a better job)

My verdict? Sometimes the National Art Gallery may have good exhibitions that I would truly recommend, but otherwise, other art galleries may be better - I really do like the Petronas art gallery, and Wei-Ling gallery also has some pretty cool stuff, including a very interesting set-up.

As for Sat night, I spent the night meeting up with girlfriends from high school. Its been a while since the four of us got together and we decided to head up to Changkat Bukit Bintang for some drinks and ice cream!! at Bar Italia (have I mentioned how much I love the gelato there, and dont forget to head to the rooftop).

Best birthday day? spending the whole day pampering yourself by bringing yourself out shopping followed by a nice 1.5 hrs massage (courtesy of a free coupon). Went home for dinner and received my birthday presents from my parents.
1) A standing fan
2) A mini sewing machine

Yay! I know, not typical birthday gifts but I was really aiming for practical gifts this year since I didnt want them to waste money on things I might not like.

And then today, this came for me!



Made me smile all day =)

Week 30 : Artsy weekend

Taking it a little slow this week as I transition from my previous project to my new one. On Tuesday my family and I went to watch Cuci the Musical at Istana Budaya. Even though it was a lot of fun and I say "yay! for Malaysian talent and Malaysian art" it was FOUR.FRICKING.HOURS. There were a lot of improv comedy moments in there that also caused the draggy-ness of the show. Jacklyn Victor was simply amazing, her voice... wow. And Awie... wow. I just hope that in future we rely less on just the vanilla flavored artists to act and sing and actually harness new talent that can really do the whole singing and dancing and acting. Essentially to start breeding our own generation of Broadway stars. But yes, for a Malaysian attempt I still think it was quite good. Set was pretty amazing, but four hours???!!! seriously??!!! and nobody warned us about that either.

(Cuci the Musical)

Today I walked around KLCC and as usual dropped by the Petronas Gallery to see what new art collection was up. I must say, this time, the exhibitions were amazing. Firstly, it's contemporary art, so just a word of caution to all you renaissance/ historical art lovers. Secondly, its divided into two parts, the Young Malaysian Artists - new object(ion) and the Words+Pictures=Book exhibition. I loved the energy, the colors, the vibe of the entire exhibition. I especially loved Words+Pictures=Book as it evoked this whole sense of nostalgia and reminiscence of my childhood spent reading picture books. I loved that the Malaysian artists themselves had a go at writting one each and infusing in it the local elements. And it was just... happy, and filled with hopes and dreams, just like when you were a kid and nobody told you you couldnt actually fly to the moon.


(Inspiration from Bosch?)

(They also sell the whole collection of books!)

Tomorrow Im going to try and hit either the National Art Gallery, or watch 'Salt' the jury is still out on which one I should go for. Well, I guess depends on how I feel tomorrow.

The Banjaran

I was looking forward to this trip for a while now. After the craziness that is my job, we were given a wonderful retreat/ holiday as a thank you from the company for all the hard work. What can I say, we work hard, play hard.

The Banjaran is a wellness high end retreat located in Ipoh. Located about two hours away from KL, I must say its deff worth a visit. They recommend spending at least four days there, and after going for only 2 days and 1 night, I do strongly recommend doing at least a few days there.

There are only 25 units at the Banjaran lending to its whole exclusivity. Children under age 16 are also not allowed in. You will understand why when you get there. There are a lot of natural hot springs that are piping hot - at 70 degrees, and its quite easy to accidentally fall in if you are a child.

The background is the beautiful caves and mountains of the area. You are essentially right at the foothill of the caves and there is water water water all around you.

Your private villa will have its own personal plunge pool, an outdoor dining and living area as well as a geothermal jacuzzi. Even though its sold as a wellness / retreat area, I can easily see it as a honeymoon spot. It was all great with the exception of the fact that

1) They view coffee as eeevvvviiillll. So there is no coffee in the rooms. I had to beg to get one delivered to me. They do offer tea as an alternative though
2) There is no room service. So you honeymooners that were thinking maybe you'll never leave the room, well think again. You probably need to head out for some nosh.


(The open dining room and living room, and yes this is part of your own private villa)


(View from the bedroom. Your own personal plunge pool, with the beautiful background)


(View from the dining area. The entrance door to your own unit is to the right. It opens to your private plunge pool, and on the left hand side of the pic is your bedroom)


(Bedroom view)


(The geothermal jacuzzi at the back of the villa. If you dont want to use the natural hot spring water, they also have the treated water options)


(The his and her bathroom)

Other features that I did love about the place. Jeff's celler which is essentially a cave that has been redone to house a bar and karaoke place. Amazing!!! perfect for a company dinner or small wedding. There was also the fish spa! outdoors. You know the one where you just put your feet in and all the fish will come and nibble the dead skin around it. Really good and sanitary cleaning services. They also have two yoga decks. One is outdoors and facing the amazing view of the mountain in the back, and the second one is actually IN the cave. Pretty amazing as well. They also have a natural steam cave, a juice bar, jungle trekking... so much to do! which is why I think you need to spend a few days there. But oh well, time to show more pictures!!


(Inside Jeff's cellar)


(in case the private plunge pool and jacuzzi isnt enough, there's also the large outdoor pool)


(They have managed the natural hot spring so that you can actually soak in and enjoy it. This dipping pool was 34 degrees)


(The indoor yoga deck... inside a cave!)


(The outdoor yoga deck. Imagine waking up and stretching to this everyday!)



(The juice bar)


(Karaoke in Jeff's cellar)


(Jeff's private collection)

http://www.thebanjaran.com/home.aspx
The Banjaran
Price : ~RM 1,800 per night (no, not cheap, but pretty worth it I would say. And this includes meals and a massage)