Urbanscapes 2017

Haris Abdul Rahman July 22, 2017

It was that time of the year again when Urbanscapes came to town. Not much of a frenzy this year. It may have been the economic slow down. It may also be because it was too near Ramadan. The event this year felt subdued compared to yesteryears.

But that did not mean that there was nothing happening.

It was more of an art affair than performances. There was no concert in the middle of the town square like last year. It was a party atmosphere then. The event this time around were mainly indoors - at the aptly names Urbanscapes House, right by Medan Pasar.

I had only the chance to attend a couple of the sessions. First was having a look at some street photography exhibition, featuring works of local talent. Nice ...

The second weekend I was there to attend a talk on the railway system in Johor. More about that one later.

I bought some comics, had a chat with a few of the vendors, listen in on a few dialoques and took some photographs. Space was at a premium, so not much food or drinks there. Not much open space to enjoy from years ago. It was party in the park atmosphere then.

I gather that some of the events were held at other venues scattered around town. There were a couple of guided photowalks which unfortunately I could not attend due to work. But overall, the organisers did cater for those keener to explore the town as urban dwellers and hopefully learn a bit more about the city they live in. Definitely would support it in the coming years and of course, the event had to adapt with changing times.

The Preparations

Haris Abdul Rahman July 20, 2017

When Anita got her mind set for something, she would obsessively pursue it. And the family open house the other was no exception. She was planning it for some time and got all the logistics organised well ahead.

For her part, she cooked her famous soto. She ordered a few items from her Instagram contacts as well as getting one of her friends to bake the cake for us.

Her Mum helped with the decorating and she got one of our maid's friend to stay over as well.

Certainly all her effort came into fruition as things started to fall into place. Luckily since our apartment was recently renovated and one of the leaked bathroom had been fixed. A few days before, she went to Sungai Buloh with her friend to get some fresh flower pots for the balcony. Therefore decorations was rather straight-forward.

Open Apartment

Haris Abdul Rahman July 17, 2017

Last Sunday, the day before my and my father-in-law's birthday, we hosted an open house at our apartment - hence the dubbed open apartment - inviting mainly Anita's cousins and my father-in-law's siblings. The turn out was better than expected. Mixed with that, we also had an impromptu cake-cutting and all the usual birthday stuff.

It was an excellent day all around and some of our friends stayed until the evening. Food was curtesy of Anita's excellent soto as well as a few orders of biryani and "laksa Johor". Everyone was entertained, even our new driver - who was a pastry chef - chipped in with some desserts for good measures.

Most of our cousins only visited us for the first time, and many had not been here since the renovations last Christmas.

Everybody had a good time and Anita was the most pleased. She put plenty of effort for the afternoon, and her mother actually spent the evening with us. We also got the help from a friend of our maid as there were plenty to do during the event. But everything went well.

Idlan and Irfan though only made sporadic appearance, although one of their cousin joined them in Irfan's room playing with the PS4. That left us adults to chill out while enjoying the food. The main problem our visitors had was the security and parking arrangements. To make things easier, we stationed our driver at the visitor's car park to fetch them through the main lifts rather than them having to go through the visitor's route and the main entrances.

We were stuffed by the late afternoon, and the party was only halfway then. My father-in-law did not stay until late as he was getting tired from all that. He did however gave a speech after cutting the cake. Off came the story when I called Anita's home when we were both still in college. Hilarity ensued! But great day all around ...

Wedding at the Marina

Haris Abdul Rahman December 7, 2016

Last weekend, Syahril invited us to attend his sister’s wedding. It was a two-day event, the Saturday being the akad nikah as well as aqiqah for his daughter, followed by a reception on the Sunday. I was stuck at work on the Saturday and was not able to go. However, we were able to join them for the reception.

The reception was held at a new restaurant at Marina Putrajaya called Bora Ombak. We were quite familiar with the Bora Ombak branch in Ampang, but this was the first time we were at the new outlet. It was a decent-sized hall, catered for wedding right at the marina offering a great vista of the beautiful surrounding.

Being Putrajaya, access from KL was straight-forward and the venue offered ample parking. I had been there a few times - before the outlet was open - to fly my drone before.

The food was great and we got ourselves a great spot at one corner of the hall. Since we left the boys at home, we were able to enjoy the food and the occasion without worrying about them.

Syahril making sure everything was in order

Anita also wanted to get her photos done at the booth

A great day out actually and the unique venue offered a new perspective. It was a hall best used for daytime event as the natural light coming through the large glass windows really spurred up the place.

The marina was located right next to Pullman Putrajaya, and Syahril and his family actually spent the evening there. Not a bad place to hold a reception actually .....

A Royal Brunch

Haris Abdul Rahman November 30, 2016

Last Monday morning, the Sultan of Selangor officially opened the new MediPlex building at SJMC and I attended the ceremony and was invited to be present for the brunch as well.

The ceremony was a late morning affair, meaning that I was able to do a bit of my ward round before attending the event, returning to complete it later after the ceremony before the afternoon clinic. It spelt for a hectic day at the office but nonetheless I was honoured to be invited.

The ceremony started sharply at 10, with the new Permaisuri in attendance which also became the focus of attention. Tight security meant that there were no selfie but truth be told, the whole ordeal was not as boring as I thought. While waiting for the Sultan, I had the chance to mingle and bumped into Zul, a photography buddy who worked for one of the big Insurance firm. My seat for the ceremony was on the second row offering a good view of the whole event.

Our CEO - an Australian - did a good job in pronouncing the Sultan's name and his was the only speech of the morning. Next came a short video of SJMC - which was rather slick! - followed by the Officiation by the Sultan. He then left the hall to visit the new Physio Department next door while I was ushered to the first floor to wait for the brunch later. More mingling.

The meal was excellent. And it was prepared in house by our Hospital Chef. That guy could cook! I only wished that our canteen food was just as good ....

Let's get down to the serious business ....

The food went down well and the company was good. I didn't take the cue from Anita to bring along my business card though ... Silly me! The whole event ended at noon. Off I went to complete my rounds after that ....

A great experience none the less .... and great food!

Masjid India

Haris Abdul Rahman November 16, 2016

After we said our goodbyes with the bigger group, I broke off around Masjid India on my way to the LRT near Masjid Jamek. Some of my photographer friends decided to have dim sum lunch at a nearby restaurant but since I had to return back to the hospital, I had to give it a miss.

Very colourful place but very warm at the same time since the sun was already high up. The fact that the place didn't have much win blowing also didn't help.

There were shops there mainly selling snacks, clothes and bootleg items. In fact, Masjid India was famous for that.

Don't think the tigers were that popular now ....

In the end, there weren't much to see as I was rushing. Took the LRT and that was the end of my photowalk for the day.

KLPF 2016

Haris Abdul Rahman November 8, 2016

Usually, the Kuala Lumpur Photography Festival (KLPF) was held near my place, at Mid Valley. It was the first time it moved and with the new place, I was sure the whole festival felt different. On personal note, obviously I preferred the old venue. A bit busier, and getting a parking spot could be tricky, but at least access was pretty OK. This venue - StarXpo - was located on the 15th floor and it has the worse lift service in town, even worse than SJMC on a Saturday morning!

More about that later.

The event was held over three days, and I went on a Saturday late morning, the second day right after I was done with my post-take round. Hence, I was a bit groggy when I got there, and parked on the 11th floor, I ended up using the stairs to reach the venue after tired of waiting.

The hall was massive - a grand setting with another couple of floors of balcony. The main hall was occupied by vendors seeking all things photography as well as tourism bureau and travel company who offered trip services for photography outings. Compared to the last few years, there were definitely a decline both in terms of quantity and quality of the vendors on display. But the same can’t be said about the exhibitions. There were plenty of great photos on display and the talks were engaging.

Had a chance to listen to one of the talks

Some had projection issues during their presentation

They were not blessed with that many vendors this time around

Even the local tourism board was on the act

I managed to sit in on a couple of talks, but unfortunately the third one was in Mandarin - the one I was looking forward too since it was about Mongolia. For proper food you would have to take the lifts to the lower floor - which was a drag. Toilet facilities were aplenty. The exhibit which caught my eyes was a series about Bangladeshi workers working in Malaysia. Fascinating to learn that they actually had a decent life back hope but with no prospect of extra income. Hence they travelled here and to the Middle East.

The only vendor I found worth visiting was the DJI. They showcased the OSMO Mobile, which I found interesting and cheaper than I thought. Oppo, the mobile phone vendor also had a good presence, showing their phones and also having exhibits on photos taken using their products. The main brands - Canon, Nikon, Sony and Fuji - did not have much presence as only their third-party vendors were there. Olympus surprisingly did not even turn up!

The food were not exactly the attraction

A panoramic sweep from one of the balcony

The organiser would have to start to up their game to attract more vendors for next year’s chapter, otherwise the whole festival would start to lose its gloss. Maybe they should start thinking about going back to the old venue ….

All the photos on this entry were taken using my iPhone 7 Plus

It's not easy getting fresh fish in town today. You could get some from the supermarkets but I doubt if they are less than a a couple of days old.

The Wet Market

Haris Abdul Rahman November 6, 2016

After we were done with the fruit market, we head over to the wet part. Also recently renovated, it was nearly arranged and for a wet market it was certainly very clean. None of those nasty smells we were used to with the old Chow Kit.