The Basement Vault

After missing the basement in my first visit, I returned to see what was going on down there.

The Urbanscape House used to be a bank. And the basement was where the vault and safes were located. The vault being huge, meant that when the previous owner evacuated, they did not bother taking the vault down. Too much hard work I would've thought.

Bathed in neon lightBadass!The morning ritual ...Like this also can ....The Urbanscapes organiser decided to utilise this space into an underground alternative art scene. Coupled with dimmed and neon hues, it certainly worked the charm.

But I found the work featured in the vault itself tonne fascinating. And they could've easily been confiscated as they did not mince words. Some direct reference onto the current political scene were on offer. Subtle again, but once you got it, they certainly put their point across succinctly.

Attack of the Ah LongHey! I got that T-shirt!Many gems in there!Melayu, Cina, India dan lain-lainStop stealing Rosmah's bag!!I would've dare suggest that those posters were put in public places. You'd expect some UMNO members in red shirts to come matching in yelling at us on how much we should respect our leaders. A funny spectacle though should that happen. Especially when I saw the emblem of the Youth and Sports Ministry at the brochure. Subversive!

So, should you be visiting the Urbanscape House in the next week, please be sure to check out the basement.

Cannot be Bo(a)rdered

The first floor of the Urbanscape House had an interesting offering. A whole floor of art exhibit. And all with skateboards. Neat.

The art side of things was fascinating enough and add to that some political nuance, I must say that it was very well curated.

There were a couple of pieces which caught my eyes.

Rather neat ....Rebels ....Let's sit down ....The first one was a burger. A wooden burger, paying homage to the plain old Ramly Burger. It was well carved.

The second one was a set of nine boards attached to a wall, each with portrait of current and past political leaders, all against the current regime. Themed "Dulu Lain, Sekarang Lain" - which basically meant the wind of change - it depict how connected there were now in the current political climate.

From the offCloser .....And we have a winner ....More room ....What's next?We are all connected ....Subtle but obvious.

Most of the exhibitors had had their work featured gone and abroad before. You can tell from their polished work. Definitely worth a stop.

The Urbanscapes House

It was finally back. And the new format had been a reassuring departure. Urbanscapes was coming back into town. And this time around it was snack into the heart of KL.

Rather than making it exclusive - and damn expensive - the organiser got the clue that the festival should be about the urbanites. By having a core in the middle of town - a converted old office building in Jalan Kasturi - as the heart of the festival, the party would be accessible to everybody. And you can get a sample of the festivities for free. If you wanted more, you can always pay for the gigs going on around town.

Want to try your luck?The main lobby with the stage on the backgroundLet's check the other floorsAt the Urbanscapes House when I visited yesterday, there were an art exhibit - at the basement and the first floor - cafés and shops on the other floor. There was a stage on the ground floor which I understood would be hosting some short film screening as well.

It was lively and happening on the ground floor while at the same time quiet and reflective at the art rooms. The layout of the house was just perfect for this kind of event personally and I find the whole set up refreshing. Like an oasis in the middle of the city - ironic that it was raining when I arrived.

Those were the themes I supposed ...The skateboard exhibition .... more on that laterYou can also choose to chill ....The location was ideal of you were taking the LRT - either you stop at Pasar Budaya or Masjid Jamek. For outdoor event, Medan Pasar was just right across the street from the House.

I was impressed with the skateboard exhibition on the first floor. I was surprised that some of the local exhibitor had been showcasing their work abroad all this while. The curating was also quite neat.

Some word game ....A peek outside from the verandah on the top floorTime to head back ....The final thing to mention was the verandah on the top floor. It would take you out to the open with a view of both the flag at Dataran Merdeka on one side and Petronas Twin Towers and KL Tower on the other. A nice touch.

The House would be opened until the 7th of May.

Pulau Dangli

After much convincing, the boys agreed to join us for a boat tour. The original plan was for 3 and a half hours. But the combination of the hot weather and Irfan entering diva node, we cut that short to a couple and a bit.

It was a compressed journey in 3 parts.

Waiting for our ride ....Making sure we got one of those For good luckWe actually got the hotel to organise the ride for us. In a boat with just the four setting off at around 3 pm. It was hot but while speeding in the boat, the wind was breathtaking and one did not feel the heat at all.

The first part was feeding fish off Pulau Dangli, about 20 minutes away from the hotel on the boat. Irfan was still warming to the idea then but as soon as he started feeding the fish, he was super excited. We had to make sure that he didn't fell off the boat when feeding the fishes.

Speeding thereAn earlier group was already thereTesting the waterGetting the hang of it ....We were armed with some bread provided by the guide. The water was still and as soon as we arrived, there were plenty of fish around our boat. They were going all out for our bread and the school we saw easily contained around 200-300 fishes.

Time to goSuch serene sight ....We could wait for too long as there were more boats coming - plus we ran out of bread. I thought Irfan especially used too much bread trying to entice the fishes. Idlan was more sensible, but ending up using less quota!

Off to the second part, the fish farm!

Back to School

After almost 3 weeks of Easter Break, the boys were back to school this morning. They were still tired from yesterday's travel - plus some last minute rush to finish their homework. Idlan especially was still groggy this morning.

It would be all action for him today as he has his tuition until 10 tonight. Expect him to be grumpy later ...