Mari Ber-Sama-Sama

I learned recently that this year's edition of Urbanscapes would be held in town and one of the main venue would be Medan Pasar. Interesting as it would be central, just behind Central Market and within walking distance from Petaling Street. Public transport would also be straight forward. And from there on, there would be plenty to do - CM, Petaling Street, Dataran Merdeka, Masjid Jamek and Masjid India would be within 10 minutes.

But the drawback was the area had been transformed lately into Mini Kathmandu, with plenty of our foreign guests congregating at the area during weekends meeting their friends when they were off work. Not really a pleasant place to venture at.

As a trial run, I went there last weekend after learning that a bazaar - called Sama-Sama Food Fair - was held there. The sun was blazing and yea, there was a mixture of local and the foreign visitors as well as foreign workers. The bazaar featured local alternative musics as well as local and ASEAN food fair.

I was there quite rather late as I had a long clinic on the Saturday morning. Most of the food was gone, although the music was still playing and it would go on until around 8. The crowd would then go over to KLCC and other venues to celebrate Earth Hour that night. Great timing.

Nice tables actually. Setting the mood, but rather hot and exposed ...Nice hat!Time to enjoy the ABC!The event was organised by Lab DNA and from the information I received they had been doing great work with plenty of viral event, something the Millennials would be in tune with. I was there in time to catch the Venopian Solitude who had been making headlines in the local underground scene. Great music and great vibe.

I didn't have much time to spare, and I was off after 30 minutes in time to have some ABC!

P Ramlee at Nu Sentral

I first learned about this exhibit from my Instagram feed. Plenty of my friends learned about the National Archive doing an exhibition at Nu Sentral about the work of the late Tan Sri P Ramlee. At the back of the success of Ola Bola, it was certainly great timing, tapping into the public interest.

The very one used in Penarik Becha!I turned up on a Sunday afternoon, alone as Anita was with the kids at home, and judging from the number of people who stopped by, was a great success. It was certainly helped by the effort being put in. The exhibits were very clearly labelled and certainly looked professional. The fact that it was free also helped, and with the number of people walking past as they go about near KL Sentral, the exhibit was bound to be a winner.

Those were the actual clothes used in his movieMore personal histories and memorabilia I was not sure how long it was going to run, but it was certainly worth my afternoon. Hopefully, the exhibit would be a continuing effort, being rotated around different venues.

He certainly likes his scooters ....Nice layout of the exhibition as seen from the upper floor of the mall

It featured succinct informations, anecdotes as well as exclusive items from the era. It was quiet a surprise what the great man achieved in his 44 years on this earth. And I would be turning 44 in July. It was beyond compare!

Mantra South Bank

During my stay in Brisbane, I was put up at a hotel right next door to the convention centre where we had the meetings. The hotel is called Mantra South Bank. To be honest, it was more of an apartment rather than a hotel. The room was big, complete with a separate bedroom and loving area, plus a kitchenette and washing machine.

It was designed for a family on vacation rather than a single traveler as myself. But the room was cosy enough, serving a nice breakfast with vegetarian selection. Room service was very minimal however although the were plenty of cafe right next door within walking distance.

I didn't spent much time at the room however as my schedule was packed. The bed was more than adequate, in fact it was quite comfortable with great air-conditioning plus great shower. Nothing to complain really.

They have a gym and swimming pool but as I mentioned, I didn't have much time to spare there. The hotel was around 15 away from the city centre on foot, crossing a bridge and a nice park - where the Wheel of Brisbane was located.

It had a nice cafe by the lobby. The wifi was rather expensive, and there were plenty of shops and a pharmacy if you need to by any personal items.

Scorching

I spent Monday mainly indoors. During lunch, I joined Anita at a restaurant near our apartment and at that point experienced the searing hot of the current heatwave. It was bordering on brutal.

And apparently Malaysia has yet to experience the worse of it. That was just the beginning.

I needed ice cream ....Searing hot during lunchBy late afternoon, things was almost unbearable. My clinic was done early and I finished my ward round before packing things up for home. But not before a quick stop at the mart for some ice cream.

I understood that schools in Perlis and Kedah would be closed for the next couple of days due to the weather. My boys were having their exams this week and will be having their Easter break soon. Not sure what the plan would be looking at the weather. Idlan was keen to go to Penang, but judging from the weather report, things were worse up North. Maybe Fraser's Hill may be a better bet!

Saturday Night Outing

Kung Fu Panda was back. The third instalment was better than ever. A really great night out last night - a post-call thing and Irfan especially had been nagging about this since I returned from Brisbane. He initially wanted to watch it last Thursday but we could not get a ticket for the early show. It was a school night so, no late show for them!

So, last night both he and Idlan enjoyed the movie. I must admit that I dozed off in the middle since I only had a couple of hours sleep the night before. Idlan sitting next to me nudged me every time there was a good gag and the movie certainly hit all the right note. The boys enjoyed it. I enjoyed it even though I was tired. Definitely one for the family ...