LAMPU 2015

It was a spur of the moment thing. Anita learned about the event and asked if we could go, and the decision was made within a couple of hours. She called the driver up and arranged everything. Initially I planned to attend a photo exhibition in town. I got hijacked.

So, off we go with Idlan in tow.

LAMPU - Lights and Motion Putrajaya - is a yearly extravaganza of light blitz. This year would be the third edition of the event, held at the spectacular backdrop of Putrajaya. The main events took place in the evening - for three straight nights - with a brilliant light shows. That was what we went there for.

Unfortunately the heaven opened. It rained heavily all the way to Putrajaya, but luckily it stopped when we arrived. The rain only returned when the light show started, and we were already under a shade.

The light show was not bad although we only managed to stay for around half an hour due to the weather. We didn't get to venture into the other attractions - food truck and stalls - having to rush back to avoid the rush of people returning from the event.

The turnout was pretty decent considering the rain. We reached there just after 8, with the show starting at around 8.30. The light show lasted around 15 minutes and will be repeated multiple times during he course if the night. We were there for the first show.

Apart from the light show, there were some nice light effects at the gardens. We wished that we were better informed of the event. We tried hard to surf the net for more info but they were clearly lacking. We ended up just going with the flow and at the mercy of where we find our parking space. Definitely would go again but wished that we could plan the visit better.

Weekend of Misadventures

Finally had a free weekend after my trips abroad. One of my colleague asked for a switch of calls, and I ended up with some free time.

We started with a nice dinner at The Curve on Friday, ending with sugar rush in my part.

I spent the Saturday afternoon at Bangsar Village looking at children and families going around in Halloween costumes, followed by planned visit to a photo exhibit. But Anita made me change my mind and we were off to Putrajaya for a bit of LAMPU, a light show there. It rained unfortunately.

Then came Sunday. Anita was keen to bring out her picnic mat, and reading about a food fest in town definitely excited her. Foodgasmfest 2015 entered the fray and we were there for lunch. With an empty stomach. Unfortunately our stomach stayed empty when we left ....

At least we had the chance to have some time to ourselves though ...

HK Apple Store

The last Apple Store I went was in London, and it was quite an experience. So, when I arrived in Hong Kong, I was really glad to learn that the local store was only a ten minutes walk away. Two right turns and I was there.

However, the experience was not as grand. Maybe because Apple had become ubiquitous and the local dealers in Malaysia did well in replicating some of the experience. The streamlined catalogue and lack of diversity also helped matters.

The main reason why I was there was to get new straps for the Apple Watch, something which were yet to be available back home. Yup! There were choices alright, from the basic to the ridiculously expensive. I got what I wanted quite easily. Paying for the goods was also quite an experience. You just handed your credit card to your personal "Genius" and he would swipe it on his iPhone-sized device, you sign on the screen and that was it. Even the receipts were emailed to your inbox.

The knock-off merchants come early in these partsApart from that, there was nothing else fancy. The new Apple TV had yet to be released. No iPad Pro of course. Not really anything much else to look at. Nothing that I wouldn't be able to get hold of back home. The price? At least 10% more expensive there than back home. Hence no reason to actually by anything ...

However, the irony there was there were people in small tents right outside the store selling iPhones. I was sure that those were knock-offs but to be honest I wouldn't be able to tell. They were doing it cheap, but not that much cheaper ...

More write-up on the trip here.

Into Town

As I mentioned, the shopping malls were near. Apple Store was only a 10 minutes walk and the mall nearby had a floor full of tech shops. Shame that they were not cheap! The recent currency downturn certainly taking a toll on the wallet.

I got straps for my Apple Watch and of course something for Anita on the Saturday evening when I had time to have a walk. After breakfast on Sunday, I had another chance for a stroll, but this early in Sunday morning, it wasn't much to see compared to Bangkok. The place appeared quite sterile and the locals were not as approachable as the Thai were.

The Langham was located 5 minutes away from Harbour City, a huge mall located next to a pier. This was where cruise ships came to dock, making the place popular to tourist. And the prices of items there were certainly not for bargain-hunters. Some of the top brands retailed more expensive than in KL, and in the end, I only shopped for the novelty factor.

I had a quick stop at the Leica store. Yes, they had the Leica Q there, but it would've cost me RM4000 more than in KL, although the waiting list is around 4 months back home. There was always the threat of price hack at home to with the currency and all.

After Harbour City, before I split with the main group to go to Apple Store, we went to a more downmarket part of town. And the reason for going there was to food. It was off-limits for me anyhow since it was not going to be Halal, but I got to see the real locals. They have high purchasing powers despite the high price of goods. And I would imagine that housing was expensive as well. They have quite a big crowd of migrant workers judging from the number of foreign restaurants there. The only Halal one was a Turkish kebab joint, but I didn't want to risk my tummy.

The Apple Store was as you'd expect, but I would put that in a separate entry later, plus my gadget-hunting exploits.

More write-up on the trip here.

The Langham

Now, The Langham is a great hotel. Full of tradition, and somewhere I wouldn't otherwise could afford to stay in. This was where I was put up in Hong Kong and also where the conference was held. And it was snack in the middle of the posh shopping district. A mall sat quite literally next door. If only Ringgit was strong ...

The hotel had pedigree. A sign of the colonial past, which reminded me of E&O in Penang. I was told that the Peninsular in town was even more a pedigree, but I don't think that this hotel was that far off.

The famous lobby

The lobby was small and the pool sat right on the top floor - unfortunately I didn't even have the time to have a peek at the pool. It was supposed to be grand. What the lobby lacked in size was more than made up by its sheer elegance. There was a cafe by the reception with the main eatery where breakfast and lunch were served sat on the other end. The lobby cafe was famous for its English afternoon tea - served on a specially designed Wedgewood.

There was also a two Michelin-starred Chinese restaurant on the first floor plus another two more American-themed joint located in the basement. The reception dinner was held at the Bostonian - where I had Halal ribs - and right next door to that was an American cafe called Main Street. Wished I had time to have a look at that.

For breakfast ...My room was a standard one on the seventh floor. Nothing much in terms of view from my window but the room was spacious and cosy, great amenities and the in-room dining - I had some salad on the night I arrived - was superb. They had a full movie and sports - alas no football - channels as well as pay-to-view and the internet was free. I had the 30Mb speed courtesy of the conference.

Breakfast was a mixture of continental and Eastern food. They knew how to make a decent omelet there, and I have Halal meals especially prepared for me for lunch.

The service was top notch. The staffs spoke perfect English and knew how to make the visitors welcomed. Transfers to and from airport took around 30 minutes. There was a metro station right next door.

Don't think I could ever afford to stay here again, and the place was certainly up there when it came to opulence.

More write-up on the trip here.