Rainy Hazard

Peak hour traffic in the heavy rain was never fun. There might be water logged road, slow traffic and slick driving surface. There is another hazard in Lembah Kelang however especially on the highways.

Motorcyclists!

They smart danger in clearest of weather but during rain, they tended to stop as a group under shades of bridges. This morning, they occupied the two left lanes along Federal Highway under a few of the bridges as I was making my way to work.

It happened on both sides of the road ...This created extra jam as the lanes were practically closed. Imagine if you were driving fast having to apply your brakes on such atrocious conditions.

Federal Highway has their own motorcycle lanes but they were not well maintained and tended to be closed at areas where constructions were going on - which in KL meant everywhere! Ten year back, motorcycles were banned on rolled inner city highways. But the ban had been lifted since. They use the highway for free and weaving in-between the fast lanes will create problem.

A few months back there we're mbps ends where a car ploughed into this crowd of cyclists causing a few deaths. I guessed the lessons were never learned ... I am not campaigning that they were banned again but a solution must be found and the way I see it, they need a dedicated lane for themselves as well as proper shade stops during rain. Good luck to that ...

Cempedak Luar Pagar

My late father loves jack fruit. There is a small plot of land opposite his house on which he planted a few trees. One of them was a jack fruit and for the last few years it had been yielding some fruits.

Not bad actually. And fresh from the tree, my Mum would fry it. I went to visit Mum last Sunday and we had exactly that. Good stuff actually. Yum yum!

Japan Expo Malaysia 2018

I stumbled across the event during he last installation in 2017. I happened to have a free after noon with Anita and the boys away to Port Dickson. I went for a spot of lunch at Pavilion and saw all the commotion. Apparently Pikataro was there and I managed to get a video of his performance from the top floor of the mall.

This time around, with the new Facebook Local app, finding out about the happenings in town turned out to be a lot simpler. Irfan had been keen on Japan lately so, after work, I brought him to have a look.

Can somebody explain about the guy in the blue bear costume?She doesn't look impressed ...Welcome ...Exploring the upper floors ...The whole thing appeared overwhelming to him and after a short walk, he decided that he has had enough. We had just missed the Cosplay parade at the time and there were a few singers performing at the time. The crowd was not as big as the one last year but maybe it was because the venue was more dispersed rather than concentrated at just one area.

Exploring some digital artsDrawing on the wall ...Stories to listen toStill halfway ...

We explored the six floor area near Tokyo Street where pop-up stalls were located. Plenty of offers for holidays in various parts of Japan on show, even some stalls from Japanese universities in case we were interested. Plenty of food stalls of course but Irfan was not very keen as he was not sure if they were Halal or not.

Air Asia was also in the act with some flight offers to JapanThe stalls by the fountainGirl by the fountain ...Not sure who she is but she was giving away autographs ...There were also some stalls by the fountain at the entrance. Mainly food as well as some Cosplayer hanging around. Quite fun but the crowd were less than they were last year. Maybe there were plenty of events going on at the same time this weekend. There was Riuh at APW Bangsar as well as a Kakiseni event at Public. Will be checking those out tomorrow rather ...

High Speed Rail

There are many development plans from the last administration which would help elevate Malaysia to the next level. A national railway network would have been one of the steps to the right direction.

Imagine getting to Penang in 2 hours. 3 hours to either Kota Bharu or Singapore from KL? That would be awesome.

The plan was there but the implementation had created a lot of ill feelings. There were too many middle men making a quick buck escalating the cost. If we were to continue with the current plan, the cost per kilometer of a train service to Singapore would be among the highest in the world.

I for one agree that the rail network should go ahead but after some renegotiation. The current cost is just too high.

I was in Singapore last weekend. Both the journeys out and back were delayed. I spent more time at the airport than the actual travel. A clear waste of time. It would be more efficient to take the train instead. And with a high speed network, the journey would have been faster taking into account the travel time to the centre of KL from the airport.

Hopefully in the years to come, this would be built. We shall just need to wait and watch ...

The Towns of Malaya

While walking around town on the last day of my Raya break, I stopped at Ruang by Medan Pasar. The place held a small exhibit that week and it was an interesting one.

Ruang was nicely located at this junctionThe address in case you were asking ...A respite from the hot weather outside ...It was about the old towns of Malaya filled with topographical photos of major towns in Malay Peninsular before Merdeka. Some really fascinating find here.

Yes, there were not too many items. But those on display were worth a look ...It really made you appreciate what Malaysia was about ...The old Seberang PeraiThere were some featuring Seberang Perai as well. Apparently, a book containing all the exhibits would be launched soon. So far, I had not find any details. Soon I hope ...