Price Hike

All morning, the talk in the mess was all about the new hike in the assessment fees around KL. Some of them were hit by 400% increase. They could afford it but what about the young middle class workers with young family. The increase would hit them hard. 

They actually have a point. And added to that the upcoming GST and plan to scrap cars more than 12 years-old, everybody were miffed. 

I was the youngest amongst them and could only listen. I was sure I would be feeling the heat of the increase on the months and years to come. Is there anything I could do about it?

For the meantime, I could only console myself with the football news and back page gossips. Distractions ....

KLIMS 2013

I cancelled the morning clinic and was able to start the day later than usual. Finished my morning round by about 11, and then drove into town, heading to PWTC. Destination: KLIMS 2013. That was short for Kuala Lumpur International Motor Show.

I had high hopes for the show. It was not exactly a yearly event - the last being in 2010. I saw that as a decent outing, something that the organiser could build on. So, three years later, have they progressed?

In 2010, I was struck by the effort put in by Proton. They pulled all the stops, even got a concept or two in the mix. They have some really good sales people there who were able to tell the visitors what was in store in the coming year as far as products were concerned. They really impressed me and a few other people.

Welcome!Certainly was a lot of walking

At that time, hybrid was just being introduced, with Toyota and Honda at the forefront. All the four halls were filled and at the end I was exhausted. There was so many things to see.

This year, Proton did not even bother turning up. Rumour has it that they were late in the game and was not able to secure a prime spot as their show space. I begged to differ. There was plenty of space, in fact one of the hall was filled with antique cars which occupied more space that they ought to. Those cars should be placed along the corridors as fillers, not occupying a prime real estate. Somebody at Proton Marketing Department deserved the sack here!

The main player today was Volkswagen. They got all their main models in, and I spent a fair amount of time looking at their new Beetle. They of course had gimmicks and some really pretty models to stand next to their cars.

Toyota and Honda was also there but personally, more just to make up the numbers. Peugeot and Citroen had a few cars, and one whole hall was occupied by Sime Darby Motors, with their Ford and Hyundai range.

The other Prestige European brands? Not a chance! BMW? Mercedes? Volvo? Don’t even dream about Porsche or the other Italian Marque. There were no stars here.

This whole hall was filled by antique cars, and it was half a hall too many!Time for some conceptPut a new spin on the term camper vanAnd the sad truth was there were more models than cars ….. and the majority of the exhibits there were accessories. Which put a new spin to the term motor show. They should just renamed in KL International Models and Accessories Show. And scrap the term International when you were at it!

It had certainly deteriorated, and when asked if I would recommend going there, I told whoever asking to forget about it. This was a half-arses effort at best just to fill the calendar. It did not deserve my RM15 entrance fee. Don’t get me wrong, I support local exhibitions even though people say that I was crazy to because I feel that for us as a nation to flourish we should have an informed society. But this was just schoolchildren effort at best.

Time to leave ....And don’t get me started about the whole exhibition hall filled with American Antiques. Have we gone Counting Cars all of a sudden?

Please don’t hold another KLIMS next year. Because I might just have to turn up and rant again like I was doing now ……. Good Night!

The Old Mall

In its heyday, The Mall was the one. The main, the biggest mall in town. The opening ceremony back in 1987 was spectacular. Rumour has it that the firework show alone cost more than RM 1 mil. And I must say back then, The Mall was the place to be and to be seen. They had all the main brands and shops. The eateries there were excellent. One of the main feature of the place was the huge glass roof over the main foyer.

It was one of the place I would go to when I was back in KL during school breaks, either with my parents to shop, or to meet up with friends. Even back then, getting there was a challenge due to lack of public transport. I remember walking all the way there with my friends all the was from Pertama Complex, without much as breaking a sweat.

With the opening of bigger malls such as Mid Valley, 1-Utama, and of course more recently Suria KLCC and Pavilion, The Mall certainly appeared dated. Shops there started to close and the main brands shun the place, electing to open business around KLCC instead. The crowd also changed …. it was fast becoming groupies hangout.

A few years back, the Sunway group acquired the place and in May this year closed the mall for renovations. The glass roof was removed and this afternoon, on my way to PWTC for the motor show, I saw how bare the place was stripped. The new look mall would be renamed Sunway Putra Mall, and opened for business in January 2015.

Will it return to its glory days? I must say that I would bet against it. It may turn into a niche mall but it would never be able to compete with the likes of 1-Utama and Pavilion. I would however would be more than happy to be proven wrong .....

Camera Awesome!

Recently there had been a major update on the Android version of the Camera Awesome app. The new version was definitely much better than the last one.

For the uninitiated, Camera Awesome is the camera replacement app produced by the team behind SmugMug, my main photograph storage in the cloud. One thing about them is they actually have an algorithm in their system which transforms the appearance of our snaps once uploaded to their server. The snaps would be optimised for the LCD screens and the web. The saturation and contrast would definitely be boosted up, giving an extra gloss to our photos.

This special formula is called the "awesomeness", and this app certainly offered plenty of those. Though I must say that they still lagged behind VSCO when it comes to customisation of the photos.

SmugMug had also recently updated their website for free - if you have a paid account with them of course - and this had become my main gallery and depository. With this app, my snaps would be uploaded instantly into my archive, so that I would never have to worry about getting my snaps misplaced as long as I have an internet connection.

And yes, the photo up top had reviewed some awesomeness which is just as well as it was captured in almost darkness. I still needed Camera+ for the borders though.

I Need Sleep

After the boys hone to sleep, Anita and I had been chatting about plans for the holidays. And now, both of us were still up. And it had just gone past 1 am.

Hopefully with the school holidays, the traffic would be a doddle. I plan to leave home slightly late, looking forward for a nice easy drive. Hopefully there would be no rain.

I had quite a number of patients to see in Subang before leaving for Park City. There would be a number of patients to see in Park City as well, before coming back to Subang for the afternoon clinic.

Looking forward to a busy morning tomorrow. Better catch some sleep.