The Journey Up

After stopping over at AL-Manar to pick up Idlan’s report card and at Bukit Antarabangsa to pick up my Mum, we were off as planned to Penang. We stopped at a couple of spots - Tapah to fill up our tummy and Bukit Merah to empty Idlan’s bladder. But on the whole, the journey was very smooth. We got to Penang in time for some nasi kandar lunch, but checking into the hotel was a bit of a pain. As expected, our booking was messed up and the room they initially put us in did not have a connecting door.

After a couple of phonecalls and calling out the on-duty manager, we got what we ordered for, an apartment suite for us, connected to a deluxe room for my parents. It worked out great in the end.

Waiting for the main room to be cleanedIdlan filling the time doing some construction workFinally, we got ourselves unpacked. The weather was a bit on the gloomy side. Hopefully it won’t rain as we were planning to have dinner by the esplanade later tonight. I wanted my fix of laksa and ‘kangkong sotong’. Time permitting, we might drop by my Grandmother’s place as well to check on her.

We would see how things go out overnight. We might be traveling around the island - butterfly park maybe?

Haematology Update

For the first time, we successfully organised an update program for Haematology at UMMC. In the end, we just grit on and organised one. For the longest time, we were contemplating doing one. One Monday afternoon, Sangkar came up with the idea, and I just got the ball rolling.

We really did not know what to expect. As it would be held on the last weekend before Ramadhan, so we were not sure how motivated the attendees might be. We also decided to advertise the event locally, and also on facebook. We ended up in the end with 80 attendees when in the original plan, we would be happy with just under 50.

We also managed to get excellent speakers in, one of them from Kota Kinabalu. We also managed to get sponsorship from a Pharmaceutical company for food and drinks. We did the logistics and invitations ourselves in the end. I was glad that it worked out fine, although I wished that we got a bigger hall and one with lighter air conditioning - it was Dewan Pulasari at RUKA. It was way too cold!

We would definitely be holding something similar in the future. The topics would be more focused as well I hoped. Maybe twice yearly? Anything more than that might be difficult with other meetings going on. After the meeting, I must say I was quite knackered, ending up taking a long nap later that afternoon!

T Forty Two

After the Haematology forum was done, I caught up with Anita and the boys at Bangsar Village II. Idlan had just finished his Lego class, and had not had lunch yet. Even though I had already had some nasi briyani for lunch after the forum, I wouldn’t mind having something light. We wanted to go to Citrus, but halfway, we came across ’T four two’ on the first floor - not the Upper Ground floor with the bridge from Village II to the old Bangsar Village - and gave it a go. It has a nice serene garden ambiance, and the main attraction was of course tea …. and the teapots.

There were many variety of teas on display, and we as usual would either have chamomile or English Breakfast. We ordered a pot to share around - I had some mocha to stay awake after being up since four that morning. For food, I ordered crabmeat nicouse salad, and Anita ordered steak to share with the boys. My salad was not too bad. The crabmeat was succulent but they used to much vinaigrette for the dressing, and I had to use lemon to neutralise the taste. Anita’s steak was too raw despite ordering medium well. We had to cut this slices of the edges to share with the boys. It did came with French Fries but not gravy. The steak ended up being too dry.

The tea was something else, with variety to choose from, and the tacky teapots.

The nice ambianceThe colourful teapotsMy crabmeat saladThe ever-too-dry steak

I guess the place made for a nice spot to have either light lunch or afternoon tea, to share with friends. The spot we picked was basically a garden bench, which was nice and comfortable. The lightings were both bright and subdued, very cosy indeed. We did not order dessert, but from what I saw, they looked yummy. They also offer tea for two package for around RM60, which included drinks, sandwiches and dessert. Maybe one could go for that for value.

But for heavy meal, I suggest maybe you ought to go somewhere else - Delicious at the Ground Floor may be. The place was also not really cheap. They also have another outlet at Empire Gallery, Subang. For contacts - Bangsar Village II (Bistro), Bangsar Village II, 1F-28 & 1F-K2 First Floor, No. 1 Jalan Telawi Satu, Bangsar Baru,, 59100 Kuala Lumpur, Tel:+ 6 03 2287 6566. The Facebook page is here.

Final Thoughts

Echoing what I mentioned in the previous posts, Urbanscapes 2011 was fun, but I personally felt that 2009 was better. This unfortunately had a lot to do with the venue. Why? An arts festivals should be outdoor isn’t it? But not if your niche is audiovisual. You would need a combination of the two. At KLPAC, there were indoor audiotorium, indoor concert arena, indoor exhibition area and studios, to supplement the outdoor party, complete with an outdoor concert stage as well as a more organised DJ area and grassland for party, as well as a separate area for food and stalls. It was just a perfect venue for this kind of festival.

KLPAC was also right in the middle of town, in an oasis so to speak, with Sentul Park at one end, and a lake, with a koi pond for good measure. Parking was also much more organised, and should you be late and had to park outside, the walk into KLPAC was also a pleasant one. There were better toilet facilities, the area for the various events were near each other. Should it be raining, one just need to scamper into ether the main building or the annex. Imagine if there was a thunderstorm at Astaka. We had to evacuate the field I was sure. There was also plenty of area at KLPAC for you to wind down indoors, not to mention a comfortable area for solat.

If I was allowed to vote, definitely I would go for KLPAC.

What were the positives? Plenty of toilets for a start, and not to mentioned the excellent sign postings and cleaning attendants - plenty of them around. The organisers were also very helpful. We had crew form KLue checking up on us to see if there was anything missing that we needed fixing for the day. The soggy field did not dampen the enthusiasm of the punters. The vast size of Astaka field however gave the illusion of not many people attending. I was sure there were just as much. Everybody who did turn up were in good spirit however.

Astaka was also more accessible by public transport compared to KLPAC, but from what I observed, the majority still took their own car and parked nearby. As for my KLickr friends, we had a blast although it was tiring. Given better circumstances, things could have gone a lot better. Time and budget constraint limit us somewhat, and as I mentioned previously, we made the most out of it in the end. Work commitments did get on my way unfortunately, and I wished that I can spend more effort to make it better. Unfortunately, at the rate I am going,I don’t think I could be contributing mush next year, where ever it would be held.

KLickrVille

We sure had fun setting it up, but in the end, we realised that a 40 by 40 feet in open air may just be a touch too big to be cosy. We made the best of it though. We were at the KLue area in Urbanscapes, right at the end, near the much-maligned non-floating hot air balloon area. At least KLcikrVille took off ……

Since internet was sluggish, we brought our own P1 unit, so surfing in and around the tent was smooth. So was the uploads of photos. The open space however, negated our effort to have a good audio and visual projection, bright sunlight and loud live music conspired against our effort somewhat. The theme was the colours of flicker - re pick and purple. Right, it was not me doing the picking. We got our own sound system, projectors and drinks. Cameras of course. Despite being at KLickerVille almost all day, I still managed more than 200 snaps! We shared our tent with a lomo photography group, so they were the one pulling in the visitors. We distributed leaflets and managed to get crowd in from time to time, but the location well away from the main walking area did not help. The bright sunshine and breezy day was a contrast from the thunderstorm the previous couple of days. Shame that the hot air balloon did not take off, as it would have been a great spectacle. Clear blue sky and carnival atmosphere, and you have balloon in the sky …. Bliss!

What was important was we plodded on, and was rewarded with successful 5 minute Photo Express session. I was also currently in the middle of selecting the winner for the Photo Hunt we organised. Shafina, the Mayor of KLickr was ill however that afternoon, which was a bit of a downer. And with my family traveling down from Kuala Kangsar, I had to leave early as well, meaning before 9, and Bunkface showing up. I did listen to them during their soundcheck a day earlier anyhow, so I was not really complaining.