Sunny Side Up

The trend in KL lately were to have pop-up stores and food truck as a way of social gathering. It was great on occasions but I noticed lately that these spots were either too crowded or too expensive.

The stalls and food at such events as Riuh could be too much of a put off to be honest. I ended up having drinks in established cafe instead when I went out as you couldn't guarantee that such stalls would offer good food at such price.

Look closely or you might miss it ...Quite cosy insideAnd the same went for the items at the pop-up stores as well. Yes, you would like to support young independent entrepreneurs but often they were charging unreasonable prices.

Slate at The Row - located at Jalan Doraisamy - in the middle of town host monthly jumble sale-like event, called Sunny Side Up, where there were pop-up aplenty. There were stalls selling paintings and leather goods. Coupled with pleasant environment, great weather and some nice restaurants around the area, it certainly was a place to be on a Sunday afternoon.

Getting there was straight forward even if you were driving since there were plenty of spots along the road. Traffic were rather light as well. I had a look at some hand-printed batik shirt as well as some paintings. But I felt that the price could have been cheaper. Everything were going at a premium.

I didn't drive this time ...As a result, I didn't hang around for too long. I would love to get an item or two of the prices were reasonable. Do, maybe next time ...

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!