Return to d7

I had another extra few hours to burn yesterday morning while hanging around at the company’s office while an assessment was going on.

Compared to last few years, the place seemed deserted. It was a building complex with a difference, the kind which would have attracted internet start-ups to make them into offices. Nice green open space, seems right the right environment. But maybe the combination of economic slowdown and the wrong locale made sure that the place did not take off as it should.

Having a look aroundThat's my floorNice long tall corridors ...Personally, if I were to run a start-up, I may have a hub there since it was secluded enough but at the same time accessible through the road. Public transport maybe an issue but you could always use Uber.

Many of the old tenant had left. I remembered that there used to be a chic home appliances outlet on the ground floor where I used to ogle at the Smeg fridges - which I knew I could not afford. Most of the units on the ground floor were empty. Occupancy I would put at around 30% overall. Which was a shame ... And we were down to just a single cafe - the Three Little Birds Cafe. The mocha there could be better but the sandwiches were still OK.

The cafe was still openThe car park downstairs ... smaller than it shouldMaybe the place would turn around once the other offices around the area were also opened and the economy get better.

Three Little Birds Coffee

During my series of meetings last week, I ended up having breakfast at this cute cafe on two consecutive morning. A highly rated cafe from what I heard, where they ground their imported coffee beans themselves and share them among their three branches. The branch at d& was their main, and the warehouse where they do the grounding sat right behind this shop.

Surprisingly, they open very early by KL standard at 8 am. They had some bagel and croissant, but the early breakfast choices in terms of food was pretty limited. But what ever on offer did not disappoint.

The thing I like most about the cafe was the ambiance. The quiet early morning, with water features all around brought tranquility despite the early morning traffic barely 50 meters away. You soon forget the time of the morning, and the next thing you know, it was already time for the meeting.

The coffee? Nothing special. The mocha was quite nice, but I have tasted better. Certainly of a higher quality than your average chain cafe. As mentioned, food choices was rather limited - not the place to have a hearty breakfast, and certainly no roti canai!

A nice place to drop by during busy schedule but certainly I would not go out of my way here just for the coffee. But in terms of tranquility, it was great .....

d7

In the past years, I have always been fascinated by the YTL initiatives timer brand Sentul. It used to be a predominantly Indian community as the railway workshops and hangers used to be stationed there. In the years gone by, the community there thrived but their sense of identity had been lost since the railway terminals no longer operate there.

To a certain extend, the area was under developed until YTL came into the picture rebranding the area and developing it into an urban commercial hub. That had been going on for the last decade and it had been slow to take off.

Slowly but surely, there had been new buildings sprouting up from this area, which were architecturally spectacular. And d7 was definitely one of them.

I had been a consultant for a company based at d7 since the beginning of the year and I often go there for meetings and what not. And today, I brought my camera along to snap pictures as the building was certainly unique. Sadly, the occupancy was rather low due to combination of location and undoubtably cost. Those who could afford to set up shop there would definitely appreciate how aesthetically pleasing the building is.

The tenants there were trendy, mainly architecture and design firms. My favourite shop there was definitely Smeg. I've been admiring their fridges for a while now. Shame that they had to cost a bomb. There were a few art galleries as well, which I have yet had the time to explore.

Security was tight. To get into the offices, you would need to carry a key card - which luckily I had - or register at the security desk. A pain to be perfectly honest. Luckily parking was free - covered slots at the basement.

Maybe in the future I would venture at the surrounding area as well. A photo walk maybe.