Return to the Pyramid

Believe it or not, even though Subway Pyramid was only a 5 minutes drive from my hospital, I had not been there for quite some time. Ever since I opened my Desa ParkCity clinic. I usually had Monday and Wednesday morning free. Not anymore.

So today, before the Friday Prayers, I had to do a bit of shopping there and since I was there quite early, decided to have a quick lunch as well. It was still much the same. Not many new shops. But the electronic stores on the top floor were still going strong. You could get most of the latest gadget there, minus the hustle and hype of Low Yat.

Parking was still a pain, even at 11.30 in the morning. I remember last year that I had to park at the hotel just to get a spot. The place could clog up really fast ......

Runway Foyer

There was certainly plenty of things going on at Pavilion today. The central foyer had been transformed into a runway, and this afternoon just batter we arrived, the place was packed with then crowd having a look at what was going on?

Will this give me wings?

Me, I was more excited with the F1 cars and merchandise on the stalls. And what was the business with this Red Bull mini?

Publika at Solaris Dutamas

It had been raining all afternoon. We initially planned to take the boys out to the park in the afternoon but the thunderstorm changed our mind. We then drive to Plaza Damas to let the boy loose in the indoor gym, but that too was closed. After a quick snack, we drove across the road to Publika as we had been curious about the place for a number of months. And it was a revelation.

The place was much bigger than we initially thought, even with not all the shops were opened. The anchor tenant, Ben's Independent Grocers - or BIG - more than made up for that. The place was a groceries shopper heaven! Upmarket - slightly less than than Jason's at Bangsar Shopping Center, but bigger size-wise. But that was just half of the story.

By the main entranceI was not joking when I said that the place was spaciousHmm! Artwork?Mooo!There were seats scattered around the walkwayIdlan trying out one of the chair. Verdict: uncomfortable.The place was spacious and parking was plentiful - although bear in mind that KL was quiet today with the city dwellers still making their way back from kampung after Raya. We explored some of the shops, but what struck me was the emphasis on space. The corridors were wide, airy and full of natural sunlight from the clear ceilings. There were also some artwork - mainly designed from garbage littering the walkways, with seating area tucked away at regular intervals. It was easily 200m from one end to the next, and there we also shops in the walkway outside. It would take one whole day to really explore the place.

There were interesting artworks lying about. Idlan was sure that this was a girl robot. I wondered why?This one was right colourfulWe didn't have the chance to venture outside. Maybe on the next visit.A quick dinner stopBy the toiletThe whole Solaris Dutamas complex was not just Publika - this was the main shopping mall. There were office buildings parallel to the mall, with roads linking the buildings. There were plenty of restaurants and offices around there, which I was sure had an exclusive ring to it. Where is your office? Solaris Dutamas. Got class maaan!

After a couple of hours, we decided to have a quick drink, then off to groceries shopping at BIG. It practically had everything ...... And that would require a separate entry .....

Evening at The Curve

I brought the boys and Puan Anita out to IKANO the other night as I mentioned earlier. The plan was to buy Raya cards from our favorite shop there. After that was done, we noticed that The Curve had some decorations at the main foyer as well as stalls set up. And one of the stalls was of our neighbor, Nazleen Noor.

The boys were in their jimjams at Nazleen's stall

She got her collections on display and Anita spent some time there. Unfortunately she was away on a meeting at the time. The other stalls were pretty interesting as well, but the one that caught my attention was by a small company called Young Khalifah.

The night was still youngThe theme, Dansa Raya .... but what might the other spactacular highlights be?Not the real flame thoughStarry night!Before you say anything, this was not one of those cheesy little shops selling standard merchandise and garments for Moslem children. This went beyond that. They sold cute sejadah (prayer mat), telekong (prayer garments) and other nice stuff. We bought a couple of sejadah for the boys. Anita got herself a pair of telekong. Irfan wanted some soft toys, of a Moslem family. Really cute.

The stall by Young KhalifahOne of the puppets that Irfan bought. We had a set of six - the whole family.The theme of the display was "Dansa Raya". We didn't see any dancing that evening. Maybe the dancing would happen nearer to Eid itself later. Looking forward to what else they had in store though.

Enter the Dragon

Impressive. That's all I can say. It was huge and even Irfan said so. The dragon in the main foyer of Pavilion. A huge one, gliding down from the seventh to the floor level on the second floor. All hung using pieces of string.

The main foyer was filled with ornaments and shops of course. But there were plenty to see though the place could be rather crowded. A definite thumbs up for the Pavilion on their efforts.