Right after the awesome Nuffnang pajama party, myself and the Suan rushed to attend Sunburst KL 2008 at the Hartamas equestrian club. I was supposed to get a chance for a photo session with Incubus thanks to the invitation from Tuborg, but due to the delay of the bidding game at the Nuffnang party (which I won a camera!), I missed the chance by 15 minutes, dang it!

There’s a few more photos on my flickr set.

Incubus rocking the field

Actually, Suan and I attended the cocktail party for Sunburst the night prior as well. There were plenty of booze and finger foods at that event hosted at Ritz Carlton hotel. Quite a few famous people were at the scene, as with many of the Sunburst artists too. However, I did not get the go-ahead with bringing the big camera, so no pictures from there.

2 of the local artists who played at the cocktail party: Reza Salleh and Yuna were very impressive though!

giant screens and huge number of crowd

On Saturday night itself, despite arriving pretty late, we somehow managed to find a parking spot rather close to the main entrance. I do think that the place is set up quite nicely, with many giant projection and LCD screens benefiting those who didn’t manage to squeeze to the front rows. Beer and food counters were set up at many locations, as with the ever important toilets.

the Tuborg square with cold beer and live screens inside

John Legend was performing as we got there, and then of course, the main act, Incubus. They were really good and the atmosphere were totally changed when they came on. The crowd at the main stage swelled up to a huge number. I’d be dancing even more if I wasn’t so tired from whole night of partying, but it was good nonetheless.

Siao Ling from Tuborg who invited me to the party

Before leaving the show, we met up with Siao Ling and Chui Hoon who invited us to the party and had a cold Tuborg (Thanks for inviting!). Chui Hoon was also the one who was responsible for the 3 crates of beer during the last x’mas eve party. (It was nice meeting you!)

KY, Suan, and Chui Hoon (Siao Ling’s boss)

We left the party at around 2:30 and went to the 24-hour KFC (near University Malaya) for a quick meal before heading back for some well deserved sleep. It was a busy but very fun Saturday night.

Tags:  concert,  incubus,  john legend,  KL,  party,  sunburst,  tuborg

Posted by KY | 17 Comments »

Last weekend we headed to Kampung Baru in KL to capture some election colors. On the side note, election is this weekend, please do vote and vote wisely. The worse thing you can do is to give up the most basic of our democratic right. I am ashamed to say that this would be the first time I go to the ballet box due to being overseas and so on, but it’s a start. Assess the candidates and parties carefully, and make your choice, every vote counts.

As it turned out, I only managed to snap something like a roll of pictures before the rain pours, but here goes:

Color Imbalance

It was also one of Kim’s first photography trips and I must say she has an eye for this thing! Check out her post on the trip.

The whole area was filled with banners, mostly of the ruling party and some of the opposition. It is sad to say that in this country, we still have to resort to putting candidates of the same race (and sometimes same sex) against each other. But hopefully change to the better is on the way.

Stare Cock

If I vote for you, will you buy me a motorbike?

Kampung Baru is one of the very few real kampungs left in the city of KL. Located just a stone’s throw away from the bustling KLCC, here you find people living a much simpler life. With roosters still roaming the streets and houses built just good enough to have a shade under the sun and rain.

Welcome to my Home

For the old folks, evening is spent chilling with friends and having a good time. No sense of urgency, no rushing for deadlines, no hunting for more gold.

Relax and Laughters

In a city with more toll ways than rivers, many folks here still rely on motorcycles and bicycles as their primary transport, getting them from A to B. Of course, there is also an LRT station just around the corner transporting them to a very different world just a single station away. It is truly a time machine more than an underground tube.

Clinging On

Kampung folks are also usually a lot friendlier. I took the opportunity to snap a picture of this chubby kid at the restaurant. I think he was confused, this is the world he lives in, we are the visitors.

The boy will grow up to inherit the country from our generation, and it is us that must make a choice to give them what they deserve.

What’re you looking at?

I hope you enjoy this series. Thank you for viewing.

Tags:  b&w,  elections,  kampung baru,  KL,  klcc,  photos,  streets,  voting

Posted by KY | 24 Comments »

Today is the 9th day of Chinese New Year, traditionally the day Hokkien people worships Jade Emperor of Heaven “Tian Kung” (天公). I did hear quite a bit of fireworks as midnight struck even though the government has imposed a complete ban on such celebration.

The pictures I am posting here are of “Tian Hou Temple”, a place that might not be related at all to today’s occasion. But anyhow…

Pagoda with 8 sided roof

We went to the temple for some photography a week before Chinese New Year hoping to get some shots of the beautifully lit decorative lanterns, but luck was not on our side as it seems that conservation of electricity was the priority of the night. I only managed about a dozen different shots before the temple closed at around 10:30pm.

3-tiered roof with guardian dragons

You can read more about this place at Thean Hou Temple wiki entry.

pillar

You can find a few more pictures in my flickr set.

Tags:  400d,  canon,  KL,  kuala-lumpur,  Photography,  picture,  temple,  tian hou temple,  worship

Posted by KY | 6 Comments »

I actually tried this halal bak kua (BBQ meat) a couple months ago but kept forgetting to post it until a reader emailed me the other day, the content goes:

MK wrote:
do u have any idea where to get halal bak kua in KL?

and then I replied:

No halal bak kut teh as far as I know, but there’s vegetarian bak kut teh that has similar tasting soup you can find at Taman Mayang, near the old Lim Kok Wing building. It’s a stall by the roadside that’s very near to William’s mamak stall, operates during lunch time.

Regards,
KY

Which was a wrong answer because MK was asking about bak kua, not my favorite Chinese Malaysian food, bak kut teh. So I had to sent another email to the friendly reader who politely pointed out my mistake…

my ex-colleague Abby likes the beef bak kua

Anyway, this particular stall selling halal bak kua called Grilled to Perfection is situated at the basement food court of Pavilion KL. Just a stone’s throw away from it’s non-halal counterpart Kiew Brothers that sells bacon bak kua I posted about a couple months ago.

The stall offers three types of BBQ meat: sliced beef, sliced chicken, and sambal chicken. You can also have them in rounded coin shapes instead of sheets as well. They are priced at RM 72-75 per KG, very similar to the market price of the non-halal versions

the three types of bak kua, sliced beef, sambal chicken, and sliced chicken

As for the taste, I find that the beef bak kua (the only one I tried) was a little dryer than what I am used to, possibly due to the relatively leaner meat as compared to pork. However, it does taste like bak kua, and to my ex-colleague who has never tasted something like this, it was a revelation.

So far this is the only place I’m aware of that sells Halal bak kua, so if you don’t eat pork and want to try out this Chinese delicacy, Pavilion KL is the place!

Address: (Corporate, stall at basement of Pavilion KL)
No. 73, Jalan Cemerlang,
Taman Perindustrian Cemerlang,
81800 Ulu Tiram, Johor
Tel: 03-5891 0934

Tags:  bak kua,  bbq meat,  Bukit Bintang,  food-court,  halal,  KL,  pavilion

Posted by KY | 19 Comments »

It actually took me more than three years working at KLCC to discover Ozenki Ozeki Japanese restaurant, situated just a stone’s throw away from my office at Menara TA. I couldn’t resist the temptation looking at the giant menu outside the restaurant and decided to give it a try just a while ago, and went there again with the noob Nicholas before he left KLCC to greener pasture.

the menu is huge, literally.

Other than the ala carte menu, Ozeki offers some unique set lunches. I always chose the RM 28++ combo, you basically get to choose 2 main dishes from 6-7 different choices, with salad, soup, rice, fruits, and a couple condiments accompanying the set. The mains include sushi, sashimi, tempura, saba shioyaki (grilled mackeral), salmon shioyaki, unagi kabayaki, chicken teriyaki, and beef teriyaki. There are also noodle set lunch and normal set lunch.

fresh Japanese food with decent pricing

While the 2 mains might look a bit smallish, they are actually plenty enough for lunch. In this outing, I had the grilled salmon and 5 pieces of sushi to go with some rice, soup, salad, and a rather delicious piece of tofu as appetizer. The noob had unagi and sashimi instead.

the menu inside is the same size as this one outside

Overall, the food was pretty good, and for this area in Klang Valley, a pretty good value. Service was friendly and professional, interior decoration and ambiance were nice, and most importantly, the ingredients were fresh. I’m feeling like going there again this week. Anyone?

Ozeki is situated at Menara TA, just a couple minutes from KLCC

Address:
Menara TA One, Ground Floor,
No. 22, Jalan P.Ramlee,
50250 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03-2166 4263

Tags:  Japanese-Food,  KL,  klcc,  menara-ta,  ozeki,  salmon,  sashimi,  sushi,  tokyo-cuisine

Posted by KY | 20 Comments »