Hurrah for the Red, Amber and Green!

What started out as a lunch appointment with SooT and Yen (SooT before his return to Alor Star and Yen after her trips to Sarawak, Sabah, Johor and Port Dickson) became quite a romp through town.

As SooT commented a day or two before, it was turning into another Ben-shops-and-we-follow experience, as I had to pick up some supplies for STOMP. Since there were no other suggestions for location, we made it old KL after SooT's idea of hunting street art and my own needs.

The day in brief (I will present it in point-form to facilitate your reading):

- Showed SooT the way from Central Market to Jalan Doraisamy (off Jalan Sultan Ismail) by foot while waiting for Yen; we learnt that Lonely Planet is really worth its weight in gold
- Passed by a gay club or two (closed in the afternoon)
- Returned to Central Market by monorail to Maharajalela (SooT says I underestimate distance and time; no wonder I never liked physics)
- Had lunch at a Nasi Kandar mamak-style restaurant in Central Market (because Mus hadn't arrived at Bau Bau Café and his brother doesn't cook)
- Found out from Alin that Campbell Complex sells camping gear
- Got caught in the rain at Masjid Jamek and so took the train to Bandaraya
- Walked through Sogo to get to Campbell; realised we were there earlier en route to Jalan Doraisamy
- Picked up gear, maximising space in my D50 bag
- Had tea at the Coliseum Café
- Returned to Masjid Jamek so Yen could get a Touch 'n' Go card (a more complicated process than we thought)
- Bumped into Vince Lui and Uevan
- Took the train to Pudu, where we got 'stalked' for a while
- Picked up two rolls of Ilford's Delta 400 and looked at Keat Camera's used lens collection
- Talked about Pudu Jail and finally ended up in Times Square where we bought nail polish, had dinner at Gasoline and watched Kung Fu Panda.

* * * * *

By Yen's request, I present to you the pictures from our trip around KL yesterday.


Yen surprised us with her pink Roxy cap.


SooT prepares to attack the Coliseum's famous bread and butter.


Yen and the pancakes with lemon. SooT wanted to try it because he'd tasted Mum's and wanted to compare them with the Coliseum's. Yen followed suit.


I had ice cream on a fruit salad!


We stopped by Elianto at Times Square. I think, besides Li-Shia, these are the only people with whom I'd ever visit a nail polish shop. Yen picked up neon purple and transparent (to be used as a topcoat) while SooT and I pooled resources for transparent glitter. (We were the only male patrons there.)


Since SooT led us to lunch and I to tea, Yen brought us to this prehistoric-like place called Gasoline. It serves food reminiscent of Kim Gary and Wong Kok but in a Japanese-like setting, and the staff are extremely enthusiastic. Food is Halal.


A picture that speaks for itself, as Denise would agree.

* * * *


Remember this? (Can't recall who took the picture; might've been Mich, Tien or Zheng.)

We did not coordinate colours yesterday, yet lo and behold we appeared once again in traffic light configuration. SooT was wearing his new Food Not Bombs T-shirt, while I put on my 3rd College Pesta Tiong Hua III tee. Yen's amber is one of her favourites.


(The title of this post was inspired by the name of a painting by the American artist Samuel L. Francis.)

A Brief Update

So what have I been up to lately?

After the mamak adventure with Kaun last week, I brought Jean and Melissa to Aquaria. We parked in the VIOBA carpark and the little gate happened to be open, so I took them for a tour of the VI.


We bumped into Mrs Lee (left) outside the Form Six Biology lab, and she was with Mrs Loo, who taught General Science in the VI in the 40s and 50s (not sure about the 60s), serving alongside such legends as Mr F. Daniel and Dr G.E.D. Lewis!

Her old classroom was where the library is now.

We took the Monorail to Raja Chulan station. It was Mel's first time on a train and it was a surprise I worked into the plan, with some rather unfortunate consequences later in the afternoon.


These are mini piranhas. They're really quite ravenous!


A gecko.


At the exit.

* * * * *

Friday morning was spent, as a good number of Friday mornings have been, swimming in Sri Petaling. This time around, the company comprised Li-Shia, Ching Yeng, Li Ling and myself. When we found out the Bukit Jalil pool would be closed till 9.45 a.m. (we arrived at 8.45), we decided to storm the new Endah Puri Condo.

It was quiet and the pool was pleasant. I discovered that I could swim faster using the dog paddle than Ching Yeng could on breaststroke.

Tsu Wern then joined us all for breakfast opposite Li-Shia's house.


Li-Ying returned from college and drove Li-Shia and me to Mid Valley. We reached just in time to get tickets for Once at 2.00 p.m. It was a great movie and deservedly won the Oscar for Best Song; more evidence that the Irish are great at improvising with little resources.

There was a bit of clash between me and Li-Shia (no fault of hers) sometime after lunch, and I found myself spending the rest of the evening napping in the MRC Lounge in MPH. (More on this later.)

That night, after dinner with Mum, Di Kor, Ber Kor, Cassandra, Sara and Ian, I was sent by Mum to have Sara's watch battery replaced. In Swatch, I saw something that really caught my eye and which, I must say, is one of Swatch's most simple yet most amazing designs of late.

I then went upstairs to Rock Corner to seek the soundtrack for Once, which I promptly purchased. I reasoned thus: would I want to own it someday? And the answer was yes. And because music albums can disappear for long stretches of time, I decided I might as well get it now.


This song won the Oscar.

Falling Slowly
By Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova

I don't know you, but I want you
All the more for that
Words fall through me and always fool me
And I can't react

And games that never amount
To more than they're meant
Will play themselves out

Take this sinking boat and point it home
We've still got time
Raise your hopeful voice you have a choice
You've made it now

Falling slowly, eyes that know me
And I can't go back
Moods that take me and erase me
And I'm painted black

You have suffered enough
And warred with yourself
It's time that you won

Take this sinking boat and point it home
We've still got time
Raise your hopeful voice you had a choice
You've made it now

Falling slowly sing your melody
I'll sing along

* * * * *


Met up with KCA, Mich, Mii, SooT and Teeming for lunch at Cagayan where KCA is a regular. Was introduced to the Neon Tetra fish by Mii.

Spent the evening with SooT and Teeming at the Bau Bau Café Central Market and outside St John's Cathedral, helping out with Food Not Bombs. SooT and I then headed for Sri Petaling where we had dinner with Li-Shia; well, SooT and I had dinner. ;-)

* * * * *

I probably won't be blogging for a week or so. What sparked my rather impulsive behaviour on Friday was the accumulation of a number of thoughts that have been bothering me lately. It feels a bit like two years ago, when I wrote 'Evanescent Shadows'; it's as if these thoughts are also crying out to be expressed in narrative prose.

So I'll be working on that this week, as well as preparing here and there for STOMP.

Will be heading to UM and the FES office tomorrow; UM for results and FES to submit some things for STOMP. Then it's a movie in the afternoon at Mid Valley and dinner with my Form Six classmates at Chili's!


And I look forward to the adventure with Emily, planned almost spontaneously in the wee hours of this morning. More evidence that God may be behind the seeming coincidences of life.