a slice of london

Today, some Daily Photo members will be posting pictures of places in their cities that resemble other DP cities. I couldn't for the life of me find somewhere in K.L. (unless I drove out of the city and a Japanese restaurant would be too obvious.) So, when I went for a birthday dinner last night, I took a picture of this succulent Peking Duck. Why? Because it reminds me of London where the best Chinese restaurants are. Anyone who has ever dined in Royal China or Four Seasons in Bayswater would agree.

up or down?

I can't say I've been huge fan of artist M.C. Escher's works but when I do get a chance to see one, I must admit that it forces me to challenge my mind's perspectives. When I saw this staircase, it reminded me of his work. The architect who designed this was probably inspired by Escher.

it's a small world

I was out and noticed this window and thought, "How apt for the world we live in!"

With interracial marriages, open borders, etc I feel this Esprit slogan describes how everything blends in this melting pot of ours. Nothing close to homogeny of course. The world is too colourful and varied. We learn each others cultures and you must admit that you learn something from somewhere and bring it to where you are now. The World may be getting smaller but the flavours are rich and succulent to keep it big. So much more to savour, don't you think?

la palma pt.2

and here's what the berries look like.

for nicola

stoned

Dog? Cat? Mythical creature? It's a Lion and a Chinese symbol of luck and prosperity. Also stands at entrances to scare away unwanted spooks and bad luck.

la palma

Here's something you don't see everyday (well, for you who don't live in the tropics) and I thought it's make a good 'not-in-the-car' choice of picture. These are the seeds of a breed of palm tree. When the seeds mature, they turn into bright red berry-looking seeds.

info slow flow

Need a traffic update while driving? Why not log on and find out? Aren't the trees lovely? Why am I still snapping pictures while driving? All unanswerable questions but them trees are lovely though, innit?

meter made

This is a parking meter. Self-explanatory. A parking space is something of a luxury here in KL. There's never enough. So, when you find one, you better have a errand boy that keeps running out every half hour to feed it with coins. These meters used to be a dull gray but have been 'refurbished' with a fresh yellow and red coat of colour.

hello?

As promised, the 5th Tallest Building in the World: Telekom Tower. I've mentioned before how Malaysians have an infatuation for having the biggest, tallest, longest...whatever it is that brings attention to our humble country. We even have our very own Malaysian Book of Records. Very impressive building. Pity about the services though. Enjoy your Saturday!

train of thought

This newfound passion of taking photos of my stunning city is one day going to get me into trouble! It seems I find the most interesting images when I'm in my car. Nothing much when I'm walking, always in the car. So, I've resorted to holding my camera in one hand, the steering wheel with the other (thank god for automatic), clicking away and wondering what the results would be. This is one of them. The building you see is the back of the old train station. The new station is a very sterile looking piece of architecture that isn't worth my getting into trouble for.

Tomorrow: The 5th Tallest Building in the World (yes, that's here too!)

take me to the river

This is the Feng Shui water feature in front of Sungai Wang Plaza, one of the most interesting shopping malls in KL. But there's something scary in the faces of these cherubim, like naked midgets on a protest march. Then there's a little Dutch boy pissing... They face you only when you walk out of the mall. Which means their bums greet you when you walk in. Odd.

Translation: Sungai - River. Wang - Money. 'nuff said!

courting action

Marriage on the rocks? I do has become I don't? You finally signed on the dotted line to say 'Give me what you must and get out of my hair you twit!' and your lawyer takes you to this place to swear in front of a full courtroom and the judge that the marriage was a sham and your spouse in a raving idiot. You wait hours in line but the actual swearing takes 3 minutes and voila! You're legally single to date and remind yourself not to make the same mistake again (unless your name is Alexis Carrington Colby Dexter.)

jaywalking

The sign says, Use the Bridge or get Fined RM500 (USD134). Most of us are terrified of dealing with the authorities but nobody is afraid of crossing roads. That makes this sign redundant (like most 'enforced' rules.) Never seen anyone getting fined. Have you seen someone cross a 6-lane highway? Quite a sight. And the cops don't follow for fear of being runover.

tall poppy syndrome

I don't know what irks me more: the waiting taxi drivers and their rubbish or the tree stump. This stump is one of the many that line the shopping district street. On a hot day, you're supposed to be able to sit and shelter yourself from the rays of the sun. Now, you can sit on hot concrete as you develop boils on your bum as you take a break from excessive shopping. Unless its night where you can be a resting taxi driver ignoring the passengers waiting 10 feet away at the Taxi stand.

I want to lei you!

No time for witty, satirically charged banter today. It's really early in the morning. I've only had a couple of hours sleep from a wonderfully memorable night. And now, I'm getting ready for the short-list auditions for Amazing Race Asia. Terribly excited and thankfully no hangover to deter my natural bubbliness. In an hour or so, we'll be meeting the producers (as well as the other teams vying for the 10 positions.) Let's do it!

Have a great Sunday everyone!

pull up to the bumper baby!

The local weatherman needs to get a new job. We were promised HOT till the end of April. Look at these skies! Of course, with all the rain, people decide they can't drive faster than 10Mph, or worse, everyone feels they can beat the rain by driving home before it pours. A mass exodus of idiots who still wonder why there's traffic everytime it rains. I'm stuck right in the middle of it. Idiot!

heavenly

Religion is always a sensitive topic, and really takes someone with the balls to make a comment. God is always the excuse used when something goes awry. Poor God in all his/her shapes and forms! And God, poor soul, also takes the blame for all our unanswered questions. With so much to deal with I'm sure he'd rather we just accept our lot and move on. Notice these gods have their windows slid closed. They watch and always will.

The truth is not out there, Agent Mulder. It's in You.

last man standing aka just spray it!

A couple of years ago, every Malaysian felt he/she needed to have a say on the Human Rights issue. Women Rights, the Anwar Ibrahim case, the right to purchase an imported car without high import taxes, the right to party, the right to congregate. According to the law, anymore than 6 people is considered an illegal assembly. No one pays attention to anyone. We carry on just doing whatever. The rich buy more cars, women are women, clubs just pay the 'under-table' money to stay open, my friends and me continue being illegal. This is probably the only sign left of a nation that once believed in individual freedoms.

for Adam

addiction

Tuesday was a public holiday, so my friends and me spent the whole day together. We ate all day from noodles for lunch to pancakes for tea and Indian Banana Leaf rice for dinner. The noodles and pancake were homemade and I did want to take a picture to show how great they looked but the wolves got there first.

Instead is a picture of what we did most of the day: Mahjong. I was the big winner and treated everyone to the Banana Leaf dinner with my winnings. We are all very uncomfortable now from all the food. Hmm, I wonder if I have any chocolate in the fridge?

secret (news)agent

I'm spying again! (no bushes this time) I like this because it looks like the people are inside a huge, magazine-toothed mouth. One chomp and lots of words swallowed... Pulp Gulp!

doing the rounds

Nice patrol car, don't you think? Now, that a closer look at the sticker/decal that's on the back windscreen. It says, "Jangan Rasuah." No Bribery. This is the new campaign that the Police Dept. started last year. It's more for the cops than it is for us laymen. The police here have a very bad reputation for taking bribes. The campaign is to promote a better public image. Not that its helping. I was stopped for a minor road offence a couple of days ago and when he asked if I wanted to 'settle,' I showed the cop an empty wallet and he let me go without a ticket. Someone please raise their salaries!

vogue

In a land where we are told to embrace our ethnic races and cultures, where everyone either has a brown tint to their skins or is yellow like a freshly boiled chicken, it's oh-so-comforting to have all the local brands use foreign models to advertise their wares. Hoping to aspire to these images of beauty, many of the youth now have badly dyed blonde hair and the occasional pair of violet coloured eyes. Actually, the 'colour' demographic also includes older people...much, much older. The tagline for the day: White Sells.

sheltered calm

Long day at the grindstone. Took a quick nicotine break, saw this and immediately felt calm. This body-less Buddha rests in the garden of a friend's home. Quick as a snap, I had to get back to work. At least I have this. And with the rain that came after, Buddha got drenched. Cleansed from all the stress he absorbed from me.

spinning around

Break-dancing is still alive! Yay for these young boys but for the rest of us geriatrics, we're quite content to watch and imagine our bones poppin'. Just thinking is enough to give me a backache. Sad, to think of it. I used to pride myself for being the dancer that would outlast the entire club. Aah, youth... responsible for too many physical ailments.

fresh greens

Flowers have been blooming on nearly every other Daily Photo blog. I'm glad everyone on that side of the world is looking forward to Spring. Here in KL, we're looking forward to gentle rains, not the storms that have been pissing down on us. So, it was a welcome solace when I saw these as I was dashing for shelter. My giant terrapins, Antony and Cleo, like them too. They like them so much that, 5 minutes later, they're hungry again.

pack'em in!

When one is poor and have a family of 6 to raise and all you can afford is a one room flat, this is one of your very few options: PKNS- government subsidised - Flats. Look closely at the dimensions, an entire family lives in a space less than 800sq.ft. (that's one window and one balcony.) I have an uncle who lives in one in Cheras, another suburb of KL. He's a very happy man and will never ask for more. Everyone in here is fit and thin. No, not from the lack of food but from the absense of an elevator.

Oh, how nice of the Mercedes to drive past!

sunrise

It's 8:45 in the morning. Too early for an insomniac. However, when money beckons you for a 9 A.M. meeting, you turn up all spruced up with a wide smile. With a little time to spare, I grab a Latte and fish out my camera. I hide behind the bushes and catch people as the get on the escalator to get into the office before the boss does. This is at Maybank Tower. Notice that its not very busy. Guess no one is worried about being late.

a hard day's night

street artist: another portrait done. one more and I'm taking a break.

If you're walking the shopping district, stop and have your portrait done. It takes about an half hour or so.

hustler

If you're a local resident of KL, like me, you'll find that taxis are hard to come by. You can call till your phone melts or wave till your arms fall off and still the cabbies ignore you, drive off and only stop if you're a foreigner. It seems foreign money is better. What's the difference: we all use the same currency here, don't we? The moment I saw this taxi parked on the side of the road and noticed the name of the company, I knew this needed to be posted.

Sdn.Bhd.: Pvt.Ltd. / Lembah Kelang: Klang Valley

snail mail

These are the mailboxes that service the area I live in. The post office lies just behind the fence. I tried giving this picture of bit of a 60/70s movie grain feel. I thinks that's how old the boxes are. Not many people use them much as more and more mini-post offices sprout around the city. Email seems to have taken over as the main method of correspondence. The Ministry of Education is currently pushing for an Internet savvy society.

for Midnitebara