Fabrics Of Society

Last weekend, I made a point to visit Sasana Kijang in Kuala Lumpur right after I came back from the team building session. Inside this elegant, modern architectural and tech-advanced building, it stores the Bank Negara Malaysia Museum and Art Gallery (MAG). This was a much delayed visit as they had started running few art exhibitions since early of the year. Luckily, it is still running until now. Here is a snapshot of the Sasana Kijang building:

Sasana Kijang at dusk. Gorgeous pic! Image taken from: kureen.wordpress.com

Seriously, I would love to elaborate more on Sasana Kijang and the galleries in it, but I will save that for another day. There are quite a number of things that you can do and worth your time coming over. Do wait for that ya in my future post! Tungguuuuuuu...

In this post, I would like to highlight or share more on the 'Pameran Benang-Benang Kehidupan" or Fabrics of Society exhibition in the Art Gallery. The exhibition was inspired from the uniqueness of fabrics and how it impacts every lives across multi cultures in Malaysia. Very interesting! The displayed artworks were produced by talented local artists since the 1960s until present.

It was raining heavily and dark outside when I was browsing through the artworks inside the gallery. Hence, most of the photos looked kinda dark since I had to rely mostly on the lighting inside the gallery. Sorry for that.

Just to share some of my personal favourite artworks:

My favourite artwork among all! A depiction of Puteri Gunung Ledang (the famous princess legend in Malaysia) by Ali Rahamad. Titled as "Puteri Gunong Ledang 12", this is definitely not the typical beautiful princess painting. I just love how different it is than usual, with the creative splatter of colours combination that livens up the feel of the overall artwork.

This is another artwork that fascinates me. One of the artworks that had my longest stare for observation.  Produced by the artist Ismail Zain, this artwork "They Are Singing Hujan Tengahari At Meridian" is certainly unique (hujan tengahari means noon rain). The reason why I stared at it longer was because I was trying to figure what it actually means! Yeah, I mean the lines illustrates the meridian lines and the bluish part is the rain. But what about the songket part?? Hmmm...I wonder. Despite the dissatisfaction for not being able to get the ultimate answer, there's something about this artwork that attracted me a lot nevertheless. I never got bored of it! Oh well, I think I'm gonna settle the answer with "Malaysian element" for the songket part. That adds to the creativity part (as well as curiosity!)

The title of this artwork directly reflects the artwork itself. This is "Nafkah" by Mohd Hoessein Enas. "Nafkah" means living or sustenance and this artwork says it all. A group of fishermen in their customised sarong, started their day very early in the morning to earn living to support their family and life. I was pretty moved by this artwork. The colours, the angle, the emotions, the hard work and effort by the artist to produce this artwork made it felt so real and touched my heart. I just love this.

I love this artwork mainly because that red colour really captured my attention. It served well as the main theme colour as well as the background for this artwork. Produced by the artist Haron Mokhtar, "Benuk I" depicts a group of locals, which are the Bidayuh people in their traditional costumes with the long houses as the background in Sarawak. In the artwork it shows that the Bidayuh people were greeting and welcoming guests to their place.

Ok I was fooled by this artwork! The fact that I was fooled by it made me love it. From far, I was like "Oh this seems like two dressed-up ladies walking with their shopping bags in the middle of autumn in one of the European countries." I got closer and then I realised it was different than what I thought. Titled as "Rubber Tapper" and produced by the artist Hussein, this artwork actually portrays two rubber tapper ladies carrying their full buckets after long, hard day at work. Shopping huh? Autumnnnn??? Very clever! *slaps forehead* Terasa bangang kejap kat dalam galeri. 

Some other artworks in the art exhibition:

Warisan II by Hamdan Hj Lias

Sehelai Batik Sejalur Tenunan by Sabri Mohd Salleh

Pertarungan/ Duel I by Amron Omar

Citrawarna Seorang Gadis Bajau dan Seekor Kuda Padi by Amiruddin Ariffin

Kukur Kelapa by Ismail Mat Hussin

Kampung Life (Baby Cot Series) by Yeong Siak Ling

Bathing Baby by Chuah Thean Teng

Wayang Kulit by Ismail Mat Hussin

Overall, I am satisfied with most of the displayed artworks at the exhibition. I think the exhibition will run until end of this year. So for those of you who are interested, do drop by at the art gallery to see more artworks.

Do wait for my other posts on the other galleries :)

Curious Me And Galeri Seni Johor

I went back to my hometown in Johor since it was a long weekend due to Malaysia Day Celebration, which fell on 16 Sep, Monday. It was not truly an enjoyable long weekend for me as I still had to do work. Nevertheless, I made an attempt to complete the work as fast as I could and went back happily to my beloved family (yang setia menanti).

The Galeri Seni Johor (or Johor Art Gallery) has always been in my mind for so long. Every time I drove passing Jalan Lingkaran Dalam, I would never miss the glimpse of the gallery building. The curiosity grew on me for years, which have turned to a sort of pressure "I-must-go-and-see-this-time!" when I came back recently. Can you imagine, for years? Gila ke hapa. Sebelum aku 'meletup', baik aku pergi tengok kan.

I always wonder if this gallery has visitors. "Ada ke orang datang sini?" I asked myself. The gallery looks kinda 'lonely' from outside. But well, I finally came to the gallery with my sister to see if my assumption was right. When I arrived, I felt like there was a buzzer pressed to my ears with the sound 'tetttttttt!' to imply that I was wrong. There were visitors in the gallery. It may not be hundreds, but there were people browsing through the gallery. We came at the same time as a group of Japanese tourists.

This is how the gallery looks like from outside:

Minus the red old car, this is one nice and maintained historic building considering it is more than 100 years old

This is one of Johor's historic building and it used to be the official residence of Johor's Third Minister, Dato' Abdullah Jaafar. It was built on 1910 and in 1994, the state government decided to change it to an art gallery to house historical artefacts on Johor's art and heritage. In 1999 however, the Johor Minister announced that the Johor Art Gallery would also be the Arts and Cultural Centre for the State of Johor.

We went in and spent an hour inside the gallery to see our local artists' artwork (especially by Johoreans). Some of the photos:

My personal favourite as below:

Artwork by Hirzaq Harris depicting the late Sultan Ibrahim of Johor on a stamp

Artwork illustrating the Sultan Ibrahim Building at Bukit Timbalan

I like Hirzaq Harris' stamp artwork because of the very detail work. Looks like a simple stamp but it is not when you have a closer look. Combining the inches of details, it becomes an outstanding piece. I guess stamp alike artwork has become one of Hirzaq's artwork signature as I have seen other similar artworks by him as well.

Another one that I like is the Sultan Ibrahim Building at Bukit Timbalan. I can't remember the name of the artist but I like his idea of using brass, metal piece as the base of his artwork. His work details are pretty good too as the building resembles almost exactly as the actual Sultan Ibrahim Building. The Sultan Ibrahim building is the former state secretariat building of Johor and was constructed between 1936 and 1939. It was completed in 1940 as the British colonial government attempted to streamline the state's administration.  Honestly, the artwork looks better than in the photo that I snapped.

The rest of artworks that I also find interesting:

Zikir: Ar Rahim II by Jamil Mat Isa. Calligraphic based artwork on one of Islam's prayer recital. 

Peristiwa Bukit Kepong by Sabariah Omar. A historical based artwork.

Askar Timbalan Setia Negeri Johor Peristiwa 1915 by Baharim Khusil. Another historical based artwork.

Catatan Buat Cucu by Mohamed@Mohamad bin Hassan. A story-telling artwork, from a grandfather to his grandson.

Ketunggulan by Fauzul Yusri. One cynical artwork.

Actually there are more interesting artworks but these are all that I can share for now. My conclusion is, most of the artworks in Galeri Seni Johor are very much on Johor's culture and history. Not many mind-provoking artworks that you can find here but overall, it is fine and worth visiting. I think this gallery personally reminds me not to forget my own roots, no matter how far I have travelled in life.

So my Galeri Seni Johor curiosity is finally answered!

A Food Venture At Pizza Brava

I was first introduced to Pizza Brava by a friend, who frequents to the Sri Hartamas area. It is one of my favourite areas to hang out and chill out too but I have never discovered this place before. I found myself asking "How come???"

When I stepped in, I found that the ambience inside the restaurant is pretty pleasant to dine in. Clean and neat, it is also decorated with framed nostalgic images and two vespas at the front to make the restaurant look more Italian-ish. With these few elements combined, this place looks cool to hang out.

Anyways, I've been to Pizza Brava several times since that first visit and so far, the food has never disappoint me. The restaurant claims it specialises in Italian wood fire pizza but surprisingly, I did not go for the pizza (so happened that I didn't feel like eating pizza when I went there). I tried their pasta, soup and dessert. Some of the food photos:

Zuppeta Di Mare and Garlic Bread - one of the recommended appetisers. If you like tomato-based soup with seafood, you definitely have to go for this! Sedappp!

Aglio Olio Spaghetti with Turkey Ham and Zucchini - looks simple but taste delicious!

*Drum roll sound* Introducing the D dessert - Tartufo! This is my fav among all. It is actually vanilla ice cream wrapped with a layer of chocolate ice cream and choc powder, added with crushed almonds. Love it! Sedappp tahap menangis bila makan. Even looking at it made me feel like "awww I can't eat this...it's too pretty!"

I'm so gonna go to this place again and again, at least for that dessert!

Realism Meets Imagination - ABSURD(C)ITY

On a Sunday noon, I decided to venture out to an art exhibition, and Balai Seni Visual Negara (or National Visual Arts Development Board) came to mind! So I drove up to JalanTemerloh to explore what's new at the art gallery.

It was raining throughout the whole journey but I was not deterred by it. I finally arrived at the art gallery and believe it or not, my last visit to BSVN was like 8 years ago! I browsed through to see what's interesting but there was only one exhibition that captured my attention - ABSURD(C)ITY.

The entrance of the exhibition

The ABSURD(C)ITY exhibition showcases modern and contemporary artworks that features surreal elements since the 1950s until now. Realism added with creative, unusual imagination produces impressive artworks and this is proven true by our local artists, including the new ones. There are several types of artworks displayed, such as paintings, drawings, prints, sculptures, installation and etc. My personal favourite is the one below:

'Dan Master Itu Sedang Bekerja' by Hamir Soib

'Dan Master Itu Sedang Bekerja' or 'And The Master Is Working At The Moment' in English is produced by the artist, Hamir Soib. I like the fact that this piece is deep and has slight dark element to it. It is not necessary the most beautiful artwork that I have ever seen but I love the meaningful impression of it! I have read some reviews about this particular artwork. Some interpret it as the clown is working hard to entertain and cheer up the audience. Well for me, I look at it as a clown (or more like a jerk) trying to act smart and 'teach' the students as if he knows the subject matter very well. This is the beauty of art, different people have different interpretation of an artwork.

Due to the tight ruling of BSVN, which is no photography for artworks, I am not able to post more photos. The ones that I posted here are the ones that I luckily managed to snap before being warned nicely by the security officer! I was quite dismayed by the rule. In fact, it is a loss for BSVN as it could be an online publicity for them when people blog about the art exhibition (like what I am doing now). As long as there is no flash (the flash light may affect the texture and colour of artworks), then it should be fine. Compared with the art gallery in Sasana Kijang, visitors are allowed to take photos but without flash. That's cool and most of the visitors understood it well. 

Another artwork that I like at the exhibition:

'Someone Forgotten' by Wong Woan Lee. Image taken from: http://goodenei.com/2009/12/23/wong-woan-lee/

This is one emotive piece for me. It immediately reminds me of my father and how I should not forget all the great things he did for me. Never stop loving him.

Despite the not-so-great photography ruling, I guess BSVN will be one of the spots that I would like to drop by to check out new art exhibitions in future.

Be at The Bee and was at The Bee

'Buka puasa' gathering has become the most awaited annual event for a bunch of my uni mates, besties and myself. I was like "Yeayyy!!" when I got the message about the gath. After considering various suggestions, we finally decided to meet up at The Bee, Publika Solaris Dutamas for Iftar. Wa, Nein, Reena, Shaz, Lynn, Yani, Ayie, Pek and myself - the 'confirmed gang' for the Iftar session.

I was the first to arrive. My first impression about the place was "Woww luasnya tempat ni!". It was spacious and I just love that! The flooring was nicely cemented, and the lights, decorations and furnishings are simple but yet modern. In fact, they do have a stage for performance and I was told that it is normally held every weekend. Overall, I love the clean look. Makes someone like me feel happier and comfortable :)

The setting inside The Bee

My friends arrived and we immediately browsed through the menu to order. The Bee's specialities include sandwiches, pasta, burgers and salad. After considering few options, I finally decided to order Bee Burger. Well, it's not like a burger with bees in it (haha you wish!) but just a special burger name, named after the restaurant. Since there was a special Ramadhan set, we took a package that had variety of appetisers and desserts (I think there was about five in total) with an affordable price. That was really worthy I thought.

Some photos of the food:

The Bee Burger I ordered

The appetisers - chicken nachos and smoked salmon caesar salad

The Bee Burger I had, when it first delivered on the table seemed like a simple and kinda plain-looking burger. But once I had it in my mouth, it tasted pretty good with its tender, juicy beef patty. In fact, they had all the ingredients, herbs and flavours right, which makes it even better. The caesar salad with smoked salmon was not disappointing either. The combination of the salad, salmon, egg and most importantly, the dressing was very enticing that it was the earliest appetiser to finish!

If it is not for Ramadhan, I think the nachos and chilli fries would have tasted awesome, topped with the melting cheese (the meal was prepared earlier, so the cheese was congealed when the food arrived for buka puasa). But I have to say the dessert was the best! The churros with nutella and caramel dips were yummy-licious and I think I don't mind eating just that alone!

I think this is a really nice one place to 'lepak' and chill out with your best mates. I don't mind coming back here again, to try different menu for different dining experience.

¡Hola! Ole-Ole Bali

A long, overdue meet up with besties was finally fixed, hurray! But the question is, "where to go for makan??" or to be exact 'buka puasa' since it is in Ramadhan. That kind of question usually makes me linger as I always find it a struggle to suggest a place that would suit everyone's appetite. However, Han without further ado, quickly suggested Ole-Ole Bali at Empire Subang. Well, I am not very fussy and Ana was pretty receptive to the suggestion, so we finally agreed to meet up there. 

I saw Han with her pretty baby already standing in front of the restaurant when I reached there. "I baru sampai," said Han after greeting me. Both of us went in, sat at the table and I instantly fell in love with the furnishing and the overall ambience of the restaurant. There was certainly a classy element in it but yet it gave me the pleasant feeling and comfort as well. "Hmm...fine restaurant should come with fine taste of food too," I thought. 

Ana finally came and we were ready to order. After browsing through the menu, I decided to order 'Siap Megoreng' (which Ana thought I jokingly mentioned until she saw it in the menu), Han with her 'Nasi Cumi' and Ana with "Bali Trio". 'Siap Megoreng' is actually Nasi Ayam Goreng but it does sounds cool right when you put it that way (haha!).

While we were waiting for our food, the restaurant was kind enough to serve us some condiments for Iftar. It came in a plate with sort of a small piece of kuih and a mini cup filled with black liquid. The three of us looked at each other and wondered "Hmm..macam mana nak makan ni? Kuih ni kena cicah dengan kuah tu ke?"

The condiments for berbuka

To save our embarrassment, I quickly called the waiter and asked what are those (when I actually wanted to know whether we should dip the kuih into the 'sauce'). "Ini apa ya?" I asked the waiter. "Oh kuihnya itu cekodok dan airnya cincau," he replied. "Ohhhhh...ok terima kasih," we thanked him. Three of us looked at each other again and were like "Fuhhh nasib baik tak cicah! Buat malu jer nanti!". We burst out into laughter.

Finally our order arrived. Some photos of our food:

Nasi Cumi for Han

Bali Trio for Ana

My Siap Megoreng!

We happily dig in our food, tasting the spices and bits of the ingredients that produced the lovely meal. My personal remark on the Siap Megoreng? Totally SCRUMPTIOUS. I for one, who loves to eat and explore authentic cuisines such as Balinese find that all of the ingredients and spices used in the meal were very fresh. From the crispy, freshly-fried chicken, complemented with the crunchiness of the long beans and tempe, added with the fresh lemongrass and spicy chillies made into 'sambal', devouring it with the aromatic turmeric rice, the meal perfectly suits my taste bud. Added with the 'rempeyek' cracker, it gave a 'kick' to the meal itself. Sedap!

Han and Ana enjoyed their meal too and this is me after Iftar:

One happy woman with a baby struggling to get out from her hug!