The Curve @ Mutiara Damansara, Petaling Jaya

the curve

The Curve is the latest concept shopping mall that opened up in Mutiara Damansara, completing the Holy Trinity (IKEA-Ikano Power Center1 UtamaThe Curve)
of consumerism. The Curve is located right opposite Ikano Power Center
and the architecture of the place is dominated by…well, curves, so to
speak.

the curve tenent

The anchor tenant at the main entrance of The Curve is The Coffee
Bean and Tea Leaf. Despite the prime real estate space, it seems that
this coffee chain does not attract as much patrons as the Medusa
figurehead located further in The Curve. Personally, I’m partial to
Starbucks too, so I didn’t linger here.

the curve curving

The Curve is being promoted as a different designer shopping center
and it just opened recently so I decided to spend an afternoon there to
check it out. Please don’t let this photo of the rounded interior fool
you – the tenancy rates at The Curve is still relatively low, which is
understandable, considering it’s new.

the curve escalators

The escalators at The Curve are also subtly curved…I half expected
the toilets to be curved as well, but I can report with authority that
the washrooms at The Curve are perfectly conventional. The Curve
implements a very interesting concept of segregating the fashion
outlets from the eating establishments. The Fashion Mall covers the
interior of The Curve and The Street Mall twists and bends around the
exterior of the entire three storey shopping mall.

the curve aisle

I found the architecture to be very novel and charming…each floor
is logically partitioned into two sections – The Walk and The Street.
It gave me the feeling that The Curve is half a shopping mall, albeit a
very artistically designed one. The Walk refers to the air-conditioned
interior of the mall and it leads out to The Terrace.

the curve in out transition

The Street takes up all the outdoor space around and inside the
mall. It’s an open aired path lined with shops. The right side of The
Street is dubbed the Western Courtyard, while the left flank is called
the Asian Courtyard. The Street is almost as big as The Walk and each
of the five floors follows the same The Street-The Walk partitioning,
including the two basement car parks. I’m just as confused as you are
regarding the architectural decisions and would in fact like to have
whatever he/she was taking when this concept mall was drawn up.

the curve walk

The Ground Floor, First Floor and Second Floor all leads out to The
Street at various points. It’s meant to be a mall that embraces the air
conditioned comfort of modern shopping malls on one side and an al
fresco open air retail space on the other half. It’s not as bad as it
sounds though; The Curve is just a three storey mall, so it would take
a lot of effort just to get lost. The balcony lining The Street is
densely packed with ceiling fans, which is a really good idea in our
climate.

the curve water feature

The Street leads to The Piazza at the end of the shopping mall and
the same segmented design is replicated across all the floors so it’s
actually pretty nice to walk around inside before stepping out to
stroll around in the fresh air. There are also several decorative
structures interspaced outside, like this water feature (a pretentious
name for a fountain) and gazebos. That’s a T.G.I. Fridays behind the
fountain.

the curve walkway

The palm tree lined street is a refreshing change from the usual
enclosed shopping centers around here. There are also transparent glass
walkways interconnecting the two courtyards at the upper floors of The
Street. I had lunch at the excellent The Bakery Moments (review
tomorrow) – a Norwegian bakery concept store that just opened its first
establishment here.

The Curve seems to have the potential to become a great specialty
mall like bsc in Bangsar. It’s small but cozy, and while it’s true that
The Curve can’t compete in size or secure mega anchor tenants unlike
the two massive neighboring shopping malls, it makes up for it with
quality specialty cafes, bistros and other eating establishments. I
like The Curve – it exudes a certain charm that large commercialized
shopping malls lack…

TiuNiaMa.com and TiuNiaMaChowHai.com is live!

tiuniama banner

sixthseal.com is proud to present two new sister sites – TiuNiaMa.com [tiuniama.com] and the twin, TiuNiaMaChowHai.com [tiuniamachowhai.com].

tiuniamach banner

The two complementary sites will serve as a general purpose insult
automation system. It would be like sending things in an offhanded
manner to /dev/null on a Linux box. πŸ˜‰

I’m busy enough with work to have to answer trolls so from this day
forth, I declare that trolls of a minor annoyance would be directed to
tiuniama.com.

The more irritating trolls shall be brusquely dismissed to
tiuniamachowhai.com which would leave me with much more time to spend
on the blog.

The two-tiered significance of the domains would be apparent to people who can converse in Cantonese. πŸ˜‰

Tiu Nia Ma means “fuck your mother” and that’s exactly what the tiuniama.com domain is meant for.

Tiu Nia Ma Chow Hai builds upon the phrase and literally means “fuck your mother’s smelly cunt”, which is a mouthful (no pun intended) and a little too long to type tiuniamachowhai.com too.

Okay, so I was bored and started to see what domains were available.
I know, I know, I’m crude and I have too much time on my hands (comes
with not sleeping). It also gives me a sense of satisfaction when I
finish one of these out of the blue concept projects. πŸ™‚

Thus, I would like to announce the two new additions to the sixthseal.com family – tiuniama.com and tiuniamachowhai.com! It comes in handy as a single URL insult. Nifty. πŸ˜‰

This post is dedicated to minishorts [minishorts.net], the domain names were inspired by her tirade about the Malaysian blog microcosm
[minishorts.net]. I checked and saw that both were available, so I just
bought them on a whim. Naturally, this dedication isn’t meant to
offend, since I like her and all…

…but on the other hand, I can’t very well bestow the dubious honor
on some poor old 41 year old auntie going through her menopause can I?
πŸ˜‰

Butler’s Family Restaurants, KLIA

butlers family restaurant

Butler’s Family Restaurants (with an ‘s’
apparently) is located near the arrival hall of KLIA (Malaysia’s
international airport). My flight arrived one hour early and Air Asia
does not serve meals on their flights so I decided to grab some
breakfast here before I head out of the airport. I’ve passed by
Butler’s Family Restaurant more than a few times but never did feel the
urge to sample their food offerings.

butlers family restaurant counter

Butler’s was not exactly bristling with patrons when I walked in. In
fact, I’ve never seen the place even partially full in all my flights
through KLIA. Nevertheless, I was undeterred by the lack of clientele
and ordered from the breakfast menu. Butler’s Family Restaurant serves
breakfast from 5 am – 11 am.

butlers family restaurant breakfast

I had the Butler’s Special (RM 6.80) which took ages to arrive
because (and I quote) “the order number was obscured by your notebook,
so we didn’t know you still have outstanding orders”. No apologies,
just a matter of fact statement. I told her that I could count the
number of people in Butler’s on the fingers of one hand, and I couldn’t
understand how an order could be missed. She just reiterated the
obscured order number and told me it’s on the way and left.

I don’t know where they hire these people, but they should not be in
customer service. I had not had my morning coffee yet (and that’s not a
good thing), so I walked over to the counter and asked for the manager,
who apologized for the waitress. I was pretty irate though, and the
manager probably sensed this, and offered me a drink while I wait for
the Butler’s Special to be served. Thus, I had coffee on the house, and
all is forgiven. πŸ˜‰

butlers family restaurant special

The less-than-stellar service aside, I can’t recommend this eating establishment with a good conscience though. Butler’s Special
isn’t anything special at all…the dish comprises of a sunny side up
egg, hash browns, a sausage, toasted bread, butter and jam. It was
supposed to have a muffin as well, which the waitress forgot and made
me have to go back again. I don’t like having to make so many return
trips just to get food and I made that very clear when I went for my
muffin.

The muffin wasn’t even good…it was dry and stale…

I appreciate the manager’s efforts to make things right, but the
food is deplorable and the service non-existent, so please, if you
happen to pass by Butler’s Family Restaurant in KLIA – keep walking! πŸ˜‰

Hapuskan Najis Dadah!!!

najis dadah

Hapuskan…

najis dadah dua

Najis…

najis dadah tiga

Dadah!

Mesyuarat kommuniti ini dibawakan oleh sixthseal.com – tumpaskan najis dadah!

*Peralatan di dalam klip video di atas bukan dadah sebenar tapi
garam dan pensil. Marilah kita bersama-sama menumpaskan musuh negara
nombor satu! Hapuskan kegiatan hisap dadah and bawalah penagih dadah ke
taman negara untuk kegiatan sihat and cergas!

Malaysia Tanpa Dadah 2035!

Edit:
najis dadah syabu
Here you go, tiuniasing, here’s the subject. It’s not dadah though.
It’s just a salt sachet. It’s a bit chunky coz it’s sea salt.

Hmm…my written Bahasa Malaysia is still functioning. Good. Just
checking…I hit my head pretty hard on the floor when the quake hit.

Powerful 8.7 magnitude earthquake Indonesia felt in KL, Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR: Another strong earthquake which was
measured at a preliminary magnitude of at least at 8.7 Richter scale
hit Sumatra just after 12 am local time today.

tsunami boats

The meteorological department is issuing out precautionary tsunami
alerts and is advising citizens staying in coastal areas to move at
least 1000 km inland. Fishermen (both the marine kind and the ones
fishing for grossly misplaced sympathy) were seen tying down their
boats, and there are some reports of preemptive intentional destruction
of boats in the hopes of getting a government handout.

Among the areas that were reportedly hit by the tremor were Penang,
Kuala Lumpur, Petaling Jaya, Shah Alam, Klang, Johor Baru and Muar.
Communication channels were abuzz with inane chatter about the
catastrophe by unaffected individuals wishing to appear worldly and
concerned. Doctors Without Borders (MΓ©decins Sans FrontiΓ¨res) has been dispatched to the affected areas in an attempt to quarantine this extremally virulent outbreak the CDC calls “bleeding heart disease”. πŸ˜‰

tsunami cigs

The strong tremors were felt as far away as Kuching, Sarawak where
cigarettes were shaken loose from their packs and garbage displaced.

Toilet seats were also reportedly affected by the earthquake, with
many reports coming in regarding toilets backing up. Several people
were also hospitalized for mania resulting from overexcitement over the
latest news of death and destruction.

tsunami

Internal Security and Public Order director Comm Datuk Othman Talib made an announcement to appeal to the Malaysian public to remain at home and refrain from going to work or school until the destructive potential of the earthquake is established.

Those who are already at work or school are advised to evacuate immediately and return to their homes until the threat has passed.

Starbucks Enticing Espresso Rhumba Frappuccino

starbucks curve

I’m at the Starbucks in The Curve right now; enjoying a Venti sized Espresso Rhumba Frappuccino.
I’ve been here since noon – I heard it’s the newest concept shopping
mall in KL and came here to check it out (photos and write-up later).

espresso rhumba frappuccino banner

The Starbucks “Enticing” Espresso Rhumba Frappuccino is billed as
“our signature Espresso blended with ice, coffee and rhumba chocolate
chips, topped with whipped cream and delicious chocolate drizzle”.

espresso rhumba frappuccino walls

It’s the latest promotion at Starbucks and the windows are adorned with the Espresso Rhumba Frappuccino stickers. The Tall sized ones goes for RM 11.50, the Grande ones for RM 12.50 and the Venti for RM 13.50.

espresso rhumba frappuccino

I went for the Venti size, which is what I usually get…there’s no
such thing as too much coffee. πŸ˜‰ It tastes good – the Espresso Rhumba
Frappuccino has bits of chocolate in it that melts in your mouth (as
long as you don’t choke on it first by sucking too hard).

starbucks curve bulls

I’m just chilling here with the Espresso Rhumba Frappuccino and a
bottle of Perrier before waiting for my flight back to Kuching. It’s a
business trip and I’ve finished the assignment here so I’ll just be
looking at the…bulls…

Hmm…

Oh, and the Starbucks staff just gave me a free sample of the Caramel Frappaccino.

Restoren Islamik Balkis

restoren islamik balkis

Restoren Islamik Balkis is a Halal eating establishment in Sibu. I
like the name of the place so we decided to go there for lunch. Just
because it has a cool name.

islamik balkis food

I had nasi briyani (RM 5) which came in one of those huge steel
plates. Restoren Islamik Balkis serves very generous portions of food.
The nasi briyani came with a prime cut of chicken too – the classic 10
piece cut that produces the drum attached to the thigh (I’m being
pretentious here ;)). My gf went for the roti telur which she finished,
so I guess it was good.

islamik balkis briyani

I’ll recommend going to Restoran Islamik Balkis for the nasi briyani
though – the meat is very tender, with an almost melt in your mouth
texture, and the rice is soft and tastes better than most nasi briyanis
I’ve had. It comes with three different kinds of dips too. There’s a
fourth receptacle on the dish but I’m not sure if they left out one or
it’s meant for discarded bones. πŸ˜‰

Restoren Islamik Balkis – the best nasi briyani in Sibu to date…

…and no, they did not pay me to say that. πŸ˜‰

The art of garlic

garlic main

Finely chopped garlic is usually a mainstay in banquet style Chinese
restaurants. I’ve recently been introduced to an unorthodox but
delectable method of extreme garlic consumption from a dining
companion. He is truly the undisputed sifu of garlic consumption – the
man eats bowlfuls of garlic and I don’t mean the sauce sized ones…I mean the soup sized ones.

garlic peanuts

The art of garlic consumption applies to the peanuts Chinese
restaurants serve when everyone is seated. Before I was enlightened by
the ways of the garlic, I used to eat the salted peanuts as is…just
like everyone else. I have discovered a innovative method of peanut
enjoyment via excessive garlic consumption and I’ve never looked back.
I feel that it’s my duty to pass on the gastronomic garlic kung fu
before all knowledge of this art is lost. πŸ˜‰

garlic prep

The first thing to do is to fill the sauce bowl with garlic. The key
to a successful mixture is to pile the finely chopped garlic into the
sauce bowl. As a reference, please crosscheck the first picture with
this one. I took all that garlic. It should look like a mountain (or at
least a small hill) by the time you’re done.

garlic vinegar

The garlic mound should then be doused with vinegar. It’s the one of
the far right. Garlic mountains are always made with vinegar. Soy sauce
is a big no-no. Go with the vinegar love.

garlic soak

The next step is to soak (marinate) several peanuts in the garlic-vinegar concoction for at least several minutes.

garlic eat

The peanuts in garlic are ready to eat after that. It is extremely
essential that chopsticks are used. Each peanut should be scooped up
with an excessive amount of garlic and the whole portion should be
chewed thoroughly to allow the garlic flavors to propagate through the
palate.

Trust me, it’s good. I’m an extreme garlic convert now. πŸ˜‰

garlic main course

It also helps to pass the time before the main courses arrive…

Data center migration – sixthseal.com and other sister sites down (oh, and I’m in KL now)

My apologies about the downtime that sixthseal.com and all the
sister sites experienced over a period of 24 hours – the server farm
I’m on migrated to another data center (which would mean faster speeds).

tnb kl sibu

It’s not exactly the best of times for sixthseal.com to go down as
my weekend has been crazy…I took a flight back to Sibu Thursday
evening on a whim (long Easter weekend) and I was booked to fly back to
Kuching early Monday morning.

tnb kl air asia

However, the office called me over the weekend to inform me that our
biggest client in KL needs asistance so I had to cut short my holiday
and come back to Kuching at 12:45 pm. I woke up at 4 am today and went
to the airport to catch a flight to KL (only Air Asia flies at unholy
hours like these) to catch a flight to KL.

tnb kl klia

I just arrived in KL and I’m going to get some breakfast before
meeting with the clients – I will post all the backposts in
chronological order soon. I’m going to write on the plane since it’s
Air Asia (no newspapers) and the flight takes 1 hour and 40 minutes. My
apologies about the 24 hour downtime across all the sites.

Maggie Mee Assam Laksa

maggie mee assam laksa

There is nothing much that can comparable to the homely feeling of
eating a bowl of steaming hot instant noodles, home cooked naturally. I
have been deprived of this simple pleasure for so long (it comes with
not having cooking facilities at my place ;)) that I’ve almost
forgotten how good it is.

I don’t even like Maggie Mee Assam Laksa (I’ll go for Curry flavor
any day)…but it kinda grows on you…and there’s just something about
two packets of Maggie Mee noodles, cooked slightly soggy, with just the
right amount of soup and two eggs that’s really heartening. It’s like
coming home. πŸ™‚

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