posts in kuala lumpur
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(To get into the mood of this post, I recommend to press the play button and read away!)

 
     After a couple of failed outings with friends to watch Kolumpo in Kolumpo itself, I finally caught it at my hometown yesterday at TGV Tebrau City, JB yesterday! Knowing me, I've always been an avid fan of independent local films and music, it was just predictable for me to catch Kolumpo. Got to know about the film when I was at the Kakiseni Arts Festival Street Parade back in May actually when the box head crew were part of the parade, giving out free aiskrim Malaysia! Then, I didn't know what it was about, I thought it was just a really cool arts demonstration. It wasn't until I checked out their pages on social media that I found out it was a film coming out in December! I feel it was great marketing tactics, nevertheless!

Nope, it's not a protest! It's the Kolumpo Box Head Crew! (Photo credits to Muiz)
Got free syrup-flavoured aiskrim Malaysia! (Photo credit to Muiz)
     Okay, before I go on and on about meeting the cast and all, I'll talk about what I thought about the film. Of course, the film turned out amazing! To those who aren't familiar with Kolumpo the film, here's a little insight. Kolumpo's basically a compilation of 3 simple and light-hearted short films directed by 3 young budding Malaysian filmmakers, with a passionate all-Malaysian cast and crew, for Malaysians. Despite having the diversity of three separate stories, I think all three of them portrays a fresh, grappling-yet-honest side of the beautiful city of Kuala Lumpur and weaves a tale of hope and dreams as diverse as the very fabric of the magnificent city itself.

  • The first short film directed by the handsome and multi-talented Bront Palarae, depicts a young Indian immigrant worker who came to Kolumpo in hopes of making an honest living to support his family back in India, only to find that the company that offered him a job had closed down. (Un)fortunately, he is saved by a restaurant owner and there and then begins his life of an illegal immigrant worker in the bustling city of KL. (Look out for that familiar cheater of a cab driver which provided the audience with a lot of laughs, trust me)
  • Young budding director, Rozi Izma directed the second piece which was set in Setapak where a young unmarried woman trying to avoid calls from her mother, finds herself spending the whole day trying to bring a senile amnesiac nenek home. And you know how Amnesia can be, the nenek brought her all over Kuala Lumpur. I particularly liked this story because it made me realise how we take a lot of things for granted especially the love our loved ones have for us. By the end of this short film, I admit that a little drop of tear slided down my right cheek. (Get ready to laugh and cry in this one, it is that heartfelt, I promise)
  • Set in Ampang, director Sheikh Munasar brings us on a midnight journey of a young man who has never been in love before and meets a whimsically optimistic stranger after they both missed the last train. Meeting her was a life-defining moment for him as she showed him a glimpse of love through the people they meet and the conversations they made. This film was simple, honest and thought-provoking, for me. Thought-provoking in terms of how we judge people on the way they dress, the way they act and what it really means to be 'the better person'. It reminded me a lot of Parah, the play I saw last May, but instead of pulling out the race card, this was more of how society sees a certain person by the way they act. (I guess, yo have to watch the movie to truly understand what I'm trying to say here haha)


     Silly me, initially thought Sharifah Amani and Sheikh Munasar (aka Moon) were gonna be sitting in front of me during the movie haha I would have laughed at my expression when I saw two tudung-clad ladies walking towards the rows in front of me. But after the movie whilst credits were rolling, the pixie-like Sharifah Amani appeared from the back entrance with a bunch of people and including Moon! I was trying to keep my crazy hyper fangirling to the minimum but shamelessly failed, as portrayed in the pictures below.


     They are such down-to-earth, friendly people! It was great to be able to have a short conversation with both of them, especially Moon 'cause most people were flocking towards Nanina for pictures. Mum was equally excited and were singing praises for their work. Moon asked to interview us after our little conversation and that was what we did! Once I started speaking, I just can't stop! I think we spoke about how we felt about this film for much longer than what Moon had expected us to haha! Check @kolumpothemovie on Instagram to see what we said, though sadly Mum's part got cut off 'cause I think I was talking too much :P (Sorry, mom!) 

     Overall, Kolumpo is the epitome of a true-blue homegrown Malaysian film, made by Malaysians for Malaysians. If you like Yasmin Ahmad films, I think you'll really enjoy this one as it's spontaneous, simple, heartwarming, familiar, delightful and just truly Malaysian. So if you haven't catch Kolumpo yet or you're still waiting for somebody to belanja you a ticket, go watch it 'cause you're missing out biggggg time I'm telling you!

And if you're still skeptical about the quality of local films, 
 'kalau tak tengok, macam mana nak tahu?'


Kolumpo 2013 // facebook
@kolumpothemovie // instagram
@kolumpothemovie // twitter


#KOLUMPO: Kalau tak explore, macam mana nak tahu?

11.12.13

, , ,
(To get into the mood of this post, I recommend to press the play button and read away!)

 
     After a couple of failed outings with friends to watch Kolumpo in Kolumpo itself, I finally caught it at my hometown yesterday at TGV Tebrau City, JB yesterday! Knowing me, I've always been an avid fan of independent local films and music, it was just predictable for me to catch Kolumpo. Got to know about the film when I was at the Kakiseni Arts Festival Street Parade back in May actually when the box head crew were part of the parade, giving out free aiskrim Malaysia! Then, I didn't know what it was about, I thought it was just a really cool arts demonstration. It wasn't until I checked out their pages on social media that I found out it was a film coming out in December! I feel it was great marketing tactics, nevertheless!

Nope, it's not a protest! It's the Kolumpo Box Head Crew! (Photo credits to Muiz)
Got free syrup-flavoured aiskrim Malaysia! (Photo credit to Muiz)
     Okay, before I go on and on about meeting the cast and all, I'll talk about what I thought about the film. Of course, the film turned out amazing! To those who aren't familiar with Kolumpo the film, here's a little insight. Kolumpo's basically a compilation of 3 simple and light-hearted short films directed by 3 young budding Malaysian filmmakers, with a passionate all-Malaysian cast and crew, for Malaysians. Despite having the diversity of three separate stories, I think all three of them portrays a fresh, grappling-yet-honest side of the beautiful city of Kuala Lumpur and weaves a tale of hope and dreams as diverse as the very fabric of the magnificent city itself.

  • The first short film directed by the handsome and multi-talented Bront Palarae, depicts a young Indian immigrant worker who came to Kolumpo in hopes of making an honest living to support his family back in India, only to find that the company that offered him a job had closed down. (Un)fortunately, he is saved by a restaurant owner and there and then begins his life of an illegal immigrant worker in the bustling city of KL. (Look out for that familiar cheater of a cab driver which provided the audience with a lot of laughs, trust me)
  • Young budding director, Rozi Izma directed the second piece which was set in Setapak where a young unmarried woman trying to avoid calls from her mother, finds herself spending the whole day trying to bring a senile amnesiac nenek home. And you know how Amnesia can be, the nenek brought her all over Kuala Lumpur. I particularly liked this story because it made me realise how we take a lot of things for granted especially the love our loved ones have for us. By the end of this short film, I admit that a little drop of tear slided down my right cheek. (Get ready to laugh and cry in this one, it is that heartfelt, I promise)
  • Set in Ampang, director Sheikh Munasar brings us on a midnight journey of a young man who has never been in love before and meets a whimsically optimistic stranger after they both missed the last train. Meeting her was a life-defining moment for him as she showed him a glimpse of love through the people they meet and the conversations they made. This film was simple, honest and thought-provoking, for me. Thought-provoking in terms of how we judge people on the way they dress, the way they act and what it really means to be 'the better person'. It reminded me a lot of Parah, the play I saw last May, but instead of pulling out the race card, this was more of how society sees a certain person by the way they act. (I guess, yo have to watch the movie to truly understand what I'm trying to say here haha)


     Silly me, initially thought Sharifah Amani and Sheikh Munasar (aka Moon) were gonna be sitting in front of me during the movie haha I would have laughed at my expression when I saw two tudung-clad ladies walking towards the rows in front of me. But after the movie whilst credits were rolling, the pixie-like Sharifah Amani appeared from the back entrance with a bunch of people and including Moon! I was trying to keep my crazy hyper fangirling to the minimum but shamelessly failed, as portrayed in the pictures below.


     They are such down-to-earth, friendly people! It was great to be able to have a short conversation with both of them, especially Moon 'cause most people were flocking towards Nanina for pictures. Mum was equally excited and were singing praises for their work. Moon asked to interview us after our little conversation and that was what we did! Once I started speaking, I just can't stop! I think we spoke about how we felt about this film for much longer than what Moon had expected us to haha! Check @kolumpothemovie on Instagram to see what we said, though sadly Mum's part got cut off 'cause I think I was talking too much :P (Sorry, mom!) 

     Overall, Kolumpo is the epitome of a true-blue homegrown Malaysian film, made by Malaysians for Malaysians. If you like Yasmin Ahmad films, I think you'll really enjoy this one as it's spontaneous, simple, heartwarming, familiar, delightful and just truly Malaysian. So if you haven't catch Kolumpo yet or you're still waiting for somebody to belanja you a ticket, go watch it 'cause you're missing out biggggg time I'm telling you!

And if you're still skeptical about the quality of local films, 
 'kalau tak tengok, macam mana nak tahu?'


Kolumpo 2013 // facebook
@kolumpothemovie // instagram
@kolumpothemovie // twitter


more

I found out about Ted.com and it's awesomeness about two years ago. It wasn't until a month or so before STPM, when everything other than revising for the "most difficult exam in the world" (so everyone says!) seems waaaay interesting, that I stumbled onto a TEDxKLWomen promotional write-up online and realised that there was TED Talks in Malaysia! Sadly I couldn't make it to that one 'cause it clashed with STPM. And I had to pass on TEDxKL which happened this year 'cause I was still in JB ruffling through university applications and such. Fortunately, TEDxYouth@KL came around last weekend and when I found out about it, I made sure I bought the tickets about a month before, to make sure I won't back out last minute.

To those of you who thought TED was a teddy bear or a certain character from a certain 'motherly' TV drama, it's basically a non-profit organisation which organises talks and conferences all over the world, spanning across various topics and issues like Technology, Entertainment and Design etc. It's really cool like you, so do check them out here.

Initially, I was bummed that Naomi couldn't make it 'cause her sister was graduating on the same day, but I guess I didn't mind taking the LRT and going alone, as long as I got there. But thankfully, I found out that my AIESECer mates won tickets and were carpooling, so I joined them and had so much fun :)

This time round, TEDxYouth@KL which was themed, "Innovation: From Ideas To Impact", was held at the Penthouse at The Icon, that was situated on Jalan Tun Razak, Kuala Lumpur. It featured pretty awesome presenters ranging from business extraordinaires to environmental advocates to famous personalities. It was quite a diverse line-up which I thought was great in terms of catering to a wider audience.

I knew tickets were sold out and expected a lot of people to be there but I really didn't expect it to be THAT many attendees. When we got there, which was fairly early I'd say, the venue was packed to the core! People were busy registering, visiting the many booths which were around the perimeter of the venue, munching on refreshments whilst networking and taking pictures. It was definitely a very happening and positive atmosphere. Exceptionally welcoming, I'd say.

The line-up this year as I said earlier was diverse and interesting. All of the talks were great but I'll just highlight some of them that I really enjoyed and felt like I could relate to more. 



Kicking-off the event was an amazing contemporary dance performance by Suhaili Micheline, which I appreciated fully. I know dance isn't for everyone, considering that my friend Sitham was dozing off already hahaha

Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf Shanghai founder, Li Pheng Phng who emphasized on how FEAR is just False Emotions Appearing Real and that we shouldn't fear failure. 

Marine biologist, Dr. Louisa Ponnampalam who specializes in dolphins and whales (eeek!), talked about her journey of bringing sea mammal research into the limelight here in Malaysia and ocean conservation must be highlighted and emphasized more here. 

Jin from JinnyBoyTV and Hitz.fm shared his journey of becoming what he is today. I really liked it when he said, "If you can't achieve your dream, go around it". That inspired me always get a grip when something doesn't go my way 'cause there is ALWAYS another way. On a different note, no, I wasn't jealous that he gave a free hoodie to that girl in front. Nope, not one bit.  

 I also really enjoyed Azim Huzaimi, a Malaysian animator who was one of the animators for Life of Pi. He gave us all an insight to what really happened behind the scenes on set and how much work they had to put into creating the perfect shot or was it frames? (I think that's what they call it). Every detail like Richard Parker's fur, the background and etc. I was mesmerized, just as the others were.

The good thing about these events is that every person there is more than willing to strike up a conversation with you and when it is written in the programme that it's a networking event, trust that there will be a lot of networking opportunities with partners, corporates, organisations and just, people! It's just a matter of grabbing those opportunities or not. I was honoured to have the chance to talk to most of the presenters and met people who have inspired me like Michael Teoh (if you don't know him, he's just the Global Youth ambassador of Malaysia) and other AIESECers as well. It was swell!

With the AIESEC in Sunway gang

Catch this! Instead of saying your conventional "Cheese!" before taking a picture, we decided to go with "AIESEC!" and guess what? This fellow AIESECer from Bulgaria was just around the corner and she came to say hi :) It's just proof that AIESEC connects people. 


With Michael Teoh, whom I'm more familiar as the world traveller who writes his escapades in a NST column! Guess what? he was an AIESECer in NZ in his degree days!

 With Dr. Clarence Tan, Ambassador of Singularity University and gang

 With Jin! After this picture, everybody started flocking him!

With Joyce Tagal, founder of Otak-Otak. I think her organisation's pretty remarkable because instead of sending students overseas for exchange, Otak-Otak strives to bring Malaysians studying overseas back to Malaysia to contribute. I think this is very noble of them.

 With Azim Huzaimi! Life of Pi animator whom I was a little start-stuck of 'cause I researched the group and wrote about them in one of my academic blogposts on littlebigtalks.com. 

With Christian Palencia, the barefoot musician whom I've seen him played a couple of times during open-mics and whom I think is amazing in what he does. Check him out here! And with Razif Hashim, an actorpreneur whom I've been a big fan of since his Gol and Gincu days and now, his makan escapades on 8TV! Talented guy, he is! :D



It was such a great outing and I was so glad to have gone with my AIESECer mates! I shall end this post with a very funny scenario that happened to me when I was networking during TED. I was just walking around with my drink and suddenly there was this guy who stopped me halfway like we knew each other. He was like, "Heyy!" He must have seen my weird-out-but-trying to-stay-friendly-face and started to explained that we met at some event. I swear I was trying to figure out where I've met him but we clearly do not know each other! hahaha It was funny cuz to make things not feel so awkward I asked him about the event that apparently was where we met.

It was some science exhibition, apparently. 


TEDxYouth@KL

9.12.13

, , , , ,

I found out about Ted.com and it's awesomeness about two years ago. It wasn't until a month or so before STPM, when everything other than revising for the "most difficult exam in the world" (so everyone says!) seems waaaay interesting, that I stumbled onto a TEDxKLWomen promotional write-up online and realised that there was TED Talks in Malaysia! Sadly I couldn't make it to that one 'cause it clashed with STPM. And I had to pass on TEDxKL which happened this year 'cause I was still in JB ruffling through university applications and such. Fortunately, TEDxYouth@KL came around last weekend and when I found out about it, I made sure I bought the tickets about a month before, to make sure I won't back out last minute.

To those of you who thought TED was a teddy bear or a certain character from a certain 'motherly' TV drama, it's basically a non-profit organisation which organises talks and conferences all over the world, spanning across various topics and issues like Technology, Entertainment and Design etc. It's really cool like you, so do check them out here.

Initially, I was bummed that Naomi couldn't make it 'cause her sister was graduating on the same day, but I guess I didn't mind taking the LRT and going alone, as long as I got there. But thankfully, I found out that my AIESECer mates won tickets and were carpooling, so I joined them and had so much fun :)

This time round, TEDxYouth@KL which was themed, "Innovation: From Ideas To Impact", was held at the Penthouse at The Icon, that was situated on Jalan Tun Razak, Kuala Lumpur. It featured pretty awesome presenters ranging from business extraordinaires to environmental advocates to famous personalities. It was quite a diverse line-up which I thought was great in terms of catering to a wider audience.

I knew tickets were sold out and expected a lot of people to be there but I really didn't expect it to be THAT many attendees. When we got there, which was fairly early I'd say, the venue was packed to the core! People were busy registering, visiting the many booths which were around the perimeter of the venue, munching on refreshments whilst networking and taking pictures. It was definitely a very happening and positive atmosphere. Exceptionally welcoming, I'd say.

The line-up this year as I said earlier was diverse and interesting. All of the talks were great but I'll just highlight some of them that I really enjoyed and felt like I could relate to more. 



Kicking-off the event was an amazing contemporary dance performance by Suhaili Micheline, which I appreciated fully. I know dance isn't for everyone, considering that my friend Sitham was dozing off already hahaha

Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf Shanghai founder, Li Pheng Phng who emphasized on how FEAR is just False Emotions Appearing Real and that we shouldn't fear failure. 

Marine biologist, Dr. Louisa Ponnampalam who specializes in dolphins and whales (eeek!), talked about her journey of bringing sea mammal research into the limelight here in Malaysia and ocean conservation must be highlighted and emphasized more here. 

Jin from JinnyBoyTV and Hitz.fm shared his journey of becoming what he is today. I really liked it when he said, "If you can't achieve your dream, go around it". That inspired me always get a grip when something doesn't go my way 'cause there is ALWAYS another way. On a different note, no, I wasn't jealous that he gave a free hoodie to that girl in front. Nope, not one bit.  

 I also really enjoyed Azim Huzaimi, a Malaysian animator who was one of the animators for Life of Pi. He gave us all an insight to what really happened behind the scenes on set and how much work they had to put into creating the perfect shot or was it frames? (I think that's what they call it). Every detail like Richard Parker's fur, the background and etc. I was mesmerized, just as the others were.

The good thing about these events is that every person there is more than willing to strike up a conversation with you and when it is written in the programme that it's a networking event, trust that there will be a lot of networking opportunities with partners, corporates, organisations and just, people! It's just a matter of grabbing those opportunities or not. I was honoured to have the chance to talk to most of the presenters and met people who have inspired me like Michael Teoh (if you don't know him, he's just the Global Youth ambassador of Malaysia) and other AIESECers as well. It was swell!

With the AIESEC in Sunway gang

Catch this! Instead of saying your conventional "Cheese!" before taking a picture, we decided to go with "AIESEC!" and guess what? This fellow AIESECer from Bulgaria was just around the corner and she came to say hi :) It's just proof that AIESEC connects people. 


With Michael Teoh, whom I'm more familiar as the world traveller who writes his escapades in a NST column! Guess what? he was an AIESECer in NZ in his degree days!

 With Dr. Clarence Tan, Ambassador of Singularity University and gang

 With Jin! After this picture, everybody started flocking him!

With Joyce Tagal, founder of Otak-Otak. I think her organisation's pretty remarkable because instead of sending students overseas for exchange, Otak-Otak strives to bring Malaysians studying overseas back to Malaysia to contribute. I think this is very noble of them.

 With Azim Huzaimi! Life of Pi animator whom I was a little start-stuck of 'cause I researched the group and wrote about them in one of my academic blogposts on littlebigtalks.com. 

With Christian Palencia, the barefoot musician whom I've seen him played a couple of times during open-mics and whom I think is amazing in what he does. Check him out here! And with Razif Hashim, an actorpreneur whom I've been a big fan of since his Gol and Gincu days and now, his makan escapades on 8TV! Talented guy, he is! :D



It was such a great outing and I was so glad to have gone with my AIESECer mates! I shall end this post with a very funny scenario that happened to me when I was networking during TED. I was just walking around with my drink and suddenly there was this guy who stopped me halfway like we knew each other. He was like, "Heyy!" He must have seen my weird-out-but-trying to-stay-friendly-face and started to explained that we met at some event. I swear I was trying to figure out where I've met him but we clearly do not know each other! hahaha It was funny cuz to make things not feel so awkward I asked him about the event that apparently was where we met.

It was some science exhibition, apparently. 


more

Into my third week here in KL and I am pretty much still a tourist here,
despite the many trips up I've been since I was a kid. 
The confusing highways that link most of Klang Valley's towns,
not to mention the many toll plazas as well, the pretty citylights, the traffic jams, and the list goes on. 
I'm very lucky to have my extended maternal family here who are always so generous and kind to take me around, try new places and experience different things that ultimately make KL what it is.
Last weekend, we went to this quaint post-war shophouse located along Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman, right smack in the middle of KL city,
called Coliseum Cafe and Grill.
It was here since the 1920's and I can say that it still has that significant 20's vibe
in terms of decor, faded walls, Victorian-esque cutlery with an embossed print on the edge,
and the old-school bar with old funky-looking white men drinking around it
My uncle and aunty used to have their dates there back in their varsity days,
so that night held a little nostalgic value for them
the famous sizzling grilled steak was grilled right in front of us, before being served.
same goes to the sizzling chicken plate as well. 
 fried ice cream for dessert pretty much summed up our meals in a good heavenly package :)


a night at the coliseum

21.8.13

, , , ,

Into my third week here in KL and I am pretty much still a tourist here,
despite the many trips up I've been since I was a kid. 
The confusing highways that link most of Klang Valley's towns,
not to mention the many toll plazas as well, the pretty citylights, the traffic jams, and the list goes on. 
I'm very lucky to have my extended maternal family here who are always so generous and kind to take me around, try new places and experience different things that ultimately make KL what it is.
Last weekend, we went to this quaint post-war shophouse located along Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman, right smack in the middle of KL city,
called Coliseum Cafe and Grill.
It was here since the 1920's and I can say that it still has that significant 20's vibe
in terms of decor, faded walls, Victorian-esque cutlery with an embossed print on the edge,
and the old-school bar with old funky-looking white men drinking around it
My uncle and aunty used to have their dates there back in their varsity days,
so that night held a little nostalgic value for them
the famous sizzling grilled steak was grilled right in front of us, before being served.
same goes to the sizzling chicken plate as well. 
 fried ice cream for dessert pretty much summed up our meals in a good heavenly package :)


more
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