Sephora Fahrenheit88 Opening

Yes, they've closed the store that was outside Starhill and moved a few hundred metres down (or up?) the road to Fahrenheit88. They've blasted the crap out of the event so much there's multiple emails about what people can expect. More importantly, the freebies?

1st in line:

RM888 Gift Vouchers + Goodie Bag 

2nd in line: 

RM688 Gift Vouchers + Goodie Bag 

3rd in line: 

RM388 Gift Vouchers + Goodie Bag 

4th - 200th in line: 

RM188 Gift Vouchers + Goodie Bag 

201st - 400th in line: 

Goodie Bags + 5X points (only for Beauty Pass Members) 

401st - 1000th in line: 

Mystery Gift

Not crazy enough to camp overnight, but not gonna stress myself by going there at the crack of dawn either. I think maybe I got there closer to 11 a.m.? I got there by LRT and GOKL bus, cos I ain't paying to switch to MRT. The queue was broken up into segments, but I didn't get to see what happened right outside the store, but I was in the batch that was right outside the main entrance of F88. I saw some familiar faces while in line, particularly certain aunties that I've mentioned before on here. 

This was what everyone in line got...you can ask for more water or donut, if you wanted. 

Dennis Yin was the host/emcee for the day (I didn't know who it was at the time, but I knew he looked awfully familiar). Apparently the first person in line had been there since 10 a.m. Friday, which is kinda bananas, but not as bad as lines for certain H&M collections where people had been in line for days at a time. But I digress. I was #267, which meant I got the goodie bag and also the 5x points for members. 

They really stepped up on the opening ceremony for this - there was a float, magicians (doing close range magic), aerialists and dancers. Oh, and they had to close one lane outside the mall, which I'm sure made everyone driving on Jalan Bukit Bintang really happy. 

By the time I was inside the store, it was probably almost 1 p.m. because crowd control. I don't know if they've pulled staff from other stores for today, but it seems like it cos I recognise some faces from other stores. There was also a machine where you play a game for more Sephora points. There also wasn't much I needed or wanted to get at the time, so I was kinda bored and over it. It did have a few brands that's not already in other stores, like Tatcha, Aerin (Estee Lauder), Maison Margiela, SK-II, etc. 

Inside the tote bag also was a print out voucher with the 5x points thing (which they took back when you check out). There wasn't much I wanted cos the other item I wanted I already bought earlier because of the birthday thing. So I only bought one item. Even then, that took for-fucking-ever because there were only 4 cashiers (not including the 2 ad-hoc "express" ones on the floor meant for 5 items or less, which I can't use because the floor POS won't recognise the 5x point voucher I got) and a lot of people. And if you had a GWP to collect (in my case, just ang pow packets), that's another counter outside the store, which is not a terrible idea, but it seems like another hump to go over when you're already tired from waiting in line. 

Worst door gift at one of these store openings ever - the pouch was empty.

To be honest, I was kind of disappointed. I used to come away from past store openings with so many samples; now they so kiamsiap. I also would like to know what was in the "mystery gift" that was for the last 600 people in line. 

Despite the protein breakfast, I was borderline hangry by the time I left to get (a late-ish) lunch. 

Maybank Bon APP-etit @ Durian King, TTDI

Maybank held this event for Maybank app users where it's basically free food and drink for 4 hours (4 - 8 pm) on Saturday in Taman Tun. 

4 p.m. on that Saturday was broiling hot and too early for dinner. So the sibling and I compromised and only left about 6 something after having an early dinner. Luckily there was still street parking nearby by the time we got there. 

To gain entry into the event, you just have to show the people at the door that you have the Maybank app installed, you don't need to login to your M2U account or anything. And you get 3 white, nondescript white tokens that you can use for redemption. You can get more tokens by humiliating yourself via social media or talk to the emcee who was going around giving them away via quizzes.

I thought it was going to be more crowded than it was. Maybe people weren't around because it was the school holidays. 

So the first thing I went for was the durian cendol. The line was moving SO SLOWLY, I don't know why. Then I saw that people were redeeming several portions in one go and I was like, WTF 😣😤 

They should've instituted a "one portion per person" rule; then the line would go so much faster. If you want some more, you line up again la. Several food trucks were already out of food around 7 p.m. Before the end of the night there was only one food truck still serving food (because they replenished and came around the same time we did). I saw one uncle carry 5, 6 portions of tacos in one go. First of all, how did he get so many tokens to pull that off? 

In the end, I only had one cendol, chicken taco and a can of Wonda coffee. 

I understand that the food trucks have limited portions to give out, but...

You know you damn aunty when you bring up that up on their social media.

History Con Malaysia

I won tickets to History Con Malaysia happening at MAEPS Serdang, thanks to OBike Malaysia.

The only time I watch the History Channel was because the old bean wants to either watch Pawn Stars, Storage Wars or American Pickers. If I wanted to waste more time, I might watch Forged in Fire, but you know... 

After the usual two tolls from PJ, we got there to find out that there are two parking options: RM15 for "Premium Parking" but it's a shorter walk (not in the afternoon sun it is) 😒 or RM5 and it's further but you get to ride the MAEPS open air trams right up to the front and don't have to walk. 

Had to find the OBike kids outside to collect the tickets and was asked to show them the actual comment I left. After I gave the "do you know how long it's going to take me to find that...?" spiel, they just gave it to me anyway. 

There's a bunch of food trucks outside, so you won't starve or die of thirst. Saw a truck selling mushroom based items, even mushroom lekor, but wasn't hungry enough to try so I have no idea if it was any good or not. 

Anyway, made our way inside, and... there's a lot of booths and it's not just booths of certain History Channel shows (or even thematically related like the booths selling vintage items in reference to all the pawn shows) but also other event sponsors like erm, Benefit Cosmetics (they were having a sale on their old packaging items), Watsons, Pos Malaysia (go figure), etc. There's even a booth offering quick massages (there's also a massive Ogawa booth with all their massage chairs) there, but never got to try it since I'm not sure if non Muslimah can go for it or not...?  When we were there we did see Horny Mike and gang and Harith Iskander. 

Was too lazy to take pictures of everything, so here's pretty much all I took when I was there... 

Frankly, I don't know why Masterchef Australia is even involved in this erm, convention - that show is on Lifetime Asia...?

After wandering around, we got done in time to catch MasterChef Australia judge Matt Preston's cooking demo. Apparently after every main stage event, there's a meet and greet but there was a quota that I didn't know about until I was asked about tokens. Took the hint and went home afters. 

While it was not a bad way to kill a couple of hours, but I don't know about paying at least RM20 for tickets. I mean there's definitely something for everyone: cars and other stereotypically male interests, as well as things ladies might ooh and ahh at, but still. Cheapest ticket was RM20 for one day and I'm not crazy enough to go all three days. 

Sephora 1U opening

Took the rare day off from work to check out the Sephora opening in the second home.

By the time I got there from the Kelana Jaya post office (to send something off to a Carousell buyer) around 10 something, this was what I saw. 

Fuck this, I'm out :P

All 150 vouchers were already gone. The guys minding the line were nice enough to tell us "latecomers" not to bother getting in line, and maybe to come back later when the store is actually open. Apparently the line started as early as 7 or 8 am (depending on who you asked), so the rest of us memang had no shot anyway. I'm guessing half the people in line had been up since sahur, and thought might as well go line up for a few hours :P One or two hours I don't mind, but 3, 4 hours is a really pushing it for me, personally. 

So I buggered off and because it was still early, I had a go at the Ramadan breakfast special that's got a piece of grilled chicken (which I suspect is just a piece of GCB patty), which I kind of like more than their regular breakfast set options. 

While nursing my McAffogato (you get a complimentary vanilla ice cream cone when you pay for anything over RM10 with your debit card, that I dumped it into my coffee), I glimpsed at the front of the line, and... it's Freebie Auntie (the lady in the middle, in pink), who I always see when free stuff is involved. Aiyah, old people sure early one lah :P 

Freebie Auntie and her grey-haired posse.
Seriously, what are those apeks gonna do with the RM100 vouchers ANYWAY?!

I not kiasu enough this time :P

I was also too late to catch a morning movie, so I finally deigned to brave the hordes and grab some samples while still there. 

Emcee Nadia Heng, during the first Q&A

After not getting anything during the first Q&A (usually a big waste of time because of the number of early eager beavers), I left to go get lunch and when I got back, was early enough to hang around for the second Q&A session, and also to peck out more samples from the girls walking around the place with the huge boxes in the meantime. At this point I have more samples than face to try them on :P 

After winning more Fresh deluxe samples (whee!) in the second Q&A, I left. No, I didn't buy anything either because the line was long and slow moving, which was just as well I was out-kiasu-ed for the vouchers because I didn't want to make a second trip back to use the voucher. Also I wasn't sure if I could swipe both my Black Card and ONECARD at the same time, or if it's a either/or situation. Time will tell, I guess. 

If nothing else, I'm glad this time they did the White Card signup at the door instead of at the cashier, which really slowed things down during the Nu Sentral store opening a couple of years ago. 

Freebie haul. Didn't buy anything :P

Urbanscapes 2016

After lunch in KLCC (by the time I was done in Sephora, I was pretty ravenous), I hopped on a GOKL bus to Wisma Cosway to catch another back to Central Market (different line). Then I hung out on the outgoing GOKL bus for about 10 minutes to rest my feet before getting off at the very first stop at Bangkok Bank to walk about less than 100m to Urbanscapes House (or rather, the old OCBC Bank building along Jalan Hang Kasturi, where the Bar Council is, behind Central Market). I was too tired to cross the road and too lazy to walk through Central Market. 

I knew I made it when I saw the windows... 

This was the first time in years I didn't have to pay 3 digits to go to Urbanscapes (there's also concerts in conjunction with this year's Urbanscapes, but nothing I wanted to see). So when I walked in, all I had to do was sign in/sign up/surrender my personal details to the guys at the desk, who probably has to explain the situation in the house several hundred times a day at that point. So me and another guy got the briefing and went on our merry (separate) way. 

(When you sign in, you get a Epik Shop voucher and also a bottled water; I didn't know about the water and no one gave it to me until I realised and asked)

There's something happening on every floor (it changes every weekend), so I took the lift up to the top and worked my way down to the basement, where the art exhibition is. 

The only thing I had was Softsrve's Urbanscapes-only Pink Lemonade sorbet (RM9), which I slowly dug into while perusing old TimeOut magazines scattered about on the pallet tables to rest my feet some more. Oh yeah, there's also a seating area and stage when you walk in, so you can enjoy the performances on stage and/or rest the tootsies. 

I think I only finally left about 3, 4 something because I was getting tired and I still had to walk back to the LRT station before it rained. 

Yup, one of the installations at the Pasar Seni station.

Finally, an Urbanscapes where I'm not sweating my balls off :P 

If I have time, I might go again next weekend? See how it goes. 

Sephora KLCC store reopening

I had a busy Saturday and this was how I started my day: 

Checked out Sephora's store reopening event at KLCC that was just for Black Card members. Even though I only got there literally a few minutes after 10 a.m., I was 21st out of the first 50 that got a RM50 voucher (My bet that there won't be that many people gungho enough to go line up for a 10 a.m. event on a Saturday kinda paid off). They gave out cookies, customised candy (of the logo, natch), samples and balloons. Nadia Heng was MC (I wasn't sure who she was until she reintroduced herself at some point; I think she was also at the Nu Sentral store opening...? Again, not sure). 

Breakfast of champions at Sephora - cookies and candy :P

Was glad that the store wasn't terribly crowded, so I got a bunch of the samples and cookies. There's also other things going on like Make Up Forever's complimentary eye brow contouring or concealer application demo/customer data gathering exercise (as you needed to fill out personal details), performances, etc. 

Have I mentioned that the male models (promoting Burberry's pour homme fragrance, Mr Burberry) were pretty hot? Look them up on Instagram under the #SephoraMY hashtag. 

There were also Q&A sessions with stuff being given out - there were a lot of eager beavers the first round, and with rate of attrition (I guess a bunch of people already left?), I only deigned to go for the second round of Q&A and waited for Ms Heng to give out the prize I wanted: the bag of Fresh deluxe samples. There was also some other travel kit, but I didn't hear what the brand was and a Sephora pouch which I'm not sure the contents of, so I passed on that.

Here's a haul pic of the freebies:

As usual with these gift vouchers, it took me a couple of hours there and a lot of walking around before I finally settled on what I was gonna use the voucher on (I couldn't decide between cleansing oil, exfoliant or foundation). 

Overall, this event less aggravating than an actual store opening - mostly because it's for Black Card members and they're not busy trying to get people to sign up for White Card and slowing things down. 

Yayasan Sime Darby Arts Festival

Checked out the Yayasan Sime Darby Arts Festival late Saturday afternoon. Mostly stuck to the indoor stuff (after checking out outside, of course) because there were a few things I wanted to see. Luckily the free WiFi around Pentas 2 downstairs work, so I could post some pictures on Instagram before catching the shows that I was curious about... 

Fahmi Fadzil and Azmyl Yunor, performing Wayang Buku in Indicine upstairs in KLPAC after the NETMBR (Never Eat Too Much Before Rapture) crew did a half hour version of their show (which I've never seen before, even though I've taken at least a class or two with the guys back in the day) downstairs at the lobby stage. Wayang Buku tackles the sedition issue in the broadest possible way, done in the late night talk show format, with books as the "guests". You had to be there.

There was an intermission after Wayang Buku, so we had to leave Indicine while they do the setup. Suddenly the attendance for the Disko Baldi show ballooned outside; and yes, I wondered why. Even with the disclaimer that it has mature content, there are still kids (dragged by their parents) in attendance. Never having been to a Disko Baldi show, I wasn't too sure what to expect. It was funny for the most part, I suppose.

Projek Disko Baldi performing their "theme song"

Good Vibes Festival 2014 - The Old Fart Edition

This is only the second year of this particular festival, and I didn't go last year even though Smashing Pumpkins headlined. Bought an early bird ticket mostly to see (what the fuss was with) Ellie Goulding (I liked a couple of her songs, I'm a casual fan at best), who's headlining this year. Wasn't going to see anyone else, so I planned to go later in the day, when it's not so hot out :P

I didn't want to drive at first and I had won RM50 cash back from MyTeksi in their contest, but I couldn't make the booking on their app as I couldn't find the festival entry in the search results (wasn't the first result). Which was just as well, because the RM125 cab fare back was... too damn much for me. It would be fine if I was sharing with other people, but by myself? OH HELL NO. Having done the airport run for years, I'm not uncomfortable driving to that area, it's just meh. Only thing was I wasn't sure where the go-kart circuit was, so I used the TomTom. Traffic was okay. Parking was RM10, which was a bit much personally, but still better than cab fare from my neck of the woods and back.

I packed some of what I figured were necessities: 

• disposable poncho (finally used the cheap Guardian one I bought for the Urbanscapes 2 years ago); very important as it rained on and off for the few hours I was there. Also used it afterwards so I didn't track mud into the car. 
• Platypus bottle, filled with some water that I've tucked in the bottom of my huge Jack Spade messenger to bypass bag checks. (Since you can't bring in bottled water from outside)
• Sensible footwear for mud and rain while everyone else was wearing flip flops and nice shoes that got covered in mud, haha. Thanks, Bogs :)
• Forgot a flashlight :P

Got there about 8 something because I had wanted to check out the rest of the festival. After the long drive, I needed to pee badly and so I had to find the portajohns (which felt like a distance away from the entrance). Luckily they were smart enough to have more female ones than male. My bad luck was manoeuvring myself in a squatting one.  

Bought an iced mocha (RM10 either way, from the Caffe Dottore coffee truck; long night ahead) because I didn't want to pay RM15 for 2 cans of Red Bull (although they have this thing going where you get things like raincoats, etc, if you bring back the empty cans. Good way of not having strewn blue cans anywhere, I guess) and wanted a snack next. Finding something I could eat with one hand (most of them require use of both hands). 

People were still jumping at the end of the night.

They were actually selling clothing in there. But the festival swag and ice cream pops were a nice touch.

 At the Red Bull booth...

They have charging station for your devices, but you have to work for it...

Love a good swing. The liability disclaimer was hilarious.

Yup. the Red Bull DJ kiosk

Because of all the sponsorship, there were areas for 18 and above sponsored by beer and cigarette companies (won't say which ones), which is fun to go and poke around but since I don't drink beer or smoke, it's like the Pope visiting a brothel. 

Gap swag

Since the area is pretty small and the stages were a little too close to each other, I pretty much heard Empire of the Sun and !!! (or chk chk chk) from where I was sitting. Almost got a headache listening to Empire of the Sun from where I was sitting and fortunately I had Panadol on me. 

Everything got pushed back an hour and Ellie Goulding only came on at midnight, performed for an hour and was done. Only got home around 2 a.m., and slept around 3 a.m. because I still had to take a shower. 

Urbanscapes 2013 - Day 2

Meant to go a little earlier to catch some of the comedy sets at one of the (air conditioned) stages (because I am a candle princess through and through, that way) that was on a hill, but by the time I got there I was halfway through Sharmaine Othman's set (or towards the end, I'm not sure) and missed out on some of the other earlier stuff. Oh well. I've seen Jenhan and Dr Jason before, so I don't think I missed anything... much. But I did manage to catch Actorlympics, with Jenhan, Afdlin, Nell Ng, Douglas Lim and Rashid Salleh playing with Patrick Teoh as host. Some of it was funny and I'm glad people there didn't go with the porn route, which they get a lot in previous runs. It was just so-so only.

I don't know why people are complaining about the price of food there; I would definitely moan (well, not really) about the no bringing food and drink in, but with the calibre of food and drink vendors they have this year, it's probably only a couple bucks more than at the outlets themselves. If they had Ramli burger sellers there, there would also be complaints about vendor quality with the ticket price. Oh well.

I finally used a Porta John for the first time in my life (that I can remember). Someone should've told me it was akin to airplane bathrooms so it wouldn't be so terrifying. Lucky there were plenty around. 

Got a bunch of samples and freebies over the weekend, which I can't complain about. I took advantage of the daylight in between to see the vendors that I missed the day before. I personally am not a fan of clothes shopping in bazaar situations, so I didn't buy any. But I did spring for local sunscreen brand Sun Off A Beach's Festival Survival kit (it was RM25 on Saturday but it was 2 for RM30 on Sunday - people who got them on Saturday were suckers!), which contained: 

1. A Good Morning face towel (if you grew up in Malaysia, you know what these are)
2. Bubble gun (which I hadn't tested out yet but wasn't gonna keep)
3. Glow stick
4. Disposable raincoat
5. A small bottle of the sunblock (which comes with a carabiner clip) - so I got two of the variants that I wanted to try..

Definitely one of the more endearing purchases of the weekend. 

The other major-ish purchase I made was Olay's new Aquaction box of 5 hydration masks, which I only got because as a last-day happy hour offer, it was about half price and they were giving away fleece blankets with any purchase of the new Aquaction range (heh). And I didn't need another tub of moisturising gel to mock me as it sits there, collecting dust. The only regret was not bringing my Watsons card. Gawdamnit.

After I had my fill of food and caffeine, I wandered over to the main stage to see Kyoto Protocol, who filled in for Two Door Cinema Club (don't ask, I don't know who they are either), who had to cancel because the singer had laryngitis. They finished around 8 p.m., so I laid out the beach mat I got for last year's Urbanscapes (which I never used because it got so muddy even black garbage bag also wiser choice) and waited out the setting up of Franz Ferdinand's equipment... which was about an hour and a half. And also for the next post.

Surprised that I got this...

Glad the weather held out this year and didn't rain. Maybe Serdang not so rainy as PJ..?

PS. As I'm typing this, people on the interwebs are complaining about the "Urbanscapes Rash". Theories range from bugs to poisons. Guess I should be glad I only got isolated, non-rash looking insect bites? But I'm still itching, so I feel their pain. I'm just glad I didn't expose any bare skin on the grass or ground if I can help it (after seeing so many girls in short shorts - man, talk about an awkward place to scratch if they got rashes there... ).

Urbanscapes 2013 - Day 1

I had nothing to catch the first day except maybe to see the fuss about Tegan and Sara, so I thought I pop over in the evening to get the lay of the land and all that jazz. Toll from PJ was about RM6.40 to and fro. I think there's also an AES camera somewhere along the way too... 

Parking was free and plenty, but still a distance to walk from there to the festival, if you're crazy enough like me to walk end to end right away. Holy shit, the festival is VAST this year with the stages and installations, etc. I don't think I saw everything and I really don't care because it was pretty dark when I got there.

Bag check was okay - saw a bunch of portable umbrellas and bottled water (which presumably didn't make the cut). Lucky I left my umbrella at home and brought reusable bottle filled with lemon green tea. Also made note of what to bring for the next day.

By the time I got there around 8 something, some vendors were already starting to pack up. Which I didn't mind so much because I was gonna be there earlier the following day for the comedy and also for Franz Ferdinand.

So I sat down and waited for Tegan and Sara for the heck of it. Wasn't terribly crowded. Left after they played about half a dozen songs. Still not a fan. 

Moleskine Evernote Smart Notebook launch/meetup

Scored an invitation to the "user hand on session" (their words, not mine) of the local Moleskine Evernote Smart Notebook launch/user meetup at Nosh (located a couple doors down from Cziplee) a few days ago, thanks to the guys from Cziplee. By the time I got there it was at the end of the media session, but I got to taste the hors d'oeuvres (delicious, by the way) while waiting.

Mmm, yums...

It was nice to see the room fill up slowly, but surely, even when it rained like crazy after 5 p.m.. It kicked off with the opening presentation by Tiang Lim, of Evernote Singapore. Following that were a couple of use cases (a term I hear a lot on the Evernote podcast) by Daniel Cerventus of entrepreneurs.my and by business student Irwin Umban, who uses it for both school and his new startup called Stallsquare (which sounded like an interesting concept). The latter tried to do a live demo of the Smart Notebook, which took awhile, but it got there.

Things ended with a Q&A and (of course) lucky draw for Evernote tee shirts and (duh) for the Smart Notebooks. Got neither myself, but I can't complain. Then it was our turn to have a go at the hors d'oeuvres, but I only had some before leaving (still took me about an hour to get home - dang traffic and rain).

In case anyone was wondering - the goodie bag contained a plain I_KL pocket notebook, which completed my own collection (yay!) and a baggie of butter cookies from NOSH.

Urbanscapes - Day 2 (Sunday)

Parking: Parked at the open air car park near the Asia Jaya LRT station for RM4 per entry (it was RM3 at adjacent buildings, but I can't be arsed about it and didn't want to begrudge them the extra RM1) around 6 something p.m. Also saw the cops ticketing the traffic obstructing cars outside the Armada Hotel as I was walking to Astaka. Even the driving school opened up its premises and charged RM5 for parking.

Got a different coloured wristband, bag got checked (no, I wasn't packing arms or booze) and I was on my merry way.

The plan was to have dinner, catch Shelah (Edwin Sumun's drag persona, currently on a farewell tour) on one of the smaller stages, and then wait some more for Sigur Ros.

Dinner: Braised lamb shank with mash potato and polenta from Dave's Deli

Weather: The good weather of earlier didn't hold out - it bloody rained for almost two hours; from the time I sat down to dinner at the Levis x TiC hub at 6 something until Sheila Majid finished her set at about 8, 8.30 (?) p.m. Luckily I got a free disposable rain poncho (even though I brought my own) from the merch booth before it rained. Other people got "free" umbrellas from other booths. Waited out most of the downpour at the hub, but still went and wandered the F&B stalls. Spent too much money there.

Best picture I could take of Sheila Majid from what seemed like 100 feet away 

Swag: Got Levi's swag, since I still had both the RM50 voucher and Loop membership card from the day before, I flashed them that (got another stamp on the arm) and I got the small canvas tote with the mini battery powered fan and water container (yay). Got another Paperlounger, which I lugged around with me like an ass, but covered it with the black garbage bag I brought from home, knowing that I would need the latter to sit on when the time came. Tossed both garbage bag and Paperlounger on the way out.

Watching other people in plastic rain ponchos I suddenly thought of something someone posted on Facebook - something about whether can cari jodoh (meet your significant other) at Urbanscapes - and I chuckled to myself. You can imagine why.

Of course Shelah got rained out and didn't perform; but that didn't stop people from interacting and taking pictures with her (you literally cannot miss her, either). I should've known - I would've just saved my dinner money and left home a little later, but then there's the parking situation...

Cutting to the chase - it stopped raining just as Sigur Ros's road crew were setting up and testing everything around 9 p.m. and the band came on at 9.30 p.m. I'm surprised it only took them under half an hour to set up. Thankfully, the weather also held up. The show finished with a fireworks display around 11 p.m. After that, it took me about 15 minutes to get back to the car and left.

If anyone wants to read about the gig, stay tuned for the standalone/Part 3 of the series. Otherwise, the Urbanscapes blog posts end here. Thank you for your patience.

Urbanscapes - Day 1 (Saturday)

Having bought the weekend pass months ago (early bird stage), I thought I would spend Saturday going around while it's still light out. After a busy morning out and stopping at home for a few things, I went over after lunch and parked at VSQ (RM8 per entry but a short walk to Astaka; told the guy that I was only going to take a couple of hours so he agreed to charge me by the hour) and checked things out. Luckily I wore my Bogs rubber clogs, but I didn't go nuts as I didn't have higher boots on. But there was no way I was going around barefoot. Got the wristband on and checked it out...

I don't know why I was so surprised to see parents and their young kids - considering how much the tickets are, unless there was free entrance for under-12s that I missed...

The non-food vendors didn't really catch my eye personally as I'm not a fan of clothes shopping when I'm all sweaty and sticky. At least the food and beverage vendors were a step up from the usual fare you might find at these events - mostly local businesses (with understandably limited menus under the circumstances). Of course the bigger sponsors have booths as well, like Air Asia, Tune Talk, Mach by Hong Leong Bank (free food and drinks in exchange for your particulars :T), Says.com, etc. You can even buy Chatime bubble tea here, but don't expect the full menu. 

Didn't take too much swag from other sponsor booths as it would entail having me get rid of them later. But I did take swag from the Levi's x TiC (Tongue in Chic) hub (where it's so cold, people inside were wearing layers while everyone else was sweating their (nonexistent?) nuts off outside) after signing up for Loop membership (which you usually get if you spend RM400 at a Levi's store, but it's free signup for this weekend for this event). The only items I was most excited about was the Paperlounger and flexi water bottle, the rest I could have done without. I pulled the Paperlounger apart (it's a one piece) and lugged it home. Surprisingly comfortable, those things are.

Before leaving, I also managed to find the booth selling official Urbanscapes merch and got myself an official Sigur Ros tour tee shirt (try finding a Sigur Ros tee shirt at Petaling Street). At RM 95 it's not cheap, but still cheaper than S$50 pricetag at the Singapore gig on Friday (that I heard on the interwebs) or even on the website. 

Didn't stay long as the gran needed a ride back. But it was plenty knowing that I'd be back the following day... 

(Stay tuned for Day 2)

Urbanscapes 2012 ticket prices

After dropping the massive bombshell that was Sigur Ros performing in KL at Urbanscapes some weeks ago, ticket prices were finally announced over the weekend.

(From the Urbanscapes Facebook page...)

Naturally, some people were not happy with the prices (some people arr...) and are making mountains out of molehills on Facebook. All I can say to those people: you can take it or leave it. I know I left it last year and didn't go :P 

While I would be stuck getting the weekend pass just to watch Sigur Ros only, but if you think about it - if you buy early bird tickets, it's still way cheaper than the Singapore tickets, and that's not counting the travel and lodging expenses. And if you wanted to watch Yuna on Saturday, then you're in luck too.

Check out the FAQ that's posted on Facebook. 

At least I have something to do this Wednesday... just don't get in my way, haha :P

Astro B.yond IPTV Hollywood & Celebrities Night

Got an invitation to the Astro B.yond IPTV Hollywood & Celebrities Night blogger party at the Astro B.yond IPTV Concept Store (No. 5 on Jalan Solaris 2) at Solaris Mont Kiara, which happened last night. I could bring a plus-one, but I couldn't think of anyone game enough to come with and went solo in the end. After some thought (and discussion with other people) into what I could go as, I decided to go as "Random CSI lab tech/TV Medical Examiner" as I still have my lab coat and goggles (after all these years, I know) instead of simply going as myself (read: not dress up at all).

Signed in, got goodie bag #1 and was given a sticky contest form to fill out and stick on the wall where someone could win an iPad 2.

It was still early - I imagine there were more as the night went on..

The concept home next door blew me away... there's nothing like actually seeing how Astro B.yond IPTV would look in one's domicile. It was like a slightly more functional showroom in IKEA.

The actual store - equipped with Apple products and TVs (of course)

I love the idea of Astro B.yond IPTV (where you get not just Astro service, but also HD + PVR + VOD as well as fiber optic broadband), but it's only available to condos and other high rise residences at the moment.... but do check out the website for location availability and prices.

Things got started around 7 p.m. and Adam C was emcee of the night, he did his thing and da man after him was to the point (second to Dumbledore's "Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!" speech) and before I knew it, it was time for the eats (which I'm guessing is by the Royal Oak pub next door). I was lucky that I was standing near the buffet when it happened and I got food before the long line was formed. They also had Tiger beer - at least the guy dispensing it understood that I only wanted a little beer in my cup and didn't give me a full cup.

As it is still a Halloween party, there were some pretty interesting costumes (I won't go on and bore everyone) - but was a little disappointed that no one came as Carlos Estevez (Google it if you don't know who) with goddesses on both arms. Saw a guy in a long brown coat (pimp?) with fur trim and was wondering if he felt the heat wearing that the entire time as I certainly did in my lab coat. And don't get me started on the guy dressed as Chewbacca.

After everyone was fed, watered and updated on the football match of the night (half the TVs were on that game), there was a mystery game hunt for 10 groups of five. Decided to take this time to go to Cold Storage and by the time I got back, the party had moved to lobby area at Soho KL near the Cold Storage entrance (where I had just walked past - D'OH!), where the hunt winners were announced as well as winners for best dressed male (guy in a Lady Gaga outfit) and best dressed female (Peggy Carter from the recent Captain America movie, who did arrive with her own Cap, but he didn't win) and also the slogan contest before calling it a night before 10 p.m. You should see the mad dash for the second goodie bag (from the Sundance channel) before everyone left - I think a few milling bystanders got a hold of a few in the melee, so the Nuffies/Churpers on duty had to ask to see the nametags (that we got when we signed in earlier) before they gave the bag. Can't blame them.

Best picture of the emcee I got all night :P

Check out all the bloggers...

Overall, I liked the pace of the party and that it wasn't terribly dragged out. Kudos to the organisers for keeping it interesting :)

Epicure Malaysia 2011

I went to Epicure Malaysia 2011 and these are the pictures...

Jamie Oliver food product - Meatworks is bringing it in, according to them, they'll be sold in supermarkets soon, but for now they're available at the restaurant.

These were going for RM20 each - it's a grinder also, but still..

I have a bottle at home - it's really nice 

The bladeless fan revolution (haha) continues - RM279 instead of RM299 (I think).
Still cheaper than the Dyson one.

Ambrosia & Nectar stuff 

Would you believe this is a local brand? There's a promotion on the pies, sausages and burger patties

Pantry Magic booth - might need to visit the store soon; love the stuff :P

Look at all the MEAT...

Originalo booth - heard of them, just can't afford it myself

Patchi chocolate

I thought this was SO cute

Olives

Goat cheese sampling

More cheese

Finally found a chance to take a picture

Harrods condiments - 10% discount

Harrods tea

I have to draw the line at RM10 for something like this

Even though this spread looks delish

It's a composter - and yes, it's taller than I am.
Did not get to ask the retail price.

Bio d' Bug - Bought the bed bug spray for the 20% discount