the shopping mall. they are everywhere, as for a lot of malaysians, the mall is such a necessity. everyone has their own favourite. one mall that i used to frequent as a kid in ’70s bangsar was ampang park. my dad told me that it was the first ever mall, or shopping complex rather, in kl. in those days there was also the weld (which shut down only to be reopened as a more upmarket version in the early 90s) that had a cold storage supermarket. to those who could really remember, near the weld was a supermarket called fitzpatrick’s and on jalan mountbatten (now jalan tun perak) was this departmental store called robinson’s (where i got my first ever crayon set). i’d say that we malaysians started early in the shopping mall department.
today, malls are sprouting on every available land space in kl. i was just at the curve today when i thought to myself that it’s bad enough ikano is just next to it, not counting the much lauded one utama (a surrogate klcc suria for taman tun-ites, and i don’t care if people do think that we are peghak – ie people-under-tempurung types – for not having to venture out from an area with a two-mile radius), i saw the kopitiams (one of which was reviewed here) and a small potpourri of western eateries. the only one that caught my eye was the marche movenpick. i first saw one of these in amsterdam where you literally could select fresh produce only to have them cook it any way you like. pity i was too kenyang from the ikano foodcourt yakitori combo to try it out.
during this short break, i find myself gravitating to the malls of my yesteryears, the bukit bintang and sungei wang plazas. how can i not be there if it wasn’t my for my recent obligatory IT purchases at the ubiquitous low yat tech shops. in its heyday, sungei wang boasted an ice-skating rink on one of its floors. ella once held a gig on the plaza rooftop. our family for some bizarre reason, would opt to have our occasional KFC meals there of all places. the adjoining bukit bintang plaza, on the other hand, had one of the first metrojayas. in those days, the lure for me was solely the kenner star wars action figures. today, despite of their less upmarket nature as compared to even their next door neighbour, lot 10, these malls are still thriving. there are clothes galore which are cheap and chic. i was shown a place where you can buy clobber cool enough for onstage live music performances. no need to buy dolce and gabbana to look like jon bon jovi one aaa. there were loads of tourists, as i’m sure they find the more sterile and upmarket stores at klcc too similar to those found in london, sydney or new york. i also find the jinjang hairstyles not too jinjang nowadays. hell, i’m sure you can get one of those jinjang cuts at toni & guy. pirated stuff (dvd and ps2 games) today were sold pretty much more in a cloak and dagger style due to daily operasis by the ministry of trade and commerce.
another place that i will never miss to visit is the good ol’ pertama complex. when i was in school, i could get original imported rock tees at a shop called oazy for like fifty bucks. the things you wear to achieve some level of respect at school (tee shirt tak double sided tak main lah). pertama is notorious to get pau-ed (mugged) so we usually travel in packs then. now, i come here to get my regular supply of local alt-rock act cd’s at victoria. the selangor camera shop on the ground floor does good deals too, ask for johnny teh (you won’t miss him!). and where else can you get a RM5 jeans alteration service? food-wise, despite the dingyness of the food court, i think they have one of the meanest ice kacangs in town.
i did go to klcc, just the once this afternoon for dinner. had the typical empat ringgit setengah food court hainan chicken rice (can lah). dropped by kino and bought some books by hamka and ahmad patria abdullah despite the fact that i have a shelfload of stuff i still haven’t read (see my current book on the sidebar – like how long it’s been there?). i like the place but i do find that i don’t really go to KLCC that often when i am home in KL. probably i’m exercising my taman tun peghakness.
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there were a few of things i saw that i’d like to share. one, is this cool drumming game analogous to the dancing one, also by konami. cool or what?
this guy was blazing, getting perfect scores all the way. the next neil peart? not.
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the novelisaton for episode iii is out on hardback. saw it in kino. i find it easier in this day and age to exercise some restrain. i will wait for may 19. gosh, i remembered as a 13-year old reading the return of the jedi novel, during prep, before the film came out, going, “yes! i knew that darth vader is luke’s dad!’, and, “what? leia is luke’s sister?!! ewww!”. and i don’t really want to how in how many pieces is obi wan gonna chop lil’ annie into.
enjoy sakan nampak….
wow drumming game? even the dancing thingy i bought now dah berhabuk… so much for wanting to be a dancing queen… hehe
Way too many malls round here. Way, way, WAAAAAAY too many….
Ahmad Patria Abdullah itu abang Tariq “Turk” ke?
I know exactly what you mean, dude. Ampang Park used to be the coolest. Still is for me, though. Cos in the days of gejala lepak, that was our hangout.
And I still remember that KFC in City Square. The one right smack in the middle, where its on this sort of elevated platform. And the Pizza Hut downstairs where while waiting for the pizza, one’ll scoot over to Guardian bookstore just across the hallway and read those Tintin comics.
Goodstuf.
dude
a few comments:
1) dont go to marche movenpick at the curve. it sucks big time, foodwise and servicewise, it canteven compare to EU or even SG.
2)Victoria is no longer at Pertama. however, they are still in Sg wang, bangsar shopping complex, Amcorp mall and a couple of otehr places too. You can also try Rock Express (1U, alebit more expensive) or Music Magic ( CM, cheaper)
3) I used to go to campbell;’s instead, at the kedai aunty..heh
I have a hunch, right, ‘The Curve’ is a rip off from ‘The Neon’. Maybe I can sue? 🙂
OK, maybe I took the inspiration from ‘The Edge’, but the best use of ‘The’ has to be ‘The The’. Hahaha…
What is my point? None whatsoever. Heh. SOrRy.
Hah. I just realised. You know the picture of you in front of Kino? I know you’re sort of holding the lower side of your bag strap, but it looks like you’re doing a Superman pose, don’t you think?
(Mesti kudo tension cos he’s somewhere over Afghanistan now and I’m talking shite. Hope you have a safe journey, pal. Or shall I say ‘Hope you had… ‘?)
kuds! you look thin!!!
hoho..
*sepet????* 😀
Funnily enough, I actually remember going to The Weld although I have no other recollection of it. Mimpi kot…
And yeah, one has to exercise restraint in the face of the Dark Side…
came across amcorp mall many. many times in various blogs. kat mana mall ni sebebenornya?
Haha. Yeah, the Superman pose. Thought so too from the get go.
Malls are good. As long as they serve their purpose. When all it becomes is just a hangout spot for those millionsa kids with no good food and no good buys… sigh.
atok
Amcorp mall depan A&W Petaling Jaya, dekat dgn Shah’s Motel semua2 tu….
dekat the asiajaya LRT station
amcorp mall.. * sigh*
thats the place where i used to hangout juvenile years.. i could just go there early in the morning.. order a coffee and read the newspapers.. and then did some ‘not good’ activities with my fellow galpals…
amcorp mall tu cool la, tak hustle bustle sangat… plus kedai miniature games die best.. cinema yang ‘can do’ tapi orait sebab tak byk orang..bile time flea market, tu yg jumpa barang2 pelik2..
atok, kalau lalu federal highway, mesti perasaan nye amcorp mall dari tepi federal highway .. or naik lrt..
amcorp mall…
… a place where eveybody knows my name…
🙁
damn, it was supposed to be a ‘sad face’!
atok: memang.
del: now can be drumming qing/kueen.
sashi: on the bright side, we do have a choice of where to go. sometimes i just wonder if these businesses can survive. take berjaya times square, its big but i wasnt too impressed with the choice of retail outlets. i only go there for the durians *ahem*.
rusihan: correcto mundo.
the neon: caya lah lepak ampang park. there was a phase that there were yow chuan, the weld, jaya in pj, asiajaya (now armada hotel) and lot 10 to lepak in.
fake: thanks for the tip, mate! 🙂 ya, the victoria pertama is called something else altho the guys there were the same. and still the same range of cd’s.
ash: sepet’s in the post from msia, as my luggage was absolutely chock-a! and thank you.
delirium: actually i can’t be bothered to read these days. that’s why i didn’t buy it… 😛
lmsn: sad face is colon lower case O followed by close parenthesis. 🙂 kalau malas, click the orange question mark and click on the required emoticon.
eh eh eh mude belia le muke kamu dengan bag pack macam lari rumah.heheheh
memang muda pun.
[…] ampang park was my family’s favourite hang out in the weekends when i was so much younger. after a meal at either palong (now no more) or cozy corner, we’d drop by at this chap’s record store. in the late 70’s/early 80’s, it was ok to buy compilation / ripped cassette copies of original tapes / records (a more public version of bittorrent – slower and more expensive). as a kid of ten, i’d check out the records available and i would gravitate towards the ones with the weird artwork, whilst my parents would be talking to the store owner and order compilations of strauss’ waltzes. i’d take a look at one and tried to imagine what kind of music these groups/artiste played. it was bad enough that the repertoire of material i was exposed to were mostly ABBA and regular radio-friendly stuff like donna summer and the bee gees. don’t get me wrong, my folks were all right with us listening to anything but at that age it was difficult to find a classmate that’s go “check this new KC & the sunshine band tape, man!!!“. […]