Friday, July 29, 2024

You get a little bit closer


Time to ditch those sneakers and put on some party shoes.. whee! I am SO going somewhere. So this is what it feels like to have NO MORE MAD DEADLINES!! For the next couple of days that is..

Posted by Stephanie, 05:24 PM

My first Proton

It seems like every time Proton comes up with a new car, it gets globally slammed. If there is one thing I don't like about this country, its the whole nonsense of a tax system that makes us one of the most expensive country to buy a car in (comparative to what we earn). A new shimmy little MINI only costs 26 grand if you live in the UK, and it costs something like 200 grand here and for 26 grand you can probably hook up with a second hand locally produced (read: crap) car. I can understand property prices but cars? WTF? And with all that, we still have traffic issues.

It's a pain because if you can afford to buy a car you probably have to. Public transport here is unreliable and cabs are unsafe. And during peak hour buses have been known to randomly miss a stop or two and cabs need to be bribed with a non-metered fare. What is the government doing about this? Nothing. Except maybe jack up the taxes a little more on imports.. which makes them unattainable for the average Joe.

It's a long painful process and Proton has had 20 years to come up with something substantial (being first national car and all) but I really can't understand what the fuck they have been doing for the past two decades.. apart from ripping off other cars. I drive a Proton myself (in other places it's called a Mitsubishi) because I can't afford anything else and I feel ripped off. Even if I am, against will, supporting the local trade.

Anyway, this is good for a giggle.

Posted by Stephanie, 01:19 AM

Thursday, July 28, 2024

Your credit card number please

I feel like a poster girl for online shopping. It's such a wonderful thing, this whole process. Only tonight, I actually have a real purpose.. yours truly has just bought her flight tickets to Brisbane. It's confirmed.. and I feel like jumping around screaming. I'd better remember to submit my leave application tomorrow though :P

I think this year is going to be a travel year for me. In spite of all the madness at work, I still have time to go around and if I'm to be honest, I think that's the one thing that is going to keep me sane for the rest of the year. It's exciting. I think. I'm not sure what to feel. My head is swimming in postscript data.

Posted by Stephanie, 02:02 AM

Monday, July 25, 2024

Midnight crap

I'm amused how after a while one magazine blurs into another and progress is no longer quantitive but relative to how much time you have (24 hours in a day, minus sleep time) multipled by RAM or something silly like that. Anyway that's irrelevant because deadlines are just looming over the horizon and threatening to spill over, which negates any progress you think you've made..

Work, like the Malaysian Mega Sale when you have no money, is overwhelming (and frustrating).

Posted by Stephanie, 11:46 PM

Thursday, July 21, 2024

Polish fun

Belvedere vodka is in town - we went for the launch at Frangipani last night and it was awesome. The set up was really nice, although I don't have any pictures. I've fallen into the habit of not bringing my camera out everywhere these days. Straight vodka with caviar and oysters and fresh fruit martinis on an empty stomach wasn't the greatest idea though (we went straight after work). However it was nice to see many familiar faces who are still partying.. KL is such a small place some times. I haven't been out much at all so I've been out of the loop for a while.. ah.

Back to work.. it's total chaos in here.

Posted by Stephanie, 12:44 PM

Thursday, July 14, 2024

Grr

It is funny how things go back to normal so quickly and how fast you accustom yourself to your daily routines again after a break. It's almost like it never happened.. I want my money back (so I can go again). Ha!

Speaking of money, I just blew a grand on shopping over the weekend. After seeing prices in Euros for 9 days everything in Malaysia is suddenly so much cheaper. Looks like I need to get my fingers off eBay for a while.. do I sound like a repressed, frustrated shopaholic to you? I really am not.

Posted by Stephanie, 12:37 AM

Monday, July 11, 2024

Amsterdam in 20 pictures

Some of the 600+ pictures we took. Mainly Nik's pictures, because he had the 1gig card. :)


We came by the Arcam Building (Architectuurcentrum) while walking from Central Station to the hotel. At 6am. Woo. But it wasn't open, of course.


Cool graff on the streets, couldn't resist taking a pic or ten.


Day 2: We got hold of a pair of tickets for JAMES BROWN LIVE at the Heineken Music Hall, which was the highlight of the trip really.. I mean, what could be better than the GODFATHER OF SOUL himself!


Check out the lineup.. Garbage would've been fun too.


These are apartment blocks. Sure beats the cookie cutter concrete monsters here.


Oo er, another apartment block. Lofts are quite affordable if you work there. They are building some really cool hi-techy ones near the hotel with penthouses starting from 600k. I want one!


At the Sex Museum, which we walked past on the way to Dam Square and decided to go in. Big penis (no kidding..)


One of the hotel rooms affectionately called 'the classical room' which is right next to a massive, floating sound-proof room where you are encouraged to bring your decks and throw parties. The bed sleeps 8-10 people and stretches all the way across the room. Hugh Hefner style!


Reitlandpark station, which we were quite taken with during our stay there.. also because it's right behind the hotel.


At the Van Gogh Museum. We were lucky to be there on the 2nd day they opened the new exhibition.


Rienke Enghart, who is an artist and one of the initiators of the NDSM arts and cultural centre project, took us to the NDSM pre-launch to show us around. Here is the entrance to an old ship yard.


Inside. A big dance party happened here a week before this, and apparently it was massive and packed out.


Nik took this picture of me from one level up on a mesh metal stairway. My fave shot!


An old train yard outside the NDSM, which is now a graffiti showcase of sorts. They are slowly moving the trains out, according to Rienke, to make way for the new developments.


With Rienke and Renate at Rienke's temporary office at the NDSM. Hope Box is one of her on-going projects. She's been to Kuala Lumpur before about 10 years ago and next month the both of them are headed to Sarajevo! Fun!


Madame Tussards and Dam Square.


Just parked near the NDSM is this sub which you can rent for 800 Euros a night to throw parties in. DJ not included.


Inside de Ould Kerk (old church) where Rembrant's first wife Saskia is buried.. along with thousands of others. The entire floor are made up of tombstones (kinda spooky innit..?)


At Amsterdam's most happening club.. which is so well hidden that only this logo was visible on the exterior, with a 2 inch word on a plaque near the door that says "Jimmy Woo" - the door bitch can apparently be a real bitch.


Dealer with a personal touch!

Posted by Stephanie, 07:49 PM

Saturday, July 9, 2024

Who really knows?

I swear these 2am flashes of sudden inspiration have everything to do with my recent trip. I need to take more trips.. especially if I am ending them by sitting on my laptop in the dark and doing analysis/research work for fun and it really is fun. I am such a geek.

What makes one magazine better than another, if all content were equal?
When is heirarchy less important than making a page just look pretty?
How does reader behaviour affect how a magazine looks?
How do I use and abuse tactile effects on matte art paper?
Where is the next club design trend taking us?
Why am I asking all these weird questions when I should be posting pictures of my trip?

Posted by Stephanie, 02:22 AM

Friday, July 8, 2024

I'm here but I'm not really here

Jetlag's no fun when you know you have to wake up for work tomorrow.

I'm back from my trip. Haven't unpacked much yet and my room is a mess from all the stuff I'd collected - magazines, flyers, stickers.. you name it, I picked it up. Surprisingly, for the first time in a very long time my luggage was under the weight limit and I have about 300+ Euros left. And I only bought two pairs of shoes.

Am in love with Amsterdam and the quiet calm of the city even at its busiest hours. Am even more in love with the buildings that sit, the new and the old, happily next to each other amidst the flat landscape and the canals. Lloyd Hotel, where we stayed, is one such place -- a playful, imaginative space nestled within the shell of and old immigrant house. The weather was gorgeous, the heat wave that struck France seemed to have missed us completely. I miss it all already.

Next stop, Cairns in September!

Posted by Stephanie, 01:59 AM














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