My friday was really busy, starting with the visit to Arkib Negara for my research on Johor Sultanate (Abu Bakar, Ibrahim and Iskandar), looking at colonial matters. Meeting with other fellow researchers and officers, discussing about potential research and future research plan. The day ended with tea at this little cafe in Kenny Hill(Bukit Tunku) and start the next discussion on cultural development with LTA and SCC. So the day was filled with drinking coffees and teas, from one cafe to another. Mind you, this is not the usual activity every other weekend. It is just so happen that I got a bit busy this weekend. After dinner, my next appointment took me to another discussion on batik, songket, limar and textiles of Malaysia and Southeast Asia. The next day, Saturday, I have to play host to an old friend from my working days in Bangkok, where we have working relationships with various embassies in Bangkok, including EU Commission and French Embassy. These two friends are from Italian Embassy and French Embassy in Vietnam. The first meeting took place at Little Penang at KLCC and then moved to Chinoz on the Park for cakes and coffees. As they were attending the wedding in KL, I have to leave them and go to another meeting, a friend's birthday at Bangsar Village. As usual this meeting always getting bigger and bigger with few other friends joining us, including her kids. Then the day led to another meeting with a well-known painter, Raffie Ghani, talking about his coming exhibition at Chandan Gallery and his new collection of works "Rainbow Warrior". I was very excited as he has asked me to write for the catalogue. Not only because he is a well-known painter, but also becoz I have recently purchase a small piece of his work "Oreos in London" and buying for a friend's sister "3 Happiness". Since then we have been communicated thru facebook. Also he is Kelantanese with mixed parentage - Persian-English and love to travel. Before I ended the everning, I managed to visit another artist's arts opening, Fatullah Lokman at Pelita Hati Gallery in Bangsar with "Gerak Kilat as the theme. By that 7.30pm I was ready to call it a day and go home for rest. Earlier in Bangsar, I have purchased few dvds to watch including Nongzee's Queen of Langkasuka, and Ekachai's Coffin. But surely those two movies are too much for a tired old man, especially when I have another full day on Sunday, dim sum lunch, watching Marrion D'Cruz's lecture dance and taking the two friends to Little India and China Town. The weekend, however, was very fulfilling and enriched, not only from meeting old friends, watching performance, buying locally self published books and taking pictures of old KL, but above all relooking at our building and intangible heritage.
