FEB29

This post is purely for the sake of the date. It's only once in every four years that we live to see February 29th. And it's only once in every four years that people born on this day celebrate.

So, Happy Leap !

plainly...

the universe

" I'm floating free, I'm floating free,
between the stars, between the stars,
there is no night or day, no night or day,
planet e is far away, far away,

floating free,
one two three,
eternally,
no gravity. "

- Black Rain -

christchurch

Small. Perfect. Like a movie set.
With the sun beaming and dandelions dancing in the air, I sat in a corner and watched Sunday go by.

dreamy.

Gisèle Freund

Gisèle Freund (1908-2000)

Berlin born Gisèle Freund was one of Europe's most prominent figures in writing and photography, who also played a major role among French feminist intellectuals during the late 1930s.

Freund's work reveals her great visual perception, influenced by countless encounters, people and cultures she crossed, and much inspired by the lights and colours of the countries where she lived and travelled.

Chaim Kanner (Marseille 1976)

Freund expressed herself best in her portraits. Photography was used as a medium to capture the personalities of her subjects, enabling them to tell stories of their intimate lives, gestures and places. With a distinctive style, she captured the peculiar and representative moments of life of each important person she photographed.

Robert Doisneau (Cendras 1945)

André Malraux

Also a member of Magnum, one of her most notable work was Photographie et société (1974), a book about the uses and abuses of the photographic medium.

Her work is exhibited all over Europe, one of which I managed to attend, at the Galleria Carla Sozzani, 10 Corso Como, Milan.

politically nostalgic.

LIBERTA

Via Bramante

Silent. Deserted. Yet, the splashes of colours, words, and images that pervaded the walls of Via Bramante roared with resounding notes of freedom - the freedom of expression, the freedom of speech.

Walking along this street made me feel as if I were in a parade - an exhibition of liberty. I felt no repression at all. The emotions running through me were indescribable. It was strange. But it felt good.

oddly uplifting.

::: this is Plastic :::

Back in Milano again. Good and Bad news. The good ? It's fashion week here. The bad ? I only got to know about it a day before I came in. The ugly ? Guess I'm not that fashion forward after all. No love lost though. For I got the best bits of it... the post-fashion show parties.

Plastic

One of the more unique and unconventional clubs of Milan, 26 year old Plastic is no doubt, part of the Milanese artistic-historical dominion. Like many clubs in the EU, entries are based not on the cover charge but rather, on your facade.
Engaging in eye-contact with the "Saint Peter" on duty whilst squeezing amongst the building crowd, I managed to step into this world of plastic-fantastic people and drowned myself in Euro Electro.
Akin to the unusual setting; candelabrum on the walls, mismatch colours, diffused lights, and the most low-tech bar I've ever seen (picture a boy behind a lemonade stand. Well, in this case, two queers), the music played was by far the most original and onliest brand of Progressive House and Electro I've heard in a long time. I was indeed, overwhelmed.
I now understand why this club, though not the most sleek in deco and goes against the "I have a table" scene in Milan, can still pull in people like Depeche Mode, Blur, and Spike Lee, and lasts till today.

simply magic.

Rat-A-Tat-Tat

Was back in Ipoh to welcome the Lunar New Year. And after yet another 2 years did I finally meet my "bakiti kitty" Jean again. It was fabulous. Home. Never was there a moment where I went hungry.
Spending a week there made me miss the Malaysian way of life - warm, free and easy, midnight mamak-ing till the wee hours of the morning, driving "KL-style", 6am Dim Sum, laid-back afternoon coffees, FMS chicken chops with a twist, good food, good company, cheap beer...
I could go on forever.

Being in the city, and being surrounded by all the superficiality, it's good sometimes, to return home and find your roots.
Being a dreamer, I was up there for a tad too long. I finally woke up when I went home.
I found my roots. And it was truly one of the happiest moments of my life.


I am, liberated.