20221129 RexKL

In my teens, one of the more common cinemas I'd go to would be the Rex Cinema. Cathay and Pavilion would follow close behind. I suppose this was because Rex was closer to Kota Raya where I'd take the Bus to and from home. On a few occasion, I'd alight from the Sri Jaya no.5 there and walk straight to school too.

The only memory I had was watching the Aliens movie right after our last exams. And after that, well, I cannot remember much.

The front of RexKL is now surrounded by trees.

The staircase would be the very first thing you see once you enter the cinema.
Once you climb up, you'd be faced with the ticket sellers seated behind their glass windows.
She'd would have in front of her, a sheet of the Cinema's seats for the show. You can then select any seat that has not been crossed out.

Another view of the main staircase. I did never go down on the stairs on the left.
I suppose that was the car park. Maybe I did park my Dad's car there but the memory is vague.

So, taking the stairs down, the whole car park has been transformed into some kind of dimly lit eatery.

Going back up and onto the first floor, there is a bookshop called the Mentor Bookshop.

Across it would be Mano Go.

The first floor would be the main are where the Normal Class seats are.
Yes, they have kept the slope. Anyway, there is some kind of student activity where they are preparing for some show/ exhibition. I'll come back to this later.

Students preparing their exhibits.

I have no memory of the toilets but seeing most of the building and stairs are intact, I assumed this is how the original toilet was located.

Man, I love these classic and simple wash sinks

NFT vending machine

Taking the stairs to the higher level, this would be the main Lobby for the First Class seats.
I suppose they called it First Class so that they could charge more but for us teens, it was the upper level was the right height without craning our necks. Anyway, do be-careful of this automatic glass door and I have just witnessed someone banged their head on the right-most pane.

Once you're inside, you'd be overwhelmed with the labyrinth of shelves and books. The spots are quite harsh on the exposed areas and does make me want to seek shelter in one darker sections. Through my face mask, I can smell whiffs of wood.

The large window allows you to look at the street below but during the heavy rain, there is nothing much to see. It is quite depressing to see big signs but when you look closer, they are actually shuttered. And this was and still is, one of the busiest streets in KL.

There is a section where you are allowed to climb up and this is just to whet your curiosity.

I have never been to this area before but I suppose this staircase could be one of those emergency exits. I had to walk over a plank to get to this area and with the glass flooring, I had a brief vertigo since I am looking at two floors down.

I took a Panoramic shot but the effect is not there.
Once you come to this are, its a little scary.

OK, let's climb down and explore further.

I like the ceiling lighting detail and irl its not that dim.
But if you're alone, you might suffer a brief panic attack as this section is like a maze.

This is the staircase which leads to the First Class seats.
Back in time, your nostrils would be hit with various olfactory assaults of salty and sourish sweat, lingering cigarette smells, and surprisingly, no alcohol.

Comic books at the end of the stairs. Cool.

Turning back, you can see the sloping wall of the staircase on the left. A little to the middle is where the bunch of us teens would be sitting.

The glass has replaced the concrete balcony. So, yeah, do be careful where you walk. There are so many 'steps' and in some cases, if you assumed they are the same, you could be facing a nasty fall. There are a few warning notices on this.

It's so surreal. The harsh spots and the darkened walls made the whole place looked and felt as if this is some library at the edge of the World.

Hello, this segment has a glass floor. I'll come back to this later.

There is some kind of an open space bar.

Be careful, the steps are uneven.

It's time to see what these guys are up to...
I took this image from one of the balcony which has been blocked off with a glass pane.
The glare of the spots made it very hard to see beyond the glass's reflection.
OK, if you break the glass, you will fall straight down.

There is a section where I am unable to enter. This might be possible via the floor below as there are some steps.

Again, the mismatched steps.

Remember the glass flooring?
This allows light from the spots and is actually a very good idea.

One of the students let me go to the front of the stage so I can take some shots of the BookAccess.

It's still raining but although thirsty, I was tempted with some burgers

In the end, a Raspberry Pepsi did the trick.

20221129 Passing through Petaling Street

HOW LONG WAS IT AGAIN?

It's been quite a long time since I last walked through Petaling Street. Sure, I've driven past or near the area but never really went through it. Like most KL-lites, we do go there at least a few times in our lives. This was the go to place when we need stuff at bargain prices.

So, you'd go there, get the items you want and then haggle for a bit and everyone's happy. Sadly was the time of pre-Internet. Nowadays, one seldom dare to bargain anymore and with so many Foreigners, it's not really CHINAtown anymore.

The Petaling Street as seen from the Jalan Sultan Ismail entrance.

 

THE PANDEMIC AFTERMATH

And so, it was a great opportunity for me to walk through the place, with a part of me trying to reconnect with the place. But alas, things were not what they seemed to be. My mission was to try to approach as many Hotels as possible.

Long ago, Nanyang Art store was  one of the two Art Shops to go to. There are so many colours and from here, I learnt the price of a decent Airbrush.

It's closest competitor, Venus Art was doors away but somehow, they have moved to Petaling Street.

 

But when I got closer, the place was being renovated for some kind of F&B shop

 Walking through the street, I can see a lot of signs of the Hotels. But once I get off the street and into the covers of the booth, the said Hotels had actually shuttered. The Pandemic really did affect the lives of everyone around.

KOTA RAYA

With the rain starting to get heavy, I decided to try one last Hotel, which was located at the 5th floor of the former shopping centre. In the 80's it was a very busy place what with Buses stopping in front, MacDonalds and Metrojaya at the back.

This was the pedestrian bridge I always used to get across to Kota Raya after buying my copies of 2000AD comic every Saturday. It has seen better times.

A little scare should the panel rusted through and I'd fall down to the traffic below.

 Anyway, the result was not what I hoped for and after exploring around, the place was also quite depressing. Strangely, I was stopped from wandering into the 4th Floor.

Kota Raya is quite cramped inside and surprisingly, the elevators are still there.

There are a lot more Philippine shops now. Even my favourite VHS and cassette tape shop was gone. There was no music throughout the whole building.

 

Since I was in the area, I just remembered REXKL, the place which I so wanted to go for a very long time...

 

 

 

 

 

20220913 Getting hot

After making sure my kids are delivered safely into the arms of their scholastic tormentors, it was time to go home. On the way back, while climbing the Mid Valley slope (the one where you exit off the Federal Highway right after the Petron gas station), I could hear my pistons pinging.

Usually when I start to approach the slope, I would use the car's momentum to let it go up about halfway before I step on the gas. As there was a car in front of me, I had to cancel the momentum and use the gas instead. And right there and then, I heard the sound. It only comes on if I just tap on the gas though. So I was wondering what is happening, thinking it could be the drive belt of something (OK, so the MyVi uses timing chains) and then I saw it with my own eyes...

 

The Engine is overheating!!!

And what made matters worse was that there is a slow moving lorry in front of us, watering the plants on the sides of the road. Keeping cool was all I could do since I noticed there was smoke coming out from under the hood. Finally, after an eternity, I got my car parked at the side of the road. Remembering that there was a Newsagent booth nearby, I two bottles of drinking water (3.0L in total)

The first thing you need to realise is that you cannot just open the radiator cap and pour in the (not hot) water. You need to wait or else, you will have more serious issue. After about a few minutes, I took the chance...

Slowly pouring in, hot radiator consumed about 1.25L of water while the reservoir took the rest.

There must be a lot of air bubbles as the water keep being burped out.

I know that the radiator was changed years ago after an accident and so, I guess it was time. Luckily, it was not the Radiator Fan nor its relay or even the temperature sensor. I had the water pump changed and also, I changed the thermostat myself last year. After thinking much about it, there was actually a warning sign which I could not recognise.

Days before and on that very morning, the car's air conditioner was blowing warm air. It distracted me as I kept wondering if there is any AC gas leak while not looking at the car's water temperature. And so, until I get this repaired, I had to pour in about 0.75L of water everyday.

 

Update: 20220919
I finally got the Mechanic (Mr. Sam from SK Chang Auto Service) to diagnose the issue which turned out to be the cracked radiator. The final price was  the same a pair of of new tyres (they're so bald, I can practically see the steel threads) which I planned to change. Because I am no longer required to commute 92Km daily, the radiator is now more important.

The Old radiator

I did not stop to check on the cracks but it is definitely near the hose.

This is from Mr. Sam's Phone which showed the damage.
He updates me on every progress. He told me he could not find any replacement sponge though. I might need to find it myself.

Yeah, that's two bottles of red coolant. I wanted to ask him to use the Toyota Long Life but since I did not see it in his shop, I just agreed.

Got a new radiator car thrown in since the old one's rubber has expanded

Maybe I should be looking into upgrading a larger radiator fan...
Not that it is necessary but sometime, the AC is quite warm and the water temperature needle is now halfway (sensor old?) instead of in the first quarter.

 

20220903 Run Down Office?

 So, I kinda came in late today.

And there was a lot of activity. I saw the remaining intern clearing out a lot of parts and stuff from the rear section wall, which is just next to the paint booth. The parts and things he laid out at the fence had a lot of those thick yellow bags. I am not sure what they are but yellow always mean hazard.

I walked back to the Customer Lounge, noting that the whole place is quite dark, as if someone did not turn on the lights with the storm clouds overhead. The first thing I did was to enter the toilet and it was quite dark, save for one light bulb. The other cubicle was closed off. I had to turn the lights on and off just to make sure.

The same gloominess also befell the Customer Lounge. Where the PS3 table and the Coffee machine  were, has been replaced with two vending machines which is almost empty. As for the Smart Android TV, it was off. I know I had deactivated the Screens but man, they do not have to turn it off.

Then I came to my Staff, she was her usual self but with a very thick makeup and red lipstick. I wanted to talk to her.

Then I realised, she is my ex-Staff.

I also realised, I did not actually go to the toilet.

Yeah, woke up just in time or else my Wife is gonna kill me.

Taking a Permanent Vacation

 

It's coming to two weeks since I was told that I would be taking a permanent vacation. And the date was brought forward 5 days earlier because of my remaining annual leave.

So I have time to dismantle my things since the option of buying them from me never came up. I would not be maintaining any data updates or additional work. My three Panasonic Keyphones, RAM upgrades to the work PC are some of the things I am taking back. They will have until the end of this month to decide on continuing with the Android TV's monthly payment and so on. I mean, the Manager has systematically removed me from all my responsibilities and undone my years of work. I would rather take back my stuff and destroy them.

Because to agree and compromise would be akin to being a, 'Sorhai'. So, I hope they can recover in a few month's time and they will call me back once again. Yeah, and I also hope the Tooth Fairy exists as well.

If you want to know, the writing was on the wall for months when I knew the Manager is suddenly becoming more vocal and telling me to stop doing certain duties. The next sign would be not being included in Management Meetings and then, I was not asked to go lunch with them anymore. The 'Confrontation' with the Director was the final nail in the coffin. There are a lot of questions which he could not answer. I know who created the rumour of a staff wanting to resign and it was used against me because of my methods to make them more resilient. I do have a temper because I believe that there is a line between staff and 'family' staff. In the end, 'Did that staff now become more efficient and better at their work?" proved that I was right.

Days later, the Director admitted that he did not expect the our discussion to go downhill nor when I called his bluff. So, there is the 'Opportunity' waiting for me once I revert back to the Energetic and Loyal Chow. He wanted to be sure that I am back as there are a lot of important Projects waiting for me. At this moment, it was quite difficult from keeping a straight face but I had to persevere.


In the end, I know they are in a hurry to let me go. And if what the Manager said is true, I am, again, the one to lose out because of their financial failures.

I do admit that looking for a new Job at my Age is going to be difficult. Just like always, the inBox is just full of... fluff.

Temporarily, I have a backup but this is not enough. I can't even send my Kid to a better College weeks ago.