The weekend that was, at Amcorp Shopping Mall. It was a fun-filled weekend for the batik influencer, Jeannie (my wife) and the main person “pulling at the strings”, guiding, steering, aiming and giving direction to where http://www.leatherpotato.com is forging ahead to…journey to a new frontier…daring where no man has been…🤣😂…As I said – “fun-filled”.
We were “opened for business” at 10.00am on Saturday. Our booth was next to Kay, as it was in June when we were at the 1.03 location. Kay is the lady that sells things for the feminine gender like earrings, rings, bangles, etc; with a touch of Indian influence. Quite unique. Kay has been operating her booth every week for many years. That makes her an “old hand” with experience in the Amcorp Shopping Mall flea market shopping scene.
Almost immediately after “opening for business”, people started streaming in to have a look, a feel, a try, “model in it” or “parade in it” the batik influencer’s batik capes.
Jeannie was “in her element”, discussing her batik creations with the people who stopped to enquire about them. The uniqueness of them – “batik for all ages”, for official and casual wear.
I, on the other hand; was playing…um…getting the hang of the use of my new selfie stick. I got this stick to try and capture more in a picture.
The Benro selfie stick comes with a bluetooth wireless button that helps takes pictures when it is connected to your phone. The wireless button is so small and light that one can easily misplace it. So, I fitted the hand strap that comes with it.
The stick has fold out legs at the base to make it a mini tripod stand, too. It also has a little plastic mirror (pretty good idea) on it for those who want to tidy themselves to be more presentable before having their selfie shots taken.
I called out to Johnny Wee, my cousin Leticia’s (Let) husband, as he walked past our booth. He was surprised to see us being one one of the participants at the booth. He was his usual self: simple and fun-loving. From what Let tells me; every weekend, Johnny meets with some friends and they play Chess. This has been on-going for sometime now. What a fun way to spend time with good friends.
Johnny introduced us to his friend, Thomas Chan; who was with him. Thomas is the Chairman of an engineering company based in Shangai, China. Thomas has lived in Shangai for over 30 years and loves it there. He has the same hearty laughter and fun spirit as Johnny. No wonder they are good friends.
The weekend was unusually hot and got us thirsty on both days. Jeannie bought Leng Chi Kang, iced – a Malaysian favourite dessert / drink from one of the drink stalls at the entrance of the shopping centre on the Ground Floor. You can read more about it in my article : http://leatherpotato.com/2023/07/30/leng-chi-kang-selfie-stick-the-first-day/
More people stopped by to browse the things we had to offer. Two of my watches, a 51 year old Citizen winding and a 33 year old Seiko slim dress watch have found new owners to take care of them. I had these watches all this time. They served me well.
Abang Saiful Bahri is the gentleman famous in Amcorp Shopping Mall for his kerepek snacks on weekends at the flea market. You know its so delicious by the many people carrying large packets of kerepek, snacking away while shopping.
A gentleman that looked familiar, stopped by at our booth with his son. I thought I knew him. I introduced myself and told him I was from La Salle School Klang. He said that his aunties would most probably have disciplined me on more than one occasion. His aunties, sisters; were Ms Maggie Fernandez and Ms Thelma Fernandez. They were teachers in the primary school section. Yes, I remember them fondly. He introduced himself as David Fernandez. I knew his cousins: Anita, Barbara, Debbie and Colin. It is indeed, a small world. Then, he and his son went on their way.
A short while later, David came back and asked me if I knew of a Marianne Magness who was from Klang. “Yes, of course I do”, I replied. He said that she was here in Amcorp Mall, running a booth, selling her art works; one floor above us. “I will go and meet her immediately”, I said.
I went one floor / level up, and found her booth pretty easily. When I saw Marianne, I recognized her, not as Marianne, but as someone I had seen walk past our booth a few times. I did not know that this lady was the Marianne Magness of Klang. She was very popular during her school days….I thought it was totally awesome to re-connect with her after all these years. We brought each other up to speed with regards to our lives and families.
I knew Marianne back in the late 1970s / early 1980s. I knew her through her cousins. Marianne who is now “Khatijah Marianne Abdullah” is the daughter of Michael Magness of the very famous band, “The Strollers”. The Strollers did very well in Malaysia as well as the international arena. They re-grouped together a few months back, the first time after many years; to do a reunion gig in Petaling Jaya. Michael now resides in Australia.
“Khatijah” as she is more commonly known as; is an awesome artist. Her work is paintings mainly on rocks. The name of her business is “ANNE ROCKS” – very catchy. She runs this business with her husband. They first started they business when the Covid-19 pandemic broke out. ANNE ROCKS is doing very well. Khatijah and I agreed that we will meet up more often to catch up on old times and more of our current lives.
While the batik influencer was busy sharing how to use her batik cape creations, that it can be worn for any function, both formal and informal… that it can be worn at anytime of the day; I was angling my Samsung S23 Ultra on the selfie stick, learning how to effectively use it quickly… more importantly, getting new angles for shooting pictures.
