HAVE YOU TRIED BEING YOURSELF? I MEAN JUST BEING YOU? WHEN YOU REALLY THINK OF IT, MOST PEOPLE TRY TO BE SOMEONE ELSE THEY AREN’T NOW.
PERHAPS, TO PORTRAY A BETTER VERSION OF THEMSELVES. THAT IN ITSELF IS GOOD. WE HAVE TO STRIVE TOWARDS THAT.
HOWEVER, NEVER LOSE THE PERSON YOU ARE. BE YOURSELF NO MATTER WHAT. THERE WILL BE SOME WHO ADORE YOU AND SOME WHO WILL HATE EVERYTHING ABOUT YOU. BUT WHO CARES?
ARE YOU WILLING TO TAKE THAT RISK? IT’S YOUR LIFE. MAKE THE MOST OF IT. LIVE LIFE TO THE FULLEST.
What a fun time it was for the Batik Influencer, Jeannie (who oso [the word “also” pronounced this way by some people here😁] happens to be my wife); and myself, recognised by more and more people as the “Hatted Writer” (This recognition is gaining traction), at our stint at Amcorp Shopping Mall last weekend. It was fun from the word “Go” when we set up our booth until we packed up to leave.
People started streaming in, browsing all the things that were displayed on the tables. Soon enough, others started checking the various Batik Cape Creations under the JEANNIE’S OWN label. Before long, the buying started. JEANNIE’S OWN Batik Cape Creations were very limited in stock, making it exclusive to those who purchased one or more of them.
A moment of humour.
Off and on, Jeannie and I managed to get short rests here and there during the day. I have to admit, I managed 40 winks…ok ok…it was 57…I counted😉😂. That super short power snooze was a great help as I had about a couple of hours sleep before getting up to come to the mall. The reason for the short sleep (or lack of it) during the night was because I had a couple of essays I had to work on, while the ideas were still fresh in my mind.
The Hatted writer (me) and the Batik Influencer in one of those rare moments of rest and “regroup”. 😉😀
Over the weekend, multiple numbers of the book were snapped up. I had a lady who was an avid reader stop by. After reading the back cover, she got a book. I was happy to personalise it for her.
With Derek Fernandez, who asked me to personalise his book, dedicating it to his wife.
The Man from MCMC with his copy of the book, with the Hatted Writer.
Another book acquirer was Derek Fernandez. He is one of the senior guys at MCMC, heading a very major portfolio. He showed me an app that he and his team had developed, one that is going to put “Speedtest” an excellent app itself, until now, in the bin. With this new app, you can test the broadband speeds from wherever you are. When testing the speed in an area, even if in a shopping complex as such, and the speeds fall below its approved level, it will send the speed result to the broadband provider and at the same time, to MCMC to take whatever action necessary.
With Derek Fernandez, the man from MCMC. Here he demonstrated on my phone, an app which he led in the development of it.
Derek, demonstrating, on my phone, an app which he led in its development. I think it is a super-cool app, one that everyone would surely want to have on their smartphones. I have downloaded this app on both my smartphones.
Avid book reader had to get my book, especially since she could get a personalised message from the author. 😀
Several people who had purchased the book earlier / previously, also turned up, just to chit- chat. Many were curious as to how I came up with this book, and discussed the various articles and chapters. They are eager for me to write my next book. Wow! That is motivation.
Jeannie, the Batik Influencer; modelling one of her Batik Cape Creations under her JEANNIE’S OWN label.
As the saying goes, “How time flies when we are having fun”, holds true. Before long, the weekend came to a close.
Engaging with a customer’s enquiry on one of our items on display.
Now, this weekend, which begins today; is at hand. Both, Jeannie the Batik Influencer, and I, the Hatted Writer; invite all you beautiful people, to come by. “You come by now, you hear!”, a line taken from the very famous tv show, The Beverley Hillibilles of the 1970s / 1980s.
All our items on display for sale, including a SpongeBob SquarePants in a purple amphibious-like vehicle and another – a little penguin with wheels.
Copies of the book, SPARKS OF JOY – SEIZE THE MOMENT, amongst the many diecast cars of various model scale sizes and types, up for sale.
As the Batik Influencer showcasing one of her creations while emphasizing the beauty of Batik it has to offer the world.
The Batik INFLUENCER, Jeannie; modelling her latest creation from her JEANNIE’S OWN LABEL
We had enquiries on many of our product offerings and also about the upcoming weeks which we also be around in the same booth location.
Four ways… It’s so easy.
Address: Amcorp Shopping Mall, Booth 1.08, 1st Floor, , 8, Jalan, Persiaran Barat, Seksyen 52 Petaling Jaya, 46050 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia Date: March 15th – March 16th, 2025 Time: 10.00am to 5.30pm (can be extended to 7.00pm)
“Writing this book was my journey. Reading it will be yours. A glimpse into the most important lessons I’ve learned.”
Just off the printing press. Available now. Coming to all major book stores soon. You can also get your copy through me for yourself, family and friends. I will be more than happy to personalize your copy.
The first Saturday and Sunday, which is the first weekend of the year, 2025. Into the 4th day of the year, with 361 days to the end of the year; just in case you are counting.😂
The first three days has put us through the paces with challenges (for the want of a better word) which we didn’t see coming, and those that we knew were on the horizon but kept putting them off “to a later date”.
Feelings or how we feel or react comes into play. Are we in control of them or they in control of us. It all boils down to the choices we make. Without a doubt, it has been an exciting three day start.
Jeannie, the Batik Influencer (who happens to be my wife, too); and I, the Hatted Writer (Alan); are in Amcorp Shopping Mall today and tomorrow. We believe that every new moment (and day), offers us opportunities to live life to the fullest, which we are doing and will continue to do.
Intrinsic designs and colours. JEANNIE’S OWN Batik Cape Creations.
We are so looking forward to seeing and meeting with all of you over these next couple of days. Share your experiences with how the start of the new year has been for you. Some of you may have extended your leave by taking January 1st and 2nd off; and would only be “starting” your new year per se on Monday. How nice. We are looking forward to having loads of stories, especially new ones to share.
The Batik Influencer has some of her new batik Cape Creations under her label, “JEANNIE’S OWN”, that she will be showcasing. These are an array of amazing designs and colours. Bright red, different shades of gold, light blue or a sort of turquoise (yay! I got that spelling correct). The patterns and designs – are works of art. One just gaze at them and be lost in the wonders of these beautiful designs. Come and get yours quickly.
My book, which had a bit of a delay, promises to be out real soon. It just went through its edit, with a few additional adjustments and then it would be good to go. Teaser: First word of it’s title: “SPARKS”. I am superly excited about it. It has elements in it that stretches the English language. I wish I could tell you more… Maybe, I can… it is a real book…for all ages. You can mark the chapters that you like best, you can put all sorts of markings it it, and you can share it with anyone.
Come over to our booth at F2.15 which is located on the second floor. We have many things of interest, including a whole range of James Bond cars and Ferraris, too. There is even an Alfa Romeo Tonale. Many are collectibles.
We will at our booth from 10.00am onwards. Let’s make some noise…Lot’s of noise😉😂😂😂
Something for everyone.
Amcorp Shopping Mall, Booth 2.15, 2ndFloor, , 8, Jalan, Persiaran Barat, Seksyen 52 Petaling Jaya, 46050 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia Date: January 4th & 5th: Time: , 10.00am to 5.30pm (can be extended to 7.00pm)
One thing that has remained the same in over 60 years is the view of the sea as we drive up towards Port Dickson (affectionately known as “P.D.”) town and along its coastline towards the multiple hotels and private homes. The sea is not sea blue (it has never been as long as I can remember). It has always been a chalky lime-green in colour.
Ponder: “To sea or not to sea”
Another thing that has always seemed to be the same is that the sun is scorching hot once it hits the 10.00am mark onwards to late afternoon. It does break if rain show up, and it shows up whenever it feels like it.
The beaches and sea have never failed to entertain. I can remember the days travelling in a little red and black mini – uncle Jeff’s and Aunty Val’s go anywhere vehicle. it never seemed too small or small. It fitted all 18 of us nicely and comfortably. O.K. Not 18 but close. There was Uncle Jeff and Aunty Val, Brendon, Shenton, Jennifer, Nigel and myself – that’s around 18, thereabouts.😉😂
As for a comfortable ride, I can’t remember. The adrenaline (don’t worry if this word seems like a tongue-twister and you find it tricky trying to pronounce it. Try spelling it out on the keyboard. I had to correct spell it several times before the right one stuck to the screen)… so, the adrenaline rush got us excited with the idea of going to the beach to play in the sand and water.
As we came up the last bend (it was a sort of slight slope climb) of the road and tuned left, we could see “paradise” on our right. It was not the end of that road, we, the kids; were not interested. Believe me, the scene which was everyuthing “sea”, was phenomenal…breathtaking to us very young kids in the late 1960s. By the way, Uncle Jeff and Aunty Val were the hip couple for us young Atkinson cousins; both good and everything (and I mean, everything) mischievous.
The recent trip that we (Jeannie, my wife; Laura, our daughter; and I) made, rekindled the days of the 1960s. P.D. is modern by today’s standards. The good thing is modernisation has not affected the sandy beach coastline too much. We still can feel some beach sand under our feet and see the sea. Let’s hope modernisation, urbanisation and every thing futuristic will leave this landscape remaining unchanged.
I would strongly recommend to take the break from the rush and dust (that too) you have always wanted, even if it for no rhyme or reason (I have not heard that phrase in a long time – English class😅). P. D. is a fairly short drive from Subang Jaya, P. J. (Petaling Jaya) or K.L. (Kuala Lumpur).
Sometimes, when we are too much into what we are doing, we may not be at optimum level. Taking a break, even it is for a short while, from whatever we are doing, especially if it takes up a good amount of our daily time; can do wonders. Have fun. We sure did.
This is how to enjoy the blazing sun, sea and beach – in the comfort of air-conditioning.😁⛱️Difficult decision – Here, as we look outside, we are debating on whether we should go outside to the beach and get sun burnt, or stay inside and enjoy the air-conditioning.
LIVING LIFE TO THE FULLEST CAN ONLY HAPPEN IF YOU DECIDE YOU WANT TO. FOCUS ON THE POSITIVE AND YOU WILL REALISE THAT YOU HAVE MANY BLESSINGS IN YOUR LIFE!
I think I am a bit blurry-eyed, or is it blood-shot (oops! Spelt it wrongly just now. I’m now going to tell, say or re-spell the way I spelt it wrongly. It’s too mischievous!).
We are in between visitor visits. One of the earliest visitors was Keisha. She was attracted to our display of Ferrari cars. As we started talking, I found out that she helps her mum run a booth, selling rare collectors baseball, football and other types of collector cards. They basically are selling off her late father’s collection of cards.
Keisha is a Formula One (F1) fan, and a Ferrari fan at that. Ferrari has been progressively gaining momentum back to its position as a top F1 team, and currently is amongst the top 3 teams. Keisha, predictably chose the F1 Ferrari car that was on display for sale.
The Batik Capes under the “JEANNIE’S OWN” label was doing well. The Batik Influencer did multiple demos throughout the day, which led to several acquisitions by the audiences.
Me, differentiating each moment with a shot of the same scene, different moments. 😁
Moving faster than the speed of stillness 😅🤣
I think it must have been the lack of sleep that kept me actively thinking of what to do next to stay awake. Then, I got this brilliant idea, why don’t I write a new article. And since I quite often break off from writing to recalibrate my thoughts, people stopping by our booth will also help me break off to recalibrate my thoughts. However, here it may be too frequent a break off.
I decided to give it a go, and here I am, working on this article with my Samsung Galaxy Fold 5. Though the “start / stop” of writing or finger tapping on the Fold 5 screen was quite frequent, yet bearable; stopping in the middle of a sentence while creating it was not because I kept losing my train of thought. However, as my late grandmother used to say (when she was alive), “Slow, slow, catch monkey.” Let me know in the comments if you guys know the meaning of this phrase.
Keisha, with her newly acquired Formula 1 (F1) Ferrari model.
As, I sit, momentarily to catch a moment’s rest, I watch people as they walk past. The hat culture seems to be catching on. Here, when I talk about people wearing hats, I am not talking about the usual baseball cap wearers. More and more are wearing fashionable hats, be it flat caps, Panama, Jason Miraz, bucket, etc. There was one who donned a “Sherlock Holmes”, look – interesting. His sidekick, Watson (“elementary, my dear Watson” ), was not with him today .
I can hear someone in the background, a couple of floors down; strumming a couple of musical notes on his electric guitar. He has been at it for some time. However, no song or even part of it can be made out. It’s o.k. He’s chilling out with a couple of people.
I spoke… wrote (?) too soon. He’s now singing , ” To Love Somebody” by the Bee Gees, and strumming to the tune of it.
My best and most beautiful Tibetan friend, Rigzin, who is more popularly known by her last name, “Dolma”, and runs a booth next to ours; has been kept busy with many customers visiting her booth. She sells mainly ladies’ costume jewelry and some East Asian items. One of them is a brass sort of bowl. You strike the brass bowl with a small wooden mallet and it will echo, vibrating a melodious sound. At the same time, you rub the wooden mallet round the outer age of the brass bowl and it creates a sweet melodious sound. Very unique. You should drop by and visit her booth. By the way, Rigzin is the only Tibetan friend I have so far. 😁
What do you call a specific time that is shorter than a moment, as my moment’s rest has come to an end. The moment felt shorter than a moment.
There was a guy who dropped by last week and asked me to reserve the Samsung Buds Pro2 for him. This Buds Pro2 set is brand new, with the box still unopened. The guy said he would be coming by today. I am going to give it to him at an amazingly low price with an 80% discount. I think he is a low income wage earner who would like something very nice like this lilac colour Buds to have some enjoyment.
Hello, hello, hello, everyone. Good morning. Great start to the weekend. This early Saturday morning’s weather is a bit gloomy, however, it is still fine. The last few mornings and almost all of each day, we had rain, with many parts of the day experiencing heavy downpour.
The Batik Influencer, that is, my wife, Jeannie: and I, will be at Amcorp Shopping Mall, at our own booth, F1.08; on the first floor, today and tomorrow. We are going to be there shortly, at 10.00am. We are excited to be there (We are always excited to man a booth at Amcorp Mall because we can meet multiple (o.k. “so many”) people – relatives, friends and make new friends.
We were at Booth F1.08 last weekend, too. We met many interesting people. One of them was so taken up with the Batik Influencer’s Batik Cape Creations under the “JEANNIE’S OWN” label, that he is proposing a collaboration of sorts with her for 2025, as Malaysia takes the “Chair” for Asean. Endless opportunities of excitement there. We just have to harness all the abundance of positive vibes that will be flowing through this honourable role that Malaysia will be in, for the whole of 2025.
The Mercedes Benz 300 SL, with Gull wing doors.
I, the Hatted Writer; met with an Italian Scientist, who stopped at our booth. He is researching and working on how to split platelets to increase its numbers. It could be in the area of helping those with low platelet count or splitting the platelets after donors donate it, to multiply its numbers. I told him that I was a regular platelet and blood donor, having donated 304 times in total. His immediate remark was, “You have saved many, many lives”. He and his wife are on holiday in Malaysia.
A rare collection of Ferraris in this special display cabinet.
Several people have called or messaged us, asking if we will be having a booth at Amcorp Shopping Mall this weekend, as they want to drop by and visit. So, we are expecting to be kept on our toes. Exciting! Some people who came by last weekend, booked some of the items we had on display and said that they will come this weekend to get them.
Various Ferrari models.
The Batik Influencer has several new pieces, limited number, of course; for this weekend. She is definitely an inspiration to the batik world. She was introduced and inspired by her late maternal grandmother, who word batik daily. So, come early to get your batik cape by the Batik Influencer.
An interesting array of diecast, and other vehicles.
This time round, among the many new items that we will be putting up for sale; there will be many Ferrari cars – a rare collection of over 15 years ago. You Ferrari fans and collectors who have been constantly asking me if I had Ferrari cars, your wishes and dreams have come true. You better come early to get yours. There are also, sets in special display containers. These will be offered as sets only.
A transparent “briefcase” style cabinet of a series of Cars used in James Bond movies, is also up for grabs.
These sets are in ultra beautiful display units. Very rare. Definitely show pieces for topics of conversation.
Another item of interest is a set of high end headphones, its condition is like new.
O.K. I will have to go now. The Batik Influencer, Jeannie; and I, are looking forward to meeting with all of you. See you there.
A beautiful and unique combination of colours in this Batik Cape Creation under the “JEANNIE’S OWN” label.
Different shades: A combination and interesting blend of browns and patterns.
Making notes of other possible articles while working on this one.
Amcorp Shopping Mall, Booth 1.08, 1st Floor, , 8, Jalan, Persiaran Barat, Seksyen 52 Petaling Jaya, 46050 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia Date: November 30th to December 1st, 2024 Time: 10.00am to 5.30pm (can be extended to 7.00pm)
