THE WEEKEND THAT WAS

It is now mid-week after the weekend at Booth F1.03, Amcorp Shopping Mall. I am sitting at the Corner table just next to the glass entrance / exit door at Good Ground Bakery. Soft, soothing, piano music is coming from a single, light-colour, small, round, multi-directional speaker, sitting on a table behind the counter. It goes unnoticed by most people. The music is loud enough to fill the whole room but not loud that you would have to raise the volume of your voice to speak to each other.

The weekend at the booth seemed to have gone by (what should the filler word to describe the ‘speed ‘in time be? [1]) quickly. We set up our booth by 10.00am and before long, we had visitors stopping by. The Batik Influencer was busy from the word “go”.

We had many first timers visiting us at out booth. They also became customers or would be customers. I sold multiple diecast vehicles, including Hotwheels. When I first started selling off my Hotwheels and diecast vehicle collection, I had well over 500 vehicles. Now, I am left with less than 100. I’m glad the vehicles have found homes with their new owners. All those who purchased these diecast vehicles from me, are all collectors themselves.

People browsing through the pre-loved, well kept items. Sold many more Hotwheels, and other brands of diecast vehicles.

Trying on a JEANNIE’SOWN Batik Cape creation to get a feel. She bought.

As we went through the second day, Teacher Annie, Laura’s pre-school teacher at Beaconhouse, came by our booth. It was so nice to meet with her after all these years. Annie remembers Laura well and asked after her. We brought each other up to speed of what we are doing now and also about our families.

Timeless

Look who showed up. Teacher Annie, Laura’s pre-school teacher. Looking good as always.

One of the highlights of the day was I purchased a green Fudora. Another was that Jeannie acquired a beautifully crafted copper bracelet, decorated with colour stones. The bracelet is a birthday present for Laura as her birthday is in a couple of days.

Guys from La Salle Klang re-unite. Mervin Gomes (front), Terence Singh (back) and I.

Towards mid-afternoon; Mervyn Gomes dropped by, bringing with him a fellow Klang La Sallian; Terence Singh.. Terence’s brother is the famous singer, guitarist, song-writer, performer; Gerard Singh. Gerard is well known as the guitar man.

Terence, who resides in Johore (2); usually meets with Mervyn quite often. Terence whipped out his smartphone and called another old friend, John Stotdard; on Whatsapp video. It was good talking with John. It has been many years since we last met. These guys were neighbourhood friends in the 1970s and 1980s. They are several years my junior, more my youngest brother, Malcolm’s, age group.

The author writes: Just short of singing our alma mater La Salle School, Klang’s anthem. Mervyn Gomes (front), Terence Singh (back) and me, the Hatted Writer. Mervyn is in a typical La Salle Klang pose (I think😉)
This beautiful hand made copper bracelet the Batik Influencer bought as a birthday gift for Laura, our daughter.
Nice bag.

I had the opportunity to meet with many BMW owners and enthusiasts. We touched on many topics of BMWs. Most of them, including me; are more “old-school” BMW guys. Today’s BMW models seem to have lost its plot. Moving into electric vehicles (ev), they look just like any other ev. Hard to tell them apart from say a Chinese make.

The Batik Influencer, showing some of her “JEANNIE’S OWN” Batik Cape Creations.

And the nicest smile goes to

I had the opportunity of meeting with several readers of leatherpotato.com. They have been supporters for a long time. One of the best comments I received was, “Your writing is definitely by a human. We can feel the humanness in the way you express yourself and put your views across”. Another comment received was that she liked how I “toyed” around with the English language.

Listening with attentiveness as the Batik Influencer explains and demonstrates the multiple ways of using a JEANNIE’S OWN Batik Cape Creation.

The Batik Influencer explaining the various ways of using the JEANNIE’S OWN Batik Cape Creations. It can be worn for all occasions.

Trying on a JEANNIE’S OWN Batik Cape Creation.

Looking very royal with a JEANNIE’S OWN Batik Cape Creation.

Before we knew it, it was the end of the day. We packed up (took us nearly an hour to pack our things) and headed back home. On the way home, the question….that question…”What do you want to have for dinner?” “Anything”, was the answer. Great!

NOTES:
1. “Very”, “rather”, “alarmingly”
2. Johore is the southern most state of Malaysia.

THE BATIK INFLUENCER AND THE HATTED WRITER AT F1.02 THIS WEEKEND

Friday evening, 6.39pm.

Laura is at the gym, and we, Jeannie and I, that is the Batik Influencer and the Hatted Writer; we are at where the stars go (I presume), Star Bhavan for dinner.

Being the journalist in me, I tend to notice more than the average person. For instance, things are a wee bit slow here. I took note of this the last time we were here a couple of days ago. This is compared to all the other times when we practically did not have to wait too long for our food. They seem short-handedly. However, the food here is always good.

Why are we waiting?” in sing song fashion. 😁

Our food arrived just as I was writing / keyboard thumb-typing (on my Samsung Fold 5) the last line. Jeannie and I both ordered the same: Roti (1) Sardine and Nescafe ice. By just looking at our drinks, you would surely ask, “Is the milk drowning the coffee?”, as the coffee was struggling to have some semblance of its colour, “brown”. The milk seemed to definitely over-power the coffee.

Just before that, we tapau-ed (2) both the kacang vadai (3) and the doughnut (“donut” in American) version. Foreseeing that we…o.k. o.k…. more Iike I will be hungry later on this evening or night. Now, figure this out. I didn’t plan on being hungry later on, but then… the vadai were singing, “take us home” to the tune “Country Roads”. The Nescafe ice must have been spiked, haha.😁😂 Can you imagine the 6 vadai in the bag singing a song to the tune of Country Home? That would be hilarious.

Notice the vadai goodies in the bag, all set to be taken home? And the very light brown Nescafe ice?

We discussed broadly, what we plan to do at our booth in Amcorp Mall this weekend, that is tomorrow and Sunday. Yes, we will be mending a booth at Booth F1.03 Amcorp Mall. The Batik Influencer will be introducing her latest JEANNIE’S OWN batik cape creations.

The Batik Influencer has introduced, encouraged and helped people understand why batik. So, why batik? Come see for yourself.

Roti sardine, with spicy fish curry (on the left) and what seems somewhat like “dhalcha”.

The Hatted Writer (me, of course😉) will be there to talk about what’s next on the idea Sketchpad💡. One of the things that has caught my attention (amongst the many others) is that people are flaunting bombastic english words like nuance/s, exacerbate and stuff like that on talk shows and interviews. These people must be well-grounded in the language and may be seen as sesquipedalian. (4) Some people say that I am a logophile. (5) Really?

I guess in most ways I am a logophile as I find the English language quite fascinating. My interest in the language, to test its elasticity and boundaries, has only been quite recent. I find it more interesting to see if I can refrain from over-stretching the use of bombastic words. In fact, I try to refrain from such words if I can help it.

Come meet us this weekend at Amcorp Mall. This weekend is going to be as “fun” as ever. As everyday is. Looking forward to seeing all of you. 😁

The semi-visible vaadai, ready for home eating. Eating while in “relax” mode.

Amcorp Shopping Mall,
Booth 1.03, 1st Floor, West Wing,
8, Jalan, Persiaran Barat, Seksyen 52 Petaling Jaya, 46050 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia
Date: Apr 6 and Apr 7, 2024
Time: 10.00am to 5.30pm (can be extended to 7.00pm)

NOTES:
1. “Roti” means bread in Bahasa Malaysia.
2. “Tapau” as in take-away or take-out, is used by Malaysians when they want to pack food. The “-ed” (past tense) is to add colour in the use of the word.
3. Vadai also known as vada, wada, or bara; is a category of savoury fried snacks native to India. Vadas are sometimes stuffed with vegetables and traditionally served with chutneys and sambar.
4. A sesquipedalian can be used to describe a person or something that overuses big words. People often assume that if someone gives a sesquipedalian speech, he / she was smart, even if they don’t really know what it was about because they can’t understand the words.
5. What is a “logophile”? A logophile is someone who loves words, enjoys learning new words, and has a deep appreciation for language. Logophiles have an extensive vocabulary and take pleasure in using and exploring words to express themselves effectively.