nature

It was a bit of a slow start today. My wife, the Batik Influencer, Jeannie; was out early in the morning, to meet her relatives, staying at her parents’ for the weekend. They arrived down from Penang (Penang is a state up north west of Peninsula Malaysia) for a couple of days.

Jeannie took her relatives and her mother out for breakfast. I, on the other hand, got out of bed about an hour later, got some paperwork done and had a quick brekkie. Jeannie got back a short while after that.

We made our way to Amcorp Shopping Mall, parked in the basement car park, noted for its maze of dividing walls.

The Batik Influencer was on the go immediately.

The Hatted Writer then realised that he was missing a prominent piece of attire – his (my) hat. I reminded myself before leaving the house to get a hat off the hat stand. Yet I forgot.

This warranted a visit to Mahmud, the hat seller.

And the finalists are:

This black, white and grey flat cap is for serious and out & about occasion wear. Light in weight, very comfortable.

Whichever angle I turn my head, the flat cap looks good. I believe it has a lot to do with the model wearing it.🤠

*The ultimate serious look. Firm, yet approachable.*

*The innocent, yet mischevious, beckons “Dennis The Menace” look.*

This Gatsby / newsboy cap is versatile to wear. American style, Japanese style, British style, shade can be at the side which depicts an ultra “hang-loose” person, at the back is when you want to do light to semi-serious work. It all depends on the mood of the wearer.

*This is more the French beret style look. More like an artist who can’t keep the beret on his head if the cap is worn on the side of the head, like the French do.*

It is heavier than the flat cap. It looks a lot like a locomotive train engineer’s cap. The old American tv shows about trains and the likes, have the steam and diesel locomotive train drivers and engineer guys, wearing something like this cap.

Mahmud had piles of hats and caps to choose from, including those on the multiple, directional stem hat stands that were clamped to the sides of the table. He has a hat for every occasion, for every one. I spent some time asking him lots (“multiple” for some) of questions about these two caps and others, as well.

Now, the deciding factor. Which cap – the flat cap or the Gatsby cap?

Which one do you like? Which do you think I should get?

Drum roll…drrrroooll….

The winner…

The flat cap. It is unanimous! The Batik Influencer and our daughter, Laura (I sent her pictures of me with both the flat cap and the Gatsby cap); both voted the flat cap, too.

I was more inclined to go with the flat cap all along. Super happy with it. Light and ultra-comfortable. You will see me with it more often in the future.

Now for some afternoon curry puffs sold be a lady manning a food stall booth on the Ground floor. Delicious!

A fierce electrical thunderstorm has begun in USJ Subang Jaya. Something that those with weak hearts won’t take too kindly to. Subang Jaya is one the top cities in the world as an attraction for major electrical thunderstorms.

The clouds are almost in the darkest shades of grey. Time difference between each lightning and thunder pair (1 lightning strike for 1 thunder) is getting shorter as I speak…or as I type, tap on my Samsung Galaxy Fold 5 screen keyboard. I am working on my Fold 5 because I’ve shut down my computer.

I was working on an article about coffee – one of the newest of brands, yet I believe has an amazing connection between a new brand and awesome coffee. I was hoping to have the article out by today but it may be delayed for another day.

While it has been raining near consistently almost every day over the last couple of months, it has been tampa lightning. “Tampa” is another Malay word meaning “without”.

The best way to keep your computer safe during lightning electrical thunderstorms is to power off your devices and disconnect them from the power supply.

*The Fold 5 cameras need to focus on real life scenery and not what it thinks should be the scenes. You don’t get to see the greys of the clouds.*

Though, when I took this picture above; the clouds had practically bawled out its contents (can’t say bawled out its eyes mah [a bit of Chinese local slang]) of rain. That is why it looks much brighter or whiter instead of the dark, gloomy, angry grey that it was earlier on.

Now, the lightning seems to have simmered down though it is quite capable of springing surprises with a sudden or two or three strikes out from nowhere. The thunder is still drum-rolling both close and far and is still quite constant. I can hear the rain pelt down, slamming against the cement ground of the porch, the stone bricks of the driveway and the tarred roads (or streets, if you are American). I still can see flashes of lightning, though they must be at a distance now.

I am back on my pc, thumping on the Logitech MX Keys. It is safe (I think). I will be leaving for PJ and then to Damansara Heights in a short while. I hope the roads (streets) are clear and that traffic jams will be at a minimum. I know, I know, it is a fantasy. Harry Porter was a fantasy made real by J. K. Rowlings. Anything is possible. As Weldon Parish said in the movie, “Shadows In The Sun”, “Writers are artists. Aren’t all artist crazy?”; something to that effect.

For those who manage to read this essay on their way home from work: Enjoy the present, be in the present if you are in the presence of people, too. The roads may have traffic backed up for kilometers (we don’t use miles here); there is nothing much you can do about that.

Like and share this essay with your friends and family. I will catch you in the next one… about one of the newest coffees in town.

leatherpotato

The future is now. Live it!

AND THE WINNER IS…

HERE COMES THE RAIN, LIGHTNING AND THUNDER