I have recently found out a local company in Kuala Lumpur which deals in stationery and office supply. I can't tell you how excited I am that The Kraft Store is now going online. Wonderful wrapping paper patterns. Competitively priced rubber stamps. Exciting stamp collectibles. Something niche for the whole world to see! The good news is The Kraft  Store will make occassional appearances on designer exhibitions, and most likely, self-organise exhibitions in the future. That's all I know, and can reveal to you for now. So, keep coming back to my blog as I'll be blogging about
The Kraft Store regularly.

www.thekraftstore.com

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GMMA08 by AFM

I think I'm one of the last few to blog about this but this is really something to shout about, so yeah! Anyone interested in cool art event make sure you don't miss out this one --- Coming 2nd March 2008, After 5 Motion will play host to Get Moooving Movable Art at Palate Palette Restaurant & Bar in Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur. There'll be live performances by several local designers...car decal design (on a Honda Jazz)...poster showcase...art installations...and lucky draw! Refreshments are served (but only to 200 RSVP attendants). I heard that they will be having alcoholic beverages and beer on rock bottom promotion, and it's just for that night! I personally am putting on my killer heels, spend a few good hours with these featured designers, and maybe get myself some good business contacts.

Malaysian designers who'll be making an appearance: Chin Thye, JayLim, Black Fryday, Urban-Cr3atures, Gilamon, Muid Latif, Shieko, Manual Epoch, Flo3tic, Terry, Yi Suen, Tau-Ew, Tonny Wu and Alan Bernard.

International artists: Plushism (Singapore), Rae Uske (Hong Kong), Shin Tanaka (Japan), Nicholas Dali (France), TheyHateMyDesign (Indonesia), Lestat Gothe (Indonesia), Yellow Dino (Indonesia)

Read more about them at AFM Vox blog! More updates later!

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If you ever stumbled upon, came across or mistaken my website for another Vivian Toh, I‘m actually out of sight because my website, www.viviantoh.com, has expired on Nov 2 2007 with immediate effect. Just hang on there…I’ll be back with more updates.

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A first glance in my email inbox and I saw the title which read “Artist Exposure” from a TV producer from NOISE named Emily. It was just usual for me to think that someone could have bumped into either of our websites and was interested to get a tee from us. I was right about the virtual way she got to know us but what we heard from her was the biggest surprise ever -- an interview! Our interview was scheduled for 3pm but things got a bit frustrating with calls didn’t get through and Emily wasn’t reachable. Thanks to Vanessa, Emily’s colleague back at the headquarters, who was helpful all the way in getting me in touch with Emily.

Emily and Dam looking all ready

And, I’m about to tell you that the mini documentary created by her and the talented film maker, Damien, will be aired on ABC Channel Australia, and JayLim happens to be in it! There are so many things we wanted to ask them, like what the film is all about and how is it going to be edited, but at the same time I didn’t want to hear much cos my interest would soon die off. Emily was nice to tell us about the other designers who are in this project – some of them namely Orkibal and Bangkit from Malaysia – and JaylimDesign is number 30 in the list.

Plus, we're very impressed with the numbers: The mini documentary will be one-minute long, and broadcast in Australia on the ABC, but also on the Australia Network, broadcast to 21 million homes in 41 countries across Asia, the Pacific and the Indian subcontinent.

JayLim on the set

They (Emily and Dam) have been travelling alot and meeting with lots of great people in Hong Kong, Singapore, Jakarta and Thailand. Malaysia will be their last leg before they pack their bags and leave for Australia. I know you are eager to watch the documentary cos I am very much likely so I’ll keep you posted on when it’s out and when you can view it via vox or youtube.

After two hours of the interview and a photo session, we took them sight-seeing around our neighbourhood (the shooting was done at Jay’s little cozy room) and settled for Starbucks with Yamin from Don’t Panic who dropped by to say “hi” to our new friends. The interesting part of it all was that we all get a chance of getting into the lives of everybody on their careers and favourite pastimes, though not much. We hope to see them again some time soon!

From left: JayLim, Emily, Me, Dam & Yamin

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One fine day, this popular subject about global warming sparked an interesting conversation between a designer and a writer. On print, everything about it was clear and conscise yet the writer hates to say that she miserably gets reader’s block every time she wanted to read an article and eventually gave it up for the abundance of scientific terms splashed all around. Then, on the Internet, the writer picked a few pieces about the subject that she thought would interest her. Alas, she knew she wasn’t going deeper into the next paragraph or after that because the meta-information just blew her away (in a negative way) and she never came back to the sites. This really kills her enthusiasm. 

Lovely Friends of Nature - Stop Global Warming

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See how much JaylimDesign has grown

Even the idle of designers have something to say about the recent Love & Money exhibition. The first round kicked off at a good start with a lively speech by Malaysian architect Ng Sek San. His chosen black apparel, though plain and baggy, was something to shout about; he was the only one in a Tibetan style tee and matching pants with a pair of comfy sandals hugging his feet. His casual presentation portrayed him as someone friendly and approachable as I saw the crowd wanting to talk to him. Jay and I had just finished setting up our booth when Sek San took over the floor as the first speaker of the day.

We were still experiencing a slight hangover from last night’s event held at IZZI, the Italian restaurant in Bukit Bintang. Packing the props and other stuffs for Love & Money came on pretty easy partly because we got used to this kind of lifestyle as long as it wasn’t left to the last minute! We were both anticipating the big names and the crowd to flood the atrium no matter how tired we were for this event. Indeed, as what we had expected, it turned out pretty well.

After Sek San, Sunitha from the British Council introduced Tapio Snellman of Neutral who played a number of his animation projects to feast our eyes. This man is awesome! It occurred to the local designers that Tapio is a regular visitor to Malaysia when he mentioned to us about the Puduraya terminal bus and how he’d walked all the way to Pudu from KLCC at night. And, when Leftie (Gilamon) and I were telling him about the beautiful beaches in the East Coast, he knew exactly where he wanted to go. Sweat!

I knew that this time would be slightly different than any other events we participated – we did have hunger pangs throughout the day but I managed to make some tuna sandwiches in the morning to last us until dinner time. During our lunch break, we kept talking and arms akimbo to keep ourselves warm. And, as Dato’ Jimmy Choo arrived with his PAs, the crowd started to gather again - to get a up close and personal with the man who had made stunning shoes for the late Princess Diana. He embraced his talk – titled Soul to Sole – with much modesty and glamour. To have met Dato’ for three times in the same month and finally being able to have a few words with him is surreal.

The popular Pecha Kucha chit chat forum

Well, to Patriana, you needn’t have to worry too much about the faint setting of the place because it’s just perfect for the bigger audience at night – what more – with the free flow of Heineken for some clean fun! Nevertheless, we all waited patiently for Pecha Kucha to begin. We had Tapio, Parking Project, Izu from Galeriiizu, Blink, Pang Khee Teik (Central Market), Diwas (JUICE), Action Tintoy and us (JaylimDesign) who gave a spin to Pecha Kucha. Hilarious 'til the end!

If you missed the first round, don’t forget to swing by to the 3rd floor (Atrium) of Avenue K this 23 June 2007 to find out for yourself. It’s happening all day long!

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When a party is about to begin and you can’t hide the fact that you’re drop dead tired, quickly get dolled up at the washroom before anyone else get to use it.

Party begins at 8pm

Designer Valley

Having fun after a day's work

Stickers adorning the glass

Artwork by Jaylim

Featuring Designers

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From UK to Malaysia

When I was approached by a good friend of mine about the upcoming Love & Money exhibition, it came to me as a personal discovery that upon knowing what love can do, people can’t actually talk about love. It’s intangible, untouchable and most of all unpredictable. But this thing called love can also be felt, shared and disengaged altogether. It has the power to pull two strangers into the pool of romance or make the inseparable separable and the unbreakable breakable.

Girls, young and mature alike, fall in and out of love for the same person over and over again but can never resist themselves from thinking about the past – how foolishness got them into trouble when all they wanted was to leave a message under this cute boy’s desk but had always got into the hands of their teacher.

What is more embarrassing than to know that your so-called best friend betrayed your friendship to be with the guy you liked so much? Such adventures of the damsel in distress, no matter what, get washed away down the drain as time goes by because when you think back, you already got the man of your life by your side.

But there’s another love that’s infinite and can only be admired from a distance. This love is passion for the arts. This time, British Council Malaysia is giving local designers the freedom to express their love for art and design.

Event: Love & Money Exhibition - The Best of British Design Now

Venue: Avenue K (3rd Floor)

Date: 26 May & 23 June 2007 (Saturdays)

Programmes: Public talks by designers and showcase by local designers

Highlight: Pecha Kucha Night! (public forum)

Time: 11am until 9pm (all day long)

Free admission

Pecha Kucha Night will be the highlight of Love & Money exhibition as and local designers gather for the first time in KL for a public forum to tell the other side of their story – how they have managed to strike a balance between their love for design and making a living out of it. It’s gonna be a blast as a huge flow of visitors is expected on that day. Love & Money exhibition will be held on the 3rd floor of Avenue K on May26 and June23, 2007 (both Saturdays).

Featured are UK designer of the year 2006 Jamie Hewlett (creator of Gorillaz) and tribal deco jewellery Shaun Leane. We are looking forward to many other designers from the and around to take part in this event but as from my list, those invited by British Council are JayLimdesign, Urban Creatures, 84Cube and MAWS.

It’s open to public so keep your digital camera in handy when you get there. Feel a different kind of love expressed by these designers through speech and their products so remember to carry some cash with you too. It could be love at first sight!

See you there,

Viv

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Venue: Day Atrium, Cineleisure (Damansara)

Date: 9 & 10 June 2007

Time: All day long (Open to public)

Special Guests: Kenny Wong and Molly the Painter

Summer Wonder 2007

Kenny Wong is coming to town! But he is not alone as his little girl is tagging along for a summer holiday to Malaysia. Kenny and his little girl Molly will be making an appearance at the press conference at Avenue K on June 6 2007 to launch Summer Wonder 2007. Summer Wonder 2007 is organised by Kenny’s Malaysian partner Roots Studio and centres on Molly’s new mobile game (by Macera Technology) alongside two other agendas that are as important such as Molly mini figures and T-shirt collections.

This Girl, Molly

Molly the Painter

Molly likes to paint! She is a petite girl who wears a painter’s hat of lake blue colour. She also wears a pair of mini-sized red leather boots with straps.

She is a cutey, with her shining eyes seem to be able to see through other people’s intentions, in addition to her sweet smile and soft blonde hair. However, there is something Kenny neglected. Molly loves to watch him draw pictures; she can sit by the side and keep watching him for the whole day. Thus, Kenny usually gives her a pile of toys to play with but Molly will still continue to watch him draw quietly, with her lips pouting. One day while Kenny was drawing, he carelessly spat some paint on Molly’s tiny skirt. She looked at the paint on her skirt with exceptional joy. This time, Kenny understood finally.

Wonder Molly

The night on the same day Kenny did not sleep at all. He spent the whole night making some small painter’s paraphernalia for Molly. Before dawn, Kenny put it beside Molly and then went to sleep with a smile. Kenny could not remember how long he had slept but he woke up to the scene in front of him that attracted him deeply. Kenny saw little Molly using the painter’s paraphernalia which he made to draw pictures. Although this scene was expected, Kenny saw the concentration of Molly drawing pictures, and her works spread all over the floor reflected Molly’s passion towards every picture she drew. Molly used her face to create different images like angel, mermaid, princess, chef, and etc. Just like that, Molly’s world is full of hustle and bustle.

Molly the Painter is the foremost work of Kenny Wong since he established Kennyswork.

STREEThing has all the information you need on Summer Wonder 2007. Don't miss it!

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My faithful readers would have thought I’ve left this blog of mine idle for there weren’t any new entries for the past two weeks or so. Not that I didn’t have anything to say; instead I had some things to talk about. News is everywhere day or night, so the editors say.

But, in order for me to spill out I had to face the fact first. Let’s just say I’m a fainthearted girl who is freaking scared of injections, pain and the agony of coming upfront with surgeries. I find it so difficult to even digest the straightforward non-technical idea that surgery helps to cure one’s pain. How am I not to understand that? I have no idea at all.

I went to the clinical dentist a week prior to my dental appointment for another wisdom tooth extraction because, as he advised, it was damaging the healthy tooth in front. Oh, boy – here’s to another go. But, this time it was different. Firstly, it’s more expensive than the one I paid for but secondly, the dentist is even gentle than the previous one and made sure there weren’t any complications within my two weeks of recovery from the trauma.

Why, I’m such a baby. I had to be convinced a zillion times by my dear boyfriend that it’s just a minor surgery. To me, there’s nothing like a minor. Everything seems larger than life including the pain. Being my usual self – the fainthearted self – I was lucky enough to have my mom by my side when Dr. Anthony explained the procedure. You see, my mom is my calming device. She is a nurse by profession whose noble works have been felt by many in different countries. She welcomes babies to the world.

Back to the surgical room on May 3^rd, my operation had to be delayed for 30 minutes because Dr. Anthony was engaged with another surgery upstairs. 30 minutes ago, as though my instinct was telling me something, I decided to take the second elevator as the first one didn’t seem to open its door. Then in just a few seconds, I heard the alarm; it came right from inside the first elevator. If it weren’t for my instinct, I’d be the one late for the dental appointment. For once in so many months, I considered myself lucky.

Entering the fifth day now I feel no pain at all. I’m so surprised I have been able to literally jump in excitement and be a happy person inside. I wasn’t as stressed as before (my ex-dentist really gave me a hard time). What’s more, I received concern from many friends asking about my coping with the post-surgery. Thank you so much! I’m still shocked at myself for being able to gulp bottles of water for five days straight – every cuppa iced and chilly.

I think I like to be treated like a kid-lah. Every now and then, I so wish someone would ask me how I’m doing and what I want to eat to the extent that they oblige me so willingly – and patiently.  Heh, it’s a great feeling. A very good friend of mine, Michael, once said that to get rid of the pain is to endure it first. And, I gladly did.

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