Nadia Rosli

We’re not definitively declaring 2015 as the best year in the history of hip hop – but we’re definitely declaring that we’ve been blessed with a ton of game-changing, major hip hop releases this year in KL. It was a good year for local music, we think, and choosing only 30 songs was a cruel, cruel process. This list isn’t about what’s wrong about the songs that didn’t make it to this list; it’s about what’s right with the songs that did. It’s not an exact science. It’s not mathematics. We didn’t sit down to systematically decide that this particular track was seven percent greater than this other track (please no more mathematics). Some songs on this list are just enjoyable earworms that we listened to on repeat this year; others we felt displayed skill of some sort, and so on and so forth. Presenting, Time Out KL’s list of 30 top tracks this year and the reasons we chose them. Listen on Spotify.

It’s been a good year for local music and 30 barely covers it all. Just as we mentioned last year, there is no science or mathematics to this, these are the songs that we listened to the most throughout the year. Listen on Spotify.

Whether you're a lover of dogs or cats, the opening of pet cafés in town has got local animal lovers into a bit of a frenzy (both the good and bad kind). Not to be confused with pet-friendly cafés (ie, restaurants which allow pets but don't house any of their own), a pet café is a themed establishment with animals as its main attraction; you generally pay an entry or drink fee to hang out with the resident pets within the given time – much like a petting zoo with free-roaming domesticated animals. We decided to pay these places a visit to better help you decide which places are worth your time and money. 

Yellow Fang loves you, trust us, they do. If you need proof, check out their merch and social media handles. The Thai all-girl band – consisting of Pang on guitar and lead vocals, Praewa on drums, and Pym on bass – has been around for about ten years and is still going on strong. The girls have played in various music festivals all over Asia including Tokyo’s Summer Sonic, Pattaya’s Wonderfruit and Malaysia’s own Cross Border hosted by The Wknd. They’ll be back in town for Urbanscapes and leading up to that, we had a short chat with them about girl power, the next greatest, and The Powerpuff Girls. Hi guys! So excited to have you back! Anything interesting happened the last time you were here in KL? Hellooo from Yellow Fang! We're so excited to be going to KL, as always. We love travelling and meeting friends along the way while touring. Last time we were in KL, we had a lot of fun despite our short stay. We think we slept more on the van travelling than on the bed (commuting between KL and JB). Shout-out to our driver Mark, he had good music going all the way. We look forward to eating sessions after the show; after hours food places always have character. Night-time experiences while touring are often the best. How’s the scene like in Bangkok these days? Has a lot changed since you first started out? The difference is that there are more festivals and more creative spaces that have started to organise gigs. We see more varieties of genres emerging, bringing with them th

Parisian hip hop beatmaker Onra’s last album ‘Fundamentals’ may have dreamy, romantic notes, but expect something a little different as he wraps up the ‘Chinoiseries’ trilogy with the release of ‘Chinoiseries Pt 3’. We had a quick chat with him ahead of his upcoming Upfront show at The Bee.'Chinoiseries 3' will be released soon. And you'll be releasing it as a special edition together with 1 and 2. Does this mean the end of 'Chinoiseries'? Yes, I have decided over the years to make it a trilogy, so this is the final chapter. 'Chinoiseries' is definitely Sino-centric. Is that in any way an homage to your heritage? Not really actually, I don't have Chinese origins. I just happened to find a lot of Chinese records while on vacations and that's how it started. I would have done the exact same thing if I weren't Asian. Have you always envisioned 'Chinoiseries' as an ongoing series? How has the process of producing it been like for you? Any interesting stories from your crate-digging sessions? The first one was really spontaneous and I made it in two weeks. It's basically all demos, and I didn't think it would do well. After a while, I stumbled across more Chinese records and just decided to make more for the fans since no one else was really doing this. There's been a lot of stories to tell because I found Chinese records all across Asia, and it's always been a challenge. You've released a jazz album with Buddy Sativa. How different was producing that compared to 'Chinoiseries' o

Umapagan Ampikaipakan strolls along eight of the city’s most prominent streets in his new TV show ‘Every Street Tells a Story’. We talk to the first-time TV host about his favourite KL street and memories of the city. It can be difficult sometimes to gather information about our city’s history. How was the research process like for you and the team? A lot of it was based on what we found in the book ‘Kuala Lumpur Street Names’ [by Mariana Isa and Maganjeet Kaur]. You can get a good sense of the origins of each street name from there, but of course, that’s not enough. You have to go out to those places, talk to the various shops that have been there for decades, and find out what stories they have, what oral histories they know about the area.If you have to pick a favourite from all the streets featured in the show, which would it be and why?Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, because there’s a lot of personal history for me there. My dad had his very first clinic on that road. I used to visit him at the clinic and then my mum and I would go watch movies at the nearby Capital Theatre and Odeon. The city has always been associated with food. Do you think the show can prove that we can move past the perception that KL is all about food? Yes. Don’t get me wrong, the food thing is very important and in fact we should probably do more. We talk a lot about the food but we don’t brand it as well as Singapore does. I think the show does well to show that KL is also a city about its people; it

Who are these guys? Based in Sungai Buloh, Ramayan consists of Shafi ’i (or Pi’e as he prefers to be known), Amin Jali, Omar Saifuddin, Nadzrul and Naquiyuddin, or Que. Vocalist Pi’e and drummer Que were already friends from school. They met everyone else through Pitahati’s guitarist Zahar at his studio Ruang Irama. Why are they called Ramayan? Did someone study Indian literature? No, surprisingly none of the band members were studying Indian literature. In fact, the name ‘Ramayan’ wasn’t intended to refer to Valmiki’s ‘Ramayana’; it’s actually an amalgamation of their initial ideas ‘Isorama’ and ‘Jan’. It’s just coincidence that it’s also the title of an ancient Indian epic. Okay, I’m listening to them right now. Good stuff, but why are all their songs in Malay? Mainly because that’s the language they think in, which in turn makes their songs more honest – nothing gets lost in translation. And because they feel the need to create a Malaysian identity, similar to Indonesian musicians who, while staying true to their roots, have proven that medium won’t hinder success. ‘We want to appeal to everyone, not just cool English-speaking indie kids,’ according to quintet. They also explained that the problem with singing in English is that there’s a higher tendency to be compared to matsalleh bands. So is it true? What is? Is one of them really the son of M Nasir? At this point it’s kind of out in the open that lead singer Pi’e is the son of that local legend. In fact, some of his m

There are now more Malaysian books than ever, so it's the best time to start adding some local authors to your reading list. To help you out, we've picked ten books by Malaysian writers ranging from fiction, non-fiction and poetry in both English and Bahasa Malaysia. While this isn't a 'best of' list, we highly recommend these books for beginners.  RECOMMENDED: KL's local publishing scene

Mark Gergis might not make the rounds in Billboard, Rolling Stones or even Pitchfork, but he has over the years collected music and sounds from all over the world, particularly the Middle East and Southeast Asia. Through record labels Sublime Frequencies and Sham Palace he publishes ethnographic releases – listening to it is a bit like taking your ears for a walk in a completely different country, think Vietnam and Syria. Besides these, he also has an experimental music project and plays live under the moniker Porest. His latest album ‘Modern Journal of Popular Savagery’ is due for release this June. How did you start collecting sounds? I was making music and films, playing in groups, recording sounds, and always looking for inspiration. Somehow that eventually led to searching for sounds outside of the ‘scene’ I was in. Growing up, I was exposed to a lot of Iraqi and Arabic music at home and at family events. It was all in the background to me, and not something I jumped into willingly at the time. But it was definitely an advantage to have it in my consciousness, because later in life after becoming somewhat tired of Western music options, it was the first type of music I began rediscovering. In my late 20s, I made my first trip to the Middle East, which took things to the next level and the collecting became more specialised. I would listen to local radio, then bring recordings of the music I heard to local cassette merchants and ask them what it was. I learned a lot this

Stop wasting time wishing you knew how to do this and that – go out and learn new skills. Here are our picks of the best classes to join including film photography, silkscreen painting and even swing dancing. 

So who is this orang called Orang? And why Orang? I can’t even Google him. The reason behind the name Orang is because it is neutral, faceless. To maintain this blank canvas in listeners’ heads, he’s a little reluctant to let everyone know his name – although if you know basic sleuthing (aka stalking), you’ll figure it out. But yes, knowing his name is not that important. What you should know is that he’s been making music as far back as six years ago (what we know of anyway) and before he became Orang he was a slacker – more on that later. Okay so he’s shy. Does that mean he’ll wear a mask or a mousehead? No, of course not, don’t be silly. But who knows? Maybe he’ll wear a wig. So what’s up with him being a slacker and all that? He used to go by ‘I Am Slacker’ but it’s 2016 so we reckon he’s over being lazy; in fact, he was actually quite rajin last year. We saw him quite a bit at small shows and he also came out with a bunch of pretty decent songs including number 12 on our list of top local tracks for 2015, ‘Mother’s Couch’. As for the fate of his 'slacker' moniker, we understand that he took a break from it after what he deemed was a ‘bad performance’ at The Bee alongside The Impatient Sisters (who according to him were really great that night). We’re pretty sure he was just being a bit too hard on himself though. Alright, on to the tunes. What are we listening to? He doesn’t subscribe to a particular genre but if we’re being lazy, yes it’s an electronic music, singer-son

These businesses in town are operating a little differently from their mainstream counterparts. Check them out and let us know in the comments if you’ve come across more offbeat businesses in the city. 

Taking over the space that was formerly The Apartment at KLCC, Duddha serves up modern interpretations of Southeast Asian dishes. Chef Jet Lo helms the kitchen, and he’s no stranger to this type of cuisine – the Sabahan chef was previously with the popular modern Asian eatery Ding Dong in Singapore's Chinatown. Duddha is a character conceptualised by the restaurant, and her likeness – styled in Roy Lichtenstein-inspired comic book pop art illustrations – decorates the walls of the restaurant. The decor is kept very modern with subtle Asian touches, like mahjong tiles at the bar counter. The menu is an experimental one with dishes like wagyu beef tartare with watermelon, pickled cucumber and shallots, and served with papadum; and sous vide duck curry with passion fruit, raw cauliflower and cherry tomatoes. It doesn’t stop at starters and mains; the experimentation goes on to the dessert menu as well with the upside down onde-onde with sambal, and cempedak brownie with sour cream. Once you’re done with dinner, order a cocktail. They’re all Asian-inspired – ‘Sour-nya’ is a concoction of gin, turmeric, yuzu and calamansi juice; and ‘Ice, Ice, Melon’ is tequila, rock melon, coconut and crispy sago.

Previously a standalone store for streetwear label The Offday, Markas is now an art space and black box. Expect minimalist theatre, acoustic sessions, discussions and film screenings at the Kota Damansara space.

If you’re in Nu Sentral, don’t forget to drop by Loka and do your bit to support local. The shop is a spin-off from the Agenda Lokalism campaign which aims to promote youth entrepreneurship – think of Loka as its showcase space, providing a platform for over 40 local lifestyle brands. Some of the brands you can find in store include Tarik Jeans, Pestle & Mortar and Ykeni. Besides streetwear, you can also find Ash Be Nimble for sportswear and Greenroom 136 for sturdy, urban bags and carriers. Not limiting itself to just clothes, there are also plenty of bath and body brands such as The Sabun, coffee scrub from Wilde and perfumes by Josh Lee Fragrances. We also like the whole Gadis Manis range of items which make perfect gifts for people from overseas. The brand has your usual touristy items like wristlets, t-shirts and mugs but with bright, colourful designs reminiscent of Lat comics – an upgrade to your usual Petaling Street picks. For something less girly, Ottokedai from Penang has similar heritage-inspired items. To spruce up your home, grab a cactus from Yuna’s Tiny Forest. If it’s a #treatyoself kind of day, buy a whole terrarium. Not into plants but still need a pick-me-up for your home? Beanbags – Doof beanbags – should do the trick. Currently Loka provides support and assistance to the brands under the Loka umbrella and it aims to have 500 brands under its care over the next three years. In addition, Loka also hopes to branch out to more stores nationwide and in the

Make Timbre your new hangout spot for weekend nights or afterwork gatherings – this is one more place you can add to KL’s growing list of music venues. Singapore’s live music giant, the Timbre Group has opened its first regional outpost at The Row, one of the city’s hippest new addresses. Decor-wise the restaurant and bar maintains its signature wood-accented interior from its Lion City sibling, while the menu boasts some of Timbre's all-time favourites including thin-crust pizzas, tapas and a wide range of pastas. That's your hunger satiated during live music performances. Timbre has always been about championing homegrown talents (they even have a music academy back in Singapore), so it comes as no surprise that Timbre @ The Row would be following in the same footsteps. Aspiring musicians can look forward to the open mic nights every Monday (curated by Shaneil Devaser) and the Malaysia Originals series happening every last Wednesday of the month. The venue will also have resident musicians comprising local acts IRIS Band (Wednesdays), Eezee-E and Nick Yungkit & Band (alternate Thursdays), Timbre Culture Club (Fridays) and EFFY (Saturdays).

KL may not boast a huge number of record stores like say, London, but the market is slowly growing. For some reason, the record stores here have a very neighbourhood-friendly vibe – just look at Subang’s Teenage Head Records and PJ’s Hard Graft Records. Now the Kota Damansara 'hood will also get similar treatment with Crossroads Records, which has a real homey atmosphere to it (if you drop by after school hours, you’ll know what we’re talking about).  However, unlike the two aforementioned record stores which feature a lot of new releases, Crossroads is a goldmine of old records. Most of these are a mix from the owners’ own collections and some imported ones from the UK. Besides LPs, Crossroads also sells used CDs and cassettes, so when you’re here, get ready to do a little digging. One of our surprise finds on our visit was the soundtrack to the The Royal Shakespeare Company’s 1987 staging of the ‘Wizard of Oz’. Other gems include their selection of old Malay titles including Sheila Majid’s ‘Warna’ record going for a hefty three-figure price tag. If you’re looking to set up your own vintage turntable set, the good people at Crossroads can hook you up with one for less than RM2,000 including amp, speakers and maybe even some LPs on the house. They also provide record cleaning services. Other plans for the store include acoustic gigs and a small café-like chill out area, so let’s just watch this space grow for now.

Thailand’s Greyhound Café has now made its way to Malaysia (the first Southeast Asian outlet outside Bangkok), so when you’re done shopping in Bukit Bintang, drop by the restaurant for a meal (and dessert). The food here is almost the same as its Bangkok counterpart; and by ‘almost' we mean it's without the porky offerings. But don't turn your noses just yet. The menu does include one of the café’s most famous dishes, Complicated Noodle – a lettuce wrap you’ll have to construct by yourself. How it works is you take a square of rice noodle and place it on the lettuce before you add minced meat and green hot sauce. If you haven't already guessed, Greyhound Café specialises in putting a Thai twist to classic dishes – such as salmon sashimi with the aforementioned green hot sauce, for example, and their famous fish sauce-marinated chicken wings. For dessert, mango sticky rice gets an upgrade with coconut sherbet to become Greyhound's signature sticky rice mango parfait, but if mango isn't your thing, there’s a parfait station onsite with loads more parfaits to choose from.

Note: Stakes Shop's pop-up store is now closed. If you’re dropping by Raksasa Studio for their silkscreen printing classes, don’t forget to check out the front section of the studio – you’ll know what we’re talking about, the huge white lotus sculpture growing out from an old briefcase should do the trick. From now until July, that section houses Stakes Shop, a local streetwear brand with skate aesthetics. It’s not mentioned anywhere but there seems to be a recurring theme revolving around sheeps in some of their products. However, we’re told that the lotus, not the sheep, is their official mascot for the brand. Stakes has been in the local streetwear scene for about three years but has only started coming out with more exciting things within the past year. Besides t-shirts, Stakes also has caps, notebooks, zines and products by other brands such as Against Lab and Almost Quaint. Since they’re sharing space with Raksasa, we expect a collaboration between the two in the future. Making full use of their pop-up venue, Stakes will also host monthly gigs dubbed the Lotus Club. So from now until July, you can chill with the Stakes crew and enjoy live music performances. The upcoming one on February 27 will feature Juko from Jaggfuzzbeats and Tobu from Youth Portal.

More speakeasy bars are popping up in the city and if you’re in the TTDI area, find the yellow door – no it’s not to Oz, but Private Room, the city’s first speakeasy wine bar. Need more help? Look for Bowery Petit and you’ll see it. Although the bar allows walk-in customers, you should make a reservation to get the passcode of the week, key it in at the entrance and enter in style. Otherwise, wait for someone to let you in.  The bar is owned by a total of seven wine enthusiasts and two of them are Private Room’s own sommeliers: Danny, formerly of Marble 8, and Justin, who used to work in the hotel industry. The founders wanted to create an outlet for the public to learn more about wine as they currently see wine-drinking culture in KL as a niche market limited to fancy restaurants and hotels.  The bar currently carries more than 200 labels from all over the world with a focus on less common labels such as Barista, Porcupine Ridge and The Guilty. There are more reds than whites for now but The Private Room aims to increase the white wine selection soon as it’s quite popular. When you get there, try not to ask for the wine list – there isn't one. Instead, Justin believes the wine selection process should involve recommendations from the bar's sommeliers, who would gladly assist you in picking the right wine. You can also buy a bottle to take home at 20 percent off. At the time of publish, Private Room has five signature cocktails and if you happen to order the ‘Mocking Mistress

The newest kid on the Happy Mansion block is helmed by celebrity chefs Johnny Fua and Sherson Lian. Unlike other booming areas in town, Happy Mansion has been growing slow and steady, one restaurant at a time. So if you’re not in the mood for Thai or coffee, swing by Hello by Kitchen Mafia – but know that the place gets packed easily during peak hours, so plan ahead and make reservations. Besides appearing on television, the duo was previously with Elegantology. If you recall the restaurant’s fusion twists on French-Asian dishes, expect to see similar takes but in a different setting. The restaurant makes their own pasta and experiments with their ingredients, churning out green tea fettuccine for example. Start your meal with tapas like the drunken chicken liver pâté or with soup of the day; ours was the duck kut teh. Some of the restaurant’s popular main dishes are sake mirin grilled chicken, salted egg buttermilk pasta, Ah Pek fried rice, and the insta-worthy Pak Johnny mee rebus which requires you to pour the sauce from a tea pot. Finish up your meal with their home-brewed tuak, or if you’re not feeling experimental, wine, sake or craft beer.

Don’t cancel your brunch plans just yet when the tables at Huckleberry or Yellow Brick Road are all occupied – Bukit Damansara has a new café and it’s helmed by the same people behind Antipodean Coffee. For those who couldn’t have brunch at Antipodean for its porkiness, you'll be happy to know that this new café is pork-free.  This new venture also promises a more sophisticated menu than Antipodean's basic brunch meals, with a good mix of healthy and indulgent dishes. For example, those on their cheat day can go for the banana nut waffles with manuka honey ice cream; if you’re on the #eatclean team, try the rhubarb granola with mascarpone, or the almond, date and cinnamon Bircher muesli. Sadly, Delirium doesn't do all-day breakfasts (breakfast ends at 11.30am), but its Mediterranean-inspired lunch menu is a promising one with paninis, burgers, salads, pastas, and even kebabs (served with cous cous, yoghurt and salad). The café does its best to make everything in-house, including breads, bagels and even ice cream, on top of growing its own tomatoes and herbs. If you want dessert, you can request for one of Delirium's homemade ice creams although they're not on the menu. Varieties include manuka honey, lemon and mint sorbet, and an egg-free pistachio nut ice cream.  For coffee, Delirium roasts its own beans sourced from a small village in Indonesia. But if you’re not into coffee, there are fresh juices, milkshakes and protein shakes (one of which comes in a vanilla and Vegemite

The Melawati café scene might be a little on the quiet side but here’s one worth the trip. No, there are no cats here to play with but there is baby Arya (the owners’ seven-month-old daughter) who can be just as adorable. Polecats Coffee is owned by husband-and-wife team Sam and Zee. Zee comes from a corporate background but has decided to cook full time for the love of food while Sam was previously with RAW at Wisma Equity (now RGB & The Bean Hive on Jalan Damai). If you’re familiar with the game ‘Full Throttle’, the name Polecats might ring a bell in the form of a biker gang featured in the game. Situated next to a banana leaf restaurant and an old neighbourhood grocery, the couple chose the area mostly for convenience because it's close to home. Getting a seat at Polecats may be a bit of a squeeze on weekends as they only have about four to six tables. According to Zee, the bulk of their customers come in for a takeaway coffee in the morning.  The menu is small and consists of pancakes with choices like their house-cured gravlax, lamb bacon, blueberry, and the classic butter and maple syrup. A signature here is the homemade lamb bacon, but don’t just waltz in and expect it to be available as preparation takes several days, so message them beforehand if you're eager for some lamb bacon to top your pancakes. Other than that, the oatmeal latte is another interesting creation. Described as the 'lazy man’s breakfast', it's rolled oats, granola and cranberries with a shot of mi

Note: This venue is now closed Somewhere along the quiet hills of Damansara Heights is a corner-lot bungalow that is part gallery, part café – altogether a cool hangout spot. Lorong Kekabu describe themselves as a collective, which we'll take to mean that this is also their headquarters. The collective consists of 12.1 Gallery, Malaysian Artist Intention Experiment (MAIX), Kecil by Kedai, and visual artists Anwar Suhaimi and Izat Arif. What it really is is a bunch of friends who just wanted to have a space to call their own and share it with others. Local artist Shooshie Sulaiman is the person behind 12.1 Gallery and MAIX, a platform that offers research, exhibition and discussion facilities for artists. She’s also the former occupant of the bungalow; she had good memories living here a few years back, so she hopes that its good vibes will live on with Lorong Kekabu. Meanwhile, Izat Arif is the man behind gallery and woodshop, Kedai. As Kedai is currently focusing more on woodwork and furniture-related ventures, Lorong Kekabu is a place for Izat to experiment with other things. Anwar Suhaimi manages the space for now, playing the role of curator as well. Located in the bungalow's backyard is Kecil by Kedai, an al fresco café  which serves coffee, tea, hot chocolate, yoghurt drinks, and snacks fit for teatime (it's only open from 4pm). The snacks menu is still in its experimental stages, and by experiment we mean you’ll have to ask them what’s available, although we predict t

It’s Federal Territory Day on February 1 – we love a public holiday, and we love KL. So do these musicians. May their songs soundtrack your day and strengthen your love-hate relationship with the city. PS: We’re aware that we may have missed more KL-related songs here, so let us know what your favourite city soundtrack is in the comments.  'KL I Love You' - Kyoto Protocol  This is important. As much as we claim to love the city, KL can be a bit like an overbearing mother. So much hope and expectation but also so much frustration – like people cutting lines, among other things. Raise your hands if you agree with Fuad’s ‘You’d rather buy a flashy car / but stay really, really far’. 'Kuala Lumpur' - Hujan  Noh Salleh successfully made this ode to the city a nice singalong – who knew Kuala Lumpur could be so lyrical? Note the subtle warnings and observations on the city (something about crooks, something about earning an honest living). Don’t confuse this with Hujan’s other song, ‘Kuala Lumpur Oh Kuala Lumpur’. 'You Love KL City?' - The Bat Cave featuring Nadhira and Pa’an  Guess what? KL don’t love you. The Bat Cave seems a bit young to be jaded about the city already but if that equals to catchy hooks and beats, we’re sure they’ll be alright. Would it be too much if we liken this song to ‘So It Goes’ by Ratking of New York? Perhaps, but both odes to their respective cities feature a subway element – The Bat Cave’s sample of the KTM announcement adds a nice touch. 'Nadi K

Thanks for the validation Airbnb, but we already know that Kampung Baru is a cool neighbourhood. The accommodation and homestay network just released its 2017 edition of ‘Neighbourhoods to Watch’ list; joining Milneburg (New Orleans), Fitzroy (Melbourne) and Daehangno (Seoul), among others, is our very own Kampung Baru. For 2016, the list included another favourite 'hood of ours, Brickfields. The list takes into consideration what travellers are looking for in 2017, and according to them, it’s green spaces, food options and laid-back communities in an urban setting. Never been to Kampung Baru? We’ll help you out. Take the LRT and stop at the Kampung Baru station; from there it’s walking distance to one of our favourite nasi dagang spots, Chunburi. After that, look out for Fatimah Selera Kampung – it will be a longer walk but treat yourself to a glass of their famous ais jagung afterwards. Need more options? There’s nasi kandar at LC Restaurant of Penang’s Line Clear fame.   And one ais jagung please. 🌽 #dessert A photo posted by Time Out Kuala Lumpur (@timeoutkl) on Sep 9, 2016 at 9:03pm PDT When most corners of the city already look unrecognisable from their former selves, Kampung Baru has so far succeeded in maintaining its idyllic kampung vibe, so to speak. However, in the next 20 years, that might change as the neighbourhood will go through an expensive facelift that includes the development of hotels, offices and a giant ferris wheel. Now here's a Kampung Baru

Connor’s is paying tribute to the stout porter's British roots by releasing a limited set of pint glasses featuring three London icons: Big Ben, the Double Decker and the Royal Guard. You can claim one pint glass with every purchase of three full pints at participating Connor’s outlets nationwide. If you want the total upgrade, Connor’s also lets you personalise the pint glass at selected outlets on certain dates until the end of the month. Promotion dates are Sep 9, 15, 23 and 30 at venues such as Como, Meja Kitchen + Bar, Morganfield’s Pavilion and Mango’s Tropical Café. Here's the full list. Friday, Sep 9MEJA Kitchen + Bar, TRECFriendscino, TRECMango's Tropical Cafe, TRECCOMO, TRECGreen Dot, Bandar Utama Thursday, Sep 15Caffeinees, Kampung PandanBlack Market, Kampung PandanHistory Cafe & Bistro, Shah Alam Friday, Sep 23Morganfield’s, Pavilion KLO’Galito, Pavilion KLThe Library, Mid Valley Friday, Sep 30Movida Kitchen + Terrace, Changkat Bukit BintangMango’s Tropical Cafe & Live Band, Changkat Bukit BintangTavern 13 Restaurant & Bar, Petaling Jaya For more info, visit www.facebook.com/ConnorsMY.

If you don’t have plans for the weekend, you do now. The Yayasan Sime Darby Arts Festival at klpac features a packed schedule featuring music, theatre, art and film. The schedule might be a bit hard to navigate online, so we’ve picked some of the best events for you. 1. Paras Bunyi  Musicians and DJs alike will be taking over the Indicine room throughout the festival, playing ethnic-fused experimental sounds with specially curated visuals. Some of the acts to look forward to include Space Gambus Experiment, Menikmati and electronic sape band Another Universe. Come early to hear field recordings of music from the Orang Asli tribes of Kelabit, Kenyah, Meratus, Bahau and more. Indicine; 10am-8pm. 2. Balcony Scene of a Malay Peninsula Couple  To have an arts festival at klpac and not include theatre would be a very odd thing indeed. But not to worry, there will be plenty during this festival. One to catch is ‘Balcony Scene of a Malay Peninsula Couple’. Directed by Liang Ka En, this play explores the themes of forbidden love and unrepresented identities. For more options, there will also be staged readings, improv theatre and drum theatre. Lobby; 2pm. ’Jagat' 3. Gerai Tai Tai  This performance art was first ‘staged’ at the SS2 pasar malam in June. The brainchild of POW Ideas, this interactive show features Lim Bek Yee as the namesake Tai Tai. Audience is encouraged to participate by way of a three-way dialogue between the audience, the Tai Tai and the festival. Throughout

We speak to Shafeeq Shajahan, the founder of Liver & Lung Productions, about their newest play 'Mahsuri (And Other Peculiar Tales)', which features characters from local myths – Mahsuri, Pontianak, Bawang Putih Bawang Merah and Puteri Lindungan Bulan. The musical production, staged in a café, tells their stories through the eyes of an autistic boy. Why did you choose an unconventional setting like a café to stage the show? As a director, I've always liked immersing audiences in experiences that they aren’t accustomed to. The average Malaysian is quite familiar with the four tales we have to tell. Hence, experiencing an everyday environment like a café transforming into the backdrop for these childhood stories can be truly wonderful and heart-warming. It's immersive, you really feel like you're part of the narrative, and it’s a one-of-a-kind theatrical opportunity that you rarely come by in the Malaysian theatre scene. Previously you performed at Melt On, and this weekend you'll be in Meteora – both in Subang. Is there a reason why you chose Subang cafés? The unfortunate thing about performing in small spaces like cafés is that we only perform to small audiences at a time. ‘Mahsuri (And Other Peculiar Tales)’ has great potential and we definitely can see it touring KL and other states as time progresses. We've just decided to start in Subang because we know that a lot of people who watched our show at Melt On wanted to watch it again! Why are all the tales chosen female-c

Photo: Chuen Ooi Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) has demolished the 'Puncak Purnama' ('Lunar Peaks') sculpture on Jalan Sultan Sulaiman created by late National Laureate Datuk Syed Ahmad Jamal, and the local art community is not happy. According to The Star, the DBKL sign board on site stated that the demolition was part of the rejuvenation works on the landscape, which was described as 'lifeless'. Meanwhile, a report by The Malay Mail Online quoted Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Mansor, who claimed that DBKL had received 'complaints against the sculpture from the public.' He went on to explain that demolition was the 'best option' in this case as the sculpture was ‘becoming an eyesore and we did not want it to be bothersome to people.’ The local art community has since expressed its disagreement towards the sudden demolition. Balai Seni Visual Negara hosted a press conference today to bring the issue to light. Chairman of the gallery Dato’ Mahadzir Lokman said that they are aggrieved as DBKL could have asked them or any of the other art galleries and institutions for input. As it's now too late to do anything about it (‘nasi sudah menjadi bubur’), the chairman emphasised that it's important this does not happen again in future. Datuk Syed Ahmad's wife Datin Hamidah and son Syed Nabil were also present at the press conference. Syed Nabil mentioned that the demolition was done in a way that it was almost impossible for anyone to formally protest against i

Despite being busy with his band Lust, mysterious bedroom producer Orang is back with a new song. In true Orang fashion, tribal-like sounds and mumbling vocals interweave with a hint of something tropical in this single off his upcoming EP ‘Everyone’. If you’re wondering what the song is about, Orang has described it as somewhat of a 'first world problem'. Scene: two people arguing about where to go on holiday – ‘we can talk about seeing what you want to / we can talk about going where you want to’. The full five-track EP will be out this July in digital format as well as in limited hand-dubbed cassettes featuring artwork by Muntasir Mohamed. ‘R U Down With It’ is also the first song to be released under new record label Botanic Records helmed by BFM's ‘Into The Blue’ host Tim Sharp and visual artist Zulamran Hilmi. The label aims to become a platform for talents from around Southeast Asia, starting with KL and Singapore. According to the duo, the label isn’t restricted by genre but looks forward to releases that would create conversations about the traits of communities or locations. Later in the year, there are plans for a new project with elusive producer Adam Kasturi. ‘R U Down With It’ is available for download on Bandcamp. For more info visit www.facebook.com/botanicrecords.

Tiger Beer presents a music launch pad for budding musicians through Tiger Jams – a website which will later showcase music portfolios and serve as a voting portal. Tiger Jams will shortlist a total of ten musicians picked by music industry veterans including Soundscape Records founder Mak Wai Hoo and Twilight Actiongirl member Daryl Goh. Three winners will be chosen through a fan voting system and win RM15,000 for their musical projects on top of being able to work with acclaimed Asian acts The Sam Willows, Darren Ashley or ToNick. From there, one of the three winners will be handpicked by a mystery international artist for a collaboration. Submissions close June 5 at midnight so make your way to the website and submit a link to one of your best original works. For more info visit tigerjams.com.

Biawak Gemok Distro sells zines (small, self-published magazines) – specifically, zines concerning social issues like LGBTQ and religion. We speak to the duo behind the distro, Liy and Nine. Tell us about yourself. Nine: I’m a writer and editor, I’m originally from Northern Ireland. Liy: I’m a part-time publicist, part-time writer and also part-time voiceover talent so I guess I work a lot with the English language in terms of writing and speaking. I’m very concerned about reading being accessible because it can be an expensive hobby here. How did you guys get started? L: We started last year, Nine was already selling zines and I had a booth for instant poems. We decided to expand our zine selection and make it official. The name was Nine’s idea. N: Biawak Gemok is my idea for what may be the Komodo dragon. Why zines? L: I feel like zines make the idea of reading a lot more accessible. I’m a big fan of sharing stories and getting experiences that aren’t necessarily mainstream to the surface. N: The beauty of zines is that there are no rules; you do it your way, there is no particular format, completely DIY. I love reading people who write about their personal experiences and connect it to a wider issue in society. Biawak Gemok's zine picks ‘Cast Aside’ is a simple zine celebrating unsung Japanese heroes, it makes me really happy, Chiune Sugihara's story made me cry, to be honest. - Nine ‘Race-ing And Dating’, it’s about life in KL from the perspective of a young

Gone are the days when 'resident' cats and dogs only referred to the extra company you get at mamaks and food courts; it's now not unusual to walk into a shop and find a pet or two roaming around the premises. So the next time you’re out to get washi tapes or terrariums, keep these places in mind (because pet friends). If you know of other shops with resident pets we should make friends with, let us know in the comments.   A photo posted by Gemuk Holly (@shop_pug) on Apr 18, 2016 at 1:40am PDT Raksasa Print Studio  Bangsar’s coolest silkscreen studio is also sometimes home to Gemuk Holly the pug – although you could easily miss her since she’s tiny and black so keep your eyes open. Sometimes she (sort of) helps the Raksasa girls stuff plushies, sometimes she just makes faces. We’ve been told that for now she is definitely not invited to film screenings at the studio because 'she snores so loud'.   A photo posted by STICKERRIFIC (@stickerrific) on Jan 7, 2016 at 2:53am PST Stickerrific Stickerrific’s three resident cats are Luke, Leia and Chewie and they basically run (around) the place. The arts and crafts supply store should really be crowned the patron saint of cats of Jaya One already; the three cats were all rescued from around Jaya One and sales from Stickerrific’s original postcards are used to spay or neuter cats around the area. Luke, Leia and Chewie are also available in sticker form.   A photo posted by Collector Of Happy Things (@snackfood) on Dec 20

It’s been a good year so far for Yuna. She can now add 'Olympics theme song' to her list of accomplishments. Together with Lenny Kravitz, Nneka, Diogo Nogueira and Corinne Bailey Rae, the Malaysian sweetheart re-recorded the Questlove-produced song ‘The Fire’, originally performed by The Roots and John Legend. The track is featured on the Rio 2016 Olympic Games campaign videos. As of today, there are no music videos yet but we’re guessing that more will be revealed closer to the start of the games on June 23. Sidenote: could this mean that Yuna is likely to perform at the Olympics opening ceremony?   And ICYMI, Yuna’s song ‘Crush’ featuring Usher now has a video. Taking on similar visual themes as her previous single ‘Places To Go’, the black and white video also uses a time manipulation element. Her highly-anticipated third album ‘Chapters’ will be out next month. For more info visit yunamusic.com and olympic.org.

If you keep up with street art news, you would have heard about French Tunisian calligraffiti artist eL Seed’s work in Cairo. The piece, ‘Perception’ was done in Manshiyat Nasr, a neighbourhood for the Zabbaleen (literally translated to 'garbage people').   A photo posted by eL Seed (@elseed) on Mar 15, 2016 at 2:30am PDT The artwork is a bit like a puzzle – it’s spread over 50 buildings, and to view the complete mural, you’ll have to see it from the top of the Muqattam Mountain nearby. The piece is a circle of orange, white and blue with a quote from Coptic priest Athanasius: ‘Anyone who wants to see the sunlight clearly needs to wipe his eye first’.   A photo posted by Time Out Kuala Lumpur (@timeoutkl) on Apr 15, 2016 at 3:36am PDT However, since it’s unlikely that we Malaysians will get to see that piece ourselves, we'll make do with something closer to home: eL Seed’s other graffiti in Lebuh Ampang which actually has been around since December. Hiding perfectly in plain sight, the graffiti was done when eL Seed was in town for MOCAfest. In true eL Seed style, his graffiti goes beyond strokes and colours. The quote chosen for this one is the old Malay phrase ‘melentur buluh biar dari rebungnya’ written in jawi script. The graffiti is located at the end row of the Lebuh Ampang shophouses, facing Wisma Allianz.