Modern Food Court in Malaysia

Food Courts are the modern concept in the presentation of Street Food. It is clean, hygienic and offers personal safety for the clients

When I was a young boy in Singapore, I could remember going out for a meal cooked by the road side. These road side stalls would appear at the appropriate meal times on the street and service their customers in the allotted coffee shops. This was the “done” thing in all parts of Singapore then. My parents refused to allow me to consume food from the hawkers or mobile food vendors because of hygiene. As they had limited quantity of water, there was a risk of not cleaning the food utensils thoroughly I would be at risk of getting food poisoning or anything else that my mother could think of.

As I grew older, I realised that the best food in both Singapore and mainland Malaysia was street food. We could travel to the other end of Singapore because, say the fried noodles there was really good. With my cousins, we would do a food crawl. This is analogous to a pub crawl. We would start at one stall, go to another and finish the “meal” at the other end of the city. This was the passion for good food in this part of the world. These street food vendors were specialist in their product. They might only cook say only fried noodles or noodle soup or whatever. As they were specialists. They developed their skills in that food speciality. They had to do a good job to survive. There was always competition around the corner.

From the point of view of the street vendor, if he prepared a particular dish well, he could get a very good reputation and people all over town would come eat at his stall. It is common for people to drive 2 hours to eat at a particular stall. With such a reputation, he might be invited by a coffee shop to be his anchor tenant as he will “bring in the crowds”. Conversely, if a coffee shop is very busy, the street food vendors would bid for spaces around these coffee shops.
Turning to the present, there is considerable interest in street food and there are specialist media on this topic. Makan Sutra in Singapore and the like specialist food bloggers

I have just encountered a twist to the concept of food vendors. In the Bukit Bintang area of Kuala Lumpur, there are 2 food courts with really different propositions. .

Lot 10 shopping mall has a food court called Lot 10 Hutong. This is a compact area but the food vendors have been selected by the CEO of the Shopping mall; Tan Sri Francis Yeoh. (Tan Sri is a conferred title very similar to “Sir” or “Lord” in the UK). He has taken his time to invite vendors to come to his property. In other words, there is the best of the best being sold in one location.

One of the really charming features is the coffee. It is served in thick old fashioned China Cup with really strong coffee. We sat by a real marble table. Just like the times of old.

coffee served as they used to

On the other side of the street in the Pavilion shopping mall. The complete basement is devoted to street food called Food Republic. There is a tremendous variety and selection of foods. Some stalls are really good but there are other stalls that have a different interpretation to my point of view.

Food Republic at the Pavilion, KL

When I was first visited both these food courts, I was totally bewildered with the size, complexity and variety in the food courts. However, with repeated visits and guidance from the locals, I think I finally got the hang of it.

If I wanted simplicity and quality, I would go to the Lot 10 Hutong. If I wanted to taste something different and have the time to go look the various food vendors I would go to the Food Republic at the Pavilion.

In most instances, I am pushed for time and prefer to have the best of the best.
But in the end, you pays your monies and make your choice.

From a food obsessive Michael Oon

(c) Copyright – Dr Michael Oon. All Rights Reserved Worldwide 2011.

West Edmonton Mall Interiors - showing the Santa Maria

The West Edmonton Mall (WEM) opened its doors in September 1981 and has expanded three more times to become the largest mall in the world until 2004. It is now the 5th largest mall with the largest 2 in China and the following ones in Philippines and Dubai respectively. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Edmonton_Mall

The WEM is a destination shopping centre with amusement parks, Waterpark, Sea Lion Rock, Movie theatres, a Recreation Centre, ice rink in addition to the shopping facilities. What has happened to this Shopping Mall? I visited this mall.

At first glance, the activity of the mall was uneven and at times unusual. The activity was concentrated around phases 2 and 3. Phase 1 and 4 were particularly quiet. Secondly, it was the second or upper floor that was busier than the ground floor. The interior looks dated and tired; not in keeping with the times.

The leading brand names are not in this Mall. The second tier or lower brands are present. This is a reflection of the significance of this Mall of the major brands. It is not a major mall.

There are a number of themed areas – Bourbon Street (for food), Europa Boulevard (shops) and Chinatown. Europa Boulevard has European styled Buildings for shops but in the centre alley, there is a tacky Putt and Play golf course which is totally incongruous. Bourbon Street and Chinatown are both busy. Europa is not busy.

West Edmonton Mall - Entrance 50 - The source of Energy for the Mall.

On the Second floor, there are more sources of energy but only in the phase 2 and 3. This is most prominent in the Chinatown area.

West Edmonton Mall - Chinatown Entrance

In my opinion, once this extension is built, this will be the start of the slow death of the Mall.

(c) Copyright – Dr Michael Oon. All Rights Reserved Worldwide 2011.

The O2 Arena with new buildings marked “A”.

The Dome is located at the end of the Greenwich Peninsula in South East London. It was to hold an exhibition to celebrate the 3rd millennium from 1st January to 31st December 2000. The project and exhibition was subject of considerable controversy as it failed to attract the number of visitors anticipated with recurring financial problems. The project cost was about GBP 800 million.

The original exhibition and associated complex have since been demolished but the Dome still exists and is the key feature of the O2 Arena.

The O2 Arena was the phoenix emerging from the debris of the Millennium experience. It has been transformed to an entertainment district which includes an indoor arena (with a capacity of about 20,000 people), a music club, multi-screen cinema with bars and restaurants. The most important point of the O2 Arena is that it has become an extremely successful entertainment hub for London with regular performances of major artists from all parts of the world.

So, what has made the difference from the feng shui perspective?

The Millennium Dome on the Peninsula with the blue arrows showing the flow of the river. The red arrows show the direction of energy towards and away from the Dome. Image from Google Earth.

As there was no settled energy at the Millennium Dome, the project did not work.

The Changes with the O2 Arena

The O2 Arena with the new buildings marked “A”.

Buildings marked “A“ stop the outflow of the energy at the O2 Arena.

This is the difference between success and failure – the holding of energy at the site.

(c) Copyright – Dr Michael Oon. All Rights Reserved Worldwide 2011.

Google Earth Image of One Hyde Park Building

“They are the most expensive Apartments in the World – and the men who dreamt them up – the Candy Brothers, say they are the finest. Yet four years after this glittering £1 billion London landmark went on sale, nearly one in three flats remains unsold. And only a handful of buyers have moved in!”
The Sunday Times Magazine, 20th November 2011

When this project was announced some 6 years ago, I thought to myself. This apartment is in the most expensive and prestigious area of London. There is a strong market for property of this class as this depends on the international market who perceive London as a heaven of stability. It is next to Hyde Park which is one of the main sources of energy for London. It will sell irrespective of the economic climate unless the feng shui was really bad.

I never had a closer look at the apartments except made the comment that it was too large for the site.

A few weeks ago, I received an e-mail inviting me to view this building which indicated that there were still apartments available for sale. Therefore, In a trip to London, I had a quick look at the building. On Sunday, I saw an article in the Sunday Times Magazine which prompted me to prepare this blog.

Description of Building.

One Hyde Park consists of 4 separate blocks. The North side of the building faces Hyde Park and the south side faces Knightsbridge. The main entrances are from the South or Knightsbridge side. (see Google earth image)

An Entrance to One Hyde Park Apartments

Image 2 shows one of the many entrances to the building. Although this looks really modern, in feng shui terms, as there is such a narrow band of energy going in. The building will have strong “highs” or good times but strong “lows” or bad times.

Image 3 show the back of the building – the side that faces Hyde Park. There is only one entrance that faces the park the North West side where there is a chauffeur pickup entrance. There are thick bushes there for privacy purposes but this prevents the energy from getting to the building through this entrance.

One Hyde Park Apartment Building - the side facing Hyde Park

There are no other entrances facing Hyde Park. Therefore, there is no energy from the Park getting to the building.

Am I surprised with the number of remaining units in this building? No. There is no energy going into the building. It is my understanding, there is a healthy market in this class of property from international purchasers.

Well. It will take quite a long time for the remaining empty units to be sold irrespective of how much work the estate agents put in.

(c) Copyright – Dr Michael Oon. All Rights Reserved Worldwide 2011.

The standard unit of time is the “hour, day, month, year”. They are also cycles – one hour has 60 seconds, one day has 24 hours, one month has about 30 days and one year has 365 days. The Chinese have further cycles of 12 years, 60 years and the 180 years.

In this talk, I am referring to the 180 year cycle which is made up of 9 sub-cycles, each of 20 years. As with Chinese philosophy, these cycles have their own particular characteristics or properties.

This video is about two of these 20 year sub-cycles. They are known as Period 7 and Period 8. The characteristics of each sub-cycle are different and I will show how they relate to current social and economic trends. As the saying goes: ”To be forewarned is to be forearmed”.

1984-2004 is known as Period 7. It was a brash time, rise of the women in the workplace, the spending of money, and the rise of the service industries. 2004-2024 (Period 8 ) is totally different – creative and manufacturing industries, different perception on money; village life with a caring and sharing mindset.

The talk is in the Pecha Kucha format; showing of 20 images each for 20 seconds.

The video is for the UK audience but for non-UK viewers, there is some background information on Katie Price (aka Jordan) and her ex-husband Peter Andre.

Katie Price is a celebrity, famous for being famous. At the age of 33, she has already written her 5th autobiography and is in a number of reality shows. She says what she thinks. She is considered to be impulsive, frank, argumentative and a spendthrift.

Peter Andre is a singer who had the hit “Mysterious Girl” in the 1990s. His second spell as a celebrity started with his romance with Katie Price. He takes is “craft” seriously. He practises his singing whenever he has time. He has a TV programme where he goes around the country helping people to raise money for their projects. He uses his time and celebrity status to help.

(c) Copyright – Dr Michael Oon. All Rights Reserved Worldwide 2011.

Home Office “not fit for purpose”, the Immigration Fiasco and Feng Shui.

The Minister, Theresa May, has serious questions to answer for her actions. The minister has made accusations that senior members of the UK Border Agency have overstepped their authority. One of the “accused “ is to make a rebuttal the House of Parliament Select Committee. Senior civil servants very rarely overstep their authority. They did not get there by over stepping their authority (personal experience). UK Border Agency checks scandal: 10 questions Theresa May must answer

The Home Office has to deal with a secondary crisis: UK Border Agency hit by fresh ‘bribes for visas’ scandal

This is not the first time multiple crises have struck the Home Office.

“The Home Office has long had a reputation as a glittering coffin. Many recent home secretaries have, as one of them put it to me, left the place feet first. There have been six New Labour home secretaries in the past 13 years – three of whom were forced to go. To try to capture the culture and DNA of the most hazardous department in government for a new TV series, “The Great Offices of State”.”
Michael Cockerell’s description for the TV documentary. Inside the Home Office, Whitehall’s ‘Lubyanka’

A previous minister Dr John Reid declared that Home Office was “not fit for purpose”.Inside the Home Office, Whitehall’s ‘Lubyanka’

Taken as a whole, there are really seriously bad comments of the performance of the Home Office.

Why does it happen?

Let us look at the new Home Office building (Top image). Its design is incongruous to an important ministry of the British Government. It looks frivolous with “shutters” across the building and a “fancy” multi-coloured roof. This design does not show the requisite importance or stature, it looks more like a building for a media company. In my opinion, this design does not appear “fit for purpose”.

Entrance to Home Office “not fit for purpose”, the Immigration Fiasco and Feng Shui

A building with a “normal” door receives energy from a span of at least 90 degrees wide. Therefore, the energy going in will be mix of various types of energy. Therefore, the high and lows will not be as intense. The highs and lows will be subdued because of the mixture of energies.

Google Earth image - Home Office “not fit for purpose”, the Immigration Fiasco and Feng Shui.

This is my interpretation to explain the happenings in the Home Office, the graveyard of many ministers of this department.

It is not the people, it is the building (stupid!)

(c) Copyright – Dr Michael Oon. All Rights Reserved Worldwide 2011.

Tiffany at a Hot Spot

Every time I am walk along the streets, I am always in search of unusual aspects of the environment. More often than not, I will report this on this blog. On this occasion, I observed the presence of a “feng shui hot spot”. This implies that the environment is conducive to strong build up of energy which implies, there will be good business around this area.

A previous occasion, I commented on the Apple Store in Regent Street doing good business. This store is located in a Hot Spot.

This observation is on Old Bond Street directly in front of Tiffany, the luxury jewellery store.

Tiffany at a Hot Spot - Google Earth view

The Energy shown as red arrows, flowing down Old Bond Street in a North to South Direction.

1. In front of Tiffany, there is a building which protrudes out onto the road – this is marked with a blue arrow. This behaves like a restriction on the energy flow. Hence, there will be a build up of energy in front of Tiffany.

2. Then, there is an oncoming road (Vigo Street) to Tiffany in an Easterly direction. This road brings more energy.

3. There is such a build up of energy in this small area, Tiffany who so happens to the there, will do extremely well in the business and in relationships. The senior management will always want better performance of their staff.

From what I have heard about the Old Bond Street store, it is doing extremely well.

(c) Copyright – Dr Michael Oon. All Rights Reserved Worldwide 2011.

The Hamilton Massa bust-up at the F1 Indian Grand Prix 2011

Once again, there are hundreds of columns inches in the media of the apparent feud between McLaren’s Hamilton and Ferrari’s Massa. It was a boring race and, as a result, the main news worthy focus has been on this incident Lewis Hamilton centre stage in F1′s Indian adventure

Previous to this Indian GP race, both have been have been in collisions with each other Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa’s five collisions in 2011.

I thought that I would give my opinion on this continuing feud, adding to the column inches of this topic.

Felipe Massa: There has been talk about Massa underperforming this season and could be replaced by Ferrari, Is Felipe Massa under-performing on purpose? And will he have a say in the title race?

1. One common technique is to use distraction to blame for your “failure”? Who better than Hamilton whom you have had a number of incidents in the past?

2. Massa appears to show a lot of emotion in these incidents. This adds fuel to the feud.

Lewis Hamilton: He has not been delivering the results that he usually does. It is said that he has been distracted because of a number of reasons.

1. His team mate – Jenson Button is doing better than he is. Hamilton is “destabilized” as he has never been the lesser partner in the McLaren Team.

2. The break up a long relationship with Nicole Scherzinger (a singer based in Los Angeles, USA). There will be the emotional turmoil prior to the break up.

3. Hamilton is an aggressive F! driver. Much comment has been made, especially in 2007, his first year at the F1 level.

But, why do these drivers come together so frequently?
As I see it – simply – they are thinking about each other all the time; especially Massa. Massa is blaming Hamilton for all his woes. The Law of Attraction is working – it is attracting both persons to “meet” each other. With the negative energy, the chances of a bad outcome are high.

In my opinion, the best outcome for both drivers is to ignore each other. Both want to do the best they can in the race and gain the best possible result. Every time they collide or have an incident, they both loose out. Just look at the Indian Grand Prix where both cars were damaged and get mentally “de-focussed”. Massa did not complete the race and Hamilton can a poor seventh. It is a lose–lose situation every time. If they ignore each other and complete the race, it will be a win-win situation.

It is really simple; just bury the hatchet and get on with the racing. Go for a Win-Win situation.

(c) Copyright – Dr Michael Oon. All Rights Reserved Worldwide 2011.

Interiors or Burlington Arcade

On a recent visit to the West End of London, I happened to notice 3 shopping arcades in the Piccadilly area.

Burlington Arcade - Exterior view from Cork Street

So, why is this Arcade busy whereas the others are not?
Burlington Arcade is getting more energy than the other 2 arcades. Cork Street faces Burlington Arcade; it supplies it with energy. Hence the activity in the Arcade.
A view from Cork Street the entrance to Burlington Arcade. The energy flows from Cork Street to the Burlington Arcade.

The other 2 arcades, Princes and Piccadilly Arcades do not have such a supply of energy and hence, it was not busy with shoppers.

Exterior views of Piccadilly Arcade and Princes Arcade

Staines Town Hall panoramic image

Hard-Fi lead singer Richard Archer is quoted to have said:
“A lot of the bars are closing, Habitat went into administration, Jane Norman, Thorntons. It’s all starting to fall to bits.”
“Staines is in a dark place at the moment, like a ghost town.”

Of course, there was an official rebuttal from the Staines Council.

My observations with due regards to Richard’s comments:

The concentration of stable energy is centred on the main shopping areas near the Elmsleigh Shopping Centre (http://michaeloon.com/blog/a-look-at-staines-town-centre ). The other areas (marked A) do not have the energy and the business will not be good. This can be easily seen with the boarded up shops or “for sale sign” by the shops.

Should you drive through the town, you will not see any of the prosperous areas, it is like an hidden enclave. The roads pass the “deprived” areas. An example is shown in the image above.

The above image is of “The Town Hall” with the surrounding buildings. There are no less than 5 “for sale” or “to let “ signs on this panoramic image. This is precisely the impression you get when driving pass. No doubt, this is how Hper-Fi’s Richard Archer got the impression that Staines is like a Ghost town,

The good news from Richard’s comment is the Staines Thorton’s Chocolate shop is still traiding.

Thortons chocolate shop in Staines

Update 24th Oct 2011:

The feel of Staines as a “Ghost Town” in my opinion, is due to the River Thames pulling away the energy from the Town, The energy loss can be minimised by a careful design of buildings at specific locations to hold the energy – very much like how Elmsleigh Shopping Centre holds the energy. This will behave very much like a dam holding and preventing the outflow of the energy. I will not go into detail as it can get very technical. Once this is done, the town centre will have a very different feel and appearance. Staines will have a feel of a real town and not a “Ghost Town”.

Secondly, the areas peripheral to the town centre, where the offices and business parks are. These areas are prosperous because they are outside the energy pull of the river. The pulling away of the energy from the Staines Town centre.

Related Blogs on Staines

A Look at Staines Town Centre

Elmsleigh Shopping Centre in Staines

Hard-Fi lead singer Richard Archer comments on Staines – Some Observations

(c) Copyright – Dr Michael Oon. All Rights Reserved Worldwide 2011.