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“I still find myself having conversations with her in my mind. Rehashing old arguments and defending myself against something she said about me.”

HER (2013) x dir. Spike Jonze

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her 

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Her (2013) directed by Spike Jonze

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•you have your garden in my heart•

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等待　我随时随地在等待　做你感情上的依赖

我没有任何的疑问　这是爱

我猜　你早就想要说明白　我觉得自己好失败

从天堂掉落到深渊　多无奈

我愿意改变 (what can I do)

重新再来一遍 (just give me chance)

我无法只是普通朋友　感情已那么深　叫我怎么能放手

但你说　I only wanna be your friend　做个朋友

我在你心中只是 just a friend　不是情人

我感激你对我这样的坦白　但我给你的爱暂时收不回来

So I 我不能只是 be your friend　I just can't be your friend

我猜　你早就想要说明白　我觉得自己好失败

从天堂掉落到深渊　多无奈

我愿意改变 (what can I do)

重新再来一遍 (just give me chance)

我无法只是普通朋友　感情已那么深　叫我怎么能放手

但你说　I only wanna be your friend　做个朋友

我在你心中只是 just a friend　不是情人

我感激你对我这样的坦白　但我给你的爱暂时收不回来

So I 我不能只是 be your friend　I just can't be your friend

no, no, no, 我不能只是做你的朋友　不能做普通朋友

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Sam / SALT STUDIO / Hairstylist

Tell us a bit about yourself. I’m just a man who enjoys craft work , hiking and collecting memories.

above photo - flyer from one of 11f event : SELEPAS 12 TAHUN

Apart from your day job as a hairdresser/hairstylist, you’ve designed and built your whole salon from scratch. When and why did you begin to explore interior design? 2 years ago a couple of my best friends, Khang Yong, Jiun Kang and I began the renovation of 11F. The house was abandoned 12 years ago and was only left with the walls and roof. Almost 50% of the revolution work was done by ourselves. We completed the project in in one and half years. I learnt a lot renovation skills in that period.

I spent 2 months designing and renovating Salt Studio, all the renovation work was done by myself and friends; Khang Yong , Ernest and Alan. Only the Air-con was installed by professionals.

Tell us about your space, as it’s quite a different location/ vibe from the usual salons? Wood furniture, plants, natural light and vinyl always bring the good vibe.

How does your space reflect your personality/ creativity? Just come to visit my space and you can feel it…haha…

What has the response been from customers, new and old? Mostly all of the customers like the old furniture and decorations, old stuff brings up a lot memories for them.

Are there things you don’t allow in your space in order to be more productive? No….

What is your favourite music to work to? Stay alive by Jose gonzalez https://youtu.be/NucJk8TxyRg

流浪者之歌 by cheer chen https://youtu.be/SygkJv51Ixs

70X7 by Mateus asoto https://youtu.be/gr1T4kDaSjM

What’s your favourite area/ item in your space and why? The single vintage sofa below the hanging plant, the attic and the copper made standing cat.

Tell us about Repurposing old furniture, recycling etc? Where do you get your ideas? In the past, many people had skills to repair rather than repurchase, they didn’t used to throw it away, they’d fix it. Nowadays people just throw things away unnecessarily, like relationships too?! For me, all the old furniture is like gold. “One mans trash is another mans treasure!”

What is your favourite city/ Country and why? Has it inspired any of the design in your salon? New Zealand, the place changed my life (I’m did a working holiday there for 1 year) Also Himalaya, Nepal, the place let me feel how small I am in this world. Lastly, of course Jb Malaysia, my roots.

What’s your view on JB’s creative scene? It’s getting better and better….good thing take time….

What’s next? Only god know.

@saltstudio_11f

@sam_saltstudio_11f 

@11f____

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132 years ago this week in 1886, President Grover Cleveland dedicated the Statue of Liberty in the New York Harbor. The statue was a gift from the people of France. Lady Liberty is pictured here during a WWII blackout in 1942. (Andreas Feininger—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images) #StatueOfLiberty #tbt https://www.instagram.com/p/Bpo4s65gDWF/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=bxtq38npyube

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An undated photo from an unpublished children’s Halloween party story, most likely from the 1940s. (William C. Shrout—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images) #Halloween #1940s #LIFEmagazine https://www.instagram.com/p/BpmTTzFhULt/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1pj7ufm38we7y

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Jarrod & Tanya: Sailing Chantilly

Tell us a bit about yourselves.

Tanya:  “I love travelling, and had been for the past 2 years before I met Jarrod. In Australia I travelled across the country working at music and food festivals, I have a great passion for live music! My background studies include tourism, event management and hospitality. Jarrod and I met in Darwin 2016. Before we met I got a job living on a sinking historical vessel called Alfred Noble. My job was to pump the bilge to keep the boat afloat after it had been refloated. Meanwhile, Jarrod was looking for crew to join him on the Darwin to Ambon, Indonesia… yacht race. The funny thing is… We met online on a dating site called ‘Plenty of Fish’.  After 1 week I moved onto Chantilly, his yacht, and never looked back.

Jarrod: “I’ve had Chantilly since 2011. In 2013 I sold my company, rented my house out, and moved onto Chantilly fulltime. I then began my travels, leaving the Goldcoast Queensland, Australia I head north sailing around Australia heading for Darwin. It took about 2 & a half years to get there. I stayed at some really amazing places like Whitsundays, all along the Great Barrier Reef and Cairns. I then settled in Darwin. Where I met Tanya. Apart from sailing my other hobby is motorcross. Before we left Darwin, we travelled to Alice Springs in the middle of Australia as I contended in Tatts Finke Desert Race, the largest motocross race in Australia, which is a 1500km race in harsh desert country. Two months later we sailed away from Darwin Australia in a yacht race called Darwin to Ambon Yacht Race in Indonesia.”

Tell us about your boat

‘Chantilly’ is a 42foot Lagoon catamaran made in France. Living full-time on a live-aboard boat is the most freeing experience anyone could endure. Our boat is like our own country, we can travel all over the world and take all our possessions along with us. We make our own power and fresh water, the only real expenses we have is food, fuel and maintenance on the boat, believe me it’s not all cocktails and sunsets! There is a lot of hard work that goes into owning a boat. All the hard work pays off when you arrive on an uninhabited island in the tropics with crystal clear water, soft white sand and an underwater world full of bright coloured coral and amazingly beautiful fish. We love snorkeling, diving and spearfishing, yet we only catch what we can eat. Sometimes we are out for hours in the water, it’s such a peaceful and relaxing place to be, it’s like another world down there.

While we were with you, after a long night of drinks and a huge bonfire on the beach, we found ourselves caught in a storm where we became unanchored in an empty bay, it was very impressive to see you both get the boat back to safety. Tell us about how you deal with the ever-changing weather conditions.

The weather does play a big part in our daily routine while living on Chantilly. We usually watch the weather patterns in the region we are in and make a decision to pull up anchor and move to a calmer anchorage if the weather gets rough. However, sometimes you may not have a choice but to stick out a storm and sit tight. At the beginning of 2017 we were up on the border of Myanmar and Thailand and we got hit by lightning while we were on Chantilly, a very scary experience, the damage done was expensive and extensive. We had to sail for 3 days down to Phuket to get the boat fixed as all our navigation equipment blew up from the lightening. Repairing the boat took a lot of time and money to fix. Insurance is important when owning a boat, it is important to have it.

What kind of music do you like to play whilst sailing Chantilly?

Usually while we are sailing we love listening to reggae island music or old school classics. We love laying on the trampoline mats on the bow of the boat with a cold beer and cruising tunes while the sound of waves splash through the hull of Chantilly, sometimes we even sleep there under the stars.

What do you get up to when you’re not on the boat?

When we do get to an island or mainland of a country we also love doing land travel. We have a Yamaha wr450 motorbike on board Chantilly that Jarrod recently got sent over from Australia, it’s a road and trail bike so we can do a lot of off road travel too.

Whats your favourite item on The Chantilly?

Tanya:  “Apart from the trampolines, ducky is our favourite toy on the boat!”

Where’s your favourite place you’ve sailed to? (so far).

Our favourite place that we have sailed to would have to be Indonesia, we have been back 3 times now. When we left Australia we spent 3 months sailing through the Indonesian Archipelago, from East to West. In 2017 we sailed to Sumatra and now this year we have made it to the island group of Anambas which is in-between Malaysia Peninsula and East Malaysia/Borneo. There are around 250 islands here, and no tourists, so we are loving it. Most islands are uninhabited and the water clarity is unbelievable, best we have seen so far! That’s what we love the most, dense jungles, white beaches and clear water.

(Above: Jarrod & Tanya hanging their hammock under the boat.)

Why were you harboured in Puteri Harbour, Johor Bahru?

When we sailed back into Puteri Harbour it had been 2 years since we were there last. We contacted our friend Aarti and spent about 3 months there organising a website and preparing videos from our years of sailing edited for our new Youtube sailing channel which should be launched in December this year.

During our stay we met so many people, mostly expats who work in the region of Johor Bahru, we have made so many great friendships there, friendships that will last a lifetime. We also met a few sailors from around the world doing what we are doing now.  It’s interesting to find so many people buying boats and sailing the world, we usually meet each other in marinas and then again somewhere along our travels. The sailing community is such a vast community, we learn so much about sailing from each other. A lot of sailors who buy a boat when young never look back at living in a house again, some have been sailing for more then 30 years.

(Above) Certificate from Tanya’s mother’s sailing days. Tanya received the certificate from her mother when she past away in 2016. Her mother was Russian but was born in China. The family had to migrate as the Japanese where invading, she sailed to Australia in the 60s. Chantilly will someday sail to China to where it all began.

Where are you sailing to next?

So after we sail around Anambas we will sail over to East Malaysia, stopping in Kuching, Sibu, Miri, Labuan, and finally Kota Kinabalu. We will also take our motorbike across country too. After Malaysia we will sail over to the Philipines. All of these destinations will all be new waters for us, we are really excited to sail and explore these fascinating destinations.

Jarrod & Tanya are working hard with their editing team to bring you along on their journey by launching their Youtube channel later on this year. 

For now, you can follow them on instagram @sailingchantilly and look out for them on your travels! 

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Mui - Chef

We caught Mui at his second restaurant BAM, in the last few weeks of service (photos below). This year Sprout has appeared at ‘pop-up’ locations all around Johor Bahru, you might have caught him at Senibong Cove? Much to our delight, he is focusing on reopening Sprout, by the end of the year with a new contemporary twist. 

MUI

Tell us a bit about yourself. My name is Mui and I come from Kulai, Johor. I studied culinary arts at Taylors University at Kuala Lumpur. I spent 5 years cooking in Singapore, 5 months training in London and Oslo and the latest project that I have been doing for the past 2 ½ years is my restaurant Sprout, in Johor Bahru.

Tell us about your first restaurant, Sprout? Sprout is a contemporary restaurant that has a strong influence on Asian cuisine using modern cooking techniques and presentation.

(Photos above from @sprout.jb instagram)

Who influenced you to explore in the kitchen?  I love reading cookbooks from different great chefs on how they run restaurants in their own ways and of course through social media. Reading about different chef’s and their kitchens truly influenced me, and I felt motivated when I got to know more about their stories.

How does your kitchen reflect your personality/ creativity? The kitchen is almost like a home for chefs like us, its the place we feel most comfortable, relaxed and excited at the same time. We like to show our concept to our guests through our food, beverages, and service, to create memorable dining experience.

Photos below taken at Mui’s second & more casual restaurant, BAM.

Flipping burgers at BAM

This is Joseph, Chef and business partner.

Is there anything you don’t allow in your kitchen in order to be more productive? No, there is such rule in my kitchen, we are working on a daily basis and try to improve ourselves from tiny details such as the taste, the presentation, the temperature of the foods, etc.

What’s your favourite kind of music to work to? Soft music that allows me to stay focused and quiet while working in the kitchen.

What’s your favourite item in your kitchen? Bbq griller

What is your favourite city/ Country and why? Kyoto, Japan because its has amazing scenary, amazing foods and culture.

What’s your view on JB’s creative scene? JB has great potential on the creative scene but it takes time for people to stand together to show how great the city is and it just might take some time.

If you could spend the day with anyone, who would it be and why? Wenny, my girlfriend and also my best friend to talk to, best companion to travel with, and has some of the best taste buds I’ve ever known.

What’s next? Get Sprout on the right path, and showcase our creation to JB.

*Photos taken at BAM, which has now been closed to allow Mui to focus on reopening his first restaurant, Sprout. 

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In the July 13, 1953 issue, 65 years ago this week, LIFE ran a feature about the population boom in Los Angeles - “A NEW MAYOR…A NEW COUNCILWOMAN… AND 400 NEW ANGELS EVERY DAY. According to LIFE, "What is really startling about the influx is that an average of 400 people have been moving into the Los Angeles area every day for 13 years. Since 1946 Los Angeles’ increase in population approximates the total population of two Milwaukees. In terms of new houses built since the end of World War II the Los Angeles area has added more than two Pittsburghs.” This image is an outtake from the story. (J.R. Eyerman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images) #thisweekinLIFE #trafficjam #LosAngeles

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Ireen Tan / Creative Soul & Wanderer

Tell us a bit about yourself: I majored with a multimedia diploma, but somehow I realised it is not my correct life path, so I choose to follow my voice of inner-self, and let my imagination run wild and create handmade-craft.



Who influenced you to explore handmade arts and crafts?
 My mum, she used to be a tailor when I was kid. I was amazed by her skills to create things at home.



What is the purpose of your studio?
 I like ‘togetherness’; to do things I like with others, and to have a space to interact with them at the same time. Another core target is to let the public know the actual value of handmade art compared with the mass production.


 How does your studio reflect your personality/ creativity? If I have to categorise, it might be considered ‘urban bohemian’ which reflects my crazy, wild spirited character.



 Are there things you don’t allow in your studio in order to be more productive? 
My ultimate laziness.



What is your favourite music to work to? 
King Krull, Sales, Willow, Ella Fitzgerald. 



What’s your favourite area/ item in your studio? 
EVERYTHING hahaha

!

What is your favourite city/ Country and why?
 There’s a small town up on a hill 2 hours away from Chiangmai, named Pai. It’s a beautiful place to go and fulfill my ultimate laid-back lifestyle.


 What’s your view on JB’s creative scene? 
It is still in progress towards maturity.

 If you could spend the day with anyone, who would it be and why? 
My mum, I miss her everyday since she passed away.

 What’s next? No plan is a good plan.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/missireenhandmade

https://www.instagram.com/msireenhandmade/?hl=en

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Miss-Ireen-Craft-Vintage/319143138606315

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CURLY / BAKER

Tell us a bit about yourself. I feel like I’m from somewhere beyond time. I failed every subject in high school. I like to bake, have plants, and collect retro and unusual household items and furniture. Sleep is the best meditation.

Who influenced you to explore baking? My cousin.

What is the purpose of your studio/kitchen? I love to have friends over and cook for them something I enjoy to eat. My space is an open-concept kitchen. Open for anyone to come and share their skills with others and to enjoy flavours and stories from around the world.

How does your kitchen reflect your personality/ creativity? Always go with the flow.

Are there things you don’t allow in your kitchen in order to be more productive? No, it’s an open space to share ideas and creations with others.

What is your favourite music to work to? Toxic - Britney spears, Sammi Cheng － mei fei se wu (眉飛色舞） What’s your favourite area/ item in your kitchen? Definitely the orange microwave and the black and white checkered tiled wall.

What is your favourite city/ Country and why? Johor Bahru.

If you could spend the day with anyone, who would it be and why? His Holiness 14th Dalai Lama

What’s next? Who knows?

@bonbonbakerycafejb_, @thenameisbon11,@11f___

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Ernest Goh - Artist / Photographer

Tell us a bit about yourself. (background/ studies/ hobbies ….)  I started out as a newspaper photographer covering news stories ranging from crime scenes to food reviews. It is one of the best jobs in the world to learn about the crazy world we live in. After that I freelanced for various international news agencies and publications before focusing on making visual artworks about the natural environment. That led me to explore the art of taxidermy which had fascinated me as a child. It was my time living in London that I decided I wanted to learn the art form first hand.

Who influenced you to explore taxidermy? The natural environment. Specifically my fascination with looking at the details of the natural world. Taxidermy offers us a unique opportunity to study a specimen up close.  

What is the purpose of your studio? A refuge to explore and create.

How does your studio reflect your personality/ creativity? It’s eclectic, nostalgic and irrelevant. It has bits of cultures of the world that trigger my eyes and hands into creating.

Are there things you don’t allow in your studio in order to be more productive? Narrow mindedness.

What is your favourite music to work to? Bob Marley - Three little birds Oh Calypso (我爱卡拉苏 - Wo ai ka li su) - Grace Chang (葛蘭 - Ge Lan)

What’s your favourite area/ item in your studio?  Polly and Wally, the two taxidermy ducklings.

What is your favourite city/ Country and why? Too many. Any city with good food and good company.

What’s your view on JB’s creative scene? Lots of hidden talent!

If you could spend the day with anyone, who would it be and why?  Lonesome George, the Pinta Island tortoise of Galapagos. What better way to explore the Galapagos than with one of it oldest inhabitants.

What’s next? Ridding our natural environment of plastic. It’s great that the conversation of plastic pollution is getting heard but it needs to get even louder.

www.theanimalbook.com www.instagram.com/theanimalbookco

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PETALS & TWIGS, Ming & Sky

Tell us a bit about yourself. We are both graphic designers who met in New Zealand. In 2015, we made up our minds to return to Malaysia. We both wanted to share our experience and passion for floral and fauna. That was how it began, the founding of Petals & Twigs. Together with our experience in graphic design it helped us achieve a trained eye for colour, texture, form and balance in our floral and botanical styling. 


Who influenced you to explore floristry? My family.




What is the purpose of your studio? Our studio is a place where we get to escape from our usual chores, work and stress. It’s also the place where we can relax and do what we love.

How does your studio reflect your personality/ creativity? The surroundings reflect the greenery and foliage that we fell in love with and the studio’s natural light brings us joy whenever it touches on anything we are working on. 


Are there things you don’t allow in your studio in order to be more productive? No not really.


What is your favourite music to work to? We normally play our music through Spotify, but most of the time we listen to Folly & The Hunter, Lewis Del Mar and Bombay Bicycle Club.  




What’s your favourite area/ item in your studio? Our green marbled work desk.


What is your favourite City/ Country and why? There’s no place like home. I love being back in Penang, Malaysia where I can visit the botanical gardens and also Penang hill. I get inspiration from the landscape of colours from tropical plants and flowers. 




What’s your view on JB’s creative scene? I think JB lacks of its creative scene and I’m glad that Can Studio is helping us put together BEINGS so that we are able get to know all the creative people around JB and hopefully we will get to plan out something together in the near future.

What’s next? We would love to bring P&T to the next step ahead. Challenging the limits of being a florist. Soon we will be introducing what we’ve been planning.

@petalsandtwigsstudio

http://petalsandtwigs.co

https://www.facebook.com/petalsandtwigsstudio/

#petalsandtwigsstudio

#beingsjb 

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VANSHA - Illustrator / Graphic designer

Tell us a bit about yourself. (background/ studies/ hobbies ….) I am a traveller. I have been hopping around places for the past 7 years being the irresponsible human being that I am. I eat more than I should. I watch at least one movie a day. I am agnostic.

Who influenced you to explore graphic design and illustration? I’ve always loved to draw, the decision was really a no-brainer. Having studied in both Fashion and Filmmaking taught me to be curious and explorative, so I am always in the quest for new stuff to do.  

What is the purpose of your studio? It’s a place to work, read, enjoy a brew, chitchat with friends, and rest.

How does your studio reflect your personality/ creativity? My studio is pink, created in contrast to my personality. I am very black and white and grey.

Are there things you don’t allow in your studio in order to be more productive? I try very hard to avoid food in the studio, but friends are bringing in food daily and I have a housemate who is a pastry chef…

What is your favourite music to work to? Goldfrapp’s Felt Mountain, Nirvana’s Unplugged in New York, Sheena Ringo’s Kalk Samen Kuri no Hana, Massive Attack’s Mezzanine, or anything by Radiohead.

What’s your favourite area/ item in your studio? My books! And right now my favourite is probably the one I illustrated last year in Japan.

What is your favourite city/ Country and why? I’ve lived in Manchester and Kyoto, so they will always have a special place in my heart. And of course Johor Bahru, because it’s home.

What’s your view on JB’s creative scene? I disagree when people say JB doesn’t understand creativity, but we do lack the diversity and appreciation. In JB, commercial value and “public acceptance” reign over almost everything. People remain conservative when it comes to different art forms or styles. But we are definitely catching up fast, which is very exciting to see.

If you could spend the day with anyone, who would it be and why? I’ve never really thought about that before. I like when life gives me surprises.

What’s next? Although my job title says graphic designer I never see myself as one. For me there is a clear difference between graphic design and illustration, although they do overlap sometimes. So what’s next would be to focus more on my illustration work, and continue to learn and discover new things.

contact vansha - 52strangeways@gmail.com