Happy New Year & New Northern Water Theme Park BERTAM SOUK

 Assalammualaikum semua...

halooo!! 

Happy New Year!

Happy 2023!

Ya setelah lama menyepi, kini aku kembali.
For this entry, bukan setakat nak ucap selamat tahun baru je, tapi jugak nak update tentang this new water Theme Park Bertam SOUK yang terletak di Kepala Batas, Pulau Pinang yang aku g baru2 ni (cuti krisamas 2022).

FYI Kepala Batas ni, kat belah Seberang Perai Utara, (Mainland) bukan belah pulau yer. Dia kat kawasan paling utara pulau pinang, sempadan Kedah (Sungai Petani) dah.

Meh aku nak citer pengalaman aku g sana. Minggu ke 2 lepas dia buka. Sangat baru.
buka kul 10pg.. Come on, theme park kena la bukak awal. kul 9pg. at least kul 9.30pg. Dah la tutup pukul 5? like 10-5? wth? kalau buka kul 10, at least tutup pukul 6.30ptg...
Kami sampai kul 9.35pg. parking dah hampir penuh. Kat depan pintu dah penuh ratus2 orang.
9.55pg dia buka pagar, so kami ramai2 rush bergegas berhimpit, dari pintu depan ke kaunter agak jauh dalam 30m, lalu macam2 kedai makan diorg. Food court takde. Just macam gerai2 with limited seats.

Ramai gila orang. Kami sampai awal la jugak. beratur depan pintu sebelum dia buka. terus rush sampai ke kaunter. ada 5 kaunter je. 1 kaunter online, 3 kaunter biasa, 1 lagi kaunter utk beli kad local. Kad local ni, mcm kad prabayar, kena reload, dan guna kad tu saja utk apa2 transaksi dalam theme park tu mcm makanan, snek, merch, etc. Hanya itu sahaja mode pembayaran. Cash, e wallet, debit card, tak diterima.
Punya la ramai ratus2 orang cramped kat entrance tu. sistem yg sgt tak efisien. yang booking online tu kat satu je kaunter, tapi orang bersesak sesak kat situ sbb terlalu ramai sgt orang. Kat situ la nak beratur beli tiket, kat situ la tunggu online booking dipanggil, kat situ la gate utk tiket checking utk ke theme park.

Tempat letak barang/lepak tu ok la, kami datang awal, so takde masalah sgt. tempat berbumbung. selesa. ada kipas. Tapi sbb ramai org, padat gak la, kat tepi meja kami pun ada org lain tumpang letak barang2 diorang gak... kami ok je, sbb faham, dan diorg mmg mintak elok2... Punya ramai, sampai ada yang just letak barang dan lepak atas batu2, penjuru2, sebab takde tempat, terlalu ramai. Nasib baik la time tu cuaca tak panas sgt, so takde la yg merempat2 tu terkena terik matahari... tapi kesian la makcik yang tunggu barang duduk atas batu buatan. kau cuba la duduk situ sejam. macamana sakit bontot, sakit belakang. macamana dengan makcik2 tu duduk tunggu berejam jam?
Kat tempat kami lepak tu actually 2 tingkat. kat atas tu pun penuh. punya ramai orang tak tau nak habaq.

Waktu ni kami antara yang awal, sbb tu kosong. But still at the time, kat meja2 lain dah penuh dah..

Kami mandi, mula dengan kolam yang cetek (dalam 1 kaki dalam/30cm/paras tulang kering), yang kolam budak2, tapi ada mcm permainan mcm gelongsor, bucket, air hujan pe semua tu.. Air dia sejuk gila weyh! Maybe sbb air tu circulate dan turun macam hujan dan sembur water jet, so dia ada cooling effect kot. Macam dalam cooling tower tu.. hahahahaaa..
Besar gak kolam tu.... Tapi macam biasa, too many dammed people, too crowded. Aku riso je dia runtuh sbb terlalu ramai org atas tu..

masa ni awal lagi tu yang kosong. dah lepas tghari ramai gilaa

Pastu ada nampak yang kolam yang lebih kurang macam ni, tapi nak masuk kena beratur, dai macam ride, siap kena pakai topi. sebab mencabar dan bahaya la kot. Sbb dia macam main ninja warrior, bnyk maze dan obstacle. takde la extreme sgt... tapi still tak boleh sebarang masuk la .. huhu. aku tak masuk pun.

Baru buka 2 minggu, tapi dah nampak cat2 kat lantai kolam dah terkopek. Like seriously? Baru 2 minggu kot. Bukan setakat satu tempat, banyak jugak lah...
Ada satu tu paip bocor dia tampal guna kain & span je, melimpah meleleh air. lol

Loker kena bayar RM20 lebih, bagi yang tak ada orang jaga barang2 beharga. Dekat dgn tandas/changing.

Lepas mandi2 dalam kul 11stgh, balik jap ke tempat. dekat dgn tmpt kami ada cafe yg jual coffee & sedikit pastry. Cuppucino panas rm10. muffin rm12. 2 hot cuppucino & 1 muffin, total rm25+. Mahal. Its supposed to be no outside food policy, diorg akan check, tapi sbb terlalu ramai, diorg tak dapat pun nak check beg. Masa lalu dalm kul 11.50pg, nampak orang masih padat kat kaunter, tapi dirog dah tak guna gate tu. lalu je. sbb lambat kot, bile nak habis. da la bukak lambat, tutup awal. 

Sambung mandi2.. Ramai org, jadi mood macam takde sgt. orang penuh sgt2.. nyampah lak..

time lunch pukul 1. Memang penuh semua food court. Nasi ayam habis, kena tunggu. Makanan memang mahal giler. mostly 1 plate RM16 keatas. Nasi ayam rm16. spaggheti rm16. Tapi variety memang banyak la. macam2 makanan ada. Western, nasi arab, nasi ayam, sizzling, bun and pastries, snek2 mcm waffle, air pun macam2.. tapi semua stall mahal dan sgt ramai. kena beratur.. Bayaran cuma guna card local tu saja. Kalau satu family pakai 1 card, so macamana nak beli serentak? beratur pulak bukan main panjang, lama.. time limited sbb operating hours pendek. habis masa kat beratur je laahh...
Tapi makanan ok la sedap la jugak. But still mahal la.... Kami beli makanan, kongsi2 je, sbb mahal sgt. Bekal tak seludup sbb diorg cakap tak bagi. Tapi kalau kami tahu diorg tak check, kami bawak jer. Huh!

Kami beli Yong Tau Foo(RM24) & spaggheti Aglio Olio (RM18)

Lepas rehat mkn jap tadi, sambung naik ride. Yang 4 orang satu pelampung special tu kami naik tu, beratur 45minit+ kot.. lenguh. Rambut sampai kering. Baju pun dah hampir2 nak kering..

Loker dia banyak, tapi penuh gak la.. Kami tak amek pun. Ramai gak yg sewa, mybe sbb takda org jaga brg. Tandas mmg terbaik, mmg aku puji. Sebab besar, bersih, cantik. Main toilet & changing dia. xyah berebut wlpn ramai sbb bnyk cubicle, semua function. ye lah baru lagi kan, so tak ada yang rosak. Dan dia jugak ada satu lagi toilet yang kecik sikit, kat hujung, so takyah la nak datang balik ke main toilet yg dekat dgn entrance. Dan, dia ada jugak mobile toilet yg dia sediakan letak di tempat2 strategik. so toilet is no issue. tak perlu beratur, tak perlu berebut, tak perlu tunggu lama, yang ni memang aku puji. Sebab aku risau gak bab2 toilet ni, selalunya kalau dah ramai tu mmg jamm lah toilet beratur..

Tak dapat main pool wave sbb terlalu ramai. Padat. takde selera. Yang bestnya, yang kolam sungai panjang tu, dia akan bawa ke satu pool yg besar dan agak dalam, rasa mcm dlm 4kaki stgh(1.3-1.4m). Pastu mcm ada air pancut mcm waterfall. best. Yang ni rare, rasanya kat tempat lain takde macam  ni..

Pelampung pulak free the takyah bayar. Amek je. Return pun takyah kot, yelah kan, sbb tak ada gelang, tak ada extra payment, tak ada nombor siri.. Tapi kat mana amek pun tak tahu. Kat slide ada la letak stack banyak2, tapi rasanya tu for the sole purpose of the slide punya kot. Entah lah..

Tempat ni takde la besar sgt, rasanya lagi kecik dari Bukit Merah (yang kecik sikit je dari Tambun Lost World) tapi lagi besar dari The Carnival SP.

So kesimpulannya, aku rasa dia overprice dan mahal. tak berbaloi aku rasa RM71 (with tax after dicount, original RM80 rasanya) Bagi aku la, patutnya tak lebih RM60.....
However, it was fun, it was good. Enjoy la jugak, bukan tak enjoy. Cuma, nak repeat tu, ermm.. entah lah..
I just pray it wont ended like Sungai Petani The Carnival dan MAPS yang dah tutup tu.....

So thats all for me now..

Untill my next entry yang entah bila lagi... hehe

Cheers!

Design Village mall Pulau Pinang

Assalammualaikum all
so this entry will be about Design Village, the open air concept mall at Bandar Cassia, Batu Kawan, Pulau Pinang.
The entry will mostly about architecture. Being me who hates shopping and an architectural student. That topic is the only thing that can be discussed here.

Design Village is a new concept of outlet mall, macam kt JPO. never been to JPO, but thats what people said. its an branded outlet. You can find all sorts of branded boutique here with a lot of choices with quite cheap too. or so they said. lebih kurang macamtu.

What interesting is that the design itself. a outlet mall with interior/exterior concept. open air. Setahu aku, takda lagi this kind of thing kt Malaysia ni. tapi kt luar negara its quite common.
Design yg cantik, lain dari yg lain.

For this entry not really going to talk about the aesthetic so much, but more to practicality. Honestly its an interesting concept, but its not really going to work.  WHy? ok takpe kita tgk dulu out look dia.

I went there not because i want to go shopping or what. Just following people. Want to see whats all the hype. Orang bercakap ttg benda ni, so might as well go look myself. For us in built environment people, theres been quite a lot people talking both good and bad things about this. orang biasa akan cuma cakap cantik & style. certain2 org akan cakap benda yang tak elok pasal design dia. cth bocor la, tak elok la, surau kecik la, jauh la etc. well im going to tell you just that.

Kt depan ni tak nampak welcoming sgt. Maybe sbb yg depan ni tak bukak lagi

 Between the blocks, the space filled with greeneries, can also be used as communal space

There are one or two that is both empty, spacious and covered with roof structures. can also act as exhibition or promotional mini expo.

 Theres plenty of kiosk selling snacks. Chatime is one of it.

The overall layout. Banyak lagi yg kosong tak bukak lagi 

Ada food court yg macam nak taknak aje. ada gak beberapa food truck. Proper eateries mcm starbuck, coffee bean, wendy's

Theres plenty of parking. Tapi yg banyaknya dlm building(multilevel) yg berbayar. sadly takda touch & go. koman betul. This layout yg dibuka. There another wing yg belum bukak. maybe tak siap sepenuhnya lagi. lagipun yg ni pun belum semua lot operational lagi. Hopefully wing yg baru tu ada proper food court dan bnyk lagi F&B outlet.

 basicly its just like shophouse. shop and corridor. With a few building blocks.

Boleh kata mcam nilai tiga, tapi compact & moden. Kt corridor pun ada kipas. sbb panas kan takda aircond.

The corridor lacks overhang or shading device. Waktu ni tak panas, redup je. Just imagine when its super hot noon/evening or its heavy rain. mesti panas. Bila, hujan pulak, mesti tempias.

 Theres quite a lot of seating which is good. But a lot of them kt luar. so kalau panas terik/hujan dah tak boleh duduk. silly isnt it? Thats why i said that this design did not consider the climate factor.

 ada byk kipas along the corridor. Ada la rasa berangin sikit.

 Certain ruang tengah (a bit like courtyard) have roof structures covering them.

Again the roof structure is so high and its not wide enough to cover the place if there is heavy rains with heavy winds, or evening sun.

 Waterbodies are well placed all over the mall. This one is a little too big isnt it? what for?
cooling effect maybe.

 There plenty of lots that still not open yet.

 Theres even a playground. That green is not grass, its artificial turf if im not mistaken. 

Masa pegi ni weekdays so, tak ramai sgt org.

This is the deco for CNY.

Surau dia kecik. tempat wudhuk kecik. dgn lantai dia bertakung air. FAIL!.

aku plg benci kalau org buat surau tak betul ni. Kalau pegi sini, baik takpayah solat sini. cari tempat lain. mmg kat situ tak masjid or surau. tmpat baru tu. mmg takda apa. kena pergi jauh sikit.

Building envelope ni style. its like a mesh/fabric.

So for the conclusion, its a great design but it will not be a 100% workable. Of course its so hard to achieve it with all sorts of problems and factors. But things like that shouldnt be overlooked. its so simple kot. I know the problem is budget constrain. But if you wanted something beautiful and it works, its not gonna be cheap. if its cheap and beautiful, it probably wont work. if its workable and cheap, it ain gonna be beautiful. So, theres no helping it. nak buat, buat betul2. for me whats the point of really flashy design if its not practical? For me its form follow function. you invest on the more important stuff, bab cantik tu letak tepi jap. kalau ada duit, then proceed.

I know that, if we did not at least try to be creative, sampai bila pun malaysian architecture tak akan maju, tak akan evolve. But in the long run, can we cope with the maintenance? Climate is a really important factors in design. Thats why it will not be the same to apply design of other country which have different climate to put here in malaysia.

kalau nak tahu a bit more boleh visit page ni.

http://www.kenhuntfood.com/2016/11/design-village-premium-brand-outlet.html


ok all thats it for now.. untill then

p/s: im still working on the travelogue. I didt forget. i know i promised. stay tune yah.

updates. kamarau di utara tanah air

Assalammualaikum and hello all
how ya all been doin? hope smua ok
nothing much nak sembang kali ni. just a friendly update to ya'allz
aku kt sni sihat je. as you all know skrg ni tgh kemarau & el nino for the past 2 months kt bhgian utara malaysia.
memang panas sgt. hujan dah xturun 2 bulan xsilap. sebelum2 tu pun hujan sikit2 je takat renyai for15-20 mins je. and now dah xhujan dekat 2 bulan.
jadi bagi sape yg dok utara tu, kurangkan aktiviti luar, bnkkan mnum air. heat stroke case on the rise now. dan bnyk yg demam & sakit kepala due to this heat wave. stay safe all. dan mintak la doa agar kepanasan dikurangkan dan diturunkan hujan. saya menyeru kpd semua. bagi yg di luar kawasan utara maybe xrasa sbb selalu hujan. kami yg kt utara ni dah tak tahan dah. empangan kat teluk bahang pun 2mggu lepas katanya ada pada paras sgt rendah, dan mampu bertahan appox 70 hari je. kalau jatuh mark 40 hari, catuan air akan terpaksa dilaksanakan.
sy berharap sgt tak berlaku perkara tsbt. so sama2 lah kita doakan kemarau panjang ni tak berlarutan.
aku ni pun xbrapa nak sihat gak. sakit kepala, rasa xsedap badan. seram sejuk. harap tak demam la.
doakan aku ye sedara sedari semua. i really need it. and really appreciate if you do. may Allah bless you.

ok all. thats it for now. nanti kalau ada topik, kita sembang lain ye.
peace.