Tuesday, June 3, 2008

A day with Seniman Jalanan in downtown San Jose

I haven't really had the opportunity to explore downtown San Jose as much as you'ld think. I am not the type to ronda2 on my own tanpa tujuan. Carlos will always tell me dengan pelat pekat filipino nya : " Your chilren already biig... you can take train or bus. Itch-chokey..( it's okay ), here seb (save).." Ya la tuu! Kadang-kadang geram jugak dengan drebar ni, semua nya dia pandang elok pasal Amerika. First of all, there are no transport system, - neither train nor bus - in ' my neck of the woods ' . Rumah dekat kaki bukit. Secondly, I like going around with my children and so far they also like having me around too! I think... :-) A few times Anis got invited by her College friends to go out shopping or party-ing, but she turned them down. Nak keluar dengan ibuuu jugak. Alhamdulillah.. kat sini tak payah nak bagi 'lecture' teruk2 pasal social ills. I see this sort of attitude in anak2 Melayu here too. Baik2 belaka.. insyaAllah.. My weekends, macam jugak kat Malaysia, are normally spent with grocery shopping or visit friends' houses - if invited.. ! :-) A fortnight ago we were at Sohair & Wardah's kenduri selamat in Sacramento - 2 and half hours drive north of San Jose. They bought a nice home in Rancho Cordova. Seronok tengok... Last weekend pulak we had friends over from Malaysia. Four ladies on vacation.. penat2 kerja, dah cukup duit... jalan laa. Actually, I am so caught up with doing 'nothings' that I forgot all about this posting which I started drafting quite some time ago. I guess I should just complete it instead of delete. In case you're wondering.. Seniman Jalanan is one of Malaysia's young, budding Film Director and Professional Graphic Designer who attended a short course in L.A a few months back, - at the Universal Studios to be exact! We call him Ajin and here's him above on the right taking a shot of the VTA ( Valley Transportation Authority ) in downtown San Jose. I've included a link to his fotopages at the bottom. He was under the scholarship of FINAS and KEKWA. Haa..... kek what? Was my first response to the acronym! For those who are as 'blur' as me, it's short for Kementerian Kebudayaan, Kesenian dan Warisan. Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage previously headed by Datuk Seri Utama Dr. Rais Yatim. Well, after
the elections (pilihanraya) I don't really know who currently heads the ministry. Anyway, I believe everyone's quite familiar with FINAS - Filem Nasional. In fact, I got a bit of an update of current happenings in the Malaysian film and singing industry - that is after much 'korek-korek' out of our guest! Our first stop was Adobe Building at 345 Park Avenue - home of the Photoshop Engineers! Seniman Jalanan wanted to see whether the place hosts a showroom of Adobe's latest products. Apparently, they don't have it there. Anyway, if you want an inside look of the building and to know a few 'creative brains' of Adobe, click on the link ..

http://www.photoshopnews.com/feature-stories/a-visit-to-adobe/
The building from the outside really looks more like a bank. But, one couldn't miss the logo of the company that invents the infamous open standard for the billion+ PDF files in existence today. Making them viewable and printable on any platforms be it Macintosh, Microsoft® Windows®, UNIX®, and even mobile. Our next stop was The Tech Museum of Innovation along South Market Street. The Tech Museum of Innovation is a hands-on technology and science museum for people of all ages and backgrounds. Their mission is to inspire the innovator in everyone. Budak2 suka la tempat2 gini.. very educational! The talking robot above on the right ' tired out ' after being drilled by the kids with their questions.
http://www.thetech.org/

I guess The Tech ni is similar to PETROSAINS yang terletak di Petronas Twin Towers, which aims to be a seeding platform for stimulating interest in Science and Technology. While it is about creating more awareness of exciting career opportunities in the petroleum industry, The Tech on the other hand is all about the silicon - semiconductor technology. Fortunate to have many companies in the Silicon Valley as their patrons and sponsors, entrance to The Tech is FREE except for the IMAX cinema. Kalau kita nak tengok 3-D films baru la kena bayar. Tickets to PETROSAINS ranges from RM4 ( 5 - 12years ), RM7 (13 - 17years) to RM12 (adults). F.O.C is only given to children below 5years and even Senior Citizens have to pay RM6. Well, I supose if one could afford shopping at Suria KLCC, then the cost of the tickets is nothing, but kalau dah 5 orang anak ranging from 13 to 17 years .. plus mama & papa, banyak jugak tu! Tak kan nak tinggal separuh kat luar pulak. Last2, papa pun cakap kita pi makan kat McD jer lah... lagi murah!
http://www.petronas.com.my/internet/petrosains/Petrosains.nsf/263c2vis?OpenPage
Above left are some notes on making integrated circuits (ICs) ...



Robotic arm...






I got it to spell my name...








Interesting... ! And the figure increases every second...

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