Peggy Loh ~ My <b>Johor</b> Stories: Floral Art Show - Hotel in Johor Blog |
| Peggy Loh ~ My <b>Johor</b> Stories: Floral Art Show Posted: 30 May 2014 07:52 PM PDT
There are several schools of ikebana that follow a particular set of rules and arrangement techniques with the more popular Ikenobo, Ohara, Sogetsu, Koryu, Ryuseiha and Ichiyo schools of ikebana and in this year's exhibition, IIJB members will be creating legacy arrangements by various headmasters from selected schools.
IIJB members study ikebana or the art of Japanese flower arrangement that follows a fixed pattern of a triangle with three points that represent Heaven, Earth and Man, from experienced instructors as well as visiting flower masters. The key consideration in ikebana is to use as few plant materials as possible to compose an elegant arrangement. The emphasis is on linear perfection, colour, harmony, space and form, and the choice of plant materials is guided by the artist's desire to create harmony between the materials and the vessels used.
The heritage of the IIJB chapter in the Sogetsu, Ohara and Ikenobo schools of ikebana will be showcased in the coming exhibition through arrangements by members of IIJB and invited guests that represent the schools of ikebana that they are studying. To prepare for the exhibition, the students are planning and practicing the arrangements for their ikebana presentations under the tutelage of their respective instructors. This annual exhibition is an eagerly anticipated event because it is an opportunity for students in the study groups for the Sogetsu and Ohara schools of ikebana here to exhibit their floral art to the public.
Study group students in the Sogetsu and Ohara schools of ikebana meet twice a week for lessons that follow ikebana textbooks and take examinations to qualify before going on to the next grade. The study group in the Sogetsu school of ikebana is guided by instructor, Shirley Cheah, an accomplished Sogetsu practitioner who has been a student of a Master of Sogetsu and President of the Sogetsu Association of Singapore, Mrs Kazue Kato Kim, since 2007. With more than 30 years as an ikebana practitioner, Past President of IIJB and President of the Ohara School of Ikebana, Singapore Chapter, Datin Ong Kid Ching, is the instructor for the study group in the Ohara school of ikebana. "An exhibition is a real opportunity to display the personality of the Sogetsu Study group and for us to learn from the experience of exhibiting our floral art," said Cheah on how her students are preparing a range of floral arrangements for the exhibition in the Sogetsu school of ikebana. While it is usually a more mature audience who may appreciate the art of flower arrangements, Cheah aims to promote ikebana to younger people and even students. She said this year's trend in Tokyo is the use of dried twigs so her students are encouraged to use them in their arrangements for the coming exhibition.
"In the Ohara school of ikebana, less is more," said Ong, a Third Master in the Ohara school of ikebana who also holds the Komon (Advisory Grade) in the Sogetsu school of ikebana in Japan. Ong encourages students in her study group to draw inspiration from plants and colours that exist in Nature and try to recreate Nature in their arrangements because Ohara arrangements have a lot of green as its base colour that emulate Nature and the seasons. All Ohara arrangements for the exhibition will use unique ceramic vessels made by Ong who is also a talented ceramic artist.
The public is invited to "Heritage of Flowers," the IIJB annual ikebana exhibition that will be held in the lobby of the Puteri Pacific Hotel on June 1 & 2. The highlight of the programme on June 2 is a guest demonstration in five schools of ikebana by accomplished ikebana practitioners like Tan Bo Tan who will demonstrate for the Ikenobo school, Momoka Emmett for the Ryuseiha school, Anju Bhardwaj for the Ichiyo school, Shirley Cheah for the Sogetsu school and Datin Ong Kid Ching for the Ohara school. While the demonstrators will be provided one common material for each of the two arrangements they will demonstrate simultaneously, containers and other materials will be chosen by them to express the style of their respective schools of ikebana. Membership in Ikebana International Johor Baru is open to all who are interested in the Japanese art of flower arrangement. Visit Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/IkebanaJB for membership enquiries and more info about the activities of IIJB Chapter 235. A gallery of Ohara floral art is available on www.facebook.com/oharacircle while enquiries on the study group for the Sogetsu school of ikebana may be sent to email: sogetsujohor@gmail.com A version of this article was published in The New Straits Times, Streets Johor on 28 May 2014
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| McCountry - <b>Johor</b>, Malaysia - May 2014 Posted: 30 May 2014 05:54 AM PDT   Consumed on 25 May 2014 Location - City Square Mall, Johor Bahru, Malaysia Price - 7.50MYR = $2.33USD Calories - Unknown  About a month ago, my wife and I made a weekend trip over to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to meet my mother who was transiting through. Our first afternoon there, as soon as we finished a large lunch, I noticed a poster outside of a McDonald's promoting the McCountry. I knew there was a McDonald's close to our hotel, so I thought I would pick one up a bit later in the day. That McDonald's, nor any other McDonald's I past over the next 2 days would carry this burger. We never did make it back to the side of the city where I first saw it, so I left KL without being able to try it. Since I had been in Malaysia the week prior, and I didn't see it at the branch I visited, I thought it was a new burger which was slowly rolling out so I didn't worry all that much, since my wife and I are over in Malaysia at least twice a month. I sent McDonald's Malaysia a Facebook message, and they told me that it was a burger only being released in test markets, and if it preformed well, it would roll out nationwide. I was a bit disappointed, as I thought I would have had to hope that it did preform well, so I'd be able to try it in Johor. Whereas I'm usually very unlucky with McDoanld's promos, where they finish the day before I arrive, or start the day after I leave somewhere, I actually got lucky and found it in another branch in Johor last weekend.
Unlike some of the larger promotional burgers in Malaysia, this one was value priced. Only 5.95MYR for a combo ($1.55USD) during lunch and dinner hours, and 7.50MYR ($2.33USD) for the rest of the day. "Lunch" finished at 2pm, and I was literately standing at the counter with my mouth open, about to say my order when the manager rung a bell, and staff who was about to take my order walked away and spun the boards around to the full price. Since I had to wait for 5 people to place their order before me, I was pretty miffed that as soon as I got to the counter it switched over. I asked the staff if I could have it at the lunch price, since I was in the queue and about to place my order when it was still lunch time. I got a look shot back at me so dirty, that it was like I just asked for my meal to be free, or her first born child, or something that was much more significance than a such a tiny discount on my lunch. I made a comment that I would have been within the time if she hadn't been so slow serving the others (I picked the slowest queue), and left it at that. I wasn't going to lose my chance to have this burger a second time around.  I had an assumption from the first time I saw the promotional poster back in KL, that I knew exactly what this burger was going to be. It was being promoted as "Chicken Sausage burger", with a "country sauce", but the photo gave it away. Malaysia is a Muslim country, and McDonald's doesn't serve pork sausage in their breakfast McMuffins, so I knew this was going to use their standard chicken sausage from their McMuffins served inside a hamburger bun. I hoped that "country sauce" could have been interesting, but take a look. Apparently country sauce...is just standard mayo.   Thankfully, it seemed like the patties weren't just leftovers from breakfast hour, as it wasn't as soggy as it would have been, but it still wasn't fresh either. The patty was luke warm, and since they are made to be in a English Muffin, being so thin, when placed between a large bun you could barely taste it (I'm not sure why the didn't use the smaller hamburger buns). The "country sauce" was a joke of a disappointment, and it only had the same veg as a McChicken, which means just lettuce. Seeing as a McChicken is only $5.95MYR for the combo, I don't see how this one deserves a premium price, where there's nothing premium about it. Rating - 1/5 |
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