Central Market KL

As mentioned before I met Victor C. P. Tan first in Penang. His shop in Chulia Road was called 'Pen Antique' and I first thought, it would be a pen shop. I collected fountain pens in that time and was happy to find quickly an appropriate shop. The P. in Victor's name means Pen, therefore 'Pen Antique'. 

Very soon I found out the real kind of the shop and very fast Victor and I became friends. I spent a lot of my leisure time in his shop and I learned a lot from him.

Victor's shop in Chulia Road, Penang. The photo is from March 2002 and the bicycle is mine, a Malaysian 'Rolex'.

Victor is a keen musician too.

Victor's new shop in the Central Market.

The Central Market, built in 1888 by the British, has got many expansions since that time and should have been demolished in the 1970s. The intervention of the Malaysian Heritage Society proved timely as they successfully petitioned against its deconstruction and the site was declared as a 'Heritage Site'. Now the two-storey Central Market is surrounded by many small shops and has since 2006 an Annexe, which houses art galleries, theatre and music performance spaces.  

Outside shops along the Central Market.

One of the many restaurants in the Central Market, great Baba Nonja food.

Further reading and sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Market,_Kuala_Lumpur

http://www.centralmarket.com.my/

Austrian National Day in Seoul

For Tuesday, the 21st of October I was invited by the Austrian Embassy to the official Austria National Celebration at the Grand Ballroom of the Grand Hyatt Hotel Seoul. This event promised to be a musically interesting one, the childhood violin of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was announced to be played.

The musical program was indeed a fine one. Especially the eight year old Ko, Soltyun who played the Mozart violin was outstanding. She was accompanied by Dr. Johannes Honsig-Erlenburg, President of the Mozarteum Foundation. They presented music by Mozart and Johann Sebastian Bach.

The rich buffet brought some delicious long missed Austrian specialities, like Erdäpfelpüree, Liptauer or Kaiserschmarrn with Zwetschkenröster. The Executive Chef of the Hyatt Hotel, Stefan Mörth is Austrian, therefore authenticity was guarenteed. 

interiour of the Great Ballroom

The Austrian Abassador Dr. Elisabeth Bertagnoli and the Governor of Salzburg, Dr. Wilfried Haslauer

elegant visitor

Ko, Soltyun before the performance

Liptauer