So I was looking for some suspension lamp for my upcoming place and found this gorgeous suspension lamp from Foscarini. It is currently retailing at yoox.com for £567 which translates to about RM2700. Fair price for a stunner I would think. I then remember that linds furniture in Bangsar does carry Foscarini so decided to contact them for a quote. I would expect it to be marked up by maybe 20% at most of that price but the price quoted is an astronomical RM6800. For that price I could’ve gotten an air ticket to London, get the lamp, claim VAT refund and still be paying less than RM6800! What a price to pay.

Canteen Coat Hook & Knob

Patronising Canteen Baker Street has always been an amazing treat to the eyes. The establishment is one of my favourite with many furniture items that are just beautiful. Many of these pieces are available for sale, but tragically my pocket is just not deep enough to afford them. One of my absolute favourite piece is the Canteen coat hook and knob, which was specially commissioned for Canteen.

I was then reminded on how often this piece of home accessory is overlooked. While most would think hooks are just – hooks, I personally find that they can be statement pieces, especially those that are well-designed and eye-catching, and those that pop. Here are some of my favourites, starting with the above Canteen Coat Hook & Knob (GBP24 for one, ouch!). A little bit expensive but it’s proper solid and well-made.

Thorsten Van Elten Antlers Coat Hanger (GBP59)

Dots Wall Hook by Habitat (GBP6)

I have managed to snag 8 Dot wall hooks from Habitat for about GBP4.20 each during their recent Regent’s Street store close down sale. They also have them in yellow, but I think I went for the safer route by choosing black and petrol blue. And oh, by the way, hello again.

Dyson has the most cool products offerings when it comes to household cleaning appliances, my first encounter being the DC16 Handheld Cleaner (£67.79). Somehow the orange and silver combination colour scheme on the design makes it so appealing, almost Transformer like. But this is a true definition of style over substance. You have to charge the handheld for 3 hours, for a ridiculous 6 minutes of usage! Imagine you have to clean your car, and you have to do it within 6 minutes. Otherwise, you have to wait for another 3 hours! Still it does look sexy.

Then there is this Airblade commercial hand dryer. It is simply the best hand dryer EVER. Conventional hand dryers take up to 30-40 seconds to dry your hands. Even worst in Malaysia where the hand dryers are so weak people usually don’t bother using it and go for the environment-damaging paper towels instead. This Dyson Airblade takes only 10 seconds to dry your hands. I used it before and it is simple amazing. Not only it looks great, it really does what it says on the label. You just dip your hands into the Airblade, and the powerful dryer produces tsunami-inducing air, so powerful that you will have a hard time controlling your hands. And by the tenth second, your hands are all dry.

Now, their latest product that was just launched, is a bladeless fan called Air Multiplier. Yes, a fan that has no visible blades to produce air. Well, you won’t see the blades, but they actually have the blades at the lower part of the unit, and the air produced (multiplied by 15 times) is pushed up to the circular bit at the top, providing uninterrupted stream of smooth air. This one really have to see it hands on to experience. Also there is no need to clean the blades after a while. Prices start from £199, that’s RM1100 at today’s prevailing exchange rate. Buy an aircon better, right? Being a gadget freak, I’m sold!

Interesting to note that Dyson has a manufacturing arm here in Senai, Johor since 2001. However, I have yet to see Dyson products being available here in Malaysia, so if you have seen any sold here, let us know!

BRDB’s The Troika is climbing at a breakneck speed, and it’s almost reaching it’s pinnacle already. And I must say it’s looking extremely sexy. However, it’s a shame that this stunning beauty is surrounded by the most hideous buildings in KLCC. We need more pretty skyscrapers like The Troika. Two more photos after the jump. Photos are taken on 5th August 2009.

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Progress photos of Ameera Residences, SS2 as of 5th August 2009. Am loving the gym as pictured above. Work has started on the guardhouse and you can also see there are many green plants being transported and planted within the vicinity. Also interesting choice of dark gray as the color of the paint of the perimeter wall as I recall from the photos in the brochure, it’s supposed to be of a cleaner color. It actually matches the color of the lanai windows, but would be interesting to see how it all looks like after more plants are in place. More photos after the jump.

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