I first heard about IKEA during orientation training at my workplace. And then I watched a documentary movie in TV about the history of IKEA. It was highly encouraging, inspiring, and motivating. Through a travel blog I found in the internet, I learned that I didn't need to go as far as Europe to make a visit to IKEA. It's just at my neighbor's door, Kuala Lumpur. Thus, being a have-always-wannabe interior designer, I put IKEA into my itinerary on the way back from Brunei.
From KL Sentral I took a train to Kelana Jaya and got on a free shuttle bus to IPC Shopping Centre, where IKEA Store was. Thanks to the direction guide, I reached IKEA with no problem.
IKEA Store is inside IPC Shopping Centre which accommodates some other shops, restaurants, and a supermarket. But IKEA is the main attraction. Some stores might be benefitting from IKEA's popularity, I guess.
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This is a video clip of how the endurance testing machine worked.
This one is testing the durability of a cupboard.
It was rather a pity I didn't bring my 7D along. Guests with huge SLR cameras were to be found at almost every spot.
Lucky still, I had my G12 with me. Oh, this was Disneyland for me. The whole IKEA was.
The only things I like in this is the hanging lamp, and the TV. The overall design feels less homey.
This one is triple better. Reason: Feels like Europe.
My dream library... one day.
And, my dream home-office... pssst!!
But! Wait! No, I want this one. This one is more me. When I'm really at work, I always need a wide table to scatter my stuffs. This table suits me very well. Above this table is a bookshelf that serves as a partition. On the other side of the bookshelf is a small living room as shown on top left of this photo collage. That will be where I meet friends and clients... pssst!! And then that white cupboard, looks elegant. It would be a perfect place to keep my stationary stuffs, paper and carton, tools... I, not you, name it. I'll just have to take down that wall decoration and exchange it with my own masterpiece. Aye! The best part of all is that coffee preparation table as shown on bottom right. The cupboard below is big enough to keep cups and saucers. The top cupboard will be the place for my coffee collection from Vietnam and some favorite Nescafe products.
You must believe me, I have a vivid design in mind of something like
this. I'm more than certain I can materialize the picture in mind --
provided I have the money.
Okay... let's see. What is it like?
Eeew! Too feminine for me.
Nah, design and color speaking, this is more me.
Or this? But seems to need frequent cleaning due to the white color.
How about this? What? Too masculine?
Okay, I like this one. Reason: looks like Western movie scenes.
You know what, there's a toy kitchen. Look! The stove on the left is just a sticker. But the tap on the right I think can be made to work. I had always thought toy kitchen like this only existed in The Sims.
Cute, huh?
For an interior-design-freak and a self-celebrated baker like me, IKEA is Eden. I say 'Eden', because it's beautiful and highly tempting at the same time.
I gave up on these. And, the more I use them, the more I'm glad I had given in to the temptation. The timer I bought, because the color is blue. Aha! Actually I do need a timer, because mine has long stopped working. I used to use my cellphone's alarm clock, but it's kind of inconvenient. The spoons are also blue. Yeah, but the main reason was because the measurement is in milliliter (ml). Starting from 1 ml, 5 ml, 15 ml, and 100 ml. The ones I used to see are in 'teaspoon' and 'tablespoon'. The stirring spoon on bottom left is wow... so handy for light-beating egg. I get better result with lesser energy. The rest might look just like any other cooking tools. But once it's in your hand for use, you'll notice it's not 'just a tool'. The scene on the documentary movie which explained that IKEA tests the ergonomic of each product was obviously put into practice seriously.
Let me take you to explore more...
I bought Mom one cushion and she loved it.
A short video clip of the showroom.
This is the storage room where the items displayed in the showroom upstairs are stored.
Through the documentary movie I watched, I also learned that IKEA had decided to take food as serious as the tools to process the food. The description in that movie made my mouth watered. And now, here's a long queue in the canteen. No doubt, IKEA's food product has got a brand also.
Beef curry and hot cappuccino. The bun was excellent to dipped into the curry.
Mhat was most interestingly was the self-operated ice cream vending machine. You go to the cashier, pay 2 ringgits (If I remember correctly.), and you'll get a coin and an ice cream cone. Insert the coin into the vending machine, follow the instructions, and voila!
As souvenir for my co-workers, a double-side photo standing-frame.
But the best souvenir for myself, this. It's free at the showroom. The paper ruler is very helpful when you need to figure out whether a stuff you are interested in will fit your place or not. The pencil is only 8 cm long which makes it so cute. That's for jotting down the items in the showroom you'd like to purchase. There's a paper list for that, but I didn't take a picture of that.
I was having tons of fun that I nearly missed the bus to Kelana Jaya. That shouldn't happened or otherwise I would be late for my flight back to Jakarta.
IKEA, if I lived in Kuala Lumpur, oh, I would visit you every weekend.
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