ISSUE 01 | APRIL 2015
//S T R A N G E R U N D E R Y O U R S K I N //
The Library Coffee Bar @ SS15, Subang. 11, SS15/8A, 47500, Subang Jaya. Tel: +603 5613 1202
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t h e c o n v e r s at i o n 06
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B a c k s ta g e Editor-in-chiefs Hong Jared Journalists Rachel Jared Public Relations Jared Hong Creative Directors May Hong Photographers Kok Shng Jack
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Welcome to MR.LONER first ever issue.
MR.LONER Why this name? We’ve been asked frequently of why we choose this name as our tittle. The reason why we choose this name is because we think that although we humans live in a society which consists of many people however we human are a single entity. We, humans have our own way of thinking which is unique and like no other. How long has it been since you listened to the voice inside you?
How often have you change your mind simply because you want to fit in the society?
We, humans are bound to make mistakes but then who’re you to judge the mistakes?
We, MR.LONER are here to tell you that being different to others are nothing wrong. We’re not born to impress others but to live the life you love and to see and feel the world.
What matters is that we learn from the mistakes and not repeating it and we would do fine in our life. We need to stay real and hungry in order to discover the beauty in this world.
The voice inside you is really important and you need to communicate and listen to the voice of yourself instead of conforming blindly to the voice of society.
We, MR.LONER is hoping to express our concept values to you people. Peace out.
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the c o n v e r s at i o n What we have in store for this issue is the highly talented musician Tan Ju En who hails from Kota Kinabalu. Now talk about pride of Sabah. Being able to play one kind of instrument is already awesome and Ju En is able to play 5 kind of instrument which includes guitar, piano, bass, drum, violin and ukulele. TEXT BY JU EN PHOTOGRAPH BY JACK
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H OW LO NG H AV E YO U BEEN DO ING T H IS? First of all I just want to say how thankful I am to be blessed by musical talents. I started off with classical piano. My mum told me that when I was 4 years old I cried and begged her to let me learn piano when I saw my elder sister in piano class. After a few years I started figuring out chords by myself and played popular songs. My teacher was stunned when she saw me play. I managed to complete my grade A in ABRSM. I picked up guitar when I was 9. At that age, realising that my dad, brother and sister know how to play the guitar and that I only the piano, made me eager in learning it. I went up to my dad and asked him to show me a chord and I can remember the first chord I learned which was ‘D’. He wouldn’t let me learn more than one chord a day so I went to my sister and asked her to show me all the chords in a day. Easily I played a song. Just like classical piano, I went for violin lessons. I managed to complete grade5 in ABRSM before my teacher migrated to the states. I picked up drums myself when I was 12. I used to listen to songs and play along to the beats. If I didn’t get it right I’d replay the same line again and again till I got it. There were desperate moments when I went on YouTube and downloaded some drum covers. Then I’d slow-mo it so I can pick up the beats. For some other instruments like the bass guitar and the ukulele, it was a lot easier for me to pick up mainly because it wasn’t as complicated and as long as I had the basic knowledge of music. There’s no question that to be able to be a good musician you need to have talent but in my opinion I think to be good at an instrument, you just need to put in extra effort and go the extra mile and pretty soon you’ll be seeing yourself amaze the people around you with your hard work and the reaction you get... is priceless. W H O A R E YO UR H ERO ES? As cliché as it can be, my parents are my heroes. Their wedding vow says, “to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do us part” ..it is made for me too
WHAT ’S T H E S I D E OF YOU T H AT T H E P U B L IC N E V E R S E E S ?
DO YO U T H INK T H E P UBLIC A ND CR IT ICS EXPEC T TOO MUCH FRO M YO U?
Well most of my friends see me as the fun going party go wild type of person. I’m often seen on stage and tagged in pictures on Facebook going out and having fun.
Whether or not the public expect a lot from me is pretty subjective. I don’t think the public expect a lot from me but sometimes they do expect me to be like them, in a way. As a guy always seen around with girls, I get it a lot that people don’t believe I’ve been single my whole life and when they ask me and I answer them they’ll be like “noooooo I don’t believe all these nonsense.”
I guess the part of me where the public don’t really see is that I work really hard and put in a lot effort on what I put my hands on. I like to wake up as early as possible to make my day productive. People often think that I only like mixing around with popular and good looking people. The fact is, I don’t. I like spending time with people who I don’t have to impress, and who I can just be myself in front of them.
H OW H A R D DO YO U P USH YO UR SELF? Well I guess I cannot always satisfy everyone’s expectancy about me. My favourite quote is by will smith is that “too many people spend too much money they haven’t earned to impress the people they don’t like.” I think the most important thing as an individual is to be able to be yourself and have the right values instead of trying to please others.
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m A L AY S I A N
RE AL IZ I N G DREA M INTERVIEW BY RACHEL PHOTOGRAPH BY KOK SHNG
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KO R E A N
Tucked away in a corner shop house, the aroma of caffeine greets your nostrils as you enter the cosy premise. The new student hangout, Bungkus is slowly becoming a popular place for meetups among the locals, especially resident students. Owned by local Korean, Henry, the concept of Bungkus is a fusion between Malaysian and Korean food. G E T T ING P ER SO NA L: I N T RODUCING T H E MA N W H O START ED IT A LL Bungkus started off as an idea, a dream which then bloomed into something real and amazing to the taste buds. The man to thank for is non-other than owner Mr. Henry. Before Bungkus happened Mr. Henry was an IT Manager for almost 16
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years, working at the Royal Bank of Scotland in Korea. Life was smooth however, Mr. Henry had bigger dreams. Aspiring to own his own F&B (Food and Beverages) business, Mr. Henry took the first step by leaving his stable job after 3 years of preparation. Before coming Malaysia, Mr. Henry did jobs such as barista and café management as well. Questioning, it seems rather odd for a Korean to leave the comfort of his homeland and come to Malaysia, right? Well, there is a reason for this decision. Quoting for the man himself, “Cafés in Malaysia are still new and fresh. Therefore, it will be a great start for my F&B business.” Mr. Henry is not only passionate with food, coffee and his customers but he also care for his employees. He emphasises on
proactivity in the work line and never uses authoritative methods, meaning he lets his workers do their job and take responsibility in running the business. In that way, the staffs always are happy and the work qualities will be constantly top notch. Mr. Henry also believes in two rules when running business. The first is friends with benefits. Whenever, the business gains profits, he always shares the profits equally with his staff. Second is providing good and fresh ingredients to the table and always maintain cleanliness. These are the rules that Mr. Henry always carries with him. THE C A FÉ : B U N G K U S N IL AI The business commenced last year, opening the first ever Bungkus in Damansara which
is also the head courters. However, the focus in this article is not on Bungkus, Damansara but Bungkus here in Nilai. Opened last October, Bungkus, Nilai was the first ever café to open in Nilai. Situated in the new Star Valley shop houses, its presence attracted many with its cosy atmosphere and mouth-watering food. According to owner, Mr. Henry, Nilai is a starting point of his business. The strategic location; in front of INTI International University is a “buying power” for the franchise. However, that was not main reason why Mr. Henry chose to open Bungkus in front of INTI International University. Mr. Henry’s exacts words was, “I want to spread good coffee culture through Bungkus and also provide a good place with soothing environment
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for families and students to study, meet up and also hang out. SPECIA LT I E S : O M S A N D N YOM S Unlike your typical cafés in Malaysia, Bungkus serves authentic Korean fusion food such as the Kimchi Bulgogi Rice Burgers and bibimbap (we will touch on that in a sec). Ranging from appetisers, mains, coffee arts and also desserts, these Intagram worthy delicacies are definite worth a try. If you happen to drop by Bungkus, the recommended dishes are the rice burgers and bibimbap. The rice burger is one of the best sellers in Bungkus. Instead of the usual burger buns, kimchi bulgogi are sandwiched between two rice buns made out of Korean rice. Originated from Japan, this burger has been improved to a more soft and chewy texture. Now, what’s a Korean café without bibimbap? Well, nothing fancy about the bibimbap but this traditional meal represent the heart of Korea and it can’t be left out. Other than the recommended dishes by the staff, there are many dishes that custom-
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ers enjoy as well such as Tteokbokki (Spicy Stir-fried Rice Cakes), Chamchi Gochujang Jjigae (Spicy Tuna Potato Soup), Sundubu Jjigae (Soft Tofu Seafood Soup), tofu steak and Samgyetang (Ginseng Chicken Soup). Bungkus also serves a variety of desserts such as tiramisu, cream puff, cheese cake, orion choco pie, rice cake and the all famous Korean dessert, Snow Ice Bingsoo! Snow Ice Bingsoo is a Korean signature dessert with various sweet toppings over snowy smooth shaved ice. So, self-claimed sweet tooth and brain-freezers out there go and get yourself a bingsoo and pamper your taste buds with the heavenly flavours. In the years to come, the menu will further venture into international savours. Let’s not forget the main of star of Bungkus which is their coffee. Generally, most coffee shops uses coffee bean mix (several types of beans) to reduce cost but Bungkus is different. Using single origin Arabica coffee beans, each cup is brewed and made to perfection by Wang Di, the supervisor of Bungkus. In serving a good cup of coffee, Bungkus uses only AAA DOI CHANG COFFEE FARM
beans which is certified high premium Arabica coffee beans. For you information, Doi Chang beans are packed with flavours which it gives out a great aroma and taste. You might think, high premium meaning expensive right? You are wrong. Bungkus’s coffee prices are very affordable solely because Mr. Henry wants the best for his customer. So, for all you coffee lovers out there go snag yourself a cup at Bungkus nearby. CO FFEE BEA N BUSINESS AND FUT UR E DO YOU KNOW? Other than Bungkus, Mr. Henry also owns a Doi Chaang coffee bean business. This business aims in providing the best quality coffee beans worldwide and also create coffee culture among the people. In the years to come, Mr. Henry plans to open more branches all over Malaysia and especially Kuala Lumpur. His heart is to let customers experience his heritage from food. Mr. Henry also expresses his hopes for more success in future.
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# p r o j e c t m r l o n e r # b l a c k a n d w h i t e “When you photograph people in color, you photograph their clothes. But when you photograph people in Black and white, you photograph their souls!” - Ted Grant
The world is bigger than we thought. Don’t limit yourself. Photo by vickt_lim
Gardens by the Bay.
Symmetric and lines in a tent.
Photo by daniel1im
Photo by weini_t
Have you ever wondered how much teamwork, hard work, resilience and determination toiling under the hot sun for building our future? Photo by chea
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# p r o j e c t m r l o n e r # b l a c k a n d w h i t e “When you photograph people in color, you photograph their clothes. But when you photograph people in Black and white, you photograph their souls!� - Ted Grant
Maybe you do something that is simple, but could also be meaningful to others. Photo by kyexiong
Sea of clouds.
Slow down. Look around what has been changed.
Photo by davidxong Photo by joevychuah
Night Valentine. Photo by jvansn
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D I D YO U K N OW ? The material that’s used in knot1994 bracelet is USA 550 paracord. What inspired us to start this whole knot thing is when we realized this type of material is really durable and able to withstand impacts, which are the same as our core value, as each of us have ups and downs. That’s why we need to have the kind of durability like knot1994 to overcome obstacles.
I N S TA G R A M : @ K N OT 1 9 9 4
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E M A I L : K N OT. C O 1 9 9 4 @ G M A I L . C O M
Reach us at Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Project-Mr-Loner Instagram: @projectmrloner For advertisement, please contact Jared 017 982 8866 or Hong 012 904 2179 Email: projectmrloner@hotmail.com