CONTESSA CHAIR BY OKAMURA The Contessa by Okamura is a family of ergonomic task chairs that create a perfect balance between stylish design, advanced technology and a variety of finishes and colours. Developed in collaboration between Giugiaro Design and Okamura, Contessa is extraordinarily comfortable due to its soft mesh and ‘smart operation’ ergonomics which respond and adapt to your posture. Exclusively available at XTRA. www.xtrafurniture.com/ergonomics TROPICANA PRIVILEGE CARD EXCLUSIVE 10% off Okamura Contessa Chair & all Okamura models except Duke Chair. Present membership card upon purchase. While stocks last. TIMELESS ELEGANCE The largest manufacturer of 100% engineered real solid hard wood flooring in Malaysia, Ekowood provides an extensive range of timber species from all over the world such as merbau, hard maple, white oak, steamed beech and Winchester walnut. Ekowood floors have six layers of lacquer cured by UV light, making them more durable and highly scratch and stain resistant. www.ekowood.com.my 26 TA | SEPT/OCT 2013
BOOKS FEASTS OF PENANG: MUSLIM CULINARY HERITAGE WAZIR JAHAN KARIM [RM150.00] This book was written out of love and passion for Straits Muslim heritage foods, inspired by Wazir Jahan Karim’s mother, Begum Bismillah Munawar, a well-known philanthropist and hostess in the 1960s who, amidst her volunteerism for the poor and disadvantaged, took much pride and joy in entertaining friends and relatives to gastronomic home dinners. For fear that many of these recipes would remain only part of the nostalgic memories of newer generations of Straits Muslims, Wazir Jahan embarked on a project to document the culinary heritage of Straits Muslims from the northwest of Peninsular Malaysia, mainly Penang. WINNING FROM WITHIN: A BREAKTHROUGH METHOD FOR LEADING, LIVING AND LASTING CHANGE ERICA ARIEL FOX [RM59.90] Life is a series of negotiations, whether or not you think of yourself as a negotiator. From seemingly insignificant daily decisions to major life choices, you negotiate every time you aim to persuade, argue over a decision, or resolve a conflict. But as negotiations and leadership expert Erica Ariel Fox reveals, the most important negotiations are those we have with ourselves. Most of us recognise the difference between our knowledge – what we know we should do and say – and our knowhow – what we actually do and say in real life when it counts. Fox calls this the ‘Performance Gap’, and she shows you how to close it, turning breakdowns into breakthroughs, whether struggling with a difficult client, arguing with a combative teenager, or organising for community action. BOLEHLAND MASAO USUI [RM32.90] Land. It represents the collective spirit of ‘can do’ attitude of a nation, whether of its people or the governance. It literally means achieving the impossible. Or figuratively thinking nothing is impossible. Either way, the thought is infectious. This is about the people in Bolehland. Citizens who rallied behind the call of their leaders to strive for excellence, empowering them to feel no fear, to never give up and to know no failure. These are the people who believe that equal opportunities exist for everyone. From the perspective of one shallow-thinking Japanese expatriate, who is also a bestselling humourist, this is a study of the cumulative effect of 28 million people trying to do the ‘impossible’. THE EYE OF GOD JAMES ROLLINS [RM59.90] New York Times bestselling author James Rollins delivers an apocalyptic vision of a future predicted by the distant past. In the wilds of Mongolia, a research satellite has crashed, triggering an explosive search for its valuable cargo: a code-black physics project connected to the study of dark energy – and a shocking image of the eastern seaboard of the United States in utter ruin. At the Vatican, a package arrives containing two strange artifacts: a skull scrawled with ancient Aramaic and a tome bound in human skin. DNA evidence reveals that both came from the same body: the long dead Mongol king Genghis Khan. Commander Gray Pierce and Sigma Force set out to discover a truth tied to the fall of the Roman Empire, to a mystery going back to the birth of Christianity, and to a weapon hidden for centuries that holds the fate of humanity. 28 TA | SEPT/OCT 2013
