It was all done in a hurry. Picked up my second-hand film camera (FM2n) at Shah Alam in the evening, went to J-One to purchase a Nikkor 20mm f/2.8 AF-D lens, then headed directly to Wat Chetawan for some test shot.

First, images from film.

Location: Wat Chetawan, Petaling Jaya

Lens: AF-D 20mm f/2.8

Film: FUJICOLOR SUPERIA 200

1. Applying gold leaf on a statue of Phra Phrom.

2. Row of oil lamps. The heat was unbearable if you stayed too long.

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4. Alms giving.

And now, images from dSLR.

5. Holy water blessing.

6. Scene on the temple ground. On the right were the oil lamps.

7. Renewal of chrams and talismans.

8. Money does grow on trees.

9. Monks.

10. Fireworks display.

11. On a full moon night.

12. Coin donation.

There was a monk beside me at that point of time. He was holding a dSLR and was photographing this girl. I joined in for the photoshoot.

Hidden within this town, formerly known as Teluk Anson, is a specialty chee cheong fun (CCF) manufacturer.

This CCF factory is located within a 5 minutes drive  from the famous leaning Clock Tower. I happened to have found this place when we saw lots of people queuing up in front of a wooden house. Out of curiosity, we decided to check this place out.

Address:

Liew Kee Kuih Teow Manufacturer

No. 725, Jalan Hill,

Teluk Intan

1. The old and the new signboard of this little CCF factory. It doubles as a kuih teow manufacturer too.

2. The long queue.

We waited for more than 20 minutes just for 6 packs of CCF. Saw many who bought more than 20 packs home.

Check out the weird opening hours too.

3. Polished/glutinous rice is soaked overnight and washed repeatedly before being grounded to extract the rice milk. The whole process sort of reminded me of the SKII advertisement.

4. The rice milk is then poured evenly onto metal tray and sprinkled with cut turnips and either minced pork or dried tiny shrimps. The metal tray is then passed through a steamer (1-2 minutes), and out comes hot chee cheong fun.

I like this this low-key picture the lady being surrounded by rising steam.

5. Unlike Hong Kong and typical Malaysian style of CCF, there is no sauce for Teluk Intan CCF. Instead, it is eaten with pickled chilli, like the ones eaten with Wanton noodles.

The more popular minced pork version CCF. Enhanced taste.

6. The dried shrimp CCF. Crunchy and with more turnips.

Just sharing two pictures that were taken at Rawang on a hot sunny afternoon.

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http://asianposes.com/

I don’t usually comment on a blog or link here, but this is absolutely hilarious!

Almost exclusive only to Asians girls that relentlessly trying to achieve the “kawaii” (cute) look.

But these poses have also become a cliché. I usually avoid them.

With a constant influx of new digital SLRs these days, mechanical film bodies have become a rarity sight. These mechanical bodies are akin to the dinosaurs in the world of photography, being slowly driven into extinction. 

Most budding photographers that started off with dSLR (including me) should be very familiar with getting their images instantly being displayed at the LCD. So, it certainly gave my user experience a shock when I recently acquired a very good condition second hand FM2n. It’s such a sheer, intense, and pure mechanical pleasure! Oops, too many adjectives used!

The FM2n is such a  rock solid camera, and fits into my hands confidently even though it doesn’t have a proper grip. The shutter release and the manual film winding crank was a joy to use. The sense of satisfaction after each frame is very much surreal. More importantly, this camera even works with a flat battery, albeit without metering. You have to resort to “guestimate” your exposure.

The long wait for your film to be developed not only adds to the excitement, but also trains one to put in more effort to produce better pictures. It was a constant learning experience, whereby each mistakes are easily imprinted in memory. With digital, you may shoot a few hundred pictures and delete most of them without feeling a pinch in your pocket. With film, every frame counts! 

1. While having lunch after the Kluang trip, my friend and I decided to display out our full mechanical bodies arsenal. Mine is only the FM2n (on the left, with the Nikon D40’s strap), while his are the Rolleiflex TLR and another FM2n.

2. Almost like film porn!

I won’t be surprised if my friend’s collection of mechanical bodies and manual lenses grow if his lust continues. 

Ever since I have tasted Kluang Station coffee and its food at 1U and the Curve, I have been wanting to pay the original branch a visit.

So, instead of my initial intention of travelling by train that later stops by at Kluang, my friend drove us from Seremban. We met up early at 7:00 am.,  as we had already known the journey will be a long 0ne, approximately 2 hours.

1. We arrived on a clear blue morning sky.

2. It’s already so busy and packed with customers. Many were left standing outside.

We waited for some time and were lucky to obtain seats at the main hall. Sharing tables with others is not an uncommon scene.

3. The three quarter boiled eggs.

I prefer mine this way, half-boiled eggs are just too liquid.

4. And we ordered a set of each steamed and toasted kaya-butter buns. Notice the large chunk of butter.

The coffee tasted good, and I should have ordered a second one. 

5. A typical breakfast scene. Tables were joined to accommodate large families.

6. An unusual signboard at the station.

Wondering why would a train stop for only 1 minute?

Oh, it’s an express train. 

7. After breakfast, we explored the old railway station.

Will post more, once I have developed my films. 

My cytogenetic lecturer once told me about an interesting bakery somewhere in the middle of oil palm plantation, which bakes Danish cookies and cakes the authenthic Danish way. The way he had described was like it’s very difficult to find. Instead, the said Bernam Bakery is located along the trunk road from Kuala Selangor to Teluk Intan, right next to the Unitata Factory, United Plantation.

1. The manager, Mr Saksi Daran, happily posing for us. 

It was very nice of him to show us around and explain the history and uniqueness of this bakery.

2. At the baking hall.

There were rows of newly baked fruitcake, waiting to be cooled down.

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4. The workers at their shift.

Too bad, they were not baking Danish cookies on that day. Else, I would have smelt the aromatic butter.

5. Authentic wooden baking mould.

This is what makes the Bernam’s bakery’s fruitcake special. They are baked in wooden mould instead of steel mould. 

The wooden mould may impart a nice wooden aroma, and helps to have a better and uniform baking.

6. These fruitcakes are sold in major hotels in Klang Valley. Some are packaged under different brands/names, and this includes Famous Amos.

7. Royal visit by Dannish princess.

8.  The late Tan Sri Bek-Neilsen, former director of United Plantation.

We did enquire further about the bakery’s origin and we were told of an interesting story.

The late Tan Sri Bek-Neilsen had invited the late Mr. Robert Pedersen of Holstebro, Denmark to come over to Malaysia to train the fellow plantation workers to bake better breads. Mr Pedersen was at that time teaching in a prestigous baking college in Denmark. The bakery was officially established in 1982. 

Their cookies were named after Pedersen: Pedersens Danish Butter Cookies.

Besides making better and healthier bread, this bakery provides a means for the workers to have an extra source of income.

9. The logo of this Bernam Bakery.

We bought for ourselves some butter cookies and they tasted exactly as the Kjeldsens butter cookies. Yummy!

The address of this bakery:

Bernam Bakery Sdn Bhd

Business hours: Sun - Fri: 9:00 am - 6:00 pm, Saturday: 8:00 am - 5:00 pm.

Another Kuala Lumpur street shooting series, this time with another group of friends.

1. Busker at Central Market.

2. Another angle, this time with the full guitar in frame.

3. Gathering of senior citizens

4. Traditional door at a public restroom within Central Market.

I wonder how secure is it 

5. Some murals

6. Anal penetration, ouch! 

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8. And we kept shooting murals and graffities.

9. The walls seemed solid.

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11. Backlane lunch.

12. Liyin, approaching her subjects.

13. And they nicely posed for us.

14. We chanced upon a man and his wife. The man was busy repairing his antique Vespa.

Apparently, his bike had ran over a curb and stalled suddenly.

15. Luckily he had brought along all his repairing tools. A friendly guy, we chat as he was busy with his repair works.

His Vespa has been heavily maintained with parts cannibalised from other Vespas. Frequently, he scouts for parts from Indonesia.

16. Giving it a quick test.

He told us that he had been stopped before right on the road, by ardent collectors that immediately offered to buy this bike. 

Of course, he refused!

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19. You deserve it! 

Blantantly parking in front of the warning signboard. Such audacity.

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21. City Hall enforcer.

22. Sunday hatter

23. Coincidently, Le Tour de Langkawi final leg was on that day.

Mr. Abu, an ardent cyling fan and a former participant of this competition.

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25. Check out his padless keypad on his mobile phone!

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After having gathered at KL Railway Station, we proceeded with our main agenda: street shooting.

1. Walking into the shadows.

2. New motorbikes, newl delivery.

3. Jellyikan with his “cacat” scooter.

Then, we moved towards the area around Central Market and Petaling Street.

4. Achtung!

5. Waiting for passengers.

6. It’s not that difficult to manual focus through dSLR’s smaller viewfinder. 

7. Reading with a magnifier.

8. Have wings, can fly!

9. Lady caretaker of Kwang Siew Temple, Petaling Street.

10. Main praying hall of the temple.

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12. Another cabby.

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14. Jellyikan with his usual antics.

Joined a grouped street shooting on an early Sunday morning. Since we gathered at KL Railway Station, I began my shoot from here.

1. Moorish architecture in golden glow.

2. I wish the clouds were thicker.

3. Didn’t know that there’s a railway fan club.

4. Steel structure in black & white

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