Broga Hill

Bukit Broga. A name that is widely mentioned for its adventurous climb with a prize of a breath taking view. Most people would climb this hill to catch sunrise and sunset. After weeks of planning, I finally made my way to Broga yesterday before dawn. I started my climb at 5.45am.

I was all excited and brought my DSLR backpack filled with 1 body, 2 lenses and 1 SLR together with my 190XPRO B tripod, Just incase, you know...

Yes, I was all pumped-up and excited only to know that at 1/3 of my climb i had already started panting like a dog out of water for 3 days (okay, I exaggerated. I was out of breath, having nearly 2.5kg of weight on my back). 

At this point, I swore to myself to get a good interchangeable compact so I would have a much lighter climb next time. How about the Sony NEX-5?

The first peak was a climb of 1.7km from base and the highest peak was at 4.8km. After that panting, and almost throwing up on my Milo drink i drank before the climb, I wasn't that excited to climb the 2nd peak. Peak 1 is good enough for my first climb.

Before reaching the first peak, at 6.15am I had to climb the steepest, almost vertical (to me lah) hill. The picture above was taken when I went down at 930am. 

After a good 45 minutes climb all drenched, the view of the town below was worth the climb. Street lights were still on. It was so serene.

I was disappointed as the sun did not rise that morning. The grey and gloomy clouds headed to Broga and soon it started drizzling and I had to pack my things and head down. This was my first attempt but will definitely climb again, lighter and pray for the sun to rise and shine!

Kerang Kuala Kurau

It was a Saturday. After attending a wedding 30 minutes away from Teluk Intan, I headed to Taiping for a days rest and decided to continue my journey early morning the next day. The clock struck 12 and I was clueless to where I'd be heading tomorrow. Will it be Kuala Gula? We'll see...

I left at 6am and headed the highway. Took the north Taiping exit and found the route towards Kuala Gula and Tanjung Piandang.

It was still pitch dark and I had no idea what the town had to offer. I lingered through the small town and found myself in it's sunday market (pasar tani) and had myself a yummy 'personal order' of Apam Balik Jagung Lebih at only 60sen each (harga biasa 50sen, jagung melimpah kasi 60sen je...murah gile!).

After happily fueled (though eyes still half opened), wandered off and found this spot where fishermen or should i call  them 'kerang-men' were starting their daily operations.

Have a look at What Eyva Saw

 

'Kerang-man' chucking out those empty shells

Kerang buckets

'Kerang-man'

Ruins near the shore. I was told by the 'kerang-men' that 

they too were affected by the previous Tsunami hit.

Next time you pass by Kuala Kurau, be sure to stop by and get some fresh kerang.

Yummy for Char Koay Tiaw!

Chinese New Year Open House @ Balik Pulau

GONG XI FA CHAI!

It's the year of the rabbit and I'm all hippety-hop to find an open house event open for public. So I though it'll be held in KL but only did I know that just like Merdeka, a federal event, they rotate states and this year's federal open house was held in Miri. 


Sad that I couldn't fly across the south china sea, I was determined to find a state level open house and so my wish came true. I googled and came across this guy's blog and he said that this year's open house for Penang will be in Balik Pulau, my favorite place for laksa. Yumm! The event started from 6pm onwards.

Could this be chinese chess?

This is Chin-gu.

I'm impressed how these guys can balance a 30 feet pole on their chin, forehead and back.Bravo fellas!

Flashes were prohibited during the lion dance performance. They claimed 

'takut silau'. So everyone turned off their flash but the lion did trip a few times. 

No bones broken though. Otherwise we''d all be having lion chop.

Y.A.B Tuan Lim Guan Eng meeting his Penang-ites.

Best part is that I was actually in the middle of this circle made by his bodyguards and RELA.

Other photographers were outside of this circle. JUST MY LUCK!

On going performance during the night.

This is the Yang Di-Pertua Pulau Pinang

TYT Tun Dato' Seri Utama Dr. Haji Abdul Rahman bin Haji Abbas

By the time I had finish snapping and went to look for the free food,

the stalls were already closed and without wanting to leave Penang with an empty stomach,

I headed for Gurney Drive.

Before I crossed over the street, I found people releasing

lanterns and their wishes for the New Year.

Have a great Rabbit Year everyone!

Le Tour de Langkawi

Le Tour de Langkawi is one of Malaysia's highlighted events beside the F1 and monsoon cup. I've never been foe a shoot of this prestigious event but this year, I'll give it a go. As I arrived, caught a familiar face among the press photographers: Mr. Shamshahrin. Idon't know im personally, but he had been to my faculty previous semester to give a talk on photojournalism.

Do enjoy the rest of the event's pictures...

Dato' Shaberi Chik hands out a plaque to the yellow jersey winner

Dato' Shaberi Chik receives a gift

The overal winners of LTDL 2011

Thaipusam 2011

It has been years that I had vowed to myself to go and click some pictures during Thaipusam and this year my wish had come true. Thank god for public holiday, I didn't have to attend class that Thursday, 19th January 2011.

I was so anxious the night before that I didn't get my beauty sleep. The alarm went off at 5 a.m. and I was on my feet like a robot programmed to the bathroom and dressed under 30 minutes. record time for eyva!

Hit the road at 0615 hours and hailed a cab to Batu Caves. As soon as I arrived, met my long time photographer friend and he suggested me to hit the stream where they 'cleanse' their selves before parading the Kavadi.

Here are some amazing moments for this year's Thaipusam

This year's Thaipusam was a blast for me. Definitely going again next year!

Enchanting Bali

It was Late December and I'm coming to an end with my 4th semester break and I had decided to take a trip outside of Malaysia. So I thought India would be interesting. Next morning I jumped out of bed to find me heading straight to buy myself Lonely Planet India at RM 126 and did my Visa the next day. 2 weeks passed and I had been delaying purchasing the tix. 


It was then too late to go to India and so I opted for the next to near of Hindu culture, Bali. So there I was clicking away on our low cost carrier website and had booked my self to Denpasar. I had a lot of plans with my new rented Suzuki Katana Jeep at USD10 per day. First night was spent in the hectic KUTA area. Too many tourists and magic mushrooms with ear-bursting music. So not my place. The next day I took out my map and headed for the cultural centre, UBUD. There I settled in a homestay and ended up staying 3 nights instead of 1 as I had fell in love with the area, people and the ARTS! 

First night in Ubud had brought me to their cultural dance performance. at 85,000 rupiah, I was entertained for a 1.5 hours show that was full of legendary myth of the Barong Dance.

As KINTAMANI was not far from Ubud, I had drove up to the highlands to witness the amazing Volcano and Lake. Mount Batur is located at Kintamani and it has erupted about 24 times since year 1800 and still active up to now. Since the mount's eruption, locals around this area had to remove / relocate altar (Temple), improve / reapair the village and re-arrange the tradition. Lake Batur is the biggest lake in Bali and functioning as irrigation source to all farmers.

Kintamani area has been founded some lodging, hotels and restaurants which are located in Kintamani and Penelokan Village. It is a famous tourist place because Kintamani area owns the beautiful panorama and it is encircled by the cold atmosphere. The Monsoon season during my visit certainly didn't help with my outdoor pictures. Now I know why most people visit in June.

Penelokan Kintamani

Next destination on my list was to visit the TANAH LOT Pura. It was described as one of the Puras that guard each point of the Island to guard their humans from Tsunami, especially. It was a Sunday and as I travelled through the small roads with tons of turning and heavy traffic from Ubud, I finally reached TANAH LOT after a 45 minutes drive.

Being a first-timer in Bali, I just got lucky as I soon found out that today was the last day of their 'Galungan / Kuningan' festival. Although they have festivals almost every other month, I was told by a local that this ritual was only celebrated evry 6 months. They pray / chants to the sea spirit for safety and well-being if i'm not mistaken. 

Before I went down to the Pura, I spotted a mother and her son on stand by mode for the ritual.

This is the part where they recite chants to the sea...

There are tons of other pictures and stories of my trip to Bali but I'll save some for next time. Bali for me was a true arts and culture experience. Can't find it anywhere else!

OM SWASTIASTU!