Malacca Trip 2012.1

Lets continue our journey from my last posting entitled Malacca Trip-2012 where we have reached the Hotel.

As we could not check in, we decided to place our luggages at the Hotel front office and continue our tour in Malacca Town.

Our first stop was at Malacca River which used to be a busy port in the old days during the Sultanate of Malacca.

A nicely built bridge accros the Malacca River but most people prefer the normal road. I considered this bridge as part of Malacca City beautification project to attract more tourist.

This couple looks like a tourist and actually they are Chew Chee Long and Irene Aik who were busy taking pictures.

This is one of the main street where a lady painter is busy painting her silk batik. She is a friendly lady and she invites me to see her works in her shop.

The lady painter works her wonders on a silk cloth in front of her shop.

Chee Long and Irene walked along the main street in front of a Chinese Temple.



A tricycle avoiding the on coming overhead dragon.

Too tired to move in the blazing hot sun, a man takes a quick nap in his colourful tricycle.

 Chew Chee Long and I continued our journey up a hill to St Paul Church.

 St Paul Church with St Francis Xavier Statue

St Paul Church, Malacca from a front view.

Description of St Pauls Church based on the plate erected in front of the Church.
This church was originally a small chapel built by a Portuguese Captain called Duarto Coelho in 1521 and was called "Nosa Senhora - Our Lady of the Hill'. The chapel was handed over to the "Society of Jesus" and enlarged in 1556 with the additional of a second storey and named "Annunciation".
A tower was erected in 1590.
When the Dutch took over Malacca from the Portuguese in 1641 , they changed the church name to St Paul Church and they used it as a place for worship for 112 years until their own Church, the Christ Church was completed in 1753.

Christ Church which was built by the Dutch and completed in 1753. Since then their place of worship moved down here from St Paul Church on the hill above.

The ruin of St Paul Church also a favourite place for Wedding Photographers.

If you feel you are lost, you may get some information from this beautiful Tourist Information Centre.

Another good way to tour Malacca and get a better mileage is by bicycles as this lady on 'SAYANG 2'.

Thirsty while walking the blazing hot sun?
Don't worry.
Street drinks vendor is an easy way to quench your thirst.

In the afternoon, we hit the road again and we headed for Klebang Besar, Melaka.
According to our friend, Pang Wee Seng (ex-DKSH staff) now with Texas Instrument, Sunday Ice Cafe has something special for us.

 Curry Bee Hoon is Pang's favourite.

 And he also likes Ice Kacang.

 And Rojak Sotong is for us. Not too spicy and it taste great.

Then came the Sunday Ice Cafe's special, a bowl mixer of ice cream, jelly, laicy, sweet corn, sweeten pears, cherries and sea coconut. Mixer of taste but its a good dessert.

Then we headed for another Malay famous stall looking for their famous Nasi Lemak in Kampong Kesidang, Melaka.

 Agnes orders some food from a friendly Pak Cik.

 The stall famous Nasi Lemak.
The rice is well cook with a perfect mixer of coconut milk. The gravy is the real puller, it's not too hot, well cook to perfected the taste of the rice which accompanied by a delicious Chicken rendang.

Roti Boom is just an additional dish for us, the first timer to this stall.

Then having half full, we headed for home which happen to be Samantha's house.

There we were having BBQ chicken wings before we head for the Badminton Court to give our support to  Pang WS as he is representing his Company Texas Instrument in a Badminton Tournament.

Pang WS is in action and they won the match which mean they will play again the next day.

Our journey for food is not over yet even it's quite late after the game.

We go for our last food destination for the day which is HAJI MUSA MEDAN IKAN BAKAR SEGAR.

The team is heading to the Haji Musa Medan Ikan Bakar Segar.

It's near a small river.

Selection of sea food available at the Haji Musa Medan Ikan Bakar Segar.

 We selected some prawns which were BBQ. Two prawns per person.

 Fried Kailan for better digestion of the seafood.

 Kepah

Sweet and Soup Fish

Lastly fried sotong (cuttlefish).

We have utilised the whole day with food and sightseeing and it's almost midnight...we head for the hotel and ready for the next day.

According to our plan, the next day we will head for Muar and Batu Pahat, Johore for more food and sightseeing.

But that is another journey, another story...a Trip to Johore. Hope to see you in Johore.

"Happy Wesak Day'...Good night.

Malacca Trip 2012

The dust have settled but the soup is still warm and just nice to eat.

Robin Wong said "For blog updates, I always believe a good bowl of hot noodle soup is best served while it is still hot."

I agreed with him 100% on this as when time lapse we tend to forget the details and the refreshness of our experience during our journey.

In my case, I am abit lucky as I have written down all the main destinations which we have visited except the texture, the flavour and the richness of Nyonya foods may have diminished it's refreshness.

Let's jump in our car and have fun. Let the journey begin.

Before we press on the accelerator, our main purpose for this trip were Sightseeing and Food hunting. For me, it's a opportunity for photography exercise and practising my manual setting beside meeting new people and talk to more strangers on the street.

As Agnes is not driving and we have to wait for Chew Chee Long at the Bus Stop opposite our DKSH PJ office. Our sporty Timex watches which DKSH Malaysia once distributed shows the time as 7.05AM, Friday, 20th April.

All the faces in the car looks happy and excited for the journey.

 Agnes is our Finance Director for the trip, beaming with an internal smile in the bright golden morning sun.

 Chew Chee Long is our Guide and Transport Director.

Irene is our Hospitality Director in charge of accomodation is also beaming with smiles as can be seen in the side mirror.

Even our fellow road user on his motorbike next to my window also looks happy and fresh in the morning sun light.

Chew Long is setting the destination for our first stop which is Pasar Besar Seremban. According to the newspaper clip that he holds, there are a few good food stall at the Pasar Besar Seremban.

Specifically we were looking for TOW KEE HAKKA MEE and HIONG KEE MEE HOON SOTONG located at the first floor of the Pasar Besar Seremban. According to newspaper clips, these two stalls are a MUST VISIT for those who love good and tasty food when they visit Seremban.

 When we reached Pasar Besar Seremban, we parked our car on the road side.

 Chew Chee Long takes his Canon Camera Bag from the car booth and ready for the adventure.

 A good morning body stretch to start the day...at the ground floor of the Pasar Besar Seremban.

 A brother stuffs the sliced brinjal with minched meat. A friendly guy who is really good with his hands.

SURPRISE!!! One of our workmate's mother who happen to open a stall here, GERAI MAKANAN DAN MINUMAN SENG HING. A very friendly lady with lots of joy in her heart and very generous with her smile. Having a drink here with a bowl of Tow Kee Hakka Mee from next door is just perfect.

Now for our real target: TOW KEE HAKKA MEE

GPS Coordinates: 2.729633, 101.93679

 Tow Kee Hakka Mee is stalll number 810, just on the left of Gerai Makanan dan Minuman Seng Hing. You may sit at the Geri Makanan dan Minuman Seng Hing and order the hakka Mee here.

We ordered two bowl of Hakka Mee. It's noodles fried with minched meat. The texture is perfect, not too soft and not too oily. The taste is real good and mixed well with the flavour of the minched meat. I would say, it's worth the long journey.

 The owner of the Tow Kee Hakka Mee appearance is deceiving as his appearance looks unfriendly and fierce but once to get to him, he is more than willing to share his passion for his work and his Hakka Mee.

It's a perfect teamwork as his wife also has a very good hands in preparing Hakka Mee for the customers.

                          
 Chew Chee Long takes his shots of the food served.

 HIONG KEE MEE HOON SOTONG is at Stall number 753 which is located a the far end corner on the first floor of Pasar Besar Seremban. If you can not find, then look for the man using his hand to fried the mee hoon.

He is frying the mee hoon with his bare hands in a big wok with the fire blazing beneath the wok. When it's abit dry, he adds some oil to the Mee Hoon.  He is busy frying when I talk to him and he said, "Why are you talking in Malay? You are not Chinese? I respond with, "I am from Sawarak."
And he chipes with "Ooo Sarawak, Sibu ke?"
Ah! He nailed me right there and I respond, "I am."
I ask him for some shots and he respond with, "Sure! "

According to him, he has been doing these for years and his hands can bear the great heat of the wok and the fire but he has to move his hands real fast. He is a real Kungfu master.

Hiong Kee Mee Hoon Sotong is served. Tasty and yummy.

After Pasar Besar Seremban, we head for Taman Senawang Jaya in search for RESTORAN ASIA at  341, Taman Senawang Jaya where a famous Curry Noodle is served.

 When we arrived at Restoran Asia some of the locals have their share of the curry noodles.
 GPS coordinates: N 2°42'8", E 101°57'14"

 The curry noodles stall with it's owner who claimed to have been in this curry noodles business for 30 years. She is friendly and love to share information on her curry noodles.

We ordered two bowls of Curry Noodles and one Nasi Lemak.

 My verdict on this Curry Noodle: Perfectly cook, taste great with perfect curry mixer, not too spicy. Once you eat, you feel you want more.

Nasi Lemak: The rice is well cook with good mixer of cocunut taste. The paste is not too hot and great taste.

You may doubt but here is the face expression of those who taste the Restoran Asia Curry Noodles.

 Ask Chew Chee Long: Very nice. Don't ask me. I am busy.

 Ask Irene: SSSsssss...Nice!!! Stop take photo! Eat lo!!

 Ask Agnes: Very nice!! You don't eat, I eat yours.

The reaction of the Curry Noodles seller: Thank you! Thank you!! Come again!!

 Even the street fruit seller gives a big laugh when I commented on her bright red T shirt which shows her bright days ahead.

 Then off we go again but this time we head for our hotel, NAZA.TALYYA, a 3 Star hotel.
We will stay in this hotel for the night.

 Now our Timex watch shows 12.17PM and we will check in at 2.00PM as per the Hotel Front Office staff

 

Be right back with Walk in Malacca Street....Next

A Photographer Journey-Part 3

My dear friends, I am back again as I felt bad to left you off in my previous post " A Photographer Journey-Part 2 with two unanswered questions:
  
What is coming my way? How I handle it?

 Before I tackle those question, let me share with you on how I hold the camera which was one of the most important thing that I learned in the beginning.


Why it is so important?


Once I was a Tae Kwon Do martial artist and instructor. One of the most important thing you need to learn is a proper stance to execute an effective punch or kick. A weak stance delivers no power and not effective.You lost part of the battle. With that mindset, I agree with most of the professional photographer that how you hold your camera play major role in your photography growth.

Benefit of proper camera holding:
1. Decrease Blur images.
2. Lower your camera shake threshold. Eg. 1/25s or lower. (try with non VR, VC or IS or OS) - very important when you do not have a tripod in low light.
3. Gives you confident even the surroundings are against you. (No tripod, moving vehicle, fast action, candid shots)
4. Makes you look like you know what you are doing as a photographer. Gives confident to the one who ask you or hire you to take their photos.
5. Gives you as a photographer a very good foundation as you are the second tripod.

I was so engrossed in this issue that I used to approach those in the street who do not hold their camera in a proper way. That's bad. I am too personal and it gets into me. Let the proper way of camera holding be one with you.

You may ask how is the proper way?

My advice is do some Google on "How to hold a camera? or Proper camera holding" Some may even guide you on how to breath when releasing the shutter. You may also check it out in YouTube for the video.


Now we tackle the questions: What is coming my way? How I handle it?

The first thing come my way was an invitation by my SIC Scripture Study' Facilitator, Brother Ken Cham who is also an Editor for St Ignatius Church Website to be part of his Pastoral Communication Ministry as one of their official photographer. At that time I just completed the Basic Photography Stage on my online e-course on About Photography with Liz Masoner. I do not reject him straight but I ask him for time to give him my answer.

In the meantime my wife and I were having our annual vacation to Krabi, Thailand on a 4 Days 3 Nights trip on September 24th to 27th. You may read more on this vacation in three of my previous post: Krabi-day-one, Krabi-day-two and Krabi-day-three
During the trip I used most of my time shooting practice and shooting practice and I almost screwed up my camera at one time.

Am I nervous? Very nervous and excited. I want to be the Church official photographer but I do not have what it takes to be one. I only know the basic: Shutter speed, Aperture, ISO, White Balance, how to hold a camera, stopping blurring images, red eye, color. But deep inside my soul, I REALLY WANT TO BE THE CHURCH OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPHER. That desire and want drive me on.

It's been a month of my training in photography and on October 1st, I made my decision of joining the Church Pastoral Communication Ministry. My heart was full of joy and I thanks God for this opportunity. Deep within me hoping that they will give me a few more months to practice or a least to complete the Intermediate Level in my Photography e-course.

Do you think the Pastoral Communication Ministry wait for me? NO!
The next day, I was informed that I will be on duty as the Church Official Photographer on October 23th for the Children First Holy Communion.
You may read this in my post My-first-church-event-photograpghy. I was so nervous that my first few shots were useless and blur until I tell myself that I am chosen as an official photographer. I am chosen amongst many photographers in the Church and I have to give my very best with my limited knowledge in photography, zero skill and zero technique.

If I can do it with MS Excel, I believe I can do it with photography. During my early days of my work, I knew a bit of Ms Excel but I used that little knowledge to simplify my work to be more efficient until my boss consider that I am a MS Excel Expert.

When the event completed, my work were real bad but some of the Church member said it's good. I tell myself that I CAN DO BETTER and I WILL.


Later on November 4th 2011, I did an event photography for the company that I am working with as in my post DKSH-Deepa-Raya-2011. I was using my new lens AF-S Nikkor 50mm 1:1.8G which cost me MYR800 with filter. Here I do not have any pressure as I am doing it by my own. I consider this as part of my training and no one ask me to do it. No obligation, no responsibility.
The problem is, I like sharing and I shared those photos with our company management. Our management like my photos and I am marked as a photographer.

Something is coming from the company this time.

On November 25th, 2011 the management want me to take a very important event, the DKSH Fantree President Award 2010. This photos will be viewed by the whole group throughout the whole.
Now I am really screwed. I am on a cross road but my mouth is too fast to say, "YES, I WILL DO IT". And I added, "It's good for my training." These words are not acceptable by some looking at the important of the event and I am regret to say those words. I am really sorry. The truth is, I am giving my best with my limit knowledge of photography. The truth is, I am always love to learn, practice and practice until I make it right.
Here are some of those photos which I never post anywhere. They look horrible but that is history and I need those photos to grow.

Irene Chan receives the Award from Mr. Leonard Tan, our Leader. The photos is out of focus and wrong White Balance.

 Irene Chan's team that won the Award.

The Group photos for the Management team and the award recipients. The wall is reflective and I should have known that it will reflect my flash. Wrong white balance and bad group arrangement.

After this I did take photos for company event as in DKSH-25-years-service-award and DKSH-annual-dinner-dance-2011 and it's getting better.

Practice is very important in photography beside reading. Read and practice.



What else are important things that I learn during this time? 
1. Learn how to see
2. Learn how to compose and frame without camera.
I will tackle this question in my next post.


Final Advice:
1. Be focus and fixed on what you want. This will be your driving force.
2. Be your best with limited knowledge.
3. Grab any opportunity arise to help your growth. This can also be your driving force for growth.
4. Push yourself to the limit with reading and practice. If you can not do it by your own, go for photography workshop. 
5. Love and joy of what you are doing. Bring it to your heart. Have passion for the art.


Hope to see you again in my next posting. Good night.
Happy Shooting.....Read and Practice and Practice...let it be part of you.