The Two Temples

Namely Guan Di and Sin Sze Si Ya Temples at Jalan Tun H S Lee, just round the corner from Central Market. It was Chinese New Year after all and words were out that some of my photography buddy were out in town.

I rushed through the morning rounds and parked my car at NU Sentral, taking the LRT to Central Market to join the rest.

It was still early, and we were in between a change of crowds. The early morning ones had just left and the ones for mid morning were just trickling in. And the light was kind as well. Just enough to capture the wonderful colours without compromising the contrast.

But the main drawback was the smoke from the incense. I could stand the smell but the sting onto the eyes which hurt. It also formed layers at the front of my lens filter. And by the end, my whole shirt and hair smelt of soot.

Guan Di was the first that we stopped at. It was more opened and more crowded. The second stop was better for me. It was more intimate and the place being indoors created some interesting light. Although a bit more smokey. For good effect of course.

I just had to stay away from those coming in to worship but on the whole, no one gave me any grief. It was a great outing although I had to head back to the hospital to see a referral right after.

I would definitely do another temple run in the future but maybe with better planning. It was more of a spur of the moment thing yesterday.

2011 Scott Kelby Photowalk, Part I

I was so disappointed that I could not join the walk on time due to work commitment. I arrived at Central Market at around 10.30, and the rest of the group had already moved on by ten. They were not too far away however. I managed to catch up with them just as they were leaving the Sri Mahanaraman Temple.

The usual suspects were there, and I hung around with the more 'senior' crowd. The first port of call was the Guan Di Temple, just up the road from the meeting point. After 20 minutes or so, the main group entered Petaling Street while the rest of us went towards Bukit Nanas. The idea was to catch the crowd leaving the morning mass at St John's Cathedral. Got there in time, but not much to see there really. By the time, the main group had already arrived. We pushed on towards Jalan Bonus and Masjid India.

This would be my submission for the photowalk photo.Guan Di Temple in the morningPak Rahmat studying all the angles

Here, we had a decision to make. I was starving as I only had an early breakfast. According to one of the participants, Zul, the place around the corner served a mean biryani. I tried it - at Restoran Noor - and I was not disappointed. It was the best biryani I had in years! A simple place, ran by a couple from Penang.

They had regular customers coming during weekends. One of them, an middle-aged Chinese gentleman, had been frequenting the area for a good 25 years, and he actually lived out of town. He was there with the rest of his family.

Our walk leader is a Manager at Maybank. I am pretty sure he is a member.It would be cheating if we took the bus and participated in the photowalkPressing on towards Masjid IndiaAlong Jalan HS Lee, we passed by this rather traditional looking bike shop...... and everything in there was .... old

We then ventured forth towards the new covered bazaar of Masjid India. A comfortable area, which I never knew existed. The last time I was here must have been more than 15 years ago. A lot had changed since. The vendors lined up the street of Jalan Melayu, selling clothes and food. It was like a night market. ANd before long, we had arrived at the end point of the walk, Masjid Jamek.

It was only 200m away from Masjid India. We met up with Adi, my cousin near the LRT station there. And within 10 minutes, we had a group of Myanmar quarreling and a bizarre road accident in front of our eyes. I was not sure if it was Adi's influence or not!

Now, the zooms were out Crossing the bridge to Masjid IndiaAll in all, it was more leisurely than the last year's walk, mainly because the route was a lot simpler and the weather was overcast, threatening to rain. The fact that I did not have to be one of the organisers helped. I also decided to take my X100 rather than lugging around my dSLR. In the end, I had more than 200 snaps. Definitely looking forward for these walks every year …..

Snap of yours truly taken by Fariz. He was trying out the X100.

I will put up more snaps on my later entry. Watch this space ....

The slideshow for all the photos I took on the walk can be seen here.