KL – Bird Sanctuary and Royal Selangor Club

My final day in KL and I still had a list of things I wanted to do. I wanted to catch up with my Melbourne friend (and model) Natasha Shan

and I also wanted to see Lake Garden along with some of the parks within. Tash wanted me to try some more local food, so we combined both. She and her sister, Tania, picked me up at KLCC after I took the monorail to get there. Along the way you can see inside the old jail. I’m told that it was closed before the monorail was built, which is a good thing, as I can’t imagine how it would feel to actually be able to see the prisoners on your way to work each day.

First stop was a street corner offering with authentic Indian breads, curries and chicken pieces. I stuck with non-spicy stuff (surprising both girls at how sensitive my taste buds are), banana roti (I think) and fried chicken. Lovely. Later we stopped for “tea”, which is apparently an actual meal between lunch and dinner. KL-ians (sounds like something from Battlestar Galactica) eat six small meals a day!

Worrying about rain which eventually stayed away, we navigated to the Bird Park in Lake Garden. This kept me clicking away for quite some time, whilst Tania stalked peacocks with her new Nikon D60 until it decided it had taken enough photos and wouldn’t let her take any more. Of course I told her that a Canon would be far more receptive to her needs.

The day started well when this brat of a Lovebird decided to eat my finger. I had been watching another guy tempt it into sitting on his hand by offering his finger to nibble on. When it came my turn the bird decided my finger was far more tasty than the one he is sampling right now (stunt hand used for photograph) and took a chunk out instead. I hope he gets food poisoning.

I fell in love with Hornbills the moment I saw these two clumsily hopping and flapping their way around their cage. I’ve been looking for them in the wild ever since, and whilst they look awkward on the ground or whilst hopping between branches on trees, they look fantastic when gliding in flight.

I love this stork. I can tell it has a sense of humour by the look in it’s eyes, and I think it’s only putting on a typical stork pose because it knows we expect that and it likes to entertain.

I’ve never seen an orange Ibis and I must have taken about 20 shots of this one. You can see he really wants to scream, “Leave me alone you freak!”.

Dinner was with Tash and Tan’s family and friends at the Royal Selangor Club. This is a rather exclusive cricket club with spectacular night views.

I arrived early to find that I couldn’t enter via the public entrance because I was wearing jeans. I also had to wait in the foyer as I was not a member. Being yet another hot and humid day I was rather thirsty so asked if there was a nearby bar in which I could wait. The answer was no, but a good samaritan named “Henry” was on his way out as I asked the question. He came over to me and asked if I would like to join him in the “Cellar”, much to Tash’s later amusement as she wondered at my seeming ability to pick up anyone. Henry was great company, and it turned out he knew Tash’s Dad. I learnt all about his kids, where they were studying, and how much his 14yo daughter racks up in phone and internet bills (A combined $1000 a month!). I resisted the urge to tell him that it serves him right for having children, as I doubt much of the world feels the way I do about that topic. Henry was quite happy to keep buying me beers, but Tash eventuated to rescue me.

The food was, as expected, very very good, and the company even better. Sorry about me spoiling this one – I look like a well-fed deer caught in headlights. Do you now see why I am usually the photographer?

Ken, this is especially for you…

Leaving for home I noticed a building on which an entire side has become a digital advertising screen. Both video and stills run on this giant screen. I believe this is called City Hall. Blows Melbourne’s meagre efforts at looking modern out of the water.

KL – 24 hour neon

Kuala Lumpur went by in almost a total blur. So much to do, so many people to catch up with (where did they all come from, and why are they all in KL?), and so much food to eat.

There are a few things that really stand out for me in KL. One is that every time I have been at the airport (3 times now, soon to be 4), it has been raining. It’s the only time it has been raining for me in Malaysia. Therefore I still don’t really know what the airport looks like.

KL seems to be a city of contradictions. It is very modern, yet has much old charm, early 1900s British architecture, and Bangkok-style people-chaos. I stayed on Jalan Pudu, between Bukit Bintang and Chinatown, in an area known as the Golden Triangle. (Jalan means “street”). This seemed to be the busiest road in KL, and it didn’t help that it is also the home to the largest and oldest bus terminal in KL. All day, hundreds of buses would constantly crawl down this two lane road on their way to the terminal. At night this would turn into hundreds parked for a kilometre or so as they can’t get into the terminal itself. It seems that everybody wants to travel by bus to Singapore, Penang, Bangkok and more, 24/7. I can only assume it is because the television selections are almost non-existent here.

So to get anywhere I usually walked to the Imbi monorail station and travelled to a better place from which to source a taxi or walk further. Coming back to the hotel, I had to direct the driver to keep him out of traffic jams. A few things I have learned about Malaysians:

• They don’t like to walk – even very short distances. They think I am mad because I walk everywhere.
• They are scared of the rain. They seem to think it is acidic (I think it is refreshing)
• They are not very good at finding their way around their own city
• They don’t know terribly much about their own city.

This may seem like a short list of negatives, but in fact it worked to my benefit. It meant I got to show some of them sights they hadn’t seen, and it made me feel better about knowing where I was going and that I can handle finding my way around strange cities.

KL also uses a massive amount of electricity. I am told that this is because it generates too much, and has to have an outlet (???). All I will say is that they are obsessed with pretty lights and neon. I am not complaining because it makes for a beautiful skyline and attractive street-scapes (assuming you like that sort of thing).

So much of my time in KL was spent lunching and having dinner with friends and acquaintances. People love to entertain and look after you here. A really big thanks goes out to all my new friends who took such good care of me, especially to Natasha and Tania who did everything and more to ensure I enjoyed the local food, treated me at Royal Selangor Club and were better than perfect hosts.  Tania, you are going to love that Nikon (too bad it’s not a Canon).   See you back in Melbourne.

As I spent a lot more time being entertained, and a lot less time being a tourist, I’ve a lot less photos to share from KL.  Here’s a brief selection.

I’ve asked a lot of people, and I still don’t know what “chicks” are in this context.

Bukit Bintang and Chinatown are the closest things I could find to Bangkok. Bukit Bintang is much more accessible, but has some unusual sights.  This kid was supposedly selling bubble guns, but judging by his appearance and demeanor I got the feeling that his job was to attract  and distract tourists whilst his mates surreptitiously lightened the load of said unsuspecting tourist.

Every weekend there is a free concert right in the middle of the very wide Bukit Bintang walkway.  Tonight was some modern Indian pop.  I was watching them set the stage up earlier in the afternoon, and they pull out all stops.  This show was very well lit, with all the effects and a great sound system.  Not bad for free.

Neon nights.  Apparently you avoid the karaoke bars in KL. The brighter the lights, the more dodgy the venue.  This sign was the size of a small building.

Jen and Dee introduced me to Vincenzo and his fantastic Italian restaurant.  This is where I received a taste from home in a magnificent Black Angus steak. It was so tender you could cut it with a spoon.   He’s a great guy and I hope I’ll meet up with him again when he decides to visit Melbourne.

After dinner we tried to find a decent bar with a band. Closest thing to rock apparently was this band at “Backyard”. They played unusual versions of Bob Marley and Jimi Hendrix tunes.  This guy could really solo, but like most Asian bands I’ve seen so far, was struggling quite a bit with the English lyrics and phrasing.  It didn’t matter because he was so into the music.

OK, I still have some KL nightlife, Chinatown and Batu Caves shots to post but I’m out of time and have another 5am start tomorrow.  I won’t have internet for a few days as I’m being Tarzan of Borneo right now, so my next post is not likely until at least Friday.  Maybe…

Penang – Day 1, around Georgetown

I checked into my hotel in Georgetown at 7am and slept for a couple of hours before deciding to walk around the town for the day, to see what I could find.  There was a lot to see!  One thing I discovered over the day was that I don’t really need sunscreen in this part of the world.  I guess the ozone layer is pretty thick here.  The weather was fantastic for the two days I spent here.  I took a ride on a trishaw, and discovered that the drivers are usually homeless – they sleep on the trishaw at nights.  Penang is very expensive compared to KL, and they can’t afford a roof over their heads.

A couple of men were playing checkers on the street, with bottle tops.

There is a tower in Penang called Komter. Like so much of KL and Penang, it was under renovation, upgrade or construction, but I was still able to get up to the top floor, which I think was the 60th or something. This gave me a 360 degree view of the entire island of Penang. I circumnavigate this tomorrow.  In the middle of the Komter observation deck is a very tacky wedding area. I don’t know who would want to get married here, but it looked like somebody was planning to do so that night.

For lunch I chose to eat from one of the many street stalls. This is an example of how many of them look.  I ate the Chicken Rice, as it seems to be one of the traditional and very popular meals in Malaysia.  I have to say I was expecting a whole lot more than what I experienced, after seeing Anthony Bourdain wax lyrical about it in one of his travel/food shows.  The rice was fluffy and well-cooked, but the roast chicken was almost cold.  I found out later that it is meant to be.  You have to add chili to get flavour, as the savory flavor we expect from roast chicken simply wasn’t there.  On the flip side, it cost me about $2 for tea, fresh juice, and the chicken rice.

Since Thailand, pretty much the only rock music I’ve heard outside Rock City has been The Scorpions. I first heard a “best of” album at poolside in Patong, and I’ve heard it regularly throughout Thailand and Malaysia.  Seems they’re huge in Asia.  Of course “Winds Of Change” is the real reason.  If Asians knew what their primary musical style was, I’m not so sure they’d be so crazy about them.

A phone booth with simple instructions on what to say once your dialee picks up.  I like it.

The tailor you go to when you’ve been asked to host the Academy Awards.

There are temples, shrines and mosques (and even some churches!) everywhere in Thailand & Malaysia.  From what I can gather, Hinduism has many gods.  My Indian is not at it’s best right now, but I think this temple is honoring the Goddess of breast implants.

And for those like me who don’t have time to stop for anything, there is always the fast food option. Self-installed in just 5 minutes, you can use this one to pray that the car to your left is not about to veer into your lane without indicating (as they always seem to do over here).

This is generally how the Hindu temples look in Malaysia. Penang and KL are both made up primarily of Indians and Chinese, with authentic Malays being in the minority.  Therefore Buddhism and Hinduism are both very popular, even though this is a Muslim country.

Once again, forgive my Indian translation, but I believe this could be a temple worshiping the Gods of Guitar Hero and Rock Band.

I walked past this very run down hair-dressing salon which advertises itself as “delux hair saloon”. Hate to see the budget ones!

A street-side shoe repairer still has work to do on a very quiet day.

The beggars are not as aggressive here as they are in Thailand, but I am glad I was not the only one to ignore them. It is very difficult to walk past without helping.

The street sweepers are human here, and they just walk into moving traffic without a care in the world. Here a couple of locals trade views on an upcoming footy match.

After a very long day walking around town I was picked up at my hotel by a friend of friend – Communications professor at Penang University, Sam.  She and her friend Kash took me to the best (but messiest) seafood experience I’ve had yet. Below you see the just caught trays and boxes of clams, pipis, whelks, crabs, fish, prawns & squid.  You load up trays with what you want, and they cook up a storm with it.  And boy, do they do a great job.  With the exception of the yucky orange crab fat, everything was stunning. I particularly loved the butter prawns.  Thanks Sam!  Only thing missing was some nice wine or beer to compliment the seafood – this is a Halal restaurant, so no alcohol allowed.

A view from the restaurant.  What a great way to spend a balmy evening.

In keeping with my ongoing obsession with macro bug photography, I present you with the unidentified giant bug that was crawling up my hotel room wall when I arrived home from dinner. I’m sure it was harmless but I relocated it to the outside corridor all the same.  Oh, and it had wings – don’t think having this thing dive-bomb my pillow at 3am would be that enjoyable.

OK – that was a very long post, but there was a lot to see in Penang. Tomorrow we have day 2, where Sam takes a day off work to drive me around the island.

Bangkok – Day 2, blisters and a twisted ankle

Aaargh!!!

It didn’t take long. I’ve ended today’s adventures with a twisted left ankle (which I initially thought was a lot worse) and, at last count, five blisters on my left foot and one on my right. News about that later.

Seasoned travelers will probably be disappointed, but I have to say I do NOT like Bangkok. I am quite disappointed that I booked another couple of nights after I get back from Chiang Mai. Don’t get me wrong, there are endless things to see and do, however I am incredibly uncomfortable here. I struggle with the money, the lack of English (I can’t grasp Thai at all), the streets, the weather, the pollution and even the people. I can’t wait to get out of this city, and tonight I have come home early and am staying in my hotel with Burger King. Yep, I haven’t even had a go at the street food, and I don’t think I will until I am with a guide who understands what things are.

Some images of Bangkok street-life follow. Below is a very typical lane or alley. Crowded, smelly and old. Every building is dirty, run-down or derelict. I don’t know what is in the water on the ground, but it is everywhere and I’ve already dropped credit cards and put my backpack down into a puddle of the disgusting stuff.

So many people work on the street. This happy lady with most of her teeth missing didn’t seem to have a corresponding business. I couldn’t see how you engaged her, but perhaps she was just doing her own mending? Nice machine. I think my grandma had one just like it.

Construction workers building the new Skytrain work right on the edge of their massive concrete structures, with no safety railing, ropes or other form of protection. This air conditioner mechanic (who will never be out of work given the number of air conditioning units I saw in one tiny block) also lives on the edge. It kind of looks like fun, though…

I booked a four-hour tour to see some temples and take a ride on a riverboat. Instead I ended up in a taxi on my own with a driver who spoke no English. As a result I decided to just see Wat Arun (once Thailand’s seat of power and probably the best known temple in Thailand) and call it a day. It actually took a couple of hours to get there anyway as the traffic was appalling. On the way we drove through the protest to throw out the current Thai president. I couldn’t get a shot as the taxi driver didn’t understand I wanted him to stop. I couldn’t be bothered trying to make him understand – I thought pointing a camera at a rather large protest about something this important would be self-explanatory.

I think this monk was rostered on to ensure farangs (foreigners) don’t fall. I’m not sure if achieving enlightment introduces the ability to levitate large Americans. Fortunately there were none around. This guy was very patient, silently acceding to the demands of Japanese men wanting photos of their wives draped all over him. I chose to shoot quietly from half a kilometre away.

Carefully edging my way down from the top of the tallest tower I made it to the very last step when CRACK! Down I went as I had only momentarily looked up to watch a group of Japanese tourists. I do this a lot, but this one hurt more than I can remember and I had also damaged a spot halfway up my foot. In a tribute to genuine Thai helpfulness (a trait I have previously attributed to the possibility of making money), a group of four teenage girls immediately came to my aid. When I waved them off with a smile, they continued to look concerned for me, but continued on their way ahead of me. I rounded a corner only to run into their leader, who had come back to me with a glass jar of something green to rub on it. I don’t know what it was but I assured her I was OK and gave her a nodded “khawp khun” (thank you) and another smile. The group wisely chose not to follow me home, and reluctantly moved on. Reckon that would happen in Melbourne?

Hopefully this next image shows just how intensely “gold” this gold finish on the roof of one of the temples is. On a pretty dull day, where most colours were muted, this stood out dramatically.

Everyone’s a model. These two were at it for a good 10 minutes with their little point and shoot, and “Fashion TV” moves. I hope they took a timeout for long enough to understand what the actual structure stood for.

I also got the feeling they hardly ever left their air-conditioned coach, and that is probably a good thing given what I’ve experienced in such a short time so far. A blind and rabid dog staggering along the street only inches away from a river of traffic, beggars with signs asking for a specific donation, people living inside demolished apartment blocks, shanty towns where the dogs seem to outnumber the people (tough in Bangkok, I tell you!).

OK – on to tomorrow. Getting up at 6am to be picked up for an organised tour of the floating market and some tiger thingy. Back at 6pm for a Chiang Mai tour group meeting followed by a suit fitting. I’m yet to decide if I got a good or bad deal, but I know I got a LOT of clothes.

Bangkok – first impressions

I don’t even know where to begin. No photos yet to share with you as I didn’t feel comfortable taking my camera out tonight.

Smells (think sewerage in many places), noise, pollution, people, lights, street stalls, dogs, aggressive taxi drivers (all of them insist on taking you somewhere you don’t want to go, and none of them take no for an answer), incredibly fake politeness. It’s overwhelming and I don’t know how I’m going to get through tomorrow on my own.

Tonight I needed a massage to remove the pain from my feet (walking) and shoulders (pack). The shop-fronts offering massage are everywhere, so I asked a taxi driver to help me find a good one. I ended up at some ridiculously opulent building which immediately felt wrong. Inside were about 200 bikini clad Thai girls behind glass, all trying to get my attention. It felt like a zoo and terribly exploitative. Don’t the girls feel less than human in that situation? Trying to get out of there without upsetting the bloke in charge was a delicate task.

Once I got out I made my way to Sukhumvit 24 where in wait lay a diamond in the dirt. I can’t remember the name of it, but the seafood on offer was “special” as Brucey would passionately declare if he was there. However, he wasn’t there. In fact no-one else was there – only me. I was treated to a floor show of traditional Thai dance, and no less than six very attentive waiters. I went to visit my meal for the night, whilst it was still alive, and got to know all 4 river prawns and a very nervous crayfish quite well.

The meal was incredible, the wine I chose was some Italian Zinfandel which blew my mind, and the service exemplorary. It was only spoiled a tiny bit when my throng of waiters had their attention diverted by a pair of latecomers – a 60+ UK divorcee (so he said to ‘her’) with his evening’s “girlfriend experience”. The only downer for me was that I was alone at my table, and my main waiter wouldn’t join me for a taste of that fabulous Zinfandel. It was probably because he couldn’t understand a word of Englsh and thought I was propositioning him.

So, my first night in Bangkok wasn’t all bad, but who knows what tomorrow will bring. I’m nervous…

Singapore in only 24 hours

Hi there

I’ve been stuck in a barren, Internet-free space for most of my stay at Lollypopcorn, because my new Eee PC has a problem connecting through wireless. That’s extremely annoying, as I only got it for 3 reasons. 1 – Portability (check), 2 – Backup (check), 3 – Wireless hot spots (uncheck). Meat Loaf was NOT right unless you repace “ain’t” with “sure is”.

So a high level summary of my Singapore follows. Don’t be too freaked out when you see what’s missing. What I don’t know won’t hurt me, right?

The day started at 8am with my first public transport experiences as I made my way from bus to MRT (train system) to Orchard Rd (shopping & lunch with an ex-girlfriend from my ancient history. Apart from the locals not having a clue, and the fact that English is Singapore’s official language being ridiculously incorrect when you take away the official position and look at reality, public transport in Singapore simply couldn’t be any easier. A bus driver even waved me to my seat and smiled when I forgot to bring coins for my final trip to the airport.

Singaporeans are supposed to be the rudest people in the world (at least according to a number of recent surveys). For some reason I found that everyone was very happy to help me with a smile, even volunteering to help at times. This surprised a few people I talked to. I did find that most of them seem to think that being the first on and off everything is very important.

I can tell you that nothing in Singapore is spectacular, but it is all remarkably clean and well-managed. Being affronted by hawkers in a modern shopping centre felt strange. After spending two hours walking around a flock of giant shopping centres I can tell you that there are some strange shops

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
and stranger products

street buskers

and umbrellas for sale.

After lunch I wished I had invested SGD8 at this vending machine.

Once Sanja bid me farewell (and thank you for taking care of the food choices, they were great!) I made my way to the Botanical Gardens. I was promptly drenched in a very heavy downpour, complete with scary thunder, but the unusually friendly attendant gave me a poncho to keep. This didn’t help as much as I thought, and my camera gear still managed to take a shower. I also helped a group of schoolgirls amuse themselves as they were running around in the rain, no umbrellas, white shirts on, and wondering what all the fuss was about. When they saw me, they cracked up. Glad I am helping the country be happy. Highlights of the Bot were an endless supply of red-faced turtles (not their real name, I’m protecting the innocent), confused swans that struggled with reality

(kind of like people who get lost in Facebook or Second Life), gargantuan flying things that wouldn’t stay still long enough for a photo opportunity, and secret squirrels taking advantage of my point-and-shoot’s inability to focus fast enough to catch them at it.

I could write so much more, but I want to get out into Bangkok and eat something. Couple of quick observations before I go. There is an unbelievable amount of container ships in Singapore harbour – you have to see them to believe it. There are an unbelievable number of planes flying past you at very close distances when you fly over Asia. I had to rub my eyes to check I wasn’t seeing things when this large jet streaked past us at no more than a km away – seemed a lot closer, but couldn’t have been.

Until later…

More Melbourne Panasonica

OK – I did say next stop Singapore, didn’t I? Well I am still loving playing with my new point-and-shoot, so I’ll treat you to a few more Melbourne CBD sights.

Today I stumbled across a public speed chess match played with man-size pieces. It attracted quite a crowd!

From Melbourne CBD

Whilst heading back inside the office two kids grabbed my attention. Each had an extra head in their hands, complete with hair, and a full face. They took turns to place them inside their hoods on top of their head, as second heads (who was that character on Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy?), on the ground where they stood on them and occasionally throwing them at unsuspecting passers-by.

From Melbourne CBD

Everywhere you look along Bourke and Swanston Streets you see buskers. Some are way better than others. This guy was one of the better ones, and was selling CDs – I bought one of course. His didjeridoo and guitar are both hand-made by himself, and he even threw in a DVD showing how to find a didj tree then actually make the instrument.

From Melbourne CBD

View all of the images here

Trialing the Panasonic around Melbourne

Day 2 in the city with my new point and shoot – the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ18, and I thought I should try a few shots over lunch and on the night walk back to my car. Check out all of the shots here.
Sitting on a bench in the middle of the CBD, I was staring into my LCD screen trying to interpret the icons. Suddenly feet started appearing in the preview. I decided to see how fast the autofocus worked on a dull day with no pre-focus and got this.

 

 

 

Looking back up from the foot, I noticed a street artist using his hands to create some pretty authentic renaissance style painting on the concrete. You could spend all day in Melbourne photographing the various street performers, and when you get bored with them you just photograph some of the more unusual people hanging around.

I was curious about how the camera handled night lights and handheld slow shutter speeds. For the most part it does a great job, although at times I had to place it on a steady surface and take long exposures. This shot was handheld and typifies some of the night shots I might be capturing in many of the world’s busiest Asian cities.

After much dawdling around the CBD I started to get cold and began to make my way back to Crown Casino, where I had parked for the day. The rest of these images were taken on longer exposures, but show what you can do with a cheap camera when you are traveling. These are all different views of the Yarra River around the Southbank and Crown Casino areas.

Every hour the Crown Casino flame jets explode into life, lighting up the boardwalk with spurts of a hot, orange glow. Far more difficult to photograph with this type of camera, and I really wasn’t in the right place to shoot them effectively, but hey – I had fun trying. Perhaps the tourists in the foreground of this image had more luck than I did.

Well, next stop Singapore. See you there…