Category: Photography

Chilling With Makcik Hasiah

Was exhausted after a long hard day exploring the railway area of Behrang. Thus was happy to see a roadside hawker stall serving cold drinks and food. Also a good place to rest and check accumulated messages on my phone, I thought.

Makcik Hasiah, the elderly stall owner, asked me if I came for the lekor. It is east coast fish crackers made from fish and sago flour. It wasn’t ready at the time I arrived.

I told her I came for a cold drink. She said whenever a non-Malay come to her neck of the woods, it must be for her lekor.

Me: Wah! It must be good then?
She: But of course! Muahahaha.

We then went on to joke about so many random things, exchanged anecdotes and laughed ourselves silly. I called her aunty. She’s like an own aunt: motherly, wise, caring, honest and funny.

Me: How many grandchildren do you have?
She: Make a guess.
Me: 10?
She: 27!
Me: Wah! (clasping my head in mock disbelief)
She: Why? But I have 8 kids. Hahaha.

Funny how two strangers from different worlds can connect even with nothing in common, except maybe for the slightly twisted sense of humour and good vibes.

I ended up not looking at my phone at all. When you have good company, you won’t even realise you have a phone. I bid farewell and packed some lekor to go.

She: Will you be back soon?
Me: I am afraid not. Will you miss me so soon?
She: No. Hahaha. I want to see the prints of the pics you took of me.

I should get a battery-operated printer soon.

Sony Alpha a7R, ISO 800, f13, 1/60 sec.

Only The Lonely

Behrang train station is strangely deserted. There is not a single person around. No passengers, no workers, not even a guard in sight.

Only soul that greeted me was one very lonely cat. A very skinny and young cat at that. Poor stray (probably dumped here) must be wondering why there are no humans to give it food. Or why it is so hard to find leftovers.

I usually carry a bag of dog food and another bag of cat food in my car. Many strays will not eat kibbles though. Luckily, I also have Whiskas wet food packs.

Need to relocate the animal after feeding or talk to the the Indonesian wrecking crew nearby. Hope I can persuade one of the guys to give it regular food.

More on the station next.

Sony Alpha a7R, ISO 800, f13, 1/80 sec.

Behrang Stesen

The names Behrang Stesen and Behrang (town) are used interchangeably. The little town was the railway station and vice-versa. Things changed after electrification and double tracking of the lines.

Like the towns of Rasa and Tanjung Malim I visited earlier, the realignment of roads and construction of flyovers changed the face and structure of the affected towns forever.

But how did this historical station end up as a train’s abattoir? The clue lies in the station itself. We’ll look at this in the next post.

Photography Notes: There is a 6-foot high barrier at every railway track flyover, bridge or crossing to prevent people peeing onto the high voltage cables below.

I remember reading about its implementation after some foolhardy people peed onto the electric cables from above.

It was during the early days of electric trains. I think they wanted to test the electrical conductivity of urine.

Unfortunately. the barrier also makes photography difficult. I held the camera with up-stretched arms but couldn’t see the exposure info nor frame properly with the flipped-down LCD due to midday glare.

No problem. Activated Sony’s Wireless Live View and Smart Remote Control app on my Samsung Galaxy Phone via one-touch NFC.

The Sony PlayMemories Camera App allowed me to monitor, frame and touch-focus via the phone’s LCD screen. The setup is like a wireless or electronic periscope.

Sony Alpha a7R, ISO 100, f8, 1/500 sec.

The Long Kiss Goodnight

For train buffs and railway enthusiasts, it is heartbreaking to see fairly new trains ripped apart by excavators and backhoes.

With a dismembered body part lying nearby, two dying trains kiss for the last time.

See my recent post “The Ghost Train” for some insights into the phasing out and demolition of this series of Komuter trains.

Sony Alpha a7R, ISO 100, f4.5, 1/500 sec.