Tips On How To Ensure Your Camera Survives A Water Attack During Songkran

If your camera is not weather or water resistant, use a rain cape or splash bag. You can also wrap plastic bags around it but it is not the safest or most convenient method.

Remember though that the more you dress up to protect your camera and yourself, the more you will become a target. People hate boorish-looking people. As such, a guy with raincoat and swim goggles will attract attention and loads of water.

Adults generally understand you don’t shoot water directly into someone’s camera or phone. Kids don’t care and will aim at your lens. With so many people armed with gigantic squirt guns, jets of water will come from every direction.

A big bucket splash can be fatal even for a weather-resistant camera. So avoid taking a direct hit by ducking, or holding the camera to your back, if you can.

Even if a camera is completely waterproof, there is one other side effect: splashes and drip on the lens. Bring along a towel for quick wipes. There is no need to wipe religiously though.

Alternatively, you can use a long tele lens to snap from a safe distance but the pictures will look aloof. Nothing beats getting near or into the middle of the action to capture the drama.

Avoid the people who attack you with talcum powder. The fine powder can get into the innards of a lens and destroy it.

I CANT HELP YOU IF YOU ARE A BABE. Every guy, including monks. want to see a female in a wet T-shirt or pants. Every water gun within 1 kilometer, will be aimed at you. In fact. try to avoid walking next to a babe as your camera will die as collateral.

Lastly but just as important, remember also to bring a waterproof pouch for your wallet, phone and car keys. With peace of mind, you will have more fun.

Book a hotel in a Thai city via MyCen Hotels at http://www.mycen.my/
Happy Songkran and stay safe.

#songkran #thailand #photographytips

Happy Songkran

Happy Songkran to Thai friends and Happy New Year to friends in Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos. It is also the Khmer New Year. Also Burma’s traditional New Year. Many people know it as the Water Festival where friendly dunking and splashing is a ritual, especially in Thailand. It is also celebrated in parts of northeast India, parts of Vietnam and Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, China.

I called a friend in Cambodia last night and he said it is a long holiday weekend. Happy Holidays.

#songkran #waterfestival #thailand #culture

Chinese Lontong

Since I mentioned the shop next to SR Inn in Simpang Renggam serving lontong, let’s look at it. It was fascinating and interesting to see such a cute crossover food served by a few Chinese coffee shops.

The popular Johor Malay (originally Indonesian) dish is rebooted as Chinese food. It is a testimony of the cordial and harmonious interracial relationships in Johor.

The dish here cannot be halal as this coffee shop also serves pork and loads of beers. The kopitiam is a common watering hole in small towns, where pubs are few and rare.

The lontong here is good and satisfying food for breakfast. I liked slicing the included half boiled egg and mixing it up with the sambal, the rice cubes and cabbage.

Got too much sambal around your mouth? I chuckled at the many toilet paper rolls hanging from the walls of the kopitiam, supposedly for customers to use as serviettes. Which is kind of practical and handy as Chinese coffee shops never provide free serviettes, unlike Mamak and Malay shops.

#lontong #johor #crossoverfood #breakfast #simpangrenggam

Renggam: The Time Travel Town

I like exploring small towns. From Simpang Renggam town where I was staying, I drove to Renggam town which was even smaller. It is located between Kluang and Layang Layang on the secondary inner back roads of Southern Johor.

Many parts of the tiny town are preserved in its original form, untouched by development. The facade of the Hainanese Association is pristine and beautiful. It was like stepping into a time travel machine.

Simpang Renggam was on the busy trunk road to Singapore but it was eventually bypassed by the North South Highway. Renggam is still a railway town. See my earlier post on SR Inn as a decent accommodation option.

#renggam #johor #simpangrenggam #architecture #history #hainanese #smalltown

SR Inn, Simpang Renggam

Now to introduce a local small town hotel. I had a photography assignment in tiny Simpang Renggam town in Johor at one time and I stayed at a small budget hotel. The town is as small as one can get.

The other alternative was to stay in Kluang and take a daily half hour drive each way. It is not the only act in town but I am happy with SR Inn for several reasons. It is centrally located in the middle of town though don’t expect any action or entertainment after 8pm.

The biggest attraction, for me, was the hotel is next to a coffee shop that sells Chinese lontong and porridge in the morning. While the hotel included some rudimentary breakfast in the lobby, I liked the convenient eatery next door.

Other nice thing was they gave me and crew rooms on the ground floor so we needn’t lug our camera and lighting gear up and down a staircase. More for safety of the equipment at night as it was street parking with no guards.

Rooms were clean, with reliable air conditioning and hot water supply. Am surprised to see the tariffs are now cheaper than the walk in rates I paid. The take away is one should book rooms online and it may be cheaper.

Thousands of small town hotels can be found online if you search at MyCen Hotels. Better start booking now if you are going back to your hometown this coming Hari Raya festival. Many families are planning to stay in hotels because their pampered urban kids can’t sleep without air conditioning and in granny’s mosquito nets or to bath without hot water showers.

Link to SR Inn Booking Page: http://www.mycen.my/sr-inn-simpang-renggam/