Tag: cny

Those Halcyon Days

There were (only) Geocities, Blogger and bare knuckle hand coding of html during that era.

Soon content management systems (CMS) entered the market. It required not only frequent and tiresome software updates of the core system but also updates of plug ins.
One of my WordPress blogs had issues that made it inaccessible for a long while. It was resolved only recently. Before that, I already moved to Drupal, another CMS, with its own host of issues.
I will write about how I resolved the WP problem another time.

Anyway, from the revived blog, I found a treasure trove of images. One of them, is this shot of candles and blue sky captured in a Chinatown temple on the first day of Chinese New Year 2014.
This was posted at http://tvsmith.net.my/blog/blue-skies-and-candlelight/

Olympus OM-D, ISO 200, f11, 1/800 sec.

#cny #temple #flame #fire #candle #sky #tbt #blog

East Meets West – Ikan Salmon Asam Pedas

It was RM 16 (expensive possibly due to last minute price gouging by traders). She asked me how to cook it. I was too lazy to google for recipes and in the evening, I discovered Asam Pedas Ikan Salmon. Her own fusion food. Haha. She used some spicy tamarind paste and garnished it with sprigs of Coriander or Chinese Parsley or Cilantro. It turned out quite delicious.

Asus Zenfone 3, ISO 181, f2, 1/40 sec.

#reuniondinner #salmon #fish #asampedas #cny #asian #dinner #foodphotography #asus #fusion #cny

The Reunion Dinner

Its cultural significance is similar to the Thanksgiving dinner of the West. The modern families are separated by obligations of career and marriage. Hence the yearly rush back to hometowns to reunite for the dinner. In China, the exodus can result in traffic jams hundreds of miles long and at one time, it lasted for weeks.

Nu Sentral put up an interesting mock up of the traditional reunion dinner table setting when I visited. The dishes were sampuru or Japanese fake or plastic display food. Reunion feast usually includes sumptuous dishes like prawns and steamed chicken meant for the prayer altar, fish and tinned abalone, mushrooms stir fried with mixed vegetables. Missing here is the customary soup. There are no hard and fast rules and the dishes cooked or served can vary according to household and family custom.

The reunion dinner custom serves more than eating. Daughter-in-laws face pressure when they are required to demonstrate their cooking skills. The sitting down is a time to catch up on news of siblings and relatives. It is also a time when younger members are interrogated on marriage and expectancy of babies for newly married couples, Thus, it is an event not always look forward to by all.

Panasonic Lumix GM-1, ISO 1000, f4, 1/60 sec.

#reuniondinner #sample #sampuru #cny #asian #custom #food #culture #dinner #table #chinesecustom #nusentral

Happy Chinese New Year 2017

Photographed this rooster in a remote village near the Ulu Slim Hot Springs last year. I was watching it with trepidation as it was play fighting violently with another young rooster. Cock fighting is a young rooster’s obsession, it seemed.

In one of its non-fighting moments, it stood out with colours of grandeur and was so beautiful. I was glad I waited and captured it. I didn’t know at that point in time, I can use it for a special customised greeting card for the Year Of The Rooster. A special e-card I can send to friends, like those I made for Christmas and New Year.(see related links). I applied several art filters to the image to make it look like a painting or art.

Moral of the story: Click, capture and save an unusual subject even if you have no need for it at that moment. You never know when you might find a need for that special image.

May the rooster bring you prosperity, good health and luck.

Chinese New Year is on Saturday 28th of January, 2017.

Sony A7R, ISO 1000, f4, 1/4000 sec.

#greeting #2017 #rooster #greetingcard #cny #chinesenewyear

A Cockerel’s Tail

To see how beautiful the tail is, one may need to photograph the rooster from one of the upper floors. The majestic tail is made up of lanterns. It wasn’t lit when I was on the ground level (see previous pic).

Panasonic GM-1, ISO 320, f4, 1/60 sec.

#documentaryphotography #nusentral #mall #rooster #cockerel #giant #cock #cny