Tag: food

ABC

Known was Air Batu Campur (mixed ice) or ABC locally, the icy dessert is found across Southeast Asia in different variations. Hitz Cafe of Tanjung Malim serves the traditional Malaysian and Singapore version.

It is shaved ice with assorted jellies, beans, nuts, maize, sago seeds, topped up with evaporated milk and rose syrup. Ask for ice cream, if you fancy.

ABC is also Michael Jackson’s monster hit when he was 11. I can’t remember if he sang ‘ABC’ in his 1996 concert in Malaysia but I still wonder if he had ABC during his stay here.

Sony Alpha a7R, ISO 100, f4 1/125 sec.

Into The Crowd

Saturdays are ‘pasar malam’ (night market) nights in Tanjung Malim town. The town is usually quite quiet after 5pm and thus was interesting to see a crowd for a change.

Made my way to the front of a crowd gathered around a stall. Was wondering out loud what strange satay this man was selling when this young lady turned around. I thought she whispered “Fish”.

Confirmed moments later with her family members that it was fish indeed. Nice to see a Malay (or maybe Indonesian) hawker attracting so many Chinese customers. All waited patiently as he grilled what looked like mini fishball satay sticks.

Photography Notes: For street photography, the ‘half-press’ AF focus lock is superior to any other focus methods including DMF and MF. Your mileage may vary, though.

When the girl turned around unexpectedly, I pan left to lock focus on her left eye and quickly re-compose to keep the satay man back in frame. All took place within 3 seconds or so.

Without fiddling with manual focus, I was able to catch the spontaneity of her reaction and the semi-candid moment. The result; an unconventional and more interesting capture.

Sony Alpha a7R, ISO 200, f4, 1/320 sec.

Those Days Were Nuts

The shells, along with those from melon seeds (kuaci) littered every inch of the floor. This was before the introduction of boring, mandated popcorn and garden variety cineplexes.

During those days, a sickening symphony of cracking and squashing sounds can be heard as cinema goers wade through the mess when the movie ends. Every one will carry his or her empty soft drink bottle out though. They get a deposit return for the bottle. Haha.

Though I hated smelly cuttlefish more, my biggest gripe was not the litter or the snacks. It was the lazy projectionist cutting off the end credits prematurely and that MOFO usher.

Five minutes before a movie ends, the sicko destroys your concentration and enjoyment with a spoiler. He will loudly pull open all the exit door curtains to signal the movie is ending, just when you least expect it.

Sony Alpha a7R, ISO 125, f4, 1/250 sec.

Shaved Ice And Light

Iced dessert from Kak Jah’s Cendol stall in front of the post office in Kuala Kubu Bahru. I poured Nescafe Ice into a take-away pack and it tasted pretty cool.

Photography Tip: It is possible to do nice food photography at a roadside hawker stall. It can be done without any additional equipment but it requires a systematic approach.

Survey the ambient light before finding a seat. Note the direction of light, plus the shadows and highlights it will cast. Then, choose a table and seating position in relation to that.

Travel food photography is not about climbing on a chair (blogger-style), taking a overhead shot and tagging it as #foodphotography.

It entails an understanding of light that you cannot control. Harness the existing ambient light and use it to shape the food or to highlight its textures.

What if the light is really bad? Don’t bother, then. Just enjoy the food. There are no laws compelling you to post every meal you had.

Sony Alpha a7R, ISO 100, f4, 1/320 sec.

A Magical Garden

One of the many perks of kampung living is having an orchard, farm or garden on your own backyard. In this garden with a magical-like atmosphere, I saw a mysterious lady.

She turned out to be Wawa’s aunt and was plucking the fruit of Belimbing Buluh, a plant known also as the bilimbi or cucumber tree.

The fruit has various culinary and medicinal usage across Asia. Puan Timah told me she is using it to give her fish curry a tangy flavour. It can also replace mango in making achar (pickles dip), the kind lady enlightened me.

Originally from KL, the retiree is staying at her sister’s kampung to attend a ‘kursus umrah’ (Mecca pilgrimage course) in Hulu Bernam.

Photography Tip: Use a simple reverse vignette of white, instead of black, to give the edges a kind of soft-glow, thus enhancing the magical effect.

Sony Alpha a7R, ISO 100, f2, 1/200 sec.