Tag: perak

Hindu Temple Statue Supervising A Chinese Tile Installer

“No, no, no. Don’t leave your tape measure lying about here. Someone may slip on it”, the statue seems to be cautioning the workman.

I was watching the tile layer (or tile setter) for a while, too. Being the occasional DIY enthusiast, I was fascinated by how he so effortlessly cut odd pieces to fit.

The process of cementing and tapping each marble tile is not as easy as it looks. He must apply the correct pressure and tap at the right places to make it stick perfectly and evenly. It is an art.

The Hindu temple in Behrang Ulu is undergoing renovation and an upgrade.

Sony Alpha a7R, ISO 100, f4.5, 1/250 sec.

Sleepy Cat In A Sleepy Town

At the entrance of the town (or village) of Behrang Ulu is a striking green-painted shack. It turned out be a fascinating, old school Malay coffee shop.

A banana fritters hawker nearby told me the kedai kopi is opened only in the morning. I think that cat n the chair likes it that way.

Behrang Ulu is quite unique in that it is not only a multi-racial new village but it also has a town sign written in Malay, Chinese and Tamil. Must come again to have coffee and a chat with the locals.

Sony Alpha a7R, ISO 100, f4, 1/250 sec.

Goodbye Tanjung Malim

I hope you enjoyed the pictures and narrative as much as I enjoyed discovering them. The wheels roll on; another town, another adventure on Federal Route 1.

Photographed on the flyover built to circumvent the (previous) railway crossing and new electrified track. As I descend from the flyover into a junction, I will turn left to go north again.

Sony Alpha a7R, ISO 100, f5, 1/100 sec.

Yik Mun’s Hainanese Chicken Chop

Yik Mun kopitiam in Tanjung Malim was a popular stopover during the heydays of Federal Route 1. The Chinese steamed buns shop was an institution.

Now run by third generation descendents, the restaurant is located outside the old town. A shophouse factory in town churns out the assembly-line buns. They are no longer hand-made.

I didn’t order their famous pau (steamed bun) this time. It tasted lousy on a previous visit. Fortunately, the shop sells other local food including the famous Malaysian invention; the Hainanese Chicken Chop.

I am a bit OCD when I see salad dressing carelessly splashed all over the dish. The Hainanese chicken chop’s gravy is a speciality by itself. Typically, it has oyster sauce, HP sauce, Worcestershire sauce and blended secret ingredients in it. It must not be contaminated with Thousand Island dressing.

That aside, the chicken chop here tasted “so so” and the portion seems to have gotten smaller. At RM 14 ++, it is not cheap for a small town.

Nevertheless, the shop was packed when I was there. I guess a good reputation from the past can go a long way. Try it yourself and let me know what you think, if you are in town. Yik Mun is Halal.

Sony Alpha a7R, ISO 1000, f4, 1/60 sec.

Coming In For A Landing

A bird coming out of the clouds for a landing on the spire of a Hindu temple in Tanjung Malim.

Olympus OM-D, ISO 640, f8, 1/200 sec.