Tag: perak

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.

What The Fog

It is no different from any in the big cities. Disarray of satellite dishes, messy utility cables and a few garishly-renovated houses sticking out like sore thumbs.

Except for one thing. In the city, one would automatically assume a neighbour is down with dreaded dengue fever when one sees a big cloud of white fog. Are the authorities doing symbolic fogging again after the mosquitoes have bolted?

Not here, thankfully. The fogging at their doorsteps are low-lying clouds and fresh mountain mist. Now that’s living.

Olympus OM-D, ISO 200, f9, 1/640 sec.

The Hills Are Alive

The hills are alive from near Tanjung Malim. Rarely noted are the beautiful hills and mountains visible from the vicinity of Tanjung Malim, Behrang and Proton City.

Yesterday, there was two hours of heavy downpour in Tanjung Malim but it didn’t dampen my spirits. I knew the the post-rain landscape will be spectacular.

True enough, the resulting mountain fog, mists and bluish hues were breathtaking. Was expecting Julie Andrews to come from behind the grass.

Olympus OM-D, ISO 200, f7.1, 1/320 sec.

Proton City

Proton City is the developing industrial, residential and academic township anchored by the national car’s manufacturing plant.

Other than industrial buildings, there’s currently not much else to see; except maybe the new UPSI campus. It is located about 9 km from Tanjung Malim town.

I like this rainy day view of the Proton HQ building against a gorgeous backdrop of streams, greenery and misty mountains.

Olympus OM-D, ISO 200, f8, 1/250 sec.

War And Peace

The Larut War of the early tin mining years took place during the second half of the 19th century. Running battles between the Cantonese-dominated Ghee Hin clan and the Hakka-dominated Hai San clan continued until the Pangkor Treaty in 1874.

Near the end of the protracted war, some Hokkiens fled central Perak and settled in more peaceful Tanjung Malim. In the early 1900s, they built two rows of shop houses that formed what is the old town today. A few of these ancient buildings still stand.

Sony Alpha a7R, ISO 100, f6.3, 1/250 sec.