The Junkyard Dog Sleeps Tonight

The faithful junkyard dog finds a comfy spot different from the usual rusted metal, cardboard and other junk.

Saw this dog during my exploration of Hulu Bernam area recently. The junkyard dog is a popular movie trope often used to set up a scene with impending sinister activity or hostility.

For all its movie reputation of aggressiveness and alertness, it possesses a less-recognised attribute in real-life. Unconditional loyalty to owners who provide scant creature comforts.

Olympus OM-D, ISO 200, f5.6, 1/160 sec.

Map – Federal Route 1, North of KL

What was supposed to be a 100 km journey for this stretch took more than 1000 km as recorded by my GPS and odometer. Every town or place on this route is like a treasure chest waiting to be discovered and opened.

The extended mileage was because of the multiple up-down trips back home and to various accommodation locations. There were also numerous detours and excursions to branch roads and such.

Sub-trips sometimes yield little for the camera but were still worthwhile for the additional info I gather from locals about the geography and history.

Here’s a gentle reminder again to not make armchair suggestions. I wrote about the methodology, or lack of, in an earlier post.

As well meaning or well intended and appreciated as they may be, I view them as spoilers. That’s because I work entirely at random. No script, except for what I already know from previous trips.

In fact, as I explained before, I will not even view any other pictures in advance so as to have a clean slate or state of mind with no-preconceived notions.

Every stranger you see featured, I met by chance and it is them, the locals, who drove the direction of the journey by suggesting the next place.

It is not a tourism promo or a paid junket packaged as a travel story for a newspaper or magazine. It is one man’s journey and his honest perspective; simple as that.

This first leg of Selangor (north of KL) has about 70 pictures. The stories were all written on the go, on the fly, on the road and usually, minutes before I post. Please view the series from the start to fully understand how each town connects.

Big thank you to the wonderful people I met so far. Big thanks too to you followers and friends for joining me on this ongoing journey.

You can also follow the series on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, all under @tvsmithmy

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.

End Of Act 1 – Intermission.

I am now leaving the state of Selangor and entering the state of Perak for which the capital is Ipoh. The city is still a long way ahead in the scheme of things. After a short break, I’ll first explore the border town of Tanjung Malim.

I am sure many of you didn’t know the significance of the digit 1 painted on the old road nor cared. Now that you know, why not hit the road yourself and find the many gems in your own country.

In the next post, I’ll include a route map generated from my GPS tracks and logs. It’ll give you an idea of each location and the relative distance between the towns visited in the Selangor leg of the journey.

Sony Alpha a7R, ISO 100, f5.6, 1/400 sec.

The Way It Used To Be

Like a fading 3R print, this scene in Hulu Bernam is reminiscent of days gone by. Kampung houses on stilts and children kicking around outside.

While one can still find many such settings in rural areas, this one has an invisible modern element in the air. This village at the border of Perak is billed as a Kampung Tanpa Wayar (Wireless Village).

Photography Notes: Things to do when you are bored in a small town hotel and have a laptop with you. One of the most noticeable self-destructing effect of old colour prints is the magenta shift due to dye aging, light damage and latent chemical reaction.

To achieve the old picture look, I altered the magenta and green balance and added the finger print with Photoshop CC. Scratches, staining and dirt were added via Snapseed Desktop.

A subtle pixel shift in focus was also required as the modern-day a7R is very sharp. Looking at some of the prints from my Canon T90 film camera (dubbed The Tank by Japanese photojournalists), they appeared reasonably sharp too in spite of the subsequent colour fade.

Sony Alpha a7R, ISO 640, f4, 1/640 sec.