Wonderful that today is an alignment of Asian festivals. Happy Tamil New Year, Happy Thai New Year or Songkran and Happy Vaisakhi (or Baisakhi), the important holy day for Sikhs.
Saw these statues of a family at a Hindu temple in Rawang, a town on Federal Route 1. Will see if I can also drop by at a Sikh temple that is on-route later.
Sony Alpha a7R, ISO 400, f7.1, 1/400 sec.
Chinese folks from elsewhere go to the Ulu Yam area for one main reason. To try the famous Hokkien ‘lor mee’ there. It is a dish of yellow noodles cooked in a sourish vinegar broth. Although the dish originated in Ulu Yam Lama, several other restaurants at Ulu Yam Bharu serve it.
Apart from the now third-generation original shop in Ulu Yam Lama, the other popular ones are Aik Koon and Hock Lay in Ulu Yam Bharu. The former was closed when I was in town looking for food, so I settled for the latter. Fermented acetic acid isn’t exactly my cup of tea; so I asked for another recommendation besides lor mee. The head waitress suggested their signature dish of Shrimps In A Coconut, which she claimed is their creation.
The prawns are cooked in coconut juice (coconut water) and not santan (coconut milk). As a result, the mild curry prawns have a very distinctive fragrance and unique sweet taste. It comes with a tom yum-like dip that is spicy and sour. Excellent fare and reasonable pricing from Hock Lay Restaurant.
Waitress is also talkative, informative and cooperative. She helped me move my food and gear to a darker and cooler corner after I finished photography at a brighter side. Although this dish has no pork in it, the restaurant is not halal. Sony Alpha a7R, ISO 100, f4, 1/250 sec. The nearest decent hotel is The Leverage Business Hotel in Rawang. Available from MyCen Hotels at http://www.mycen.my/
One of the things I like about this trip is the chance to chat with local small traders. They are an important component of a small town’s economy and that role is seldom acknowledged. I asked Yusof the watermelon trader and native of Batang Kali about business at day’s end. He said he was breaking even. Yusof, who is 21, started trading when he was 11. Perhaps it is a family tradition as the younger brother who is helping him is now also 11. Small town people are friendly and are happy to chat with out-of-towners. There is one special quality about them that you will notice right away. I told Yusof he is quite enterprising and successful for his age and he replied by saying he is just doing his small part to help out the family.
Glad to feel the unique Malaysian (and Asian) cultural trait of humility alive and well in the countryside. In the city and in the corporate world, western-influenced training teach people to say “never been better” or “awesome”, even if you didn’t ask. The coaches and practitioners claim it is to reaffirm their success and to spread (or hype) positivity. On the opposite side, their rural counterparts intentionally downplay success through modest words. That I admire and respect. Nearest comfortable hotel to Batang Kali is The Leverage Business Hotel in Rawang. Sony Alpha a7R, ISO 100, f7.1, 1/100 sec.
The door-to-door ice cream man brings much joy to the children of a village in Ulu Yam. I stopped him to buy and to chat.
It made me feel silly and guilty at the same time. Silly, having had a so-called artisan elderflower-flavoured ‘ais krim potong’ (tube popsicle) for RM 8 ++ at a hipster mall with absurd parking. Guilty, because I am paying less than a ringgit for an equally tasty Wall’s Solero (imitation) here.
Of course, one can argue that many top malls charge RM15K or more for monthly rental of a cart or kiosk. For this mobile ice cream man, his overheads are petrol, dry ice and sweat. Speaking of petrol, I spent less on petrol getting here than for parking at some malls in the city.
Sucking a popsicle, hearing the breeze flapping the leaves of a banana tree. That’s life.
Sony Alpha a7R, ISO 100, 4.5, 1/800 sec.
Ulu Yam Bharu and surroundings may have a turbulent past but today it is a sleepy hollow. Not much activities except for people stopping over for food on transit to Genting Highlands. You may want to explore the town and village on foot to pick out hidden gems with your camera.
Sony Alpha a7R, ISO 100, f9, 1/800 sec.
