Tag: temple

Gurdwara Tanjung Priok Jakarta

I was exploring Jakarta Chinatown (Glodok) when I stumbled upon a Sikh Temple named Gurdwara Tanjung Priok in North Jakarta. It is also known as the Guru Nanak Sikh Temple and the Gurdwara Pasar Baru,

What awesomeness to be standing before a temple founded in 1925. Awesome also because many fellow Malaysians and friends are Sikhs. It was built, funded by Sikh workers and their families in the harbour or port area. The temple survived Dutch and Japanese Occupation but was moved from the old site in 1999 when the land was acquired by the government to redevelop the harbour area.

Nearby reasonably priced hotels are Classic Hotel, Alila Jakarta Hotel and Red Planet Hotel Pasar Baru where one can also walk to Jakarta. Cathedral and the National Monument or Monumen Nasional. All mentioned hotels can be found at MyCen Hotels – http://www.mycen.my/

#sikh #gurdwara #temple #jakarta #indonesia #landmark #travel

World Champ At Their Home Ground

World Champ At Their Home Ground.

The two young men in the previous pic are part of a prestigious troupe known as the Khuan Loke Dragon & Lion Dance Association. I was amazed by their acrobatic and daredevil performance on the high poles.

Looking at the troupe’s Facebook Page back home later, it was nice to discover they are indeed the World Champion for the High Pole Category. Dragon and Lion Dance is a sport recognised by the Olympic Council of Asia.

The night (known as ‘Chap Goh Mei’ in Malaysia) marked the end of the 15-day celebration of Chinese New Year. Beautifully-lit Thean Hou Temple was the backdrop for the thrilling lion dance and spectacular fireworks.

Sony Alpha a7R, ISO 6400, f4, 1/60 sec.

#documentaryphotography #nightphotography #liondance #chinesefestival #chapgohmei #cny #sonyalpha #a7r #zeiss

Troupers

Met these two young Malay lion dance troupers last year. As I was taking their pic, their Chinese and Indian teammates kept mentioning KFC.

Puzzled, I asked them about it. One of the boys appeared in a KFC television commercial near that time.

According to Albert Fong, lion dance expert and trainer on my Facebook, they are Hakimi Ismail (left) and Eskandar Zolkarnaine.

#liondance #cny #nfc #sonyalpha #a7r

Mickey Mouse Shadows

Shooting the annual lion dance and fireworks at Thean Hou temple last year took time. Much time. Although the two events I wanted to photograph was scheduled at 10 pm, I had to go there before 5 pm.

Otherwise; the road up the hill will be congested with cars and chartered buses. Many drivers who came later, gave up and their cars can be seen parked on the highway as I was driving back. A few, overheated and stalled going up the hill.

Time after time, a Malaysian event will never start on time or takes place as scheduled. The fireworks didn’t start until way past 11 in the night when it was published as 10 pm.

Anyway, plenty of time to while away and to look at or photograph things not done normally. The temple courtyard had interesting shadows I never noticed on previous trips. Mickey Mouse shadows.

Sony Alpha a7R, ISO 400, f11, 1/320 sec.

#lanterns #shadows #cny #theanhoutemple #sunset #blackandwhite #sonyalpha #a7r #samyang

Flag Vault

Flag Vault.

The Chingay part of the annual Johor Bahru parade is seldom photographed before sunset. By the time the temple procession and floats move into the city, it is usually way past nightfall. To catch the giant flag bearers in daylight, I went to the starting point in a village. That turned out to be near impossible as every surrounding road was closed for the massive event.

Me and JB resident Sharon navigated through a maze of back roads and shortcuts before finally ending up at the village where the procession assembled. We still needed to walk a long way to the starting point as there were like a million people already there.

Bewildered and unaware of what was going on, we discovered a site where there were 4 different Chinese operas of different dialects and where worshipers congregate to pray. It was human crush just moving along there among the crowds.

Even though I had plenty of experience covering cultural processions, it was to be one of the toughest stints on foot, starting from 3pm to 3am.

Chingay is the street art of balancing and vaulting giant and heavy flags. The Johor Bahru Chingay Parade is said to have a 140-year history. It is happening in JB tonight.

Olympus OM-D, ISO 200, f6.3, 1/1000 sec.

#festival #chingay #parade #culture #johorbahru #johor #jb #malaysia #olympus #tbt #chinesefestival,