Tag: zeiss

Pluto Fly-By

These are actually vermicelli-rice flour string hoppers awaiting steaming on top of a pau steamer cover. The rattan dome is wrapped with a white cloth.

I found out that the South Indian Putu Mayam is from Venus and Putu Mayung is from Pluto. The pakcik hawker at the Ramadan bazaar noticed me giving the name on the banner a double take.

The intuitive man explained that in the north, it is known as Putu Mayung. It tastes just as wonderful with grated coconut and ‘gula melaka’ or coconut palm sugar.

I inverted the image and called it Plutu. The asteroid belt is out-of-focused points of light and people outside the tent.

Sony Alpha a7R, ISO 100, f7.1, 1/200 sec.

Simply Red

I asked the operator and he said he extracts (or blends) the juice from the watermelons without adding water or sugar, as other sellers would.

The stall brands itself as Kaw-Kaw Tembikai Blend. Kaw is the Hokkien word for thick.

Sony Alpha a7R, ISO 125, f4, 1/200 sec.

A Hipster’s Bazaar

Putrajaya’s Ramadan Bazaar is refreshingly different and somewhat bizarre. It is more a showcase of clever marketing tactics, than of food.

Many of the stalls have banners with hipster catchphrases such as ‘the real original’, ‘no additives’, ‘infused’ and ‘yogurt-fied’, for example.

Quite a few proclaim a small town’s name where the dish and seller supposedly originate; leaving you wondering why they are not selling in their home towns.

If in doubt, one can always ask via their Facebook (and ‘like’ symbol) displayed on the stall.

Maybe I found all the hipster mantra odd because I spent the last two weeks at rural Ramadan bazaars where traditional food and a smile was the appeal.

Here’s sweet and sulky Aini selling red velvet cakes. I don’t like velvet cakes so I bought some layered blueberry and tiramisu cheese cakes from her.

How can I not? She baked all the cakes herself, all night, while listening to indie music.

Sony Alpha a7R, ISO 100, f6.3, 1/80 sec.

Dance Of The Doves

They always look graceful when frozen by the camera in mid-flight. At a market, I saw a shopkeeper throwing grains and the birds swooping in from a telephone wire.

Pays to keep the camera in S or shutter priority mode for street photography. I rolled the dedicated shutter speed control dial rapidly while lifting the camera to my eye.

It all happened in a matter of a few of seconds. Before I hit the targeted 1/4000th of a second, the birds were already overhead.

While I can control the camera, the flight formation is all luck. I added the green hue in post.

Sony Alpha a7R, ISO 200, f4, 1/3200 sec.

Going Home For Raya

I started on this journey on Federal Route 1 on March 29. I have since covered Rawang, Serendah, Ulu Yam, Rasa, Kuala Kubu, Kerling, Kalumpang, Hulu Bernam, Tanjung Malim, Behrang, Slim River and many tiny places in between.

To tell the story, I visited quaint little towns, rustic villages and wandered through dusty roads and jungle trails. Camped in tents, stayed at dodgy ‘rumah tumpangan’ (lodging houses) but also at comfy hotels, chalets and motels. Met friendly and warm people from all walks of life.

In between, I have also traveled back to my home base in KL several times to replenish and to attend to paying work. Where possible, I try to continue again the next day. Quite tiring but it kept the sense of adventure and exploration fresh in my mind.

I’m going to take a short break to visit the Ramadan bazaars in KL that I love, break fast with friends and make way for the many cars in the upcoming exodus. Will continue with the road trip where I left off after the Hari Raya holidays.

Another reason I need the break is that I must make my new website catch up with the daily pics. Before I can finish adding some of the missing older ones, I ended up acquiring even more new pics and stories to manage.

Nevertheless, the website gives it the much needed interface of systematic sorting, categorization and tagging of subjects befitting an epic travelogue. And unlike Instagram, Twitter or Facebook, topics are easily searchable and there are related links in every article or post.

Look out for more unique images and stories of awesome people, nature, animals, food and places on the route after the break. We’ve only just begun.

Sony Alpha a7R, ISO 100, f4, 1/320 sec.