After an eventful day trip out to the country side yesterday, the adventure continues for a second day; this time down to Kuala Lumpur city. My friend and I were taking advantage of the festive season’s much welcome void and “peaceful lull”, resulting from the exodus of people who left to celebrate Raya back home with their families.
We arrived at about 7.30 am and easily found a parking nearby at Madras Lane. Ironically as a Malaysian myself, this is my first time walking the city streets of Kuala Lumpur with an intention to photograph any subject matter! Yes, my first time. Embarrassing indeed. I could and should have done it a long time ago but just didn’t get myself into it. So it came as no surprise that I was awe struck with numerous sights, sounds and smells that were completely foreign to me.
My much more experienced and knowledgeable friend was glad to bring me on a “guided tour” of the many old and interesting places in and around Kuala Lumpur on this half-day trip. We stopped for breakfast at Madras Lane over some Chee Cheong Fun and coffee. We were supposed to have Asam Laksa but unfortunately got to give it a miss.
Foreign tourists come and go in this part of Malaysia hoping to have a quick taste of the country but I realised it ain’t as short a time spent as these caged chickens who will be skinned anytime any day.
I wasn’t too sure if I was wide awake yet but I wasn’t really up to barging my head and poking my nose into the routine of these locals at work on a typical day. I would have done anything for a good picture, but suffice to say, it wasn’t just my day. Hence, all these pictures were rather “cursory” and “distant”, lacking intimacy.
It was really a quick, gun and go just-document-it approach. It would have required me to camp out at any one spot longer to capture any real good candid shots of the local happenings. But time wasn’t my ally. However, I must say the locals looked reserved, unfriendly and averse to being photographed. A long lens with me would have helped but I decided to forego it. However, I do have some ideas for more intimate capture but I shall leave that to another attempt and post.
A small lane led out to an opening where the market crew were cleaning and preparing the chickens.
A bunch of crows were seen hanging around in hopes of picking up the bits and pieces of the slaughtered birds as seen in the picture above. Birds preying on dead birds. An irony of life. Meanwhile, a few of the crows were just taking in the morning light in the presence of towering buildings in the background.
We left Madras Lane to walk the famous Petaling Street just down the corner. The last time I was here was more than 20 years ago when my mum used to bring me to a bookstore and had delicious porridge at a nearby stall! Amazing huh for a Malaysian!
Petaling Street is one of the most photographed places in Malaysia and I wasn’t about to go crazy cracking at every single scene I laid eyes on. That wouldn’t cut it and if need be, I’d rather spend my own sweet time blending in for some really cool stuffs, apart from the usual shots.
Hence, it came as no surprise that I only took general shots of what Petaling Street means to me; nearby meat (mostly pork) market, chinese pork seller (really out-of-this-world delicious pork meat) and an apparent famous porridge stall (the shot just right above). The porridge stall was interesting as its extremely old and faded stall signage above on the building’s wall made way to a newer banner out on the streets. The faded words were “Kedai Makan Hon Kee”. Truly a legacy to behold.
The shot above depicted two contrasting objects from largely two different periods in time; a newer constructs of window on the left against that on the right of an older yesteryear.
We then made a turn into one of the alley ways and to my surprise, came across a long stretch of make shift “stalls” of people selling their wares on floor mats. Used items they seemed. Every single stuffs you could ever imagined; from smart phones, coal iron, clothing, shoes, sports equipment to toys, electrical appliances and antiques. The origins of some of these items were highly dubious.
A packet of drink hung from a nail on the weathered wall was an unusual scene of calm from the hustle and bustle of this market place.
Further down the alley were some words of wisdom and feathery friends of the air.
By late morning, we left town to drop by for a visit at Kampung Attap. I was playing around with the hard contrasting light against some old architecture, deep blue skies, fluffy clouds and geometry of shapes and lines.
We ended the half-day trip with a drive up the nearby slopes to stumble upon this very beautiful old kampung house in the “country side”, the likes of that witnessed just yesterday at Sungkai town.