Talk at Mandarin Oriental

I had the chance to give a talk at Mandarin Oriental Hotel, near KLCC last week. I have been there a couple of times or meals, but I had never attended talks or any functions there before. I was surprised at how big the main ballroom was. It was huge.

Since it was a working day, I went to the hotel after my ward round. Parked at KLCC as I can enter the carpark very easily from Jalan Run Razak. The session was already starting when I arrived. Got my bit done, then lunch before heading back to work again.

Time for some doodling while listening to talksDr Jay Suriar talking about treatment of antiphospholipid syndrome. Right after lunch.On the way out, I noticed this nice little cafe at the main lobby. Full of the corporate-types at this time of the day.Never actually had the chance to look around, or sample the atmosphere. The food was rather good, but they only opened a couple of rows. The selection was quite good - local, Italian, Japanese and Western.

The cafe at the lobby looked rather nice ......

The Route

So, I'm getting used to the journey into work and sensibly speaking, 45 minutes seemed to be the time required. I have tried a few route, and finally settles with the route via DUKE, toward Sprint Highway via Hartamas, cutting past Kerinchi Link straight onto Federal Highway just before UMMC.

From then on, it would be another 15 minutes as the ramp at Sunway can be occasionally congested. A left turn after that and I would already be at the carpark.

2011 Scott Kelby Photowalk, Part III

To finish things off, I thought I just publish the rest of the photos I took during the photowalk ..... There were tons of them.

Looked surprisingly similar to one Mona Fandey I thought ....The walk towards Bukit Nanas, passing a row of old shops. SOme of them were still opened, looking unchanged since the 60sThe Jalan Ampang end of Jalan HS Lee, where the Indian restaurants and shops were located. Some mean nasi daun pisang to be had here.A quite literal company logo ......Stop-over for lunch. Giving us ample opportunity to look at the shots so far.Shazni waiting for his order. How can one miss that bright orang shirt.Arrived at the end meeting point, where the camera deserved some well-deserved respite.Ripi, this year's walk organiser did a great job with the route.Fariz brought along his medium format camera. That managed a roll of eight shots.Fariz trying out the X100. On the pic was cousin Adi and Zol.

2011 Scott Kelby Photowalk, Part II

To continue from the photos uploaded yesterday, I thought I shall kick off from when I reached Masjid India area. As I mentioned, it had been a while since I last ventured around this area of Kuala Lumpur.

Since it was Sunday, the place was buzzing. My initial impression was that the place would be full of Indonesian vendors, but it turned out that they were mainly local. I did not have time to enter Wisma Yakin next door, but I did have biryani for lunch at one of the restaurant nearby.

This used to be a landmark building in KL. If I was not istaken, it used to be the headquarters of Bank Bumiputra.But unfortunately, this end of Jalan Ampang had lost its charm. Many of the once-proud buildings were now .... history.Crossing over towards Masjid India from Jalan Ampang.They served a mean biryani around here.

The place had a facelift in recent years. The street was turned into covered bazaar, almost similar to Petaling Street and Kasturi Walk. Very comfortable to walk around since you were shaded from the elements.

After a short stroll, I was already around the corner from the end point of the walk, Masjid Jamek.

The colour of Masjid IndiaLooking at you, looking at them.The welcoming facade of Masjid India Bazaar.And the insideTime for some drinks. At the vendors along Jalan Melayu, Masjid India. You would pass through this street walking towards Masjid Jamek.Reaching the end point with Kak Fauziah, Pak Rahmat, Adi and Kamarul.

The rest of the group had lunch at the Burger King outlet there. Adi, my cousin also joined us at the end point. We spent a good half an hour catching up before the whole party broke up.

Looking forward for the next chapter of the walk. Time now to upload my photo for the photowalk competition. The winner would win Photoshop CS5 and an iPad. Why not.

2011 Scott Kelby Photowalk, Part I

I was so disappointed that I could not join the walk on time due to work commitment. I arrived at Central Market at around 10.30, and the rest of the group had already moved on by ten. They were not too far away however. I managed to catch up with them just as they were leaving the Sri Mahanaraman Temple.

The usual suspects were there, and I hung around with the more 'senior' crowd. The first port of call was the Guan Di Temple, just up the road from the meeting point. After 20 minutes or so, the main group entered Petaling Street while the rest of us went towards Bukit Nanas. The idea was to catch the crowd leaving the morning mass at St John's Cathedral. Got there in time, but not much to see there really. By the time, the main group had already arrived. We pushed on towards Jalan Bonus and Masjid India.

This would be my submission for the photowalk photo.Guan Di Temple in the morningPak Rahmat studying all the angles

Here, we had a decision to make. I was starving as I only had an early breakfast. According to one of the participants, Zul, the place around the corner served a mean biryani. I tried it - at Restoran Noor - and I was not disappointed. It was the best biryani I had in years! A simple place, ran by a couple from Penang.

They had regular customers coming during weekends. One of them, an middle-aged Chinese gentleman, had been frequenting the area for a good 25 years, and he actually lived out of town. He was there with the rest of his family.

Our walk leader is a Manager at Maybank. I am pretty sure he is a member.It would be cheating if we took the bus and participated in the photowalkPressing on towards Masjid IndiaAlong Jalan HS Lee, we passed by this rather traditional looking bike shop...... and everything in there was .... old

We then ventured forth towards the new covered bazaar of Masjid India. A comfortable area, which I never knew existed. The last time I was here must have been more than 15 years ago. A lot had changed since. The vendors lined up the street of Jalan Melayu, selling clothes and food. It was like a night market. ANd before long, we had arrived at the end point of the walk, Masjid Jamek.

It was only 200m away from Masjid India. We met up with Adi, my cousin near the LRT station there. And within 10 minutes, we had a group of Myanmar quarreling and a bizarre road accident in front of our eyes. I was not sure if it was Adi's influence or not!

Now, the zooms were out Crossing the bridge to Masjid IndiaAll in all, it was more leisurely than the last year's walk, mainly because the route was a lot simpler and the weather was overcast, threatening to rain. The fact that I did not have to be one of the organisers helped. I also decided to take my X100 rather than lugging around my dSLR. In the end, I had more than 200 snaps. Definitely looking forward for these walks every year …..

Snap of yours truly taken by Fariz. He was trying out the X100.

I will put up more snaps on my later entry. Watch this space ....

The slideshow for all the photos I took on the walk can be seen here.