Scorching

I spent Monday mainly indoors. During lunch, I joined Anita at a restaurant near our apartment and at that point experienced the searing hot of the current heatwave. It was bordering on brutal.

And apparently Malaysia has yet to experience the worse of it. That was just the beginning.

I needed ice cream ....Searing hot during lunchBy late afternoon, things was almost unbearable. My clinic was done early and I finished my ward round before packing things up for home. But not before a quick stop at the mart for some ice cream.

I understood that schools in Perlis and Kedah would be closed for the next couple of days due to the weather. My boys were having their exams this week and will be having their Easter break soon. Not sure what the plan would be looking at the weather. Idlan was keen to go to Penang, but judging from the weather report, things were worse up North. Maybe Fraser's Hill may be a better bet!

500px Photowalk Architecture

I was not feeling much inspired that morning and coupled with the poor weather, I did not hang around for too long.

But there was enough time for me to do a bit of urban architecture shots.

Due to the poor visibility, I used my Ricoh GR in monochrome mode which allowed me to capture the grim mood. KL appeared to be like Gotham at that rate. Nice to appreciate the city and certainly the cityscape would continue to change as the city grows, finding its identity.

The 500px Route

The instructions were given. The group photos were posed. Breakfast was done. So, it was time to get on with the walk. So, how was the route?

Put it this way, if I was the one organising the walk, I would've picked this particular one. To put it mildly, it was uninspiring. It was basically one round loop, with clear instructions to only venture off once we met up at the end of the formal walk. I could have finished the route in 30 minutes, and we had close to 4 hours before the designated rendezvous. Too much time to kill.

So, I explored MaTIC itself for a start. Neat colonial building and this early in the morning, there was hardly anything happening there.

I then took a left along Jalan Ampang to the Jalan Sultan Ismail turn opposite Renaissance Hotel. A bit of street work, building site and architecture. The Bukit Nanas Monorel Station had a bit of colour.

Next up, we walked along Jalan Sultan Ismail, passing by Hard Rock Cafe and did an anti-clockwise turn joining Jalan P Ramlee walking towards KLCC passing by a few more buildings.

The whole group then congregated by Laman Standard Chartered, a nice little piece of greenary smack in the middle of town next to KLCC. First time discovering this place, it was actually quite nice and tranquil.

We then noticed that the air quality dropped and the haze started coming in. I escaped towards Suria KLCC, with the plan to have a quick cup of coffee. I walked towards the famous fountain at KLCC Park and the visibility had dropped considerably by then.

Since I parked the car there, I decided to split and drove home. Might as well spend the rest of the morning with the family. There would be another photowalk coming next weekend, so I might as well just safe my energy for that one ...

The combination of uninspired route, poor air quality and too big a crowd put me off in the end, but it didn't mean that it was the fault of the organiser. I was sure that they did their best. I route around Bukit Bintang, Chow Kit, Masjid India or Kampung Baharu would have been better I guessed. Looking at the snaps, it wasn't that bad. And photography was all about creativity. The real talent was making a scene appeared inspired. After all, anybody could pick up a camera and press the shutter!

500px Photowalk

It was the time of the year - early fall - when plenty of photowalks were organised worldwide. I got 3 in the coming few weeks alone - the 500px event, followed by Scott Kelby walk in a couple of weeks and Canon one after that. Great times to catch up with friends but it looked like the weather would be conspiring against us. The haze is back!

I attended the 500px Worldwide Photowalk yesterday, organised by a local photographer. 120 shooters turned up, starting at 8 in the morning. SOme commitment that!

It was still during the Aidil Adha break for most people - myself included. So, I packed my gear early, left the apartment at around 7.30, parking my car at Suria KLCC before taking a brisk walk to the meeting point, MaTIC along Jalan Ampang 10 minutes away. The weather? Holding. Vsibility was still good - at least I could see the top of the Petronas Twin Towers.

Registration took place near a mini theatre at the entrance of an exhibition hall. It was then that I learned that 120 people converged, and I gather that even the organiser was surprised!

It took nearly half an hour before we could get on with the introduction and the obligatory group photos. We said our hellos and I got to meet old friends and some new ones. More about the route later, but first - let's get some breakfast .....

Too Many Smokers

After missing out on yesterday, I decided that I would drive my car into town straight after the ward round, enjoy a nice lunch and just chill for the afternoon. Anita and the boys would only be back later this evening, so I got some time for myself.

After a nice lunch, I took a walk across town wary of what looked like impending rain coming a bit later. I had to strategise. I picked a small space at a cafe, ordered my drinks and ten everybody around me started lighting up. It looked like I was at the smoking section. And they occupy the best seats. Those who prefer smoke-free environment would have to cope with the seats indoors with poor view, blasted with industrial strength air conditioning.

I thought on the whole, we non-smokers were given the worse deal. We had to put up with the worse seats, and huddled near screaming infants who normally occupy these areas. I didn't see any vapers around there though. Because that would be a other story to be told ....

The weather when I set off for the rounds earlierSo, I had to be content with the smoking. I was sure that my shirt would be smelling of tobacco for the rest of the day. At least I had a couple hours of down time. But not for long. I already had an admission waiting at the Emergency Room. Happy Sunday all.