Starting to Wind Down

With Raya only a couple of weeks away, the motivation to grind down to do the work had somehow gone down. I still have another call to do next weekend before I would be off for a week this coming Raya.

We decided to stay in KL this time around, shelving the original plan to return to Penang. With Anita’s father still weak and my Mum’s decision not to travel, the final decision was pretty straight forward. The boys also only had a couple of days off school. So travelling did not sound like an attractive option.

We will be spending much of the Raya at Bukit Antarabangsa. I would probably be relaxing, venturing on a photo walk or two. I was sure there would be plenty of visitors over those few days, which would keep Anita occupied.

I have at least four Berbuka event next week. And come Friday would be the last on call for Ramadhan - I had a total of four. My last clinic would be on the Wednesday before Raya. Hopefully things would be quiet by next week.

Xmas is Near

For the last few years, the Xmas decorations at Pavilion had been the benchmark for all the other shopping malls in KL. So, when I was there a couple of weekends ago, it wasn't a surprise that the main foyer had been cleared away for the Xmas treats to be reacted.

The area was still restricted when I was there. Maybe by this week, we could go in. Let's see what is in store this year ...

.... and Crossings

The second elements I wanted to concentrate on during the walk were the zebra crossings. White ones would be boring. Luckily around the path of our walk, they were bright yellow. And most of them seemed to look like they had just been painted.

Contrast that to the dark asphalt road and bright blue sky on a wide-angle lens, it looked really nice.

A perfect capture would include a colorful row of shophouses at the far end ...

I managed to capture a few of those shots before the weather turned dull. Sharp morning light were just perfect for these kind of photos ...

Of Arches

After studying the route for the year's walk, I was sure that we would come across a couple of features aplenty, the art deco like arches at many of the shophouses and the bright yellow zebra crossing at this traffic-dense part of town.

And they came along as promised.

This one was right opposite Central Market. In need of some restoration work ...

Many of the buildings and shoplots around the old Chinatown area still retain their colonial architecture and the walk ways were covered with arches. These were painted bright and framed my shots perfectly as patrons walk along doing their daily business. They sheltered the shoppers from the elements as well as protecting the walkers from the busy traffic.

As the areas where being developed, I was sure these arches would be preserved and the reflected the charm of old Kuala Lumpur perfectly.

These arches were not specific to Kuala Lumpur. Many of the old towns such as Ipoh and Penang retained such similar architecture and hopefully those would be preserved as well. The bright colonies really made them stand out, perfect for photographers killing for angles and lines.

A Teaser

From last weekend when the Kelby Photowalk group reached Chinatown. More write-up on the walk in the coming few entries ...