Urban Decay

As mentioned, I could've easily called the Photowalk this year as exploration of urban decay. Certainly was a suitable theme. The overcast weather certainly gave the ambiance an extra lift, exaggerating the dull tone.

Walking around this part of Pudu alone could be intimidating. I wouldn't mind the Chinese folks which made the majority of the residents here, it was the foreigners. They look at the locals suspiciously and certainly I wouldn't want to be seen with expansive gear walking around here.

Best to walk in a group.

But if you were with friends, certainly there were plenty to see and photograph. Best to walk around early in the morning as the lights would be better and the weather wouldn't be as hot and humid.

For the day, I decided to shoot black and white with my GR. The 28mm perspective was just nice although it would've been great to have a wide-angle zoom along - I bought one a week later.

The black and white palate certainly brought the atmosphere to life.

The Abandoned Bungalow

I wasn't really sure how Ripi found this place. It was located right at the edge of Pudu, not far from the old celebrated Pudu Jail which was torn down a few years ago.

It was a spacious bungalow with ample space located at the end of a driveway. It was still sturdy but the place must have been abandoned for at least a decade.

A for sale sign could be seen outside it could have easily cost a bit of money. I could see the place be turned into a fancy restaurant or the whole area redeveloped into a condominium.

There was a railway track running behind the building with a station not far down the street. Prime land.

The interior of the house was filled with old furniture store. I suspect somebody may have been squatting there as parts of the building appeared to be touched.

We spent about half an hour, taking snaps and looking around. I wouldn't come here at night though. It may be spooky ....

Setting Off

Although many were lugging along their bulky gear, we ended up using a compact for the group photo. Ripi's Sony RX100. It did its job.

We made our way towards the Pudu Wet Market, about one km away. We passed by some flats and shops, took the time to talk to other walkers, and of course sample the local scene.

The flats offered some interesting backdrop, although I would wish for a sunny blue sky. The dull overcast weather would favour some high contrast black and white shots. Easily done, especially with the Ricoh GR.

Low Light Express

I must say I was expecting way thick from the iPhone 6 camera. The day I got my 6 Plus I took it to Pavilion to do some testing. Not in daylight but right after sunset. I really wanted to know how good it was.

There were plenty of people and more than enough subject keep me going. The lantern show was still on, and mixed with the lights at the fountain, it was quite a spectacle.

I got snapping straight away, alternating between the iPhone and the GR. The results? It was better than I expected. And the main reason was the optical image stabiliser. The shots looked crisp and the noise level was more than just acceptable. Not as good as the GR, but certainly no slouch.

Would it replace the GR in my pocket? Unlikely. Was it any better than the 5S. I wager to say that, it was not as big a jump between the 4 and the 4S. The main reason why the shots were successful was the image stabilisation system. You'd never be able to get the same shot on the 5S due the low shutter speed.

The image on the 6 Plus also appeared less contrasty as compared to the 5S. It was certainly easily rectified with apps such as Camera+. Otherwise the camera retained the 8MP sensor size, but I was sure much of the update happened under the hood at the software level.

Shooting speed was reasonable although the bigger size of the phone felt cluncky in my hands. If felt too big for me to position the shots freely, unlike the older iPhone or even my GR.

All in all, the iPhone 6 Plus still carried the reasonably good camera and with the addition of some software magic, the output still was among the best compared to other phones. I felt it better than the Oppo. From what I heard, the Lumia was still the King, and this latest Apple offering did little to knock the Windows phone off its perch.

Morning Walk Part 2

Halfway down the street, I took a right turn at Love Street, seeing the many colourful hotels and hostels there. A backpacker's paradise, and more snaps. Next was Lebuh Muntri. A misspelling of the Malay word Menteri, it used to host dignitaries from out of town. Many old building still stood, some being turned into museums and some into guest houses. A few nice modern cafes as well had mushroomed up, balancing the old and the new.

There were street markets and vendor but at that time, the number of cars were already building up. I wished that the whole place was turned into a car-free zone ....

I also noticed that there were plenty of bicycles and moppet for hire available at the area. Expensive and they mainly targeted the tourists. If you knew the route, you could cover the town centre and experience the charm in double quick time.

After I was done with Lebuh Muntri, another turn took me back to my hotel within 10 minutes. Which was just as well since the boys were already up and they were ready for their breakfast. I stayed back to have a shower before joining them.

The walk lasted almost a couple of hours, and my GPS recorded the distance I covered to be just below 5 kilometres. A nice morning work-out. And an enjoyable one as well. And the photos? I just uploaded 210 snaps onto Flickr just then. Not bad .....

More stories from this trip here.