Today is the 9th day of Chinese New Year, traditionally the day Hokkien people worships Jade Emperor of Heaven “Tian Kung” (天公). I did hear quite a bit of fireworks as midnight struck even though the government has imposed a complete ban on such celebration.
The pictures I am posting here are of “Tian Hou Temple”, a place that might not be related at all to today’s occasion. But anyhow…
Pagoda with 8 sided roof
We went to the temple for some photography a week before Chinese New Year hoping to get some shots of the beautifully lit decorative lanterns, but luck was not on our side as it seems that conservation of electricity was the priority of the night. I only managed about a dozen different shots before the temple closed at around 10:30pm.
3-tiered roof with guardian dragons
You can read more about this place at Thean Hou Temple wiki entry.
pillar
You can find a few more pictures in my flickr set.
I want to wish everyone a prosperous rat’s year. Since you can already find a picture of rat/mickey/minnie/mighty on every other blog, I thought I’d just post some pictures I shot at Penang’s Kwan Yin Temple last weekend.
pigeons at the sacred temple
This Kwan Yin temple is the oldest temple in Penang island. Located at Pitt Street (now renamed Jalan Mesjid Kapitan Keling), it was constructed at the early 1800s by Chinese migrants.
the roof line
The building follows ancient Chinese architecture with carvings at every corner and beautiful dragon statues on the roof line. These creatures the guardians of the temple.
There are hundreds of wild pigeons around the temple everyday, casting a holy and surreal atmosphere. The birds are fed by devotees.
the dragons
Every year during Kwan Yin’s birthday, there are thousands of devotees flooding the temple to worship this Goddess of Compassion and the other deities in the temple. Thick smokes from josticks and the quite murmurs of prayers can be heard, it’s a sight to be seen, but I suggest you bring your goggles.
josticks
If you find yourself in Penang, do give this temple a visit. The wonderful architecture not to be missed, furthermore, there’s a stall selling awesome loh mee just next to the temple (I will post about that soon).
the lion guard
More information can be found at Tourism Penang’s website.
more photos at my kwan yin temple flickr set.
Since my very short business tripto Kota Kinabalu would not allow me to visit anywhere, I thought it’d be a good time to sneak in a session of photo taking instead. I reached this East Malaysian city at around 5 something in the evening, and went straight to the Philippine’s market after checking into the hotel just directly opposite it.
You can find a few more photos from my flickr set
kid by the harbor
As I were taking pictures with the somewhat big camera, quite a few people were pretty intrigued by the activity and actually posed for the camera. This particular kid by the harbor was a little shy and would not stare straight to the camera.
intrigued
This trader was a little intrigued by me snapping a picture of him. This image is quite a contrast to the busy pace of the market.
puffer fish on the block
I had never seen puffer fish being sold in wet markets at Peninsular Malaysia. The box shaped fish looks almost unreal if not for the fish monger in the background.
big eyes
sunset by the harbor
As Kota Kinabalu faces west with nothing but the vast span of South China Sea and a few small islands, the sunset can be quite a sight.
Sultan Abdul Samad Building facing the Merdeka Square is probably one of the most photographed buildings this side of KLCC. I went there with Kelvin last Saturday after we tried our luck at Brickfield without much cooperation from the sky. Luckily, the light condition changed for the better and we were able to snap for the better part of an hour.
the shadow
I want to capture the shadow of myself projected by the evening sun on the wall. The sepia like color is from the evening sun and the red bricks.
the corridor
I wonder how many people have walked down this corridor and had their lives forever changed
clock tower
the walkway
abandoned
more pictures on my flickr set.
This is my second working trip to Yangon, Myanmar. The pictures from last trip was taken with my now retired Nokia 7610. I have, however, decided to jumped onto the DSLR bandwagon and got myself a brand spanking new Canon 400D as an excuse that I need a better camera to document the stay at the former capitol of Myanmar. Furthermore, I will be traveling to a couple other interesting locations within Myanmar as well.
Dyna bus, only 100 kyats to board
Nothing much has changed since I last visited this place about 2 years ago, with the exception of the new Yangon airport that was opened just 3 days prior to our arrival. The city still looks the same, I haven’t spotted any new big buildings, Dyna buses are still roaming the busy streets, carrying at least 5x more passangers than those trucks are designed to.
the day market, bustling with people
The main street outside Traders Hotel are still bustling with people and merchants, some of them more energetic than others. Here you can find anything from
a high energy merchant selling cloths
a tired shop keeper
Myanmar’s very own satey celup?
The scene at downtown Yangon at night is similar to day time, but with more food stalls selling variety of local delights that I haven’t find the chance (or courage) to try yet. Among the usual offerings such as food, cloths, and watches, I changed upon this street artist who employed a pretty unique style of painting by using a brush and a knife to draw up beautiful landscape pictures, very impressive.
an artist at work
one of the many pagodas in Yangon
These are among the first pictures taken using the new gear, many more shall come, stay tuned!
my new gear, Canon EOS 400D
