Through ratty eyes...

Alley by night in Kuala Lumpur, from a rat's perspective... many of those around in alleys like these...

I photographed this street before, a few years back, also in the evening, and recently I had the chance to take some more photos... the colors are still fascinating, but one side is now boarded up with ugly blue plating, so I couldn't take a photo from a similar position. Was crouching to get this one right, in the mean time trying to watch my back for traffic, and my sides for rats crawling out of pipes and peeking through fencing and grilling...

Besides the rats there's also the smell of garbage and the partly open sewer... sitting still for a long time in these types of alleys isn't advisable... But despite all that, if you ever visit KL, peek into these alleys, because some of them are stunning visually (just stamp around a bit, that usually scares off the rats)...

Malaysia, 26 November 2011

Click on photo for the full version...

Downside Up

Was playing around with older photos from Zoo Kuala Lumpur.

Was concentrating on this one:

Not great, bad lighting, black creatures lit from above hanging upside down at the wrong time of day with the sun full out. Makes it hard to see any details or their heads and the contrast is harsh. Fill flash might have worked, but I wasn't that advanced back then.

I do have flashes now for the Canon, but I hardly use them.

They're inconvenient, too much hassle, and with a bit of a lens they propel the camera to 2 kilos. Let alone the fact that flash photography is darn complicated. As if taking a good photo isn't difficult enough...

Truth though is that this photo was taken with a Canon EOS 40D, which has the built in flash, I simply didn't realise I should use it during the day...

Anyway, playing around with the photo I thought: what if I turn the picture over, like they were standing?

And I found the result to be quite interesting (note that the crop is a bit different, so this one has more bats):

They transform into these elegant fashion models, wrapped in designer clothing, with the one in the corner about to break into dance (and perhaps song)... little Grace Jones'... you can almost see him tip-toeing around the others on some Tchaikovsky...

They also seem more vulnerable, standing up, and less intimidating... these guys just eat fruit by the way, so they're quite harmless...

Amazing faces also these bats. They somehow reminded me a bit of pictures of Egyptian gods, and after some googling it turns out I was thinking of Anubis, ancient Egyptian god, protector of the deceased and their tombs. The guy with the jackal head...

Still the not so great lighting, that didn't change :-)

Anyway, thought I should share...

Click on any of the photos above for the full new album of Zoo Kuala Lumpur with 21 photos.

Kuala Lumpur, album

Thought it would be nice, apart from the 'KL by Night' series, to also make a regular album with photos of Kuala Lumpur... They're taken over a period from 2007 to 2009. I have more photos of course, so maybe in future there will be a second album.

Click here to view the 18 photos. Some were published on this blog before, some are new...

Those Towers

They bother me a bit... they're so iconic that you simply have to take pictures of them, but you then quickly realise that your pictures are no different from the millions of pictures already out there of these things... Nevertheless, I've taken many photo of them, from different angles. Still haven't found the perfect one, and in this city it's very hard to find an angle where you can actually catch them both, without loosing big parts of it... This one I like... it's not a perfect shot, but the coloring makes it almost look like a pen drawing... It was taken on new years eve 2007 (going into 2008), which explains the blurry sky around the right one... it's the smoke from fireworks... Click on it for a bigger version...

Scary Lion Approaching

The kid is not too sure about that colorful thing getting closer, seeing his little fist...

Big tradition is the lion dancing during Chinese new year. You'll find them at random spots over town during this week. Usually with a small orchestra that makes incredible noise when you're too close to it. Did you know there's also lion dance competitions going on? And although that might sound corny, it's quite stunning when you watch it - and scary - because they perform their tricks on poles that extend two to three meters from the ground up, jumping together in that heavy suit from pole to pole. One missed step and it can go horribly wrong... Recently watched the national championships of 2007 on DVD and will see if I can upload a clip soon...

Pictures taken yesterday in KL, except the last one.

Feeding the lion...

Lion dance orchestra...

Sri Aman - Sarawak / Borneo - February 2008

Year of the Ox

Not yet, we're still in the year of the Rat, but it's getting closer... This ox is standing in front of Pavilion - a shopping mall close by - and it doesn't look as mean as on the picture. Shot this afternoon, with the lens at 10mm - the camera almost up its nose and somewhat tilted - it gets a totally different attitude... Click on it for a bigger and meaner version...


Note: I'm a bit confused about the exact animal. I thought it was ox, then someone told me it was bull - perhaps they didn't fancy the idea of a bull without balls - however it seems though that officially it's ox, hence the title change of this blog, formerly known as 'Year of the Bull'...

Near death

I had a near death experience.

Well, not a real text book one with a tunnel, light and family members you really didn’t want to meet so soon after your demise – give me a break, I just died - waving at the other end, pretending to be happy to see you... No, not one like that... more one according to my own definition, where you think you might die or are about to die, or are close to dying, ergo: near death.

It was at lake Titiwangsa, a lake and a park nearby the city, somewhat on the outside at the north-east.

All was fine in the beginning. The weather was nice, the Ferris wheel was nice. A bit small compared to the Singapore or London one, but it’s Malaysia, give them a break. At least they have one too.

After spinning our rounds in it, we took a stroll through the park. There was rain coming, that was obvious from the sky, but we thought we could make it. Not so. Half way the park around the lake it started.

Now, I’ve witnessed many rain storm in the city. First there’s wind. KL is never windy, the air in that city doesn’t move, perhaps up and down, but never sideways, so when it starts to blow in KL you know rain is coming. For the scientifically inclined: it’s a quite sudden drop in air pressure which causes this. Then the rain starts and you use your umbrella or you step inside and wait. It’s violent sometimes, but vertical.
But out in the open, over the lake, without the shelter of big buildings, I experienced the real violence of these short rain storms. The wind was cold and aggressive, the temperature must have dropped at least 8 degrees in a few minutes, and it blew the rain almost horizontally through the wooden cabin we had fled into. Just a roof on some pillars, not meant to keep the rain out. We were not alone, some 15 people were seeking shelter, mostly Malaysians. They were smiley and laughing and protecting a father with his baby against the rain by standing all around him. A sweet gesture of community spirit I thought, a bit jealous of the baby.

But then it started: Thunder. We were standing on soaking soil. Water in our sandals, and lightning. Flash Bang... Not ‘flash'......... ‘bang’... No... Flash Bang, instantaneously. Which means it’s right above you (for the scientifically inclined).

And all the knowledge I had gained in a life time, about electricity and water, came rushing through my brain, like the rain through that cabin. The Malaysians were still smiling. I wasn’t... The bangs were ear deafening and the flashes scared the crap out of me. If one would hit the ground, even indirectly, we would all be toast. It was dangerous, no kidding. A measly shelter under treetops, standing in water with some millions of volts right above our heads. I’ve electrocuted myself many time as a kid by playing with sockets and plugs, but a lightning bolt you won’t survive that easily. Of course this story ends in an anti-climax, since we obviously did survive it, else I wouldn’t be typing this… Nobody died, the baby was fine and we all went our merry way after the rain had stopped. Sorry to disappoint you all with this somewhat lame ending (a tree had fallen down though a bit further in the park, at least that’s something...). 

  Click on the pics for a bigger version...