More Melaka Pictures

A Famosa Fort

War Plane

Walkway to Cheng Ho Tea House

Melaka - Portraiture

Sneak preview of the portraiture series taken from Melaka last weekend. 

Silhouette

Melaka Photography

I had a great weekend at Melaka with my DSLR for the first time. The last time I went there, I was still using my pro-sumer Canon S3IS. Much more mature with my photography skills now, I had the chance for great photography opportunities and at the same time savoring the delicious local food there.

Below are some series of HDR taken during the trip. There will be more pictures covering food, portraiture and infrastructure following up.... as soon as I get the time to process it :).

At the meantime feel free to comment on the pictures below.

Beautiful View from our backpacker's hostel

Harper's Restaurant

Newly Built Water Wheel at the Melaka River

View from the top of the St John's Fort Hill

Fountain at Stadhuys

Bon Odori Festival

Bon Odori Festival is celebrated annually at Stadium Panasonic (formerly Stadium Matshushita) at Shah Alam.

History of Bon Odori**

Bon Odori is a Japanese Buddhist Folk Dance performed outdoors and danced in concentric circle around a raised platform called a Yagura.  Odori means dance and Bon is the abbreviated name of a Buddhist text, the Ullambana Sutra, whose Japanese pronunciation is Urabon, shortened to Bon.

The sutra tells the story of a Monk called Mokuren (known as Mogallana in Pali), who in meditation saw his deceased mother suffering of starvation in the Hell of Hungry Ghosts, where any food she touched burst into flames. Mokuren appealed to Shakyamuni Buddha to save his mother from her fate. Shakyamuni instructed Mokuren that in order to overcome his mother's selfish past life karma, he should make offerings of food from land and sea to his fellow monks at the end of their 90-day retreat which ended in mid-July. Upon following Shakyamuni's instructions, Mokuren danced for joy when his mother and seven generations of his ancestors were freed from their suffering.

This story gradually developed into a major memorial festival for one's ancestors, and took root in many forms in Mahayana Buddhist countries, especially in China, Korea, Japan and Vietnam. The Obon festival in Japan has been held annually since 657 A.D. In the Jodo Shinshu sect, it is called Kangi-E, or Gathering of Joy, as established by Monshu Myonyo Shonin.

Though a memorial observance, there is a festive mood during Obon. Obon is a time to remember and honor all those who have passed on before us. It is a time to appreciate all that they have done for us and to recognize the continuation of the influence of their deeds upon our lives. Obon is also a time of self-reflection; the joy one feels is not from the happiness of getting what you desire, but the joy of being shown the truth -- the joy of awareness. "Obon reminds us to love and care for our parents. It also encourages the practice of selfless giving (dana) not only to family and friends, but to all beings."

**Text extracted from - http://www.bcsfweb.org/Obon3.html

Besides the cultural dance, there are many vendors selling Japanese delicacies. You have to be patient as there will be very long queues. Since Mr. Octopus was so famous during the World Cup, Takoyaki is very highly demanded here as well :).

  

 

Urbanscapes @ KLPAC

Evening Scenes at KLPAC during the Urbanscapes event last weekend. Various concerts and creative arts were on displayed. It's an yearly event organised by KLUE

Scooter Under the Light

Portraiture at Lake Garden

Had the opportunity to take these with the Canon Buggers Club Members few weeks back. It was a bright and sunny Sunday Morning.

Lovely Newly-Wed Couples - Jorkil and Samantha

Rides at Genting

Citroen Metropolis - Concept Car

This is really out from the ordinary from Citreon! Great looks with sexy lines! Nice Black and White Photography too.

Night Photographry with Canon Buggers

I had an interesting outing with the Canon Buggers Group last weekend at the Bukit Bintang Area. Had the chance to explore the slow shutter speed and finally utilise my remote release :)

One unfortunate encounter was with the security guard at the Lot 10 Rooftop. I should have taken his picture and post it here for all to see. He was utterly rude when he saw us taking pictures at the vicinity.

Mind you, there was no sign whatsoever stating no photography allowed. He just raised his voice and shouting "I SAID NO! NO! NO! DID YOU HEAR ME?!!"

At that time I was looking through my lens and snapped the picture below.

How the hell would I know that he was talking to me. He could have said in a professional manner to prevent us from taking the pictures, instead he acted like a barbarian trying to eat us up! Way to go... customer service at YTL, or rather the security company they hired!

I understand the property release and all those legal stuff, it's not that I'm taking the pictures for commercial purposes, it's just for my own collection.

Whatever it is, I didn't let that incident destroyed my evening. I just regard that remark as a uneducated moron trying to do his job. We went our way and got the shots below for the night.