TRAVEL IDEAS

TIME Magazine: Egyptian Youth

It's not often that I'm in agreement with TIME magazine's cover choices, but I am with this one. The photograph is of Egyptian activists in Cairo who made history, and is by Finlay MacKay, a Scottish photographer.

The uprisings in the Arab Middle East are defining moments for the youth of these countries...while some mistaken pundits in the West are still trying to define the uprisings as having Islamic (or even Islamist) connotations, these are the same old tired cliches we've heard over and over again since September 11, 2001.

These are the faces of Egypt...look at them carefully. These are its future.

Mawled El-Nabi or The Prophet's Birthday

Photo © Tauseef Mustafa/AFP -Al Rights Reserved

Mawled el-Nabi was celebrated in Muslim countries a few days ago, and it observes the birth of Prophet Muhammad, which occurs during the third month of the Islamic calendar. Islamic scholars are divided on whether observing the Prophet's birthday is necessary or even permissible in Islam. Some see it as a praiseworthy event, while others view it as an improper innovation and forbid its celebration.

It's observed and celebrated in most Muslim countries, and where there are large Muslim communities, with the notable exception of Saudi Arabia, where it is not an official public holiday. Saudi Arabia practices an austere form of Islam, in contrast to Kashmir where these photographs are from.

Kashmiri Muslims congregate at the Hazratbal Shrine in Srinagar where a relic, said to be a hair from the Prophet's beard, is displayed on the occasion of Mawled el-Nabi.

This reminds me that whilst in Diu (South Gujarat) on my In Search of the Sufis of Gujarat Photo Expedition™ a few weeks ago, I visited a Sufi dargah where a relic of Prophet Muhammad was kept in a receptacle, covered with a green "ghelaph", but under lock and key. I was told that it would be shown during the celebration of his birth.

For those who are interested in stuff like that, Diu (it being an ex-Portuguese enclave) is the only place in Gujarat where alcohol is sold openly. And the elderly Muslim man who courteously showed me the wall receptacle where the relic was kept, spoke fluent Portuguese, having emigrated from Mozambique many decades ago.

Ban Heong Seng Restaurant at Johor Bahru

Ban Heong Seng (万香城) Restaurant (N1 29.018 E103 43.282) is located at Jalan Tahar, Johor Bahru. Which is opposite the Danga Bay and beside the Singgah Selalu Food Court of Johor Bahru.
This restaurant is special with their Beggar Chicken or Duck and you cannot just walk and dine in, you have to pre book the place and your dishes at least 1 days in advance. Because they're operate in the old single storey bunglow house, and they only have about 4-5 tables...

Ban Heong Seng Restaurant

We did our order for the foods for our Saturday dinner. Once all of us there, the dishes continuously served on our table...

The Signature Dish : Beggar Duck (we tried the duck instead of chicken)

Beggar Duck of Ban Heong Seng Restaurant

Follow by the Deep Fried Boneless Fish...
Actually they made the fish became the fish cake and put it back nicely. So it was boneless!

Deep Fried Boneless Fish

Forgot the name of the soup above, some kind of melon soup...

Vegetables

Signature Dish - Bean Curd (Taofu)

It was a Nice dinner! The Beggar Duck was Delicious! The Fish was special and nice! The Melon Soup was just right for the taste, vegetables was average and the Bean Curd was Crunchy & Yummy!
Overall, I like the Herbal taste of the Beggar Duck very much!

Beside that, we were having our dinner peacefully in the restaurant even it was a residential because we were the Only table that moment and others were left...

Some of the dishes were cooked for 8 hours and that's one of the reason we need to order in advance.

The Damage : MYR140.00 for 5 adults and 2 children included drinks. Reasonable isn't it?!

Rated : 4.7/5
We will be back again!

Strongly recommended if you want to taste the Beggar Chicken or Duck.

Ban Heong Seng Restaurant

34-B, Jalan Skudai, Batu 3 1/4,Off Jalan Tahar,

Johor Bahru.

Tel : +607-2375194 / +6016-7571887

Location map of Ban Heong Seng Restaurant at Johor Bahru

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POYi: Adrees Latif: First Place Freelance

Photo © Adrees Latif/Reuters

I'm gratified that one of the photographs that I deemed to be outstanding last November , has just won its photographer first place in the 2011 POYi's Freelance category.

Adrees Latif, a Pakistani photographer with Reuters, has been awarded Photographer of the Year Freelance/Agency with his excellent photograph made during relief supplies being delivered to flooded villages in the Muzaffargarh district of Punjab in Pakistan.

I'm also really "chuffed" that the work of non-Western photojournalists/photographers are recognized in such a manner. Recognition has been long in coming for such professionals, but it's here now, and it was about time. As I've suggested in a previous blog post, I am still disappointed at the absence (or paucity) of imagery by local indigenous photographers being featured by the international press in the events such as the Egyptian uprising, the Tunisian revolt and the ongoing events in Bahrain. This has to change.

And while I'm am chagrined that photojournalists are blogging about being roughed up by thugs in Cairo and elsewhere, I'd remind them that it's not about them...so get a grip, fellas...and stop moaning about how you lost some hard drives, how someone stole your satellite phone or whether you had a black eye...you were in a "war" zone, where people were/are making history. Your images may too.

Sulawesi Surprise! : Goodbye, Makassar!

Perhaps, the antics of the local people at Losari Beach might amuse you, perhaps not. Find delights in the small time peddlars there then and even if there is nothing interesting for you to buy home, it would perhaps give you a glimpse of the life of the local people. Perhaps too, you'd just want a breath of fresh air and to wait for the sunset. Look into the horizon and you'd get to see the world's third largest indoor theme park, Trans Studio which is located on the main road of Metro Tanjung Bunga Street, Makassar. Goodbye, Makassar!

You'd be amused with the antics of the locals in Makassar!

Traveling Tip: Take notice of the peddlers!

Sulawesi Surprise! has ended!

Coming up next: Beautiful Bali

In Focus Does Lantern Festival

The new photo blog In Focus by Alan Taylor for The Atlantic featured about 33 photographs of the festivities on the occasion of the Lunar New Year. The Lantern Festival (known as Yuan Xiao Jie) was observed yesterday in China and wherever there are Chinese communities. It's the last day of the Chinese Lunar New Year festivities.

The blurb accompanying the photographs informs us that it's the most important annual celebration in China, and welcomes the Year of the Rabbit...which is a year of caution and calm.

Calm and caution? I guess the Arab nations revolting for their freedom are unconcerned with the Year of the Rabbit!!

I sense In Focus will soon be one of the favored destinations for those of us who appreciate photojournalism at its best...especially as I just noticed that it offers two choices for its image size: 1024 or 1280 pixels! Nice touch...very nice touch!

Global Post: Ali Sanderson's Mekong River

Global Post periodically publishes a photo feature called Full Frame, which showcases some interesting work by emerging photographers. This one is on the Mekong River and is by Ali Sanderson, an Australian photographer from Australia who was based in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. She worked on productions with leading broadcasters such as National Geographic TV and Radio Free Asia.

In Phnom Penh, Ali, with three other Australian filmmakers, formed a film production company focusing on documentary films dealing with environmental and human rights issues. This led to projects commissioned by Radio Free Asia.

The Mekong is the 10th-longest river in the world, and the 7th-longest in Asia. Its estimated length is 4,909 km (3,050 mi) and runs from the Tibetan Plateau through China's Yunnan province, Burma, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.