TRAVEL IDEAS: February 2009

Interview on James Robinson's Blog

I'm privileged to have been interviewed by James Robinson for his outstanding blog, which you can find here.

Thank you James for including me on your roster of photographers.

Restuarant U (Thai food) at Batu Pahat, Johor

(N1°51.587' E103°00.322')
Visited one of my buddy (Lee) who operating a minimart at Batu Pahat which is opposite of Sharp Roxy Factory.
We been invited by him to one of the Restaurant nearby for dinner. This is a Authentic Thai Restaurant operated by a Siamese.

All order made by Lee. He did a very good recommendation!!

Our order :-
1) Vegetables
2) Thai Style Fried chicken (for kids, cause they can't take spicy)
3) Omelette
4) Sweet sour Squid
5) Thai Style Steam Fish
6) Authentic Thai Tomyam

Vegetables

Thai Style Fried Chicken

Omelette

Sweet Sour Squid

Thai Style Steam Fish

Authentic Thai Tomyam

We really enjoyed the dinner very much!
The Tomyam was not the normal type that we can have it everywhere. It was Excellent! Same goes with the Squid and the Steam Fish!
If you happen here and you can take spicy, these are the dishes that you MUST try! Cannot miss!

The total damage : MYR120.00 (For 4 adults and 2 children)
The cost was reasonable!
I rated : 4.6/5

I called this is a 'Hidden' Thai Food Restaurant!

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John Delaney: Mongolia

Photo © John P. Delaney-All Rights Reserved
John P. Delaney’s series titled “Golden Eagle Hunters of Mongolia” garnered him one of the International Photography Awards' most coveted prizes. His work was chosen out of nearly 22,000 submissions spanning 124 different countries. Delaney is also a Master Printer working closely with photographers such as Bruce Davidson, Richard Avedon, Patrick Demarchelier, Steven Klein, Annie Leibovitz and Irving Penn.

With the Golden Eagle Hunters of Mongolia, Delaney presents a rich and beautiful collection of portraits and landscapes that capture an intimate glimpse of the ancient way of life for the nomadic Kazakh tribe, who date farther back than the 15th century and are once again in danger of being eradicated.

Among many Kazakh traditions is the ancient art of hunting with trained birds of prey. The tradition is believed to originate in Central Asia some 6000 years ago and was adopted in Europe and other countries. Historical chronicles relay records of Kublay Khan's lavish hunting trips in autumn and winter involving thousands of people and horses, with falconers in the thousands.

Kazakhs catch and train golden eagles, common throughout Central Asia. These huge birds weigh up to 15 pounds, and have wingspan of seven or eight feet.

http://www.johndelaney.net/

WSJ Photo Journal: Kathakali

Photo © Arko Datta-All Rights Reserved
A Kathakali dancer in the traditional South Indian dance, performing at the recent Kala Ghoda Festival of Arts in Mumbai. The nine-day festival showcases Indian arts and heritage.

I'm currently in Kasargod (Kerala) on my Theyyams of Malabar photo-expedition, and on my way to Thrissur and Kochi where we are planning to attend and photograph Kathakali performances.

Java Jamboree: Sunda Kelapa's Schooners

Long before the Dutch came and named Jakarta Betawi, the Indonesian capital was called Sunda Kelapa. The earliest record about this place went back as early as the fourth century to the Indianized Kingdom of Tarumanagara. Today, there is a place called Sunda Kelapa in North Jakarta which is a must see place if you are into ship and boats or even fish for this present Sunda Kelapa at the mouth of Ciliwung River in Penjaringan sub-district which is better known as Pasar Ikan (fish market), as the name suggests, has a market where one can witness fish catch of the day being auctioned in the early morning. Of course, my friends and I visited this old port when it was almost noon and our guide did not at all tell us about the fish market. But it was enough taking a stroll along the port whereBugis schooners from South Sulawesi anchor and offer a picturesque scene. The brightly painted schooner from Makassar called Pinisi had belonged to one of the last-fleets of sailboats in the world and amazingly, these still ply the seas between the islands, as they did centuries ago, carrying merchandise such as timbers...

Schoonesr in Sunda Kelapa...

Traveling Tip: Stop at old ports!

Java Jamboree: A Glance of Kota

There were supposed to be many old historical buildings in Jakarta Old Town Area or Kota. Immediately after leaving the National Museum of Indonesia, our driver and guide took us to one - the Jakarta Historical Museum. One had to buy a ticket to enter but I supposed no one among us, was interested or in the mood to explore; the entrance of the museum already looked drab and univiting . The museum was formerly the Stadhuis of Batavia, the seat of Governor General of VOC or Dutch East India Company. The Cafe Batavia and the Fine Arts and Ceramic Museum should be around here somewhere for I remember seeing them but they were not very spectacular. Some spots near the building also reeked of urine and there were old, unkempt buildings elsewhere, one very big one even had a damaged roof which was in dire need of repair. We did not spend much time here; in fact, we left earlier than planned. Miss Lim, the organiser for our trip, even had to phone our guide who was nowhere in sight...

Around the Jakarta Historical Museum Area in Jakarta Old Town Area...

Travel Tip: Have your guide walk with you!

James Nachtwey: Congo

TIME magazine has published a photo essay by James Nachtwey of VII, along with an article by Ben Affleck, an actor, who has traveling to Congo since 2007 to learn, and to report.

Affelck writes:

"The warring parties in the east can be distilled into three main groups: the Congolese army; a breakaway faction composed mainly of Tutsis, led by a former general, Laurent Nkunda; and an outlaw militia, the Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda (FDLR), led by the same Interahamwe Hutu extremists who committed the 1994 genocide of Tutsis in neighboring Rwanda. "

The accompanying article is here.

TIME magazine surely can do better than frame James Nachtwey's gripping photographs with this hideous slideshow platform. It's also incongruous to have banners and ads fro Samsung cellphones, TurboTax and W Hotels with these photographs of misery and conflict.

The Big Picture: Tibet's Monlam Festival

Photo ©REUTERS/Reinhard Krause-All Rights Reserved
The Big Picture of the Boston Globe featured photographs of Tibet's Monlam Festival. Tibetans observe this important festival with prayers, ritual dances, traditional foods and giant tapestry-like paintings.

Chinese officials have prohibited the festival in the past, and still discourage participation, but ethnic Tibetans are maintaining their traditional culture as mucg as they can.

The above photograph is of a Buddhist monk walking in front of the Thangka tapestry outside a monastery in Tongren, Qinghai province.

Gunung Ledang Resort (Mount Ophir), Johor

Gunung Ledang Resort located at the foothill of Gunung Ledang (Mount Ophir) (N2°20.956' E102°38.166').

It seems like the whole resort refurnished. It's looks nice and clean! I cannot remember my last visit....

The Reception of the Resort

I love this place very much! Especially the nature! It's actually a nice place for breakaway!
Let me show you some pictures of the Resort...

The first signboard you see once you enter the Resort territory...

On your left, there are ATV for rent...

Further in, you reach the Resort Reception (The first picture above), the swimming pool on the right once you enter the lobby...

I just parked my car right on the front of the Chalet.

Chalet of the Gunung Ledang Resort

There are total of 4 rows of the chalet, I believe this the standard chalet which is MYR150.00 per day.

Beautiful landscape and clean...

The room rate :-
Deluxe Room - MYR200.00
Standard Room - MYR150.00
Jungle Cabin - MYR50.00

Contact info :-
Bt 28, Jalan Segamat,
84020 Sagil,
Tangkak.
Tel : 06-9772888
Fax : 06-9773555

As you walk towards the waterfall, you will pass by a row of souvenir shop and the last unit is the Ranger Office.

The Ranger Office.

I had been looking at the Ranger office for more information of the hike of Gunung Ledang (Mount Ophir), but too bad there was nobody around after 30 minutes waiting....

Very bad for tourist....the office was empty!

But there was a notice on the wall stated :
1) Only day trip climbing (hiking) activities by booking are acceptable.
2) All climbing (hiking) activities must use Entrance B due to the safety of the Climbers (hikers).
3) Walk-in climbers (hikers) will not be served. The booking can be made by lettering to Johor National Park or calling at 019-7772057. Thank you.

Poor english....

Opposite of the souvenir shop, there's a mini food court.

You can have your Teh Tarik and relax over the wonderful nature!

After this row of shops, that is the area where everyone can soak in the cold water during the hot day!

The jungle trekking trail...

We will stay one night over here on 21st March 2009. That will be the Mega GG (Gathering) of Malfreemaps.
I will blog more detail after this holiday at Gunung Ledang (Mount Ophir) Resort.

Related post :-
* Camping on Mount Ophir (Gunung Ledang), Johor
* Hike on Mount. Ophir (Gunung Ledang), Johor
* Malfreemaps.com Mega GG (Gathering) at Gunung Ledang 2009

MY TRIPS - Home

David Zentz: Haiti's Saut D'Eau

Photo ©David Zentz-All Rights Reserved
David Zentz is a photojournalist based in Los Angeles, California. Following his master’s in mass communications at the University of Florida in 2005, David completed internships at a number of newspapers, including the Chicago Tribune and the St. Petersburg Times, before a full-time position at the Journal Star. In 2008 he left newspapers and moved to Los Angeles to pursue a freelance career. He has completed numerous projects, both domestically and abroad, on subjects ranging from mental health issues to the hip-hop culture in Haiti. His work has been recognized by CPOY, the Southern Short Course and the NPPA.

Haiti's Saut D'Eau is located in its central plateau The town is named after its waterfall, and the area has many streams and sources which make it very fertile. It is also the home of Haiti’s most celebrated patron saint, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, whose anniversary is celebrated annually on July 16th. Thousands of Pilgrims from Haiti and other parts of the world travel to the waterfall to participate in the festivities.

Chris Bickfrod: Paris

Chris Bickfrod made his first appearance on this blog through his work published by The New York Times on Venice's Carnevale. Funding his expenses by working as a wedding photographer mostly in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, he devotes his summers and early winters to traveling to Europe and working on his street photography. He started work on books of Dubrovnik, Venice, and Paris.

In an infrequent departure from my geographical focus, I chose to feature Chris' work on Paris, which is a lovely collection of this city's scenes...combining street photography with its traditional landmarks.

International Kite Festival 2009 - Pasir Gudang, Johor.

This year the International Kite Festival fall on 17th FEB - 22nd FEB 2009.
There are total 26 countries participate and more than 200 contestants.

I visited the Bukit Layang-Layang (Kite Hill) (N1°28.552' E103°54.254') on the forth day, to avoid the crowded situation at the weekend.

Quite lucky that, the place were not the pack! Many parking lots available. That time was 5pm.

There were many stalls selling souvenirs and also 'Kite'. The price for one kite (MYR2.00) was rather cheap!

Dry Flowers Stall

Kite Stall. That guy was promoting his kite...

The Kite Museum and the unique roof top design.

Beside that, all those famous fast food stall also heavily promoting their foods! Like KFC, Pizza Hut and others...

The Chick happily walking around...

There's also the kid ATV and Pocket bike for rental. MYR10.00 for 15 minutes.

So, let's see what we have here!

Sky Actions
It was a windy day!
This is the only time where all the Fishes and others sea creatures are allow to Fly on the sky, not swimming anymore!

Beautiful Stingray and friend...

Giant Octopus

This is Group Performance.

This Tiger (I think so...) is about to raise....

Even the Fast food also on the sky?!

Kites were everywhere...

The Poor Crocodile stuck on the lamp pole...

Giant Frog

Cheese cake? Or Ice Cream?

Giant Dragonfly??!!

The owner of the Dragonfly and the pros beside...

If there's a up, there's a down...

Ground Actions

The little girl and her little kite...

MMHE's Kite spotted!

Is this a 'Kite'??

Seems like my kite doesn't listen to me anymore...

All the Lady birds are waiting for performance!

Photos under the tent

The Japan Team

The German Team

The Korea Team

The Tailand, Singapore, Malaysia and German Team

Let me have a nap, hopefully my kite is still there when I wake up...

No matter how....I gonna make my baby fly!

The China Team and the Tianjin Power Kite Club

During that time, I manage to watch the Performance from Mr Ron of America.
Once the music started, Mr Ron and his kite dance together at the middle of the field.