Hong Ming Food Services (Crab) at Taman Setia Indah, Johor Bahru

Hong Ming Food Services (N1 34.424 E103 46.011) is located in the middle of  Jalan Setia 9/17 of Taman Setia Indah, Johor Bahru. From the name of the restaurant, I believe they were started from food catering services (correct me if I'm wrong).

Hong  Ming Food Services at Taman Setia Indah, Johor Bahru

As I understand, they are famous with their Honey Crab.
we visited the restaurant on a Saturday night around 8pm, the restaurant was Full of customers!

Indoor area

Outdoor area

There were outdoor and indoor to cater different kind of customers. I would prefer indoor because I need the light for food photography. Both areas were Packed!

We placed our order once we got our table...

Our foods order :-
1)  Brinjal mixed with Petai Bean (Parkia speciosa or stink bean) and other vegetables.
2)  Spicy Clam
3)  Honey Crab (Signature Dish)

Brinjal mixed with Petai Bean and other vegetables

Spicy Clam

Honey Crab of Hong Ming Food Services

The first and second dishes served on our table with white rice, but we gonna wait for the Crabs....the funny part was, we waited the Crabs until we finished Everything on the table and Still no sign of it! The lady boss Keep on saying that the Crabs will be serve at the last?! That puzzled us! After everything finished, the LAST dish should serve on the table, right? (I don't wanna comment on their bad management)
We continue to wait for another 20 minutes...at last, the Crabs appeared! We had to taste the crabs without the rice....

Overall, the dishes were Excellent! Thumbs Up for the three dishes! We like the 2 Big crabs! But...bear in mind, you gotta be very patient and wait for it! We (2 adults & 1 child) spend 1 hour 30 minutes for our dinner, it was TOO long!

The Damage : MYR79.00 for 2 adults and 1 child. Reasonable price. But we put them at the last of our Seafood list because of the Crabs take too long to Appear! (Waiting time is too long!)

Foods rated : 4/5
Service rated : 1/5

Hong Ming Food Services

29, Jalan Setia 9/17,

Taman Setia Indah,

81100 Johor Bahru.

Tel : 07-3597782 / 012-7187782

Location map of Hong Ming Food Service

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Tony Smith: Kumbh Mela

Photo © Tony Smith-All Rights Reserved
Tony Smith is an adventurous Welsh photographer who, at the age of 15 joined a cargo ship to South America...and this is how his world travel started. He worked on ocean liners, and subsequently on dry land in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), Johannesburg in South Africa and London before settling down in Winchester.

He's been deeply involved in travel photography to the point it's developed into a second career. He tells us in his biography that nothing pleases him more than attending and photographing cultural and religious festivals: the more difficult and remote the better.

Tony is an Associate member of the prestigious Royal Photographic Society. His travels have taken him to Nepal, Bhutan, India, France, China, Spain, Morocco the USA and Canada as well as the West Coast of Ireland. He attended Hindu, Christian, Muslim, Buddhist and Gypsy events.

He has just returned from Haridwar in North India where he attended the Kumbh Mela, and produced a photo slideshow and a blog travelogue.

Tony also produced a number of slideshows of festuivals such as Holi, Gypsy Pilgrimage, Maha Shivratri (particularly recommended) and Feria de Bernabe, as well as others which are on his website.

Talking With Our Hands?

All Photos © Neal Jackson-All Rights Reserved
I just stumbled on this collage of photographs made by Neal Jackson during the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop (FPW) in Manali last June.

It appears that some the FPW instructors are fond of using their hands whilst conducting their classes....virtually the same gestures and mannerisms!

From the top left is Michael Robinson Chavez, top right is Ron Haviv, bottom right (in red) is Ami Vitale, and bottom left is Tewfic El-Sawy (The Travel Photographer). Click on it for a larger version.

The 2010 Foundry Photojournalism Workshop is scheduled for 20 – 26 June in Istanbul.

WTF!? Waiting For The GF1...

On May 24, 2010 I ordered the Panasonic GF1 with a 20mm f/1.7 lens from Amazon for $812 (excluding NY tax), which listed it as being in stock. I chose the Super Saver shipping discount so I was charged nothing for shipping.

Not a bad deal cost-wise since it saves me a little money, except for this: on receiving my order, Amazon emailed me its confirmation that the shipping date was estimated June 1, or a full 8 days after its being ordered.

Why? Does it take 8 days for an Amazon employee to locate the camera? Is it hiding behind stocked books? Is there a game of hide & seek going on? Would paying expedited shipping costs make the employee look any faster? Perhaps run instead of walk?

It's in stock and it's shipped from Amazon itself, so it's not from another Amazon affiliate or whatever they're called these days. And why not alert me to that "estimated shipping date" when I clicked on the Super Saver shipping discount?

Assuming that it will be shipped on June 1, it may be delivered a full two weeks from my order...a whole two weeks! I would understand if the camera wasn't immediately in stock, but it is...so what's going on, Amazon?

Ah, well...I hope I can test it in the streets of Istanbul in less than 3 weeks!

Underage Marriage in India

Photo © Prakash Hatvalne/AP Photo-All Rights Reserved
Photo © Prakash Hatvalne/AP Photo-All Rights Reserved
Two photoblogs, MSNBC's Photoblog and The Denver Post's Plog, featured images from a mass marriage ceremony held recently in the town of Rajgarh, in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. Both are credited to Prakash Hatvalne/AP Photo.

The top photograph is of Mamta (7 years old) standing with her husband Santosh, who is 11 years old. While the lower photograph is of an under-age newly married couple who refused to be identified.

While Indian law sets 18 as the minimum age for a woman to marry and 21 for a man, underage weddings occur in rural areas, where the law is seldom observed.

Sociologists believe that child marriages originated 900 years ago with Muslim invasions of the subcontinent. Legend has it that invading armies -as was customary at the time- raped and carried unmarried Hindu women off as war booty, prompting communities to marry off their daughters almost from birth to protect them.

This tradition of child marriage, as many others considered by the Western world to be abhorrent, has also been created by necessity. In poverty stricken villages in the Indian subcontinent, Middle East and Africa, securing early marriages for daughters can mean the difference between subsistence and famine.

Puteri Harbour at Kota Iskandar, Nusa Jaya - Johor

Puteri Harbour (N1 24.667 E103 39.380) is located at Kota Iskandar, Nusajaya - Johor (Near to Gelang Patah town). We visited this Harbour on a Saturday for our photography session.

"Puteri Harbour is the jewel of Nusajaya. This waterfront precinct, is an integrated waterfront and marina development that spans 688 acres offering a panoramic view of the Straits of Johor. Puteri Harbour redefines luxury living and offers boundless real estate benefits to the astute investor. Located adjacent to Kota Iskandar (Johor state new administrative centre), Puteri Harbour will be a unique luxurious lifestyle community, offering the experience of exceptional waterfront living, dining, entertainment, the arts and culture in a safe and picture postcard natural setting." Source from here.

The info center or reception at Puteri Harbour

The area is open for public, and we were pleasantly snapping our photos without any restriction. Once you walk pass the reception area, you will entering an open area with full of coconut tree! A Tropical smell! :)

Right side of the building (The architecture is done by Philip Cox)

There's a cafe located at one of the end of the building. Nice environment, it's Nice to relax yourself in the cafe with a Ice Cold Beer in this Hot weather.

The cafe at the Puteri Harbour buidling

We were continuing pressing our camera shuttle until we walked to this point to have a rest...
Let me share some photos around our first pit stop...:)

The S.O.S. station

We continue to walked after a short break, the path lead us to the end of the Marina bay...along the way, we spotted many yacht (in all size) were docking side-by-side....

This Yacht is for sale...wondering how much??

This was the Biggest Yacht we spotted at Puteri Harbour at that moment

Do you know what is this 'round thing' hanging on it??

A full view of the Puteri Harbour from the end of the Marina Bay

The Harbour is protected under the Security Surveillance System. You will notice the CCTV cameras are everywhere! Yes, you are being monitored! :)

The CCTV Surveillance System at Puteri Harbour 

The friendly Security Guard during patroling the Marina area...

I noticed the sitting area are design and build by the Theme of 'Wave'. Correct me if I'm wrong...

Please don't bring your children here to playing and running around, it's not allowed by the authorities and the other Main reason is...there is NO railing along the promenade...kids might easily fall into the water! Beware!

I cannot imagine that...what if I own a yacht and I can easily sail to anywhere around the World?! Oh! What a good life! Dream it rather than NO dream! Haha! Will working towards this one of the goal, who knows One day my dream might come true? :)
There were many ad about the selling the used Luxury Yachts at the building...
Tempted but cannot do anything...haha!

The advertisement about used Luxury Yacht

Friend who shoot like a Pro.

The above photos were taken by Canon EOS 450D with ND Filter.

Location map of Puteri Harbour of Johor.

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Sulawesi Surprise!: All Quiet at the Hotel

It was all dark and quiet at the Hotel Toraja Prince the night we reached there. We had had a long journey and after checking in, it was off to our room and to bed. I woke up rather fresh the next morning and had had a look around. It was a countryside scene outside and there was much greenery. There was no big mountains like the erotic mountains around as would be expected for a mountain scene. But then of course, we were in the highlands. The air was cold and crisp and it was just perfect to take a stroll. I didn't see anyone around and no wonder - we were the only guests in the hotel! Hotel Toraja Prince purportedly had seen better times. There used to be Western visitors or so I heard but that was before the Bali bombing by terrorists ... In 2002, some 152 foreigners were killed when there was an attack in the tourist district of Kuta and in 2005, bombs exploded again in Kuta and in Jimbaran too. Didn't know for sure which bombing chase away the tourists though...

All quiet at Hotel Toraja Prince...Would you like to spend a night here?

Traveling Tip: Enjoy the quietness!

Sulawesi Surprise!: Destination Rantepao

When in Sulawesi Island, visit Rantepao. You would pass Kabupaten Sidrap and Kabupaten Enrekang if you start your journey from Makassar. Kabupaten is a regency and Rantepao, being the heartland of the Toraja people is in the Tana Toraja Regency. The place has been named as the second tourist destination in Indonesia since 1984 and since then, hundreds of thousands of foreign visitors including Western anthropologists have come over. We reached Rantepao at dusk and had had dinner at not such a cool eating place before checking in at at Hotel Toraja Prince. The hotel was said to be set on the highland and promised an amazing view of the mountain scenery. Since it was dusk, there was really nothing much to be seen...

Care to have dinner?

Traveling Tip: Thanks the Lord for dinner!

My Work: Orissa & Chhattisgarth

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved
Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved
Here are two images made while traveling in Chhattisgarh and the neighboring Orissa. There were made using my first digital camera, the Canon 10D...remember that one?

The first is of an Odissi dancer in Bhubaneswar. Odissi is one of the eight classical dance forms of India. It originates from the state of Orissa, in eastern India. On the basis of archaeological evidence, it's the oldest surviving dance form of India.

The second is of an adivasi in the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh, whom I found amongst the thousands of tribal people who congregated at one of the weekly haats. It's estimated there are 300 haats in Bastar, where villagers come to buy basic necessities, and to socialize.

It's at these haats that the adivasis imbibe copious quantities of toddy, the palm wine ubiquitous in these parts. The fellow was in a pseudo trance along with other members of his group. Despite my efforts, I never found out what the purpose of the trance was.

Here's my gallery The Adivasis of Chhattisragh.

POV: The Guardian Eyewitness iPad App

I saw this posted on various blogs, and thought I'd add my two cents. It's the newly released Guardian Eyewitness app for the Apple iPad, shown off by photographer David Levene. I can't argue with the premise that it's gorgeous...but what does it bring to the table beyond what a laptop and/or netbook already does? The Guardian photographs can be appreciated on a laptop/netbook as well, no?

I have a Mac Book Pro and its display is equally gorgeous. I have a cheap Acer netbook, and its display is certainly not as great, but it's cheaper than the iPad, and it allows me to use all types of software, and fiddle with my photographs using Lightroom...infuriatingly slow perhaps, but it does, and iPad does not.

I frequently visit the Apple store in the Meatpacking district to play with the iPad (by the way, there are fewer tourists on the second floor, where iPads are also available).

As I've said before, I haven't seen anything to convince me that the iPad is a must-have for photographers...so until it does, and despite the Guardian's app and others like it, I'll wait and see what comes with the device's future iterations and new apps.

Wenjie Yang: Nuo Opera

Photo © Wenjie Yang-All Rights Reserved
Wenjie Yang is a freelance photographer, who was born and raised in Shanghai. She comes to photography and photojournalism with a background in advertising production and production of movie crews for a number of years.

She currently attends the Documentary Photography and Photojournalism One-Year Certificate Program at International Center of Photography, and worked on editorial assignments from various magazines, including “Travel + Leisure”, “Marie Claire”, “Elle Decoration”, "Burn Magazine" and “Chinese Photographers”. She also was awarded third prize in the 2008 National Geographic International Photography Contest (China Region).

Wenjie introduces us to Nuo Opera through her photo essay here.

Nuo opera is an ancient and a popular folk opera in southwest China. It is characterized by the use of frightening masks, characteristic dresses, strange language used in its performances, and mysterious scenes. It integrates religious and dramatic culture, and its performance aims drive away evil spirits, disease and unholy influences, as well as supplicate blessings from the gods.

Traditionally, Nuo is performed by specially trained shamans as a means of exorcism. In fact, the professional Nuo performers are viewed as "spiritual tutors" wielding supernatural powers to disperse evil spirits, sickness and disease.

HabbyCam DSLR Shoulder-Mount

This shoulder mount might be useful to those who use DSLRs for movie making. It's called the HabbyCam (don't ask me why) and it's reasonably priced at $250.

It's essentially a brace, is made of aluminum and stainless steel, and weighs only 3 lbs. The shoulder bracket is drilled with holes that can accommodate other accessories such as sound recorders and the like.

I don't have it so can't recommend it, but it certainly looks as if it could work well. I'm guess some enterprising person will eventually cobble one from hardware found cheaply at Home Depot etc.

Found via WIRED's Gadget Lab.

Asim Rafiqui: The Idea of India

"The close relationships between the island’s Muslim and Hindu communities in fact reveal a blurring of religious and spiritual lines, reminding us of the artificiality of the labels of ‘Hindu’ and ‘Muslim’ and the ordinary human being’s ability to find accommodation and tolerance of the practices and values of his neighbors." - Gujarat’s Faded Testaments – The Parables Of Bet Dwarka

Asim Rafiqui is not only an excellent photojournalist, photographer, a thoughtful blogger, writer and commentator, but also a friend and an inspiration in many ways.

I've written a number of posts on his wonderful project The Idea of India, and its being supported by The Aftermath Project and Blue Earth Alliance in the past year, so it gives me great pleasure to announce that he was just awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to pursue this extraordinary project.

Asim will be based for a year in New Delhi starting this September, and the scholarship will allow him to continue, expand and delve deeper into this important project.

I encourage you to visit Asim's The Idea of India writings, as well as his accompanying blog The Spinning Head. I'm certain you'll bookmark both, and follow his explorations into India's past, present and perhaps future.

As a footnote, I am undeservedly privileged to be mentioned in Asim's The Idea of India, and hope to reciprocate the acknowledgment in a small way very soon.