Bangkok Village Restaurant at Taman Desa Tebrau, Johor Bahru.

Bangkok Village Thai Restaurant (N1 33.296 E103 48.087) is located in the One Garden Center of Taman Desa Tebrau, Johor Bahru.(Easily spotted along the Kota Tinggi Road)

I was curious about this restaurant because of the Garden setting, so we decided to visit it on one of the Saturday evening for dinner.

We were really impressed by the restaurant environment! It's located in the middle of the well maintained garden! Every corners are well decorated. Beautiful!

The Bangkok Village Thai Restaurant dining area

The other side of the dining area, the Ikan Bakar stall at the back

Beside the public dining area, there were also some private tables at another side of the garden which I think it's suitable for couple! Kind of romantic... :)
Me and my daughter walked the area before the foods serve...the surrounding was really nice and clean. On the right of the restaurant, there was a shop selling some decorative items and water features for gardening.

And I like this row of small huts, but it seems like too dark to have our dinner between it...

Nice decoration with water feature

Our order :-

1)  Assam Steam Fish

2)  Mango Salad

3)  Butter Prawn

4)  Bean Sprout with salted fish

5)  Omelette

Assam Steam Fish

Mango Salad

Butter Prawn

Bean Sprout with salted fish

The foods were average. The Assam Steam Fish had a weird taste! We have been tasted many Assam Fish and this was really weird! The Mango Salad, Bean Sprout, Omelette and the Butter Prawn were average, I felt the prawn serve was a bit dark (as you can see from the photo). Overall, the food presentations were poor. Maybe we were unlucky! :)
The advantage of this restaurant was the beautiful garden environment!

The Damage : MYR119.70 included a jug of watermelon juice for 4 adults and 1 child. A bit pricey for the mediocre foods. But the ambience is worth trying if you haven't visit the Bangkok Village Thai Restaurant.

Location map of Bangkok Village Restaurant at Taman Desa Tebrau, Johor Bahru.

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Nicky Loh: Tattoo Girls of Taiwan

Photo © Nicky Loh-All Rights Reserved


Nicky Loh is a photographer with Reuters working in Taiwan, whose specialty is news, sports and feature photography, who's interested in documenting traditional art forms such as Chinese opera.

On his employer's blog, he writes of having had an assignment to cover the 2010 Taiwan International Tattoo Convention in Taipei which, while not newsworthy per se, offered him a good opportunity to produce colorful photographs.

He describes how he decided to set up an impromptu studio in one of the empty booths of the convention, and do portraits of women with fully tattooed backs.

Not only beautiful artwork, but also very attractive women...so a "twofer" as they say.

Global Post: Turkish Brothels

Photo © Nicholas Dynan-All Rights Reserved
One of my favorite online news provider is Global Post, not only for its cutting edge news reporting and analysis, but also for its frequent "off-the-beaten-path" features such as the one of Turkish transsexual brothels by Nicholas Dynan.

It also periodically publishes Full Frame which features photo essays and conversations with photographers in the field (including myself).

The Turkish transsexual brothels which, we are told, can be located in the busiest streets of Istanbul, and are the work place of some of Istanbul's transgender and transsexual sex workers.

To the best of my recollection, only one attendee of the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop in Istanbul last June presented work relating to transgender issues. Pedro Gomes, who attended my multimedia class, produced Esmeray, an audio slideshow about a transgender feminist-sex worker-actor.

My Work: The Salt Maker of Kusamba

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved
Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved
Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved
Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved
A few days before the start of the Bali: Island of Odalan Photo~Expedition ™ , I drove to the eastern shores of the island to photograph the traditional salt making in Kusamba.

I spent a couple of hours with Dewa Yoman Sanat; a traditional salt-maker (or more accurately, salt gatherer) in Kusamba. He guesses his age to be close to 70, and he works at gathering salt everyday under the scorching sun. On cloudy and rainy days, he remains home as a hot sun is needed to evaporate the seawater which leaves a thin film of salt, which is then gathered by Dewa.

He and his wife, Jero Sekar, who also helps him in this back-breaking work, have 7 grand children...none are understandably interested in continuing the salt making tradition. Dewa said that he gets about Rp 5000 (about 50 cents) for every 10 kilograms of salt.

Sulawesi Surprise!: Some Other Attractions

If coffins, skulls and skeletons put you off like they put off many people, maybe you should amuse yourself by looking around the stalls that sell souvenirs to tourists. Besides the usual handicrafts like woodcarving and the likes, you'd be taken by the local folks who live simple lives; and occasionaly cute little kids who are left unattended by the older folks would catch your attention too. Then, perhaps you like nature and you'd go ga ga over the plants there. I remember being shown the vanilla plant somewhere in Tana Toraja and I remember coming across the pegaga plant while exploring the burial sites. Pegaga plants seems to grow very well in the wild in Tana Toraja and I wonder ifTorajans do make drinks or ulam out of them. Ulam, by the way, is a type of salad, typical in South East Asia. Some native plants here like the Pegaga and even tapioca shoots are just eaten raw and are believed to have medicinal properties and would even keep one young and vibrant. In Penang, at the popular Penang Road, you may even get to drink Pegaga juice sold by hawkers on the roadside if only you know where to find them - That would interest health buffs who spend tons on chlorophyll health drinks!


Feast your eyes and try for a moment to forget about death!

Traveling Tip: Walk around and feast your eyes!

NYT: Pakistan Floods By Tyler Hicks

Photo © Tyler Hicks/NY Times-All Rights Reserved
The catastrophic flooding of the Indus is considered as Pakistan's worst natural calamity, which has ruined almost every infrastructural aspect that connects the country together — roads, bridges, schools, health clinics, electricity and communications. The destruction is also estimated to set Pakistan back decades, will weaken its feeble civilian administration and add to the burdens on its military.

The New York Times has recently featured Tyler Hicks' compelling photographs of the disaster in Pakistan's Floods, as the one above of two young girls quenching their thirst at a water pump in Sukkur. It's said that 20 million people have been affected by the floods; a number of people equal to the population of New York State.

According to the New York Times, a joint study from Ball State University and the University of Tennessee, puts the total cost of the flood damage at $7.1 billion. That is nearly a fifth of Pakistan’s budget.

I sense an apathy amongst the Western and Islamic nations to assist Pakistan in its difficulties. Is it because of the widespread perception (or knowledge) that the Zardari's government is riddled with corruption and cronyism, and thus may divert some of the aid? Or is it Islamophobia? Or is simple donor fatigue after Haiti? I tend to think it's all of the above and perhaps more.

And while I'm on the subject, is it only me who now increasingly relies on foreign cable news like China Network Television (CNTV) and RT (the Russian 24/7 English-language TV) for in-depth international news??? The added bonus of course is that these stations have no interest in Glenn Beck and the repellent clowns of his ilk as does CNN, MSNBC, et al.

Jon Vidar: The Tiziano Project

The Tiziano Project presents the journalistic efforts and personal accounts of Iraqi citizens living in the Kurdish north, along with stories produced by their professional multimedia journalism mentors.

An extremely well-made multimedia project, it includes stories such as those on the Yazidis, nomadic mountain-dwelling Kurds, a pigeon keeper, a muezzin, a klash maker, and many more.

The mentoring team consist of Jon Vidar (one of the talented instructors at the Istanbul Foundry Photojournalism Workshop, and a freelance photographer who developed self-assigned projects spanning six continents, including work in Iraqi Kurdistan, Southeast Turkey, Rwanda, and Brazil), Victoria Fine, Grant Slater and Chris Mendez.

Rose Schierl: Bali Island of Odalan

Photo © Rose Schierl-All Rights Reserved
Here's the work of Rose Schierl; the second participant of the Bali: Island of Odalan Photo~Expedition ™ to send images to post on this blog.

Rose has been photographing since 2005, and only gone digital two years ago. She hasn't gone through any formal photographic education per se, but attended various short workshops, and those set by Arizona Highways. Rose won an award at a juried show for one of her photographs in 2009. She's also an accomplished diver, and before the photo expedition was on a diving vacation for a couple of days in the north-west of the island.

So far, it appears the fire-walkers at the end of the Kecak dance performance we attended in Ubud was a favorite subject for the group members. Rose managed to capture one of them kicking a blast of glowing embers (above).

Photo © Rose Schierl-All Rights Reserved
One of the shoots I organized during the photo-expedition was at the house of a wayang kulit (shadow puppet) master, where we were treated to a private performance The wayang kulit is an extremely important vehicle of culture, serving as carrier of myth, morality play, and form of religious experience rolled into one. Here, the master is moving one of his shadow puppets during the performance.

Photo © Rose Schierl-All Rights Reserved
Here's a Balinese villager who was attending a night odalan in Bitra village. The temple anniversary was one of the most interesting we've been to during the 2 weeks photo-expedition. Not only did it involve the requisite day-time religious prayers and offering in an exquisite forest setting, but it included performances of Barong and Arja dances.

Photo © Rose Schierl-All Rights Reserved
Rose captured a dancer during an evening Legong performance at Ubud's palace. The performance included various dances, such as the Gabor, Baris, Kraton and the Taruna Jaya.

New Canon D60

It's all over the blogosphere...Canon announced the EOS 60D, a sort of “replacement” for the 50D. According to the reviews, the 60D body is plastic, and uses SD cards instead of the CF.

It's certainly built for video. It has a pop-out, tilt-and-swivel rear screen which, even if it's Canon’s first on an SLR, would just drive me insane. Video can be shot at different sizes and speeds. 1080p is available at 24p, 25p or 30p frame rates.

According to WIRED's Gadget Lab, its 18MP sensor (like the LCD panel) is the same as in the 550D or Rebel T2i, its AF system comes from the 50D and the 63-zone exposure meter comes from the 7D. So it's dubbed the "Frankencam".

It will go on sale in September for $1,100 body-only.

Santa, I have no interest.

Majlis Bandaraya Melaka Bersejarah at Ayer Keroh, Malacca

The photo taken when I was at Ayer Keroh, Malacca sometime ago. The landmark was stated 'Graha Makmur' and 'Majlis Bandaraya Melaka Bersejarah' (N2 13.952 E102 16.864) in the map and I'm not sure which is which? Please enlighten if possible...

I like the environment during the night time especially the lighting and accompany with the water feature. My daughter and her friend were having fun around the area that night, and they were really happy running and the place was really wide! :)

Map location of the Landmark in Ayer Keroh, Malacca

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Matt Allard Captures Geishas

Matt Allard is a Team Leader- Cameras for Aljazeera International based out of Kuala Lumpur covering Asia/Pacific and the sub continent, and has produced a movie documenting the changing culture of geishas. Due to the world financial crisis, even well-entrenched traditions have had to adapt in Japan, as elsewhere, and geishas in Kyoto have had to follow suit.

Matt used a Canon 7D, 5Dmk2 and 7 lenses to shoot this assignment. The lenses used were a Canon 70-200mm f2.8 IS II, 50mm f1.2, 135mm f2, 24-70mm f2.8, 100mm Macro f2.8, 16-35mm f2.8 and a Tokina 11-16mm f2.8. All interviews were shot on the 70-200mm. All the audio was recorded on a Zoom H4N using either Seinnheiser radio or shotgun mics. It was edited using FCP and ran on Aljazeera English on the 19th August 2010 around the world.



Also from Matt Allard is this movie depicting the same modern day girl transforming into a Geisha in Kyoto, Japan. It was made using a Canon 7D and a 5D Mark 2 using a Canon 100mm f2.8 Macro and a Canon 16-35mm f2.8. The ambient light and the angles used by Matt are just perfect...the colors are beautiful.

Via DSLRrnewsshooter.com

2nd visit to Riverside Seafood Restaurant at Kota Tinggi, Johor.

After let the kids having their fun at the resort on the next day morning and some 'jungle monkey disguise' around the area...we say bye-bye to Pulai Desaru Resort and follow by our lunch at this Riverside Seafood Restaurant (N01 43.547 E103 54.733) along Kota Tinggi road. (The restaurant was moved to the opposite since my last visit)
It's a very simple setup for this seafood restaurant.

The Riverside Seafood Restaurant of Kota Tinggi

There were only 2 tables occupied that time maybe because lunch time was over...so we placed our order immediately.

The order :-

1)  Fish Head steamboat (Signature dish)

2)  Claypot chicken

3)  Sambal Squid (sotong) (my favorite)

4)  Ginger duck

5)  Vegetables

Fish Head steamboat (Signature dish)

Claypot chicken

Sambal Squid (sotong)

Ginger duck

Vegetables

Our purpose here was to taste the Fish Head Steamboat. It might not the Best in Johor, but I like the herbal soup with chili. The soup was yummy and spicy mixed with the fish head! The Ginger duck was really special, it cooked well and the taste quite similar with the wild boar. The chickens and the sambal squids were delicious too! We had a great lunch in the restaurant!

The Damage was MYR120.00 included drinks for 8 adults and 2 children. It was really reasonable!

You can enjoy the Firefly tour package after having dinner in the restaurant at night, wasn't it sound good? Drop by if you pass by.

Related post :-
*  Riverside Restaurant, Kota Tinggi, Johor (1st visit)

The location map of Riverside Seafood Restaurant at Kota Tinggi, Johor.

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My Work: Bali Cockfights

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved
We were fortunate to encounter a number of cockfights during the Bali: Island of Odalan Photo~Expedition ™.

I say fortunate because, while cockfights are gruesome and certainly bloody, they offer glimpses into a tradition practiced on the island (and elsewhere in the world) for ages. All animal rights activists and many other lay people consider it a horrible blood sport which ought to be banned. In Bali, cockfights are known as tajen, but have been forbidden since 1981 since it's considered gambling. Notwithstanding, it continues to be practiced as a ritual to expel evil spirits, and feverish gambling by bebebotoh (always men) is the norm when it occurs.

The area where the cockfight occurred was full of men, who were engaged in gesticulating and yelling their bets according to the color of the roosters. In the middle of the circle formed by the crowd, the bebebotoh were stroking their prized roosters, preparing them for the fights. Others were tying razor-sharp spurs to the birds' legs, while others were busy carving up carcasses of those that had been vanquished.

There seemed to be a sort of hierarchy. A older man, dressed in better quality clothes than the rest of the throng, was sitting very calmly in the midst of the frenetic betting activity, taking it all in. He clearly was a main player of some sort here. I couldn't tell whether he participated, or whether he was the "banker". He may have been a wealthy gambler who joined these cockfights to satisfy his passion.

My movements were restricted, as the men were in no mood to allow anyone to obstruct their view of the cockfights. However, I managed to photograph at will, and recorded some raw ambient sound, which includes the crowds yells and bids.

The roosters' demise is quick...the "combat" is short lived and takes about a minute or two for one of the roosters to fall. Thereupon, it's carried away and eviscerated to be consumed later.

As a side note: I often witness similar rituals; some secular and others religious, and I always try not to pass judgment on the practice. While I personally consider cockfighting to be cruel (as I do of bullfighting), I also respect the right of the Balinese (and others) to practice it, especially when it has a religious significance. Unfortunately in this case, it was all unapologetic gambling.

Having said that, I found the atmosphere electric and compelling, and I am at work on an audio-slideshow of the two cockfights I've witnessed in Bali this time. It will include the one I've described above, and another which was part of a melasti on a beach.

A morning without Sunrise at Desaru Beach, Johor

Suddenly I had a urge to snap the Sunrise of Desaru beach on the next morning of our short vacation. So I woke up around 6am, and strolled around the Pulai Desaru Resort, breath in the morning fresh air...it was totally dark at the pool side...(around 6.15am)

When I walked to the beach area, surprised! There were few resort guests waiting for the Sunrise too! I found one of the comfort corner and started to get my tripod ready for it. (I was lucky enough by not attack from any sand fly that morning!)

It was a misty morning, and I started to have bad feeling...I might not see the Red Ball! Yes! I was right, when the sky started to bright up, I can't find the Red Ball! Even I'm facing the right direction (East)...OH! Not again...
End up, I have to snap the surrounding of the beach without a choice...

The Rocks in front of me...Desaru Beach (about 6.50am)

Couple ramble romantically at the beach...

I only be able to caught this around 7.15am...(below)

And the weather was still misty on my left...So I walked back with disappointment and had my breakfast at the Windows Cafe from the resort...

A Misty morning at Desaru Beach

I went back to the room for sleep again after the nice and simple breakfast provided from the resort...
Why the Red Ball is so shy to show it's face?!

VII's Seamus Murphy: Phoenix Afghanistan

“Photography is part history, part magic.”
-Seamus Murphy

Here's a multimedia piece published by VII The Magazine with stills and audio by Seamus Murphy titled Phoenix Afghanistan.

Seamus began photographing in Afghanistan in 1994, and for two decades, he has worked extensively in the Middle East, Asia, Africa, Latin America and most recently America on an ongoing project during what he calls “a nervous and auspicious time.” His accolades include six World Press Photo Awards.

Phoenix Afghanistan compares photographs of life in Kabul from 1994 to photographs in 2010. You'll notice that the 1994 photographs are in black & white, whilst those of 2010 are in color, thereby enhancing the contrast between the two eras.

I wish I hadn't found found the narrative by Seamus to be so stilted...he was probably reading off a sheet of paper rather than having a conversation or reminiscing aloud. Same like good photography, compelling narration is a difficult skill to learn, and requires training.

Kim McClellan: Bali Island of Odalan

Photo © Kim McClellan -All Rights Reserved
Kim McClellan is a third-time repeat participant in my photo~expeditions, having joined Bhutan: Land of Druk Yul Photo~Expedition ™ in October 2009, and the The Tribes of Rajasthan & Gujarat Photo~Expedition ™ in January 2010 before returning with a trove of images from the Bali: Island of Odalan Photo~Expedition ™ last week.

Photo © Kim McClellan -All Rights Reserved
Kim is a professional photographer (as well as working for the SBA in DC), and graduated from the Washington School of Photography in January 2001. She's passionate about international travel photography, and her work was featured in juried exhibitions and shows in the Washington DC Metro Area. She's well-known for her work in fashion, glamor, and classical figures.

Photo © Kim McClellan -All Rights Reserved
During the Bali photo-expedition, Kim worked on transitioning from the more staged style of glamor photography to the more fluid style of travel-photojournalism, which is the core objective of my photo workshops. Her photographs here demonstrate her progress in that transitioning.

Photo © Kim McClellan -All Rights Reserved
The first photograph was made during a private ceremony preceding a cremation. Cremations in Bali are occasions for gaiety and not for mourning, since it represents the ceremonial burning of the dead to liberate their souls to be free for reincarnation into better beings.

The second was made at the holy temple of Pura Ulun Danu Bratan, which is a major water temple on Bali, and one that protects Bali from evil spirits from the north west. and where constant ceremonies were being conducted when we were there.

The third is of a melasti on a beach on Bali's north east shores. Melasti is an important purification ceremony when temple devotees in Bali go to its beaches, carrying their temple effigies and where the cleansing rituals occur.

The fourth photograph was made during a Kecak & Kris Trance dance in Ubud, and shows one of the dancers in a trance walking barefoot on glowing embers.

2nd Visit to Jade Garden Corner Seafood Restaurant at Sungai Rengit, Johor.

We had our dinner at Jade Garden Corner Seafood Restaurant again at Sungai Rengit, Johor (This was our second visit, you can read our first visit here). The distance from The Pulai Desaru Resort to this seafood restaurant is about 32KM, the journey took about 30 minutes relax drive from the resort. (I would like to correct the restaurant is actually located at Jalan Kerisi of Sungai Rengit. Not Jalan Hee Seng in my first post, apologies.)

There was only 2 tables occupied when we arrived, the time was around 6.30pm. This restaurant will be really crowded when dinner time around 8pm during weekend, so if you wanna visit it, it's advise to come early.

The Jade Garden Corner Seafood Restaurant at Sungai Rengit, Johor.

I snapped some photos of the Lobsters in the tanks...before they....

This one wanna Escape! It asked me to help, but I said...'It's too late!' :)

Lobsters is the dish you Must try if you happen to be here, it's also because of this small village nickname - Lobster Village.

Our foods ordered :-

1)  Mixed vegetables

2)  Omelette

3)  Butter Prawns

4)  Jade Special Lobster (Signature dish)

Mixed vegetables

Omelette

Butter Prawns

The Jade Special Lobster

There were total of 3 baby lobsters and each of them cut it became 2. All foods were satisfied! Seems like better than our previous visit! The lobsters still as Delicious as we had it before, the omelette was nice, the vegetable was tasty and the prawns were really fresh! We had a memorable dinner at this restaurant!

The Damage was MYR217.00 include 4 bottles of Tiger Beer and others drinks. (For 4 adults and 1 child)

BUT...we might not visit next time because of :
1)  We wanna try out others Seafood Restaurant at Sungai Rengit.
2)  I noticed the Lobsters was charges extra after I saw the bill while back to resort.

Anyway, it's worth if you haven't taste the Lobster of Jade Garden Seafood Restaurant.

Related post :
*  Jade Garden Seafood Corner at Sungai Rengit, Johor

Location map of Jade Garden Corner Seafood Restaurant at Sungai Rengit, Johor.

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