Author Archives: TV Smith

The Silver Chariot

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The Silver Chariot

The annual festival of Thaipusam saw thousands of Hindu devotees take to the streets of Kuala Lumpur last night. The 15-km procession of the golden statue of deity Lord Muruga on a silver chariot started around midnight and ended at Batu Caves just before noon.

Photography Tip: To add some glow to the chariot, overexpose it slightly and apply either some greasy  fingerprints on the lens filter or use a software haze or fog filter.

Olympus OM-D, ISO 500, f3.5, 1/30 sec.

This Full HD video I shot takes you from the Sri Maha Mariamman Temple in Chinatown to L.A. (Leboh Ampang).

Don’t Go Ruining Waterfalls

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Looking down at the mossy ground I was walking on at the Sungai Liam waterfalls, I see nature’s wondrous art. Leaves turned from green to yellow to amber to white. More than beauty, it is Mother’s Nature way of recycling. The leaves rot and decompose into the top soil from which the shedding tree grew from.

Sadly, at many of our popular waterfalls, visitors have discarded stuff that will never bio-degrade. They dump styrofoam food containers and plastic bags at the very spot they picnic at. As a result, there is garbage in every rock crevice. The streams have rubbish floating into every nook and cranny.

I was at the launch of the Sustainable Waterfall Adoption Program in Ulu Yam. It is a noble initiative to clean up, sustain & protect selected waterfalls. Funded by Alstom as a community service project and supported by the Selangor Association Of Waterfalls (Pertubuhan Pencinta Air Terjun Selangor), the program is hoping to raise public awareness on the need to conserve our natural treasures.

Olympus OM-D, ISO 200, f5, 1/125 sec.

Waterfalls

Riding Like A Blur Sotong

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It was around year 2001 and I was riding my old Harley down a lonely, dusty road. Half expecting balls of tumbleweeds to roll out, I was surprised by an orange Milwaukee sign instead. What I thought was a Harley-Davidson workshop turned out to be a truck stop-style diner from near.

I wasn’t on Wisconsin Highway 66. I was in the boondocks of Balakong. The old route from The Mines to Balakong was being straightened and widened, resulting in blinding and blurring dust.

12 years later, I re-visited the place today. Amazingly, waitress (now manager) Pam and Chef Razak Amin are still there. So is their Juicy Calamari Steak and many other delicious Western-style dishes in (the now refined) menu.

Originally, the biker-owner intended Milwaukee Steak Corner as a shrine to the iconic brand. Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA is after all, Harley-Davidson headquarters.

Milwaukee Steak Corner is at 36 Jalan Kasturi 1, off Jalan Balakong, Cheras, Malaysia.  Tel: +603 9076 4522

Milwaukee Steak Corner’s signature Juicy Calamari Steak (a.k.a. sotong or squid steak) photographed with the Olympus OM-D, ISO 200, f2, 1/125 sec.

Milwaukee Steak Corner's Juicy Calamari Steak