Category Archives: Life

Pongalo Pongal!

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Pongal (also spelled as Ponggol in Malaysia and Singapore) is the Thanksgiving or Harvest Festival celebrated in the southern state of Tamil Nadu in India. Tamil families in Malaysia also place sugar cane stalks and hang sugar cane flowers on their doors during this  mid-January festival.

Pongal refers to the “boiling over” of milk. The overflowing signifies abundance and prosperity. Sugar cane symbolises  sweetness and happiness, I was told. It is only one part of the many rituals and traditions that involve grains, fruits, flowers and milk.

Spotted this makeshift stall off the back of a truck in the Setapak Hot Springs area, earlier today. The owner told me he bought the canes from a plantation in Kapar and is selling them at RM 5 per stalk. His son helps out weaving decorative garlands from the sugar cane flowers.

The four-day festival observed in the Tamil calendar month of “Thai” begins on January 15. Happy Ponggol Festival!

Olympus OM-D, ISO 200, f10, 1/320 sec.

Pongalo Pongal!

Who Says Puchong Is Like A Cowboy Town?

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Who says Puchong is like a cowboy town? It is like New York City where the Royal Malaysian Police Mounted Unit patrol the streets, ready to gallop after a snatch thief or trample a mugger.

I was pleasantly surprised to see these two officers and their horses in Bandar Puteri Puchong yesterday. Not only do they inspire a sense of safety but the men gave a hat tip and a wave after hearing the sound of the shutter click.

Olympus OM-D, ISO 200, f8, 1/160 sec with Snapseed’s Vintage Filter.

Who Says Puchong Is Like A Cowboy Town?

City To Sea In 30 Minutes

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Cruising On The Federal Highway

Jaded KL city folk may no longer remember but you can drive from the heart of the city to the sea in 30 minutes. What’s amazing is that the journey is non-stop except for two toll plazas and a couple of traffic lights in Port Klang town itself. All possible only on a Sunday or public holiday, of course.

The video begins just before the Federal Highway near Mid Valley. It goes past Petaling Jaya, Subang Jaya, Shah Alam, Klang town and straight to the doorsteps of the Ferry Terminal for Pulau Ketam in Port Klang.

Federal Highway or Lebuhraya Persekutuan is the country’s first highway and one of the busiest. It runs east to west connecting Kuala Lumpur city to Subang Airport and Port Klang. From a narrow road in the 70s, it is now a six and eight lane expressway. There are now four other expressways spanning east to west in the Klang Valley. The KESAS, SKVE, LATAR and NPE routes are all covered by MyCen Maps and MyCen Videos.

Since this is intended more as a “sightseeing” video, there are no intermediate captions at the exits as with the regular driving videos. Filmed in HD with the Olympus OM-D and edited on Grass Valley Edius.

Enjoy the drive!