Category Archives: Olympus OM-D

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

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?