Laundry hanging out to dry along the corridor of an old shop house in Port Dickson town.
With any small town, there is a treasure trove of interesting subjects for your camera on any Sunday. The shops may be closed and the streets deserted but little visual gems flutter in the seeming desolation. Keep an eye out for unusual but interesting combination of textures, colours and shapes.
Olympus OM-D, ISO 200, f11, 1/250 sec.
Kampung LBJ originated as the abbreviation for Lyndon B Johnson. The former U.S. President visited the FELDA settlement in 1966. Sleepy Labu Jaya was renamed in honour of the visit and as a symbol of the warming of ties between the two countries.
Another unique aspect of the kampung are the bungalows and extravagantly renovated houses. In 1996, many of the settlers became instant millionaires when their land was bought by the state.
In the centre of the village is Masjid Kariah Felda LBJ. I like the the mosque’s simple architecture, especially its wireframe arch and the golden umbrella ‘dome’.
Bentong’s most famous attraction turned out to be the legendary Kow Po Ice Cream Parlour. It is an old-fashioned coffee shop that sells yummy home-made ice cream. The flavours include chocalate, coffee, banana, peanut, vanilla and strawberry. Not a big variety but every flavour contains real, tasty ingredients.
Tried their coffee ice cream and it was like eating molten Nescafe. The banana ice cream is heavenly too. Each scoop is only RM 2.80 and comes with fruit cocktail. Kow Po serves up another simple and forgotten gesture which you won’t find in fancy city outlets. A (free) glass of plain cold water is served along with the ice cream, as it should be.
Kow Po is a family run business for the last 40 years. Every family member is media-savvy as the shop has been featured in countless news articles. The youngest son, Michael Tan, takes an interest in photography and we had an interesting chat 🙂
Although Bentong is in the state of Pahang, it is only about 45 minutes from Kuala Lumpur via the Karak Highway. Kow Po is easy to locate as it is opposite the bus terminal in the heart of town.
Warung Ais Krim Kow Po
2 Bentong Heights, 28700 Bentong, Pahang.
Tel: +609 222 1258
