World Press Photo Exhibition

The World Press Photo Exhibition 2011 came to Kuala Lumpur recently. The exhibition showcased the winning images from those submitted by photo journalists around the world last year to this non-profit organisation.

There were various categories from news to sport and entertainment and each photograph made an impact in its own way. As usual (which is sad to say) some tragic events featured a number of times in the winning images, such as the devastating earthquake in Haiti and the oil spill off the Gulf of Mexico.


The 2011 Photo of the Year, a portrait of Bibi Aisha, an 18-year-old girl who had her ears and nose sliced off as punishment for fleeing her abusive husband, was powerful in its confrontational nature and the dignity of the subject. 


Another that I found particularly moving was a series of photographs showing a Chinese firefighters engaging in clean-up operations following an oil spill in northeast China - one of them, Zhang Liang, is caught in an undercurrent and drowns, and a memorial service is later held for him. The image of his colleague in tears at the funeral is heartbreaking. 


These things always make me think though - why didn't the photographer get in there and do something instead of just snapping away? Perhaps I don't understand the point of photo journalism, but surely there are situations where trying to help is better than trying to tell the story?

The World Press Photo exhibition was free and held at the KL Convention Centre. It travels around the world throughout each year, so if you find it heading your way, do check it out.
 
For more information visit www.worldpressphoto.org and the 2011 winners page http://www.worldpressphoto.org/winners/2011

My first POS Malaysia experience

Today I paid my first visit to POS Malaysia aka the post office. Until now I've managed to avoid the place and my only experience with mail has been waiting (a frustratingly long time) for things to get delivered from Australia.

True story: My best friend sent me a beautiful parcel of Christmas presents 2 weeks before Christmas. When did I receive it? The 31st January. I rest my case.

Back to the post office. Now I've stood in my fair share of queues and dealt with several unfriendly, unhelpful or slower-than-a-snail members of staff at the post office back in Sydney. But today was a brand new experience.

When I arrived I noticed the entire place was full of people sitting or standing, but all of them waiting and only a handful getting served as half the counters were unattended and even those that were, occasionally the staff member would casually get up and share a joke with a colleague or seemingly do nothing. There were at least half a dozen or more people standing outside in the mall as well. Clearly things could take a while.

My next problem was that I had no idea what I was meant to do. All I wanted was some stamps to mail a card. Looking around, I saw an electronic ticket display calling numbers in turn with a designated counter next to it. A-ha. I looked around for about 5 minutes and eventually found the ticket dispenser tucked away behind a crowd of people in the corner of the post office with no sign.

Not needing to pay a bill, that ruled out pressing B so I pressed A. Armed with my ticket I happily went to stand outside and wait. Another electronic display read: "stamps, parcels. Please press button A"

Note the punctuation, it's important for the story. I read it and thought, yes I pressed A, I'm all good.

Another 10 minutes went past and the ticket numbers being called out slowly went up towards 1425 which I was holding. An automated female voice announced each ticket and counter as they were called on the machine, although it was all in Bahasa Malaysia. Was it my imagination or did she sound cranky too?

After I had been standing outside the post office for what seemed like forever, I observed a European man who had just been called up to one of the 'multi-service' counters getting rather fired up at the guy behind the counter. Why? He wanted to buy stamps and after waiting half an hour, had just been told that stamps were only being sold at counter 5 which you didn't need a ticket for, you simply had to join the queue.

Aha. I looked back at the electronic sign and saw it actually read:

"Please queue at counter 5 for the following: POS express, registered post," -display changes- "stamps, parcels. Please press button A" 

Aha.

I threw away my useless ticket and hurried to join the queue at counter 5 in front of the cranky European gentleman. 45 minutes later, I was finally out of there with my card stamped and sent off to Japan (I really hope it gets there). 

POS Malaysia, you need to invest in bigger and better signs that don't show half a sentence at a time, and have more staff working so people aren't spilling out into the streets while they are waiting. That was way too much work for a card, imagine if I ever had to send a parcel!

3 months in...

It's been three months since I arrived in KL so I thought I'd take this opportunity to list a few top 3's...

Food
Char kway teow
Chicken satay
Nasi lemak

Drink
Soya bean
Teh tarik
Milk tea with pearls (not strictly Malaysian but it's everywhere and I love it)


Shopping malls
Pavilion (one-stop-shop for high street fashion without the crowded feeling)
Central Market (souvenirs and pretty artifacts)
Sungei Wang (cheap clothes and shoes)

Sightseeing
KLCC Park/Petronas Towers
Lake Gardens
Chow Kit market

Food courts
Lot 10
Pavilion
Suria KLCC Level 4


Bars and restaurants
The Apartment Downtown/Malones, Suria KLCC
Madam Kwan's
Havana, Changkat Bukit Bintang

I hope to add to these lists and maybe even change some of them as time goes on and I get to know KL more. Cheers!

Thean Hou temple

On The In-Laws' final day in KL, we decided to do something different to the countless shopping malls and popular tourist spots like the Lake Gardens and KL Tower they had seen during their stay.

Thean Hou temple (temporary stage in foreground)

While not particularly religious, I am a big fan of temples usually for the decorative architecture, landscaped gardens or general atmosphere, and I'd read about Thean Hou temple a while back and filed it away for later reference.

Being a Chinese temple, which are among the more colourful in the world, I thought now would be a fantastic time to see it because it would be even more lavishly decorated than usual, so off we went. To get there, we got a taxi from KLCC which took us the 3km or so south of the city and dropped us off at the bottom of the hill. Being a weekend during Chinese New Year and by this time the middle of the day, there was a snake of cars lined all the way up the hill road that led to the temple as Chinese families paid their annual visit.

Stalls selling food, souvenirs and even mole removal services lined our walk up. By the time we reached the temple, The Boy was more focused on finding ice cream to cool off from the heat. Fortunately for his appetite, the base of the temple contains a small food court, plus more snack and souvenir stalls and soon we were all happily indulging in a cold treat.

Posing with the dragon to mark the new Lunar Year

We took some photos of the Lunar Animal statues that were placed in a garden area to the left of the temple. I was born in the Year of the Ox, plus I am a Capricorn, which explains my enduringly stubborn nature!

Ox baby

Thean Hou temple is certainly very colourful and visually impressive. I particularly admired the ornate dragons decorating the roof.

Dragons decorate the roof of Thean Hou temple

The Boy on the upper deck of Thean Hou temple

There are good views from the upper deck of the temple, providing more photo opportunities for us tourists! For me though, the most stunning sight were the hundreds of red lanterns strung up as Chinese New Year decorations.

The Petronas Towers are faintly visible in the distance through the archway

After we had taken our final happy snap, we headed back to KLCC, this time deciding to walk to the closest monorail station (Tun Sambanthan) given the lack of taxis! It is actually quite a simple walk, although it takes 20-25 minutes.

Just walk back down to the bottom of the hill then turn right and follow the main road past the first overpass, until you come to the stairs that take you up to the monorail station. It's a bit tiring in the heat but we all agreed the visit was well worth it!

Chow Kit wet market

The Boy's family have been visiting for the past week so I have been busy playing tour guide in my free afternoons while he is at the office. Yesterday being the Australia Day public holiday back home, I had the whole day free and decided to take The In-Laws to Chow Kit wet market to look at what I hoped would be some weird and wonderful fruits and vegetables.

Instead of taking the monorail to Chow Kit station, we decided on the scenic option and caught the LRT to Kampung Baru and walked. Despite being just a stone's throw from KLCC, it felt like a different world! Wooden houses with sheets hanging in backyards, so many little food court/mamak stalls I lost count, and a general vibe that here is a peaceful community going about their daily life undisturbed by tourists...until we showed up!

We passed a durian cart on the way, its pungent smell announcing its presence well before we got close, though after our experience The In-Laws not surprisingly passed on the tasting opportunity.

A 5-10 minute easy walk later, we arrived at the bustling Chow Kit market. Heading past the first few fruit stalls into the undercover wet market area, we were greeted with sights and smells that completely overloaded the senses. 

Giant green beans towered over my head

Chillies galore!

There were the familiar - apples, oranges, bok choy and chillies...and then there were the not-so-familar - whole chickens fully plucked with feet still intact, cows' heads, hooves and hides, and other things I couldn't even identify.

Fresh seafood at Chow Kit market

Catfish (very much alive) splashing around

At about 10 in the morning, the place was lively with locals buying their groceries. For the most part the shopkeepers let us take photos in peace, occasionally calling out a greeting. 

Whole chickens with feet still intact

Cow heads for sale made for a startling and slightly morbid sight

Letting nothing go to waste...cow hooves hanging up

Living up to its name, the floor of the market was wet and princess that I am, I pranced delicately around the puddles to avoid getting more fish juice on my feet than absolutely necessary. 

Bags and boxes of crackers at Chow Kit market

After walking the full length of one aisle at least a hundred yards long, we emerged out into the sunshine and fresh air and decided that was enough fresh produce for one day. A quick walk to Chow Kit monorail station (100m if that) and we were heading for Bukit Bintang, where the delicious Heritage Food Court awaited us.

We only saw a fraction of what was on offer at Chow Kit, but I highly recommend paying a visit to see another side of KL!

Ki Ki Taiwan Cuisine, Suria KLCC

Taiwan has been on my mind recently, a combination of the advertisements lining the tunnel from Suria KLCC to the Convention Centre, and the stunning happy snaps my friends R+L took on their Christmas holiday there.

Here in KL where every day is as hot and humid as the one before, the closest I could get to experiencing Taiwan right now was through food. And so on a quiet Sunday night, The Boy and I paid a visit to Ki Ki Taiwan Cuisine on the fourth floor of Suria KLCC.

The staff were friendly and attentive from the moment we arrived and the place was lively with families and walk-in shoppers. The simple decor of wood with floral print glass panels in hues of pink and brown provided a comfortable setting for our meal.

Most of the menu consisted of set meals starting from 19.80RM and The Boy and I quickly made our choices - the Taiwan minced beef sauce noodle set for me and the Fried chicken with rice wine set for him. The side orders all looked so tempting that we succumbed and ordered fried mushrooms to share and I also added an oolong passion fruit tea to quench my thirst.

Everything was served promptly and the cute decorative crockery added visual appeal to our dishes - even The Boy's water came in an adorable mug with a picture of a dog on it! 

My oolong tea was delightfully refreshing - the taste was initially sweet like fruit cordial but the slightly bitter flavour of tea soon followed, pairing back the sugary passion fruit. 

Oolong passion fruit tea

Our fried mushrooms arrived blisteringly hot, coated in a delicious batter. The Boy managed to burn his mouth trying to eat it too quickly, which goes to show how tasty they were. The mushrooms themselves had an ever-so-slightly chewy, meaty texture and the chilli powder sprinkled on the batter gave it a fantastic spice that really added to the overall flavour.

Fried mushrooms

Fried mushrooms and the sweet decorative serving plate

Our meals arrived looking fantastic, each set coming with a main dish and a selection of three small side dishes. My minced beef noodles took me back to a fond childhood memory I have of some 15 years ago of going to a local restaurant in suburban Sydney with my mother and ordering this same dish. I hoped it would be just as good as I remembered and I wasn't disappointed - the slight spice in the beef was offset by the cool cucumber and spring onion, and mixed all together with the noodles, I was content to sit silently and eat, enjoying every mouthful.

Taiwan minced beef noodle set

After The Boy cleared up a small misunderstanding (he thought his set came with rice wine but the chicken was actually marinated in it!), he pronounced the fried chicken to be perfectly crunchy with a subtle aftertaste of the rice wine marinade, while the cabbage was 'the best (he'd) ever eaten' due to the flavour explosion provided by tiny pieces of fried garlic and baby shrimps.

Fried chicken rice wine set

We both had the same set of side dishes and they provided a pleasant variety of contrasting textures - crunchy fried tempura, soft nuts infused with the delicate heat of chilli, and the subtle flavour of boiled chicken. The chicken broth had a delicate flavour and was a nice accompaniment to our meal.

The portion sizes were generous and we finished feeling pleasantly full. Overall, it was a very enjoyable dining experience and we hope to return soon to try more of their menu.

Happy New Year - NYE at The Library

2011 was coming to an end and for the first time in quite a few years, The Boy and I wouldn't be spending NYE with our friends. Back in Sydney, I'd long since given up the trek to the city to watch the fireworks, deciding the crowds and the tedious train trip back home to the suburbs were not worth the few minutes of admittedly spectacular entertainment.

Now living in KLCC, for the first time we were already right near the action with the Petronas Towers and KLCC Park just around the corner being the centre of Kuala Lumpur's midnight celebrations. We were curious to see what KL was like at this time of year so together with Aussie Guy, we headed to The Library on Jalan Ampang for drinks and dinner so we had a good view of the crowds on the street.

The boys ordered beer and I chose a Librarian Margarita, which promised to be a delicious concoction of tequila, pineapple juice and lime. Unfortunately, it was made with too much ice and the flavour all but lost. My next drink - a standard mojito - was much better and our pizzas were tasty too. By the time it got to 11pm, the place was packed and it was getting harder (and slower) to get any bar service. So shortly after 11:30, we decided to venture over to KLCC Park and get in position for the midnight countdown and fireworks.

The Petronas Towers lit up at night

In the space of just a couple of hours, KLCC Park had filled with people and now a crowd was slowly surging from Jalan Ampang around Suria KLCC towards the fountains. Men, women, young families and elderly people, tourists and locals, everyone had that same sense of anticipation and excitement that happens on NYE all around the world. A guy walked around selling horns and judging by the noise, plenty of people had already bought one! For the most part, people just sat and waited patiently.

I thought of my friends and family in Sydney who would have already celebrated midnight, one of the first cities in the world to do so, and my brothers who were in Tokyo and Chicago tonight and wondered what they would be doing to mark the beginning of 2012.

Then the fireworks started. Our view was partly blocked by a tree but we oohed and aahed with the crowd anyway and I joined the thousands of people taking pictures on their cameras and mobile phones.

NYE fireworks above KLCC Park

NYE fireworks above KLCC Park

While not as large-scale and spectacular as those that light up Sydney Harbour each year, there is no doubt that fireworks are always exciting, no matter when or where they happen.

Capturing the moment

After the fireworks were over, we decided to call it a night - The Boy and I were dead on our feet from a day of cleaning and running around for office supplies, and Aussie Guy had an early flight to Singapore the next day. Unlike in Sydney, we weren't faced with a long trip home, just an easy 10-minute walk.

Home in bed by 12:30am, The Boy and I fell asleep to the street sounds of horns and cheers as excited KLites welcomed a new year.