Kow Wong Yeah

It was the 'Nine God Festival' last week. My daughter went with her friends to Tow Boo Keong temple and came home with these pau.

It is without fail that whenever this festival comes around it will rain daily.Our bar-b-q held during the long break was almost a washout because of heavy rain and low winds.Strange but true.

cheers!

'06 Mountainbike challenge (2)..detour at the orang asli settlement

..this is the orang asli settlement at Tg Rambutan....nice place perched atop here ...with a nice surrounding overview...i thought i'd take a break..so i cycled around to look-see2.....

..1st things first...i bought 2 COLD! 100plus from this kedai at 'penghulu unan lane'......

above from the 'kedai' was the community hall..

and they were having a cook out...wow! good feng shui timing....take note of their community hall...built on a slope and on stilts....a friendly waving hand on the right.....

another view of their village and houses...

the inside of the hall...bamboo floor and thatched ceiling...nice thatch designed door..note the fluorescent lamps above...

..take note of the "main floor" there seems to be a border surrounding it ...whereby the whole main floor is seamless..remember..this hall is built on a slope and on stilts..but the floor is level..interesting isn't it...!!wonder what was the cost???

..at the side ..the Kitchen??..appears so..take note of the plate rack at the left of the photograph..a group of ladies on the left and another group of young ladies on the right...traditional setting but with an organized work flow!??....interesting....

..the ladies from the 'left' doing the preparations.....

the 'shy' young ladies from the 'right' ..with pots and pans...not sure what their duties were about though...

outside..the kitchens ... on one side of the hall the ladies were cooking fish...


..on the other side of the hall..this man had a huge kuali of meat and veggies on the fire ...note the firewood under the pan..or is it 'firelogs??' ...



some scenes to capture the very very friendly atmosphere...working & sembang2..




i went for a cycle ride in the countryside and discovered a lovely culture literally in my 'backyard' ......an orang asli culture going into the 21st century..embracing the conveniences of the time but maintaining their traditional outlook...a natural transitioning as it were....

cheers!

2006 Mountainbike Challenge...Hulu Kinta....great scenery

After posting two articles along the Tambun-Tg Rambutan road i just realized that i have other photo stories from this location. I actually like this area because of the hills nearby.

Todays story is about the Mountain Bike Challenge held last year. It started from Bandar Sunway. By the way i didn't participate , i just tagged along to take photos of the valley along the way. The shots were great...but not my stamina ...you really need to be fit!!! and i will show you why ...


I heard that alot of the participants were from outstation...some came with their bikes knocked down..alot of others strapped their bikes onto the car roof...

some used their 4wD and others the larger sedans....me ..i live at Ipoh East..so i cycled over to the starting point....

i came for the scenery but the participants clothing, helmets, shoes and even their bikes were colorful and nice...i was shooting away before the race began..also their backpacks ..they looked nice and body hugging...



.."and they're racing"..from Sunway till the area opposite the Teachers Training Center it was street road..from then on it was huff and puff..first uphill..i was like these guys..pushing...

for some others...cycling uphill was a breeze...

and if you think uphill is tough...downhill is scary..the road was of laterite and it was pebbly & sandy..if the down slope was steep my bike would slide with the brakes locked...whereby i would walk the bike downslope...and if you thought the F1 corners were tough take a look at the next shot..the corner is 60 degrees right!!!! on a sandy & hard laterite road .. fun huh!!

this is the "special stage".!!see the red striped rope tied to the trees .. well you are supposed to go straight down on your bike...me i did what everone else did..i took the stairs....


..being organised..these guys had a mobile service..not bad huh..and if you couldn't wait DIY....

back to the goal..i came to take scenery shots..and there were lots of it..this was at the rest area above the Ulu Kinta falls...nice place..besides the time was around 815am...and the air was fresh and envigorating...


the new dam across the Kinta River...wish i had the time to get a closer look...

tree clearing....

palm oil plantation...beautiful rolling hills


a stream...cold clear water ..it even tasted great...notice how clear the water is ...

...by the time it reaches lowland it would be muddy.

...nice scenery huh!!

..caution note...slow as well as danger...the view below this pass is that of an Orang asil settlement....looks near doen't it..downhill all the way...no way...

after this corner....


it was uphill...

then once at the top you have to go down again and up again..note the uphill road on the left!!!

before you arrive at 'main street'..orang asli settlement...before i moved on i cycled around this settlement...and managed to photograph a makan2 the orang asli were having that day... (i'll be posting about it next)

..from there it is a metal road to this watering hole which is a half way point...

..i didn't complete the circuit.. i hitched a ride back...but i tell ya..alot of the ladies that participated were really fit..they would have a drink and bananas and were soon on their bikes and on-on up the hill again...

this is great way to spend a Sunday morning.

cheers!