鸡场街的倒影

上个星期难得有空，便和Dylan到闻名的鸡场街（也叫文化街）街拍。我们已经在鸡场街街拍摄了几次，而这次又到鸡场街是给自己的挑战。一直寻找着完美，几乎忘了那不完美的存在、那不一样的感觉。

常常欣赏网上和朋友们的鸡场街照片，觉得都是很复古，很优美的马六甲老街。我和朋友们一起也拍摄过的几条街，豆腐街、打铁街、青云亭街、马车街、海山街等等，也一样追求完美的照片：大热天的蓝天白云、复古混合殖民式的建筑物、还有那满街好奇的游客。

这次和Dylan出来街拍，我们希望能随性而不追求这完美的照片。不必在乎角度、曝光，只要感觉对了就按下快门。

拿了妹妹的Panasonic傻瓜相机，我们便出发了！轻轻松松的走向那鸡场街,寻找不起眼的事物、不一样的感觉：

The post 不一样的鸡场街 appeared first on juesatta (CJ Photography).

moody evening of Jonker Street

Looking back of old photos sometimes gives us some clue of our development in photography. And early this week, I flashed back the old albums in juesatta and realised that the style of my photography has changed throughout the years. Something I’ve gained and that something is also missing.

I wanted to looking for something that missing…

Two days ago Dylan and I decided to do street photography again. Besides favoring the nostalgic street, we chose Jonker Street again where we did street photography a few times, so that we could know how far we could go when shooting at the same location.

That afternoon when we arrived, I told Dylan, “Let’s forget about what we’ve learnt of photography: composition, exposure, and quality. Put those lesson 101 aside and shoot only what we feel like shooting.”

And Dylan said to me, “Right! Rules are made to be broken.”

Like a wise person once said: if you intend to break a rule you should always learn it first to make sure you’re breaking of it is all the more effective! Then we’d decided to give a go.

Without relying on the decent performance DSLR camera I have, I grabbed my sister’s Panasonic compact camera and we were off searching for the ‘feel’ of street.

Thanks to Dylan for the company and we had so much fun learning together. May all beings be happy.

Outcome of the shooting session:

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Seck Kia Eenh's colorful float of Wesak Day 2010 parade in Melaka

After our class at Seng Cheong Society of Heeren Street last Thursday we heard lots of voice from outside the building. It was Wesak Day on the next day so people were gathered and line the street to witness the grand procession of Wesak. Dylan and I knew that it was too late to leave the place as the street was already closed temporarily for the procession. Feeling excited and thrilled however, we took out our camera and joined in the crowds.

It wasn’t long waited when the Wesak parade arrived on Heeren Street where we were. The parade was spledid and grand as there were 15 colourful floats and a total of more than 40 Buddhist associations, schools, societies and clubs taking part. Each of these floats was nicely decoratingwith flowers and lights into patterns, and Buddhas were placed on the floats. The participants really put in a lot of effort in designing the floats.

Thousands of people witnessed the grand parade and showed respect to the Buddha. Hundreds of Buddhist devotees also walked the route with candles or flowers in their hands while various groups were chanting along the way or singing Buddhist songs. There were also reverends on the floats sprinkling blessing water to the crowds in the hope that people live a peaceful and happy life. In addition, marching bands from various schools in Melaka, lion and dragon dancers, Sri Lankan dancers were doing performances during the march which cheered up the public.

The whole parade was cheerful and lively yet the atmosphere was calm and peaceful. Routing through 5.5km of Melaka town’s busiest streets, Heeren Street was probably the last street the parade travelled before reaching the finishing line at the Seck Kia Eenh temple. We were lucky to be at Heeren Street and witness this grand event. Wishing everyone a happy belated Wesak Day and may all beings be happy. 

Sharing some photos I took:

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The front entrance of Rumah Seri Kenangan Cheng

Collected a total amount of RM450 of donation, Kok-Liang, Wee-Peng, Dylan, Cinda, Regine and I went to purchase daily necessities such as rice, biscuits, coffee, tea, chocolate powder, cooking oil and etc., and made a trip to the old folks home, Rumah Seri Kenangan Cheng and donated the items.

Wee-Peng was happily unloading

Rumah Seri Kenangan Cheng is a government funded old folks home and it takes care of senior citizens and also physically or minor mentally handicapped elderly. It is located in Cheng and about 30 minutes drive from Melaka town, next to the new Tesco Extra. The main objective of this trip was to raise awareness and build the compassionate heart towards the elderly among friends.

It was not the open day of the center when we went, thus the management prohibited us from taking photos of the elderly. However after unloaded the items from the car a staff, generously took us for a tour of the center’s residential dormitory where we met the elderly.

Every elderly seemed thrilled to have some company. While taking the walk with the staff, there were some elderly who talked to us and needed our attention. Some also smiled at us and wished we could snap photos of them when they saw our camera. They gave us a look that would soften even a heart of stone.

Currently there are 220 elderly staying at the center so it requires large amount of funds to maintain the center. According to the staff who led us, it would require more adult diapers (size: L) for the elderly. So we’ve decided to make another trip there with more adult diapers.

Thanks to Kok-Liang for the arrangement and fellow friends for the support. It was a fulfilling event and we hope it is a little glimmer of something special for elderly who have so little. May all beings be happy.

The address and contact number of Rumah Seri Kenangan old folks home:
Rumah Seri Kenangan Cheng,
KM. 12, Jalan Cheng Baru,
75250 Melaka
Tel.: 06-3121179 (Miss Emily)

Dylan at the front entrance

Kok-Liang, the organizer of this trip

From left: Dylan, Cinda and Wee-Peng

Donated goods

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12尺全身赤红的“百足灵物”巨型蜈蚣像

去年到好友Kelly在芙蓉的婚礼晚宴时，她介绍过我蜈蚣山的天师宫，这个芙蓉其中出名的旅游景点。蜈蚣山是在森美兰州的芙蓉的沉香，天师宫则是倚蜈蚣山而建，已经有140多年的历史了的庙，但依然风光明媚。从芙蓉镇到那里只需要5-10分钟。当时我赶着去晚宴，所以没法到蜈蚣山。

上个星期，Ah-Too邀请我一同从马六甲到芙蓉去接Wee-Peng回马六甲。Dylan与我和Ah-Too便三人同行。因为早到芙蓉的关系，我建议他们到蜈蚣山去看看。到了芙蓉，已经天不作美了，下起细细小雨。

经过了芙蓉镇，我们便依来自芙蓉的朋友Wendy的指示，到达了蜈蚣山山脚下，然后要的走一段小路是斜岭，汽车驾驶上去，便到了天师宫。那里风景真的很优美，能俯视整个芙蓉，把芙蓉景色尽收眼帘。尤其在这个下着细雨的天里，蜈蚣山的风景更是犹如世外桃源。

说到蜈蚣山的特色，莫过于它的长达12尺全身赤红的“百足灵物”巨型蜈蚣像。除此之外，还有招财蟾蜍、观音娘娘、齐天大圣、青云台及八仙园游等景点。传说山上常有蜈蚣出没，那里流传着有人因为见过白蜈蚣而鸿运当头，因此每年吸引无数来自远方的香客或游客到来碰运气，但求一睹白蜈蚣的异彩。

我在网上找到了这个蜈蚣山的传奇：

很久很久以前，一个为求发达的孩子，离乡背井寻找财路。终于有一天，这个孩子衣锦还乡，但却变成一个不孝之徒，他把含辛茹苦将其养育成人的母亲弃之不顾。最后，孩子受到应有的惩罚，他被化为一艘永不启航的「石船」，被安置在芙蓉沉香………。

长长的斜坡，伸延到丛林处，高高的山头，有艘石船；半山腰际有只大蜈蚣，长年累月的藏身蜈蚣树，它与石船相伴相随，没有人知道蜈蚣和石船的关系，也有人怀疑蜈蚣是被爱儿抛弃的母亲所变，但是蜈蚣圣山（又名百足山）之名不尽而走。

再来是天师宫的传奇：

天师宫设在高山「石船」中央，冥冥之中早已有安排。话说百多年前，蜈蚣山原是一片荒芜，毒蛇猛兽横行，当地居民深受其害，经常遭侵袭而蒙受死伤威胁。

为了保佑出入平安，当地居民便在山林中安置张天师神位，日夜供奉和膜拜。因为相传张天师是古代一名道士，专门扑妖抓鬼，法力无边，于是这个有欠安宁的山林，自然请到天师前来坐镇。

不过，在经过一段日子后，山脚下居民请来乩童向天师请安问事，却反遭天师要将其神位改迁山顶上。

当时的山顶更是一片荒芜，除了怪石嶙峋和老树野草外，空无一物。但是这些对张天师意旨感到为难的居民，在前往山顶为寻求神位时，却意外发现毫无人迹的山上的空旷地上早已插有一扎香，似乎在冥冥中已对天师的神位有所安排。

由于时间紧迫及天气的关系，我们只逗留了大约半小时。上了香后，我们也无法观赏一一的景点，更不用说能拍很多的照片了。

天师宫

凉亭里的太极与弥勒菩萨像

非常感激Ah-Too与Dylan的同行陪伴。也要谢谢Kelly介绍这个地方与Wendy的指路，我们三人才有机会到蜈蚣山。除此之外，也谢谢Wee-Peng请我们吃美味的芙蓉烧包。由于我们都认识一些来自芙蓉的朋友，我相信我们还有机会到芙蓉去参观，更能到这个蜈蚣山，去补上这次无法欣赏到的景点的遗憾。

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Murphy was touching a golden Japanese Koi

I always heard about ‘Batu, a nice place to go’. Batu is the informal name for the place Batu Pahat (means ‘chiseled rock’ in Malay, 峇株巴辖 in Chinese), which is a district in the state of Johor.

Besides, I heard from my friend, Murphy of a temple in Segenting (石文丁), which is in the west zone of Batu Pahat, and the temple (崇龙宫大伯公庙) is well-known of fish-touching. There are a few arapaima fresh water fishes in the ponds of the temple. There are rumors saying that, touching of these arapaima fishes would bring good luck to the person.

Last week, I told Murphy that I wanted to go to Batu Pahat for a look, and the temple would be a must to visit too. Murphy made a generous offer of driving me there together with Desmond and Dylan. So the next day we departed to Batu Pahat. It took us about 90 minutes drive from Melaka.

Initially we wanted to go to the town of Batu Pahat and hang out there, but we could not make it as time was so limited. We departed late and we didn’t plan to stay overnight, so we gave our priority to the temple in Segenting. On our way to the fish touching temple, we saw many other Chinese Taoism temples in our 15 minutes car ride from the town.

Finally we arrived at the temple in a fishing village of Segenting. It was drizzling when we reached there, however the scenery was so beautiful. The place itself is a fishing village and it is also a tourism village for people who need a real retreat from the busy city life. We then headed to the famous temple by the beach.

The main god of the temple is Da Bo Gong (大伯公, which is “Grand Uncle” in Chinese). There are also Ma Zu (妈祖, the goddess of the sea), Hai Long Wang (海龙王, the dragon king of the sea) and others to protect and bless the villagers and the fishermen. And we did see the arapaima fishes in the pond of the temple. They were huge and would not bite. Some of the arapaima fishes approached us as soon as we put hands into the water. The fishes swam passed us and letting us to touch them. There were also gentle Japanese Koi fishes in one of the ponds.  

In addition, we could see the lover bridge (情人桥) from the temple. It is the jetty for the fishing boats and also a romantic spot for dating couples. Young couples regardless local or from outstation always take a slow walk on the bridge and enjoy the warm breeze and romantic sunset. The villagers believe that, after a guy and a girl take a walk on the bridge, they would fall in love and become couples.

Murphy at the outdoor pond waiting to touch the arapaima fish

Arapaima fishes in the pond. It is believed that touching one of these fishes would bring luck.

Desmond (right) at the palace of the Dragon King of the Sea

Attap houses of the fishing village

The palace of the Dragon King of the Sea

Murphy (left) and Desmond at the beach of the village

The statue of the Dragon King of the Sea

The arapaima fishes were posing in a line

What a fantastic view of the arapaima fishes queueing in a line

The statue of Ma Zu, the Goddess of the Sea

The lover bridge at Segenting

The innocent and pure children from the village

Sculptures of the two dragon on the roof of the temple

"Huat ah!" (prosperity in Chinese)

The God of Fortune

A worshipper with incense sticks at the temple

In this trip, I learned something new from Desmond. Many Chinese believe in seeking the god’s advice by divination (掷筊). The worshipper usually poses a question, and then phrases an answer, two wooden divinatory blocks are held out upon the two palms, raised about to the level of the forehead of a kneeling worshipper, and allowed to drop on the floor. There are two positions in which each block can land: rounded side up or rounded side down. Therefore there are three combinations of positions, both blocks might land flat side down, both might land rounded side down or each might land differently. If the blocks land in the last combination, one up, one down, then this is taken to indicate confirmation of the answer.

It is believed that when the two blocks land rounded side downward and rock giddily on the floor before coming to rest, the god is amused at the statement put to him, and this position is called ‘laughing jiao’ (笑筊) but when the flat sides come to rest on the floor, so that the blocks fall and come immediately to an abrupt standstill, then anger is indicated. This position is called ‘negative jiao’ (怒筊). The positive fall is the combination of one up and one down, and it is called ‘sacred jiao’ (圣筊).

According to Desmond, it would be good to ask permission from the Grand Uncle in order to snap photos of the gods and temple. In order to show my respect, I dropped the blocks and I got the answer of ‘laughing jiao’. I guessed Grand Uncle was amused at the question I posed. I went to Desmond and asked about the answer I got. He said the god smiled at my question, and the answer was a no. He then advised me to offer incense sticks to the gods of the temple before I asked again. Guess what? Surprisingly after I did that, I got a ‘sacred jiao’ which was a yes to snap photos of the gods and temple.

The lights of wisdom in the main hall of the temple

Grand Uncle (大伯公) in the main hall of the temple

The main hall of the temple

The girders with Chinese lanterns in the main hall of the temple

Incense sticks offered by the prayers to the gods of the temple

It started to rain heavily when we decided to leave the village to have our dinner in the town of Batu Pahat. We had no choice but to dine next to the temple for a simple meal although there were many fine seafood restaurants in the village. The rain stopped just as we finished the meals and we headed back to Melaka. On our way back, Murphy did a few stops for me, and I managed to snap the seaview and sunset of Segenting.

Dylan was looking for a good angle to snap photos

The Chinese pagoda of another temple in the fishing village

A fishing boat

A kingfisher spotted at the seaside

Chong Hwa Primary School in Segenting

The dog, the old lady, and the bird

The sunset of Segenting

"Time to say goodbye"

It was really a nice trip. How I wish I could be there longer. This would not be my last time to Segenting as I believe I would be there again. The next trip has to be a full day trip. I really appreciate Murphy for driving us there and thanks to Desmond and Dylan for their company. May everyone be happy.

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Ah-Kun in his house

Two days ago, Dylan and I went to Ah-Kun’s house at the Jonker Street of Melaka. It is a part of the old Chinatown of Melaka and the street is close to traffic for night market during the evenings of every weekend (Friday, Saturday and Sunday). Hawkers on pushcarts will gather on these days to sell all kinds of delicious street food and local merchandise. A permanent stage was there at the end of the street for performances such as dancing and singing during weekend. As to date, however, the old stage has been demolished and a new design of stage is under construction.  

Back to the shooting at Ah-Kun’s house. The interior architecture of the house is not so much different from the typical Baba and Nyonya houses which I’ve visited before. It really amazed me when Ah-Kun showed me the wood-fire stove which his family is still using, a balcony garden which planted with orchids and other flowers, and some Japanese souvenirs which his aunt brought back from Japan decades ago. Being at Ah-Kun’s house, it made us felt like being in the 50s-60s of Melaka.  

We managed to shoot the rooftops of the houses in Jonker Street which was the purpose of our shooting. After that, we went for a second half of the shooting with the company of Ah-Kun. We headed towards Kampung Ketek nearby Cheng Hoon Teng Chinese temple. We took a few shots over there of the Malay houses. After we went for a rojak noodle and cendol at an Indian stall, we called it a day.

These are some of the shots I took to share:

During this outing, I learned so much about Melaka from Ah-Kun and photography from Dylan. Thanks to Ah-Kun for allowing us to do a shooting at his place and thanks to Dylan for his company.

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