Happy New Year 2012

Happy  New Year folks. 

May we continue to have peace and harmony in the country and with that be able to enjoy prosperity together. The year 2011 had been a great one and hope the new year would bring better life for all. 

Above is a closeup image of the stigma of the National flower, the hibiscus. 

Have a nice day.

Merry Christmas...

Merry Christmans folks. 

May we continue to have peace and harmony.  With  that we all would be able to enjoy prosperity together. 

Have a nice day.

An Outing with My Grandson...

It was a beautiful day with the sun shinning bright. I could see white clouds scattered across the blue sky up above. I thought that it would be a good day to go out to the old part of the city and visit the old Railway Station that I had not visited for such a longtime. I told my spouse that I wanted to go out and she suggested that I ask our eldest grandson to go with me. It was a good suggestion so she calls him and asks whether he would like to go with grandpa. As usual he said that he had to ask his mom first. After awhile he calls back and that his mom says it is all right for him to go with grandpa. I then pick him up at his home not far from ours and then drove the Honda to the KLCC parking area. 

Parked the car there we walk to the LRT underground station nearby. I told him that I got a Touch and Go card for the ride and that we have first get a ticket for him but he told me that he too got a Touch and Go card. With that we need not buy a ticket and could go in to the underground by using the cards. We talk as we walk. Well this boy has indeed grown up. He is almost of the same height as me now. We have seen him grow from the day he was born in 1996 and now his is 15 years old. See how time passes by and the grand kids are all grownup now. It is the first time that I had taken him to go out with me. And I felt real good to have him as my company on this visit to the old part of the city. We took the escalator to the underground station and found the train has just left.

We waited for the next train and after awhile it arrived and we went in. I found a sit and sat there while he preferred to stand. The train soon whizzed away to our distinction, the Pasar Seni Station. In between it made a few stops, soon the train arrived at the Pasar Seni Station and we got out of the station and walk downward to the footpath below. My grandson is familiar with this part of the town since he often comes here for his tuition class at one of the shop-house here. We wall along which chatting and the since both of us have not taken our breakfast yet we decided to have it at one of the Mamak Restaurant opposite the Pasar Seni or the Central Market.  We went in and he ordered a Tosei while I did the usual Roti Canai. He had Milo Ice and I had Plain Hot Tea. We sat and enjoy that breakfast and then after finishing it we decided to go straight away to the old Railway Station nearby. 

There is a path on the roadside leading to the station. We walk and then went up the step that leads us to the station. There I ask a work woman as to where is the Museum and she pointed to the direction of the main lobby of the station. With that we move along and eventually got into the station. We decided not to go the Museum first but instead to go and have a look at the outside of these old buildings that was build by the British during the colonial era. There I took some images of the station and its surrounding. Image on the left is the main office of the KTM or the Malayan Railway as the rail service is known here. We then went back and browse along the Museum. There are many things of the past as well interesting to look. All those artifacts of the old railway are of the past now and I am glad that they have set up this Museum to store all those old artifacts that are related to the bygone era of the Railway. 

As I was looking around the museum a man in uniform ask me whether I enjoy the visit. I told him I did. We got into talking and eventually found that this man is the curator of this museum and he is on Facebook. We exchanges information and I told him that I like the place and would return to spend more time here. There is so much to see and my grandson seems to be enjoying it too. This is also his first visit to this museum and I believe he is learning many things of the past here of how the only way to get around in the country in the past was only by railway.

After taking some images of the museum we left and went to visit the Pasar Seni. This is also the first time my grandson got to see this amazing market where there are so many things to see and buy. It was once a wet market that sells Fish, Chicken, Meat and Vegetable and it use to be a wet and smelly place to be. But it is not so now. It has been renovated into a modern shopping mall where handicrafts and other things of interest to tourist are sold here. There are also eating place where one could have a healthy meals. I ask my grandson whether he was hungry but he said he is not as yet, so we just sat to have some cold drinks there. 

After that we again went to see more of the stall including those outside where many artists can been seen doing their works of arts. I saw a young woman painting a portrait and I thought that she would be a good subject to photograph. I seek her permission to do so and she say its alright and to go ahead. With that I took many images of that artist in action in her little studio there. On the left is an image of her doing her works diligently. 

We then continue to browse the many stalls and eventually decided to leave and take the LRT back to the KLCC where I had parked my car. We walk to the Pasar Seni station and boarded the LRT toward the KLCC station. The train arrived and we boarded it and it whizzed toward our distinction. In just a few minutes we arrived at the KLCC station. 

Got out of the station and then walk toward the concourse of the mall. As we walk I ask my grandson whether he would like to eat something and I suggest that we take the Hotdogs at the 1901 Stall. He agreed and we sat and enjoyed that freshly steamed hotdog with cold drink. After that we head straight to the parking lot in the basement and then I drove the Honda back home. Well, it was indeed an interesting outing with my grandson, one of those days in the life of a grandpa. 

Have a nice day. [Please click on image to enlarge]

The Senduduk buds....

Senduduk is a wild flowers that grows well on the roadsides and in between rubber trees in Rubber Plantations. As a child we would eat the berries and get our mouth all colored purple. Growing up in the forties and the fifties kids make their own toys and one of it is the bamboo gun. The buds of the Senduduk as seen above are use as bullets for the gun.  The above image was taken with a Micro Lens. Enjoy it folks.

Have a nice day.