Day trip to Skudai and Kulai, with CK and CJ

CK came back for short break in between his hospital rotations.

Took opportunity to drive up to Kulai for a short day trip, together with CJ. 

We drove off on Thursday morning (left our house as early as 6.30am, to avoid any untowards traffic congestion in the causeway), one day before Easter Holiday. The main aim of our trip was "feasting" on local food. If time permitted, we may consider driving all the way to Bukit Tinggi (visiting the replica of French village there).

Some mild traffic congestion at Woodlands check-point, but managed to clear the immigration counters on both end of the countries within 15 minutes - not bad at all.

We took our breakfast at 早安粥品 @ Skudai (皇后花园）。The porridge (皮蛋粥，鸳鸯粥）was delicious and economical (came in quite a big portion). Also drank 豆花水 there. 

Then we drove another 15 minutes or so to a Bak Kut Teh stall (古来新世华肉骨茶）for Bak Kut Teh ... The pork-ribs were very fresh, meaty and sweat. The only minus point was the soup was rather saltish. Nevertheless, still quite worth a visit!

Parking lots right in front of the Bak Kut Teh shop-house

We then drove to Tasik Biru (aka Blue Lake) at Kangkar Pulai, as recommended by the 粥品老板娘。But, the "blue lake" is hidden somewhere in the midst the lush vegetations. We were unsure of the exact route to follow, and gave up after a while. The road leading to the general direction of Tasik Biru has fairly grand scenery !

Searching for guidance from internet, on how to reach Tasik Biru

We ventured a few meters into the bushes, but u-turn back after a short while

The vegetations / coconut trees at the entrace of the walking trail to Tasik Biru.

We met another 3 teenagers who dropped off from a car when we walked out from the "moutaineous" trail leading to Tasik Biru - they were looking for the place as well. They invited us to tag along with them to look for the place together, but we politely declined.

Our next destination - 古来花果山。

We reached there around 11 am - rather warm weather. This time round, there was no monkeys around (perhaps there were all hiding in shade, from the scotching sun).

We finally decided to just do a day trip in Kulai/Ayer Hitam, then drove back. (Bukit Tinggi will be our future trip). 

Drove 1 hour + to Sawah Sagil in Ayer Hitam. Took some photos there.

Went to nearby Ayer Hitam for lunch at a local Peranakan restaurant 感情轩。The asam laksa was very spicy and oily - not palatable to our tastebuds. The Mee Siam, Rendang Ayam (Chicken Rendang) and Nasi Kerabu were not bad.

By the time we finished our lunch, it was almost 2 pm. We decided to visit two other tourist spots, before going for another round of Bak Kut Teh @ Soon Huat Bak Kut Teh in Skudai, then Johor Premium Outlet to look for hiking shoes (for CJ's trip to Nepal). 

 

But alas, there was some road construction along the way to Gunung Pulai Waterfall - we took almost 2 hours to reach there - the entrance gate apparent closed at 3.30pm. 

We then drove to Putuo Village (普陀寺), which closes around 5.30pm. Strolled inside the Bamboo Forest / Garden - and took some photos there.

We then drove another 1 hour + to reach Soon Huat Bak Kut Teh for our dinner. The Bak Kut Teh here was not as fresh / meaty as the one we took in the morning. But the soup was fairly good. This being an air-conditioned restaurant - the food here was slightly more expensive as well. 

We drove to Johor Premium Outlet to reccee for CJ's hiking shoes. The place was rather quiet - only sporadic numbers of visitors there - mostly in shops selling running shoes (Nike, Puma, Umbro, Timberland etc). CJ could not find what he wanted. We departed after staying there for ~ 1 hour or so.

Drove back to Singapore via causeway - surprisingly no traffic jam at all!

Walking exercise in Nibong Tebal

Went for a brief 1 hour walking exercise in Nibong Tebal. 

The trail cut through an industrial site nearby, and some local housing district.

Took snap shots of the exercise trail...

Industrial site

Some shop houses / factories

Walking from industrial site towards housing district

overhangng trees lining the street in housing district

清明节，在老家小住几天。傍晚时分，在住家附件缓步运动。路过临近的小型工业区，及住宅区。所经过的地方，行人寥寥可数；不过某些道路，奔驰而过的车辆还挺多的。

Local coffee powder

Back to Nibong Tebal over the weekend (31 March-2 April) for QingMing. Went for breakfast in a local Kopitiam with my siblings. The coffee was quite delicious. Asked the young man serving us coffee if the Kopitiam sold coffee powder as well. Was told they bought their coffer powder from another party. He gave us the contact number of the seller. 

The coffee powder seller stayed near Parit Buntar. The coffee powder was roasted in a factory in Taiping. He kept some cans of roasted coffer powder in his dwelling place, and sold them to his regular customers nearby.

The roasted coffee powder costs RM 12 / kg. It is a steal compared to the price in Singapore! (It costs between S$14-16/kg in Singapore). I bought 3 kg in total, and brought home to Singapore.

开工了！

我儿子靖凯所预购的政府组屋，就在我目前居住的共管公寓隔壁，议定会在2028年竣工。

原来的旧组屋群，在两年前被拆平及填土后，便一直空置着。直到前几个礼拜，终于开始了打地基的工程！

My son successfully bidded for the Housing Developmental Board (HDB) Build To Order (BTO) flat last year. The unit is conveniently located next to our current dwelling place. The expected TOP date is in 5years' time (2028).

The place was formerly occupied by a few old HDB blocks (they were the very first batch of subsidised housing units build by HDB). The units were vacated several years ago, and was demolished about 1-2 years back. 

And finally, the land piling work started in March this year (just a few weeks back)!

Looking back, it was quite lucky for CK to be successful in his first bidding for HDB housing unit (and at a place near to us!).

剪影 silhouette

傍晚时分，在步行运动的同时，也试着捕捉些影像。

这次的主题是剪影。

第一张是在勿洛蓄水池旁拍到的。当时不期然的遇见上初级学院时，寄居于南大宿舍的老朋友国芳。闲聊家常后便各自离开。

接下来是在住家附近横阔马路的行人天桥，用长焦镜头拍摄的夕阳剪影。

也许有人会嘲笑我孤芳自赏，但我对所拍到的景象还是蛮钟意的！

As a beginner photographer with an entry level mirrorless camera, I have been reading up on things related to photography, and how to improve one's photographic skills.

Light and shadow is what make a photo standing out!

Hence, I tried to focus on lights and shadows recently.... captured some sillhoutte during my evening exercises.

I am trying very hard not to spend too much money on better quality lenses... As people always say, what make a good doctor is not the stethoscope, but the brain that lies between the earpieces of stethoscope! Similarly, it is the photographer's ability to capture images and convey the relevant mood that makes a picture eye-watering!

"spirited away" kind of feeling

 

before sunset

This stack of overhead bridge never fails to impress me. Somehow, it always reminds me of the row of traditional Japanese shop houses depicted in the movie " Spirited Away",

just after sunset

at night

投影 Shadow

在阳光或灯光的照射下，所有的实体都难以遁形，会漏出投影在墙上、地面上。

从墙上或地面上的投影，我们可知悉某物体的形状，并略知其体积。但那也只是略知，真正的长短，大小，与投影所显现的，可能会有些出入不同。

好比以上的图片，我还是分辨不出图片里的枝叶，它的投影是那一个！

不过如果所照射的物体与投影之间的距离很靠近，体积对比便会很接近。

这就好比我们虽能从个人的肢体表情，间接探索某人的思维情趣，但不可全然信之！需要仰赖近距离的接触，观察所捕捉到的信息，才能得到更准确的判断。

Based on the shadow cast onto the wall / floor, we can decipher the shape and possibly the dimension of an object. But sometime, the information gathered may not be accurate, particularly if the shadow is cast further away from the object.

Similarly, don't be too confident that we can decipher a person's thought through his/her body language and/or facial expression. We need to gather more information by getting close to the person, and better still interact with him/her!

Look can be deceiving at time!