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Parking Jeep |
After the meal, we take a walk along the street, exploring the area for some good street photographs. The photo above is one of the first few photos I took. Though the weather was blazing hot, it provides excellent lighting for photography.
This is one of the famous tourist attractions - trishaw decorated with vibrant flowers. I was lucky to take this shot. We were walking along Temple Street and as I turned around my back I saw this trishaw rider riding with his passengers, coming in my direction. Fortunately, I had set my rangefinder camera in advance, so I lifted it up and snapped! This is the fun part of street photography, especially when using a rangefinder camera.
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Peace Fool - graffiti outside a tattoo parlor |
Next, I came across this graffiti right beside a tattoo parlor. the wooden door was painted green color and the hand in yellow with the bandaged finger red. I like the color combination as it reminds me of Bob Marley and the country flag colors. If you know or heard of Bob Marley, you'll know what I mean.
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Parking Trishaw |
As we walked farther down Temple Street, I saw this parked trishaw outside what it seems like a shop. It's the Trishaw Association Company, I think. This is me taking the shot.
The hot weather certainly dehydrated us a lot. I was thirsty and as we reached the 2 temples, I saw this drink stall parked by the roadside. The drink seller is selling herbal tea and other cooling drinks like water chestnut drinks, etc. It costs 1 Ringgit (50 cents) per cup. Ah...! The water chestnut drink certainly quenched my thirst. Later I asked the drink seller if I can take a photo of him. He just smiled and does his work. So I did a few quick shots. This is one of them.
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Drink Seller |
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Wah Aik Shoemaker Store. Courtesy of Vivien Lee. |
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| Bound Feet Shoes on my palms. Courtesy of Stan, Shiwei. |
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Mr. Raymond Yeo, the shoemaker. |
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Mr. Raymond Yeo at work. |
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Mr. Yeo is serving his customers. |
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Nyonya Cendol and Coconut Drinks |
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| Best Nyonya Cendol in Malacca. |
Later on, the rest of the guys went on to buy the local famous biscuit， “豆沙饼”. Too bad I didn't manage to get any photos. We went back to the hostel to keep those biscuits and rest for a while before we moved out again to the next location i.e. Portuguese Settlement, for some sunset photography.
On impromptu, we stopped by St Paul Cathedral building, one of the tourist sites in Malacca. It's located right on the hilltop next to the main road. Upon reaching the top, I bummed into a painter. His name is Martin. I took a closer look at his work and he was doing up a new painting. I decided to have a chat with him. He looked up and smiled at me.
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Chatting with the Painter. Courtesy of Vivien Lee. |
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Martin the Painter. |
Taking photographs of a street busker. Courtesy of Vivien Lee.
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| Street busker singing Bob Dylan's "Knocking On The Heaven's Door" |
I came across another artist, an old man by the name of Francis. A chatty old folk who was talking to a young lad and his group of friends. As I approached nearer and squatted down, he noticed me and smiled at me. "Go ahead! You can take as many photos as you like!", he said out abruptly. I just smiled back at him. Then he turned his attention to me and started to talk about his artwork and even asked me where I came from. In the end, I took a few shots and this is one of them.
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| Francis the old painter |
After asking for directions and reading the map, we somehow decided to walk to the Portuguese Settlement. You wouldn't believe it. It was the craziest idea! After a few minutes walk on the busy street with heavy traffic, we thought that the distance is way too far. We tried to hail a taxi but in vain. We were standing right outside this Club and there was a car with 2 guys, that drove up and left the place. It stopped at the entrance.
As a last resort, my friend approached them for directions and asked if they can give us a lift to the Portuguese Settlement. They gladly agreed. Whoa! we did actually hitch-hiked a ride. Fortunately, we arrived at our destination safe and sound. My personal advice: never hitch-hike a ride on your overseas trip for your own safety. You never know what will happen. Never take that risk. Well for us, we were lucky. Based on the car journey and distance, we wouldn't be able to reach there on time for the sunset shoot. We were really lucky to meet those two kind-hearted guys.
After staying there for an hour or so for the sunset, we decided to go back to Jonker Street for dinner. We had a good meal at an authentic Nonya Restaurant. After dinner, my friends suggested to go for spa and we went to Hotel Puri to check it out. To our surprise, there was a Christmas carol going on. Well, we wouldn't want to miss this opportunity for a few good shots. Here's mine.
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| Christmas Carol @ Hotel Puri |
The next morning, we had breakfast in-house, provided by the hostel. Simple bread with fruit jam and hot coffee. Over the warm breakfast, we discussed the day's program. The other two fellows decided to go back for more foot reflexology after some walk-around shootings at Christ Church Melaka area.
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Trishaw Rider, resting |
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| Christ Church Melaka |
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| Flying High In The Sky |
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| Sunburst over Church |
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| Our group photo (clockwise from right): Vivien Lee, Stan, and me. |
Later on, we visited a photography gallery and had Melaka Laksa and Cendol for lunch. Lastly, Vivien and Stan went back for foot reflexology and as for me, this time I decided to try body massage on my back. Whoa! It was really good despite the painful scrapping. I felt much better after the session and the following days to come.
Finally, we walked back to the pick-up point at Hyatt Hotel and waited for our coach. Overall it was a great short trip which I really enjoyed so much.
