Tripping Sekinchan

THE LAND OF RICE
The sky was pitch black, the streets were empty and it was still very serene and peaceful with the night silence.
A few minutes later, we were down at the paddy fields, scouting for the location with the right paddy colours and at the right spot. Finally, we settled for a spot where there was no buildings in obstruction of our view and set up the tripods. I did not bring mine, so no need to do so. But the weather was not great as the hazy thick clouds blocked the sunrise, so none was needed.

And here goes the crazy but fun trip of Sekinchan.


A shot at dawn of the roads that leads into the paddy fields.


Dawn breaks at the paddy field. The paddy looked lush green while the sky was covered with haze.


The golden paddy field. The colours were absolutely beautiful when the sun light hits the field.


Rice anyone? Please bring your own bowl. lolz...


The tree.

THE SHOOT BEGINS...
Model checked, props checked, cameras checked! And here you go...




It started beautifully with our model of the day, Sherrina.


The model did great. Sherrina standing in a sea of paddies...


Eddy N Sherrina. Time to draft in the photographer and be our model as well. Nice! Nice!


And then things started to go crazy...Evee N Timothy starting throwing each other around in the paddy field.


The return of the "Paddy Samurai"!!!


We were well entertained by Behn the exceptionally talented violinist...


Behn got tired with the violin and picked up the katana. Katcha!!!!


"Deathlady Evee" on the left and "Paddy Samurai Clive" decided to load his gun and execute Behn. As the event went on, "Soundwave Sherrina" played the tune of death! This was really fun...we should bring more props on our next trip!!!


Sesame Chee Heng and Bit Bit.


Yanny da Sleepiezzz and Cobra Commander Andrew...


The teammates from the same division who coincidentally shared the same combat car! Okok...let's get back down to earth shall we. lolz

THE FISHING TOWN OF SEKINCHAN
Move over paddy field and crazy session...time to explore the fishing town. We had a friend/guide to bring us around in Sekinchan. Hailing from this town himself, Kok Wai's friend brought us to explore his hometown. We went to the fishing town near the sea, a boat yard, and had a sharkmeat seafood fiesta!!!

I am so sorry as I have forgotten the name of this friend...paiseh! I will try to get the name from Kok Wai soon.


All these were fishing huts...there were a whole lot in this canal which leads to the sea.


Fishing boat docked against the low-tide seawater.


Fishing boats galore everywhere!


I am not really sure what was written but I think it was a warning sign asking people not to go down to the canal.


Observe the centre of the boat, protection mantras for the boat and the fishermen.


Time to repaint this baby and freshen it up!


There was no mistake this box of seafood came from Sekinchan!


First time seeing a boat making yard in person. I must admit I was quite amazed.



The boat makers and craftsmen's workshop.


The end of this boat yard leads to the sea.


SHARKMEAT FIESTA!!!
Sekinchan is famous for its seafood. The specialty, the sharkmeat. Not many places serve sharkmeat but there are a few joints here which serve it. Generally, sharkmeat is very difficult to cook as it has a funny taste. But i think the sharkmeat served by this restaurant which I am going to mention below did good and there was no funny aftertaste.



The restaurant that serves the famous sharkmeat in Sekinchan, Jiann Chyi. I heard the shop next to this one also serves sharkmeat. But we went to this one because it was recommended by Ah Xien from the AEC food show.


I think this was the first time I have had sharkmeat. On the left is the normal shark meat ( no idea what shark species, they just told me normal shark meat XD). On the right is the tiger shark meat cooked with some pork meat and pork intestines.


Sharkmeat with fishball and tofu in soup. Taste a bit spicy and lots of ginger was used.


Stir-fried spicy prawns. I requested for this since every table seemed to have one. Tasted spicy and good, I like this!


Stir-fried lala (littleneck clams)


Claypot tofu. This was nice but it arrived a little bit late towards the end of the meal and most have already finished eating, so there was a lot of leftover.

It cost us about RM10 per pax...very very cheap!! Will drop by and makan makan from time to time again!


GROUP PICTURE
These group pictures were taken by Clive. Thank you very much for sharing the nice shots!


Everyone Cheers!!!



The crazy shot.

Tripping Kuala Selangor

A DAY IN KUALA SELANGOR
Another weekend, another trip with my photography mates! This time we headed to Kuala Selangor and Sekinchan, near the outskirt of the state of Selangor. We started our journey after lunch and reached this sleepy town after an hour or so. As usual, we got lost and asked for directions a few times, looking for a fishing village here. We skipped this scheduled plan, and off we went to Bukit Melawati.

Bukit Melawati was once used as a stronghold, initially built by the local Sultanate, then captured by the Dutch. Today, only the foundation of the fort and a few cannons remained at the site. The hill now houses the lighthouse which was built about 100 years ago, and home to the friendly silverleaf monkeys.


Ticket for my ride up the hill to Bukit Melawati. RM2 per pax as printed!


A tram-like-vehicle ferrying tourists with the driver-cum-conductor checking on the tickets as well.


Entrance to the lighthouse at the top of the hill!


Friendly silverleaf primates roams the area. Visitors can purchase long beans or peanuts off the vendors available and feed them.


The silverleaf monkeys were all over the trees. Beware of them pooping over your head!


The 100 years old lighthouse on top of the hill.


Cannons which were once used to defend the hills, are now part of the historical artefacts meant for exhibition.


Sucker-punch tree!


Fishing Village - Finally, found one near the seafood restaurant we went to.


Fishing boats with a sunshine glistened water.


Black N White version of glistening water and fishing boat.


Drying out the raw prawn crackers under the sun.


A wooden fence and gate from one of the house in the fishing village.


Poser no.1: Rabbito and poser no.2: Yanny...


Moving out from the village, we encounter cribs like this which i think was part home, part workstation.


I think this was a seafood trading parlour. Not too sure if they would sell anything to tourist on the spot.


A stall outside the seafood restaurant selling dried seafood such as dried anchovies, oysters and dried shrimps.


Dinner time! River View Seafood Restaurant, located just next to the river. But there was nothing spectacular or nice about the view.


This restaurant was crowded with people and we had to wait for a while before getting our table. The seafood was not bad but not really out of this world. Nevertheless, the ways they prepared the crabs were very special, and they were the highlight of the meal. It cost us about RM20 per person for this meal which I think was cheap.

Check out the food...


This crab was good. Cooked with marmite-like sauce with cuttlefish. First time trying this kind of cooking for crab and it was very special and good.


This is another specialty sauce from the restaurant. Directly translated from Chinese is Golden Sand crab. Part of the ingredients was margerine and planta, so this was really tasty. We dipped this sauce with the fried bun and it was so delicious! Yummy~


Deep fried threadfins fishes with delicious spicy sauce wrapped in lotus leaves.


Chinese pizza with baby oyster~


From top left (clockwise): Omelette with baby oysters (Ho Jien), gung bou razor clams, salted-egg baby octopus and littleneck clams (lala) Soup.


Tickets for the entry to the fireflies park. RM12 per pax per entry. In my humble opinion, I think it was very expensive but it was worth a try for those who has never experience seeing fireflies twinkling and lighting up the trees.


The entrance to the Kampung Kuantan Fireflies Park. (from left:) Chee Heng, Rabbito, Yanny and Kok Wai.

This was the last stop for us in Kuala Selangor. After this, we headed off to Sekinchan where we would spend a night there. Next entry, Sekinchan and its paddy fields...