Chuka Soba Inoue @ Tsukiji Market

This is one of the best ramens that I've ever had. Chuka Soba Inoue serves one and only one type of ramen, which is the soy-based ramen. It was such an authentic experience. The store is located at the front of market where other venders are also peddling their wares.

The two old men worked together as an impressive duet, their flow and co-ordination testifies to how long they have been doing this. Everything seemed effortless from how they splash the soy sauce to the base of the bowl to slapping slices of tender pork in completing the dish. Workflow is speedy to accommodate the ever growing line to their store. Que tends to be long but service is brisk.

I love the taste. It was my first time having ramen for breakfast and eating it is an experience in itself. You stand at tables opposite the shop and join the harmony of noisy slurps as masses of people walk by. For one moment it kinda made me feel like I was part of the city.

Cute Piglets

Something to distract you while I take some time to sort my life out.

Japan Trip: Omotesando

Omotesando is properly posh, and I recall that the buildings have a certain contrasting architecture to the rest of the city. But as per usual I was more interested in taking pictures of people there. It was once again the golden hour and at this point light becomes very directional.

This particular walkway was pretty much shaded by trees and allowed light to break through at certain points; nature's very own spotlight. So I literally planted myself in the middle of that walkway and snapped away as people walked into that zone.

Montpeliers @ Bruntsfield Place, Edinburgh

It's been a while since I've seen the KTJ peeps so we decided to head out for dinner one night. Stumbled on Montpeliers one hungry evening when I was looking for some proper food. As we know, man shall not live by chips alone. They have ten pound meals for a main course and starter/dessert which is a steal because what you normally get at this price are kebabs or pizzas. 

There's a nice ambiance going on as well, making a good place to meet up with friends and chat. We had tons of water and at one point the waiter just placed a whole jug on our table. It was good catching up and finding out what's been going on in each other's world. Plus its about time we had our own 'KTJ in Edinburgh' meeting considering how often everyone else in London is meeting up. Can't wait to see them in December. You guys better not run back to Malaysia before I come over!

Bliss

It's funny how you can find happiness in the most simple of things, like having a mandi sungai session

(bathing in the river). There's only you, the jungle, and a refreshing body of water washing away your inhibitions.

Front Page

I made front page! Last week was my first time on assignment taking pictures for the Journal, a student newspaper in my university. There was this protest going on called Occupy Edinburgh, which I assume is inspired by the one going on at Wall Street. Seeing your picture in print never gets old, regardless what kind of paper you're shooting for. I might just pick up a few more copies tomorrow for keepsake.

Interestingly enough the first person I took a picture of used to work as a photojournalist. She gave me some really helpful pointers in how to approach people and collect quotes. I was quite surprised to find out that I had to collect quotes because I was under the impression that all I had to do was to be a fly on the wall.

Arthur's Seat

I woke up last Sunday, drew back the curtains and glorious bright sunlight filled my room. Days like this are special because the sun normally gets blocked by clouds. So even on non-rainy days light tends to be a little dull despite it being bright. You quickly learn to relish sun filled days by spending time outside even if it means to just sit and chill on the Meadows.

Arthur's Seat is one of the main peaks on Holyrood Park, accessible via the Royal Mile or you can just walk towards the hills and you'll eventually find an entry point. The trek up is fairly simple and shouldn't take you more than an hour. It's not like you're going to run all the way up anyway. I would stop and take pictures every other minute so the pace I took was really easy going. Anyway I would imagine that with such beautiful scenery you might want to take the occasional break and actually look at it!

The view from the top is amazing. I think I had one of those "I'm the king of the world!" moments from Titanic or imagine the soundtrack from the Lion King playing as Rafiki holds Simba up to the sky. On the way I bought some food; char koay teow (priorities!) from Kampung Ah  Lee, eclairs, caramel pudding cups and orange juice. I think I was the only one lugging a buffet to the top of Arthur's Seat.

I spent a good hour up there chillin with my flatmate, Max whom I managed to drag along on this expedition. Birds were gliding on the current and making dives to catch what I presume to be mice. There is also this sense of stillness, being above all the noise generated by honking cars or buses rushing by. I will definitely be going up again the next time we get good weather or when I need some space. This can be my little corner in the world.

Japan Trip: Disneyland at Sunset

I just loved how the setting sun hits the subject and cast longs shadows that trails behind them as they walk away. That day I parked myself at a fixed spot and just crouched there, snapping away as people were walking by. Imagine walking home to the backing music of Disney soundtracks. It's like the credits rolling to the end of your day.

Sunset means that they day is coming to an end so you see parents with their children walking towards the exit gate. Their noticeably jolly stride is probably a reliable indication that they had a good time. Everything there is just perfect; from flowers that are always in bloom to movie sets brought to live. Regardless of age, this place seems to have the magical ability to turn back the clock to a time when we were big eyed innocent children. Or maybe that's just me. Oh well.

The Kenyah Woman

Random Ipad Moments

This is the meadows during the week when we had a 'heatwave', resulting in absolutely gorgeous weather. It was the first time I saw so many people at the meadows basking in the sun and some even breaking out the barbeque. I got to walk around in a t-shirt all week and enjoy having lunch outdoors.

Some days a bunch of us would just head out, plant ourselves on a patch of grass, and chill. Best part is that I literally live next to this park and it's a nice way to start your day walking through the meadows to lectures.

Mothers

A photograph of an intimate moment between my mom and grandma.

My Crib

A small peek into where I currently live. Its a really nice place located next to the meadows which is a whole stretch of green. Every morning I will walk through it on the way to class. There will be this guy selling newspaper at the side of the road, shouting these phrases in his low raspy voice:

Good news! 

Can I interest you in the Big Issue.

Don't be shy, give it a try.

Buy the Big Issue.

Life's been good. Really glad to have cool flatmates and people living in the area are generally friendly. People are slowly settling into their cliques but other than that everyone seem to be getting long pretty well.

Oko Asong

A photograph of my grandmother whom I call Oko Asong. She is Kenyah, an indigenous tribe in Sarawak.
I think that's pretty cool.

Redang Island Trip: Market

This was a rather interesting place though I'm not a big fan of the fluorescent lighting. The place was rather quiet apart from the tired and hungover batch of city kids browsing through the stores. You can find all sorts of local produce like the keropok lekor and turtle eggs, which I was not too happy about.

The air is filled with a general sense of restlessness, the kind where you can take notice of a fly buzzing around the area and see haystacks rolling by. I reckon that the whole rundown feel (which make interesting photos) is not exactly a huge pulling factor. Still, it was interesting exploring the area which was filled with nooks and crannies. The keropok packages get stacked so high occasionally it feels like you're maneuvering through a maze.

Japan Trip: The Ramen Affair

I was never big on ramen until I visited Japan. I've mentioned before how I had a bad first experience and never bothered with it again. It was quite a disappointment because I had such high expectations for it. Naruto, a character from the manga of the same name absolutely loves this dish. But now I can say that I LOVE RAMEN after having the actual good stuff in Japan.

The thing I love about ordering food in Japan is that everything is in pictorial form. So it does not matter if you're helpless in the local language because you can just point at the picture or the plastic models that look real enough to eat. 

Ramen traditionally consist of wheat noodles served in a pipping hot pork broth, topped with thinly sliced pork and bamboo shoots. Details vary from region to region but the porky broth remains the common factor.