Photography Field Trip - Sekinchan

It’s time again for us to leave our office cubicle, pack your camera and gears…let’s head to the “Rice Bowl” of Selangor.

These were the words that brightened my day as today I received the second and final communication email for the photography field trip to Sekinchan popularly known as the "Rice Bowl" of Selangor. This is part of the HP Photography Club's monthly activity and my first with this group. Its also an initiative to help photographers who are willing to take part in HP's Q3 Photography Contest "Green & Blue". I have recently joined this club and was one of the first ones to register for this trip as it was limited to just 25 people. Now I'm really excited and looking forward to this trip on Saturday 3rd Nov 2007.

Sekinchan is a small town located up North of Selangor, about 1 and a half hours drive from KL. It is one of the major rice producing area in Malaysia and hence known as the "Rice Bowl" of Selangor. Selangor is one of the 13 states of Malaysia and Sekinchan is a must see for people visiting Selangor.

I have been told that going there in the month of Oct/Nov is best because you can watch the Golden colour of the paddy field amidst the blue sky. The town itself has a unique dual character. Apart from paddy field, it is also a fishing village by itself.

The agenda is to meet at 7:00 am at office premises and have some light breakfast that would be served. Then get on the cab and head straight to the spot. As soon as we reach Sekinchan we would go around the village and explore its scenic beauty of vast green land. Then we would feast ourself with some delicious seafood thats all going to come for free. Ssslurrpp!! There are a lot of seafood restaurants in Sekinchan offering various fresh seafood. When we were asked for the choice of food I was quite surprised to find that of the total 25 people only me and another Indian guy had opted for 'Pork-Free' Food!! Rest of the choice was unanimously 'Any Food' but yeh there was one Chinese who had opted for 'vejeetirian'. The last part of the trip is to watch the sunset at the fishing village before heading back to KL.

Its been a while I went travelling now and this would be a nice trip I hope. Good food, good scenery and good company, what more do I need?

On the run..!!

Today morning marked the third day of my jogging on the streets on Kuala Lumpur. The reason to do it was the clear visibility of the extra fat around waistline and abdomen. There has been no physical activity for a long time and the sedentary working habits has only added up to the sloppy belly. Before things can go worse I've decided to take steps. Hopefully this time it wouldn't be like the other times where I gave up as fast as I started.

The longest distance I was able to make it in these 3 days was 4km which I covered both walking and running on Friday. I start at about 6:20 in the morning and I run for about 30 min just when the twilight illuminates the city. Of course there would be some strange stares I'd get but I'm quite used to these things now. The only place in KL you can encounter stray dogs is Brickfields the place I stay. This is the only thing I'm scared of while starting my run in the morning. Legs have become lazy nowadays that it can't move as it used to before. So I start to walk initially and then slowly run. It is at this time I think of the activities that I wish to complete for the day. Finally at the end of the run I'd do a bit of stretching and abdomen exercise. Then have a cold shower. Trust me it feels great through out the day after this. I get this extra freshness and activeness that I don't remember having before.

When in college I always liked to run in the morning at the Anna Nagar Tower Park, Chennai. One thing thats still on mind is meeting a person who comes walking there. He was 89 then and a regular morning walker. I was amazed by his fitness at that age. There were many other people like him and who have been an inspiration to me. Jogging is one of my first attempts to revive old passions. I'm running... away from the confusion thats going on in my head.. the darkness thats looming over me... I'm running to find the person I once was...

... And I cleaned my room

It was a beautiful room when I walked in on 1st April 2007. Though it wasn't posh it was big and had all the necessary things needed for living comfortably. The thing I liked the most about this room was the way it had been maintained. It was super clean and everything was neatly arranged. Looking at it after 6 months I see a different picture. The room is cluttered. Books and papers on the bed that had no bed cover. Clothes and food stuffs (mostly spoilt and rotten) strewn around on the ground and sofa. CDs and bills scattered disorderly on the table. A big cushion one seater right in the middle of this mess making it difficult to move around. And worst of all there is no light. For the last 4 months I was living amidst all this. Two months ago things got worse when the light fused. I'm living in darkness since then as I didn't want anyone to enter my room even if it has to be the electrician or the cleaning lady. Necessasity leads to innovation. I started using my laptop as a source of light. As soon as I come back from work I switch on the laptop and there was light!! Many including my house owner asked me how am I managing with the darkness in room.. I just told them "..well my life has been in darkness for more than 2 years now.. this is only in the room!" I'm sure you don't understand what I meant just like the people who heard it before.. but its meant to be that way.

I didn't sleep last night and was watching a couple of movies as today was an off day. In the wee hours of the morning I saw something moving around on the floor.. strained my eyes to see it better and it was a cockroach running underneath my bed. I knew I was having many more uninvited guests like this one in my room. So thinking it was high time I do something about it.. I picked the broom at 7 AM. Started something that was put off for more than 4 months. When I started I didn't know how I was going to clean the mess. It was similar to the mess in my life. But somehow when I started I came to realise ways to dispose the waste and place to arrange my things. It also led me to discover many good things that I once had which was hidden in the mess. It has a strange but striking similarity in my life. This has made me understand that if you want to change something you need to start. I think chancing oneself is the first step in changing the world. Finally I finished it around 3 PM. The whole room was given a face lift. Have a feeling of accomplishment now. I didn't think anyone else would have been more happy to hear except my mom so I called her to say this. Lit some incense sticks that I got from the Buddha temple in Penang and played Balamurali Krishna and E Gayatri on my laptop. It was heaven in my room with the fragrance, smoke and sound. Listening to sound of Veena I lay on the bed. The next thing I remember is the phone ringing and the time was 9:37 PM. I don't know what happened in between.. but I just presume I may have slept!