Petaling Street, 3 April 2011

Its been some time since I last did some serious street shooting. Fortunately Robin called me out for a shoot last Sunday.

Fortunately, we got to have some Bak Kut Teh for dinner first. Tasted quite good, and relatively affordable too.

A typical street side restaurant that serves Chinese stirfries.

Petaling street is home to the average Malaysian (aka. overworked, underpaid, underappreciated, jobless). You'll find no frills here as compared to the modern shopping centers (eg. Pavillion) in Bukit Bintang. There is graffiti and rubbish displayed openly beside the streets.

A traditional 'ais kacang' machine.

The main street of Petaling Street is pretty cramped once the traders have set up their stalls. Its pretty hard to walk, and you have to be really careful to avoid your personal belongings from getting stolen.

Not sure what Rowan Atkinson would say about his favorite toy being liberally displayed at shops along Petaling street.

Can choose but please do not press.

The average Malaysian Chinese family having dinner.

Super cheap counterfeit sunglasses, anyone?

This place is a haven for foreign tourists, especially caucasions. They really seem to like this place although its dirty and very hot.

Yep, alcohol rules here without interference from Jakim.

Can't remember when was the last time I went out with my parents for shopping. Its been a long time indeed. Oh well..

The Ramli burger man.

Waiting for a bus to go home after a night of shopping.

Not sure what the tots are thinking about as two immigrants stare at them. I'd be really scared I reckon.

 Drinks anyone? Notice the Mr Bean bear in the gentleman's hand.

Velly velly cheap one!

If you're new to Petaling Street, you'd probably be like this tourist... Lost!

This is what happens if you don't have a good filter on your lens. Unfortunately these cool effects disappeared after I removed the filter from the lens. Boring!

 As we arrived in Pasar Seni, we were treated to a traditional dance performance. I hope this performance has succeeded in attracting more tourists to the Pasar Seni night market!

For the Kuda Kepang dance (which originates from Indonesia), the dancers supposedly have to be in a state of trance and be 'possessed' by the horse spirit in order to dance well.

I wrote once about KL being a city of dichotomies, where the affluent and the poor coexist together in a fragile state of apparent harmony. This is where the real heart of Malaysia lies, not our obscenely clean shopping malls!

Thats all for now. Good night everyone.