Masjid India

After we said our goodbyes with the bigger group, I broke off around Masjid India on my way to the LRT near Masjid Jamek. Some of my photographer friends decided to have dim sum lunch at a nearby restaurant but since I had to return back to the hospital, I had to give it a miss.

The Balloon Man

A fruitful visit

That looked tempting

On reflection

Very colourful place but very warm at the same time since the sun was already high up. The fact that the place didn't have much win blowing also didn't help.

That apam balik was the bomb!

Fancy some kidney beans?

Staggering choice of food

There were shops there mainly selling snacks, clothes and bootleg items. In fact, Masjid India was famous for that.

Early lunch

Don't think the tigers were that popular now ....

Otak-otak. Fishy .....

Heading back home after the walk

In the end, there weren't much to see as I was rushing. Took the LRT and that was the end of my photowalk for the day.

The Wet Market

After we were done with the fruit market, we head over to the wet part. Also recently renovated, it was nearly arranged and for a wet market it was certainly very clean. None of those nasty smells we were used to with the old Chow Kit.

Group discussion

Capturing the cameraman. Or camerawoman.

That one. And that one!

For a Saturday morning, I was surprised that the place was not as crowded. The vendors were too busy with their work that they hardly noticed me.

Bottoms up!

In the deep end ...

Hoofing it!

We spent around 20 minutes there and compared to the fruit market this place was more stuffy. Maybe it was the low ceiling and lack of air flow.

Ready to go ...

Transaction done ....

Waiting for business

By the time we were, I was glad to get some fresh air...

The Fruit Market

The first port of call would be the fruit market. It was newly renovated and the whole place appeared new compared to the last time we came to visit.

According to the vendors, the new market had only been opened last July. They were nearly arranged in rows and very spacious. One thing that was very obvious was how clean the place was.

Fruits from Thailand. Guaranteed to be sweet.

Cute girl. Lending a helping hand.

I must confess that it had been a while since I had seen such fresh produce

Don't ask me why, but I thought that there were too many bananas around

The vendors were friendly and were smiling away. Some asked about what we were up to and we told them that it was a yearly thing that the get together for this sort of a hunt. Some of them were reluctant to have their photos taken, and we completely understood.

Petai. A national treasure.

Don't ask me what those were ....

The poor guy was talking to himself all morning ....

More fresh stock coming ....

Of course we didn't take pictures at the area which did some copied products. There were also a thriving business of gold-plating jewelleries around the place.

The fruits there were nice and fresh, much better compared to the local supermarkets. No durians though. Those were sold outside the market..

More fruits ...

For something completely different ....

I could name a few of those items .... but don't ask me what they were ....

Nangka. And they were delicious ....

The lights in there was fantastic. The new building allowed for natural lights to enter from high above, all at an angle giving nice, soft light. It was still early afternoon and it didn't feel warm. A perfect place to do photography. Shame that I didn't have a telephoto lens with me at the time.

The Route

The route this time around was straight forward although the catch was the point and the end were different. They were about a couple of kilometers apart.

Putu anybody?

Having a good look around

The back alley

Jalur Gemilang

We met at Shazz Restaurant, a Mamak outlet behind the old Batu Road. The scheduled meet up was 8.30 for breakfast before setting off at 9. Luckily I made it just in time.

After the briefing and if course the group photo, we went through Chow Kit market. We first entered the dry part which was recently opened after renovation. Excellent lights in there and that formed the bulk of the walk.

Promotion

Clinic by the alley

Moving along

Haircut?

Comfy shoes

We then exited the market via the older wet part where things could get messy. We then walked towards Safuan Plaza on the other end, before joining Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman proper towards Maju Junction, passing by a few restaurants.

My group stopped for some food at Capital Café, opposite Sogo before turning left towards the end point at Semua House. Again some of us had biryani but I gave that a miss after having a drink at the last stop.

Well lit for those on the look out

All in red

Time to rest ...

After lunch, I walked through Masjid India to take the LRT at the Masjid Jamek stop to get to my car parked at Nu Sentral.

Meeting the Gang

Group photowalks usually served a couple of purposes. The first was very obvious. To relief the craving most keen photographers had, to shoot. Certain quarters of town were also rather unsafe to be ventured alone. A small group would be better and what was better was if some members of the groups were familiar with the surroundings. We could then concentrate on what to shoot and felt safe in a group.

Making sure that the shot was in the bag

Murali and Adi discussing where to head to next ....

The second was to meet up with all friends. And the recent Scott Kelby photowalk certainly offered that as some of the group members only met each other once a year. And when we meet, we eat. More on that later ....

The combination of the two was the reason why every year I made plans - including cancelling clinics - to join up.

This year, the event happened last weekend. About 50 photographers turned up in our group - there was another group meeting at the other side of town. We met at Chow Kit, and we plotted a route from there, through he famous market to end at Masjid India.

Ever conscious of the environment ..... since he got the bike a month prior

Having a meal at the end point

Only the hardcore left ....

Being a post-call day, I did not plan to be adventurous. I started my rounds early, parked my car at Nu Sentral and took the Monorel to join up with the group in Chow Kit at a mamak shop for breakfast.

A group photo and briefing ensued before the main group left for the market. I stayed back with a couple of friends to have some food before walking into the market.