Dodges and Burns

While Kedah is being known as the Rice Bowl of Malaysia, Sekinchan is being known as the Rice Bowl of Selangor.

The town, located about 1.5 hours from Klang where one have to drive north on the trunk road, passing towns like Kapar and Kuala Selangor before reaching Sekinchan.

It is very easy to know that one is there as the vast paddy field on the right side of the road is really hard to miss.

There are alot of roads leading into the paddy fields from the main road but turning into one would be abit hard as traffic on both side of the road drive like there is no tomorrow. But once you made the turn into the paddy fields, driving around is like breeze. Traffic is very low, mainly consist of the farmers on motorcycles and occasionally cars of relatives visiting.

The vast paddy field

Paddy

Paddy Field Close-up

Close encounter with paddy

Paddy Field Divider

Paddy from above

Bridge at Paddy Field

Apart from the paddy field, Sekinchan is actually a fisherman’s town as well. Part of the town is located at the river estuary and this is where alot of action take place. unfortunately, I have yet to have the chance to get into this part of town. Maybe in the future…

Paddy field of Sekinchan. This is one of the latest photo that I took last week. My Photoshop was out, thus, I was using another program to edit this photo. The result was something unexpected and I truly love this photo.

Sekinchan has always been in my mind as a photoshooting destination as I always wanted some shots of paddy field in my collection. I have been to Sekinchan many time, trying to capture the golden field of paddy. Unfortunately, luck was not on my side on these many trip. It was, however, a different story last week when an instinct makes me go to Sekinchan again in the last minute and I am very happy with what I got.

Hope you enjoyed it.

Apart from Genting Highlands and Cameron Highlands, the is actually another place in Malaysia that you could actually enjoy cooling weather. The place is called Fraser’s Hill but it is definitely not as popular as the other two.

In size, it is also alot smaller compare to the other two. Still, Fraser’s Hill is definitely a gems not to be missed if you love nature.

Fraser’s Hill is about 3 hours drive from Klang where you would need to pass thru several main town, like Rawang and Kuala Kubu Bharu (KKB), to get there. The faster route would be using NKVE (New Klang Valley Expressway) to connect to NSE (North-South Expressway) and exit to Rawang before continuing to KKB and finally towards Fraser’s Hill.

I guess one special feature of Fraser’s Hill is The Gap. The Gap is a 8 km one-lane road where traffic is being control from 7am to 7pm, with odd hours for going up to Fraser’s Hill and even hours for descending traffic.

One thing to remember is that the whole journey from KKB to Fraser’s Hill is a very winding journey. It is also very scenic where you can see lots and lots of greenery all along the road.

The road up to Fraser’s Hill

Welcome to Fraser’s Hill

So, what does this Fraser’s Hill got to offer?

Clock Tower

First of all, Fraser’s Hill is one of the place to go if you like nature. It is surrounded with beautiful virgin forest. There are a total of 7 trails that one can follow just to enjoy the tranquility of the forest. If one is lucky, one may be able to see some animals such as macaques, slow loris, squirrels and some beautiful birds. Apart from animals, you would definitely be amazed with the many large species of flora around the place.

Bishop Trail – one of the 7 trails in Fraser’s Hill

Fraser’s Hill is akin to a little Scottish village with granite coloured mock Tudor buildings dotting the landscape. Many of these are bungalow privately owned by Malaysia corporations as a getaway for their employees. Still there are many which is available for rent.

Fraser’s Hill also has a few activities to offer, namely archery, horse riding, tennis, golfing and birdwatching. There is also Jeriau Waterfall which is the only one waterfall in Fraser’s Hill.

Entrance to Jeriau Waterfall

One thing that I must mention here is that the trails has alot of leeches lurking around, and I do mean alot. Walking alot the Bishop Trail, I counted not less than 50 leeches, either on the floor or those that attached me somehow. Still it is possible to avoid being bite by one if you stop every now and then to double check your feet. I was wearing a pair of slippers but I managed to avoid being bitten by one.

This is one of my favourite photo taken on my first trip oversea. Destination, Paris to participate in a exhibition, I make the best of my time there to visit many of the landmarks of Paris and Le Louvre is my favourite. It is one of the largest museum in the world and it hold one of the most precious masterpiece of Leonardo da Vinci, the Mona Lisa.

Also, the architecture of the place is definitely out of this world. Le Louvre is located in the old palace with the same name but it comes with a twist. The entrance of the museum is made of a glass pyramid and the above photo show the main glass pyramid with people resting beside it. There are several other smaller glass pyramids around the place.

So, if you have the chance to visit Paris, not forget to visit Le Louvre. You would not be disappointed.

A photo taken during a trip to Ipoh, Perak. These Buddhas are located in a temple not faraway from the town centre. It may not be the perfect composition but definitely good enough to have me liking it.

I have been thinking a while about what should I write about here.

In the end, I decided to write about my birthday’s wishlist since my birthday is coming next month. Still, I dont really expect anyone would help me make my wishlist come true.

Well, here goes…

1. Olympus Tough 8010 (brought on 1 December 2010)
2. Canon EF-S 55-250mm F/3.5-5.6 IS (brought on 1 December 2010)
3. Netbook
4. A watch
5. Mountain Bike

What I wish now is these five items. Maybe, instead of waiting for others to give it to me, I would buy it for myself.

Updates: 3 December - I have brought some of the items above for myself… in fact, I bought more than I want… I got a new racket for myself since the old racket is broken.