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A simple electronic thumbprint and a visa stamp good for 90 days was all it took for the immigration officer to welcome me into the beautiful country of Malaysia. All said and done in under 5 minutes! What a great start to exploring a new country.
I departed out of Singapore’s lovely Changi Airport by way of the ultra cool and on-time AirAsia airline, which I would use through out my Southeast Asia journey (rule of thumb: if a bus ride would take more than ten hours I booked an AirAsia flight). This would be a one hour flight from Singapore into Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. A simple up and down ride.
So with the no paperwork to fill out or visa fees to pay, I grabbed a taxi to take me to my downtown hotel. I checked into my room and the first place I headed to was Kuala Lumpur’s iconic landmark and crown jewel, the Petronas Twin Towers.
After a short monorail ride (yes, they have a cool monorail system in Kuala Lumpur) and walk, I arrived at the 88-story twin tower structure, that upon its completion in 1998, was the tallest building in the world until it was surpassed in 2004 by Taipei 101 in Taiwan. It is still the tallest twin building in the world and it easily recognized by its famous skybridge.
From this point of view it looked like two rockets taking off!
Check back for more of my Malaysian adventures!
Happy Travels!
Text and photo copyright by ©Sam Antonio Photography
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The Petronas Twin Towers, the tallest twin buildings in the world, are part of a larger complex named Kuala Lumpur City Centre. The multipurpose development includes an indoor shopping mall (great to escape the heat), convention center, hotels, office buildings, outdoor park (where I took this shot) and a mosque.
Nothing really exciting about this twilight shot, but it sure beats working in a small cubicle all day long in one of those office towers.
Question of the day: Do you like working indoors or outdoors?
Check back for more of my Malaysian adventures!
Happy Travels!
Text and photo copyright by ©Sam Antonio Photography
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I am home here in sunny San Diego, California!
I have been posting photos from my Southeast Asia trip from last year, but somehow people have the notion that I am currently overseas.
So why I am now posting photos from a trip over a year ago?
1) I have two skills: photography and procrastination.
2) I was still traveling after I came back from Southeast Asia and I did not have a proper work station to work off my desktop computer or connect my external monitor to my laptop. The few photos I posted last year here on Flickr from Southeast Asia were done on my laptop computer in either my guesthouse or in an air-conditioned cafe while on the road.
3) I was refining my workflow to define my voice and vision.
I am glad I waited because it gave me quality time to reflect on my trip and improve on my post-processing skills.
This photo is from my visit to the Batu Caves which makes a great day trip from Kuala Lumpur. Read about my smelly adventure to the Batu Caves Here
I got up close and personal with this monkey by photographing him with my Canon wide angle 17-40 lens. He showed his displeasure of my presence by sticking his tongue out at me! Maybe he was pissed off because I asked him to sign a model release?
Speaking of throwing the monkey off your back, July 4, 2013, will mark the 237th anniversary of American Independence. Back in 1776 we Americans basically told Great Britain to take a hike! So happy 4th of July to my fellow Americans and to my Flickr contacts in Great Britain, thank you for granting us lowly colonists “permission” to leave the British empire.
Check back for more of my Malaysian adventures!
Happy Travels!
Text and photo copyright by ©Sam Antonio Photography
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160, 161, 162...I took a deep breath and looked back to see the skyline of Kuala Lumpur off in the distance. I was making the arduous climb of 272 steps to the top of the caves in the stifling heat. At that particular moment I really needed a large bottle of Gatorade and a moving escalator.
Destination: At the top to three caves with the most popular and largest one being Cathedral Cave.
Location: 13 kilometers north of Kuala Lumpur at the Batu Caves.
Country: Malaysia
The Batu Caves is one of the most prominent Hindu shrines outside India. The limestone hill features a handful of caves and temples. At the end of January and sometimes in the beginning of February the caves become the focal point for the Thaipusam festival where up to a million pilgrims will visit. This is the religious festival where devotees pierce their skin (mainly their tongue, cheeks and back) with skewers. I don’t know about the devotees, but I would have had a painful time photographing them. In the end, it didn’t matter since I arrived into Malaysia just hours after the festival had ended.
The most popular of the caves is the Cathedral or Temple Cave. You can’t miss it, just look for the long and steep staircase of 272 steps and the huge, golden statue of Lord Muragan (the tallest one of its kind in the world).
I consider myself a fit guy so 272 steps to reach the top sounded very reasonable. I was ascending nonstop on the staircase at a steady pace when finally the heat and dehydration hit me at around stair step 162. I took a brief break to drink water and take some photos with my Canon 5D Mark II DSLR camera (which at that moment felt like a ton of bricks). My pity party quickly dissipated when two women, wearing full length black burqas, passed me on the stairs.
I put my camera away and quickly finished the rest of the ascent without stopping until I reached the top. Happy with my accomplishment, I reached for my water bottle in my back pocket only to realize I left it down at step 162.
I don’t know what was more painful my burning leg muscles and lungs or the thought of a pierced tongue and cheek with a big skewer?
Well, at least I came away with a decent photograph!
Check back for more of my Malaysian adventures!
Happy Travels!
Text and photo copyright by ©Sam Antonio Photography
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“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”
“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat.
“I don’t much care where...” said Alice.
“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the Cat.
Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
“It is fatal to know too much at the outcome: boredom comes as quickly to the traveler who knows his route as to the novelist who is over certain of his plot."
Paul Theroux, To the Ends of the Earth
Kuala Lumpur is a steamy urban jungle begging to be explored. It is beautiful, harsh and poetic all wrapped into one somewhat tidy package. I had a wonderful time exploring the city, but it was time to depart for another destination, but where to?
I started my journey to Southeast Asia with two cities that would be an easy transition for an independent traveler like myself (English widely spoken, easy to use public transportation system, Western style accommodations). My first city, Singapore, and second city, Kuala Lumpur, fit the bill perfectly. In both cities I had everything planned in advanced: my accommodations, transportation to and from the airport, daily sightseeing itinerary, AirAsia flight from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur, etc. Now it was time to travel with no reservations. Just follow my wanderlust and see where it would take me.
After meeting some travelers in Chinatown they recommended I head north to the Cameron Highlands for cooler temperatures and great photo opportunities.
So I left the smog and the humidity of Kuala Lumpur for the beauty and cool weather of the Cameron Highlands. This area is Malaysia’s largest tea-producing region. The highlands possess all the right attributes for growing tea: moderate temperatures, high altitude, abundant rainfall, long hours of sunshine and well-drained soil.
A former British hill station, the Cameron Highlands are located 136 miles (219 km) north of Kuala Lumpur in Pahang, Malaysia. It’s a 4 1/2 hour bus trip from Kuala Lumpur along a very windy, but scenic road.
The rolling hills of the Cameron Highland's tea plantations were lush and tranquil in the extreme. This place rejuvenated my love for landscape photography.
With all that lush green you would think they grow...wait for it...green tea. No, it is black tea. After all this hill town was founded by the British and they just love their black tea.
This is a scenic view of the BOH Tea Plantation. The overcast weather provided the perfect diffused light which resulted in giving the colors that added pop.
In the end, I was glad my wanderlust led me to the Cameron Highlands for it rejuvenated my traveling spirit and quenched my thirst for exploring with no reservations.
Check back for more of my Malaysian adventures!
Happy Travels!
Text and photo copyright by ©Sam Antonio Photography
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