Kek Lok Si – Temple of Supreme Bliss

Situated on a hilltop in Air Itam near Penang Hill, Malaysia, the sprawling Kek Lok Si Temple is a magnificent example of a Buddhist temple. Construction of Kek Lok Si began 1890, is ongoing and is largely funded by donations. In 1930, the seven tiered Ban Po Thar or Pagoda of 10,000 Buddhas, was completed. Architecturally, the pagoda combines a Burmese crown with a middle tier of Thai design, and an octagonal Chinese base, reflecting the temple’s embrace of both Mahayana and Theravada Buddhism.

The panaromic photograph presented above was taken from the sixth tier of Ban Po Thar which provides an unobstructed view over the entire temple complex and surrounding condominiums, right through to Georgetown.

The Temple Cave of Bukit Batu

Bukit Batu is a limestone hill, located 13 km north of Kuala Lumpur, containing a series of Hindu temples and shrines inside its caves. The Batu caves are the focal point for nearly one million pilgrims during the annual Thaipusam festival in the Tamil month of Thai.

The caves have been dedicated to Lord Murugan due to K. Thambusamy Pillai being inspired by the Vel shaped entrance.

In 1891, K. Thambusamy Pillai, an influential descendent of Indian immigrants from Tamilnadu, India, the founder President of the Sri Maha Mariamman Temple in Kuala Lumpur, installed the murti (consecrated statue) of Sri Subramania Swamy in what is today known as the Temple Cave. Source

A giant 42.7 metre gold statue of the Hindu deity and God of War now stands at the base of the steps leading up to the caves. Made of 1,550 cubic metres of concrete, 250 tonnes of steel bars and 300 litres of gold paint brought in from Thailand, it took fifteen Indian sculptors three years to complete.

The biggest cave of the Bukit Batu complex is referred to as the Temple Cave, due to the several ornate Hindu shrines located under its 100 metre high vaulted ceiling. To reach it, visitors must climb a steep flight of 272 steps.

Victoria Derby Day

The Victoria Derby is an Australian Thoroughbred horse race held annually at Melbourne’s Flemington Racecourse. Traditionally held on the Saturday prior to Melbourne Cup Day (the first Tuesday in November), the Victoria Derby marks the first day of Melbourne’s annual Spring Racing Carnival. It’s a Group One race for three-year-old horses and is raced anti-clockwise on a turf course over a 2.5 km distance.The total prize money for the race is AUD$1,500,000.

In adhering to the traditional black and white dress code, the Myer Fashions on the Field winner was judged to be Deborah Hunter in a Dolce Gabbana polka dot balloon skirt. The first runner-up was awarded to Marney McQueen in her Rosa Waxes Lyrical garb and second runner-up awarded to Jamie Lowe in a Nicola Finetti dress and Kim Fletcher head piece.

I placed only one bet during the day and came up trumps with Monaco Consul, the winner of the Victoria Derby, thereby making my day somewhat worth it after being boxed in by the inebriated crowd in the scorching heat.

Vịnh Hạ Long – Descending Dragon Bay

Ha Long Bay is a UNESCO World Heritage site located in in the Gulf of Tonkin in Northern Vietnam and is listed for its aesthetic, geological and geomorphological value. The sunken limestone plateau, connecting all the way to Guilin in China, has given rise to a unique karst seascape consisting of a dense cluster of approximately 2000 jungle capped monolithic islets. Legend has it that the islets were formed as dragons descended to assist the Vietnamese fend off invading Chinese by spitting out pearls and jade to create an impenetrable labyrinth.

On top of sailing a Chinese junk through the labyrinth to stop off and explore some of the psychedelically lit caves high up in the cliffs, I took the opportunity to paddle a kayak through Dau Be Island’s fengcong karst in a bat-filled tunnel to a drowned doline (or hong as they are known in Vietnam). This particular hong was about the size of cricket ground and completely surrounded by steep limestone cliffs as seen here. I became rather hungry from the exercise and enquired of my guide whether we could sample some of his country’s finest cuisine (dog) later that evening – he jumped at the idea!

After staying a night aboard the Chinese junk we headed to Cat Ba Island for another night passing through the floating villages of people whose living is sustained by capture fishing and marine aquaculture. There was often a wave and smile to be had as we coasted on by.

Home Developing My First Roll of B&W Film

After discussing the impetus for home developing my black and white film photography, I took my Pentax 67 along to the MRA Cranbourne GP Run to carry through with my intentions.

The developing kit I assembled was based around a Paterson Super System 4 Developing Tank which takes 500ml of chemicals for a single roll of 120 film. The hardest part of the whole process was actually getting the film onto the plastic reel in the dark. I had used Ilford FP4 Plus film which lead to a 1-25 ratio of R09 One Shot B&W film developer to water, 1-19 ratio of Ilford Ilfostop Stop Bath and 1-4 ratio of Ilford Rapid Fixer.

With all the chemicals pre-mixed I proceeded to tip in the developer, continously agitating for the first 1 minute and tilting the tank every 30 seconds following until 8 minutes was up. I then tipped out the developer and poured in the stop bath and continuously agitated the tank for 30 seconds. I then tipped out the stop bath and poured in the rapid fixer, continously agitating for the first 1 minute and tilting the tank every 30 seconds until 4 minutes had passed. I then removed the fixer and lid of the tank and washed the film by filling the tank with water and tipping it out a few times. The final step involved using a wash of Kodak Photo-Flo to minimise drying marks before I hung the film up to dry with a weight attached to the bottom.

The photographs presented here are from that first roll of home developed black and white film – it would’ve been a shame to screw it up.