HAN (韩) Korea BBQ Restaurant at Taman Molek, Johor Bahru.

HAN Korea BBQ Restaurant (韩) (N1.53038 E103.79330) is located along Jalan Molek 2/2 of Taman Molek, Johor Bahru, which is just next to Standard Chartered Bank Taman Molek Branch. We had a bad experienced with the other outlet at Jalan Molek 1/28 (behind OCBC Bank Taman Molek) which was smoky and stuffy on our visit months ago, so we decided to give a try in this outlet on one of the evening...

HAN Korea BBQ Restaurant, Taman Molek

Heard from friends that this outlet was took over from another restaurant not too long ago, and the design also different from the traditional Korea restaurant...no tatami.

It was quiet and not many customers on that evening, therefore it was nice and cooling...for me, the environment is better and spacious than the other outlet which I mentioned above...

The interior design of HAN Korea BBQ Restaurant

As usual, we ordered the one of the set in the menu for 2-3 person, the set include marinated Pork (五花肉), chicken, beef and a choice of soy bean or kimchi soup. We took the kimchi soup...

There were 15 different types of refillable side dishes (banchan) as appetizers served on table before the main dishes serve where you experience in all Korean restaurant...

side dishes served by the restaurant

The friendly waiter preparing the BBQ at the next table while we enjoyed the side dishes...

Every table has the flexible vaccum to avoid smoky condition, common in all Korean restaurant. The waiter patiently barbeque the meats till perfection...under the smokeless environment. Great!

The raw beef...

The BBQ pork in process...

About less than 5 minutes, the BBQ pork served...

Korean BBQ pork with onion...

Follow by the BBQ beef...

BBQ Beef...

While we enjoyed the pork and beef, he (waiter) continue preparing the chicken immeditely...

BBQ chicken in process...

BBQ chicken with mushroom...

After all done, the Kimchi soup presented on our table...served with a steam egg...

Korean Kimchi soup...

The pork, chicken and beef were tasteful! All were well marinated and tender! The chewy moment of the pork was unforgotten.
There were vermicellis, korean rice cakes and others in the Kimchi soup, and it was slightly 'special' compare with others, not very sour...we like the soup very much! I don't really like too sour and spicy Kimchi soup, that it kill the original taste of it (personal preference).
The texture of the steam eggs was nice, just melted in our mouth...
Delicious!

The Damage : RM118.00 for 2 adults and 1 kid included a jug of Korean tea.
The quantity of the foods enough to serve at least 3 adults, so we were overloaded again! We will be back and of course with more friends...:)

韩 HAN Korea BBQ Restaurant

84, Jalan Molek 2/2,

Taman Molek, 81100 Johor Bahru.

Tel : +607-3539002

Location map of HAN Korea BBQ Restaurant at Taman Molek, Johor Bahru.

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POV: I Just Couldn't Do It....

Photo Iwan Baan for New York Magazine

I tried but my heart wasn't in it. It's that simple. It might surprise many of my readers and peers...but that's the truth.

I didn't want to photograph "my" New York City neighborhood suffering in the aftermath of Sandy...I'm not that kind of photographer. I never photograph the homeless...the down and out...the infirm...who frequently walk the streets of New York City...or  anywhere else in the world.

I don't have that type of photography in me. It doesn't appeal to me. I recall going to lower Manhattan two or three days after 9.11, and returning home not having made a single frame. I just couldn't do it.

Sebastiao Salgado is quoted as having said "If you take a picture of a human that does not make him noble, there is no reason to take this picture. That is my way of seeing things." Perhaps the word 'noble' in his statement is a little too much, but documenting misery, human misfortunes and other disasters, just doesn't appeal to me.

And I felt that photographing my neighborhood, its restaurants, its stores and its people in the storm's immediate aftermath was an intrusion...why would I document its pain and discomfort? That's not what I do.

Now that it is recovering, and there's a smile on the faces of its residents, I might return to my neighborhood's streets.

I did photograph in the past few days, but I looked for the quotidien, the commonplace...and I found it north of 30th Street.

Of course, no such thing as quotidien exists in New York City...but you know what I mean.

POV: Much Ado About An Instagram Cover Photo?

"If there was still any debate about whether serious photojournalism can take place in the context of camera phones and cutesy retro filters, it’s over now." - Jeff Bercovici, Forbes

Er, no. Not really. Mr Bercovici's pontification notwithstanding, the debate will still go on....simply because there always will be some photojournalists (plus photo editors and their ilk) who will remain wedded to their ways.

I occasionally use my iPhone's Instagram and Hipstamatic for my travel photography, as well as for my street photography efforts in New York City...and I enjoy snapping (and that's what it really is...snapping) a few pictures here and there using these apps, and having fun applying its various filters to the resultant images. I have Snapseed and Camera+ as well, and use these to apply further filters.

In my opinion TIME magazine used a photographer's Instagram snap for one of its covers not because of its particular aesthetics or its compositional values, but because of expediency. Apert from being a crop, the image itself is mundane and nondescript. The Forbes article refers to the expediency factor in very explicit terms, saying that the magazine's director of photography chose to use the Instagram was motivated by the necessity for speed. After all, Instagram has 'insta" in its name, as did Kodak's Instamatic...both implying simplicity, speed and ease.

Oh, did I mention that it's also cheap? No post processing software to buy...no fiddling with levels and layers...nothing.

And that's the reason why Google has bought Nik Software, and Twitter will introduce photo filters in an effort to bypass Instagram.

As I'm fond of saying to anyone who'll half-listen...what you use to make a photograph is really irrelevant. It could be a DSLR, a medium format Hasselblad,a rangefinder or an iPhone...it doesn't matter. They're just tools. And if the photo buyers/editors accept the images...that's all that matters.

Cedric Arnold: Yangon Awakening

Photo © Cedric Arnold-All Rights Reserved

I'm really delighted to have stumbled on Newsweek's Picture Dept which features the lovely new work by Cedric Arnold in Myanmar's capital. More photographs are featured on The Daily Beast. I'm a fan of this type of photography, and of Cedric's work which I featured on this blog earlier this year.

The much better laid out gallery on Cedric Arnold's own website is titled Yangon's Awakening, and consists of large format Polaroids of an artist, a poet, a teacher, a student, an office worker, a punk rocker, a forest monk (above)... photographed in front the old and neglected walls of this city, showing the diversity of people, and juxtaposing the traditional and modern Burmese against the peeling paint and masonry of these old walls.

I chose to feature the Polaroid of this forest monk because I came across some of these monks when I walked up and down the path to Kyaiktiyo Pagoda during a photo excursion to Myanmar some 10 years ago, and I recall that they were very reserved, and shy when photographed...perhaps because they were in the midst of a pilgrimage to that sacred site.

These are real Polaroids...not Instagrams and not digital images processed with Alien Skin software and the like.

Lovely work.

A small fishing village at Johor - Kong Kong

Out of the curiosity, we drove to the Kong Kong Fishing Village (N1.51836 E103.99752) for nothing on one of the cloudy Saturday afternoon...

I found one of the special of this small village is the road direct us until 'The End'!...Well, it stop next to Johor River...

The end of the road at Kong Kong, Johor.

Peaceful!
Was the first impression of the village, I felt...
So we strolled around the very small jetty and also the surrounding...accompany with nice cool breeze from the Johor River...where the Johor civilaization began...

One 0f the 'Kelong' floating on Johor River...

We found a simple and Classic kopitiam situated along the river, without the second thought...we ordered our coffee and continue enjoy the scenic view of the village.
Kind of strange, I like this area very much! No doubt it's a nice photography area, but I didn't bring my digital camera, just wanted a simple visit of it...

Kedai Kopi Kim Lee - A 70s kopitiam...

The kopitiam was not crowded during our visit, the calm atmosphere really made us enjoy the nice aroma coffee on our table.

The washroom of the coffee shop is another unique to me...it has the 60s design where I only saw it at my grandfather house those days many years ago. It's really brought back my childhood memory when I discovered this!
That was the reason I had a second cups of coffee again in the shop...

The traditional design of the washroom during the 60s...

The well next to the toilet...

Have you experience this type of toilet before?!

Beside that, I found a clinic, school, mosque and the famous Tai Son Seafood Restaurant in the village. Still many more to explore...this was the second fishing village I like in Johor state, the first one was Kampung Pendas nearby the Second Link.

I promise myself that I will definitely have another visit to this village and make sure I bring my digital camera!

It's a nice place to calm down and relax when you have a continuous hectic days of city life!

*  Photos were taken by Nokia phone E71, apologies for the poor quality.

Location map of Kong Kong small village at Johor.

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PerPower EZBoost

With lower Manhattan losing power, most of its residents had to walk north for at least 20 blocks from to recharge cell phones and laptops at mid-town bank branches, hotel lobbies and cafes, I thought I'd feature the availability of the PerfPower EZBoost.

The PerfPower EZBoost claims that it's "the most powerful portable mobile charger" small enough to fit in one's pocket, but powerful enough to charge a mobile device nearly 4 times from fully drained to completely charged. It's powered by standard alkaline batteries or rechargeable batteries, and can be used anywhere and anytime.

It's very inexpensive, and available from Adorama. I have no idea if it lives up to its claims, but it might be a useful option to have around.

By the way, both B&H (420 9th Ave. at 34th St. ) and Adorama (42 W 18 St) have set up charging stations for cell phones et al in front of their respective stores. These are free of charge.

James Whitlow Delano: Pattaya

Photo © James Whitlow Delano-All Rights Reserved

"Why, if Thailand is so prosperous now, doesn’t sex tourism fade away?" -James Whitlow Delano

To say that James Whitlow Delano's resume is impressive would be an understatement. He lived in and documented Asia for over a decade and a half. His work has been awarded internationally, and his photo essays and books have been recognized with prestigious awards and prizes. It has been published  in New York Times Magazine, National Geographic Books, GEO, Newsweek, Mother Jones, Time Asia, Internazionale, Le Monde 2, Vanity Fair Italia, and others. His "The Mercy Project / Inochi" charity photo book for hospice has been cited with a PX3 Gold Award and the Award of Excellence from Communication Arts. He also was an instructor at the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop in Chiang Mai, where I met him.

The question he asks is a thoughtful one, and resonates with me after my own experience in Chiang Mai documenting the bar girls on Loi Kroh Road. I always considered the sex tourism in Thailand (and certainly elsewhere) as exploitation, and viewed the Western men who indulged in it, and anything associated with it, with much revulsion. I still do, but understand the circumstances that drive these women to it. It's poverty, plain and simple....so James' question is spot on. It's a macro economics issue rather than a micro one...and it's facile to criticize its protagonists, but it goes much beyond that.

The level of intimacy and connection that James achieved with his subjects in this photo essay is stunning...so here's Pattaya, Sex Tourism.

(Note: I avoided mentioning the full name of the photo essay in the post's title to avoid getting viewers that are looking for something else)