A trip to Sekinchan

Last Saturday, a group of fellow photographers (Jason, Liew, Fazli) and I took a trip to Sekinchan famous for its padi fields and nearby fishing villages. We were supposed to take the sunrise at the fields but Jason unfortunately turned out one hour late. As punishment he had to pay for breakfast.

Fazli was so kind as to drive us there in his 4-wheel drive. Though it could only reached a maximum speed of 80 km/hr (we actually had to move to the side to allow lorries to pass!) it did its job fetching us to and fro safely and quite comfortably. Fazli did warn us that the air-condition might fail but thankfully it didn't that day. Thanks for the ride Fazli.

Since we already missed the sunrise  we went straight for breakfast at Sekinchan. After breakfast we went to the nearby fishing village.

Here are some shots at the village.

A 74 yr-old retired fisherman.

A prawn cracker home industry. The dough would be made and steamed. After cooling it would be left in the fridge for 2 days. That would allow the dough to be formed and easier to slice.

Slicing the dough. It is now mechanised. It used to be done manually pushing the dough over a slicer (manual white slicer is on the far left of the photo).

Wife arranging sliced dough to be driend in the sun. Usually takes 3 days.

After a 'tiring' walk we had another breakfast of roti canai.

Our next stop was the padi fields. It was already late morning and lighting was too harsh. I didn't know what Jason was shooting but this is a shot of him from a distance.

Liew on top of Fazli's jeep. I was too near with the 70-200mm hence you can't see the jeep.

Most of the farmers had already finished their job and had gone home to rest. We stopped by a grocery stall amongst the fields and met this nice family. The kids were playing and swimming in the family padi field.

To make the shot more interesting I got this girl to use my red umbrella.

A close up.

This is the girl's 86 yr-old grandfather reading the newspaper. He met with a motorcycle accident ten months ago and fractured his right leg hence was not very mobile.

It was an interesting trip for me. I noted that the padi was still green and should be ripening to a golden colour in the next couple of weeks. As such I hope to be back there then… this time I would insist that Jason be on time!