Melaka by Night: Flashy Flashing Trishaws + my favorite wall

Flashing neon lights and loud dance music thumping. No, this is not a club in Melaka. It is a trishaw!

OK I know this gaudy bicycle is such a tourist trap type of transport, but still.. I was intrigued and did end up riding one.

These bikes also provided good practice for me to take night photos and photos of moving lights, and flashing lights. Unfortunately, I have not taken any classes on night photography so again I was challenged. Let me know if you have any tips for night photography, or photographing moving lights!

I tried taking photos of both still and moving trishaws. With the still shots, I practiced different shutter speeds to get different amounts of brightness for the lights. With the moving shots, I tried to get photos that had more of that “blurry” moving look (yes I did that on purpose!). OK these shots are super amateur but I hope you enjoy!

Melaka by Day: Architecture and Shadows {Malaysia}

I visited Melaka for the first time in May. We spent 1 day there, and although it was quite a charming city, I think 1 day was just enough time for sightseeing.  Melaka is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is known for the architecture and culture since there is British, Dutch, Portuguese, Chinese, and Malay influences.

While shooting around Melaka, most of my photos from Melaka are of buildings and alleys. I loved walking down the streets of Melaka but it was challenging for me to capture the charm of the city on the camera.

The photos below are mostly of Jonker Street and St. Paul’s Church.  We were at the church at about 10am and it was ridiculously hot- but the great thing was the way the sun cast shadows everywhere around the church. That is why I made the photos black and white- so you could see the shadows and all pay more attention to the different shapes. I like how black and white photography gets you to notice more of the lines and geometry of the photo.

Tudor Tudor Tanah Rata {Cameron Highlands, Malaysia}

When you are in the Cameron Highlands, you can almost believe that you are not in Asia! Well, except for the fact that there are Asian people everywhere- haha.  What I mean is the ambiance makes you feel like you could be in a little European town. This is because the weather is cool, and the architecture of many of the buildings are Tudor.

While sorting through my photos of Cameron Highlands, I noticed that many of them captured this architecture. I chose a couple of photos from Tanah Rata town so you can understand this feeling of being in a small European town. In the background of all of them you’ll notice some of the black and white geometric shapes of the Tudor architecture that can be found all over the Cameron Highlands.

Also, these photos were taken on Mother’s Day, so of course we took a few mother+daughter and family photos. It was such a beautiful, relaxing, peaceful, and refreshing time in the highlands!!!

The Misty Magical Mossy Forest {Cameron Highlands, Malaysia}

The Mossy Forest is something straight out of an eerie fairytale… or Lord of the Rings. This forest can be found on the top of Mount Brinchang in the Cameron Highlands. The tall trees are covered in green moss, and when you walk inside the forest, it is like you are walking inside of a cloud- it is misty all around you. I loved taking photos inside because of the way the sunlight seeped through the cloudy mist and onto the trail… it was MAGICAL.

We went inside the forest with a guide, and only stayed for about 45 minutes. Our guide was telling us how it is dangerous to go hiking inside this forest because people get lost (usually adventurous Europeans). I believe he said in just the past few months there were 6 Europeans who were missing lost but thank God they were found in 2 days!

One editing tip I learned is using vignettes to help bring focus and drama into my photos. I am using vignettes in almost all of the photos below.

This is the road we drove up to arrive at the entrance of the Mossy Forest.

Jungle Walk to Robinson Falls {Cameron Highlands, Malaysia}

I love hiking!!  Even though I’ve been to the Cameron Highlands before, I had never done a hike there. Tony and I decided to check out Robinson Falls, since it wasn’t supposed to be too difficult of a hike (we had baby with us so we didn’t want to do anything too strenuous). The weather was warm and cloudy. It looked like it could rain at any moment.

Rolling Tea Hills and Majestic Clouds.

For our most recent holiday, we went to Malaysia! This was my 4th time in Malaysia… just cuz I love it there.  We decided to go to Cameron Highlands, even though I have been there before, because of the cool weather (it is similar to California) and also because Tony had never been there before.

The Cameron Highlands are filled with beautiful, green, rolling hills of tea. On top of that, the clouds there are BREATHTAKING. Most of the pictures I took below try to capture the beautiful sky and the land.

A view of one of the valleys. This photo has not been edited.

Today I field trip to Silk Island. Seven of us hopped onto a tuk tuk and also took a ferry to arrive there.  Silk Island is not too far from Phnom Penh- just a 30 minute tuk tuk ride and 10 minute ferry ride- and yet it feels like you are worlds away. It is much more calm, and the people in Silk Island were so friendly to us..  I have lived in Phnom Penh for 1.5 years now, so it was nice to be somewhere in Cambodia that I have never been to.  (Note: no edits have been made to these photos)