LITTLE INDIA, PENANG - 2ND DAY OF CNY...

So we went and did the jakun tourist thingy at a busy intersection somewhere around Penang's Little India in the evening on the 2nd day of CNY...

This involved paying some creepy-looking disheveled man RM1 so that he won't scratch Weiling's car (he even told us that the meters had stopped taking money for the day at 6pm, but "car park charges continue 24x7"... wow, these unofficial jaga kereta fellas work overtime!), walking past massive rubbish dumps, sitting by the roadside like a pair of, err, jakun tourists, standing at a busy intersection for close to one hour just to wait for the streetlights & the decorative lights to come on (funny that they don't all come on at the same time... it took like 30 minutes for the lights in between rows to light up), hugging lamp posts & traffic light posts to get a steady shot (somebody forgot to bring tripod lerr)...

At the end of the day, we were dirty & sweaty all over. We probably smelled like something nasty too, but were too tired/ excited cos we got some pretty nice shots, to care...

All this just to get THAT perfect shot of lights, sunset, perspective... just want that perfect shot, okayy? And I don't care how stupid I look to you just to get it just right.

We were not the only jakun tourists around... many others, mostly foreigners with cool DSLRs, joined us too. I think i was the only one totting a tiny P&S camera that day. So I probably was the most authentic-looking jakun tourist...

As usual, my camera battery dieded on me... this happens ALL THE TIME. My fault for overcharging the battery one time too often in the past... now instead of retaining the charge, it's discharging faster than i can use it up! Damn. Thank goodness for that spare battery i bought during the last PC fair... but forgot to bring along with me this trip... *@#$!!!!

Anytheways, i managed to get some pretty interesting shots... will post some up here later.

DOING THE JAKUN TOURIST

...is the easiest thing in the world!

You just need:

1) A halfway decent digital camera.

Film cameras - yes, they still exist today... my Ah Kim still uses one! - are not recommended because film & photo developing costs money. & you can't see the photo you've just taken until you actually develop the photo... may be too late by then to correct any imperfections. With a digital camera, you can take 100 shots of the same thing & not spend a cent. If it doesn't turn out right, just delete it & take another picture.

Digital SLR cameras that look impressive are also not recommended. Because in this part of the world there are still some moronic security guards who have this idea that DSLR = professional photographer who gets paid to take pictures in the premises they patrol, so you may get kicked out or worse, arrested. This has happened. I believe there are a few threads on this topic on the Low Yat forum. Best you get something small & tiny that is as powerful as a DSLR so that you look more of a tourist than a professional photographer.

Worst case scenario, there's always photoshop.

2) A super thick skin

People will be staring at you especially if you have to get into weird positions to get "that perfect shot". Having a thick skin helps you not give a shit to what those other people are thinking. Sometimes you may have to ask people who insist on being in your photo to move out of the way so that you can take your photos. I won't mind if you look like Brad Pitt or some hunk, but if you're not, please, just get out of the way & don't be a photo spoiler.

3) Plenty of free time

A good jakun tourist will photograph one object from every available angle using every available function on the camera. Top down, left, right, bottom up, sideways, with flash, no flash, in b&w, sepia... the whole works. Out of the many taken, maybe one will turn out as THE perfect picture.

Best time to be a jakun tourist is during Christmas & CNY when all the malls in town have pretty festive deco.