Category Archives: Photography

Asian adventure day 13. Kuala Lumpur day 7.

22 Sunday Jan 2023

Posted by in Food and drink, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Photography, Railways, Travel

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Have I really been here a week already? Time’s flying! I’ve settled into routine that’s governed by the weather as we’ve had a lot of rain these past few days – especially today. I’d planned to have a day out exploring but when I looked out of the window at 7am this morning the weather really wasn’t playing ball. Heavy grey clouds dominated the skyline and it wasn’t long before the torrential rain arrived – hardly the conditions for decent photography so I decided that a day sat in my hotel room editing hundreds of pictures would be a better use of my time. You can find the results of my efforts in this gallery. Eventually the rain eased long enough for me to nip out and find some brunch. I fancies something different this morning so I checked out a couple of eateries around the old market which is now full of tourist shops, but the nearby streets still have some traditional local eateries. One was packed, but I did find a table in this establishment where I enjoyed a very typical Malaysian breakfast – Roti Canai. Accompanied by a rich curry sauce these flatbreads are both delicious and filling.

I wandered home via a very subdued Chinatown. The combination of the weather and the fact it’s Sunday had really dampened its spirits, not that I was too bothered as I’d plenty more to do at home. Trying to keep on top of picture editing on trips like this can be quite a chore. You’re torn between going out with the camera as you’re only passing through and there’s so much to see, but you also want to show off what you’ve taken. At least the weather solved that conundrum for me!

By mid afternoon I was edited out (researching captions is even more time consuming than editing) so I decided to have a mooch around on the trains to check out a possible new location and check on engineering work outside Sentral station. Sadly, by the time I’d got to my first location the heavens opened again – and this time they stayed open! I did manage to find one thing of interest, this old Japanese Bo-Bo-Bo locomotive imported for use on contractors trains.

The three bogie arrangement has never caught on in the UK, only the ‘Chunnel’ shuttle trains use it, but it gained traction (if you’ll pardon the pun) in both Italy and Japan. If anyone can supply any background on this particular type of loco I’d be grateful.

Sadly, the location scouting was a bust. Still, it was my first trip out on the LRT system on this visit, which was quite entertaining as the trains were packed with loads of young Indian men out shopping as they’d got a day off from the building sites they’d have been working on during the week. It was the same when I got back to Chinatown. Guys were huddled under walkways and bridges trying to make the most of their holiday whilst staying dry! I sought shelter in my usual eating house and stuffed myself with chicken curry, rice and veg before waddling home to dry out and relax.

With it being the weekend Dawn and I had arranged to video call each other through the wonders of Whatsapp. My, how technology has changed! No more waiting for letters or making expensive telephone calls, now you can talk to each other face to face for free! As someone who travelled a lot in the ‘olden days’ I still can’t quite get used to how easy it is to keep in touch now – but it’s lovely being able to do so. The distance between us just melts away…

The rain finally stopped so I went for one last wander around Jalan Sultan to watch the world go by and look at filming a short video that illustrates a problem the street suffers from. This stretch of Jalan Sultan’s a vibrant place to eat with all manner of restaurants, cafe’s and street stall to suit every taste (and budget). The smells are delicious. But. It’s also a one-way street that’s often so clogged with cars its like having a slow moving metal wall down the middle. All those fumes and noise hardly add anything you’d want to eating alfresco. If only the street could be pedestrianised the way nearby Jalan Petaling and Hang Lekir are..

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Thank you!

Asian adventure day 12. Kuala Lumpur day 6.

21 Saturday Jan 2023

Posted by in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Photography, Travel

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Happy Chinese New Year!

It’s been a quite one here in Kuala Lumpur, mainly because the weather has been awful! We’ve had thunderstorms most evenings whilst I’ve been here although they’ve cleared pretty quickly but this morning I woke up to heavy rain which stayed with us until the early afternoon. I decided this seemed like a good day to work from home so spent much of the day indoors, taking it easy and editing some of the several hundred pictures I’ve taken over the past few days. The desk in my room’s adjacent to the window so I could watch the world go by as I worked, observing people huddled beneath umbrellas as they went about their business. The streets were actually pretty quiet but that was hardly surprising as many shops and restaurants have closed for the next few days. The Chinese community takes New Year seriously with many businesses closing for several days or even a week.

Eventually, hunger and the need to stretch my legs got the better of me so I mid-afternoon wandered through Chinatown to see what was going on. The answer was – very little! Some businesses were beginning to prepare for the evening and the Malay food stalls on Jalan Cheng Lock were open as usual. I fueled up on curried chicken rice, jackfruit and salad for the princely sum of 8 ringgit (£1.50) before returning home to continue work. You can find the results of my efforts here and here.

This evening I played tourist and visited the ‘River of life’, which is rather good. It’s an art installation on the confluence of the two rivers from which Kuala Lumpur allegedly got its name. The rivers are filled with smoke then illuminated at night. The backdrop is spectacular as it’s formed by the Masjid Jamek and business district.

Tomorrow I’ll be back to exploring. There’s so much to see that the few more days I have here will soon fly by. Hopefully, the weather will play ball – unlike today.

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Thank you!

Asian adventure day 11. Kuala Lumpur day 5.

20 Friday Jan 2023

Posted by in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Photography, Railways, Travel

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It’s a short blog from me tonight as I’ve had a very busy day and I’ve a bucketload of pictures to sort out after travelling the length and breadth of the Klang valley. It’s been a fascinating experience as I’ve been able to say how the different areas connect, the styles of housing, where certain communities have bases – and how the whole place hangs together. Admittedly, it’s not the bread and butter of your normal tourist, but then I did all that stuff a few times back in the 1990s. I’ve plenty of material for a couple of blogs on the importance of public transport and how it makes cities livable, but that’s for the future.

Tomorrow’s Chinese New Year so I’m going to take a break from exploring and stay local. Well, I am in Chinatown after all. To be honest I’ve no idea what may happen as I’ve not bothered checking so anything and everything will be a surprise. If everything shuts down that’s equally fine as I’ve plenty to keep me occupied, but I suspect that won’t be the case.

In the meantime, here’s a couple of pictures taken during the day.

A Putrajaya line metro arrives at the interchange station of Sungeh Boluh to the North West of the Klang valley. The picture was taken from atop yet another station multi-storey car park. This line is only part open. The majority of the route (which heads South-East) is due to open in March, which is unfortunate timing as I’ll just miss it.
Here’s what’s known as a challenging work environment! I’d hate to have been the person putting the safety case together for this lot. This is the new Shah Alam metro line under construction at Glenmarie. Building over a live railway and roads complex whilst surrounded by pylons and high-voltage cables? Nice!

I know I’ve been concentrating on railway pictures these past few days – so much so that I’ve had a complaint from my sister! – but I promise to post some other stuff from Chinatown tomorrow. It’s not that I haven’t been taking any, it’s just that they’ve not been a priority. Anyways, here goes…

This is the local fish and meat market which is tucked away down a series of alleys near where I’m staying. Public Health inspectors look away now.!

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Thank you!

Asian adventure day 10. Kuala Lumpur day 4.

19 Thursday Jan 2023

Posted by in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Photography, Travel

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I’ve had another day exploring the changes around the Klang valley today which started by heading to the opposite end of the Kajang line to the one I’d previously explore. The route down to Kajang opened a few months after my last visit to Malaysia in 2017 so this was my first opportunity to explore. Starting at Pasir Seni station just outside my hotel, the route traverses the centre of KL underground with the first surface station being out at Taman Pertama. The line then runs above ground all the way to Kajang where the terminal station’s built next to the KTMB ‘Komuter’ station. I found it a fascinating trip as I’d only ever explored that part of the Klang valley by conventional rail. What struck me was how much new building has been going on. We’re not talking small, low-rise developments either. Take a look at this lot around Taman Pertama station! The picture was taken from the rooftop of a multi-storey carpark at the next station on the line.

At Kajang there was a similar car-park (both are part of the station infrastructure and billed as ‘park and ride’) that allowed me to get similar shots only with the advantage of having the conventional railway as a contrast..

A Kajang line service reaches the end of the line. The trains are from Siemens ‘Inspiro’ family. The bodyshells were built by CRRC Nanjing Puzhen and shipped to Malaysia where the vehicles were assembled. There’s 58 four-car sets available to provide services on the line.
An Inspiro passes Cheras Christian Cemetery en-route to Kajang.
An Inspiro leaves Kajang and heads for the city centre seen in the background. You can just make out the twin Petronas Towers in the right background. What I find interesting about the Klang valley is that, despite all this development, it’s still quite green – as can be seen from this picture. It’s hilly and most of the hills are left untouched. The undergrowth’s really quite thick too, almost qualifying as jungle, whilst other areas are more manicured.
Yet more new high rise developments under construction right next to a metro station. Note how these are normally built atop large car-parks, then have a garden area and shared facilities surrounding the actual tower blocks. Many of these complexes have direct access to the metro stations in the form of covered walkways.
as the trains are driverless passengers can get a grandstand view of the journey. Here I’ve blurred passing underneath central KL…

Needless to say, I’ve a lot more photos to edit and get on my Zenfolio site, this is just a taster. Now I’m back at the hotel after having a few hours people-watching in Chinatown. I’ll elaborate on that tomorrow. Right now I’m about to switch off for the evening and relax. We’ve got another heavy thunderstorm hitting us this evening. We’ve had one every day since I arrived, but at least I’m out of harm’s way as the rain is torrential! Time for an escapist film methinks…

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Thank you!

Asian adventure day 9. Kuala Lumpur day 3

18 Wednesday Jan 2023

Posted by in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Musings, Photography, Railways, Travel

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Having been pretty much confined to Chinatown these past few days so that I could catch up with picture-editing, blogging and financial stuff I spread my wings today. It wasn’t difficult. My hotel room window looks out over the new Pasir Seni underground station on the Kajang line MRT. When I was last here this was still a building site as the central underground section of the new line had yet to open although some of the outlying (elevated) route had. Fast forward to 2023 and history repeats itself, today I used the station for the first time to travel on the first section of the Putrajaya line which only opened in June 2022.

I’m always impressed by the Klang valley metro networks. They’re incredibly photogenic due to the fact most of the routes are elevated and they have amazing backdrops. They’re also a massive investment in public transport which is desperately needed to stem the rise of car dependency and improve air quality in the valley. My one concern is that in the time I’ve seen the network grow I’ve also seen car use grow. Central KL’s traffic jams appear to have got worse, not better and rail ridership remains low (not helped by the poor performance and cuts to the KTM ‘Komuter’ services. Here’s an example of how photogenic the area is.

Metros everywhere! – seen from Kwasa Damansara MRT station. The new Putrajaya services are the trains painted red.

One of the beauties of these routes is that they’re driverless, so passengers get to experience the best seat in the house that’s normally reserved for the driver.

Having changed routes at Kwasa Damansara MRT station I travelled on the Putrajaya line as far as it currently open to the public, which is Kampung Batu, the interchange with KTM Komuter services from central KL to Batu Caves. What a contrast that was. KTM services have been reduced from every 30 mins to hourly, which is a PITH to be honest as they’re not that reliable at the best of times. Still, I did manage to make it to Batu Caves where I grabbed this shot of the local passenger services whilst I waited to see if one of the cement trains would turn up.

I was lucky as soon after one of the popular ‘Blue Tiger’ locomotives turned up with a long cement train and immediately ran round to begin shunting.

The ‘Blue Tiger’ was designed and built by ADtranz. 20 of them were supplied to KTM back in 2003-04. They’re probably the most reliable loco in the fleet. They’re certainly the most popular – and the most powerful. The ‘blue tigers’ weren’t a commercial success for ADtranz or Bombardier – who took them over. Only 61 were ever built.

Moving on from the caves my next stop was at Sentul which was the site of the railways main workshops – the Malayan Crewe that in its heyday was reported to have employed 5000 people. All that’s long gone but there’s still an EMU depot nearby and a few roads full of retired and redundant trains like this.

Literally put out to grass!…This is one of the Class 83 EMUs built by Hyundai and Marubeni in 1996. The 22 3-car sets were one of three different fleets that were the mainstay of KTM Komuter services until 2012 when the new Class 91 EMUs arrived from China. Many like this one are dumped and used as a source of spares to keep their sisters running as they’re used on the ‘Skypark’ airport rail link and also work local services between Butterworth and Padang Besar and Butterworth – Padang Rengas.

In keeping with the colonial theme my final stop was at the magnificent but sadly fading former main station in Kuala Lumpur. I was rather shocked to see how tatty and underused the place is now. It used to be buzzing – even just 6 years ago. Now it’s not just the buildings that are empty, the platforms are too…

Covid seems to have removed a lot of the traffic due to many of the nearby banks, offices and hotels having closed. This has been compounded by the opening of the new MRT route at Pasir Seni. Ironically, the two are linked by a new bridge but that sees hardly any traffic. The main station building is a delightful Indo Saracenic structure that used to house a hotel. I stayed there in 2009. It was very rundown but still quite an experience. Sadly, it closed in 2011. The restaurant on the ground floor has also gone. The concourse of the building became (yet another) half-hearted railway museum but that’s disappeared too, leaving parts of the building occupied by a few railway staff and that’s about it. Meanwhile, the structure’s in slow decline. It’s such a shame. There used to be regular daily freight services from sidings at the North end. Every evening a couple of bogie parcels vans would depart for the north but today I saw these sidings have been lifted, as have the others on the opposite side of the station where you could often find the odd loco stabled. On the bright side, these have been replaced by a pair of electrified tracks for stabling EMUs. Even so, it’s a story of decline, not growth. I’ll have more of a mooch around the building later this week.

Returning home I found the light had changed enough to finally allow me to get a decent picture of this major new addition to the KL skyline. Trying to gauge its size is difficult, especially up-close. That’s my hotel at what appears to be the base of the tower. In reality it’s at least 500m away! Having posted the picture on Twitter I’ve been informed that – at 118 floors tall this edifice is twice as big as the ‘Shard’ in London and is (in fact) the 2nd tallest building in the world!

After my travels I’ve had a quiet evening in, partly helped by the fact we had a very heavy thunderstorm with torrential rain, which was great fun to watch from my hotel room window, but it can’t have been good for business for all the street-traders. Once it stopped I did nip out for food but Chinatown feels very subdued. I’m assuming people are keeping their powder dry for the forthcoming New Year celebrations – as am I!

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Thank you!

Changing trains. Rebuilding the railway from Johor Baru to Gemas in Malaysia.

17 Tuesday Jan 2023

Posted by in Malaysia, Photography, Rail electrification, Rail Investment, Railways, Travel

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Folks familiar with Malaysian railways will know about the great strides the country has taken to modernise the railway from Padang Besar by the Thai border all the way down to the peninsula’s Southern tip at Johor Baru, opposite Singapore. What was a slow, antiquated, colonial-era, single track railway mostly under the control of Victorian semaphore signalling has been upgraded (stage by stage) into a double-track electrified railway with modern bi-directional colour-light signalling capable of speeds of up to 160kph.

The final stage – the 197km section from Gemas (Junction with the East Coast railway to Kuala Lipis) to Johor Baru is well underway, albeit late. The US $2.26bn contact to rebuild the route was won by the China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC) and work began in January 2018 with an original completion target of 2021, this has now been officially extended until this year, but the delay shouldn’t detract from what’s an impressive piece of civil engineering.

This isn’t just a case of slapping down an extra set of tracks next to the originals. In many cases the new line runs on a brand new alignment that not only takes the kinks out but also flattens gradients and crosses through towns on long viaducts. Then there’s the unseen work, the thousands of concrete piles driven into the ground to stablise the formation, the pinning and shotcreting of cuttings, plus the extensive drainage work. For those of you unfamiliar with the line, here’s a picture I took from the back of a train heading North from Johor Baru near Chemak in February 2017. A 160kph line? I think not…

There’s also 11 brand new and substantial stations (Kempas Baru, Kulai, Leyang – Leyang, Rengam, Menkibol, Kluang, Paloh, Bekok, Labis, Genuang and Segamat, plus 3 entirely new ones at Senai, Chamek and Tenang. Some of these are very substantial four-platform stops with associated freight yards and/or depots.

The completion of this section of line will see the demise of loco-hauled passenger trains on most of the West coast line. Currently, locomotives work the trains between JB and Gemas where passengers transfer to/from electric trains for Kuala Lumpur, Butterworth or Padang Besar. The only one likely to remain is the sleeper train between Tumpat on the East Coast line and Johor Baru.

Here’s a look at progress, seen from a loco hauled train from Johor Baru to Gemas on the 5th January 2023. Johor Baru station was rebuilt back in the early 2010s, the new line work starts a short way North, before the freight lines from docks at Pasir Gudnag and Tanjung Pelapas join the route. I’ve loads of pictures and can’t add them all to this blog, but you can find the rest of them in this gallery on my Zenfolio website.

25103 named ‘Pulau Bedong’ prepares to leave Johor Baru with the 8-car (7 passenger coaches and a generator car), 08:30 to Gemas. 25103 is a 1500hp loco built by General Motors, Ontario, Canada. 12 were supplied in 1990 followed by another 5 (25201-205) in 2002.
Our train leaves the outskirts of Johor Baru. The scale of the work involved can be seen, from embankment stabilisation to rebuilt bridges.
The new (straighter and flatter) route passes over the old at the junction with the freight line out to the East of Johor Barus which serves a container terminal and a shipyard.
Major civils work just North of Kempas Barou station. A new concrete box (presumably for the new line) is being built whilst a lot of piling work is going on between it and the new loco depot which is just out of shot to the right.
The rebuilt connection with the line to the container terminal at the port of Tanjung Pelapas trails in from the left.
Double tracking and fhe installation of concrete OLE masts South of Kulai.
The refurbished interior of the Hyundai coaches which made up part of our train.
The substantial new station at Kulai takes shape. This will have four platforms.
Double tracking preperations South of the new station at Layang-Layang which can be seen in the distance.
Layang-Layang station showing the approach roads and other works which form part of the contact.
The new stations are substantial with all modern facilities, including being fully accessible and with level boarding with the new trains.
The modern take on railway cottages. Each station is being provided with staff housing. This is Layang – Layang.
Here’s a real contrast that shows the substantial difference between old and new at Renggam. The new station’s been build on a viaduct. The roof to the right is that of the original station building on the original rail level.
A new electricity substation at Mengkibol which will feed power to the 25kv overhead wires.
Our train arrives at Mengkibol. The scale of the rebuilding becomes obvious in views like this.
Mengkibol has been laid out with extensive sidings. At the moment it’s used as a base for a lot of construction trains, including this one,top and tailed by two ex-Indian Railways YDM4 locomotives.
The sleeper train from Kuala Lipis on the ‘jungle railway’ as the East coast line is still sometimes called passes us at Mengkibol on it’s way to Johor Baru. It’s hauled by 24102 ‘Mat Kilau’, one of 26 such 2,400hp locos supplied by Hitacahi in 1987.
Another greatly elevated station, this time at Kluang. The blue tin roof to the right leads down to the temporary station building from the makeshift platform on the other side of my train.

Another temporary station building, this time further North at Paloh.
More substantial cutting stablisation. This time at Bekok.
All the old railway level crossings have been abolished (and all the lineside fenced to stop two or four legged creatures straying onto the tracks) in order to raise line speeds and prevent the risk of a derailment. This bridge is between Bekok and Labis.
Another ex-Indian railways Class YDM4 on ballast duties. This time at Labis.
The ‘knitting’ (the actual overhead wires) start to appear from milepost 605, South of Genuang.
Here’s progress on the rebuilding South of Genuang. Moat of the infrastructure’s complete, including the fencing protecting the line. All that remains is to complete wiring the OLE.
I found this modern British built locomotive from Clayton in this new three-road shed at Genuang. It’s branded ‘Pestech’ (I’m assuming there’s a clue in the name there) but I’ve no idea what the purpose of the new shed will be.
High above the streets, the new elevated railway passes through Segamat. It’s such a contrast to the original line.
A variety of vintage traction used on construction trains stabled or dumped at Batu Anam near Gemas, Furthest left and right are two ex-Indian Railways YDM4s but I haven’t a clue what the origins of the two centre locos are.
A closer look at the other two old locomotives at Batu Anam. Any help in identifying them is appreciated.
Journey’s end at Gemas, junction with the East coast railway. Here’s the old station which survives intact with the massive new station behind and to the right. There were plans to turn the old station into a museum, hence the presence of various items of old rolling stock. There was also going to be an exhibition inside the buildings but everything is closed up and empty. The main building used to be home to an excellent restaurant but this has vanished. I’m assuming it was a victim of Covid. A little cafe remains but that only sells hot and cold drinks – and boiled eggs.
The main exhibit which has recently been repainted is 22131. 40 Co-Co Class 22s were designed by English Electric and built by Metro-Cammell between 1970-71. For many years they appeared all over the Network but were retired from the 1990s onwards. Three (22109, 22115 and 22127) were sold on to be used on contractors trains, rebuilding the lines North of Gemas, but none appear to remain in service. 22131 is one of four (the others being 22121 (renumbered as 22110), 22125 and 22134 which has been preserved.
Here’s what the future looks like. A Class 93 waits to operate the 15:20 service from Gemas to Butterworth via Kuala Lumpur. These 6-car EMUs are built by CRRC Zhuzhou, China. 19 of these trains arrived between 2013-2018 with another 10 on order. Powered by Siemens traction equipment, the trains normal maximum operating speed is 140kph. They’re clean, quick and comfortable, but not as much fun as the old trains!

As you can see, it’s not going to be long before the rebuilding of the line’s finished and loco-hauled trains become rare beasts on Malaysian railways, so – if you want to sample them I’d do so this year. If you’re interested in other photographs of Malaysian railways I have a collection from 2011-2012 which you can find here. They certainly show how much things have changed!

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Thank you!

Asian adventure day 7. Kuala Lumpur day 1…

16 Monday Jan 2023

Posted by in Food and drink, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Musings, Photography, Travel

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Sorry folks, I’ve been spending much of today working my way through all the pictures I’ve taken this week which means the long blog about my rail trips being delayed. I’ve still got a lot of picture captions to do as there’s not much point blogging about the trip if I can’t identify the locations of some of the pictures. I’ve decided to have another day working from home here at Bigland Towers KL branch in order to clear the decks of everything I need to do.

To be honest, it’s been lovely not to be under pressure. I was up at 06:00 and pottering around soon after as I had a load of washing to get sorted. Clothes don’t get particularly dirty here, but they sure get sweat-soaked, so a constant rotation of fresh clothes makes life much more pleasant – both for me and anyone in my vicinity! At least stuff dries very quickly in the 30 degree heat…

Having done my dhobi duties I went for an early morning wander around Chinatown which is very quiet that time of day as most businesses are still shut. The empty streets gave me time to explore and look up and around which is how I realised just how much damage Covid has done to the Malaysian economy. Several very large high-rise hotels are now derelict having never reopened after lockdown. Some of the smaller ones succumbed too, including a few backpacker hotels and the associated bars frequented by their customers – like the well known ‘reggae’ bar. My tour through the backstreets showed me gaps where little stalls have vanished too. There used to be an old Chinese street barber on Jalan Sultan. He had a mirror fixed to the side of a building and a barbers chair bolted to the pavement and little else other tan a tiny metal sheet roof to protect his mirror and clippers from the rain. In truth, he was a miserable old bugger, he had a big sign up saying ‘no photographs’ and he refused to cut foreigners hair, but he’d been here for donkey’s years. Now he, his mirror and his chair have vanished. But then so has much of the trade. Tourists are reappearing but the area’s so much quieter than it used to be. The Chinese are starting to return, but the Russians are otherwise occupied at the moment and even the numbers of backpackers (or more likely ‘flashpackers’ nowadays) and European tourists are well down.

None of that prevents me feeling happy to be back and relaxing into life here. I spent a lot of time here 10 years ago as I was trying to get a lens repaired – but all the spares came from Thailand which had been devastated by floods, so it took weeks, but then I was working for the International Railway Journal then so took time to organise an interview with the (then) President of Malaysian Railways and spent an interesting couple of days with himself, his Senior Managers and other KTMB staff. Happy days!

So I feel quite at home here and I’m looking forward to wrapping up the bits I need to do before spending some more time exploring. In the meantime, here’s a few pictures from today showing life in Chinatown.

This is where I eat. It’s a great Malaysian street food place on Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock, just around the corner from the famous Jalan Petaling. It’s run by a delightful Malaysian bunch like this woman who’re only too happy to talk you through what’s available. A massive mixed plate of rice, vegetables and a meat or fish dish will cost you around 7 ringgit 50, or £1.40! The food’s delicious. You’ll never go hungry here.
The alleys off the side streets are some of my favorites as you never know what little businesses you’ll find tucked away in them. Here’s a traditional Chinese food stall getting ready for the day (and they work long days) with the chap on the red stool cracking on with the washing up from the night before.


A sight that’s become very common nowadays is pavement bric-a-brac stalls like this one as people sell stuff to help make ends meet.

A shot from this evening’s perambulations. 10 years ago this street would have been chokka at this time of night…

If you’re interested in seeing older pictures from Kuala Lumpur that I have in my archives, click on this link. Don’t worry, they’re not all of railways – honest!

I’m going to call it a day as this point in order to get back to picture editing. Expect more stories from KL tomorrow.

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Thank you!

Asian adventure day 6. From Johore Baru to Kuala Lumpur…

15 Sunday Jan 2023

Posted by in Malaysia, Musings, Photography, Railways, Travel

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I’d fully intended to write a long blog about this fascinating trip but I’m currently holed up in my hotel in Kuala Lumpur after another busy day and I’ve realised I’m really not going to be able to do the trip justice is such a short time. I need a full morning to write about the trip, not just half an hour, so the trip report will come tomorrow.

After 6 days constantly on the move I’m having a day off tomorrow. I’m staying in a hotel with all the facilities I need like a desk, plenty of power sockets and wifi and if I get lonely there’s a big mirror over the desk so I can always talk to myself. I even have a TV with Netflix, so this is a cut above where I normally stay. I’s in the old Chinatown district where I’ve been staying for years – although it’s changed as Covid sounded the death-knell for many businesses. There’s a lot of vacant shops but life is slowly returning to the place. I’ll explore more tomorrow and explain as I’m having an admin and rest day, rather than gallivanting around the city’s public transport network. I’ve got plenty of time for that in the next few days. So, my apologies if you were expecting a magnum opus today. Still, here’s a couple of taster pictures for you.

My train heads North on the early part of the trip. As you can see, it’s not just a case of laying another track next to the old one. In many places there’s a completely new formation and all flat crossings have been replaced with overbridges. The lineside also has much improved drainage and many gradients have been flattened.
An increasingly rare sight on Malaysian Railways, once there were a network of sleeper trains carrying you around the network. Now there’s just on on the ‘jungle’ line from Kuala Lipis. Here’s the Southbound working passing us at the huge new station and yards at Menkibol.
The old Victorian colonial railway has well and truly vanished. A single track line with station that often just had a single platform and a loop or two have been swept away with four platform places like this which have level access to all areas.
The old station at Gemas, the junction for the jungle railway with the new station in the background. This is currently the Southern limit of double tracking and electrification. The old stations’ been preserved but plans to turn it into a museum have fallen by the wayside. Even a few years ago it still maintained an excellent cafe/restaurant but this has fallen on hard times. Now it’s just teas, soft-drinks and boiled eggs. Still, it’s cool for cats (many occupy the station as someone feeds them). As for the rest of the place, Gemas isn’t exactly a thriving town, it’s not even one-horse…
I made a friend…
An all to common sight around KL’s Chinatown at the moment.

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Thank you!

Asian adventure. Hopping the border…

14 Saturday Jan 2023

Posted by in Malaysia, Photography, Singapore, Travel

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I’m writing this from the comfort of my hotel room in Johor Baru, Malaysia where I’ve retreated to after crossing the border from Singapore earlier. I’m only staying here one night, it’s little more than a pitstop that allows me to catch the early morning train to Kuala Lumpur without any hassles.

Despite the fact I had a really god nights sleep last night my body clock is still all over the place. I was wide awake at 5am Singapore time so I cut my losses and spent a couple of hours picture editing, which means a fuller selection of shots are starting to appear on my Zenfolio website in this gallery. There’s plenty more to do. I’m hoping to get a few more done this evening as Johor isn’t exactly the most exciting place. As I still had several hours to kill as I was in no hurry to leave I went and had a coffe in a place in Little India and watched the world go by for an hour before showering and packing

Getting here was easy enough. I wasn’t bothered about faffing around with the KTMB shuttle train from Woodlands as I travelled the whole line to the former Singapore station many times in the past. Here’s how it used to look like when it was still the terminus. of the line all the way from Bangkok. The station’s been preserved and it’s being incorporated into one of the new metro route stations, so not all’s lost. Instead, I got the MRT from Rochor, on the downtown line which was around the corner from my hotel as far as Stevens, which is the interchange station on the new Thompson line that takes you to Woodlands, where buses run across the causeway to Johor Baru. The metro cost me a couple of dollars (less than £1.50) and the shuttle bus $1.90 (just over £1).

Woodlands itself is a fascinating place as it’s packed with food stalls with all manner of tasty treats. I treated myself to a takeaway of a mix of different noodles and breaded chicken for all of $2.60 (£1.63). Part of the the huge Woodlands bus station has been taken over to be used as a drop-in Covid vaccination centre, but it doesn’t affect the single-deck buses to Malaysia which run roughly every 10 minutes. You join a queue then get on the first one that turns up. They’re all pack of course. I was fascinated to see that the vast majority using them were young people/students, as you can see from this picture of the queue I was the head of. Talk about feeling like Grandad!

The bus takes you to the monolithic Woodlands checkpoint. It’s a modern building across multiple levels with an imposing tower which has a touch of 1984 about it. That said, once off the bus I breezed through the biometric passport check and was back on another packed bus within 10 minutes. Arriving in Johor Baru was much the same process, except no biometric checks. Instead I got my passport stamped than had to undergo baggage customs check from some very nice but impossibly young women customs officers.

And that was it. I’m now in Malaysia. I popped into the railway station to book an onward ticket from Gemas to Kuala Lumpur tomorrow, which was no problem. That cost me all of 32 ringgit (a few pence over £6 for a three hour journey). After that I wandered over to my hotel but the pleasent girls behind the counter (I’m starting to see a theme here) were adamant check-in wasn’t until 14:00. At least they agreed to look after my suitcase, so I went for a wander to try and rediscover places I remember from when I was last here in January 2017.

Sadly, the place hasn’t fared well. The town centre anyway. There’s vast amounts of Chinese money here that’s been invested in massive housing complexes, but the place has never really taken off as a destination. It’s tatty and dirty and the artisan coffee shops that were meant to be the brave new world are either struggling or closed.

Sandbrewed coffee? It’s a bit niche and this place faces onto a bypass along the Johor Straits, which is hardly scenic

One good thing about crossing the border is my smartphone’s restored to full functionality I’ve had this problem in Singapore in the past, they don’t seem to get on with O2 for whatever reason. I’d just got used to not having it although the lack of maps was sometimes interesting as I hadn’t any paper ones either so I was reliant on memory, which only caused one lengthy detour…

Whilst waiting for my room to be ready I discovered Jalan Meldrum and old guys like this. More of which later…

Beer, fags and the Malaysian version of the Racing Times, plus watching the gee gees live on smartphones…

Having relaxed for a little while, had a shower and composed this blog, I went out for a wander and headed over to the old Johor Baru station which nestles in the shadow of the modern station. The building’s still intact but it’s looking rough. There were plans to open it as a rail museum, and to that end a number of locomotives and other rolling stock were moved onto the site, but nothing ever happened and now they’re derelict and rusting away. The building seems to be used as a staff messroom at best, a car-park at worst. Such a shame.

Then again, the area around the station’s undergone huge changes as opposite there’s now a massive shopping mall that looks like so many of these beasts. Bizarrely, despite the huge sums spent on building the new, multi platform JB station, it’s criminally under-utilised. Apart from the Woodlands – JB shuttles, there’s just four trains a day in and out Northwards. Tomorrow, I’ll be on one of them, the 08:30 departure to Gemas (the junction for the ‘jungle railway’. I’ve fond memories of travelling between KL-Singapore on sleeper trains back in the 1990s. Now there’s nothing like that. Electrification should have spread South from Gemas in 2020, but there’s no sign of it yet. I’ll be interested to see hoe the line’s changed since my last trip in 2017.

As the weather was crap due to leaden skies and lousy light I gave up and came back to the room to resume blogging. I’ll nip out later when it’s dark and more photogenic as by that time I’ll be starving!

So, first impressions having crossed the border again? Obesity and smoking. Now, admittedly, Singapore has banned vaping so there’s more smokers because there’s no alternatives, but I was surprised to see a number of young Muslim women in JB smoking Admittedly, their religion doesn’t cut them much slack when it comes to vices and that one was never mentioned in the Koran, but even so…

Whilst JB will never be in the top 10 tourist hotspots it is an interesting place to people-watch as its a real collision of cultures, economies and social attitudes. I’ll write more about this later.

Happy consumerism! Inside the shopping centre across the road from the railway staion and entry port from Singapore. I’m assuming Malaysian prices are meant to attract Singaporean day-trippers.

It’s half past 8 Malaysian time and I’m putting my feet up back at the hotel as the weather’s been very wet these past few hours, which has put a damper on much of the evening. I’d intended to nip out, get something to eat, then have a mooch around and get some pictures, but unless pics of empty streets are your bag…

Anyways, here’s a few from this afternoon/evening – and this morning in Singapore..

Several buildings where I was staying had these classic old spiral staircases at the rear, but the shapes and colours of this one really stood out
Little India’s normally deathly at 10:00, but this one entrepreneurial shopkeeper was ahead of the crowd.
The former clocktower and centre-piece of the former Johor Baru station,
Thanks to the weather it was a quiet night for the food hawkers in the alley behind my hotel. Here’s where I ate, stuffing myself with curried fish and rice.

I’m literally going to call it a day now. Tomorrow’s another day and no doubt I’ll be awake early…

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Thank you!

Asian adventure: Singapore, day 2

13 Friday Jan 2023

Posted by in Photography, Railways, Singapore, Travel

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It’s lunchtime here in Singapore and I’ve retreated to my room for a couple of hours to rest avoid the heat stickiness of midday and download the pictures I’ve taken this morning. I was up early as my body-clock is still all over the place. I had about 5 hours sleep then decided I might as well start rejigging my trip in light of what I learned about Chinese New Year. This meant cancelling a few hotels and rebooking some others as well as extending my time in Kuala Lumpur where I’ll be for New Year – which should be fun!

Afterwards I headed out on the metro to explore and have a look at some of the new extensions plus ongoing work. I ended up walking miles which is another reason for coming home – I need a shower as I’ve already got 14,000 steps and 6.5 miles under my belt!

Here’s a few pictures from this morning’s trip out to Expo station (Designed by Sir Norman Forster) and the construction of new flying junctions out at Bukit Timah where the existing line is going to be incorporated into the new Thompson line. This will leave some of the old viaducts redundant. There’s talk of turning them into Singapore’s version of New York’s ‘high line’ which could be quite a sight.

Bridging the gap. The massive Changi metro depot is out of shot to the left.
Big boys Lego!
I hope all the sections are numbered as there’s bits lying everywhere.

I’m off out again in a minute once I’ve had a shower, so I’ll update this blog later. I was lucky with the weather this morning as I managed to get some sunshine. Whilst I’ve been sitting in my room writing this we’ve had clouds roll in and claps of thunder. Time to dig out the umbrella methinks!

I’m now back from my afternoon amble out to Jurong East. Sadly, the weather did produce heavy rain and grim skies, so there wasn’t much wandering going on. Here’s the platforms at my ‘local’ station – Jalan Besar. As you can see, the quality of fitting out is rather good.

The trains were busy, but not rammed, and everyone was wearing a mask.

En-route I stopped off at Dover station, which is unusual. Most metro stations are island platforms, but not here. This was a later addition to the line with the station opening in 2001 whilst the line opened in 1988.

Piling work adjacent to the existing station at Jurong East. Covers have been placed over the tracks to the West of the station due to the closeness of heavy plant to the running lines.

Rather than doubling back I continued on along the North-South line to the interchange with the Thomson East coast line at Woodlands. Last time I was here this was nothing more than a very large hole in the ground. The line opened in stages between 2020 and 2022. This was my first trip on it and I’m impressed. The trains were very busy and the stations are excellent.

New escalators from the existing Woodlands station take you down to ground level before more sets take to down to the Thomson line. The system is confusing for ex-Londoners like myself because here you stand on the left of the escalators, not the right. I’ve just learned that lesson, and now it’s time to move on!
Woodlands station on the Thomson line
Interior of one of the new Thomson line trains, which are automated.

I leave Singapore tomorrow but I’m not going far – merely nipping over the Causeway to Johor Baru in Malaysia, where I’ll be staying the night before catching a morning train Northwards to Kuala Lumpur. Watch this space…

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Thank you!