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This year is a bit special, just when our Muslim friends are observing the Ramadhan (fasting) month , we are also in the midst of the  7th Month of Lunar Calendar .. a.k.a. Hungry Ghost Festival …

It is believed by the Chinese that during this month, the gates of hell are opened and all souls (ghosts) roam free to seek food on Earth. Many Chinese also take this opportunity to pray tribute to their deceased family members and all roaming *ghosts*; afterall, satisfying the ghosts will help to get us  good fortune and luck.

Prayers & offerings are arranged by neighbourhood associations, companies, and even temples who put on elaborate & entertaining concerts in the form of outdoor traditional Chinese Opera performance in some neighborhoods. These concerts are always held at night. There is a belief that this entertainment would please those wandering ghosts too.

The followings shots were taken at a Chinese Opera show near where I stayed.  I enjoyed the performance very much as they are very colourful and the players are very expressive in their movements as well as facial expressions.

The story they portrayed are based on famous Chinese folklore. Nowadays, even if we do not follow the dialects used, there is an electronic device displaying the subtitles in bright red text to help us understand what’s going on !

Neighbours taking a break from daily routines to enjoy the performance.

The opera performance can be very loud too … that is because all the music is LIVE and the orchestra that plays along are right behind the stage !

Have you ever noticed how many homeless kitties / doggies roam the streets in our neighbourhood ? Mmmmm… if you take a short walk around the corner from your confortable homes, you will see many of them, I am sure

Armed with the newly acquired 14-45mm lens for our Lumix GF-1 .. we did exactly that — we took  a walk around the Taman and we found many fine-looking cats having their residences in the drains, around the bush or just behind our backdoor.

These kittens are very active & adorable .. they may be a little scare of humans but they were too playful to stay away too long…

The homeless cat watches us warily from the bushes ..

A pregnant queen by the drains under the hot sun ! She still look regal !

Although blind in  one-eye.. his bluish grey coat makes him a Russian-blue lookalike !

sometime taking refuge behind the doors of generous human, Tabby looks warily at us …

Aaaahhhhh .. this is the life !

For some, they are kept safe behind locked cages … Their human cleans their lodgings everyday – however, lack of freedom would still drive most of us crazy ….

On the other end of the scale, those kitties without human to call their own, can only depend on their fellows feline

Neighbourhood cats, they are a sight we often missed. Should you decide to adopt one, be sure to neuter them .. Unwanted cat pregnancies will result in more kitties ..

“Come! Let’s go visit  the famous Pasar Ramadhan at Kampung Baru ..” my darling said after finishing our errand in Kuala Lumpur. It was after 5pm and traffic was super heavy heading into this vintage Malay kampung in the heart of KL! We had to circle around 3x to locate a decent parking space (cost us RM5/=)

The 1st thing that hit you when you arrived is the colourful sight of its stalls & multi racial crowd!  The main attraction is of course the amazing spread of various food; both savoury or for dessert !  The delicious scent of food is so very salivating – only out of respect for the fasting folks made us stop from eating the kuih, air bandung, nasi briyani, grilled chicken, etc on the spot..

Another thing we noticed and the diversity of folks that frequent this Ramadhan market .. not only the Muslim folks are buying their food to break fast, due to its proximity to many *business areas*  there was many other ethics came avisiting that truly made this place a 1MALAYSIA must-visit location

And  what else can we find here ?

All photos are taken with Canon 350D with 50mm prime lens.

Thanks to Fe Rin for allowing me to photograph her cats …. hv to admit photographing someone else’s cats took a little bit more time &  patience.. I was not familiar with his temperament and had to cajol, encourage & prompt dear kitty into position.

But Garfield is Garfield.. the orange furball is like his cartoon namesake .. a bit lazy but charming all the same.

Beside Garfield look-a-like, Fe Rin also had another beautiful persian mix who is as white as snow .. Snow was a bit more cooperative — boy he was active as a young lad on a hot tin !

Comments are welcome …

Weekend is fun when you get to spend time with family…. and cats …

Armed with 50mm lens, we took our 2 lovely kittens out to play .. They were as usual *reserved* when we arrived at the park — but they soon warmed up to the new environment ! We had lots of fun playing catch and trying to get them to *pose* for their pictures .. hahaha

What began as a week full of anticipation, ended in loss of 5 newborn kittens over 2 days. Raya had 2 shots to induce the troubled delivery and when 3 of out of 2 kittens came out kicking and crying, we were hopeful they would survive.. Alas, it was not to be … we lost all 3 within 36 hrs from birth and poor Mommy Raya … she’s still looking for her babies…

It felt sad to see them cold and not moving .. just lying there hardened like a toy cat for child’s play when hours ago they were meowing and clamouring for mommy’s tits..

Mommy Raya must be feeling the loss– even now, she’s still jumping into her basket *looking* and expecting her newborns to be there. Her 3rd delivery for the last 10 months… The vet has advised us to spay her soon. Afterall, she is no longer a young cat and her health may not permit more pregnancies..

This is a world of survivors, the weak is filtered off by nature and mayhaps this is for the best..

Still, we are saddened by the loss. Out of respect, no photos will be posted of the newborns..

Simba has found a new home .. in the arms of pretty FE RIN ! We drove him down to KL last weekend . It was fun *smuggling* him into the hotel room. Imagine hearing a cat *meowing* in a lift full of people.. Thank goodness we were not caught. Else it will be hard to explain why I have a cat in my *shopping bag* hahahah

At 7 months old, Simba is a handsome young feline; who loves to sleep and play catch with his baby sister, Maya. At the hotel, the big brother seemed to know he’s going away soon and was seen *manja-ing* Maya as if to say take care !

We will always love you, Simba – we will remember the days you slept on Lin’s tummy the whole night, the times you play with little critters in the house, the super speed *tag* chase you did with Maya & Xena in the house.

Mr Grumpy is no longer … Gerard is now a delightful young boy who loves to laugh ! He celebrated his 1st birthday recently. Here are some faces of young Gerard Boy… thoughtful, delighted & happy …

Having just got a radio trigger for my flash + an additional Nissin for the 4/3 Lumix GF-1, we decided to *experiment* to see if both lights can be triggered at the same time ? One with the radio trigger, the other with the flash itself … and it works !!!! yay !

No doubt I still hv long way to learn on FLASH techniques … but dont my darling girls look good ?

Simba does not look too bad either !

Kids nowadays .. they grow up so quickly and they grow up with very interesting personality.. Meet Alia – coming into her teens very soon and ever so lovely as any princess can be .. she still loves her Barbies & toy bears ..However, this young lady will soon turn into a confident Y-generation youth who will far exceed what we expected with their intelligence & capabilities !

The younger brother Daniel is also a cool kid. Armed with a charming smile – he will melt many a fluttering heart pretty soon ! Daniel loves to cycle and he also plays the Electone !

And the youngest of the 3 siblings, Danish is such a sensitive young boy ! He was totally adorable when he perks up and smile for the camera ! Keeping up with him was pretty hard workout !