MELAKA - A PARADE

Isteri saya ada conference di Melaka so saya ikut sama lah :). Kami menginap di hotel Avillion Legacy, Melaka. 

Grand jugak hotel ni. Tengok la lobinya yang sungguh besar. Siling stained glass tu looks beautiful. 

Since ada masa terluang saya pun keluar dari hotel untuk do a bit of photography. Ke mana lagi kalau tak ke Jonker Street ye tak.. hehe.

It was totally unexpected. Right in front of the hotel we stayed in ada satu acara. So this was definitely a delightful pre-shooting coincidence before I proceeded to Jonker street. Sorta like a prelude to that morning's planned photographic excursion.

Saya pun bertanyalah pada staff hotel, ada acara apa pagi tu di Jalan Hang Tuah ni? Rupanya Datuk Seri Najid nak datang. Beliau dijadual merasmikan Pusat Transformasi Bandar (UTC) di bangunan Dunia Melayu Dunia Islam (DMDI), Jalan Hang Tuah ni. Perdana Menteri juga akan melancarkan program Jelajah Janji Ditepati (JJD).

Depan hotel Avillion Legacy, Melaka

That's the hotel yang kami duduk. Imagine lah my excitement bila I stepped out the hotel that morning!! 

I was like a kid discovering a candy parade!! Hehehehe...

Kompang teams

Seronok tengok adik-adik ni checking out the other kompang teams. Cam nak compete pulak. Mereka berbalas-balas main kompang. But it was all done in a friendly and fun manner :)

Kompang players

Yang middle tu ialah ketua juga guru kompang. Hebat sungguh watching him so passionately rousing his team's spirit!

Kompang teams

More kompang team shots. Perasan tak the one with the plastic kompang? Mesti dah lama ada dah tu tapi saya tak pernah saya nampak :).

Silat master

Tok guru silat ni seemed very serious. But since he was the one that looked paling distinguished dan segak, saya beranikan jugak diri untuk bertanya, 'Assalamualaikum tuan, boleh ke saya ambik gambar tuan?'. Saya pun tak tau apa nak address dia, so panggil je dia 'tuan'. Or should I addresses him as 'Tok Guru'? Anyway, he said yes and started to straightened up and pose and smiled. Waaaa.... best betul! Good thing he wasn't upset and turned me down! But then again, kenapa la pulak dia nak get upset pulak kan. But one never know. I thanked him profusely and chatting la kejap dengan dia. Sangat peramah dan baik hati tok guru tu. 

Pak cik beca

Haa... pak cik-pak cik beca ni pun saya mintak izin mereka pose untuk saya. Best betul la orang Melaka, sporting! :). Saya difahamkan, Datuk Seri Najid dan semua pengiring beliau akan menaiki beca-beca ni untuk ke tapak perasmian UTC di bangunan Dunia Melayu Dunia Islam (DMDI), Jalan Hang Tuah ni. 

Tok guru dan anak-anak murid

Ni lagi a couple of foto tok guru silat. Ni dengan assistant dia sekali (yg kelihatan begitu serious berkaca mata hitam).

Cute kan adik-adik tu berpakaian silat ala pahlawan siap dengan tanjak/head gear? Major cuteness I'd say :).

Brothers tu pun sangat sporting bila aku mintak kasi demo sikit bunga-bunga silat :). 

Indian drummers

Wooo... gendang depa sangatlah bingit tapi best! Excited sangat, I went into their circle and started shooting. Mula-mula they gave me that confused look. Then when they saw me clicking away, depa pi pukul gendang dengan lagi bersemangat! Aduhh.... walau pedih gegendang telinga saya, namun saya tetap terus ambik gambar. Bukan senang nak dapat peluang cam ni kan :). 

Dragon puppeteers

These 3 gentlemen pun sangatlah sporting. Their bright red outfit just looked so amazing. Even more amazing were the dragons. Ada macam-macam species, size dan kaler. And there were like more than 10 dragons that morning making it by far the most number of dragons sighting I have ever experienced.. hehehe. 

Dragons abound

More dragons sightings!!! All at rest until summoned to perform :) 

Little dragon master

The future dragon master perhaps :). Btw, I love these 2 shots :) 

Imported puppeteers

Like, I have no idea where the puppeteers are from (lower right photo). Dari Nepal? Bangladesh perhaps? Do we not anymore have young chinese guys to do the puppeteering? And I also have no idea what 'puppets' were those? Giant women? That was probably the most weird shot for that day... hehe.

Brass bands

And they are indeed very skilled. Well, at least they sounded good to my ears lah :)

Brass banders

Is it correct to call musicians in a brass band as brass banders? :)

Selesai ambik gambar di Jalan Hang Tuah ni, saya pun terus menuju ke Jonker Street pula for a bit more photography.

Bersambung.... 

Saya senaraikan entries jalan-jalan Melaka saya di sini:

1) MELAKA - A PARADE

2) MELAKA - STREET PHOTOGRAPHY

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