I took a quick trip to Malaysia last weekend to attend a lecture and demonstration by a couple of Japanese ceramic artists at Universiti Teknologi MARA in Shah Alam. I was there about 16 years ago for a couple of months as part of an artists’ cultural exchange so it was good to return and catch up with old friends. It also looks like I’ll be back sooner that I thought as I was kindly invited to give a lecture at the university and at the Perak campus based on my book, The Traditional Ceramics of South East Asia. The last time I did this was at the prestigious Yingge Ceramics Museum in Taipei a couple of years ago, and more recently at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok.

Shah Alam, which is about 25 kilometres from Kuala Lumpur or KL, is known for the enormous Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah Mosque, more commonly referred to as the Blue Mosque. Inside and out, it’s an impressive structure and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity of photographing it, even if it meant rising at 5 .a.m. and walking a couple of clicks in order to be there for sunrise. And what better reason to take advantage of the so-called ‘blue hour’ at dusk and take some long exposure shots…

If I am not mistaken, this is the largest mosque in South East Asia. The blue and white dome rises over 100 metres and there at four towering 140 metre minarets. Although you are not supposed to photograph inside, a nice old gent overseeing proceedings at the mosque didn’t seem to object, as long as I didn’t stray into the ladies zone.

There’s more shots in the Malaysia Gallery. I’ll post shots from KL in a day or two.