Old Volvos Never Die.

I discovered this old Volvo left to rot in a small village, Kampung Sungai Penchala, last week at the end of a jungle walk in Bukit Kiara and made a mental note to return to grab some HDR brackets. Old decaying buildings and cars just seem to scream out HDR to bring out the very best detail in the decay.

The Old Kirk Graveyard

The oldest church in Kirkcaldy, Scotland is the Old Parish Church (otherwise known as the Old Kirk) on Kirk Wynd. The earliest record of the Old Kirk was the consecration in 1244 to St Brisse and St Patrick by Bishop de Bernham of St Andrews. The present Old Kirk was re-built between 1807 and 1808 in a Georgian style, when the former church fell into disrepair. Only the square western tower of the former church was retained. This medieval tower, which dates from around 1500, has played both religious and defensive roles in its history.
The building in the background is the Allen Lithographic printing company

The Old Louvre

The Old Louvre occupies the site of the 12th-century fortress of King Philip Augustus, also called the Louvre. Its foundations are viewable in the basement level as the "Medieval Louvre" department. This structure was razed in 1546 by King Francis I in favor of a larger royal residence which was added to by almost every subsequent French monarch. King Louis XIV, who resided at the Louvre until his departure for Versailles in 1678, completed the Cour Carrée, which was closed off on the city side by a colonnade. The Old Louvre is a quadrilateral approximately 160 meters on a side consisting of 8 ailes (wings) which are articulated by 8 pavillons (pavilions). Starting at the northwest corner and moving clockwise, the pavillons consist of the following: Pavillon de Beauvais, Pavillion de Marengo, Northeast Pavilion, Central Pavilion, Southeast Pavilion, Pavillon des Arts, Pavillon du Roi, and Pavillon Sully (formerly, Pavillon de l'Horloge). Between the Pavillon du Roi and the Pavillon Sully is the Aile Lescot ("Lescot Wing"): built between 1546 and 1551, it is the oldest part of the visible external elevations and was important in setting the mold for later French architectural classicism. Between the Pavillon Sully and the Pavillon de Beauvais is the Aile Lemercier ("Lemercier Wing"): built in 1639 by Louis XIII and Richelieu, it is a symmetrical extension of Lescot's wing in the same Renaissance style. With it, the last external vestiges of the medieval Louvre were demolished.

Old China Cafe

The Old China Cafe lies in the heart of Chinatown in Kuala Lumpur and entering this cafe brings you back to those nostalgic, pre-war colonial days.  The saloon doors on the entrance give you an impression of a some sort of cowboy town establishment. The building used to be the old guild hall of the Selangor & Federal Territory Laundry Association. The guild was set up at the turn of the century and moved to this part of Chinatown in the 1920s.

Many of the architectural details of the building have remained unchanged, even the interior doors still have wooden latches. Inside there are two large mirrors that face each other and these are traditional feng shui mirrors that Chinese believe would perpetually reflect the good luck when the first rays of the morning sun light up the interior.

The cafe now serves a range of southeast Asian cuisine which originates from the Baba Nonya communities of Malacca and Penang which features Malay spices as well as Chinese ingredients and cooking techniques. The Old China Cafe tries to maintain a semblance of the Chinese community’s old social life which will unfortunately soon fade into history.