Colours of My Life: Red

I was checking out Life in Color; National Geographic Photographs, and was inspired to do my own series of photographs I have taken, based on colours too, beginning with RED.

"Red, the colour of human blood, symbolises passion, fire, love, and anger. In Eastern cultures, it also connotes luck and prosperity. Red occurs throughout nature, from dying stars to dying leaves, and humans have evoked its powers for everything from politics to sports".

Roses are red, my love ... so also are chilies, strawberries, barberries, little fish, Chinese lanterns, Ferraris, etc., etc.

1. I spotted these red cili padi (bird's chili, bird's eye chili) at the Kinarut Tamu (market) in Sabah. But you would be able to find cili padi in most open/wet markets and supermarkets. They are really spicy fiery hot!

2. Delicious red strawberries on my birthday cake baked by Sarah. Most delicious, thank you! We happened to be in Kota Kinabalu on my birthday recently. Penel & family had graciously invited us to dinner (and this surprise birthday treat) at their home.

3. In Persian cuisine, these berries (Berberis/Barberry) called zereshk in Farsi, are used to make zereshk polo (rice pilaf with barberry), also to garnish plain rice. You can buy the juice in a bottle, but the photo below shows a bowlful of the dried berries that have been soaked in hot water. Sugar is added to drink this concoction, said to be rich in vitamin C. Cheers!      Note: Zereshk is also the name of a village in Qazvin, Iran

4. Our ubiquitous drink of the sweet red syrup (air sirap/serbat) is enjoyed at most wedding kenduris, and other festivities. Here the red syrup with biji selasih is served at a Ramadhan buffet at the Concorde Shah Alam.

5. This little red fish in a bowl is our Ghahraman (Champion), shown here in a Haftsin setting on our coffee table during Nowruz of 2010. A red fish is one of the lucky symbols representing life.

6. The Chinese revere the colour red. Especially during the Lunar New Year, red is found every where. Angpow packets are red, lanterns are red, cheongsams too are usually red. This huge lantern was part of the NY decorations at Suria KLCC.

7. "Ferrari masuk kampung".  Like the proverbial 'Rusa masuk kampung' this car looked pretty out of place in the tranquil setting of padi fields in a kampung/village in Kedah. I took this photo when A was shooting in a drama 'Kerana Dia' which required her to ride in a red Ferrari.

8. Red attracts attention, as the coke tin below did when we were out walking on the beach at Nexus Karambunai, Sabah. The almost pristine beach was littered with this solitary and outstanding 'rubbish'.

9. This sculpture of a 'red man', I found at the entrance to a hotel in a shopping mall here (Empire Gallery). There are many sculptures of 'red people' by China's artists. I also saw some in an art gallery in Singapore (see my 18 November 2011 posting).

10. Evoking the power of red in commerce and industry, we have CIMB Bank, Air Asia 'Now everyone can fly', even Coca Cola, to name a few. But here a restaurant outlet in a mall has a red wall and a grandma on wheels to entice you in. Would you dine here?

All photos by CNB.  Ref: National Geographic's 'Life in Color'.