20260111 All for a RM20.00 PSU

Good Morning! Ha ha ha ha! 

 For once, I forced myself to wake up as early as possible to get some soldering done on a nice Sunday morning. The day went kaput the moment I connected the Chip Programmer and switched its power supply on. Since the Laptop was not able to detect the said programmer, and basic trouble-shooting indicates the 9VDC 2A PSU is out.

 Instead of getting it online (and cheaper even with shipping), I decided it was time to drive down to Pasar Road instead...

 

 

This is literally the whole Map of Pasar Road. Just for this post, I am only showing the main street, which is Jalan Pasar (aka Pasar Road). There are more electronic shops (not shown) in the upper area of the map. Anyway, for today's blog, my Journey starts from the left to the right, and that's just about 425 metres (or 1,400 ft, give or take)

Walking down Pasar Road

 A lot has changed since my last visit and I have to admit that Pasar Road was not how I remembered it. I remembered on my last visit, the whole street has gotten hotter because decades old trees were chopped down. Today was no different except for the roadworks behind. And today, there wasn't much of a crowd too.

 The first noticeable sign was that apart from the normal Electrical, Cars and CCTV shops, most of the Electronics shop were not open, except for two. By around 1000 on a Sunday morning, the shutters would be up but it is now past eleven. Secondly, the crowd seemed to have thinned out, which is quite apparent on the open booths and the market alley. Maybe tomorrow is the end of the School Holidays and everyone is scrambling to get the kids ready. Or maybe, this is how it is.

 After getting the PSU, I decided to walk the whole street, starting from the left (as shown on the map (above). Most of the dots in the Map are roughly the spot where I took the photos. It is not accurate but then again, I am not being paid for this.

This is the T-junction entrance/exit to Jalan Pasar Baharu. If you go on straight in, you'll see the Wet Market and then end up cutting across to Jalan Yew. Ever since I came to this area in the 80's for some Tuition, the corner is always filled with fish and aquarium related stuff.

 

Some of these fishes are ready packed in a bag...

 

The more 'exciting' ones, I guess, are plastic bags housed in glass jars, maybe to make them stand upright?

From aquariums, to filters to pumps to plants to food, etc. everything is there. I am not sure why there are eels though.

 

The makeshift stalls on the main Jalan Pasar Road seemed quite empty today. The road shoulders are devoid of sellers.

 

The Clothes shop is still here.

 

And so is the Toy Shop. More than a decade ago, and old man used to sell his RC stuff from a small Van and later, I assumed, ventured into this shop. He does have one at the back but this is much more 'noticeable'. I have to assume because I used to see him in there, always chastising his 'son' and scolding the staff. Suddenly, he appeared on the Van parked on the left and away from the camera.

 

A usual sight where 'Customer Service' is at work. For me, it is normal even when I was a kid but in most shops, they will take the item and slip into another shop, so that the Customer does not see what is being done. My assumption would be, since the Customer wants it fast, the item in question to be repaired and without the Customer asking any questions, butting in and complicating things. It slows down the whole process without them knowing it. But from their point of view, we're doing the sneaky. I've been in that spot many times and it took a lot of strength not to yell at them to shut the hell up.

 

I've just passed a guy sitting on the right. They are the ones selling Blue Pills of mysterious origins and you know what these small shops are, due to images of women plastered near the walls.

 

 

 

The small Market in the Valley. Notice not many stalls are felling meat and stuff, maybe they're closing up since this is already 1100.

 

At the mouth of the Alley is where I would stop for a bowl of soya bean drink. I did not see the old man anymore and so, I am not going to ask. If the next time I came and it still this old woman, then I know the sad answer. Anyway, with the Chinese New Year coming, they are displaying more CNY cookies than soya bean drinks. Or maybe, this is their Business Plan now.

 

 

 

More and more Foreigners doing their weekly marketing and instead of walking back, they're haggling with the Taxi guys. I cannot remember if the Bus Stop is still operational.

 

It is about 1133 and the guys at Nasi Kandar Lubna took about 10 minutes for my Thosai. By noticing the light cast by the Sun, the yellow arrow shows how much time has elapsed. I did not measure the length but it's about 8cm. The traffic on the left is already building up, leading to a heavy Jam later.

 

I finished the whole meal within 10 minutes and by my estimate, I will start to receive a lot of direct Sunlight if I stayed on for another 30 minutes.

 

So, this is the RM20.00 switch-mode PSU. I was looking for those heavy transformer types but with most of the Electronics shops closed, my choice was pretty much limited...