Lilypie - Personal pictureLilypie

Monday, November 24, 2008

A1GP Sepang, Malaysia


Malaysia's Fauzy at the sharp last turn of the lap

I got free tickets to watch A1GP last Sunday at Sepang F1 circuit courtesy of my friend, Wan. The weather was surprisingly sunny as it was raining almost daily in the Klang Valley. It was very tricky taking pictures of the cars moving at a very high speed. Some turned out pretty cool with the blurred backgrounds and all.

My home team lost a very easy podium place due to some communication problem. Malaysia's Fauzy dropped from 3rd to 10th place as a result of this. The sad thing is that Fauzy was leading the championship points going to the event. The organizers are investigating the incident. More info here.


Race fans waiting for the support race to start

Brazil on the racing line at the apex of the last corner of the track; China on the outside

A Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano Safety Car controlling the race

Race girls doing nothing of importance ;)

A Viper doing flat out on the start/finish straights. Unfortunately it was a DNF (Did Not Finish)



Saturday, November 22, 2008

Cupcakes

Went out with my sister yesterday and she wanted to try out some cupcakes from a place she found on the internet when she was surfing at her home in Swiss! I typed the address in on my GPS navigation device and it guided us straight to it.


This is from my sister's selection. Looks very yummy indeed!


'Clown-ish' cupcake


For that lovely feeling


Pina Colada. The most unattractive of all but the most delicious


The box

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Faridah is back!

Faridah is back, yay! Her flight safely touched down on the 3rd of November 2008 via Emirates at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Must be very tiring to travel with a toddler :) Her husband will be back soon to join the family for the holidays.

Firdaus shortly after reaching the arrival hall.

On the 16th November, we had a BBQ dinner at our aunt's place in Kelana Jaya. We had hot dogs, lamb, beef, whole potatos, some fish, squids, salad etc. It was an excellent dinner!

BBQ-ing. Brand new BBQ set there.

Friday, October 31, 2008

Danga Bay, Johore Bahru

As I didn't get the chance to go back to my hometown in Johor during the Raya celebrations (I celebrated in Kuching), I took this long weekend break during Diwali to drive to Johor Bahru. I had the chance to visit a lot of my relatives here. Of course, the stars from the sky guided me in this not so unfamiliar place.... GPS :)
Other than visiting my relatives and do a bit of shopping, I went to Danga Bay to hangout with my friend and do some night photography.

I went to Restoran Singgah Selalu which is located near Istana Bukit Serene with my friend, Hafiz for some supper and drinks.


Some of the rides at Danga Bay. Taken using long exposure on a tripod.


On the return trip back to KL, we stopped by Ayer Hitam to buy some pisang salai (smoked banana slices) and a vase. Ayer Hitam used to be a major route intersection before the opening of North-South Expressway. You could find alot of pottery products, snacks, fruits & vegetables being sold by the locals. It is normally packed with travellers during beginning & end of a holiday.

Various snacks being sold at Ayer Hitam.

Fruits, anyone?

We bought some pineapples with the 'crown' still intact. I'm planning to plant some in my front yard. I'll update later if plant grows.

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Lamb Steak Marinade

On the way to home yesterday, we dropped by Tesco to buy some stuff. As we were shopping, I came across some fresh herbs and thought "Hey, I think I wanna do some BBQ with some home made marinade". I whipped out my Nokia N95, opened Opera Mini and searched for some marinate recipes. The website stated dried herbs but I chose to use fresh ones instead.

Marinade sauce (good for 6 portions):
  • 1/2 cup apple vinegar
  • 1 cup olive oil
  • 1/2 handful fresh oregano
  • 1 handful fresh mint
  • 3 cloves of fresh garlic
  • 1/2 handful fresh thyme
  • 1/2 handful fresh rosemary
Place all of the above into a blender and process it until it emulsifies. Prick and marinate the lamb and store it covered in the refrigerator for 24 hours, turning occasionally. After 24 hours, bring back the meat to room temperature and grill it. Easy.

Fresh mint

Fresh rosemary

Fresh oregano

Fresh thyme

Fresh garlic


End product :) 

Pictures were taken by me on my Canon EOS 450D with 50mm prime lensAperture was set at f/1.8.

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

High Dynamic Range (HDR) images

I mucked around with HDR for yesterday's post. Well, here's the before and after shots of a HDR I did previously of my car. It may look a little comicbook-ish but I love it! The picture was taken when our car club was waiting at a rendezvous point before proceeding to have a late seafood supper quite a distance away. There were about 15 Satria GTis at the rendezvous point.

Surreal. The car at the center looks like it's very thirsty for some 'petroleum based drink'. Loved how the cracks on the white wall at the far end looks. 3 exposures (-2EV, 0EV & +2EV) were used in a software for this HDR image. Don't forget to use a tripod when taking the shots!

Plain shot at normal exposure (0EV).



Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Reached home on the 2nd October 08

Been back from Sarawak for a few days now and I had some time to select some good looking pictures and do some HDR shots to post in my blog. I'm still new in this HDR imaging and these are some of the first pictures. Basically HDR imaging is photographing the same scene many times with a wide range of exposure settings (e.g -2EV, 0EV & +2EV) and combining those separate exposures into one HDR image. This will make the dark shadows all the way up to bright lights or reflected highlights properly exposed. If you want to read more, click HERE.


No HDR here. Was going to cross the river heading towards Kuching from Sibu. Stopped at the roadside and took pictures of my GPS navigation device and the bridge itself.

View from our hotel in Sibu. HDR image.

Sibu town. HDR image.

Sibu town. HDR image.

HDR image of a building from Waterfront, Kuching.

Calm before the storm. HDR image.

Waterfront, Kuching. HDR image.

Waterfront, Kuching. HDR image.

Waiting for the rain perhaps? HDR image.

HDR image.

This picture and the following pictures are shots of 'Sarawak Layered Cake' or Kuih Lapis Sarawak. Looks wonderfully yummy ain't it?






Saturday, September 27, 2008

A long drive

To Sibu. We went to Sibu from Kuching today to visit my father's elder brother, Pak Long. The drive took about 6 hours of 460km non-stop driving with the help of my GPS navigation system. Strangely the drive didn't tire me very much. I guess my mind was absorbed in memories of me when I was a 10 year old kid with my 4 family members travelling in my father's Mitsu Pajero on mostly gravel road from Brunei's Kuala Belait border to Kuching. That was year 1988. Now, the road condition has very much improved (tarmac), travelling in a much refined late model Toyota Prado with me(!) as the driver and with only 1 familiar face from the 1988 trip. It has been 20 years...


One of the low cost hotels in Kuching

View of Sibu town during the day

Sibu town at night

Grilled fish being cooked at one of the Ramadhan bazaar around Sibu

And some grilled calamari

Honey roasted whole chickens mmmm

Some of the grilled foods being sold

I ordered 20 beef & 20 chicken satays

My Pak Long with my father at the background

Some of the food that we bought to break the fast with Pak Long. Chicken with tomato paste, satay, grilled fish & cuttlefish, Briyani rice and some appetizers. We had a wonderful dinner with Pak Long :)

Significant other checking out graduation pictures on the wall after breaking fast. I'm in one of the pictures