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.

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 lens. Aperture was set at f/1.8.

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).

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?