New Shoes For My Baby

It's been long overdue but finally I got to change all my baby's tires last week. I was glad I did so as I found out during the installation, one of the tires was so badly worn out that steel wires were showing!

My previous tires were Dunlop Direzza DZ101s which performed ok. This time around I went for Yokohama S.Drives 205/40/R17. The performance was even better! The ride comfort was better and felt my car attack corners like it was on rails. I haven't tried it in the rain though. So far I've clocked close to 1000km and I'm very satisfied with the performance.

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)

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

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.

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).