Photos: Sunset at Penang Teluk Kumbar Beach

When going to Teluk Kumbar (also Teluk Gombar) in Malaysia's Penang State for a dinner at a sea-front restaurant yesterday, I snapped these two magnificent sunseting photographswith Nikon D90 digital camera plus Nikkor 24-70mm F/2.8 ED lens.

Larger versions: Pic 1, Pic 2

PICTUREs: Tokina 11-16mm F2.8 AT-X 116 PRO DX Lens

Tokina 11-16mm F2.8 AT-X 116 PRO DX lens is an ultra-wide angle lens produced by the Japanese lens manufacturer Tokina Co. LTD for Canon- and Nikon-branded APS-C sized digital single-lens reflex cameras. Its price is much cheaper than that of the original lens with the same range manufactured by Canon and Nikon. Tokina 11-16mm lens is a wonderful lens (see reviews by Kenrockwell.com) for those who will make a lot of photographs on the landscape and high buildings. If seldom make super-wide angle shots, it's not recommended to buy it as this lens can seriously disproportionate a person in the picture when the angle is not right. Because as a newbie I didn't have much experience in this regard, it ruined a day of shootings when recently travelling to Malaysia's administrative capital Putrajaya. No need to say more, here are seven portraits of my Nikon F-mount Tokina 11-16mm F2.8 lens from various angles, hope they can be helpful for those photography enthusiasts who plan to purchase it.

Tokina 11-16mm F2.8 AT-X 116 PRO DX Lens

Larger versions: Pic 1, Pic 2, Pic 3, Pic 4 & Pic 7. All images are released under Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike 3.0 License.

Light Bokeh Taken Using Nikon Nikkor 24-70mm/F2.8 ED IF Lens

Days ago I bought Nikon's high-end AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 ED IF lens for my photography hobby though my current skills are very poor. Tonight I tested the lens for the light bokeh pictures which were shot across the windows of my living room (see the overview below). The top image is the one I like the most.  The aesthetic quality of the blur from Nikon AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8 ED lens is very entertaining.

Larger version: Picture 1, Picture 2.
All images were released under Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike 3.0 License

Lightbolt "Striking" Penang B-Suite Hotel

B-Suite Hotel in Malaysia's Penang Island is a quite new hotel which opened for the business only since 2 or 3 years ago. Because of its strategical position (2mins of driving to Penang Bus Station and <10mins to the international airport) together with its low price, B-Suite Hotel attracts a lot of tourists and those who are on the business trip.

On one day in 2008 July, when I went to eat at a nearby food court (now demolished for the properties development), I ran across a high school classmate who I didn't meet up for 12 years the second day he stayed in the hotel. He was then on a business trip from China.

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Everyday I can see the B-Suite hotel across the window of the house I currently rented but never took a picture for it. Several days ago, after a dinner with some friends who was going back to China, I brought my digital camera Nikon D90 to test the standard Nikkor AF 50mm/F1.8D lens. The night was rainy, an accidental opportunity made me picture a photograph of B-Suite Hotel as if it was struck by a lightbolt during a long (8') exposure. This was the first time ever I caputred a lightning in a shot. So surprised! Now I share it here.

The picture below was the original version which was directly converted from RAW to JPEG. And the top one was cropped, retouched and then converted a JPG using Nikon's Capture NX 2 software. Any kind comment are welcomed!

Lightbolt "Hit" Penang B-Suite Hotel

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Larger version: Picture 1, Picture 2. All Images released under Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike 3.0 License.

Picture of Lim Guan Eng, Malaysia's Penang State Chief Minister, for Creative Commons

Malaysia's Penang State Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng (picture below, L3) was invited to inaugurate the celebration of 2009 Japanese Bon Odori Festival on July 18 in George Town, Pulau Pinang.

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Hideaki Hoshi (L2), Consul-General of Japan in Penang received Lim who is Secretary-General of the opposition party DAP. Accompanying him were Lim's secretary Ng Wei Aik (L1), Penang State Excos Lim Hock Seng (R1) and Danny Law Heng Kiang (not photographed in the picture). The image (see original size) is now released under CC-BY-SA 3.0 License for free re-use as long as one gives appropriate credit to this site. It was taken on HTC Touch Pro smart phone with Windows Mobile 6.0 as its OS.

Hatyai Hansa Superclub Ladyboys Cabarets Photos for Creative Commons

Earlier this year, I had a wonderful trip to Hatyai, Songkhla province in souther Thailand. Being to Thailand, aside from feeling for its Buddhist atmosphere and Tomyam cruises, I had a getaway to Hatyai Hansa Cafe Super Club for watching the Thai Cabaret show. Of course, I was totally entertained by those gorgeous ladyboys' performance, though they just mechanically performed along with the melodies. From the beginning to end, I unstoppingly pressed the shutter button of my entry-level DSLR Nikon D40 which was equipped with Nikkor AF-S 55-200mm/f4-5.6 G IF-ED DX VR long focal length lens. Now I'd like to share those stunning (and some were joker-ish) ladyboys picture with all you guys. Feel free to re-use, because they are released under CC-BY-SA 3.0 License, as long as you give due credits to this entry. Enjoy!

(Hatyai Hansa Superclub Ladyboys pictures for Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike 3.0 license)

Muhyiddin Yassin, Koh Tsu Koon Pictures Released For Creative Commons Share Alike 3.0 License

Random Citations release a few pictures of some of prominent Malaysia politicians, namely Muhyiddin Yassin, Koh Tsu Koon, and opposition politician current Chief Minister of Penang, Lim Guan Eng under Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike 3.0 license. Please feel from to re-use, as long as you give proper attribution to this blog.

Muhyiddin Yassin& Koh Tsu Koon

Photos here are Muhyiddin Yassin, then Agriculture Minister, and Koh Tsu Koon, a cabinet minister then as Chief Minister of State Penang, were invited to initiate the opening ceremony of 7th Asia Fisheries Forum back in December, 2004.

AirAsia Airbus A320 Airplane With Tail and Engines Painted Turquoise

AirAsiaX Airbus A330-300 Flight D7 2602 Jet, image for (
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Malaysia-based AirAsia is the most successful low cost carrier in Asia (or probably also in the world). The no-frills airlines launched in 2001 usually uses the bright red as the official color for its airplanes. Look its subsidiary AirAsiaX's Airbus A330-330 above which was bound as Flight D7 2602 to Hangzhou from Kuala Lumpur LCCT on August 31 2009.

Occasionally, AirAsia painted its airplanes for their sponsored sports teams like Manchester United, F1 Williams and Oaklands Raiders. The following picture shows an AirAsia Airbus A320 airplane was sprayed for Tourism Malaysia with its tail and engines painted to the turquoise color. It was taken when I was on the way of going to board the afore-mentioned Flight D7 2602 that day.

AirAsia Airbus Turquoised A320, image for . When reuse, please link back this page. See this (Larger version).