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.

Taylor Swift & Taylor Lautner Split Up

Taylor Swift, the 20-year-old country singer, has ended her rumored 3-months romantic relationship with Taylor Lautner, the 17-year-old New Moon star, US Weekly reported.

Taylor Swift and Taylor Lautner met on the set of their movie Valentine's Day. They first sparked rumors of a romance after Swift hugged Lautner at one of her October concert.

A friend close to Swift claimed that the two Taylors have decided to stay friends. "It wasn't really developing into anything, and wasn't going to, so they decided they were better as friends," the source said.

"He [Taylor Lautner]  liked her [Taylor Swift] more than she liked him. He went everywhere he could to see her, but she didn't travel much to see him." the source revealed.

In 2008, Taylor Swift claimed that ex Joe Jonas dumped her during a 27-second phone call.

Victoria Beckham’s Christmas Gift to Husband David Beckham: A Bulldog

Victoria Beckham's Christmas gift for husband David Beckham was a bulldog, Sun reported. The animal, from a London breeder, cost Posh 2000 pounds. She presented the pet dog him when the couple celebrated Christmas at Beckingham Palace. Speculating why Posh selected this special present? She belives "it is a symbol of Becks's spirit on the football field." Do fit! Hope Beckham can lead England to win a trophy in South Africa's 2010 World Cup.

Merry Christmas!

Hello everyone, a very Merry Christmas!

Here are several photos showing singers and dancers performing on a make-shift stage for the celebration of Christmas Eve Party last night at Gurney Palace, Penang, Malaysia.

Larger versions: Picture 1, 2, 3, 4. All images are photographed using a Nikon D90 + Standard Nikon AF 50mm/F1.8 D Lens by the author (Fisherwy) of this blog.

Zizie Ezette: Bung Moktar Radin Wife No. 2

Zizie Ezette credit: CuteCarry.Wordpress.com

Zizie Ezette, 31, is a Malaysian actress. Zizie Ezette has recently married to Bung Moktar Radin, a lawmaker from Malaysia's Sabah State, being his second wife after Nor Asidah Alimuddin. Bung Moktar, a 50-year-old father of four children aged from 2 to 17 yrs, is a Muslim. It's legal for him to marry with Ezette, also a Muslim, in Malaysia where Islam is the state religion.

Bung Moktar Radin, a Malaysia's political bad mouth (watch video)

When the rumor said they were married last week, Bung Mokta, a controversial assemblyman for his racist remarks in the Malaysian parliarment, initially denied but had since acknowleged his new marriage. For Zizie Ezette, she was still somewhat not comfortable to make a confirm, saying the men she had dated before were all bachelors.

Zizie Ezette Bung Moktar "Yes, We're...Married" Picture by NST

“Please understand that I am in a difficult situation. I have to take care of the feelings of many parties. InsyaAllah, I promise I will elaborate more on the matter when the time is right." She told to the Star newspaper.


Below are three more pictures of Zizie Ezette a bit cozy with a Jay-z lookalike man

Zizie Ezette with her male friend Pictures@ Zimbio.com

Carrie Underwood Mike Fisher Engaged (Photo)

Carrie Underwood at the American Idol Experience premiere. Hollywood Studios, Florida on 12 February 2009. Photo credit: Jyle Dupuis, Wikipedia Commons
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American Idol winner turned country music singer Carrie Underwood was engaged to her boyfriend, hockey team Ottawa Senators star Mike Fisher, it was reported today. Carrie Underwood's engagement was confirmed by Mike Fisher himself  on a press conference for tonight's match against the Boston Bruins .

When being pressed for the blogsphere's rumor that they were hitched, Fisher said he had asked Underwood to marry him on Sunday, December 20. He declined to reveal any more details.

"It's true. We're both obviously excited and very happy," he said.

Underwood's rep Jessie Schmidt also confirmed the engagement, but saying no wedding date was set.

Congrats!

Nicole Kidman Powder Makeup Malfunction; Jon & Kate Gosselin Officially Divorced; etc

Nicole Kidman was spotted with white powder all over her nose and under her right eye at the premiere of Nine held at NYC’s Ziegfeld theater on Tuesday, December.

Jon and Kate Gosselin officially ended their 10-year marriage on December 18, 2009.

Beyonce Knowles is about to unveil her first perfume, Beyonce Heat, in this coming February.

Beyonce's mother Tina Knowles has reportedly filed for divorce from her husband of 29 years, Mathew.

Stephanie Pratt, the 23-year-old Hills star and the little sister of Spencer Pratt, smokes in the January issue of Maxim magazine

Kanye West is reportedly planning on tying the knot with girlfriend Amber Rose next year in the Caribbean.

Rihanna “Hard” Music Video

Rihanna's Hard music video has come out! The newly released song is the third track from her Rated R album. Check out the clip from MTV below which featured Young Jeezy, who raps on the track.

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.

Miley Cyrus Little Sister Dirty Dance: Miley Cyrus Urges 9-year-old Sister Noah Cyrus to Perform 'Smack That' Dance

Miley Cyrus caused another controversy by encouraging her 9-year-old sister Noah Cyrus to perform Akon’s racy single “Smack That” in front of many adults back stage at one of Miley's concerts.

In a video clip released online recently, Miley was seen urging her little sister Noah to show off her dirty moves, including shimmying and patting boots while singing the lyrics, "Smack that, all on the floor/Smack that, give me some more/Smack that, till you get sore/Smack that, oh ooh.”

The 17-year-old Hannah Montana star herself has danced on a pole during her performance of “Party in the U.S.A" at 2009 Teen Choice Awards this August.

Check out the clip of Noah Cyrus performing “Smack That” below.

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.

Rihanna Covers GQ Magazine January 2010 (Photo)

Rihanna covers the January 2010 issue of GQ magazine.

The 21-year-old Rated R singer talks about the Chris Brown incident, the Herpes rumours, the new album and her tattoos in the new interview with GQ.

When asked about if she and Chris will ever be friends, the Barbadian beauty answered, “Mmm. Maybe in like ten years, you know? But it's not something that I'm depending on. I'm not depending on his friendship.”

When speaking of the Herpes rumours, Rihanna explained, “It’s not true…It's more ignorant. At first I was like, Are you serious? First I thought people were gonna definitely know that that's not…But when I read it, and I see that people just buy into that…Like, the minute they see it, it forms something in their head…."

Check out the full interview and more pictures of Rihanna at GQ.com.

Shooting Photographs in RAW Format

CC-BY-SA 3.0
Dull, the picture was directly converted from RAW to JPEG without retouches, the exact one if it were directly taken in JPEG on my camera.

If you are (or are aspiring to be) a photography enthusiast who owns (or is planning to buy) either a digital single lens reflex (DSLR) camera or a high-end consumer digital compact one and has yet to set it to take pictures in the RAW format, you are strongly advised to do so rather simply choose JPEG as your primary format!

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Nikon Capture NX 2 magic! The picture is netter when converted from RAW to JPEG with only after a few manupilation in NX 2.

Look at the two pictures above, the top one is directly convert from a RAW format without retouches which would be the exact same one if my Nikon D90 camera was set to photograph in a JPEG. It is so dull as there is much dark portion and a distracting orange dot. After a few retouches on the RAW image by using a trial version of Nikon's awards-winning Capture NX 2 software, a much more appealing version is immediately obtained. RAW pictures can retain as many details as a DSLR can as long as they are not overexposured, compared to JPEG pictures snapped under the same condition

There are already many books and magazine articles on the market addressing the advantages of RAW files, here don't repeat again. Go to have one, they are totally worth of a reading.

AirAsia Airbus A320 Airplane With Tail and Engines Painted Turquoise

AirAsiaX Airbus A330-300 Flight D7 2602 Jet, image for (
Larger version)

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).

Mariah Carey “H.A.T.E.U.” Music Video; Taylor Swift Straight Hair Photo; etc

Sex and the City 2 movie poster has been released. – Ok!

Taylor Swift has straighten her curly hair! The singer was spotted with long and straight hair while heading out to dinner in NYC last night. –Us Weekly

Rihanna shows off her latest tattoo which she has had inked under her right collarbone, reading 'Never a failure, always a lesson' backwards. - Dailymail

Check out the music video of Mariah Carey’s “H.A.T.E.U.”, the third single of her latest album, Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel.

Mariah Carey’s “H.A.T.E.U” music video

Gisele Bundchen & Tom Brady Welcome a Baby Boy

Gisele Bundchen, the 29-year-old Brazilian supermodel, has given birth to a baby boy on Tuesday night, People reported.

The baby is the first child of Gisele and her NFL player husband Tom Brady. The couple tied the knot in an intimate ceremony in Los Angeles last February. Tom already has a 2-year-old son with actress Bridget Moynahan from a previous relationship.

Further details of the birth and the baby's name haven't been released.

Anyway,congrats to Gisele Bündchen & Tom Brady!

Kula Lumpur Twin Towers Taken Using Nikon D90 & Tokina AT-X 116 Pro AF11-16mm/F2.8 DX Lens

CC-BY-SA 3.0.

Having been to Malaysia's capital city Kuala Lumpur for so many times, I never could photograph its spectacular Twin Towers in a whole just because of the lack of the appropriate lense. Recently I bought an ultra wide angle lenses from the third-party lenses manufacturer Tokina. I fulfilled my dream by using Tokina's AT-X Pro 11-16mm/F2.8 DX lenses and Nikon's prosumer DSLR camera D90 when going to Malaysia's General Department of Immigration for a visa application. Check the picture above.

Tiger Woods' Mother-in-Law Hospitalized

Tiger Woods and his wife Elin Nordegren with daugher Sam picture

Tiger Woods' mother in law, Barbro Holmberg, was rushed to hospital with stomach pains on December 8, 2009.

Holmberg, 57, a well-known politician who is visiting Tiger and her daughter Elin from Sweden, was taken to Health Central Hospital in Ocoee, Fla. early Tuesday morning after a 911 call from the golfer's home.

the emergency room at Health Central Hospital

"Barbro Holmberg, mother of Elin [Nordegren], was admitted to Health Central Hospital with stomach pain.” a hospital spokesman confirmed, "She’s in stable condition and is currently undergoing evaluation."

It was reported that at least 9 women are now romantically linked to Woods, and the golfer's wife Elin had moved out of the house because of the cheating scandle.

Uma Thurman & Fiance Arpad (Arki) Busson Split

Uma Thurman, 39, has reportedly split from her 46-year-old multimillionaire finance Arpad "Arki" Busson, whom she began dating in the summer of 2007.

"The engagement ended awhile back – almost two months ago,” a source close to the couple told People, "they remain friends."

Uma and Arki announced their engagement last June after Arki proposed with an eight-carat engagement ring surrounded by 20 smaller stones.

"She will probably give it back.” the insider said, “She wants to return everything that is his."

A rep for the actress had no comment yet.

Tiger Woods Alleged Mistress Rachel Uchitel Offers To Take Lie-Detector Test

Tiger Woods mistress Rachel Uchitel photo via Youtube

Rachel Uchitel, the rumoured “other woman” of Tiger Woods, is offering to take a lie-detector test to prove that she never had a romantic relationship with the golfer.

"This is ridiculous. Not a word of it is true," Uchitel told the New York Post. "I told the [National] Enquirer andStar that it wasn't true. I told them not only did I have information to disprove the story, but I offered to take a lie-detector test.”

Rachel Uchitel, the 33-year-old New York club manager, claims that the person who is spreading the rumours was an acquaintance that was paid $25,000 for her story and wanted to take revenge on her.

"Tiger and I are not friends," Uchitel says. "I've only met him twice. He came in to The Griffin [the Meatpacking District nightclub where she worked as a VIP hostess] in the summer. As usual in my job, I got a call from a promoter that he's coming in. I went outside and brought him and his entire group in, walked them upstairs, introduced him to his waitress.”

"I had never spoken to him before that. I had met him once in my entire life before that, for two seconds at a bar through a mutual friend who just introduced me. Period. He was shy and quiet and sitting with someone else. It had nothing to do with me."

Tiger Woods Car Accident:Tiger Woods Suffered Facial Lacerations in Car Crash

Tiger Woods was hospitalized after being injured in a car accident outside his home in The Sunshine State Firday morning.

According to Orlando Sentinel, the 33-year-old champion golfer struck his Cadillac SUV into a fire hydrant and then hit a tree in his neighbor’s yard about 2:25 a.m. Tiger’s wife, Elin Nordegren, used her husband’s golf clubs to smash open a window and helped free him from the vehicle.

The athlete was reportedly suffered facial lacerations following the accident. He was taken to Health Central Hospital in Ocoee, Florida.

His rep issued a statement regarding the crash, saying "Tiger Woods was in a minor car accident outside his home last night. He was admitted, treated and released today in good condition. We appreciate very much everyone’s thoughts and well wishes”.

Officials has confirmed that the accident was not alcohol-related.

Lisa Rinna Without Makeup (Picture)

Lisa Rinna, the 46-year-old actress who is best known for her plumped-up lips, posted a-makeup free picture of herself on her Twittter on Tuesday, writing, "This is what it looks like before beauty team arrives. Just keepin it real ppl!"

Earlier this year, Lisa has admitted that she “overdid” the beauty treatments by getting dermal filler injection into her face.

"When you change your face, you don't look like yourself," she said. "Looking fresher is one thing. I look like a freak! I always said I wouldn't change my face, but I did it."

How do you think of Lisa without any makeup?