Saturday, January 26, 2013

A Simple But Yummy Mee Goreng!

Mee goreng (Indonesian: mie goreng or mi goreng; Malay: mee goreng or mi goreng; both meaning "fried noodles") also known as bami goreng is a dish common in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore. It is made with thin yellow noodles fried in cooking oil with garlic, onion or shallots, fried prawn, chicken, or beef, sliced bakso (meatballs), chili, Chinese cabbage, cabbages, tomatoes, egg, and acar (pickles).

Ubiquitous in Indonesia, it can be found everywhere in the country, sold by all food vendors from street-hawkers to high-end restaurants. It is an Indonesian one-dish meal favorite, although street food hawkers commonly sell it together with nasi goreng (fried rice). It is commonly available at mamak stalls in Singapore and Malaysia and is often spicy.    - Wikipedia

I like to cook mee goreng, it is fast and good; perfect for old working couple like me and Le General ;)

Below are step by step to my fast simple Mee Goreng Ala C.Y.   :)

Thursday, January 24, 2013

The Best Bak Kut Teh 肉骨茶 in Wellington!

I love Bak Kut Teh! Every time I think of it, my mouth starts to water!!

My Kiwi friends think I am loco over Bak Kut Teh, they want to know what is and why is this herbal; soupy dish so addictive ;)

According to Wikipedia...
"Bak-kut-teh (also spell bah-kut-teh; Chinese: 肉骨茶; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bah-kut-tê) is a Chinese soup popularly served in Malaysia, Singapore, Mainland China and Taiwan (where there is a predominant Hoklo and Teochew community) and also, neighbouring areas like Riau Islands and Southern Thailand."

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Prima Facie - Honda Civic EURO

The Civic sedan, Le General with little Ming-N in 1988.
I was a sucker for Honda Civic, when we landed on this shores of Aeotearoa; my first car was a second-hand white Honda Civic sedan.

It was a really boring sedan, 1.6L; 12 vales; get you from A to B but boring, boring; boring ;)

 A few months later, I traded the borer for a new two door Civic 1.5...
The two door 1.5 Civic, me with family and friend in Auckland, 1989.

Saturday, January 19, 2013

Fixing Heavily Underexposed Photos

A couple of weeks ago I noticed one of our nephew in Malaysia post in FaceBook three pictures he took at a wedding reception in Penang, trouble was; all three photos were heavily underexposed!  Take a look...

Monday, January 14, 2013

Vietnamese Restaurant & Cafe @ Petone

Often on Sunday night I get lazy to cook dinner ;)

After all, there are only three of us (younger daughter come for dinner every Sunday night).  When I get lazy, it is also a good excuse to try out the latest restaurant in / around Wellington!

During the last two years, Jackson Street in Petone have become very popular for restaurants and cafes; there are a few eateries there that we adored!  So three weeks ago while driving through Jackson Street we noticed this NEW Vietnamese R&C, I mean; look at the brightly coloured shop front, it is hard to miss!  We promised ourselves we will have to taste test their offering.


Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Lake Hanlon - Middle Earth's Hidden Gem!

We settled in Middle Earth since 1988 but we never been to Lake Hanlon!

According to the Buller District Council...

"This lovely tranquil lake is relatively recent as it was formed in 1929 as a result of the Murchison earthquake.

This mirror lake sits on a south terrace of the Karamea Bluff.  It is in the middle of beech forest with a track that is an easy grade – rising moderately and then winding down to the lake.  A beautifully built viewing platform allows great viewing and photos."

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Legal Adobe CS2 Suite for FREE? April Came Early?

When I read "Download Adobe Creative Suite 2 For Free"  in 43rumors.com this morning,
I thought April 1 came early!

When I announced what I found to my colleagues, they thought I was joking; but their skepticism turned to excitement and we were all wondering why Adobe do that!

No doubt their CS2 Creative Suite is OLD, but it is still a very powerful software suite to reckon with!

We have been using the same suite for years at work and it cope whatever we want it to do beautifully!

I know, I know; Adobe's latest is the vastly "bloated" CS6, but do we REALLY need all that bell and whistles?  ;)

Friday, January 4, 2013

Video Frame Grab Come Of Age!

I am sure every photographer "worth their lenses" would have "grab" stills from their videos, for one reason or another.  They might not have any still shots of the event they were covering and they need to provide a print of that to their client!

For years, publishers has published exclusives news photos grabbed from videos.

In 2010 I grabbed some frames from a short video I did of a rare chance to watch and listen to Ms Zhang Lei, from China; performing on her Guzheng.


Thursday, January 3, 2013

We All Shoot Fireworks Don't We?

When I post this firework combo photo in Facebook to wish everyone a Happy 2013, I was happy that the photo received quite a few "like" from my FB friends :)

What I did not tell you though, these shots were captured (according to the meta data) way back in 26 July 2007; with a Canon EOS 30D and a Canon EF17-35mm f/2.8L USM lens at the 35mm setting! The exposure was at ISO 200, f/8 and 5.0 to 12 seconds.

Location of the shots?

Beautiful city of Vancouver in Canada!

We were in Vancouver visiting our eldest daughter May-N, she and Lamont were staying in a very nice apartment over looking the English Bay.

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Best Camera of 2012!

According to the extremely popular Digital Photography Review, Olympus OM-D E-M5 has been voted as Best Camera of 2012 by reader's poll!

The second and third place went to the Nikon D800 and Canon 5D-Mk 3.

How did the "half frame" mirrorless wonder beat the other two FULL FRAME heavy weight DSLR?