Did you know that Austin has a light rail system? The Capital MetroRail network is not very extensive, but it’s a nice, clean train that runs between the north part of town (near our house) and downtown. Mariko is using it this week to commute to the convention center where she is helping out at SXSW. If you do live close to one of the stations, you can drive there and park for free, then take the train downtown, and return in the evening. Parking downtown is crazy during the festival, so lots of people end up taking the train.
I took today’s photo at the Lakeline Station, while I waited for Mariko to arrive. It’s a small, but clean little station. 😀
Well, as I alluded to in yesterday’s post, I planned to hit the trails with my new Merrell Moab 2s today, and not only did I get to hike, but my son came along with me! It was a lot of fun, we enjoyed perfect weather, and the shoes worked well. I also got to try out a couple other new pieces of gear: trekking poles, a selfie stick, and the Victure 4K action camera.
First up, the BAFX trekking poles are my first pair of modern hiking poles. I previously used a wooden stick that I bought for a few dollars from Home Depot (like a big dowel rod), and it worked nicely, but was kind of heavy and took up a lot of space in the car. I did get to pretend I was Gandalf when trekking with it though…
But these new aluminum poles are a nice upgrade. Not only are they super-lightweight, but they collapse down to 25″ for storing. Using two poles instead of a single hiking stick is really great. Although the poles can help with bearing weight, I think that the main benefit is that they give you better positional awareness of your body. Now there are two additional points of reference to augment your inner ear and feet, and that makes a huge difference.
The selfie stick and action camera were a lot of fun to use, and I can see that it takes a bit of practice to get some decent footage. But I can also see that it just takes some experience in order to improve. I don’t think there are many technical aspects to master since the action cam is not so sophisticated, and the selfie stick is extremely basic as well. The video quality isn’t the greatest, but for $40 for the camera and $10 for the selfie stick, I cannot complain.
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.6, 1/40 sec, ISO6400 “Merrell Moab 2” Cedar Park, 2018
Hey there! Today I bought a new pair of hiking shoes, the Merrell Moab 2 Ventilators. Last week I went hiking and wore my Keen boots, but they are a size too small so when going downhill, my toes would hit the front of the boots. That’s not good. The reason I got the Keens was because I found them at an REI garage sale for only ~$15. They were good replacements for another pair of Keens that I bought for even less! So I couldn’t pass them up. However, as I found out last week, the small size won’t work for hiking.
After a bit of research, I decided to go back to hiking shoes rather than boots. I used to wear hiking shoes a long time ago and thought they were great. I also decided to forego the waterproof models and try a ventilated model, and the Merrell Moab 2 Ventilators fit the bill. These feel great because the toe-box is large and fits my foot nicely. I tried on different sizes, using a very thick sock, which is comparable to my Darned Tough socks, so I am confident that the size I chose will work out well. Tomorrow I’ll put them to the test on the trail, since the weather looks good for a hike. 🌞🌲
But if for some reason they don’t work out, I can always return them because REI has an amazing return policy.
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.6, 1/125 sec, ISO5000 “Fajita Spread” Cedar Park, 2018
こんばんは。How’s it going?
Dinner tonight was beef fajitas, with onion, bell peppers, jalapeño, avocado, cilantro, cheese, lime, rice, and beans. I guess it’s a typical dinner here in Texas. But, what was new for us was that instead of plain sour cream, we had this:
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.6, 1/125 sec, ISO4000 “Crema Mexicana” Cedar Park, 2018
The crema Mexicana was so delicious and rich! Wow, what a difference. I loved it. I definitely prefer it over the regular old sour cream. If you pick some up, I highly recommend it!
One last tip if you are serving flour tortillas: use your gas stove top to toast them. Basically, turn the flame to medium-low, then, using a pair of metal tongs, put a tortilla on the grate. After several seconds, flip it over to warm the other side. I like it where the tortilla is just about to get scorched before flipping over/removing. Even a little burnt is how I like it. And it’s great when the tortilla puffs up at the end! Then put the tortillas onto a cloth-lined (cloth napkin) plate, then wrap in the cloth to keep warm. We actually line one of these tortilla warmers with a cloth napkin and it works great.
It only takes a minute or two to prepare all the tortillas, and you can finish even faster if you use multiple burners. FYI, I learned this technique from my sister-in-law years ago, and we warm our flour tortillas like this every time now. They are so fluffy and fresh this way. No more damp, microwaved, stuck-together flour tortillas!
Anyways, again I might have eaten a little too much. 😝
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.6, 1/125 sec, ISO3200 “Jamaican Dinner” Cedar Park, 2018
こんばんは。How’s it going?
Tonight I fired up the barbecue to grill up some jerk chicken, and I decided to try out the timelapse feature on our new Victure 4K action camera. It’s actually just an intervalometer function which snaps a photo every few seconds, but the camera has a very wide lens on it and is so light and easy to set up that I thought I would have a little fun and see what it could do.
It took about 40 images, which I later imported into the free Sony Action Cam Movie Creator and compiled this little movie:
I’m happy with how it turned out! In general,I’m pleased with the Victure action camera, which so far is well worth the price (I found it for about $40). I’m sure I’ll write more about it in the future.
But let me tell you about the chicken – it was delicious! We like to use Walkerswood jerk rub, and cooking it on the grill adds even more flavor and crisps up the skin. Mariko made rice and peas in the rice cooker and it was pretty good too! All we needed was some Red Stripe, but we had to settle for Sapporo instead. 😝
I hope you had a nice Wednesday!
またね～
“Fire” Cedar Park, 2017Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.6, 1/125 sec, ISO5000 “Jerk Chicken” Cedar Park, 2018
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My camera & photos
I use a Fujifilm X-series camera for most of the photos on this site and my Instagram. Why not pick one up for yourself?
