Category: Slice of Life

Sweet Paris Crêperie

, , Food, Slice of Life, TravelingLeave a Comment on Sweet Paris Crêperie
"Lemony" Houston, 2018
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/5, 1/100 sec, ISO400
 “Lemony” Houston, 2018

こんばんは。Today Mariko drove down to Houston to pick up her new passport from the Japanese consulate. The drive there was long (almost 3 hours) but it only took 15 minutes at the consulate to receive the passport, so we had a couple hours of free time in the big city. Woohoo!

One of the places we visited was Sweet Paris Crêperie and Café, which served… Crepes! And coffee! I was actually kind of full from lunch, so I had one of their lighter items, a lemon and butter crepe. It was yummy but maybe a little too sour towards the end. Mariko got a crepe with dulce de leche, banana, and berries. It was pretty sweet, and since I’m not a huge fan of crepes in the first place, I wasn’t too impressed. But it was nice to sit down and relax for a little while before hitting the road again for the long drive back to Austin.

"Sweet Stuffing" Houston, 2018
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.2, 1/110 sec, ISO200
 “Sweet Stuffing” Houston, 2018

またね～

Simple Grill

, , , Food, Slice of LifeLeave a Comment on Simple Grill
"Old Reliable" Cedar Park, 2018
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.2, 1/150 sec, ISO200
 “Old Reliable” Cedar Park, 2018

For years now the Old Smokey barbecue has been my grill of choice. It’s so simple and the size is perfect for my family of four. I’ve even taken it camping when we had our minivan because it’s pretty compact and light. Coupled with a Chimney starter, it’s a great solution for relatively compact grilling.

This evening we had some friends over for a Jamaican dinner, so I grilled up some jerk chicken and jerk pork. It was yummy! We usually use Walkerswood Jerk Seasoning (can find it at Cost Plus World Market) on the meat and slow cook over the grill. For the pork (butt), I actually grilled it on our gas grill for a bit, then finished it in the oven. Was super juicy! A pretty good technique since the charcoal grill was busy with chicken.

Mariko also made rice and peas and a shrimp run-down… it was a lot of food, so we were satisfied and stuffed. 😊

"What a Jerk" Cedar Park, 2018
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.2, 1/80 sec, ISO3200
 “What a Jerk” Cedar Park, 2018

I hope you had a nice Sunday!

またね～

Fujinon 35mm F/2 Bokeh Monster

, , , Photo Life, Slice of Life2 Comments on Fujinon 35mm F/2 Bokeh Monster
"Grey Limes" Cedar Park, 2018
Photo info: FUJIFILM X-T10, 35mm, f/2.2, 1/90 sec, ISO3200
 “Grey Limes” Cedar Park, 2018

こんばんは。How’s it going?

One thing I really liked about my Sony a77 dSLR was its articulating screen. I could flip it out and have an instant waist-level camera, which is an interesting way/angle to shoot. Now that I have Mariko’s old Fujifilm X-T10, which also has an articulating screen, I have started using it in the same manner. It’s really fun!

I also enjoy using the Fujinon 35mm F/2 lens. It’s compact, focuses quickly and silently, and produces some wonderful bokeh. It’s what I would call a “Bokeh Monster”.

"Pen Case" Cedar Park, 2018
Photo info: FUJIFILM X-T10, 35mm, f/2, 1/125 sec, ISO1250
 “Pen Case” Cedar Park, 2018

I like the Fujifilm X-T10, but I don’t love it like I do the X100T. I only wish my X100T had the articulating screen. Then it would be close to perfection.

"Bokeh" Cedar Park, 2018
Photo info: FUJIFILM X-T10, 35mm, f/2, 1/60 sec, ISO1600
 “Bokeh” Cedar Park, 2018

I hope you had a nice day!

またね～

Idol Nite 5

, , La Musica, Slice of LifeLeave a Comment on Idol Nite 5
"Japanese TV Show" Austin, 2018
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.2, 1/125 sec, ISO5000
 “Japanese TV Show” Austin, 2018

こんばんは。How’s it going?

Tonight my friend Mikey and I watched a bunch of tv shows and music videos staring Japanese “idols”. The music groups were all affiliated with Hello! Project, such as Morning Musume, Country Girls, ℃-ute, and Tsubaki Factory. It was a lot of fun, especially the old variety show Haromoni@ that the Hello! Project girls took part in. I usually find a new favorite Hello! Project singer and I think I liked Junjun the most from the programs we watched tonight. She reminds me a lot of one of my favorite actresses, Kimura Fumino. And although I knew Hello! Project was the brainchild of Tsunku, I never realized that Tsunku was the singer from Sharam Q! Mind blown!

We also watched a few episodes of the Sailor Moon live action series, which I really enjoy. They were pretty low-budget, but lots of fun.

I only took a couple photos and they weren’t so interesting, so here’s a cool Mano Erina video to watch. I really like it a lot because she has a cool camera. Enjoy!

Idol Nite 5 was a ton of fun and I am looking forward to Idol Nite 6!

またね～

Synchronicity

, lolwut?, Slice of LifeLeave a Comment on Synchronicity
"Synchronicity" Cedar Park, 2018
“Synchronicity” Cedar Park, 2018

こんばんは。How’s it going?

This afternoon I took this photo of our cat Anko and dog Lani sitting together nicely in the same position. And then they moved together, so I took a second photo and made a little animation. Funny, huh?

When they first met, they didn’t get along so well, but just recently, in the past several days it seems, they seem to have become close! Yay!

I hope you had a great day.

またね～

"Friends" Cedar Park, 2018
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.2, 1/55 sec, ISO6400
 “Friends” Cedar Park, 2018