Car Maintenance, Voting, and Fried Rice

”Orange Subie" Georgetown, 2018
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4.5, 1/35 sec, ISO800
”Orange Subie” Georgetown, 2018

こんばんは。Howzit?

Today I took my Subaru Crosstrek in for its 12,000-mile service. You know what? I love my Subaru and the dealership treats me so well. My whole experience there has been excellent. Today’s maintenance was performed in about half an hour, which was so quick that I barely got started working before I had to close my laptop and head home. But the Subaru experience and brand matches my personality nicely. With the other cars that we’ve owned (Toyota, Honda, and Nissan), I’ve never felt anything special about them. But Subaru is different… I guess that is the power of customer service and brand. Plus the quirkiness of Subaru is cool. 🤣 I like it!

They had a couple more Crosstreks on the lot today, including this metallic blue one:

"Red and Blue" Georgetown, 2018
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4.5, 1/125 sec, ISO320
“Red and Blue” Georgetown, 2018

This is the color I originally wanted, but when I saw the “Cool Gray Khaki” color, I just had to have it! I haven’t regretted my decision once. But look at that red WRX STI next to the blue Crosstrek. That is one sexy car! I’d love to take one out for a spin. I bet it’s fun, but can it compare to a motorbike? Probably just a different experience I suppose. Vroom!

Later in the afternoon, I went to my local library to vote. I was so surprised to see how long the line was! It’s not even election day, and not the first day of early voting, and yet it was the longest line I’ve ever seen – even more than a presidential election! The line went pretty quickly, and I got my vote in, received the sticker, and headed back home and back to work.

"Early Voting" Cedar Park, 2018
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.8, 1/45 sec, ISO800
“Early Voting” Cedar Park, 2018

And finally, dinner! Mariko prepared some fried rice for us before heading to work, so we feasted on that and some wontons that I steamed/fried like we do our gyoza. To kick it up a few notches, I diced some Scotch Bonnet peppers that my mom gave me. These peppers are soooo hot that I made sure to wear gloves while dicing them. But they did add a really nice fire to my meal.

Another yummy dinner. 😌

"Dinner" Cedar Park, 2018
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/5.6, 1/8 sec, ISO800
“Dinner” Cedar Park, 2018

I hope you had a nice Wednesday!

またね~

Fresh Eggs and すき焼き

"Fresh Eggs" Austin, 2018
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.8, 1/125 sec, ISO640
“Fresh Eggs” Austin, 2018

こんばんは。

I’m so lucky that I have a coworker who has chickens and is kind enough to share eggs with us. Fresh eggs are so delicious! They really are so much better than store-bought. And just look at how pretty they are!

This evening, we had sukiyaki (すき焼き). Especially on a chilly night like tonight, it is great to sit around the table with a big pot of sukiyaki bubbling away. Plus the bonus of fresh eggs for dipping made it just about perfect. 😌

"すき焼き" Cedar Park, 2018
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4, 1/60 sec, ISO3200
“すき焼き” Cedar Park, 2018

I hope you had a nice day!

またね~

Udon Snapshot

"Tempura Udon" Irvine, 2018
Photo info: FUJIFILM X-T10, 18mm, f/2.8, 1/60 sec, ISO250
“Tempura Udon” Irvine, 2018

こんばんは

It was a travel day as we returned home. But before we left, we had lunch at Jinbei in Irvine. It was pretty good, but a little on the salty side, and the raw fish wasn’t the best. However, I enjoyed my tempura udon quite a bit!

またね~

"Flying" Los Angeles, 2018
Photo info: FUJIFILM X-T10, 18mm, f/5.6, 1/450 sec, ISO200
“Flying” Los Angeles, 2018

Wedding Day Photos

"Wedding Vows" Oceanside, 2018
Photo info: FUJIFILM X-T10, 44.4mm, f/5.6, 1/640 sec, ISO200
“Wedding Vows” Oceanside, 2018

こんばんは。How’s it going?

Today my oldest brother and his fiancée got married. The wedding was held on the beach, with the sun and surf joining the 80 guests in witnessing the ceremony and vows. It was fantastic!

My brother had asked me if I could take photos during the ceremony, and of course, I was happy to do so. I’m not a wedding photographer so this was pretty new for me, however, I have some experience shooting events and have confidence in how to operate the camera so I wasn’t nervous at all. And that made it a lot of fun!

While I was taking photos, I remember thinking that when I was younger, I would have been so nervous about how the shots will turn out, if I am getting the right angles, if I am missing shots, etc. All those feelings were not present this time, though! I guess that just comes with experience and preparation. And I’m sure the fact that no money was involved and it was a casual wedding had plenty to do with it too. 😀

Anyways, the lighting conditions were pretty challenging (direct sun backlighting) but it made for some really nice shots too. I made lots of use of exposure compensation and was thankful that Fujifilm provides that dedicated mechanical dial just for that function. As much as I dislike using zoom lenses, I have to admit, the Fujifilm 18-55 XF lens worked nicely for the shoot.

All in all, I am happy with how the photos turned out, and I am happy that I was able to be a part of an amazing and joyous event!

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I hope you had a nice day!

またね~