REVIEW: Gran Turismo 5

Gran Turismo 5 is a playstation exclusive game that I have been looking forward to for years - I bought the Playstation 3 system for a few games and this definitely was high on my list. After a long 4-5 years, the wait is finally over and their product finally broke out of that delay limbo all GT fans are familiar with. We finally get the game we've been all waiting for with an option of a collectors edition that comes with the following extras: a GT-R model car, keychain, exclusive booklet , and numbered certificate of ownership + 5 bonus in-game cars.

The playstation had released two other games prior to this final release to help feed some of their anxious fans, including myself: Gran Turismo 5 Prologue and Gran Turismo for the PSP. The only thing i remember from playing the "Demo-ish" Prologue version were the very irritating loading times between almost all actions - I'm glad I only borrowed the game from a friend. I own the PSP version and have mixed feelings about the game - it has a lot of cars which is good, but it's like playing Gran Turismo arcade mode only which is not what I was looking forward to. I'd say the prologue was not worth the money since you only get a few cars/maps to play with. The PSP version will force you to try a lot of different cars because of the lack of upgrades. After playing the real GT5, I will not see myself going back to either of these games.

I have played GT5 non-stop for the past 3 days during my Thanksgiving weekend and think I have a pretty good idea of the game and its direction. GT5 has a lot of features that are new to the series, they are mostly geared towards creating a closer community thanks to the internet and the Playstation network. You can view exclusive video content from the GT TV in-game, share your progress with friends, share and take pictures of your dream cars, and of course online multi-player competition. There are probably other features that i've not played with yet and possibly new features with future updates but lets go over the gameplay.

You start off with $20,000 much like in the previous version of GT and this means you start off with an inexpensive car and work your way up. It's not going to be as easy as the previous version because of a new "player level" aspect that grows as you progress through the game. Basically it limits what players can buy depending on their skill level - the game labels all cars with a level requirement and they must be met before you can purchase/use them. You can level up by taking license tests or winning races/challenges. There's a new AI-based gameplay called Spec-B where you act as a manager for a race team and build up a list of drivers that will help drive for you - it's pretty frustrating because the drivers start off as drivers that spin-out, understeer and oversteer; you need to give them commands (controlling their pace) to help them during a race. It's interesting and gives you an alternative way to unlock cars that you might not get in Spec-A (The traditional GT single player mode). Tip - just keep pace in the middle and you'll win a map usually (that white line between the blue/red).

There were a lot of hints that GT5 will have some sort of damage system, and it does but just not as realistic as you would want it to be. The damage system is very subtle and can target two areas: power and handling. For instance, if you abuse your car's engine a lot, you will see a decrease in horsepower after a race. If you damage your car's body you will lose handling performance and notice difficulty around corners. You can make repairs outside of a race but it's quite expensive, so this forces you to become a better driver and think twice about abusing your car to win a race.

The graphics in this game are quite good overall and even better with "premium" cars. The premium cars are cars that have higher quality detail than the "standard" cars; premium cars are all the cars that are shown at the dealerships in the game and possibly other cars you obtain in the game. These premium cars offer that high quality GT5 detail most of us were looking forward to and there is also a Photo Mode to photo-shoot your car at a several different virtual locations. The photo mode also has an "SLR" like feel to it because it allows you to adjust aperture and exposure settings as well as focal length. I've taken pictures of the NSX-R and love the results.

The driving experience is as good as it gets, very serious and simulator-like -- you will need to really use your skills if you want to play this game well. The game, by default, has the racing lines in-game so that you can take it easy and enjoy the game. With the racing lines on, I got to enjoy the advantages of an MR (Mid-engine Rear drive) type car but after turning them off, I also felt difficultly of actually driving an MR car. Tuning cars is also a pretty large element in this game and you get to adjust every suspension detail as you have in the past. This game really does push you to become a better driver and also gives you the opportunity sharpen your suspension/tuning skills.

I bought the collectors edition at first just because I liked the GT-R model car, but the real treat was the booklet it came with. The book is like a car encyclopedia, it contains so much information that it deserves the title of "Ultimate Car Guide". The book goes over everything from how a car is created to how every individual part functions in a car. I found the book helpful because helps illustrate how different tuning adjustments affect your car's handling/power. About 200 pages of this book is general information about cars, tuning and racing advice - the remaining 100 pages contains a listing of all the maps/cars in the game - THIS BOOK IS JUST AWESOME!

There is a lot more to say about this game and after playing it for 3 days i'm sure I haven't tried out everything just yet. So far I am satisfied with the game and would firmly give it 9.0 out of 10 and a perfect 10 if they improved loading times. Loading still takes some time even after the 8GB install, I am considering an SSD hard drive to increase performance on these load times. The multiplayer is working fine but I would also like to see improvements in the future. The single player mode is challenging enough for me and gives a realistic simulation of the actual cars. I believe this game is a must-have for those who like cars or love realistic racing games. This game is probably not too interesting to people who expect something fun because it definitely is not "fun" until you've spent hours sharpening up your driving skills. If you are not prepared to spend a lot of your time perfecting your driving skill, this might not be a good game for you. If you want the best possible car-simulator there is, this is as good as it gets for the PS3 and you should definitely get it.

GUIDE: Thanksgiving Turkey

The day has come again where many will be given the task or the duty to cook the turkey for thanksgiving. I have cooked turkey in the past with many different approaches and I believe this year will be my 6th or 7th time cooking a bird. To me cooking turkey has become fairly simple and there are only a few steps involved. Spend some time reading this guide if you want to learn how to cook a turkey with minimal effort.

Selecting Turkey:
First you need to buy the turkey of course, from my past I have tried: Butterball (frozen+fresh), Foster Farms (fresh), and Safeway (fresh); you will get what you pay for. The Safeway (supermarket) brand was the worst tasting one of the three - I got a fresh one and cooked it the same day because I was curious how well a bargain bird was. The Safeway bird will taste pretty bland; you might think you were eating cardboard for a moment because there is no turkey flavor and you will be focusing on other weird tastes. Most likely these bargain birds have been fed trash or scrap and will unfortunately taste like it. The next bird is from Foster Farms, a more reputable brand, and these are reasonably price and offer decent quality over their supermarket branded ones and i would recommend these if you wanted a cost effective bird. Lastly, the famous Butterball is definitely the winner if you want the best possible results of the three. The butterball turkeys have more fat to help during cooking, also it seems the turkey was much cleaner to work with.

If you buy fresh - make sure you cook it soon or freeze it; frozen ones you should give yourself 2-3 days in advance to thaw it properly.

Seasoning Turkey:
I am no master of this art but what I suggest is just salting the turkey overnight in between the layers of skin. You will need to dig in between the meat and outer skin all around the breast, thigh and legs -- it will sound difficult but it really isn't. Start from the rear cavity and separate the skin from the breast and then move down to the thigh and drumstick. After the bird has been well salted make sure to put it into the fridge overnight and then rinse all that salt off in the morning - fill the water into where you applied the salt. Pat the turkey dry with the towel and oil the bird all around and generously - figure out how you want to flavor the bird -- for me it's just whatever i find in the cabinet. Because we have "salted" the turkey, you don't need to add any more - just focus on your aromatics and herbs. A simple aromatic combination is Chinese 5-spice and Old-Bay seasoning 50/50 mix which will be a combination of many different herbs and spices. Again, I will apply this rub between the skin and also around the oily exterior.

Many traditionalists will argue that using brine will be the most bombproof way to prep the turkey and they might be right. But by just applying salt in between skin and meat, the salt will dissolve and create a more concentrated liquid - which will be much quicker/powerful than the water-based brine, just make sure to rinse the turkey thoroughly once before cooking it.

Cooking:
Make sure you take the turkey outside (room temp) for at least an hour or so to ensure the turkey is not too cold (this will mess with cooking times). Make sure you have your oven preheated to 500F and prepare the "turkey triangle" as Alton Brown refers. Fold a sheet of foil in half (triangle) and mold the foil to cover both sides of the turkey breast. After you have molded the turkey triangle, take it off the turkey and set it aside and re-oil the turkey if necessary. Make sure you have the turkey elevated on the pan/bake-ware you plan to cook it on so that the drippings don't reach the turkey during cooking; also it might be a good idea to get a second tray to catch any splatter. Cook the turkey for 20-30 minutes at 500F to brown the skin. After the turkey is well browned, put the turkey triangle over the breasts. Now close the oven door and lower to 350F and cook the bird until it's done.

To get the best cooking results, do not follow the instructions based on time, instead just spend $15 and get yourself a thermometer probe. This inexpensive gadget can extend out of your oven and allow you to view the temperature of the turkey while it cooks. IT IS IMPORTANT YOU DO NOT OPEN YOUR OVEN DURING THE SECOND COOKING PROCESS. If you do open it.. you will have uneven cooking and you should probably rotate the turkey every hour to make sure it is well cooked all around. I stick my probe into the inner thigh and wait until it reaches 172F and then i take it out of the oven and cover it in foil for an hour or two before attempting to carve it - a great time to start preparing the side dishes.

Gravy:
The drippings you have gained from the cooking the turkey can be used to create wonderful gravy. First thing you should do is skim off all the oil/fat from the droppings into a separate bowl as best as you can. Next, taste the drippings -- and see if it is salty or not... It should be salty because our bird is seasoned very well. Now make a "rue" with liquid fat (butter or the top of drippings) in a pan with 50% fat and 50% flour and mix until you get something that is like wet paste. After you get to the paste form of rue, add some of your skimmed drippings to the mixture and control the saltiness by adding more salt or liquid (water/milk/broth/whatever). For me I use about 1/4 cup of grease and 1/4 cup of flour as the rue - then I will add about 2 cup of the drippings + 1-2 cup of the water. Make sure to keep mixing the gravy and cook it for at least 5 minutes, the sauce will thicken more as you cook it and you can add water/broth to make it thinner. Remember also to taste it before you take it off the pan.

And this concludes how I cook a turkey -- there might be better ways but this is how I will do it this year.

EVENT: SF Bike EXPO 2010

This weekend, I attended the 3rd annual SF Bike Expo - an event that combines a showcase of new bicycle products with the opportunity to shop for used gear as well. The event is held a the Cow Palace in Daly City, California and is held annually around the same each year. I had a lot of fun last year here and had high hopes for the next ones to come.

This year's expo was significantly smaller than I remember, it felt like only half the vendors showed up compared to the previous year's. Although the event was smaller, I did have a decent time attending and just wished I studied the expo a bit more beforehand. I found myself enjoying the EXPO more than the swap meet this year and it gave me an idea of what to expect next year. Swap meets are fun when you have a list of items to hunt down but the Expo can show you products you might need and haven't thought of. As usual, a lot of designer style items were on the Expo side - very trendy shirts and accessories. I was also surprised to see Timbuk2 and Rickshaw Bagworks there selling their bags at almost half price - something I really wanted to own. But recently I have been spending quite a bit and while I was there I've already spent about $120 into items I didn't necessarily need so I had to pass just to control myself.

There wasn't much to photograph either since most swap meets are very similar and have that flea market type feel. I have been to a lot of swap meets before and the SF bike expos this year was a little disappointing because of all the high prices of all the vendors. I felt like parts in general have either gone up or the merchants just wanted to milk as much money as they could. I saw cheap caps selling for double what they were worth and $50 rear derailleurs that I could easily find $20 elsewhere. I guess the cycling world has gotten a lot of attention these days and people are more interested in parts this year. Honestly I couldn't say I spent a lot of time digging this year since I felt I had enough parts and couldn't think of anything to get for myself. After skimming through most of the merchants, what I've found myself purchasing this year was a vintage dura-ace 7400 rear wheel with new spokes and a 7-speed cassette. This wasn't something i was looking for since I had no idea what to purchase at the event but it was one of those items that were difficult to find for the right price. The wheel costed me $80 and another $20 went into a wool jersey recommended by a friend I took along the trip. The other $20 went into an arm warmer - something I thought of looking for when attending this event.

After coming back from the event, I googled at some of the vendors I saw and felt stupid not to prepare for this expo because there were a lot of neat items they were showcasing along with some great prices. Next year hopefully the expo will be larger and I will do my homework to make sure I can scarf up some exclusive deals. Some of the vendors I liked were Timbuk2, Rickshaw, Krieg, Clif Bar, the old man who sold me a wheel, and possibly more vendors if i only had done my research ahead of time. There definitely will be a next time - I'm going to plan on spending more next time I come.

REVIEW: SanDisk SD Plus Flash Card

Ever get tired of finding that memory carder or even the USB cable to transfer the files form your camera to the computer? Well this product will likely change your life; stick around because I am going to review one of my favorite gadgets of all time.

SanDisk has come up with a product that is simply genius and more people should be aware of it - the SD plus flash card. The picture shows two versions of this card, the original on the right and the ducati version in sporty Italian red on the left. The earlier version of the card was released before the SDHC technology was standard - so it was back when a 2GB SD was fairly large and moderately priced. I opted to spend a little more at the time for this one because I was interested in this cool feature of USB and the idea of a faster SD card. At first I thought it was just a neat gimmick but i soon realized this was actually a very practical and versitle product that i have used more often than any other flash drive. It's much smaller than a conventional USB drive and functions almost the same. Also the retail version of the SD plus card comes with a bonus key chain accessory that allows you to sleekly store the SD card when you're not using it (almost like a USB drive).

Because this is also an SD card, it can go directly into whichever device that supports SD such as music players, digital cameras, and digital picture frames just to name a few. Having the USB and SD interface in one card does not sound as cool as it actually is - this combination is actually very strong together and has really affected the way i think about future SD card investments. I don't ever have to use a card reader anymore and also won't need to carry the card reader or USB cable while i travel with my point and shoot camera. I could put it into my pocket with the supplied key chain accessory like i would with any USB drive, but now i have a spare SD card at all times in case i ever need to replace an SD card from any device. There are probably many more ways to show how this card excels past your normal USB or SD flash, but let's focus back to the review.

The older version is labeled an Ultra II and is spec'd to perform fast at the time - when tested it got about 9MB / sec. read speeds. One thing i noticed about the older version of the drive is that it will heat up a bit when plugged into a USB port - although i never had the drive fail on me for years now, it still is something i worry about. There are several versions of this drive: 512MB, 1GB, 2GB (shown), 4GB SDHC, and the rare 8GB SDHC version. The SDHC versions are rated as Class 4 - i have not tested these newer SDHC versions but i'm sure they will be similar, performance-wise, as the one i have with me today. For most people the 9MB/s speed should be plenty and would satisfy most point and shoot cameras. But if you were more professional or shoot in RAW you might need faster speeds to save time between transferring files and also saving photos in burst mode.


For those who are in the need for more speed, there is the special Ducati edition of the SD plus and it is as fast as it sounds. The card was created in cooperation with the Ducati motorsports branding to show their dedication to speed and performance. This card is rated as a Class 6 SDHC card and rated to read/write up to 20MB/s. But all SDHC cards are not created equal and there has been some Class 10 SDHCs that got out performed by slower Class cards such as this one. I've looked online and found a website that had a database of the Read/write speeds of almost all current flash cards on different cameras / card readers and found that the fastest speed obtainable from the Ducati SD plus was around 20MB /sec. with their best card reader. I decided to run my own test and was surprised at the results I got from using the built in USB, 24MB/sec. as shown from the photo.

The price of the ducati version, when it first released, retail was $129 - something very extravagant and never made it on my shopping list. But with SDHC phasing out and card capacities rising - there has been an overstock of these cards and stores are liquidating them at prices similar to regular SD Plus prices. I was able to purchase a pair from overstock.com for under $50 in bulk OEM packaging. I have been a huge fan and decided to just buy it knowing i could of gotten two 16GB SDHC cards for roughly the same price.

This product is really something you just need to experience first hand just to see how awesome it really is. To those who are debating if it is worth the sacrifice in storage, it might not be worth replacing your main card - just keep this one on your key chain in case you need it. I would recommend buying one just because it doubles as a USB drive so it's something that can see daily use vs. something just sitting inside your camera. One thing that i like about it is that it's RED!

Using that "Other" Lens

One main advantage of SLR cameras is the ability to change lenses, something that has been done for years since the 35mm film days to now in our digital era. There are two types of lenses: primes and zooms, and both offer their advantages. Prime lenses are more simple in design and are fixed at a certain focal length - meaning they do not have the ability to "zoom" closer or further which would be feature offered by the zoom lenses.

Primes can be built more simply and cheaply compared to zoom lenses and this offer some advantages. With a more simple design, there are less elements in these lenses which means less distortions and also less weight. Generally a prime lens will offer better quality than an equivalent zoom lens and also offer a wider aperture meaning it will allow more light through the lens or is "faster". With a "faster" lens, you will be able to take images in darker areas and shoot with a faster shutter speed, this is probably where the "faster" term comes from.

Most people in the old days used primarily prime lenses because zoom lenses were just too expensive and cost of image quality was not worth the extra money, but today the quality differences have become more narrow and cost has been driven down a bit. I've been making a lot of comparisons with the past because the featured lens of this blog is an old 50mm lens from the 80s that has been used before by my father with his old 35mm.

Even though the lens may have a canon lens cap on it, it is not a canon lens - it's actually an old Pentax-M 50mm f/1.4 from my dad's old Pentax Super ME 35mm camera. I did a little research on this particular lens and found out it was actually a decent lens (quality wise) and had potential uses. Although it was not going to be super sharp or quick to focus compared to modern day lenses, it has a super smooth manual focus ring that I admired. Being a Canon user, the lens could not normally fit onto my SLR body without the aid of an inexpensive PK to EOS (pentax-k to EOS) adapter from our friends in the far east. The reason for the Canon lens cap was because I did not have any 49mm filters around so I decided to upsize it to 52mm in order to use the filter I had and also look for that nice vintage lens cap as you see on the photo. I had the lens also cleaned because there were signs of moss inside the lens as well as dust - it cost me about $35 and that's where i spent another $5 on the rubber lens hood as pictured.

After all the extra money spent on this lens, it is time to talk about my experience with it; I had very mixed feelings about it at first, but eventually I found myself learning more from this lens because of all the manual work. Since i'm a beginner, I can't say my judgements on this lens are final because I find myself more open about this lens the more I use it. One thing for sure is that the auto focusing is a luxury I miss from the other lenses i've owned. It was frustrating to see the results in the beginning because I could not get very sharp images with it wide open - it was always very soft and didn't meet my standards or the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 MKii in comparison. Although it might not be as sharp as the prime i've used in the past, it does offer that smooth bokeh or background blur that some people such as myself begin to adore. People often called it the "dreamy" lens and I can see why; the images taken through this lens come out soft and easily blurred at the larger apertures. Sharpness can be obtained at the f/8 and smaller apertures but anything larger will tend to get softer around the subject. Also the problem with manual lenses, there will be no way to get the aperture information within the file and it will not be able to record the focal length of the lens used. This can be a pain when trying to review the lens for the first time and understanding how to use the lens optimally.

I have had a few good shots with this lens, despite all the complaints I made. After taking a photo like the one above, I began realizing how nice a bokeh could be and how to start using it more in the photos I take in the future. Capturing a nice background blur that is related to the subject in the photo illustrates a lot to the person viewing it and also to the person who took it. The photo of the flower was probably the one that really impressed me - since it does show the sharpness of the lens and also the awesome use of its blur ability. Overall, I can say this is a good lens but with a high learning curve - I will probably not invest into anymore manual focus lenses in the future knowing all this. Definitely I had fun with this lens and will learn more from it later.

If you have an old lens and a Canon SLR, i would recommend investing in that adapter because you might learn more from operating in manual and also because you will have another lens in your collection for the price of an adapter.

REVIEWs: The Try-pod Game

Tripods are a camera's best friend - especially when you're shooting without the flash on. I've have always liked the idea of a dependable lightweight tripod without breaking the bank. I've made quite a few poor investments in the beginning, but after all the trials with various setups I hope I have all the tripods I will ever need.

My very first tripod came from woot.com it was the SunPak 7500 for $30, it was inexpensive but very good and sturdy. Even though it was obviously made cheaply from China, it felt high quality and felt steady and the controls adjusted angles smoothly. The only problem with this product was that it was bulky and awkward to move around with - definitely a more heavy duty studio-type tripod. The next one i got was a set from Tripod-Guru which just turned out to be a waste of money because it was so fragile and flimsy; I broke a knob within the first day using it in the field. I would find myself spending extra time on this tripod to get a good angle; the tripod would jerk and move out of place easily. After the disappointing experiences, it wasn't long before I decided to look for some quality tripods to replace what I had because I could not tolerate unpractical or poor quality items.

At first, I couldn't believe the prices of the more professional Tripods with the more practical features. Brands like Gitzo scared me off at first because of their $300+ price tags as well as the need to purchase separate head systems. A head system is an adjustable mounting piece that attaches onto the tripods and it is where you mount your camera onto; most high end tripods manufacturers will let you decide on the head seperately. It took some time but I spotted a reputable tripod brand selling tripods at almost half price: the Induro C-113. This tripod cost me $120 it was made with the latest craze: carbon fiber - something that offers extra durability and reduces weight. It would have been great to get the cheaper aluminum because I felt the carbon fiber did not add much more value for the price premium. Induro, from my limited experience, made a very stable and solid tripod - there were no wiggles or loose parts that i could find. I was surprised that it also came with nice carrying bag and a set of tools on top of their 6 year warranty offer. I had a lot of high hopes for this carbon high-end tripod but it still felt pretty heavy with the first head system i bought for it.

The head system that i regret purchasing first was the Giottos MH-5001. This head system was the panning style which was more traditional but also had a quick-release design. Again, the only problem with this head was that it was just too bulky with the adjustment knobs in place; the head was so large fully assembled it couldn't even fit into the pouch it came with. Aside from my complaints though, it was a very good head if you were looking for one that offers steady panning at a decent price. After a few uses, I was looking for alternative solutions.

My next purchase was more simple: the monopod, something much lighter and very easy to carry anywhere. I found an older Manfrotto monopod on ebay for $50 and a matching headpiece on craigslist for $25. The combination was very solid and everything I expected of a quality product despite it being second hand. But because it was meant to support over 13 pounds, the monopod definitely felt heavier than it should have been. After some testing, I started liking the quality of Manfrotto, so I decided to get myself a new Manfrotto ball head that used the same quick-release system i became fond of. I quickly placed and order for the a Manfrotto ball head: the 496RC2. When it arrived, I noticed the newer Manfrotto head was made in China whereas all the older stuff I had been made in Italy - quite a change in quality i'd say (more plastic). The Manfrotto ball head was great, it was easier to adjust than my previous head systems thanks to the quick release ball clamp. After getting my monopod and tripod system, I thought my search was finally over but there was still that desire for something more portable and light.

It was about a few weeks later I saw a gorillapod at my local Fry's Electronics selling for $10 - something worth trying. The flexible and small legs on this tripod was not meant for my SLR - so I decided to test it with my sister's point and shoot. I was amazed at how well it performed; it could easily hold its form and also gave a lot of angles that you couldn't get any other way. The very first idea that popped into my head was wrapping it on a bicycle so that I could record video while i rode - this product was so versatile you can find an alternative use for it everyday.

There were other variants of these gorillapods as i researched more about them after my initial purchase. They all seemed to function the same but each variant increased in size and weight support. An interesting one was the iPhone kit that allowed you to use the smaller gorrillapod to hold your iPhone. This was particularly cool because I always wanted something to hold my phone while i watched Netflix on it - it was expensive at the time so I decided to wait.

I found myself getting the larger version of the Joby the very next week because Fry's had another sale. Instead of $10 it was now $100 for their top of tier product which also came with a ball head. At first I was very impressed at the price and tried hard to talk myself out of buying it. But eventually after some research, i just had to get it. I am glad I did also because this was the very item that solved my search for the practical, stable and dependable tripod.

The Gorillapod Focus was exceptionally sturdy and the ballhead was superbly smooth. I was very amazed at how great the quality was for the amount of money spent and was hooked on using it products and having fun with them. Also with the larger gorillapod, I was actually able to create my very own iPhone holder with the help of double-sided tape between a spare quick-release plate and the belt clip that came with my phone case.

Using the Joby head on the top of the carbon tripod, I was able to support an old telescope (for extension) with the Gorrillapod focus, Manfrotto head system, and iPhone attached. I felt like a genius to be able to make my very own iPhone mount with the tripod accessories I had. Sure it was very excessive but I now have a unique setup with two ball-heads of adjustment and also the luxury of watching Netflix while laying flat on my bed.

Another trick with the Gorillapod Focus was attaching it to my very own arm and shooting my camera with a remote trigger - I felt cool until my arm started hurting and changing colors.

Even though I spent more time talking about the GorillaPods, the Induro and Bogen/Manfrotto stuff was very good and solid and provided more conventional use. The GorillaPod was more of a toy: fun to use and might come in handy when you least expect it.

Summaries:

Induro C-113 Tripod
PRO: very sturdy, solid, and durable - 6 year warranty
CON: Does not fold up like those fancy Gitzo tripods
Very good if you can find for cheap, i paid $120 for mine

SunPak 7500 Pro Tripod
PRO: Cost effective and high quality
CON: Bulky and limited to only the integrated head system
Good if you wanted a large tripod for cheap.

Giottos MH-5001 Head System
PRO: Smooth and very solid
CON: Very bulky when fully setup
It will be a pain to disasemble/reassemble to fit it into your bags.

Bogen Manfrotto 3249 (old version) + 234RC Monopod
PRO: very solid, built to last
CON: isn't compatible with the 3-leg accessory with current Manfrotto monopods.
Lighter than tripods, and will give you the edge you need to take a better photo.

Manfrotto 496RC2 Ball Head
PRO: Quick Release Clamp for Adjusting
CON: Some parts are plastic, so this feels cheaper
My best ball head yet - recommended

Joby GorillaPod Classic
PRO: very versatile and light
CON: limited to P&S cameras, locking/unlocking the quick release mount can be difficult
A fun gadget if you wanted a tripod for the point and shoot.

Joby GorillaPod Focus + Ballhead X
PRO: versatile, supports up to 11 pounds, excellent ball head
CON: requires some muscle and patience to adjust the legs
This is something I would consider if you plan on traveling with an SLR.

Switching to Organic

I can't believe the day has come when I've converted my ways of thinking and actually contradicted a lot of my past beliefs of organic foods. The roasted perfection blog i recently posted was a how-to guide for roasting chicken; it was done so with an organic chicken we had leftover in the freezer. I had a very good and almost mind blowing experience with that chicken that i needed to do it again - this time testing out the difference between a $12 organic with the $4-5 supermarket bird; which is exactly what I've done yesterday.

So what happened? Well I can't say the chicken turned out bad because my family ate it and agreed it was pretty good. When i took my first bite, it tasted EXACTLY like that $5 Costco chicken I've had all my life. At first I was amazed and a little proud to have replicated the Costco chicken - feeling like it was some achievement. But then, shortly after, i realized how far off this chicken was compared to the organic one i cooked last week. I was so disappointed in the Foster Farms chicken that I would agree never to purchase this type of meat again... it is just far from what chicken should really taste like. I felt like a guy who has seen quality for the first time.

So i did more research and at the same time finished watching the Food Inc. movie on Netflix and realized just how much change is ahead of me. I believe my life going on forward will involve less meats just because the quality of meat I can afford is just a horrible idea now. I will probably be eating a more vegetarian diet with little or no red/poultry meat. I just hate low quality anything, it is just not my style and I was glad I could mimic the Costco chicken that most Americans and people worldwide love because it just showed how far inferior it was.

I think the journey with this new diet of mine will be a very healthy one and also a very committed one. Commercial products are all around us and it will be significantly harder to avoid eating it because even a vegetarian diet is not enough - I will have to go all organic and probably see myself spend more money inside Whole Foods (something i could never see myself doing).

Roasted Perfection!

Just wanted to test out my new kitchen gadget, an inexpensive food thermometer (the ones with the long cord) on a chicken today and it was a great success!

I have cooked thanksgiving twice already and each year seems to come down to how well the bird was cooked. I've cooked three birds already and had each possible result show up: perfect, undercooked, and overcooked - it's always frustrating when you carve into the bird with your guests waiting. Well this time it's going to be different because I bought myself a tool that will bulletproof the cooking process down to a science.

I've seen these thermometers before and actually did buy a real cheap $5 one form the supermarket but had very terrible success, it was some metal one that had a non-digital readout -- very poor performance and a pain to check. The new one i got was the luxury equivalent complete with a digital reader, a temperature alarm and also a heat proof probe that can extend from tabletop into the overn - all for around $15 @ a department store.

A little history of myself, I've grown up on PBS cooking shows, it's usually on when i came back from school so I always was amazed at how Jacques Pepin was in the kitchen with his detailed work and great techniques that he would share. I think i liked him the best because the work he does really outshines most of the other television chefs - he seems more legit to me. Also his recipes are very open and easy to modify unlike some other chefs. I've seen those videos of Julia Child and her informative talks about chicken and roasting; also videos of cleaning and preparing birds from various videos. I was prepared, and also curious at the same time how well this tool will do - since Alton Brown approves I will trust him 100%.

Roasted chicken to me sounded a bit boring and also i'd admit very plain - i was surprised how much Julia Child appreciated a good roasted chicken and never felt the urge to do it because of the difficulty. My family often cooks their chicken whole via the steam method and are often proud when the chicken comes out great - but most often it comes out raw or overcooked. I've studied a lot of videos in the past to prepare turkey for thanksgiving and they all say it's similar to chicken process-wise so I just followed the same procedure. As you can see the results from the photo and my raving about this product, the tool actually works and I had the opportunity to taste the difference firsthand!

Detailed information on how to roast a chicken:
REQUIREMENTS:
- Whole Chicken or Bird
- Oil (something that can tolerate heat, i use canola NOT OLIVE)
- Salt
- Aluminum Foil
- Something to cook it in and also an elevated wire rack.
- Oven 350-500 degrees

Roasting a chicken is pretty simple, it can be done in three steps: cleaning, seasoning, and baking - but there are tips to do each of these that can help a beginner out.

Cleaning:
Usually the chicken comes whole with all the hearts and livers inside the cavity - remove these out and rub the entire bird with salt until you think you cleaned it pretty well. Now you rinse the bird and let it dry up and rest for a while (1 hour?) to reduce cooking times. After the hour is up you better dispose of the water that leaked out of the chicken, if any, and prepare for the seasoning step.

Seasoning:
For something very basic, a good smothering of salt would be good - just pat as much as you like around the skin and all around the cavity you will need to coat the bird with oil also so make sure there is enough salt to go around the bird. You can always enhance flavoring by putting other personal seasonings!

Preparation/Cooking:
This is probably the step that will be a bit more creative and also have optional steps to enhance the results. Usually a bird's white and dark meats cook unevenly so I borrowed the turkey triangle tip from thanksgiving. The turkey triangle (from Good Eats) is just a sheet of foil folded in half into a triangle and you mold it on the breast side of the chicken so that it is completely covered in the baking process. This tip will help reduce the cooking of the breast meat. There is another tip i know to speed up the cooking process, the other tip from Jacques Pepin would be to make deep cuts around the drumstick / thigh area because usually that is where things get raw - this will release juices while cooking but will speed up the cooking process for the dark meat. While the bird is breast-side up, tuck the wing tips under the wings themselves and also make sure the chicken legs / drumsticks are held together by string or tuck them through the flesh between the breast and thighs after making a small incision (see photo). Now stick that meat thermometer into the thickest part of the breast meat, I stuck it from the rear and drove it under the wishbone area.

Place the chicken on a wire rack and have a dripping pan for it - you don't want to cook the bird in its own juices. Now that the bird is ready, first you want to put the chicken into the 500 degree oven for a few minutes (10-20mins) until the chicken gets some browning. After you have the desired browning, put the turkey triangle onto the breast meat and reduce the oven temperature to around 375 Fahrenheit. Now just close the door and wait until the internal temperatures reach 165 and your chicken is done and ready to eat - it took me under an hour after browning.

My chicken was buttery and flavorful - simple indeed but great!

REVIEW: Tamron SP 60mm F/2 Di-II Macro Lens

This may not be my very first lens, but it is my very first lens review. Before purchasing the Tamron 60mm Di2 macro lens, I spent quite a lot of time researching and comparing different comparative lenses. I have a 1.6x cropped Canon SLR and wanted something that delivers high IQ and sharpness and also would perform reasonably well indoors or in low light situations. What lead me to this lens was after a recommendation of the 100mm f2.8 macro, but I thought with the 100mm it would be too much of a zoom lens to be useful in my daily use - so i looked around to find the 60mm EF-S version and also there was a Tamron 60mm with F/2 which caught my eye.

After using the Tamron 60mm for a while and trying to understand the use of macro for the first time... i question my purchase and was wondering if it was even worth it. I did sell my nifty-fifty (some cheap 50mm f/1.8) for this but now wonder if i should return this one as well... It sort of has all the same qualities as the nifty-fifty except that this lens can take macro shots as well.

When it auto-focuses it will take a while if switching from macro to infinity, about a full second and more (seems like an eternity). Compared to my USM 17-55, it suffers a big performance difference; the usm focuses within half a second while this lens will take a full second and some more to refocus. The reason why i sold the 50mm f/1.8 was the very same reason: weird and slow auto-focus performance. I would think the tamron which costed $400-500 would focus better than the $80 50mm, but i was wrong to believe this. I guess a macro lens just has a much wider focusing range, therefore it would only make the tamron slower. On the plus side, the tamron has a beefier manual focusing ring that seems like a breeze to use despite the "cheap" clunky feeling.

I tried taking some portraits to see the sharpness of the lens, under low light the lens' auto focusing does not seem accurate as i found out when i got back to the computer. I'm not sure if these tests are fair but i'll try again during the day and hopefully there will be some redeeming interests for keeping this lens. I've heard so many great things about this lens that i will definitely try it again... i really hope it's as sharp as people say because i'm not seeing it at all.

Shortly later, i used a tripod to compare image quality with the 17-55. After a few tests at all apertures i needed to conclude that the lens is sharp but not sharp enough to blow me away. The canon, indoors, definitely has a clear advantage because of its effective image stabilization and super fast USM focusing. I'd say the Tamron (outside of macro) is somewhat of a step above the 50mm f/1.8 but, for the price, it's an insignificant upgrade.

The next day I spent some time using the lens outside of the house taking photos of the garden and using the macro to my advantage. I have gotten a few good shots outside, but only after finding them from the many photos i took. I tried taking photos of a small flower but without the aid of a tripod the image showed a lot of blur and wasn't a very good impression. With the right amount of light this prime lens does shine outdoors but it's very difficult imo to use.

I've returned indoor to do further testing, I started to see some chromatic aberration after taking photos of a red rocket air blower i had. You can see it slightly on the right side.

After thinking it over I'm going to return this lens and suffer the loss in shipping and the 55mm filter i bought for it.

Here are some pros and cons of this lens:

PROS:
- very light
- sharper than the nifty fifty.
- can act as a regular walk around lens
- good focal length for portraits
- comes with a free hood
- offers 1:1 magnification macro
- large focusing grip for easy manual focusing
- manual focus overriding (useful to refocus if AF doesn't look sharp)

CONS:
- the rear end-cap (too short) will not interchange with my canon lenses nor will the 55mm filter size
- Not the sharpest lens I've seen for $400-500
- chromatic aberration
- slow / loud auto focusing system ("searches" in low light)
- poor indoor performance despite the F/2.0
- not much sharper than my 17-55 zoom for walk around uses

Summary:
- Good for macro, but the price is too high for the IQ and the slower, blind@night, auto focus.
- For $500, you should be expecting more - something sharper than any zoom but it's not.

I am not sure I want a prime lens anymore unless it has image stabilization... i just want a good companion to the 17-55 is i have currently, i guess the search goes on.

Big Basin Hiking Trip

Ever since that joy ride around Santa Cruz with my uncle, I've been interested to explore the Big Basin Redwoods Park we stopped at -- this last weekend I definately had my taste of this wonderfully rich forest.

At first, i thought of forming a group and leading them down to park, but this was impossible since most of the people i knew were unreliable when it came to physical activities. Eventually, I got 2-3 people interested and quite a few maybes and only ifs. Based on my experience, i would not be surprised if i'd be the only one actually going.

Since our numbers were so low and I really did not feel like getting lost, i decided to join a group hiking event hosted by the park itself that was scheduled in the morning at 9:30am; the details were that the hiking trip was 12 miles and about 6 hours long. This was about as hard as the SF bike ride i'd imagine - which got me interested more than the others.

It has been well over a few years since I've last hiked - this would be my second major hiking trip that i've set foot in. I was prepared mentally and also armed with my new camera hobby; i was heading to the redwoods on a mission. I knew this was not going to be easy so i warned everyone in advance. In the end only a friend named Quy agreed to hike with me; two others Bert and Stanley came but decided to explore on their own at the last minute.

After a fun and exciting ride on Bear Creek Road, we arrived just a few minutes before the hiking group began their journey. There were about 8 others there already and they all seemed well prepared, i on the otherhand wore casual clothing and held camera equipment that stirred a few eyes. I knew it was a bit odd but i could not resist bringing the camera along this trip. I was warned not to slow down the pace with my photography and also asked to stay with the group at all times. The hiking trail we took was the Berry Creek Loop, which took us to the Berry Creek waterfall and gave us a good long 11.5 mile hike.

The pace was slow at first and there were frequent stops at various historical parts of the park and a stop at every different berry shrub. The group was very out going and most people sampled various berries and edible plants along the way - a sign of the very hardcore. I had taken a lot of shots in the beginning to get used to the environment and the low-lighting situations. Another person also had an SLR but did not use it as much, it might have been the low-lighting that made it difficult. I'd have to say: without the right equipment, it would have been impossible to take good photos - i'm glad i broke the bank on the lens i had there that day.

The forrest was slightly warm and a little dusty around some parts; the ground was soft from all of the trees' bark and shedding. It was a very cozy forrest with a lot of banana slugs and small creatures. As we were told the banana slugs were very important because they help decompose and fertilize the forest.

There was definitely a lot to see in this forrest, many different and unique trees and plants sprouting from various parts of the trail. A lot of trees have been growing even though the elements might have been altered the setting drastically. We sure picked a great day to hike -- the humidity was not too bad and there was enough light for me to capture some decent shots.

One of the things i will remember from the trip was a giant caterpillar spotted by one of the others in the middle of our trail - it was the largest wormy thing I've ever seen. I believe it was as thick as my thumb and between 3-4 inches long. Everyone crowded around it and was pretty fascinated as well.

The pace started to pick up after about 4 hours just right after our lunch and break at one of the waterfalls. After lunch, it was time to exit out of the forest; we had to just hike uphill for about 2 hours straight. This was the most difficult part of the entire hike since there were little or no breaks. It was very difficult because of the constant and endless climbs. My friend Quy eventually broke down and could not keep up with the group; I did not know how to help him except to tell him just keep moving. The group eventually stopped and actually helped him out with coffee and advice - both which were foreign to him. He was a strong guy so it was difficult for him to open up and accept help when he really needed it. Eventually though we made it through the park and thanked each other for the company and exchanged contact information. It was nice meeting new people and getting away from house like this for once. Thanks to Bill Rhoades for the guiding and also help with my friend through this forest.

New hobby and exciting summer

This summer started off with me exploring a bit on my bicycle and doing a personal training ride for a month. After that month things just fell apart and I found myself stepping away from the bicycle more - I got a bicycle rack for the car for super cheap but even that didn't really motivate me. Eventually I will need to get back onto the saddle but a new hobby has emerged: photography!

Some days, while starting in front of my desktop computer, I would always dream of capturing a beautiful pictures I could use as my wallpaper. I like to look at landscapes and marvels, i guess part of the cycling has shown me some great sights. So an upgrade to my digital camera was always crawling on the back of my mind. There has been a big confusion for me between professional cameras and SLRs for a while -- most people say you don't need an SLR and a simple point and shoot will do. But i guess i'm not like everyone and usually I tend to get a bit too technical to accept something simple.

Eventually I did get the SLR, and getting it was a story all by itself. I researched and researched and decided to invest little into the camera and more into the lenses since the majority of the community does agree with what I say - amateurs say otherwise. The camera came from no other than my cousin who lived at Irvine at the time (quite the drive from the bay area). This was a great opportunity I thought to myself because another thing I wanted to do was visit an old friend down in LA. I had a blast in LA and also got that camera that would set me off on my journey.

So I had the car, and the excitement of getting the camera and meeting up with a good friend got me pumped. I drove the entire 400-500 miles there to Irvine first to meet my cousin who I have not seen in years. The drive down there wasn't as bad as some of my friends told me - it was long but wasn't something that would be impossible; it just took some coffee and a can of rockstar! When i got to LA i dropped off my hitchhiker mom and ditched her so i could go on with my business - the camera. My cousin sold me his first and only SLR for $200, it was a great trade for both of us since he no longer needed it and I was trying to save money by starting off small in the camera world. I stayed that night and hung out with one of his friends and just observed a bit and left for LA the next day.

I went to meet my good college friend Charly from years back. I have seen him drive up to the Bay Area often and so decided it was worth driving down there to give him a visit. The day I got there he seemed to have a lot of things planned already. We played MTG with two of his other friends and it was a great start. He had his own place with a roommate and two large dogs; it was like the complete opposite of what I have back here at home. I stayed in the garage of his house which was a room for someone else that was out of town - it had a superb sealy temperpedic bed!

The next day wasn't as exiting as the first, but it gave me time to soak up on my new camera and also left me with room to think about personal things and explore the area. We walked the dogs and also watched a movie that same day. On Monday we went to Disneyland as he had planned and met up with some new friends there and enjoyed as much as we could in one day. Honestly I had a great time and it was it surprising how much detail was in this park - something I haven't had the mindset to think about until now as an adult. The fireworks was a blast and I had some fun using the new camera I got.

The trip to LA was a blast and I would probably plan on doing it again - maybe during the next magic release because now I have a gang down there to socialize a bit with. Definably a great experience and also a true test of my driving abilities. I almost hit a truck but it was a good thing my mom got scared and yelled out. I know my limits much more now and will pull over next time to sleep.

CYCLING SEASON, FOR ME ANYWAY!

Today was an awesome day, not only because I took the entire day off but I got myself a new upgrade on my best bike and transformed it into something like a dream!

This morning i was just randomly browsing through craigslist and found a cycling enthusiast setting up a garage sale at noon. It was a few hours away and I went to study some of the bicycle components i was interested in, mainly that $190 Dura Ace crankset he had up for sale since everything else was MTN bike stuff. I was very tempted to purchase it but no way will spending $190 just to change one of the many components on a bike be a smart move. Anyway, a friend and i went there to check out the place and it looked exactly like it did in the photos -- one garage wall full of components and wheels / bikes galore. Anyway I had my eye on those cranks the entire time and they sure looked good - almost 9.0/10.0 for a used!

I made my initial offer of $140 and explained to him i needed it for the bike i had with a triple setup (something i learned to regret getting). He agreed that $140 was a good offer and he'd take it but i wasn't even prepared to spend that much, so I went home empty handed and took another look at the bike parts I had. I gave him a call and wondered if he wanted to do trades and he told me he was interested in that triple i had (a coincidence!). Anyway let me put and end to this long story by saying i got the VERY pricey DA 7800 cranks by trading in my LESS EXPENSIVE Ultegra 6603 cranks + $50 + a triple front dérailleur i no longer needed! TALK ABOUT AWESOME - the bike, after installing it of course, felt like a different creature.

I was so excited I test rode it for a few hours today and was convinced i made the best decision to do the swap - this was almost too good to be true! Anyway this is no joke, the bike feels about 25% more responsive than it did before and the bike truly feels race-ready at last!

After the day i went home to shave my legs and get ready for the cycling season ahead of me.

Final Fantasy XIII - Happy Jappy

Seems like this new final fantasy game is missing one thing: a dark side. This entire game has a weird storyline with confusing plot that i found very "basic". There was a lot of extra content in the game that i skipped on such as the extra stories generated by every new encounter within the game. But the game does deserves a lot of recognition for what was done right.

There is a lot to love about this game but it doesn't seem like it deserves the A grade that it could have received from me. I think the story was a bit too weird for me to understand, maybe some serious die-hard fan can help me out in the future but, as for now, i'm still not 100% sure i understood the ending/story.

The battle system was awesome, that is something i had fun with - even though it was only a single player game i see its potential use in the future. All u needed to do was control one character and the other two were on auto pilot, this saved a lot of time and repetitiveness that usually is part of the RPG formula. The battles were pretty good, and i think every new monster i faced in the progressing story had a chance to kill me; it was a challenge throughout the entire game.

I also thought they did a good job in selecting voice actors for the movie scene "conversations" -- the characters seemed more flavorful than a lot of the games out there. They all had good transitioning lines and i guess put that natural blend of lingo into their game.

Happy Jappy is a word introduced by a friend of mine and it seems to fit this game title pretty well. I found this game to be like a typical Japanese fanboy's dreamy game, every sexy character has perfect bodies and looks that meet the standards of fashion models. Hell, i can already see tons of people trying to dress up as these characters during some anime convention and buying those model figurines! I'd admit I was admiring how attractive the characters were, that might hint on the types of people who work in the final fantasy teams.

Another thing is the music in this game; they did a good job on their tunes and i love how soothing it is to my ears. But there isn't a really dynamic set of background music (BGM), most of the music is either neutral or "happy" hence the title i gave for this blog. I kept remember the scenes in Final Fantasy VII, one of the best FF games, where you would see blood trails left by the story's antagonist and it would switch to a very dark set of BGMs - this game def. isn't the same. This game so reminds me about japan's pop culture, very attractive singers that don't have the same level of talent as their looks.

Well after beating the game, it seems like it's not quite over yet since there are about 30+ side quests that were impossible to complete before. I dont even know if i want to try them since I'm already done with the game - that last boss wasn't even that difficult after i got the hang of it so what's the use in getting stronger.

Oh and that reminds me, this game has an upgrading feature for every weapon / accessory that you find / buy. Anyway they made the upgrading system very complicated and you would need to spend some hours figuring out the right amount of resources to upgrade efficiently. I made a few good upgrades and required the help of an excel spreadsheet and a few hours of proofing my formulas.

Overall, I like the game but I can't find a good reason to play it again. It is like watching a well-made movie with all the special effects and none of the story to make it great.

The photo on the top is a picture of Serah Fallon, The main character's sister and also probably the central goal of the game -- saving the world so that she can be revived automagically.