The easiest and cheapest way to practice food photography is in your neighborhood Farmer's Market. There are always many interesting, good looking fruits and vegetables organized as a marching band (wondering what this means? read more about it here) which is always pleasing to the eyes and highly photogenic. Because of their store hours, you always get day light on your photos assuming that it is not a dark, cloudy day. Here are some of my older shots in the Farmer's Market of San Francisco, Seattle and New York.
Ok, so my photo doesn't have anything to do with my blog post, but then Facebook says there's more click-thrus if there is a photo appearing on the feeds rather than just text.
For this week, I am amazed that I've gotten the highest traffic source from Cisco! Based on the look of the link, seems like a survey of sort, but as we all know, my blog has got nothing to do with the company at all. LOL.
On another note, I just joined Pinterest. You can start following me here. Or ask me for a referral if you don't have an account yet. Even though I started my Facebook page a few days earlier, I've gotten more followers on Pinterest - shows how powerful this upcoming social network is. Move over FB. How can I put a Pin gadget on each blog post? Hmm...
For this week, I am amazed that I've gotten the highest traffic source from Cisco! Based on the look of the link, seems like a survey of sort, but as we all know, my blog has got nothing to do with the company at all. LOL.
On another note, I just joined Pinterest. You can start following me here. Or ask me for a referral if you don't have an account yet. Even though I started my Facebook page a few days earlier, I've gotten more followers on Pinterest - shows how powerful this upcoming social network is. Move over FB. How can I put a Pin gadget on each blog post? Hmm...
Finally made my way to try some fish and chips at Codmother near the Fisherman's Wharf. I was surprised that it is actually a food truck-like establishment albeit being permanent- ie. No wheels but have outdoor seating. Got my grub for the day at 50% off care of Scoutmob. Not bad indeed for deep fried food, especially after a workout. I'll be back to try their neighbor - also a food truck-like shop that caters Argentinian street food.
Did you know it is National Clams Chowder Day on February 25th? I celebrated it with Boudin which was giving a buy 1 get 1 for free for their clam chowder bread bowl- one of which I ate on the spot and the other I took home. As I always say, the best things in life are always free!!!
P.S. I'm typing this as I listen to Sandy Puc's baby photography online tutorial live streaming on CreativeLive. Nice to see her actual set-up rather than the old Creativelive format of having speakers just sit and blab the whole day with their powerpoint.
P.S. I'm typing this as I listen to Sandy Puc's baby photography online tutorial live streaming on CreativeLive. Nice to see her actual set-up rather than the old Creativelive format of having speakers just sit and blab the whole day with their powerpoint.
In honor of Mardi Gras, here are my favorite spots in Rio de Janeiro and some blogs with the best of the best things to do while in Rio. Happy Fat Tuesday!
Mind you, Rio is a fun yet dangerous city to be in- even my Brazilian friends told me so. As always, party hard and stay safe. BTW, this is the only place I've found to have a tour of its squatter areas- i.e. a favela tour. If you come from a developing country, you probably won't find this interesting, but other people (from the Western world) do pay to go to this tour. A new tourism opportunity perhaps for the Department of Tourism (DOT) in the Philippines?!?
Blogs about Rio:
Best of Rio: What to Drink?
Best of Rio: Juice Co./Lunch Spot
Best of Rio: Zuka/Top Restaurant
Learning Parts of the Meat through a Churrascaria
On a side note/my little rant for the day:
One can only wonder why the biggest(?), most exciting Mardi Gras in Asia has not been advertised on the world stage - yes, I'm talking about the annual Sinulog festival in Cebu City. In comparison with Rio, Cebu also has beautiful (and safer!) beaches as well as a parade, entertainment, food and accommodation that are all world class. I haven't been thoroughly impressed with DOT's campaigns for the past few years, including the most recent ones. And speaking about DOT, I tweeted @DOTPhilippines about their insensitive usage of the whale shark photo awhile back, and yet no one has (at least) acknowledged my tweet- a best practice in the realm of tweeting. They definitely need to hire a competent social media strategist. In fact, I'll volunteer to be a consultant for free!
Head dress for Mardi Gras |
Lapa Steps |
View of Rio from the Sugar Loaf |
Mind you, Rio is a fun yet dangerous city to be in- even my Brazilian friends told me so. As always, party hard and stay safe. BTW, this is the only place I've found to have a tour of its squatter areas- i.e. a favela tour. If you come from a developing country, you probably won't find this interesting, but other people (from the Western world) do pay to go to this tour. A new tourism opportunity perhaps for the Department of Tourism (DOT) in the Philippines?!?
Blogs about Rio:
Best of Rio: What to Drink?
Best of Rio: Juice Co./Lunch Spot
Best of Rio: Zuka/Top Restaurant
Learning Parts of the Meat through a Churrascaria
On a side note/my little rant for the day:
One can only wonder why the biggest(?), most exciting Mardi Gras in Asia has not been advertised on the world stage - yes, I'm talking about the annual Sinulog festival in Cebu City. In comparison with Rio, Cebu also has beautiful (and safer!) beaches as well as a parade, entertainment, food and accommodation that are all world class. I haven't been thoroughly impressed with DOT's campaigns for the past few years, including the most recent ones. And speaking about DOT, I tweeted @DOTPhilippines about their insensitive usage of the whale shark photo awhile back, and yet no one has (at least) acknowledged my tweet- a best practice in the realm of tweeting. They definitely need to hire a competent social media strategist. In fact, I'll volunteer to be a consultant for free!
Our family used to have a coconut plantation, but sadly just like in any family dramas, the land was later divided into the ownership of many family members, who later sold out.
I did once dream of being a donya in a coconut plantation because of the myriad of products that can be made using coconut, including water- now the IN thing according to WSJ. Despite the fact that I abhor non-fresh coco water because of its weird taste (I did grow up having coconut trees thus fresh coco water in our backyard), we can't deny the fact that the packaged coconut water is finally being noticed by American mass consumers.
There are so many health benefits of coco water- promoting a healthy urinary tract is one benefit I distinctly remember my grandma kept telling me why I should be drinking fresh coconut water every Sunday. She also allowed me to drink only during lunch time due to a (superstitious/Chinese?!?) belief of the hot/cold philosophy that I might get tummy ache if I drink coco water at night.
Products that can be made out of coconut:
- for skincare: lotion, shampoo, conditioner, hair oil
- for food: cooking oil, coco water, coco milk, desiccated coco, nata de coco, candy, ice cream, jam
- for retail: coco shells/bagol made into handbags, earrings, etc..
P.S. Yes, this is my Valentines post.
P.P.S. I grew up becoming really like my grandma :)
I did once dream of being a donya in a coconut plantation because of the myriad of products that can be made using coconut, including water- now the IN thing according to WSJ. Despite the fact that I abhor non-fresh coco water because of its weird taste (I did grow up having coconut trees thus fresh coco water in our backyard), we can't deny the fact that the packaged coconut water is finally being noticed by American mass consumers.
There are so many health benefits of coco water- promoting a healthy urinary tract is one benefit I distinctly remember my grandma kept telling me why I should be drinking fresh coconut water every Sunday. She also allowed me to drink only during lunch time due to a (superstitious/Chinese?!?) belief of the hot/cold philosophy that I might get tummy ache if I drink coco water at night.
Products that can be made out of coconut:
- for skincare: lotion, shampoo, conditioner, hair oil
- for food: cooking oil, coco water, coco milk, desiccated coco, nata de coco, candy, ice cream, jam
- for retail: coco shells/bagol made into handbags, earrings, etc..
P.S. Yes, this is my Valentines post.
P.P.S. I grew up becoming really like my grandma :)
I am forcing myself to make a Valentine countdown since this is a food photo blog in the first place.
For a fresh Valentine dessert, go with fresh fruits (i.e. strawberries) with a dollop of fresh whip cream with almonds.
For a fresh Valentine dessert, go with fresh fruits (i.e. strawberries) with a dollop of fresh whip cream with almonds.
OK, so I don't eat this stuff but once again, I made my way to Abuhan to bring in out-of-towners to try Abuhan's Cebu Pochero. This is my second time bringing different set of guests in this resto because they requested for it. It happens to be one of the restaurants to go to while in Cebu- many books and online travel sites say so!
While my guests were chowing down the pochero (also called as bulalo in Tagalog and commonly known as beef shank), I had a plateful of baby squids.
While my guests were chowing down the pochero (also called as bulalo in Tagalog and commonly known as beef shank), I had a plateful of baby squids.
pochero @ Abuhan, Cebu |
Well well well, wish your grade school taught you this so you understand why the filet mignon is the most sought after meat. I found out during a churrascaria meal in Brazil. They actually give you a pamphlet listing all the parts they serve!
BTW, they also had rabbit meat with cheese which was so yummy!
BTW, they also had rabbit meat with cheese which was so yummy!