KID625 Blog

Photo

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 13:26:07 -0800

My UE11 Pro Custom Earphones

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 19:00:26 -0800

I finally got my Ultimate Ears UE11 Pro Custom earphones today. It started by molding my ear canals for the custom casing. It was a weird experience, but definitely a fun one as many professional music artists go through the same experience to craft their own earphones. So it was a moment for me to kind of experience that.

The earphones come in a very fine black box. The texture feels very rich and fine.

The lid is supported by a hidden magnet, so it feels like opening a jewelry box without any hassle. There are small engraved logo of “UE” behind the cover.

There is a booklet about the product, and you can immediately fine the earphone’s case. It says “Crafted for: {my name}” which is awesome. I feel very special.

There you see my UE11 Pro entirely cased into a rubbery internal casing. It has a cleaning tool to clean the earbuds.

There is my initial written on the earbuds, and the red initial tells you that it is for the right ear.

According to the Logitech’s UE site, UE11 Pro combines a quad armature speaker configuration with a 3-way crossover. It features a dual driver subwoofer that tightly and fully details the lows, and has a dedicated driver for the mid range that is dynamic, clean, and tweeter that produces crystal clear highs.

If I were to describe the sound that comes out of this earphones, it may goes something like… “it sounds as if nothing is in the way of my music and my ear drums, the sounds are the way in its true nature”. It doesn’t feel like it is adding crap or extra sounds (like base) to the music I’m listening to. This is truly amazing.

Logitech UE UE11 Link

Miniature mode on Sony NEX-5N

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 19:41:08 -0800

I was playing around with my Sony NEX-5N, using that miniature mode from the camera. Since our hotel room was on the 17th floor, I got a pretty good angle of the parking lot and commercial building.

Miniature mode worked really well, and the output looks great on objects taken from a distance. As you can see from my photos, the trees, cars, and people looks really funny and interesting.

I’ve used Canon 50mm f1.8 prime lens on Sony NEX-5N.

Sunset from Grove's parking lot

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 19:33:00 -0800

I love parking on top of the Grove’s shopping mall’s parking lot. In my recent trip to LA, I took some photos of very nice sunset. If you ever visit to LA I highly recommend stopping by the Grove and park at the very top of the parking garage. You will get 360 view of the whole city.

California Fish Grill in SoCal

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 19:24:03 -0800

One of my favorite places to eat in Southern California is a fast food joint called California Fish Grill. I love their buttered shrimp tacos. It is one of the best shrimp tacos I had in my life.

I highly recommend getting the buttered shrimp tacos. The other recommended dish is the grilled zucchini. It tastes really great when you put soy sauce on it.

Here are some photos I took from my recent trip to LA.

Monarch Butterflies in Fremont

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 21:38:00 -0800

Check out this photo I took from Ardenwood Historic Farm in Fremont. After lunch on Friday in late afternoon, we visited the park (paid $2 at entrance). During this season Monarch butterflies are overwintering at this park.

This was my first time in life seeing these Monarch butterflies in cluster in the wild. It was pretty amazing.

Ardenwood Historic Farm

34600 Ardenwood Blvd

Fremont, CA 94555

ardenwoodaffairs.com‎

One butterfly in the green house.

My favorite shot while walking back to the entrance.

DSC00501 on Flickr. Photo from Daikanyama’s T-Site. New...

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 19:17:00 -0800

DSC00501 on Flickr.

Photo from Daikanyama’s T-Site.

New modern complex in Tokyo. There is this camera store that feels like you’re in a gallery. Very beautifully set up.

I found some unique accessories for my Sony NEX-5N here. I would definitely return to hang out here again.

Four Barrel Coffee in San Francisco

Sun, 08 Jan 2012 21:53:00 -0800

I went to Four Barrel Coffee in Mission District, San Francisco. Four Barrel is one my favorite coffee in SF city. It is one of the major coffee brands representing San Francisco (Blue Bottle, Ritual, Four Barrel, etc.)

This is actually my first time visiting the store. The interior is pretty well designed. The ceiling is high and it is pretty cozy. This place is highly recommended.

The store is located on Valencia Street between 14 St and 15 St. It gets pretty crowded so some patience might be required.

Address: 375 Valencia Street, San Francisco, CA

Japan's Sunset During Winter

Sat, 07 Jan 2012 22:27:53 -0800

I thought I’d share three of my sunset photos I took in Japan. During winter, it seems like the sky in Tokyo turns purple unlike California’s sky where it is more dark blue with mix of orange.

Impulse buy… Yesterday at Palo Alto’s Apple store. ...

Sat, 07 Jan 2012 11:13:17 -0800

Impulse buy… Yesterday at Palo Alto’s Apple store. This is 8GB graphite iPod nano. I really like the packaging.

たい焼き on Flickr. This is a Japanese snack called Taiyaki. It has...

Sat, 07 Jan 2012 10:38:00 -0800

たい焼き on Flickr.

This is a Japanese snack called Taiyaki. It has its face bitten off once, but traditional flavor is red bean as a filling. Other common options are chocolate, or custard.

The extra skin extended from the fish is called “hane” or in english “wings”. Some people peel it off and enjoy the skin like a cookie.

No, it does not taste like fish…

IMG_1306 on Flickr.It seems like rice cookers are popular gifts...

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 17:25:45 -0800

IMG_1306 on Flickr.

It seems like rice cookers are popular gifts for foreigners, or an item to buy for Japanese heading out of country.

This photo was taken in electronics store within Haneda airport’s international terminal.

Yakiniku BBQ Diary in Tokyo

Mon, 02 Jan 2012 07:13:00 -0800

I went to two Yakiniku places in my recent trip to Tokyo.

Oyaji

map: http://g.co/maps/rajsw

This place is very low key, but it is known for its intestine dishes.

Oyaji has many meat dishes, but this place is known for its marinated intestine. It is so good. I also recommend their kalbi as well.

Isn’t the little pipe over the charcoal nice? It sucks up the smoke pretty well.

Jumbo

map:　http://g.co/maps/pfqrq

This is a Kalbi (short rib) soup that I had, and it was one of the best I ever had. So awesome!

Part of the beef called “misuji” and it is one of the popular slices of meat at Jumbo. It is so sweet and it melts in your mouth. I saw few ladies having this over a rice with assortments of kimchi.

I agree with my friend, but the best meat at Jumbo is the ‘Rosu’ (Japanese way for sirloin or the shoulder part of the cow). Typically, the meat is pretty lean, but at Jumbo it is well marbled, so it is sooo good. It is the cheapest meat on the menu as well. So if you want a bang for your buck, then go for this.

Photo of the store.

DSC00444 on Flickr.Toraya in Ginza, Tokyo is one of those...

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 20:13:20 -0800

DSC00444 on Flickr.

Toraya in Ginza, Tokyo is one of those Japanese sweets specialty. It has been operating in Ginza for a very long time, it is one of my favorite place.

They serve on the highest quality sweets made of very fine ingredients made in Japan.

The price averages at $15 for a fine Japanese tea break. Check it out!

http://g.co/maps/vj85s

Yakiniku roll at Haneda airport’s ‘Yakiniku...

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 06:16:16 -0800

Yakiniku roll at Haneda airport’s ‘Yakiniku Champion’. It’s pretty good. I was lucky to be able to grab the last roll. Yay!!

My wife and her twin sister praying at a shrine for a great...

Sat, 31 Dec 2011 09:43:26 -0800

My wife and her twin sister praying at a shrine for a great 2012. I personally like how this photo turned out. Happy new year!!

One of my favorite ramen shop in Japan is “ichiran”....

Sat, 31 Dec 2011 04:07:31 -0800

One of my favorite ramen shop in Japan is “ichiran”. Every customer gets a counter that is partitioned to fully enjoy the noodles without any distraction.

DSC00500 on Flickr.I was at Daikanyama T-Site. New contemporary...

Sat, 31 Dec 2011 01:27:26 -0800

DSC00500 on Flickr.

I was at Daikanyama T-Site. New contemporary space in Tokyo. This cat figure was in the camera shop.

untitled on Flickr.Publishing my first post on Tumblr as a test....

Sat, 31 Dec 2011 00:51:18 -0800

untitled on Flickr.

Publishing my first post on Tumblr as a test. My favorite place in SF, Potrero Hills.

DSC00448 on Flickr. Japanese love to eat “Nabe”, a...

Thu, 29 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

DSC00448 on Flickr.

Japanese love to eat “Nabe”, a traditional way of eating different kinds of ingredients in a soup. There are hundreds of ways of doing it, but this one I had at my friend’s house was a simple one.

The main meat was chicken in thigh, breast, and meat ball.

The soup was taken out of Konbu (seaweed) to get ‘umami’ broth to make the ingredients delicious.

The rest of the vegetables are commonly available veggies from Japanese super markets like… mizuna, tofu, tofu skin, green onion, carrot, etc.

We used ponzu sauce, with an option to add radish.

We love to eat nabe especially during winter when it is cold outside. It keeps us warm.