Night shots with the Canon Powershot S95

Can I express how happy I am with my Canon Powershot S95?

Apart from the fact that it has some awesome effects (check out more photos here), it is absolutely great for taking night shots if you’re like me – lazy to bring a tripod, too clueless to operate manual settings and too weak to carry around a big bulky camera.

For example - Munich’s Glockenspiel in winter when it was already nearly dark:

This was when it was already pitch-black:

See how beautifully the camera catches the available light from the surroundings?

Or take the Berlin Bundestag at night, taken with only my hands held up in front of my face:

Berlin, by the way, is a very poorly lit city. To give an idea – below you see just one dim (trust me, it was) street lamp; there are no others nearby. Yet the camera is able to pull out what little available light there is to brighten the entire image. And with so little noise as well!

Yayoiken, Singapore

I was happy when I saw Yayoiken the other day at the basement of Liang Court outside Medi-ya, as there was one branch near where I lived in Osaka – I would go there occasionally when I didn’t feel like cooking, wanted some rice and didn’t want a combini or supermarket bento.

And when I saw the prices, I got really excited as their fish items were way cheaper than that of Otoya’s (which is actually cheap in Japan; cheaper than Yayoiken).

I returned on Thursday and was surprised to find myself needing to queue for a table at 7pm. Seems like word spreads fast – who the hell goes to Liang Court? – and that Singaporeans really love their Japanese food.

We ordered the Tonkatsu set and Saba Miso set, both of which I didn’t try:

I had the Miso Katsu set ($13.90) – I loved the runny egg yolk and the potatoes - which had the nice ‘skin’ you get on the surface of potatoes when they’re roasted right. The miso wasn’t too salty and was good with rice, although the spinach did look a bit pathetic.

We also ordered a Saba Shio Yaki (ala carte $6.90, set $9.90). To me, an indication of whether a Japanese place is good is if they can grill their saba to perfection – moist and juicy meat (not dry like so many Japanese restaurants here, e.g Shinkushiya), crisp skin and just the right amount of saltiness. Yayoiken had good saba in Japan, and it’s just as good in Singapore. 

At only $9.90 for the set, the saba at Yayoiken is half the price of that at Otoya – a very good deal. Granted, the saba at Otoya is of higher quality (oilier and more tender flesh) but there’s absolutely nothing to complain about Yayoiken’s saba – it’s good on the tastebuds and good on the wallet.

Japanese family restaurants like Otoya and Yayoiken are meant to provide hearty, wholesome meals at a low cost and with minimal fuss anyway, so Yayoiken gives exactly that feel. In fact, it kinda reminds me of how it used to be like eating there in Japan, so that’s a plus for me – Otoya didn’t exist in Kansai :)

more test shots

So, apparently this girl in my ballet class thinks I look like i’m in my teens (wow), thinks I look younger than she does, and am at most of poly age serving my attachment – hence her question the other day, as to why I was dressed like an OL (which I am).

(^_^)V

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I took a few more shots at Sushi Tei the other day. I think my camera does work rather well in low light.

This was our order of sashimi:

And the soft-shell crab maki with spicy floss:

I also really like this shot of the flame from the solid fuel – I heeded the suggestion to try it at a slower shutter speed of 1. The background gives a fairly accurate depiction of how dark the place was – there was only 1 lamp above us proving the light which you see against the table top.

I was also given this bookmark – can discern several meanings from it :)

Uniqlo + some test shots

I learned today that Uniqlo was really uncool about 10 years ago – not that Uniqlo is cool by any stretch, but it’s perfectly acceptable to wear the brand (and it’s great for basics), unlike in the past where people would be ashamed to admit that they’re wearing something from there.

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In other news, I recently purchased a Canon Powershot s95. I’d decided that my old camera doesn’t quite cut it, and since I’ll never get a DSLR or one of those close-to-DSLR cameras (like the Canon G12 or Olympus Pen E-PL2) I should just get something that’s a higher-end point and shoot.

I’m not sure I like the results of the camera so far though, as the shots seem kinda blurry and grainy in general.

This one was taken with a “nostalgic effect”, which gave the picture a sepia tint – the longnan seeds are sharpish, but the rest are all grainy and blur:

These are just some new shoes I bought – I’m done with cheap shoes from Mitju which fall apart after just a few wears. I think this was on the auto setting, for which I can’t select even the “macro” focus (the flower icon):

Similarly, I took this on the auto setting. All things considered it probably turned out pretty well, as this corner of my room is rather dark. By the way, I’m looking to give away the entire set of the Wimpy Kid books, so let me know if you’re interested in having them.

This was taken using the “vivid colours” setting, although the effect is quite close to what the actual colours were if seen with the human eye. For this setting, the “macro” option is not available either (i.e. auto focus) – the focal area is sharp, but I’m not sure I like the blurring to the sides. Is that even normal?

Thoughts, anyone?