Category Archives: Food

Hello There!

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I am now the owner of a Hello Kitty handbag. Do you think I can also use it as an innocent-looking camera bag? Mooncake packaging keeps getting fancier each year. As a gift, the mooncakes from Good Chen are quite unique as they come in/with a cute handbag. The cakes are also embossed with the cartoon character, including those of Spongebob and Doraemon.

I bought two flavours from their Hello Kitty range to try. As photographed here; the Ultimate Brown Mix which is Hazelnut Coffee. At right, the Coco Diva is lotus paste with macadamia nuts and choc-oreo biscuits coated together with Belgian dark chocolates. Yumz!

The annual Mooncake Festival is also known as the Mid-Autumn Festival or Lantern Festival in Malaysia and Singapore. It falls on September 19th this year.

Olympus OM-D, ISO 200, f4.5, 1/50 sec.

Good Chen Hello Kitty Mooncakes

You Never Know

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Scallop Americana – Scallops and pasta sautéed with capsicums and black pepper to make a rather spicy dish. The Manhattan Fish Market restaurants have expanded its menu since I last dine in one. Somehow I missed the simpler and bigger servings from the early days. Everywhere, dory fish don’t taste like dory fish any more.

My OM-D EM-5 is being repaired. The LCD screen smashed and the mode dial faulty. The viewfinder rubber eye-cup needs replacement for the 4th time. So it goes in for a much needed service and firmware updates. You never know when you need a backup camera, all of a sudden. My trusty and tiny Panasonic LX-5 acted as stand-in here and it performed admirably well, as expected.

Panasonic LX-5, ISO 80, f2, 1/80 sec.

Scallop Americana from Manhattan Fish Market

Ambience

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As you know, fine dining isn’t about taste or service alone; is also about ambience. Hundreds of candles light up the Theatre of Cuisines during MIGF’s Gala Night. In the centre, a Latin band plays The Girl From Ipanema, adding to the magical ambience. Salsa your way there today, as there is still time to sample all the food from participating restaurants.

Malaysia International Gourmet Festival. See www.migf.com for details.

Photography Notes: It was not too long ago, that camera manufacturers advertised shooting under candlelight as a special feature. Today, we do it without batting an eyelid. Better sensitivity and image stabilisation makes it easy. Only thing to watch out for; is the white balance. The camera might automatically over-correct the warm colours. If it does, go to your White Balance settings and try the various presets. Keep it warm to preserve the ambience. Yes. If you want to sound snooty, say ambiance.

Olympus OM-D, ISO 2000, f3.7, 1/30 sec.

Ambience - MIGF Gala Night