California | fabliss

San Francisco Candlestick Park | Lions v Niners

this was it. the weekend we have all been anticipating (for months now). the lions v. niners game! if you followed the game, you know that the lions lost 19 to 27. despite this loss (yes, we rooted for the lions and are still in mourning), we had an awesome time with our friends (who are niners fans. boo) and made a few new friends too! this was our first tailgate…and let me tell you, it was the best/fanciest one ever. we had a four course meal (enough said):

atomic buffalo turds (if you dont know what that is, check this out)
carne asada tacos
brats
buffalo wings

each course was filled in between with chips, salsa, guac, veggie/dip, more chips and beer (home brewed). special thanks to mahls and mark for putting this together! #epic did we also tell you that we play in two different fantasy leagues? so there is even more competition between all of us than shown in these fine pictures. (we took a lot of pictures. it took a lot of self-restraint not to put all of them up on this post)

side note: it is difficult trying to find detroit gear in los angeles. (VERY difficult). after calling 8 lids, kyle finally found a lions hat. we went crazy when a store actually had detroit items…hence the scarf, bracelets, and t-shirts.

By vivilinh | September 18th, 2012 | San Francisco / Oakland, Travel | 2 Comments

900 Grayson | Berkeley, CA

we’re back from the bay area! for this special weekend, we went up north to see the lions vs. niners game in san francisco with a few friends. road trip? norcal? friends? 2 days of eating and drinking? detroit vs sf? best weekend ever?! first stop (literally first stop after a 5.5 hour drive, which started at 2:30am) was 900 grayson in oakland/berkeley. kyle and i fell in love with this place last time we visited the bay (thank you stell and p for introducing us) and have been talking about it non-stop since then. SO we decided to spread the love to LB and B. 8am. we were the first few people to get there. this place is normally packed with an average wait of 30 -60 minutes for a group.

we ordered the “demon lover” – fried chicken on top of a delicious waffle, topped with amazing gravy. the best chicken and waffles ever (and this is coming from a group of people from LA who have roscoe’s chicken and waffles). since we had a whole agenda planned with regards to food, we decided to split one order per two people. this was a mistake because we immediately wanted more.

this is the dish i look forward to when i come to the bay and would highly recommend it. a few tips: (i) the restaurant’s policy is that they will not seat you if your whole party isnt present. (ii) expect long lines during the weekend (esp brunch)…but it is absolutely worth it. (iii) try their homemade hot sauce…its uber tasty!

900 Grayson
900 Grayson St
(between 7th St & 8th St)
Berkeley, CA 94710
Neighborhood: West Berkeley

By vivilinh | September 17th, 2012 | California, Food, Restaurants, San Francisco / Oakland, Travel | 5 Comments

Mammoth: Part Deux

hiked up duck pass trail with my awesome camera bag. who needs water when you hike especially when you have a bag like this one? (hah. you dont see my face in this picture but i was dying). a little bit of hiking, a little bit of fishing, a little bit of rowing…here are some pictures of mammoth through my lens.

By vivilinh | August 23rd, 2012 | Mammoth, Photography, Travel | 8 Comments

Don’t Go Chasing Waterfalls

i am currently toggling two photography books: understanding exposure by bryan peterson and the digital photography book by scott kelby. my overall thoughts of the two books:

understanding exposure is very informative and goes into detail about shutter speed, aperture, etc. it also has amazing photos (which makes me realize that i might never take an awesome photo like any of the ones in this book). it definitely is a must for beginners, who want to understand what is going on with your camera. i have to admit that when i started reading this book, i was a little overwhelmed. i recommend reading this book and going out and using your camera right after or else you it will go over your head. (4.5 stars. 229 reviews)
digital photography book – let me start by saying that scott kelby is hilarious. this book is more of a tip book for photography beginners. the author prefaces by saying that he gives you tips on how to get “the shot” and does not go into how it works mechanically. i find this very useful since given the insight you get on what a photographer does, buys, needs, looks for, etc. this book pushed me to invest in a good tripod and get rid of my old cheap one (best money spent, ever). (4.5 stars. 803 reviews)

these are the two books that have the most reviews and recommendations on amazon.com (yes, i am a huge advocate). since these two books had such positive feedback, i needed to buy and read both of them for myself! i highly recommend both. i think they work well together.

so one of the things mentioned in both books is how to take a picture of a waterfall. enter: my canon t3i and mammoth lakes. i have been waiting 8 months to go to mammoth just to take these waterfall shots (which turned out to be MONEY). here is what i took away from both books on how to take these pictures:

“shutter speed controls the effect of motion in your pictures” to capture motion, use a slow shutter speed. to freeze motion, use a fast shutter speed. simple, huh?
since you are trying to capture motion, you need a tripod to eliminate movement from your shaky hand.
set the appropriate shutter speed and snap away.

picture 1: cotton effect. lens 24-70mm. shutter speed: 1/10. f/22. ISO 100.

picture 2: freezing motion. lens 24-70mm. shutter speed: 1/500. f/2.8. ISO 100.

i’ve been waiting so long to take these two shots. i admit that i spent quite some time (a couple of hours) taking pictures of waterfalls. dont worry, these are not the only two photos i have. next post will be dedicated to time well spent on our hike up duck lake (we didnt make it all the way to duck lake because i spent too much time at the first waterfall i saw).

By vivilinh | August 20th, 2012 | Mammoth, Photography, Travel | 0 Comments

Mammoth: Part I

we spent a few days in mammoth relaxing, fishing, hiking, golfing, and of course, eating. we needed a little time away from the city. mammoth is awesome in the winter but even better in the summer! here are just a few pictures from our trip! (if you cant tell, we love mammoth!) ps. an added bonus was that we got to spend time with our little niece!