GUNDAM: Just the few shots

This time around, I decided to upload a few shots of my humble (literally; I lost several of them a few years back) collection of Gundams. I tried a few poses here and there after being delighted at the sight of two of my Gundams: one, successfully panel-lined, and the other, color-painted a bit amateurish. Oh well. Still made good poses though!

Model: Gundam Exia

Appeared in: Season 1

The thing about this model is that it is only a First Grade (FG). That's what made it important for me to paint some parts to add detail to the gundam. I used acrylic paint mixed with water and a few Tamiya paint, but somehow the texture seemed wrong. Maybe I did something wrong. But it was also panel-lined, and that did the job on some parts.

Gundam Exia, full body rear angle view

Model: 0-Gundam, Rollout Colour Version

Appeared in: Season 1, Ep 1

This Gundam is a rollout colour version of the 0-Gundam, the very first gundam which appeared in the Gundam 00 series, piloted by Ribbons Almark. It came in the box with mostly only grey and white-colored gundam plastic (gunpla) parts, a few red pieces, and a clear piece to cover for the GN Drive in its chest. Of course the polycap pieces are included, but the thing is the version doesn't contain much colors to add enough life to the model. But adding the panel lines just made it look more multi-dimensional, in my opinion. The yellow pieces you see in this shot are just stickers, and you do have the option to paint them, but I decided not to because I haven't experienced much gundam painting yet. From my experience in the Exia, I'm glad I decided not to.

0-Gundam, front view semi close-up. Panel lines in detail.

Here are more action shots of the two models:

Battle mode, 0-Gundam vs. Gundam Exia

One great item included in the 0-Gundam package is the GN feather. This is like the "wings" of the gundam, and based on the series these are particles emitted from the engine of the gundam. In the series, though, the particles were released so elegantly from the 0-Gundam that it did seem like wings. The GN feather did come in colored, with the inner section and some sections of the item transparent. Some dots in the item were also transparent, to give the effect of the "particle release" and showing a rather realistic effect. However, you'd only get to see the effect when light is behind it, so I tried using my laptop as the light source. I sprayed green on a blank canvas in Adobe Photoshop, and it added effect to the GN feather.

These are only some of the poses I came up with for my gundams, and later on I'll be posting some more action poses for these. I have to come up with a good background though. I only had my working table as a background. It'll surely be great! Keep visiting!

FOOD: New Year Weekend

So it's the first weekend of the year, and the family decided to go to the mall for a quick stroll. As usual, food trip's just around the corner! And therefore, please enjoy at least a quick sight of what we indulged ourselves into.

SATURDAY: Festival Mall, Alabang

Thai Beef Noodles

Creation of: (forgot the name of the resto)

See the Menu: located in Festival Mall, Alabang

Okay, I don't really know what made this particular

dish "Thai," as for me the beef tasted like the local beef noodles in the country. Maybe the noodles itself; it was white, probably made from rice or something. But it had a bit of a spicy taste to it, not to mention I added some chili powder to the soup. The meatball wasn't part of the meal actually. I just asked some from my girlfriend. Mouth watering.

Mini Donuts

Creation of: Lil' Orbits (PH)

See the Menu: Lil' Orbits Global

Other than enjoying the doughnuts from Dunkin' Donuts, Gonuts Donuts or Krispy Kreme, you might wanna try the Lil' Orbits mini donuts. It's cooked in a humble stall, and ready in a few minutes. It's fun just watching how the mini donuts swim in hot deep oil and tumble as they are scooped up to the tray. And that's not all. You even get to choose between a number of flavors - I always choose the cinnamon flavor, my personal favorite - and they add the sugary flavoring into the paperbag and mix it along with the mini donuts. You could even enjoy it with the instant 3-in-1 coffee.

Coke Zero vs. Regular Coke

Not much to say about this, really. Just wanted to try other things in photography. A mix of three depths. Yeah, include the bowl of noodles in the background.

SUNDAY: SM Sta. Rosa

Mini Pizza/ Pizza Bread

Creation of: Antz - The Bread Factory

See the Menu: Antz Bread Factory

It's a simple bread shop with a lot of surprises in its menu. This pizza bread, for instance, took me and my girlfriend's breath away. Some local pizza tastes ordinary, but this one's special. It's not toasted in any way. The bread's soft and spongy, and one thing I liked about this is that it has meaty chunks inside the bread, so with every bite of the cheezy goodness off the top section of the bread, you also get to experience the fun in chewing the meat. Talk about meaty pizzas.

Chocolate Cupcake

Creation of: Antz - The Bread Factory

See the Menu: Antz Bread Factory

Now there's something weird about this cupcake. True, it looks fantastic and chocolatey on the outside, but honestly I didn't like the bread. I expected a fudgy chocolate texture once I sunk my teeth in it, but the bread speaks otherwise, but then again the chocolate coating of the cupcake tastes alright. A little downside of The Bread factory, I guess.

Takoyaki

Creation of: Kuya Chito's Takuyaki

My girlfriend loves takoyaki so much! So I might as well take a picture of her cravings. As you can see, I insisted on using the word "takoyaki" instead of "takuyaki" because of the meaning of the word. In japan it is actually "takoyaki," with the importance of the word "tako" meaning "octopus." Hence, the takoyaki served should include octopus in it, or at least some processed seafood. I'm not really sure whether or not the now-famous Kuya Chito's Takuyaki contains any seafood at all, but it definitely contains about 80% vegetables. Well at least it's healthy. Another thing that adds to the flavor is the sauce - you can choose between sweet, spice, or a mixture of both, and usually choose between three flakes: chicken, beef, or fish. Not bad for a food stall.

FOOD: Cold treats

Creations of: O My Yogurt

See the menu: www.kmlgusa.net

Vanilla-Blueberry Frozen Yogurt

Topped with Corn flakes, Crushed nuts, Gummy Bears, Strawberry syrup with fruit bits, Coco Crunch, Choco sprinkles and Choco Wafer stick

To be honest, this was the very first time I've tried frozen yogurt outside my current community, so it would be pointless for me to compare this to frozen yogurt from other stores. But the idea of me being able to mix and match my choice of frozen delights and toppings brought the kid in me. From the array of toppings displayed, I chose, of course my favorites, regardless of how the different flavors would match up. So I ended up eating them in an orderly fashion: frozen yogurt + one topping.

These were all sweets, so I'd say that they taste great, but as a good friend of mine told me as a hint, frozen yogurt's supposed to have a touch of sourness in its sweet creamy goodness. From then I remember how the regular yogurt tastes like, and I tried really hard to imagine how it tastes with its additional frozen texture. The cost? A bit over the top, just for a really small bucket. I forgot the measurement for its size. But it's a bit small, really. I guess you just get what you pay for from the toppings alone.

FOOD: Makes you wanna miss Los Baños

Hi!

As a first, I would like to share to you guys what I first wanted to try: Food Photography. As I have studied and read from other bloggers, they say that proper lighting is a very important attribute in enhancing the flavor of the food through what I want to call visual taste. In my case, since I'm not really a rich guy and all, I try to adjust with the limitations of the environment.

Here, you will see the diversity of the food based on different aspects: geography, economic value, etc. Hence, expect to see a wide range of food groups, from home-cooked dishes to the common fastfood meals, to fine creations inspired by the silver plated palate.

DISCLAIMER: As mentioned, the food displayed here are not creations of the author, but mere exhibits of the meals and beverages enjoyed by the author. No copyright infringement intended.

Creations of: Cafe Antonio Los Baños

See the Menu: cafeantonioelbi.blogspot.com

Rocky Road Frajelli

These are some of the first few shots of delicacies

I've enjoyed. Me and my friends were regular customers at the above mentioned coffee shop, and this was not just an ordinary coffee shop. Sure, you'd enjoy WiFi at most coffee shops nowadays, and even spend more bucks at Starbucks to get connected, but in this coffee shop, you don't have to get connected to be connected, especially to your friends. With just one sip of their coffee, you can socialize and have fun without even using Facebook.

Cookies and Cream Frothiccino

Black Forest Frothiccino