This is part 2 of my previous post about my photowalks around downtown Palo Alto.

On two Sunday evenings in March and April, I carried my XA around downtown Palo Alto to take some pictures. I like shooting film on a manual focus rangefinder because it forces me to think differently about photography. I don’t have a memory card that can fit 500 shots. I don’t have an LCD to preview shots. I don’t have autofocus.

I used cheap Kodak film and processed it at Costco. The wavy multicolored lines you might notice running through the photos are from damage caused to the negatives by dirty equipment at Costco. ):

Most pictures were untouched. Some had minimal processing in photoshop after scanning like straightening.

An E9 with Alpina wheels.

Stay tuned for the second part of this post!

A few days before new years, we drove to the Tesla factory in Fremont to pick up Jeff’s new Model S. Jeff reserved it months before and was actually one of the first 3000 Model S customers.

Tesla’s Crunchies award in the lobby.

When we arrived there, Tesla employees greeted us and then took us on a tour of the factory. Unfortunately, they didn’t let us take any pictures inside the factory. ): The factory was quite amazing. It was the first time any of us had been in an automobile factory. We were able to see all the steps involved in turning raw metal into a rolling electric car.

The amazing thing is that most of the factory wasn’t even being used. They will have more than enough space to ramp up Model S production and start production of the Model X.

After the tour, we were taken to a showroom to see Jeff’s car and learn how to use it.

The Model S has a lot of space. The front space that would normally be home to the engine is completely empty. Tesla calls it the frunk.

The Model S is the first car to completely eschew physical buttons and knobs on the center stack in favor of a touchscreen. All interaction defers to the 17″ touch screen. I think it is a step in the right direction, but I still would prefer a hybrid of physical controls and touch screen. The gauge cluster is also replaced with an LCD. It allows information like the current song being played or a gps map to be shown alongside normal information like speed and charge.

The charger plugs in at the rear quarter panel. Jeff bought the Supercharger upgrade. No, it isn’t some sort of forced induction system (how would that help in an electric car?). It is Tesla’s name for an advanced charging system. It allows much faster charges and most importantly, free access to Tesla’s (soon to be national) network of fast charging stations.

The Model S is very impressive in person. It looks futuristic without giving up its conservative, luxury aesthetic. It certainly doesn’t look dorky and stick out like the Leaf or Volt.

The Model S uses a keyless entry system with a fob in the shape of the car. Pressing the roof unlocks and locks the car. Pressing the hood opens the frunk. Pressing the back opens the tailgate. It looks great and probably makes a great conversation piece.

Here we are with Jeff’s car! It is hard to believe that the future of automobiles sits in the garage at Brohaus.

Late last year, there was a holiday party at Brohaus. Amy and Katherine planned it. Just like many other parties, it was a potluck.

Mmmm food.

That’s my broccoli and cheese casserole on the left!

Robby visited! We miss you at Brohaus~

Robby has cool glasses. I think they make him look like an architect or designer. Very fashionable.

Speaking about fashion, Eric, Jeffrey and Dustin make very unique fashion choices.

Berkeley + Amelia?

Those are Paul’s feet.

Chuan has a great smile.

Halfway through, a Christmas tree showed up. Actually it was Davin.

People posed with the Christmas tree.

I think Klappar Haj enjoyed himself the most.

Dustin and the penguin hat he received from a mysterious sender. Yes, the penguin is part of the hat.

Thanks for organizing the party, Amy and Katherine! We had a great time and ate a lot.

This is a continuation of my post about the 2012 F1 United States GP.

During the Historic Grand Prix, I spotted this man taking a cute picture. I couldn’t help capturing the moment.

The Ferrari Challenge race was surprisingly exciting. Two cars pulled out in front early on and fought for first place for the rest of the race. If I one day have the chance to own a Ferrari, I would definitely enter these kinds of races. They are probably the best chances to use them in the way they were meant to be used.

The F1 race on Sunday was preceded by the drivers parade. All the drivers were driven around the track on vintage American cars. Here is Sebastian Vettel on a 60s C2 Corvette. He later went on to win the season, making it his 3rd world championship in a row.

We later had a flyover by some airplanes. I think they are two P-51 Mustangs, one P-38 Lightning and one F-16 Falcon.

Then the race started. It was much more exciting then I expected. I thought that sitting on one side of the track and not being able to follow the action from up top wouldn’t be as good as a live television broadcast. The jumbotron, rented video devices of fans close by and the energy of the crowd made it an amazing experience.

Like I said earlier, F1 cars are fast and extremely difficult to photograph. I had a hard time capturing whole cars in my pictures. Here is a picture of Lewis Hamilton in his McLaren MP4-27. He later went on to win the race. This race was his second to last race with McLaren, a team that he had wanted to race for since the age of 10. He now races for Mercedes.

Mark Webber in his Red Bull RB8.

The tail of Fernando Alonso‘s Ferrari.

We had the fortune of watching one of the Scuderia Toro Rosso cars run off the track after a suspension failure.

Everyone was really focusing on the race. No one noticed me take this picture. ^^

I think the Ferrari on the track in this photo is Massa’s.

The race program looked pretty detailed. I now wish that I bought one. >_<

A big group of McLaren fans was behind us.

Vettel driving by after the end of the race. He was leading for much of the race, but was passed by Hamilton on lap 42 in a DRS zone. If you look closely, you can see his special helmet for the race.

The final standings and the main straight after the race. We heard from some other spectators that a lot of people jumped fences into the main straight to celebrate after the race finished.

In this shot you can see how steep the main straight is leading to turn 1. It is one of the most interested features of the course. The numerous hills around the course made it much easier for people on the grass to see the track. A spectator who had attended other races around the world told me that many other tracks are flat and make it almost impossible to see the track if you are behind anyone.

Calling the 2012 USGP amazing would be a gross understatement. It is and will continue to be one of the biggest motorsport spectacle in the US. I had a great time hanging out with my cousins and witnessing a truly historical race.

If you like cars or racing, do yourself a favor and attend the US GP. You won’t regret it.

In November, I went to Austin to see the F1 USGP with my cousins Navin and Vishnu.

We elected to park our car far from the track and take free shuttles. Parking at the track was really expensive.

Here we are waiting in line to get on shuttles to the track. If you ever go to a race, be prepared to wait in lines. For hours. Everywhere.

We spotted the track from the bus!

This guy made the most amazing hat that I have ever seen.

The race was held at the Circuit of the Americas, a race track specifically made for Formula One’s return to the United States (the first track specifically made for F1 in the US). It was designed by Hermann Tilke, who has held a monopoly in designing new tracks for F1 for over a decade.

The observation tower was designed by Miró Rivera Architects. The views from it are supposed to be amazing. We didn’t go up because it costs $35 for 10 minutes at the top. o.O

Medical Helicopter. The number of life threatening and fatal accidents in F1 has gone down dramatically but you can never be too safe.

The race control car. Not as cool as the Mercedes-Benz SLS Safety Car.

F1 cars are fast. It is really hard to catch them without good timing or great camera equipment. Here is the nose of Felipe Massa‘s Ferrari F2012. Until recently, Felipe was my favorite driver. He narrowly lost the championship to Lewis Hamilton in 2008 by 1 point. He was injured at the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix when debris from fellow Brazilian Rubens Barichello‘s car hit him in the head. Even though he recovered and returned to F1, he hasn’t been as successful ever since.

The track had plenty of normal event food like hot dogs and burgers, but there were a few local food trucks. I hope they have more next year. I hear great things about the food trucks in Austin.

I wonder how it feels to be a race photographer. On one hand, lugging around heavy equipment probably sucks. On the other, getting exclusive access must yield some great shots.

Earplugs are a must bring for F1 races. The loud, high pitched whine of the F1 engines isn’t deafening, but is too loud to stand for long periods of time.

Massa! I was lucky to get this shot.

The view of the turn 9 bleachers and general admission areas from our seats at turn 6.

We originally wanted to get the general admission tickets so that we could picnic on the grass, but the tickets sold out quickly. We ended up getting tickets on the bleachers.

The view from my seat.

Even though Ferrari fans were the most common, we saw plenty of support for Red Bull, McLaren and Lotus.

F1 races aren’t limited to just one race on one day. They are actually 3 day long affairs. The first two days are filled with practice sessions and races from other series. The F1 race is only at the end of the last day. Here is a 458 Italia from the Ferrari Challenge, a race series that allows Ferrari customers to race their cars in a one make stock car series.

There was also a leg of the IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge held during the weekend. I got a few shots of the Porsches, but they didn’t come out well. :/

Here are the cars of the Historic Grand Prix, a fun race limited to vintage F1 cars of different eras. First is the 1981 Arrows A3.

1983 Williams FW08C

1974 Brabham BT-44

One of the famous Tyrell P34 6-wheeled cars. They were perhaps the most radical cars to ever appear in F1.

1974 March 741

The famous 1978 Lotus 79. It was the first car to take full advantage of ground effects. Mario Andretti won five out of eleven races in 1978 in his Lotus 79 and went on to win the world championship that year.

1982 March 821. A lot of people love the blue and orange gulf oil livery, but one of my personal favorites is the white, blue and red Rothmans livery. It looked exceptional on the Group C Porsches like the 956.

The beautiful 1969 Ferrari 312.

The Historic Grand Prix was a great sight. It was great to see cars spanning 3 decades all racing together.

Check back in a few days for part 2 of this post!

Yet another post from a long time ago. This time it is Halloween 2012. One of the main reasons Caroline came to California when she did was to celebrate Halloween with me.

Me and Caroline. Caroline spent a long time making her costume (including sewing her own skirts), a Victorian era themed black widow. I spent a little less time.

Me and Shrews. We are Birds With Arms.

Mark was the scariest.

Paul was a waiter? John was pretty much a Filipino Psy.

Group Shot.

A Shrews shot.

A ghost!

My has it been a long time since my last post. I have yet another from when Caroline visited last year. This is about our date in San Francisco, specifically our dinner at Michelin two star restaurant Benu.

Before dinner, we spent some time in the Exploratorium, including the Tactile Dome. Unfortunately, I was so captivated by the exhibits that I only took one picture while inside.

After some time in the museum, we drove to SoMA.

Since Caroline rarely drinks and I was driving, we started dinner with some Vignette Wine Country Soda. The soda is made from the same grapes that many popular local wines are made from. It was simple, light and refreshing. I highly recommend it as a non-alcoholic alternative to wine at a dinner party.

When we first sat down at our places, we noticed these black objects that were placed inside the folded napkins on the table. We wondered what they were until our first course came, when we found out that they are just rests for our utensils.

The Amuse-bouche: fresh made tofu with dashi shoyu.

As an appetizer, Caroline had the soft poached duck egg, sausage, smoked cracklings, alliums and black truffle bun.

I hade the abalone grenobloise with cauliflower. A sea snail prepared in a traditional French brown butter sauce.

Next came the starches. Caroline ordered the snail shell pasta made with fermented black bean, caramelized clam jus and cilantro. The flavor of the pasta was so clear and memorable that I can still clearly remember the taste and texture.

I had the matsutake mushroom porridge with pine nuts and sesame. The porridge really focused on the mushroom. It wasn’t overly seasoned, allowing us to fully experience the depth of flavor in the mushroom.

We both chose seafood for our protein. Caroline’s was the whole sea bass, sauerbrussels, salsify, chestnut, pomegranate and ginger.

Mine was the bigfin squid, sablefish, lion’s mane mushroom, broccoli, lily bulb, walnut and yuzu. I liked that every ingredient was placed separately on the dish. It allowed me to try different combinations while eating.

Dessert was perhaps the most fascinating course. We ordered the pear custard, chamomile, buttermilk and pound cake. Take a good look at it. You can probably spot little balls of asian pear, spots of buttermilk, the custard and the most startling ingredient: an almost flawless, clear square of sugar candy.

Lastly, our server arrived with a wooden block that split in half to reveal petits fours sitting atop platforms.

Our dinner could only be described as an experience. The ingredients and their preparation intrigued us while indulging our appetites. Benu certainly isn’t a traditional restaurant in any sense. The staff and patrons are all much younger than at other Michelin star restaurants I have been to. Even though the ingredients themselves may not have been that exotic, their preparations were far from classical. Eating at Benu made me realize the scale of everything I don’t yet understand about food.

I’d certainly recommend Benu, but only for those with more developed palates. If you go, prepare to be surprised.

During the course of the week that Caroline was here last year, we assembled the Bright Bunny kit from SparkFun. I picked it because it combines both electronics (my hobby) and crafts (Caroline’s).

The kit starts with a small circuit board that you solder some components to. The most important component is the black rectangular thing. It’s a reed switch that closes the loop between a battery and an LED when a magnet is close by.

The soldering was really simple. We finished it in a few minutes.

However, the sewing took a long time.

We placed the circuit board with the reed switch inside the body of the rabbit and the magnet inside the carrot. As you can see, the rabbit’s tummy lights up when the carrot comes close to it.

We named him Sandy Cat. Caroline chose the name Cat. We decided to also name him Sandy after the hurricane (that Caroline narrowly missed on her way to California). Sandy Cat now lives happily with Caroline in New York.

In late October, Caroline visited me for a week. One of the first things we did was drive up to San Francisco with Sean and Chris for Picnic at the Presidio by Off the Grid. Off the Grid is a series of mini fairs centered around food trucks, food carts and entertainment. I heard about the picnic, Off the Grid’s special summer event, when I was searching for where and when the Del Popolo pizza truck would be stopping during the week that Caroline was over.

When we arrived at the Main Post, Caroline and I found a place for our blanket while Chris and Sean immediately went to Del Popolo to order some pizzas.

The crust on the margherita pizza was thin, crispy and chewy while the sauce was sweet with a hint of acidity. It is by far the best Neapolitan style pizza that I have had in California.

Even though the Margherita was my favorite, the Bianca was equally well executed. I especially loved the contrast between the crumbly texture of the ricotta and stringy, chewy nature of the mozzarella and grana padano.

Chris had a cream-filled donut.

We bought a few glasses of this agua fresca. I don’t remember exactly what was in it, but it had a slightly sweat and herbal flavor. Really refreshing!

Ceviche tostada! I only remembered to take a picture after we had eaten most of it. >.<

They had free Bocce sets for rent.

Why can’t I hold all these Bocce balls?

Chris’s favorite picnic pastime.

The view through one of the cannons at the Presidio.

After a few hours of eating, drinking and games, we took a walk around grounds.

Then, we got in the car and drove south. Next Stop: Hayes Valley.

Our destination: Smitten Ice Cream.

Smitten is unique for using liquid nitrogen to almost instantaneously make your ice cream from fresh ingredients after you order it.

Sean and his scoop of maple brown sugar pumpkin.

I had salted caramel with TCHO chocolate sauce.

If you live in the Bay and haven’t tried Smitten, then you are missing out. If you actually live in SF, then you have no excuse. Go try it at least for the novelty.

Sean didn’t want to be in this picture. I forced him.

I don’t remember Subaru offering this model in the US.

We had dinner in San Mateo (wasn’t that good) and then went to Tpumps for bubble tea. It’s another must visit for Bay Area residents. Here is my strawberry, mango green tea with lychee popping boba.

Update: Corrected some mistakes that Sean found. I originally wrote New York style pizza. It is actually Neapolitan. Also Chris bought the donut, not Sean as originally mentioned.