Resto Review: South Park Restaurant, Guimbal, Iloilo

Today marks another year for me and Izanor. We decided to have lunch down south (south of Iloilo, that is) at South Park Grill House since I also had a few papers to sign at the office in Miagao.

We left Alimodian at 10:30 am, taking the Cordova (Leon-Tigbauan) short cut, and were at South Park by 11:15. South Park Grill House (or simply South Park) is located at Brgy. Nanga, Guimbal. From Iloilo, it's at the right side of the road just a few hundred meters from Racso's Resort and the LTO Guimbal Office.

At South Park. Photo by E.A. Lerona. 2011.

It was my second time at South Park, but it was Iza's first. My first time was about two months ago with Manong Rupert, Rhoda, and Jay (Rhoda's hubby). I liked the crispy pata so much that I forgot the other food we had; what I remember is that I had nothing to complain about.

Izanor at South Park. Photo by E.A. Lerona. 2011.

Today, I realized that the restaurant really serves good food. I also saw that the restaurant has been receiving awards from the Department of Health (DOH) since 2005, so it must be good.

Award from DOH.Photo by E.A. Lerona. 2011.

We ordered seafoods chop suey, fish and chips, grilled chicken (paa), and mango shake. We also ordered sotanghon guisado for take out, but we decided to go on a diet, so no rice! In less than 15 minutes, the waiter served our food, and everything was delicious.

Southpark Seafoods Chop Suey. Photo by E.A. Lerona. 2011.

Southpark Fish and Chips. Photo by E.A. Lerona. 2011.

Southpark Grilled Chicken (Paa). Photo by E.A. Lerona. 2011.

When we were through, we felt satisfied: we felt full yet our stomachs didn't feel heavy. Maybe because none of the food felt greasy. All of the veggies on the chop suey were crispy. We felt healthy. We thought that diets ought to be done that way. 

When we paid our bill, our waiter, Joart, immediately gave us the sotanghon guisado. Fast and prompt service. Good service. For sure, we will be returning to South Park in the future.

To inquire/make reservations, call (033) 315-55-29 or text Bunny at 0908-742-8999.

FotoQuote of the Day [04/27/2011]

"Let the photographer make a perfect photograph. And if he happens to be a lover of perfection and a seer, then the resulting photograph would be straight and beautiful." - Alfred Stieglitz

Elderly woman chatting with priest while waiting for Lenten
procession to start. Holy Friday, Alimodian, Iloilo.
Photo by E.A. Lerona. 2011.

Congratulations, 2011 Graduates!

Congratulations to all 2011 graduates of UPV Miagao and Iloilo campuses. Today, you made your parents proud. Today, you wore your sablay proud. But what is the sablay?

In UP, graduates wear sablay over their dress or barong instead of having to wear toga. Not all UP campuses do this, but the sablay has become another symbol for UP.

In Ilonggo (or Hiligaynon if you like), the word sablay means to hang. The stress is in the first syllable. It is synonymous to the word halay, the stress of which is in the second syllable. For both words, put the stress in the wrong place and you end up with something you don't want to happen to you especially on your graduation day.

Sablay weaver in Baguio. Photo by E.A. Lerona. 2009.

 From Wikipedia:

"The Sablay is a sash joined in front by an ornament and embroidered or printed with the University's initials in Baybayin script and running geometric motifs of indigenous Philippine ethnic groups... Candidates for graduation wear the sablay at the right shoulder, and is then moved to the left shoulder after the President of the University confers their degree, similar to the moving of the tassel of the academic cap."

A little bit of Nikon history

I shoot Nikon. I like Nikon. There's a coined term to refer to Nikon-lovers: Nikonians. I don't want to call myself that, but I do like Nikon.

My first DSLR was the D40. I purchased it in December of 2008, and I've already shot more than 100,000 with it. Its shutter actually got stuck after about 80,000 shutter clicks, but I opened it and put some WD40 on the shutter gear wheels and it has sprung back to life! It's one hell of a tough camera!

Now I shoot with a D7000. I'm a happy dog, you can see me hold my Nikon while wagging my tail. Now if I could only get myself some more moolah to buy original Nikon lenses. 

Anyway, have you ever wondered why Nikon cameras today display a red inverted triangle at the front? I'm referring to that red thing at the upper part of the grip. Watch these movies to find out.

  

FotoQuote of the Day [04/23/2011]

Another quote from the great Ansel Adams.

"I'm interested in expressing something that is built up from within rather than just extract it from without."

Father and son on the trek down Agony Hill in
Alimodian, Iloilo. Holy Friday, 2011.

FotoQuote of the Day [04/22/2011]

A quote from one of the most popular photographer of all time that highlights the importance of having a clear vision prior to taking (or making) the photograph.

"When I'm ready to take a photograph, I think I obviously see in my mind's eye something that is not literally there." - Ansel Adams

Gravel piles at a quarry site in Brgy. Binalud, Alimodian, Iloilo. 2008.

FotoQuote of the Day [04/20/2011]

I'm starting a series in my blog. I wanted to write something longer, like an article on my photography, but this was easier to write. It's been 2 years and a half since I purchased my first digital SLR. I've shot more than 80,000 with it, and I now have my second DSLR. I read a lot about the subject, bought a lot of books (mostly second-hand from Booksale), and kept on shooting and shooting until I got better. Not that I am really good already, but "improving" is such a good-sounding word. So I'm giving the first FotoQuote of the Day.

"What is good in a photograph if it's so simple? Truth is, therein lies the difficulty; for if a photograph were to be simple, it has to be frank, straightforward, and just tell its story. It has to be obvious. In short, it has to be simple. Good photographs are almost always simple. In fact, the best photographs have always been simple. Now whoever said keeping things simple is always easy?"

A boy follows as his mother processes her clearance at NBI in Iloilo. 2011.

The Nikon D40: My Introduction to Photography

I am reviving this blog site. Not that anyone is reading this, but I know this site will be found someday. And it would be a shame that there will only be a few useful things in here when I could have written more. I know I have many things to share, and I shouldn't be selfish and just keep them to myself. And so I'm so very back.

In the meantime, here's a re-post of something I wrote for a different blog site I created about a year ago. I'm deleting that other blog. I'm instead writing everything I want to write here. This blog is a keeper. Anyway, this article is about a camera since I'm now into photography.

It's almost been a year since I got my own DSLR camera -- my first SLR, a Nikon D40. I bought it for Php 21,500.00 at Henry's Camera Shop in Quiapo. It cost around Php 27,000.00 in malls then. Now it's sold at Php 23,500.00 at Henry's and Php 29,500.00 in malls. Seemingly, other digital cameras, particularly the point & shoot ones (that's P&S for you, acronymphobics) have become cheaper. The cheapening, of course, is due to digital obsolescence (read more about it here), but the tiny compact D40 has become a little more expensive! This made me think and come up with theories as to why this is so, and here are (for me) the two most plausible: a) the peso has become cheaper compared to the dollar; and b) there is still a good demand for Nikon D40.

Both are, I think, true (unless you point out to me that they are not and explain why), and so that gives me reason to celebrate my choice of my first DSLR.

It was October last year, when I was still trying to finish my Glosari ng Kinaray-a project for NCCA, when it dawned upon me that an affordable digital SLR was at my (financial) reach. I asked around for what would be a good, affordable model, and on top of my respondents' answers of course were Canon and Nikon models.

A few google searches after (but the good readings/reviews came from DPreview and Ken Rockwell), the Nikon D60 and the Canon 1000D topped my list. They were a fresh release back then. Coincidentally, a friend, Medifel, was also planning to buy a DSLR; and that, together with Pablo, started our 3-person discussion group about photography and digital cameras. How my first two choices changed to the final pick of D40 (which wasn't even on my list then) was influenced by the following points raised in the course of those discussions:

1) The Nikon D60 and Canon 1000D each shoot at more than 10 megapixels. The Nikon D40 shoots only at 6 megapixels. But Ken Rockwell, being my main source of information back then, had a good discussion about camera resolution and told me that "megapixels don't really matter."

2) Nikon D60 and Canon 1000D both have CMOS sensors. Nikon D40 still uses a CCD. That sounded like a little discouraging at first. CMOS sounded more high-tech, but a few more readings from the internet (Luminous Landscape) revealed that, ceteris paribus, CCDs are more sensitive to color and therefore bring out better pictures.

3) Still about sensor design. (WARNING: a little Greek sort of explanation follows. You may want to skip to No. 4 instead to avoid potential vertigo.) I read in a book (I'll post the title when I get my hands on it again) that the lower the camera's pixel pitch (or the bigger each pixel is), the better it's performance will be. (You can also read about pixel pitch here.) In English, that means that the fewer (and bigger) the pixels are in a given sensor area, the better the sensor's performance will be. This is because bigger pixels are more sensitive to light than smaller pixels.

Let me place that pictorially. Imagine an area measuring 1 square foot. Imagine 1-inch balls placed on it where each ball represents one pixel. So the area can hold a maximum of 144 balls: that's 144 pixels. In order for us to cram more pixels into the same area, the only thing we can do is reduce the size of the balls to, say, 1/2-inch to make 576 pixels; 1/4-inch to make 2,304 pixels; 1/8-inch to make 9,216 pixels; and so forth.

Now, both the Nikon D40 and D60, as well as Canon 1000D, are APS-C cameras. In English, that means they all have the same sensor size (about 25.1 x 16.7 mm and an aspect ration of 3:2). But look closely and you have 4 more megapixels in both the Nikon D60 and the Canon 1000D. That means that, along the way, they had to make adjustments to cram all that additional number of pixels to the same-sized sensor.

So points 1-3 made it somehow clear to me that the D40 was better than either the Nikon D60 or the Canon 1000D. But another point made the D40 my runaway winner.

4) The D40, as I said, cost Php 21,500.00 in Quiapo back then. The D60, around Php 32,000.00, and the Canon 1000D about the same. I thought it wiser to buy a cheaper (but still capable) camera and buy another lens (a Nikkor 55-200mm VR) and a flash (an SB-400). And so I did.

I purchased my camera in December of 2008.Now, a year after that, I'm still happy with my D40. I've shot lots and lots of pictures with it, and come up with good ones every once in a while. I can say that (without having to compare it to other cameras) it is a perfect camera for beginners. It's easy to operate, it's light, and it can do most of the operations most professional (read: more expensive) DSLRs can. It also is a very dependable camera. I took my 20,000th shot with it last week, and it still runs perfectly. It is a gem of a camera.