My New Lens: Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 VC!

When I came home to Seoul, South Korea after finishing my summer semester,
guess what was the first thing I was looking for.

that's right...

It was this lens.
You have no idea how happy I was to get this thing.

I bought a used Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 VC lens from my former teacher for whom I designed the "Jc Kalculus" logo.
He lost the box for this lens, so I was only able to get the lens just by it self.

No matter.
As long as the lens is functioning well, I'm perfectly okay with not having the box.

The lens was in a great condition:
there was no front or back-focusing problems, it was pretty clean, and he did say that he only used this lens for about 10 times.

Here's a comparison shot with the T3i body and the 18-55mm kit lens.
The Tamron 17-50 f2.8 VC lens is definitely bigger, bulkier and more beautiful. :D

This is my T3i with the 18-55mm kit lens mounted on it.

and This is my T3i with the Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 lens mounted on it.
If you compare the last two pictures, you can see for sure the new Tamron 17-50mm lens is so much bigger than the kit lens.

Since I now have a better lens,
I'll take a good care of it and also take some nice pictures with it!
:D

[Chapel Hill] Dinner at Mediterranean Deli

June 12th, 2014
Summer session 1 classes were all over! (although I still have to take the final exam, which I should be studying for right now.)

That's why my friends and I got together again went to Mediterranean Deli on Franklin Street.

This restaurant was pretty big.
It kind of felt like a food court in a way.

I mean, look

Look at all of these!!
That's a lot of food.

Oh yeah, this isn't everything they sell.
They cook more behind these showcase fridges(?)

Med Deli also has this small bar where you can get extra olives, sauces and stuff.
which I.... never used.

When I ordered my food at the cash register, I got the little number sign(?).
The workers here brought our food by finding us through these number signs, which is kind of like how they do it at Buns.

I bought myself a bottle of sparkling lemonade.
I don't know, maybe I should've gotten Coke instead?

This is what Christina ordered.
I have no idea what this was

This is what Neil ordered.
Nope, I still have no clue what this was either.

This is what Deanna ordered, and I was pretty sure that this was a Beef & Lamb Gyro.
How do I know this?

because I ordered a Chicken Gyro!
and I recognized the similarities between the two food.

The chicken gyro was perfect for me, very tasty, and not too salty or anything like that.
The food here is not that expensive either.


When Neil and I said this was our first time eating at Med Deli,
Deanna was shocked.
Maybe that's how popular Med Deli is to UNC students.
Well, it's not my fault that Med Deli is located so far west of West Franklin Street. That's pretty far.
and besides through out the regular school year, I had a lot of meal plans to take care of...


Well, the good thing is that now I am getting to know more restaurants on Franklin Street such as the Med Deli, all thanks to Summer school. :D

RHA Summer Cookout @ Kenan Quad.

Wow.

I never thought this would happen,

but it did, I am posting about what happened today on the exact same day!

(Well, technically, it's not really the same day anymore because it's past midnight. But Hey! This isn't delayed for a week like it normally is.)

 June 7th, 2014
There was a cookout at Kenan Quad, starting at 5 PM.

As you see, many people were already there.

It seemed like everything was getting prepared fairly well.

There was a very wide grill.

 There was this table with ketchup, mustard, and various chips.

There also was this table, on which all the stuff related to grill were.

 They were cooking hot dogs first, when I got there.

Well, starting off with a hot dog didn't seem that bad to me, so I got one and ate it.
It was alright.

Then, when I finished my hot dog, they started cooking some burgers.

 Oh yes.
that looks so awesome!

After quite a while, I finally got a burger!

I added a slice of cheese, some ketchup and mustard, and some lettuce.
Tasted alright.

Yaaaaah
The weather was so beautiful.

I sort of wished I weren't taking any summer classes and could just enjoy the beautiful day & cookout.


One hot dog and one cheeseburger was all I ate for dinner, even though I wasn't that full.

 "Fire!"

Well, these guys tried to do all sorts of things to keep the fire alive.
They tried adding some newspaper, spraying a lot of lighter oil, and then lighting it on fire.
But it was useless, most of the times, the fire just burned up (as seen in the photo) only for a short while, and died out... :'(

I don't know why this was happening.
But thanks to all these grill problems, my third burger was undercooked....
I just threw it out and went back to my room.

Hopefully the grill won't be so problematic on the next cookout I go to :)

[Hillsborough, NC] Dessert at Maple View Farm

May 31st, 2014
shortly after our dinner at Spicy 9,

We drove about 20 minutes to get here, Maple View Farm, to get dessert.
If you go further this way, you can get to where the cows are.

bus since it's getting dark and my friends and I were actually here to get dessert, this was the building of our interest.

Well then,
time to go in and get ourselves some dessert!

Dang!

Look at all these people!
That line is ridiculously long.

There is a show case of what seem to be a collection of all the milk bottles they've used from the past.

and you can get yourself some milk, chocolate milk, eggs, cream, cheese from this fridge.

This is where they sell their ice cream.

and of course, I got chocolate ice cream, because I LOVE CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM!

sadly, I did all this instead of studying for chemistry midterm.
and now I have to study extra hard for the next midterm and final.
:(

[Chapel Hill] Dinner at 'Spicy 9' with My Friends.... Again!

May 31st, 2014
which was approximately a week after the last my friends and I went to eat at Spicy 9,
well, we went to eat at Spicy 9.... Again, but this time with one more person: Christina's friend who was visiting from Texas.

We basically came here again, because:
1. Christina was showing her friend around Chapel Hill
2. We liked Spicy 9 the last time we came here
3. There are so many more Asian food they cook in Spicy 9 that we haven't tried yet.

Christina and her friend ordered Chicken Pad Thai.

I head Pad Thai is really good.
Maybe I should try it some day :)

My friend Neil, who is also going to be my roommate next school year, ordered this... which I don't remember the name of...
It was some sort of chicken, and it looked great.

Lastly, i ordered 'Kalbi,' which was one of the most expensive menu sold in Spicy 9.

It came with rice, kimchi, a sauce, and a hot plate of beef ribs with Korean kalbi sauce and grilled onions and peppers.

and... MY GOODNESS THIS LOOKS AWESOME!
It tasted fantastic and pretty authentic as well!
I approved this LA galbi (which is what this specific kalbi is called amongst Koreans)!

and although I haven't tried all of the food in Spicy 9, I can pretty much say that this is one of the best things they make here.
It was soooo good and it was totally worth paying twenty bucks for it!