Adobe Lightroom 3.4

I have never been good at using software to manipulate photos. Since 2008, I have been using photoshop elements 6.0, a scaled down version of photoshop CS suited only for editing photos. I use it mainly for a little bit of sharpening and resizing. 

A couple of weeks ago, a friend gave me Adobe Lightroom 3.4, the latest version of lightroom which is software I have read about so many times in various camera forums. Professional photographers say that they use it as part of their digital workflow - now there's a catch phrase for you. I never really came across digital workflow until I started hearing about it from professional photographers. 

So I installed it on my computer and it works great. It automatically adds my watermark to all the photos I publish and does a few more things too like sharpen the photos when I import them. Lightroom also has a powerful organizer and the best thing I love about lightroom are the presets. Presets are adjustments pre-programmed by you for photos which can be applied to one or all images at the same time. Lightroom makes your life so much easier by allowing you to edit by batch whereas with photoshop CS or elements, you have to edit and save one by one, a tedious exercise.

And here they are, my first attempt at using lightroom. I will show you the originals and the post-processed photos. I hope you like them. 

man on pier - original

man on pier - post-processed

street people - original

street people - post-processed

desolate highway - original

desolate highway - post-processed

girl with camera - original

girl with camera - post-processed

lonely isle - original

lonely isle - post-processed

man-made isle - original

man-made isle - post-processed

Ciao!

Adventure Park PNG

Yes you read it right, I am talking about a theme park in PNG, the first of it's kind in the country. By international standards, it is tiny but hey, over here, we're quite happy with what we can get. There aren't a lot of facilities in the park but it still makes for a nice weekend getaway if you live in nearby Port Moresby. It is located around 14-mile just before you reach Pacific Adventist University. There is no entrance fee unless you want to use the facilities. 

So what can you do here? You can use the 2 waterslides, the first in the country. K20 will get you in for half a day and K30 for the whole day. You can also go fish in one of two man-made lakes. You can take home whatever you catch for only K20/kilogram. The thing is, a lot of people fish here so most of the fish you can catch are tiny. There's also a children's playground, a little field with some ducks, goats and deer. A footpath will take you over a couple of wooden bridges and take you around the whole area. It's a pleasant walk around. The whole area has plenty of picnic tables too and lots of room to run around in.

the entrance to the park. you can see there's ample parking.

K20 for half a day and K30 for the whole day.

this is a first for PNG!

plastic fantastic African animals.

the entrance has a fountain to greet you.

lakes cafe where you can get refreshments.

people lining up at the counter. it is self-serve.

the menu.

the al fresco cafe area is quite pleasant to sit in.

if it is raining, you can also sit inside.

there is only one toilet here.

they're nice and clean and stocked with toilet paper.

there's running water to wash your hands before a meal.

they also sell souvenirs here.

you can take home what you catch in the lake.

here's a bag full of freshly caught fish.

i got one!!!

it's a baby!!!

ducks out and about.

this goat likes to stare.

the deer are shy... as always.

roofed areas for picnics.

a wooden bridge marks the start of the footpath.

these picnic tables are at the far end of the second lake.

three little islands with picnic tables are also available.

metal park benches line the lake's shoreline.

water for the lakes comes from large pipes like this.

let's slide!!! the blue slide has a milder grade. the yellow slide is steeper.

I highly recommend coming here if you want a change of scenery from Port Moresby. The drive will only take you less than 20 minutes. They serve sandwiches and pies there as well as coffee and sodas. They also have clean toilets in case you're planning on spending the whole day there.

Cashew Chicken & Shitake Mushrooms in Oyster Sauce

Though I was raised to be Chinese, I rarely cook Chinese food so it is my first time to feature Chinese food here. Today I'm cooking Cashew Chicken and Shitake Mushrooms in Oyster Sauce, two very popular dishes in Chinese restaurants. We'll start off with the Chicken dish. 

Cashew Chicken

The Ingredients:

1st Marinade

• Water
• Baking soda
• Corn starch

2nd Marinade

• Sesame oil
• Soy Sauce

The main ingredients

• 1 green capsicum
• 1 large brown onion
• a little Ginger
• 500 grams diced chicken
• Raw cashews

Sauce

• Sesame oil
• Honey
• Soy sauce

The Procedure:

Mix the water, baking soda and corn starch and marinade the chicken in this. This will make the chicken soft. Marinate it for 15 minutes. While waiting, chop the onion, ginger, and green capsicum. Set these aside. Once the chicken is done, drain it and rinse it then drizzle it with sesame oil and a little soy sauce for the second marinade. While waiting, toast the cashew nuts in a little oil in the pan. Just toast one side and lightly salt it. Once it's toasted, set it aside. Mix the soy sauce, honey and sesame oil. Make sure you mix the honey in well. The sauce should have a strong scent of honey but still remain savoury. Once you're done, fry the onions, green capsicum and ginger in the pan over medium heat. Once the capsicum becomes softer, throw in the marinated diced chicken. Cook it until it is almost done then pour in the sauce. Reduce the sauce until it becomes thicker then throw in the cashew nuts and drizzle it all again with sesame oil. Make sure it is all mixed well then take out of the pan and serve.

the ingredients.

take the seeds out of the capsicum.

chop up the capsicum.

marinade the chicken in a mixture of water, baking soda and corn starch.

chop up the onions.

chop up a little ginger.

mix some soy sauce, honey and sesame oil.

toast & lightly salt the cashew nuts.

once toasted, set them aside.

fry the green capsicum, onions and ginger.

marinade the chicken in some sesame oil and a little soy sauce.

fry the chicken alongisde the other ingredients.

once the chicken has turned white, you can mix it all up. it's ready for the sauce.

pour in the sauce.

toss in the nuts!

serve hot!

Shitake Mushrooms in Oyster Sauce

The ingredients

• Dried Shitake mushrooms
• Minced garlic
• Green onions
• Oyster Sauce
• Sugar
• Sesame oil

The procedure:

Soak the dried mushrooms into some water for an hour. Make sure all the parts are soft. Sometimes, the stems can be tougher. If this is the case, slice these off. The water should turn dark in colour. Chop the green onions. Once the mushrooms are soft enough, drain them but do not throw away the liquid. Saute the garlic until brown then throw in the mushrooms. After a minute, pour in some oyster sauce and then get a cup of the dark water from the mushrooms and pour it in as well. Reduce the liquids until it is thick then throw in the sugar and the green onions then drizzle it all with sesame oil. Toss and take out and serve.

Tip: Sesame oil can be overpowering. Make sure you use this sparingly.

the ingredients. missing here is the sugar.

take out the mushrooms and soak them.

after soaking, the mushrooms should be very soft. save the water.

chop up the green onion.

saute the minced garlic.

throw in the mushrooms!

pour the oyster sauce and add a cup of the water from the soaked mushrooms.

drizzle with sesame oil.

throw in some sugar.

throw in the green onions last.

toss and serve!

Well, I hope you enjoyed these two recipes. Ciao!