Sushi & surprise... my cat

Today we tried out Ye's buffet in Waterloo. Emily took lots of pictures for me. And yes I'll be posting the lot. Trust me, my family will be rivited!

There's lots of sushi.

But there's tons of other stuff which makes it more inclusive for the non sushi among us.

Cheesy crab!

There were also a lot of good noodle and classic Canadian-Chinese food dishes (some with a bit of a twist), salad including my favorite seaweed one and crab, cold shrimp, some sort of gelatinous mollusk matter in shells, and...

Yes.

I was not offended by there being Chinese food. I like Sushi but I think I like it because it's new and different. Sometimes I realize I like something at a Sushi restaurant not because it's good but because Sushi is fun and the dish is good CONSIDERING it's a Sushi place. I don't even really like rice for Pete's sake.

Myers Briggs personality test move over. I think Sushi is the true test. First of all, will you upend the basic survival skill taught at your mother's knee to not eat raw fish. Then when you do try it and realize that almost everything is actually cooked fake crab except a few teensy morsels of very mild non fishy tasting fish are you drawn by the artistry or the practical?

I found one review that I read of this place fascinating. The guy said he'd only go at off hours cause when the place was hopping they didn't arrange the Sushi as artistically on the plate, just got it out as quickly as possible.

I like the stuff to look pretty but to me that meant it would've been fresher.

Caleb started out with a mango square because he could.

Karen's plate always looked pretty. And so does she!

We had a taste off. Caleb tried half a spoon of mint...

Nope!

While Emily had more luck with fried shrimp.

Hey Mikey she likes it!

My verdict is that I really liked it. It's more expensive than Sushi 99 especially on weekends and evenings. I think there might be Teppanyaki at night where the chefs cook in front of you but I'm not sure.

Also there are still order forms on the table so I'm assuming you can order that way in case you don't want the buffet. Not sure. Might be the way to go if freshness is super important to you.

That said I'd try to stick to peak busy hours and really if I wanted only sushi I'd still go to Sushi 99 or Fortino's grocery store in Hamilton where they make it as you watch and it's the best Sushi I've ever had.

But Ye's buffet was tons of fun and if you're bringing kids it's awesome. I loved the new plates and seating too.

I felt less pressure to over eat because we didn't keep on ordering stuff that we loved (while we were still hungry) and then feel obligated to eat it when it came later. You could have one of anything you wanted to try and it made it easier to try new things because you could see them instead of a two or three word description on the menu.

Not sure Karen will be in a hurry to try another soft egg in a cup though. Shudder.

Thanks Emily!

Last night I watched a YouTube video about how to achieve the bokeh effect. ie blurring your background while keeping you subject in focus and I accidentally learned what this little wheel is for when you are in manual.

I really should learn the words but what it does if you turn it is let in more or less light till you like what you see.

Looked it up, it changes the exposure or shutter speed.

If you hold down this button while you turn the wheel it changed the focus area.

ie kind of like on a football field - do you want the camera to tell the story going on on the 20, 30, or 40 yard line or the whole field? Ha ha probably why they call it depth of field. Duh! Well this is how I learn. Bits and pieces, try it out, then write about it. Sitting down with a book? No.

The mind shift for me was learning that F-stop is not as much about what you are focusing on as how far into the whole space in front of you you want in focus across the whole picture. Like a cross section. The lower the number the closer to you the focus will stop.

I don't really have an example of different F stops (that I know of :) but these are my favorites from tonight.

The boy is earnest. I've never really noticed the black ear tufts before.

Here you go I think. Focused on the nose level on the next two then a bit further away, as far back as the ears.

But still a low F-stop because the background is still blurred. Important in a messy apartment

End of inept photography lesson.

Did lots of walking today at the mall and in the hall but looking forward to getting outside tomorrow.

&

Stay tuned tomorrow for Harry vs the muskrat hat inspired by this photo.