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Originally uploaded by minhi.
tighter shot of the included extras, the bag is pretty basic, basically for dirty clothes. The cell phone case is too big for most cell phones but works ok clipped to the shoulder belts. The waist strap works pretty well–boblbee sell a padded one with extra hooks (to clip things on) but i don’t think it’s needed.
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Originally uploaded by minhi.
here’s a shot of the bag with my ibook. The ibook is inside a north face laptop sleeve. I’m not sure i would do this normally, i have a neoprene case for the ibook and i think that’s plenty of protection. but gives you an idea of the volume. This picture is a little misleading because there is some expansion between the outershell and the back of the bag–sort of like an accordion, so you can stuff the bag a little bit.
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Originally uploaded by minhi.
I was suprised to find a few extras with the bag. A small cell phone case which you can clip onto the straps, a waist belt, a do-all strap and a gym bag were all included.
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Originally uploaded by minhi.
like i said before, i’m a nut for bags. i’ve wanted a boblbee bag for close 10 years. Ever since they came out in 96? or 97? but they were (and still are) so expensive. They start around $130 for the smaller ones and get to over $200 for the larger ones and the executive models. And then that’s before all the accessories you can get for them! padded waist straps, cargo nets, clip on bags etc, you can easily spend as much as the bag!
Even though I can now afford these bags, i still can’t justify it. But then i find out that ebags.com is selling the “old” version of the megalopolis for just about 50%–well actually it was $90 – an ebags special 20% more. So after shipping i paid $82.10 and it came directly from boblbee.
So what’s the difference from the “old” megalopolis and the new ones? As far as i can tell the only difference is an internal organizer. On some of the other models there’s also a dedicated compartment for a laptop, but functionally they’re still the same.
Now I admit i do have plenty of bags so other then the fact that I’ve always wanted a boblbee why did i buy this? Well I spent an afternoon walking around with my Timbuktu bag (which i’ve owned for 8 years) and the next day my back was killing me, even though it wasn’t that full! Old age i guess.
The boblbees are famous for comfort. And it’s true i spent an afternoon walking around and it is comfortable. Other side-benefits are you rarely see another one of these, most people give you wierd looks because it is pretty funny looking and you can put stickers on them!
Minuses are they don’t hold all that much, about the same as a small backpack. There is only one small pocket in the top flap. The top flap clips over the mouth of the bag, so no zipper to secure it. And inside the bag there are no compartments or pockets so you have to organize things with mesh bags or no organization!
So of these things you can solve, they make bolt-on bags that clip to the outside and fit into the little curve on the back, this gives you somewhere to secure items you need quick access.
I’ll post some follow up thoughts, if you want to see more, just click on the pic to go to my flicker set.
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Originally uploaded by minhi.
And once last shot of in a bodum pavina glass. more of a ristretto since these glasses hold around 2ozs.
Notice how dark the espresso is and how dark the crema is, not the light blond stuff you get at most cafes!
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Originally uploaded by minhi.
How do you make a pseudo cafe au lait with an espresso machine?
First let me explain how to make a cafe au lait. Obviously it’s a french drink, usually made with double strength coffee –most of the time french press. The coffee is mixed with hot milk in a 50%/50% ratio. It is served in a big bowl for breakfast with a side of french bread with butter that you dip into the coffee. It’s a typical french breakfast item served to adults and to children.
If you want to make this with an espresso machine, the closest i’ve come is to make an americano and then mix that in a 50/50 ratio with steamed milk.
I know, how do you make an americano? Ok, pull a shot (in this case I pulled a double, 2oz shot), then mix it with water in a 1 part espresso to 2 part hot water ratio. An americano tastes stronger then regular coffee and to me it’s a mellower version of espresso–not watered down espresso which is what you may think. Adding milk and suger is ok, but i like straight–which is odd since i don’t like straigt coffe. I think an americano draws out the natural sweetness of coffee without the bitterness. And one last thing, when you mix the espresso and water, the espresso is poured on top of the hot water. Do not mix it! (Try it!)
Now with your american substituting for your double strength french press, steam up some milk with your espresso machine–try to keep the foam down, a little is ok. And then pour over your american mixture.
This mug is 12oz, so a 6oz americano (2oz espresso + 4oz hot water) + 6oz steamed milk is the perfect amount. I didn’t measure the milk this morning, but i did measure the hot water, so this was pretty close to perfect ratio 🙂
It was a tasty drink and the extra volume let’s me enjoy it longer while i read the sunday paper.
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Originally uploaded by minhi.
OK, i’ve been without fresh espresso beans for about 2 weeks now. I’ve been using the yemen mocha from coffee world the last few weeks. It was average for espresso but ok for milk drinks. But I had to get some fresh beans. Even though I was unlucky in the past I hit murky coffee in arlington and found a bag (last one) just 4 days off roast: just starting to peak!
Made an excellent shot yesterday and here’s a shot for this morning. I made a pseudo cafe au lait because i wanted a larger volume drink (coffee mug size). I’ll get into that in my next post, first let’s talk about this shot.
I rarely pull shots into a clear glass, mainly because i prefer to drink from a porcelain espresso demi-tasse cup. The only time I pull into a shot glass is to make an americano, for lattes or cappucinos i pull directly into the mugs. Since i so rarely pull shots to a clear glass i don’t always appreciate the nice crema (foam) on top. This is about 60 seconds after the pull so all the foam has settled at the top.
A near perfect 2 oz in 25 seconds. Really fresh beans will always give extra crema when you pull it, over the course of the next week it will start to decline. But the next few days will be yummy!
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Originally uploaded by minhi.
a little closer pic of the first floor box, there is a garage level below this one, so it’s technically the second level but i think it’s the first living level.
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Originally uploaded by minhi.
a little closer up front, notice how sections are boxes stacked on top of each other, and how the top floor cants out from the rest of the house. for some reason people were curious why i was taking pictures. There’s too much glare but there were people inside working, i had to get out of there before they caught me!
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Originally uploaded by minhi.
I was walking around toronto (from chinatown towards cn tower) and on a side street–of not the best neighborhood was this house. As you can see it definately stands out from the other houses. The second floor is almost canti-levered above the first floor. It is very cool, and hard to see from the pictures but you can see all the way through.
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