Miami with the Fujifilm X70

Recently, I had to take a trip down to Miami – all the way over from Singapore. It was a really intense work related trip but on the last day, I had the chance to have some me-time. So I decided to head out and shoot some SOOC photos with my Fujifilm X70.

My hotel was just near the shore at the South Beach area. I only had to open a gate, and I was on the sand.

For some reason, there was a cold snap during the time I was there. This was bad news because I didn’t pack for cold weather. On the morning I took these shots, it was 13 degrees Celsius which was terribly chilly for me, coming from sunny Singapore.

Around 11am in the morning, the sun came out and the temperature went up to 23 degrees celcius which was quite comfortable. People started to come out on to the beach.

The Breakwater Hotel down at the infamous Ocean Drive stretch was my favorite art deco building… because it’s got a nice (chain) Cuban restaurant in its lobby (Havana 1957).

In Singapore, I had always imbibed on Mojitos. Hell, I even knew how to pronounce it correctly. But when you have Cuban friends that are teaching you how to order – that’s when I started enjoying those Mojitos so intensely that I started to wonder if I had a problem because I downed so many of these and they are intense!

Another thing I learned to appreciate was the classic Cubano sandwich – basically a pulled pork sandwich with lots of yummy mustard. However, as they are american-sized, I usually ate half of the sandwich and brought the other half back to my hotel room for a snack later in the day.

And before I forget, my absolutely favorite starter (and main) would be Ceviche which technically is Peruvian. I absolutely adore it and must order it the moment I perchance upon it on any restaurant menu.

Apart from the Cuban cuisine, the main thing I love about Miami is the Art Deco architecture which for me is simply amazing. The typefaces used everywhere, the abundant application of pastel colours and the retro architecture is a delight to soak in and revel about.

And finally the hardworking indigenous people of Miami have a distinctive Latino vibe. To be frank, everybody spoke Spanish here. And luckily I habla some espanyol if you know what I mean otherwise I would have run into all kinds of trouble.

That’s it! I am quite pleased with the SOOC jpegs that the X70 produced during my photowalk of Miami. They are of course not the best as I didn’t have a viewfinder to compose with but I am happy with the results!