{"id":1162,"date":"2009-03-15T21:55:20","date_gmt":"2009-03-15T12:55:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2009-03-15\/1162"},"modified":"2009-03-15T21:55:20","modified_gmt":"2009-03-15T12:55:20","slug":"bigger-than-the-biggest-grapefruit-youve-ever-seen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2009-03-15\/1162","title":{"rendered":"Bigger than the Biggest Grapefruit You’ve Ever Seen"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
\nNOTE<\/b>: Images with an icon next to them have been artificially shrunk to better fit your screen; click the icon to restore them, in place, to their regular size.\n<\/div>\n\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f\/2.8 @ 200 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>200 sec, f<\/span>\/5, ISO 1400 —\nfull exif<\/a><\/span>\nProspecting<\/span>\nthe biggest darn grapefruit known to man\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 85mm f\/1.4 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>200 sec, f<\/span>\/3.5, ISO 1400 —\nfull exif<\/a><\/span>\nvs.<\/i> an Egg<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

I was in the supermarket yesterday and did a double<\/span>-take when I saw<\/span> a\nbasket<\/span> of volleyball-sized grapefruit. They were huge<\/b>, twice the\nsize of any grapefruit I'd ever seen.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\niPhone — f<\/span>\/2.8 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nSupermarket Display<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

Except they weren't grapefruit. The sign called<\/span> them banpeiyu<\/a><\/i> (\u6669\u767d\u67da).<\/span> For $6, I had to<\/span> pick one up.<\/p>\n\n

It turns out that they're a variety of something called Pomelo<\/a>, a citrus<\/span> fruit that\nI had<\/span> never heard of. This particular variety comes from Viet Nam.<\/p>\n\n

When I got home, I told Anthony<\/span> that I had<\/span> a surprise,<\/span> had him close his\neyes, and place it on the table in front of him. Upon opening his eyes, he\nbroke out in uncontrollable “wow, check it out” laughter for a good<\/span> half a\nminute.<\/span> It was cute<\/span>.<\/p>\n\n

For some reason, I had the<\/span> thought that it'd be fun to play on the size\nby photographing it a scene<\/span> with some of his small toys, along the lines of\nthis old post: Heavy Industries on the Kitchen Table<\/a>. He liked<\/span> the idea,\nbut I still<\/span> have my cold, and I just<\/span> ran out of steam last night, so\ncouldn't do it.<\/p>\n\n

But he wanted to try, so he set it up with men and helicopters and trucks\nand such, and took a shot.<\/span>..<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 44 mm — 2 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 200 —\nfull exif<\/a><\/span>\nArtist at Work<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

(I wanted to get a picture of him lit by his<\/i> flash, so I set<\/span> my\ncamera to a manual<\/span> two-second exposure, tripped my shutter, then told him\nto take his shot. I was holding<\/span> the camera freestanding, and did a pretty<\/span>\ngood job holding still for two seconds, I think,<\/span> but it's the ultra-fast\nflash from his camera that renders the sharper areas of the frame.)<\/p>\n\n

Here's his picture...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nCanon IXY DIGITAL 700 + 7.7-23.1mm @ 7 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>60 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8 —\nfull exif<\/a><\/span>\nPhoto by Anthony M. Friedl<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

So, today I had more energy and gave it a try<\/span> myself....<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 85mm f\/1.4 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>200 sec, f<\/span>\/4.5, ISO 2200 —\nfull exif<\/a><\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 85mm f\/1.4 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>200 sec, f<\/span>\/1.6, ISO 560 —\nfull exif<\/a><\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f\/2.8 @ 110 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>200 sec, f<\/span>\/4.5, ISO 640 —\nfull exif<\/a><\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

I tried adding a normal pen for scale, but eventually decided that the\nsimple shot with the egg was better for setting the scale. Anthony liked the idea, too..<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 85mm f\/1.4 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>200 sec, f<\/span>\/4.5, ISO 2200 —\nfull exif<\/a><\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

So, enough playing with the camera... now was the time to eat it! (The fruit, not the camera.)<\/p>\n\n

I sliced off the top inch or so, and found.... nothing.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 52 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>200 sec, f<\/span>\/5.6, ISO 2200 —\nfull exif<\/a><\/span>\nMust Dig Deeper<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

Just slicing through the peel, though, unleashed an intense citrus smell\nthat almost assaulted you with its ferocity. Anthony thought it was\nwonderful, but I wasn't<\/span> so sure. My nose has<\/span> experience with citrus like\noranges, limes, tangerines, yuzu, grapefruit, lemons – you know,\nnormal<\/i> citrus fruits – and this one smelled just a bit<\/span> “off”,\nlike the potent oder of a cheap<\/span> car freshener.<\/p>\n\n

Anyway, I sliced<\/span> off another inch or so, and hit paydirt...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 44 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>200 sec, f<\/span>\/5.6, ISO 2200 —\nfull exif<\/a><\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

The peel was crazy-thick and spongy, I scored<\/span> the fruit vertically all\naround, and started to peel away...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 66 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>200 sec, f<\/span>\/8, ISO 2800 —\nfull exif<\/a><\/span>\nThat's Some Thick Peel!<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 62 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>200 sec, f<\/span>\/8, ISO 3600 —\nfull exif<\/a><\/span>\nNow it's a Flower!<\/span><\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

The peel was thick, spongy, and clingy, and after 10 minutes of trying\nto scrape it off, it was still a mess.<\/span>..<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 70 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>200 sec, f<\/span>\/6.3, ISO 2500 —\nfull exif<\/a><\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

It turns out that I shouldn't have wasted my time with that, because\nonce I broke<\/span> it apart, it turned out that each segment was in an\neasily-removable covering, much like a really<\/span> dry grapefruit....<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 66 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>200 sec, f<\/span>\/6.3, ISO 2200 —\nfull exif<\/a><\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

Oddly, it was not the least bit juicy. Anthony and I started<\/span> breaking\nout the fruit part, and gave it a try.<\/span> Like the smell it was close to\nsomething I knew<\/span> (a grapefruit<\/span>), but oddly different. But unlike<\/span> the smell,\nthe taste was a clear<\/span> win. There was only the slightest hint of bitterness\nthat screams “grapefruit” to your tastebuds, but otherwise it was very\nmild, perhaps even slightly sweet. Extremely mild.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 70 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>200 sec, f<\/span>\/5.6, ISO 1800 —\nfull exif<\/a><\/span>\nPerhaps a Quarter<\/span> of the Fruit<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

We've still got half in the fridge, wrapped tight to rein in its pungent half-pleasant half-not oder.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was in the supermarket yesterday and did a double-take when I saw a basket of volleyball-sized grapefruit. They were huge<\/b>, twice the size of any grapefruit I'd ever seen.<\/p>

Except they weren't grapefruit. The sign called them banpeiyu (\u6669\u767d\u67da). For $6, I had to pick one up.<\/p>

It turns out that they're a variety of something called Pomelo, a citrus fruit that I had never heard of. This particular variety comes from Viet Nam.<\/p>

When I got home, I told Anthony that I had a surprise, had him close his eyes, and place it on the table in front [...]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1162"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1162"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1162\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1162"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}