PLASTIC CARDS WITH MAGNETIC STRIPS AT THE BACK

i went on a field trip today. lol. i had to accompany my 7 year old niece to her school fieldtrip to subic. it was okay. i had better field trips when i was in elementary and highshool though. anyway, the highlight of the field trip for me was the duty free stop over in the end. argghhhsss...

i promised my self that i will cut down on my expenses (due to overspending on camera gear!). the thing with me is, i am very impulsive and i tend to rationalize a lot. i thought i came prepared with this one. i thought wrong.

i was checking the trip's itenary the night before and i saw the words "duty free stop" at the very end of the list. i thought to myself this was not good. quiksilver, billabong, zooyork, volcom, hurley, and ripcurl started to whirl around my head. because of that, i decided that i will only bring 2k cash on this trip and i will be assertive. i thought if i didnt bring cash then i will not buy anything. as if...

so the day went on pretty well only until the last stop which i dreaded most. the chartered bus came to a halt in front of the duty free establishment and there they were as if taunting me - quiksilver, billabong, zooyork, volcom, hurley and ripcurl on the display window. oh fuck! fuck, fuck, fuck!

people started alighting from the bus, so i and my niece went down as well. since i still have a lot left from the 2k i brought with me, i thought why not just spend it on whatever it could buy. so we went inside and i started checking things out. i could still buy one hurley shorts with the money i have with me. so i got my size and went straight to the cashier. as the cashier ringed the merchandise, the price was discounted to about 60% off. i asked if it was on sale and she said most of the men's apparel were on sale. geesh!!!!!!! this is not good. i told the cashier to hold my item for the meantime as i check some more stuff. she said okay.

i hurriedly went back to the men's apparel section, dragging my niece with me, and looked for a sales clerk. i found one and asked her what items in the men's apparel section were on sale and she said basically everything. i was suddenly in hypermode. i thought to myself, this is too good a deal to miss. so, i started to grab  mr. quiksilver, a few of his billabong cousins, his uncle mr.hurley and his friend mr. zooyork. hahahaha. obviously, the little cash i have with me is not enough to purchase all these. it's time to pull out those plastic cards with magnetic strips at the back. hahaha. again, i told myself, THIS IS TOO GOOD A DEAL TO MISS! (insert rationalization here)

since the 2k rule has been thrown out of the window, i asked my niece if she wanted anything. she said she'd look around first. after a few minutes of looking around, she got hold of a doll with a head-body disproportion and another with blond hair with a very small waistline. what's up with little girls and thier fascination with dolls?

so there goes my 2k assertion and expense cutting! i may have gone way beyond 2k but with a 60% off deal, it's definitely worth it! (insert rationalization here)

note:

next time i'll really be assertive. i mean it this time. i'll bring just enough cash and leave my credit cards at home. but what if there's an emergency? (insert rationalization here)

hahahaha. i am hopeless!

HAIR

darn it! i miss my long permed hair!

why was i not born with curly hair?

VOIP

i was busy the whole day trying to configure the settings for my brastel flip voice over the internet protocol phone. an aunt sent me this to cut on phone bills. what kills me about it is this: the thing came with instruction manuals and shit on how to set it up - it has certain instructions for different internet connection set-ups i.e. internet connection - splitter - modem - voip, internet connection - splitter - modem - router - voip, etc. the only set up that seems not to be included in the manual is if used with a wireless router. i was actually able to use the brastel flip if i disconnect the wireless router from the set up. i managed to make outgoing calls and received incoming ones. once i connect it to the wireless router, i cant make outgoing calls anymore. i cannot afford to disconnect the wireless router since our household uses two laptops and one desktop all of which connect to the internet wirelessly. i called brastel's customer support in japan and told them my problem but they seem not to have a solution for it. what they suggested was that i use the brastel flip without connecting it with the wireless router. that sucks.

anyway, after spending almost seven hours trying to fix it, i bailed. funny because i never bail on anything until i get it done. this was an exception because i see it hopeless. hahahaha. maybe one day if i get bored i'll give it a go once more.

SAVINGS

photography as a hobby is very expensive. for someone who is unemployed by choice like me, it's starting to be a burden. grin!

background:

eversince i graduated college in 2007, i only got to work for a month. i realized working was not for me. hahaha. schedules, organizational structures, and monotonous day routines were things that drove me insane and made me gain weight. so what i did, i quit.

since i choose not to have a job, i will have to solely rely on my ever precious savings. i got by with this. my savings were enough to have me travelling to places i wanted to go and come back to and it was enough for my everyday chillax life.

now, eversince i started photography, i feel my savings abruptly draining. purchases with regards to photography never seem to stop. i started with the camera body and one lens. then i had to buy a bag for it. i then bought a filter for the lens. then i had to buy a lens hood for the lens. a few days after, i decided to buy a new lens. since i bought a new lens, i had to buy a new filter for it and since i bought a new lens, i had to buy a bigger bag to accomodate my camera and my two lenses. i was wise with this one, i bought a big camera bag this time that could accomodate a lot of stuff anticipating that i will be buying more lenses and accesories soon.

just recently, i bought a photography book by scott kelby. from i what i learned, i need to have a good and sturdy tripod, polarizing filters for the lens, and a remote switch. okay, being the freak that i am, i rushed to the store and got myself a good and sturdy tripod, two polarizing filters for both my lenses, and a remote switch. i also bought a flash diffuser, a lenspen, a rocket blower, and some more media cards. i am starting to feel poor.

comparing my savings before and after i started photography, it went plunging to 1/3 the amount. arghhhsss!!!! here's the thing, i may have good gear to take photos but i aint got the dough to travel anymore to take good photos. the irony of it. fuck it.

so here i am now, laying on my bed sulking. i am pondering if i should get a job soon. if i do, am i ready to set aside my i-have-time-on-the-palm-of-my-hand life? so much for being a spontaneous free spirit! i'd rather choose to be unemployed yet happy than employed yet miserable! realitywise though, having to work is inevitable. money doesn't grow on trees. i have more or less six months to decide. hahaha.. i believe i could still stretch what remains of my savings to that extent provided that i do not buy a canon EF 70-200mm f/4 L IS USM lens anytime soon. hahahaha.

ousideCATCH

i just started a photo blog. please check out http://outsidecatch.blogspot.com

GIVING BACK

i am the type of person that is easily moved. the recent calamity that struck our country made such a big impact on me that i felt i had to do something. everytime i opened my facebook account, i am greeted by so many videos and photos of ondoy's aftermath. as i watch and see them one by one, i felt my heart shatter into pieces.

last week, i organized a relief operation to reach out to those affected by ondoy. i must admit it was hard to do but i was determined and there was no stopping me. i posted a shoutout on facebook that i am going to organize a relief operation. many responded to my post. a lot said that they are willing to help. i received messages from friends that they are willing to pledge monetary aid to help out. by wednesday last week, i was able to collect a hefty sum of money. deposits to my bank account were made. many also volunteered to do manpower help during the operation. i was overwhelmed with the reponses i got.

came wednesday night, i made an event invitation on facebook inviting the people who volunteered to come for a meeting on thursday to finalize the plan. from all those who volunteered, only four came. i felt a little frustrated. i thought people are full of talk shit. all talk but all shit. regardless, this must push thru. so i, together with the four who came, finalized the plan. the plan was to give out relief goods to 100 families and to do a feeding program for at least 200 individuals. as we were about to leave to do grocery shopping, another person came. good thing, that was. we then went to the supermarket and bought essential items to give out as relief goods.

when i got home that night, i texted people saying that we need help to do re- packing of relief goods on friday. once again, only the same people confirmed of coming. came friday, it was only us again doing the re-packing. i was really getting pissed. okay, so i guess it was only going to be us who will make this happen.

friday night, yet again, i posted another event invitation saying that we will be doing the relief goods distribution and feeding program on saturday and we badly need manpower. of course, it was only us again who confirmed. what the fuck!?!?! at around 2 am that saturday, as i was making relief bag stubs and meal stubs, four new people confirmed of joining. i felt a little relieved.

4:30 am that saturday, i met with my two friends in farmer's market in cubao to buy ingredients for the feeding program. we went straight to one of my friend's house after and started to prepare. did i mention that these two friends are chefs? they are. so, prepping and cooking for 200 people were a breeze for them. well, not for me but i managed. as the morning passed by, people who confirmed started coming. one even brought her boyfriend so that was extra help. by 11 am, there were 10 of us. by 1 pm we were able to finish prepping, cooking and packing all the meals for the feeding program. another friend came last minute so that made 11 of us.

we did our relief operations in pilillia, rizal. we coordinated with the area's local government unit and they provided us with police escort and a representative from their social welfare department. they brought us to one of their evacuation centers. when we got there, traces of the typhoon were still very evident. the place was really muddy and there were still areas that were a little flooded. it was depressing. when the people there saw us, they hurriedly came as if they knew that help has arrived. as i started handing out the relief bag stubs and meal stubs that i made, more and more people gathered around me and i felt a little worried. i thought that we will not be able to accomodate everybody. as i move from one area to another, the people never seemed to lessen but for some odd reason, the stubs in my hand never seemed to lessen as well.

people started lining up to claim their relief bags and packed meals in the designated claim area. thanks to the police escort that the LGU provided, it went very smoothly. it was heartwarming everytime we would hear the people say thank you. as we handed out the relief bags and packed meals, we saw smiles on the peoples' faces. that was more than enough to ease all the tiredness we all felt. would you believe that despite the very long line, nobody left empty handed?

we finished at around 7 pm that day. we all felt tired but we didn't mind. tiredness is nothing compared to those who felt hopeless, scared, burdened, and sorrowed. this little act of kindness may seem  minute compared to other outreach operations but i know deep in my heart that for those who were reached by our extended arms, this little act of kindness is something more.

kudos guys for a job well done!!! when the time comes that help is needed once more, we shall rise again to the occasion.

WASTED

last saturday night i was invited to a party. i had second thoughts if i'd come. i was quite hesitant because i was unsure of the weather. i was scared shit of being stuck some place if it floods. lol. the party was in arcadia subdivision in ortigas. last minute, i decided to go.

good thing i did. hell, i was wasted big time. although some of the friends i was expecting to see were not there, i still managed to have shitloads of fun. when i got there, i was greeted by the SOBERCLUB. seeing all the drinks on the bar got me a little scared and intimidated. i thought, what the fuck, might as well enjoy the free booze. so, i did. i sure did.

*SOBERCLUB

i started the night with a pyramid shot of flaming drinks. i aint got any idea what's it called. it was three shots of flaming drinks stacked like a pyramid. i swear, i felt the flame linger in my mouth as i sipped the last shot. i must admit, after that, i felt a little unbalanced. i could feel my head starting to pound. i started feeling hot and i turned very red - red as a strangulated d*ck (as my friends describe it).

*color me red

after that first drink, i rested for a while to let the redness pass and got hold of a beer instead and talked to some friends. a friend was putting me on the hot seat and i was grilled bigtime. hahaha. of course, i also had aces on hand and i glady put him on the hot seat as well. infact, i think i grilled everybody in our table. hahaha. boys will always be boys.

*the boys with the birthday girl, Shai

after feeling a little okay, i went back to the bar. hell yah! i tried all the drinks there and even managed to join a drinking marathon and a one on one drinking challenge. if i looked like a strangulated d*ck from the first drink, i then looked like a throbbing/asphyxiated/inter-coital d*ck. hahaha. i'd like to post a photo but i think it aint nice to look at. even i feel grossed out looking at it.

the party ended at around 4 am. i went home wasted but sure had a blast. happy 25th shai!

*HAPPY 25TH, SHAI!!!