the replacement has landed

my first digicam was a casio that i bought because i liked how it looked. one day, i brought it with me to a trip to tagaytay and it wouldn't turn on even if the battery was new. since it was old and didn't exactly take great pictures, i was fine when it died. after all, it was the perfect opportunity to get a new camera.

my dad - my ever-generous supporter and sponsor - offered to replace my camera. it was so funny cause i had to ask him how much he was planning on sending me so that i can get a camera that was more or less the amount of money i'd be receiving. and, when i got the figure, i immediately contacted a seller i had found on ebay and got myself a pink ixus 85is.

i've always wanted a canon ixus and getting that, in pink no less, was a dream come true.

that ixus and i, we went places. i brought it with me to document the most mundane -- like trips to the grocery -- to serious stuff like accidents. it was the camera that i used to take pictures for this blog (albeit not-so-professional and with poor lighting to boot!) and the camera i used on trips here and abroad. i loved it so much and was so satisfied with it that i never thought once of replacing it -- not when my friends all started getting DSLRs, not when new models came out. me and my ixus -- it was love.

and then it got stolen. i swear, i must've condemned the thief (together with zest air) to hell one billion times.

since i can't imagine being without a camera (i know i'm not a photographer, but i like having a camera to document stuff with, okay?), i immediately figured that savings are for times like this and i should get a new camera asap.

since i loved my ixus, i immediately wanted a get another one. but, they were either (1) the same camera, albeit with higher pixels (2) too pink (yes, there's such a thing) or (3) too expensive (i'm kuripot, remember?). i was ready to settle for the two-year-old ixus 95 but since it was "old" i asked about the ixus 105 from the sale seller who had the ixus 95. there was a mere P100 difference in the price so i figured, maybe the 105 is a better deal.

so i ordered, and it was then that the seller told me that his model was an ixy 200f which is the equivalent model from japan. that meant that the default setting would be in japanese. in fairness to the seller, he did inform me about it, and he did say that the settings could be changed anyway. problem is -- and trust me that i know about it as i had once changed the language settings of my nokia phone to thai -- it's pretty complicated to change something back to english if you can't read the menu options to begin with. so that was a no-go.

i then looked for the online seller who sold me the old camera but he didn't have the ixus 95 or the 105. so i tried checking out his other cameras. it wasn't long before i sorta wanted the nikon s3100. it was cheaper, was 14 megapixels, had an aluminum casing, and most importantly, available in pink. so i tried ordering one and while it was available, he didn't have it in pink.

uh-oh. still, after being dropped off by tita celia, lola, and tita jake yesterday, i made a beeline for rob pioneer to buy my camera. or, at least that was what i intended to do. i tried holding the coolpix in my hand but it didn't feel right. and, while the store magically had it in pink, i didn't feel like buying it anymore. a girl is entitled to change her mind, right?

so i went around and searched for models and while doing that, tried reading reviews online using the mall's spotty wifi. i must've looked stupid going around the mall while typing on my blackberry but i was not only desperate, i was super desperate to find the perfect camera for myself.

then i checked out picture city and saw that there was an entire universe of cameras to be had. i thought of the olympus, the GE, the samsung with the dual screen ... all pretty, but not right. then i saw that contrary to my original belief, not all lumix cameras are expensive. for a while, i wanted to buy myself the f3 but because i was getting tired walking around the mall already, i figured, i could go home, research, and then buy the f3 today.

but when i got home and searched the list of my former seller, it turned out that there was this new model, the fh2 which was not only affordable, but also had great reviews. plus it was a lumix, and so many people had been telling me to get a lumix.

bazillions of hours surfing the net for suppliers + texting them + reading online reviews, i had decided that the fh2 camera was for me. and while the search proved super difficult (suppliers either didn't reply to my text messages or didn't have it in stock), i eventually found a seller who was not only nice, but also had a pink lumix in stock. sweeeeeet!!!!!

so, after my makati meeting, i arranged for a meet-up and meet we did and i had myself a lumix fh2. and while i didn't have the opportunity to see it in person prior to purchasing it, i must say it was love at first sight. i loved how it felt "substantial" in my hands, how it was easy to grip, and i know i could sleep at night knowing that the online techies approved of my camera.

while i am still upset over the fact that someone has rummaged through my things to steal my camera and while i definitely miss my ixus, the replacement has landed and i must admit, i am now already in love with it.

the day i went out to buy a flourescent lamp and came home with a new television

it was a not-so-good thursday. as i was walking to the car, i accidentally stepped inside a MAJOR pothole at the mcdo parking lot at ATC and fell.

as in on-the-floor-a**-kissing-the-cement kind of fall. while there were several cars waiting for a parking slot. and several cars in the drive-thru. it was super embarrassing. and all i could do was silently yelp out "ouch." thank goodness there was a couple who helped me get up, asked if i was okay (i sort of was, although my ankle hurt terrible), and reminded me to rotate the ankle every so often (which i did).

i carefully limped to the car (thank goodness it was nearby) sat down for a bit and breathed.

i had several stuff planned, the most important of which was to stock up on food for the long weekend. but with the threat of ankle swelling up and being unable to drive home because of it, i decided to go home ASAP. at least if something were to happen, i'd be home and not stuck in my car in town center.

i woke up friday with zero food and a still-painful ankle. so i snacked on whatever i had in the ref. by 2:30 pm, the ankle was slightly better but my tummy wasn't. i had to get food soon or i'd go crazy.

so i thought, okay, maybe to make the drive for food worth it, i should run some errands too.

so i did.

i had two pairs of pants cut.

since i had to wait for an hour or so, i drove to kfc to have super late lunch. it's been a while.

i don't know if it was cost-cutting or something but it was relatively warm in kfc so i didn't want to stay too long. then i remembered i had to get replacement for the kitchen light so i went to robinson's handyman ...

... to buy this. i was supposed to buy akari but the lady said firefly (with german technology) is better. i don't know why but i believed her. i had visions that my light would be as fabulous as a german car, haha.

i was on my way down the escalator when i spied the appliance center and decided to check the goodies. there was this 29-inch flat screen (but not LCD, and not the type you can hang. i think they call it super slim or something) on sale at S&R the weekend before that i sort of wanted to get but didn't so i thought maybe i could check out the price at robinson's.

i'm a smart shopper like that (i'd like to think).

i was looking at the television sets on display when something caught my eye. S-A-L-E. from P34,990 to less P7,000 to only *drumroll* P21,990.

the guy approached me and said, "ma'am, dalawang pieces na lang, reserved na yung isa."

i panicked and immediately called tita mayu. she sort of panicked along with me. we've both been thinking of buying a nice flat screen tv so my excuse has always been i'll buy only after she bought hers.

but then, for some reason, i couldn't wait any longer.

yes, i've always wanted a flat screen. you see, the television i use we've had since i was in grade school. it was so embarrassingly old that in that facebook meme where one of the questions asked about my tv i simply said "dusty". it was so old that i can't read the news ticker at the bottom of the screen cause the picture won't fit the screen anymore. but it - for some magical reason and save for the abovementioned complaints - worked perfectly well, except that one weekend in law school where CSI turned green but was fine the following weekend when i went home again.

but i wasn't about to spend that much money on an impulse purchase. shoes, yes. bags, yes. but a television when the one i had at home was still serviceable? maybe not. so even if the guy kept pestering me to make a deposit, i didn't. i said, let me sit down and think about it some more.

thanks to the free wifi, i surfed the net and briefly acquainted myself with the merits of this television. although it was cheaper in indonesia (or malaysia?), the guy who did the review said the tv was 9/10.

i could live with 9/10.

then tita mayu told me something like "this is the reason why you work so hard. so you can enjoy the fruits of your labors. you've always wanted it. go for it."

and so i did.

the day i went out to eat, get pants cut, and buy a circular flourescent lamp, i came home with this.

and, yes, i agree. life IS good.

p.s. my ankle hurt big time but adrenalin allowed me to bring down the tv from the car by myself and set it up in my room. sad to say, the next two days, i'm not sure anymore whether what kept me home was my desire for my ankle to heal in time for work today or the happy new tv in my room.