Recently Bought Online

Another day, another mundane post.   :P

Mainly for an upcoming trip, I've bought a couple of items online in the past 2-3 months; all on amazon.com.  It's just  more convenient that way, especially when I know some friends coming over to Manila from the US who are willing to bring the items for me, but also because most of the items are stuff on my to-buy list but can't find sold in the country.

 

I don't really enjoy going to the malls unless I am hanging out with friends/family, or I feel like buying new clothes at Promod, or some kawaii stuff at a Sanrio store, or some books at the bookstores, or am researching/window-shopping for outdoor gear/apparel and gadgets/computers to compare with online shopping price and availability. Yeah?  hehe!

So anyhow, my latest online purchases are kind of related to some future plans which involve trekking/the outdoors and my other interest which is photography, and the rest are items I like but which I can't find in the Philippines.

So let's see the stuff I bought online (for a planned trip) which I can't find in shops in Manila:

The Life Aquatic

I think this is my favorite scene in the film. 

It's just so cute and funny.  That whale... swimming in and out behind Bill Murray like he's having fun while these two adults are talking seriously.  Strange and funny contrast but it works!  Lol.  I can't help but crack up especially at that part when the whale enters the scene swimming by belly-up, totally care-free, just hangin' out.  haha!

I liked this movie's soundtrack too.  Particularly the guitar songs being performed by one of the characters (played by Seu Jorge) singing in a different language in some scenes.  Turns out they're his rendition of David Bowie's songs in Portuguese. 

Looking for an Alternative to Flickr?

I created an ipernity.com account just recently; after I got fed up with Flickr since Flickr only displays the last 200 of one's uploaded photos and I'm not yet ready nor willing to sign up for a paid account to display all my uploaded photos.  Hehe!

screenshot of my ipernity.com albums

So I looked around for another online photography album alternative that's similar to  Flickr, and discovered ipernity.com.  And a good thing too!  ipertinity.com displays up to the last 1000 photos uploaded vs Flickr's 200.  That's a vast difference.  

And one can upload up to 200mb worth of files each month.  But since I optimize my photos by resizing them for web display anyway, I'm able to upload a lot before it can even reach 200mb.  Teehee!

I was able to create about 20 sets or albums of photos and haven't yet reached uploading a thousand pics.  Nice!

So this is where I post selected photographs I took and organize them by category (i.e., black and white, macro, etc) rather than make it a mirror of my albums in my multiply.com account.

home page 

It's Summer in the Islands

and my pet is trying to beat the heat!  Lol!

caught sleeping at a shaded corner of 

the garden, behind a huge palm plant

I didn't realize just how cool the area was until my pet woke up, trotted up to me, and I stroked the fur on the side where he laid on the soil.  Felt cool on my palm indeed!  It's like he's just been to a room with air from the air conditioner vents pointed at him the whole time.  lol!  No wonder he stays in that area. hehehe!

As viewed from behind a screened door.  Notice how strong the sunlight is on the right of the pic.  Been a really hot, humid and muggy summer.  The sort where it's prudent to drink some water before heading out of the house.  All photos taken with a cellphone camera set to warm white balance.

Mi Auto

Speaking of car accessories/decor... This is what you'd see with mine. =)

Sanrio plush dolls along the windshield: My 

Melody, Bad Badtz Maru, and Hello Kitty

early morning on the highway, with some cyclists

view with monsoon rains pouring quite heavily just as I arrived at 

work and parked across my office building (bummer!  hehe!)

More car pics...

Manila - Taxi Decor

Below are pics -- taken in the past few years -- of noteworthy windshield or dashboard decors in some taxis I've taken along Paseo de Roxas (where my old workplace was located) in the central business district/Makati. 

 

Santas hanging off the windshield.. 

It was just rather fun seeing them especially everytime the cab

moved and they all start swaying at the same time.  lol!  :D Maybe 

should have taken a video.  This was at Xmas time 2006.

I just had to get a snapshot of this.  

This cab had a lot of toy figurines on its dashboard!  They've
practically taken over the dashboard.  Lol!