The other thing is, I would like to make some modifications in my car and an upgrade to my camera. I still need a new headunit (nakakahiya naman sa mga pasahero ko na gustong mag-sound trip). To do that, I have to make some rackets on photography and website design.

D90′s photos were so crisp, crystal clear, and ultrafast compared with my D40x using the same setting. When (yes, it’s a matter of when, not if) I get to buy the D7k, I’ll just use the D40x as a backup and it will have 200 mm zoom lens. It’ll be useful when I cover church ceremonies and festivals.

Ken Rockwell, a renowned reviewer of cameras, called the D7000 as “Nikon’s best DSLR ever.”

Here are the specs of the D7000.

Sensor:
23.6 x 15.6 mm CMOS sensor
RGB color filter array
Built-in fixed low-pass filter (with self-cleaning unit)
16.2 million effective pixels
RGB Color Filter Array
14-bit A/D converter

ISO Range:
Auto ISO (100-Hi2)
ISO 100-6400 in 0.3 or 1.0 EV increments
H1 and H2 (ISO 12800 and 25600) expansion
Adjustable Auto ISO limit

Movie Resolution:
1920 x 1080p (24fps)
1280 x 720p (30, 25, 24fps)
640 x 424p (30, 25fps)

AF Sensor:
39 AF points
9 cross-type sensors

Metering Sensor:
TTL exposure metering using 2016-pixel RGB sensor
Metering range: EV 0 – 20 EV

Viewfinder:
Eye-level pentaprism
100% frame coverage
Magnification: 0.94x
Eyepoint: 19.5 mm
Type B BriteView Clear Matte screen Mark II with AF area brackets
Built-in diopter adjustment (-3 to +1.0m-1)

LCD:
3 inch TFT

Continuous shooting rate:
Full sized JPEGs (Fine mode), up to 31 shots at 6 fps; RAW up to 10 shots at 6 fps

Storage:
SD/SDHC/SDXC (dual slots)

Dimensions:
Approx 132 x 105 x 77mm
(5.2 x 4.1 x 3.0in)

Weight (inc battery):
780 g (1.7 lb.)

My target in buying the camera would be March 2012, hopefully before my birthday. The lowest price, so far, that I have seen for this item is P 48, 000.

Now, where do I sell my kidneys?

There are 11 windows in the NSO but you only have to deal with Windows 1/2, 4/5, 7/8, and 10/11. Please take note of the four steps here.

1. Fill up the application form which are color coded. White for Birth Certificate, green for Marriage Certificate, red for Certificate of No Marriage Record and yellow for Death Certificate. You can get the form in Window 1 and fill it up in the available tables. Write legibly and in block letters. Line up in Window 2 for the assessment. Since mine has the complete details, no questions were asked. The assessor will put a note in the application form the amount you will pay. The lady asked me to go to Window 4 or 5. Waiting time: 20 minutes.

2. Windows 4 or 5 collect the Miscellaneous Fee for the city government worth 40 pesos per copy. Being the OC that I am and for future use, I requested for two copies of my birth certificate. I paid the exact amount of 80 pesos to contribute to the money making scheme of the city government. A receipt will be given to you. Waiting time: two minutes.

3. Expect a long line of people in Windows 7/8. This is where you pay the 140 per copy of the NSO document. There are seats available so it’s not that tiring. After paying, there was a note in the receipt that the document will be released by 9:45 am (it’s already 9 when I paid). Waiting time: 38 minutes.

4. Wait for your name to be called in Windows 10/11 for the release of your document. I have to say the the lady announcer here is pleasant. She goes, “Sa mga tatawaging pangalan, mangyaring pumila lamang sa Window 10 (or 11). Magdala ng ID o letter of authorization. No ID o authorization, no release.” She said this in a very monotone voice and since I heard it at least five times while waiting, her voice is the same as her other announcements. When my name was called, I brought out my drivers license and presented it with the receipts. Waiting time: 30 minutes. (Does this mean I saved 15 minutes?)

I got copies of my birth certificate after an hour and 30 minutes. Of course, you have the option to avail of the services of Teleserv in getting copies of NSO documents. According to my sister, she paid 275 pesos for a copy of her birth certificate. That will save you from the hassle of lining up and dealing with irate government people. The reason I decided to get the document myself is I am afraid of getting delays in the delivery of the document should I avail of Teleserv. Their website says the delivery would take three to four days (doesn’t say if Saturday and Sunday are included) so I don’t want to take a risk since my passport appointment is next week.

I need to have a checkup in The Medical City so I took a jeep in the back of the new city hall to go back to Guadalupe. Fare: eight pesos. From Guadalupe, I took a bus going to Crossing. Fare: 12 pesos. From Crossing is another eight peso fare trip to Medical City.

2. Libre ang magtanong.
It’s a given that I get lost or don’t know the way to my destination using the car since I am used to public transportation which has a definite route. Never be afraid to ask. It’s better to ask and be right rather than being wrong by not asking. Besides, gas is expensive so we should find the easiest route as possible.

3. Kapag may nauna na, wag nang sumingit.
Ever Gotesco in Ortigas is such a pain specially, more specially now that there’s construction going on with Manila Water. So you can just imagine how creative people are in making singit. There are two lanes which, upon driving further, becomes four, and then two again. The four lanes become a repository of the vehicles coming from Antipolo and Cainta, but the heavy traffic is actually caused by the vehicles trying to pass and contain themselves in the two lanes leading to Pasig. I sometimes win, I sometimes lose during the singitan. But the lesson is, if somebody’s front bumper already made it’s way, don’t dare making singit.

4. Kapag may nauna na, wag nang sumingit. Pareho lang kayong masasaktan.
I just thought that it’ll make my driving life easier if I don’t give in to my pride and anger. If you insist of getting ahead, both of cars may get scratches.

5. Ang mata sa daan, hindi sa “kaniya.”
There are just some passengers who you would always like to be sitting in the passenger seat while you’re driving. And while you enjoy the time, make sure that your eyes are still on the road. Also, since you must be focused in driving, be careful on the things that come out of your mouth. I had a Freudian slip one time when a friend and I were talking about dating. I won’t say what I exactly said that night but you can just imagine the reaction that it elicited when I made a statement that I should have just kept to myself.

6. Tingin sa kanan. Tingin sa kaliwa. Signal.
In other words, before you take any action, check first if the road is clear. Or at the very least, make a signal that you will be changing lanes. One of the most important thing in driving is making sure that the vehicles around you know what your next steps are because that’s where they will base their action. That’s why I get mad at jeepney drivers who make sudden stops to get or drop off passengers, either in the middle of the road, or on the side without making any signal.

7. Pag hindi sigurado, magpreno o tumigil.
If you are uncertain if your car will fit in a narrow opening, it’s better for you to slow down, or stop. That will give you an opportunity to think if it’s alright to go ahead or go to another direction.

8. Hindi kaduwagan kung aatras ka.
The front of our house is a one way street and it has occurred to me a lot of times that I have to be on reverse and then forward in order to enter that narrow street.

So there goes some of the lessons in life that I learned in driving. Feel free to add.

Boom! In Antipolo, I felt something in my back-right tire. I drove in front of a gasoline station which is just a few feet away from where I felt the hit. When I checked what happened, first I heard the air leaking and then this thing:

What I thought was a flat tire was actually a piece of metal. When I removed it, more air came out. There was still air in the tire but I still have to drive long. I parked within the gas station and changed the tire. I have done it before so it wasn’t really difficult. My spare tire, which was exactly the same as that of the ones installed, has little air left. The gas station where I was parked doesn’t vulcanize, but I know there’s a Shell gas station three houses away. I put the hazard on and drove slowly.

So whatever nervousness I felt earlier was gone. I don’t have that much energy anymore.

That’s why last week’s three days, two nights stay in the hospital near our place is quite a new experience for me. There’s nothing to do other than stare at the ceiling, read a book or tinker with my cellphone.

What happened was, at around 6:30 in the morning of Tuesday, May 31, something kept flowing from my left nostril. I thought it was just an ordinary running nose since I had sipon for the past few days. Since the sun is up by that time, I managed to see what liquid I am excreting. When I found that it was blood, I immediately removed my pillow in an attempt to stop the bleeding. It didn’t. I put ice in my forehead. Same problem. I called my mom’s attention, took a tricycle and hurried to the hospital.

In the hospital, the nurse asked me to sit and bow my head. Apparently, you have to trust gravity – the blood has nowhere to go but down. They put ice in my nape. The nurse also injected Vitamin D in my left arm. It did stop the bleeding. But then I felt I need to vomit.

In the sink, I threw up blood. And this is not your usual ketchup like blood. It’s dark and it’s gooey. My mom panicked and asked the nurses to call the doctor immediately. (A doctor has just ended her shift and the next one will be an hour away.) Apparently, the blood accumulated in my throat during the time that I was lying down in my bed. So I have to discharge the blood that isn’t supposed to be there. I threw up three times.

I would have wanted to go back to my seat but I felt dizzy. I saw everything blurry and told the nurses I have to lie down. Luckily, there’s a room available. And then they put a dextrose on me. They got a blood sample as well. After an hour, they asked to have my xray taken.

Nothing was found in the xray and in my blood and I could have went home in the afternoon. But the doctor did not allow me as another blood test will be taken the next day. Apparently, the blood sample was too dense.

For the meantime, I had to take 10 medicines a day – that’s five every 12 hours. So even while I am sleeping, either my mom or the nurse has to wake me up (and we all know that in general, we do not want to be waken up when we are sleeping).

By Thursday morning, I was discharged. End of my calvary. And that’s all because of a nosebleed.

I have nothing to blame but overfatigue for that effin nosebleed. This is what happened prior to my hospitalization.

May 23-26 – From my morning work schedule, it was abruptly changed 165 degrees to 11 pm until 8 am. That means four days of trying to adjust your body clock for a new schedule I hadn’t had for almost a year.
May 27 – It’s supposed to be my rest day, being a Friday. But then due to an event, I swapped schedule with another agent. My shift this time is 6:45 pm, barely 10 hours after my last shift. No choice.
May 28 – I slept at around 6 am but woke up at 10. It was so hot. I thought of changing my flat tires with the spare, something that I did first time, only to realize that the spare was flatter. I was so sweaty. I tried to sleep to no avail. And then it rained, which made the weather hotter. By 2 pm, I went to the vulcanizing shop. An hour after, my classmates in high school came by the house to ask for help. We need to look for a LCD projector that we’ll be using in our reunion that night. Eventually we found one and we separated ways by 5 pm. So the hours I should have spent sleeping were used to looking for a projector. By 6:30 pm, I picked up some people so that we can go to the reunion together (I was one of the organizers). I only drank a couple of beers and some hard drinks because I still have to drive.
May 29 – By 5 am, I was home. Accidentally, I saw my classmates, this time in elementary, loitering in our street. They just came from a night swimming. And since they are already near our house, I had no choice but to accommodate them. There were five of them – a girl and four boys. They still have two more bottles of Red Horse and one Jose Cuervo. I drank some while I wash my car. There were some mud in the tires and I don’t want it to stay and dry up. 12 pm, they left and then I went to sleep. I woke up at around 3 pm and cannot continue sleeping due to the heat. By 6 pm, I went to the church because I was asked to take photos of the Flores de Mayo. Tired.
May 30 – Back to 12 pm schedule. And perhaps the signs of being fatigued was already there that’s why I was able to sleep in the sleeping quarters for an hour and 10 minutes.

Moral lesson – rest if you need to. Now I’m taking three vitamins, which, as far as I can notice, have been effective.

This is my small room, with a comfort room outside. Although I have an aircon, I don’t use it a lot because electricity is too expensive.

Well, as you get older, your priorities have changed. The “mess” you can see in my room were from a yellow cabinet that has been in the path of the door leading to our terrace. I’ve been contemplating for so long to discard that cabinet (we’ll give it to our relatives) so I have to take out its contents. Majority of the mess are readings in college which were binded. Others were notebooks, newspaper clippings, documents for my sideline jobs, books, pictures and other paper gibberish. I have decided to throw out some of them because they mean nothing to me now. On the documents that I cannot let go, I just scanned them before trashing them.

I plan to buy those white/transparent boxes where I can put my documents in, and then put them in my sister’s room.

“Sunshine”
(feat. Anthony Hamilton)

[Intro]
When I wake up in the mornin’ love,
And the sunlight hurts my eyes,
Then somethin’ with out warnin’ love,
Bears heavy on my mind

[Twista]
Let’s get them dollars, Let’s get this money

[Verse 1 (Twista)]
I keep my mind on my money, money on my mind,
I got my finger on tha trigga, stayin’ on tha grind,
And when I wake up in the mornin’, I got’s to hit a lick,
Saw the 2000 and 3 Navi, on Sprees wit’ a kit,
Soon as my eyes see tha sunshine,
My thoughts is jukin’ the block, and dodgin’ the one time,
Peep how we movin’ the rocks and wit’ pounds of dro before I double my shit,
I can serve sixteen ounces for six and get back ninety-six,
A killa for tha skrilla, Nigga, Best not be stalkin’,
I got’s to get them bigga, figga’s, fuck what you talkin’,
I represent them nigga’s ballin’ wit’ jewelry full of zickels,
Down to the nigga’s chasin’ million, their dreams’ servin’ nickels,
And I know, one day, I’m gon’ come up,
And when you see me, don’t hate, that I rolled up,
Get paid whether you legit when you slang, or tippin’ off ‘cane,
Until I take a dip in the Range, I’m flippin’ them thangs,
Gotta get that money man

[Chorus (Anthony Hamilton)]
It’s a lovely day, just got paid,
Stack it up, be on my way,
It’s Lovely day, lovely day,
Lovely day
It’s a lovely day, just got paid,
Stack it up, be on my way,
Lovely day, lovely day,
Lovely day

[Verse 2 (Twista)]
A hustler’s definition, is a hustler for scratch,
You serve a motherfucker, you serve him for that,
I’m makin’ money off of verses when I spit ‘em on tracks,
And if I ain’t sellin’ no records, I’m servin’ them packs,
I got a, clip full of hollows, money makin’s my motto,
Semi-auto and Marlboros in the bottle, ’til I hit the lotto,
Wit’ dreams of ownin’ a records label, flippin’ words,
My nigga flippin’ buildin’s better than he was flippin’ birds,
I got tha, mentality and tha motive I’m on a mission,
For tha money, you can get it too, it’s all about yo ambition,
Play yo position, provide the plans, and follow procedures,
In tha six-hundred, blunted, wit’ a pocket full of hundred’s and Visa’s,
Love, when I get that dust, hit ‘em up, re-cock then I get back up,
Love, when I get that gig, get a crib, get a car when tha grip stack up,
It’s still in the evenin’ if I’m sleepin’ paper problems,
Soon as I get up it’s just another day, another dollar
Gotta get that money man

[Chorus (Anthony Hamilton)]
It’s a lovely day, just got paid,
Stack it up, be on my way,
Lovely day, lovely day,
Lovely day,
It’s a lovely day, just got paid,
Stack it up, be on my way,
Lovely day, lovely day,
Lovely day

[Verse 3 (Twista)]
Got love for the corporate playas that’s ballin’ rollin’ jags,
Got love for the thug nigga’s who get’ it on tha ave.,
Love for those, who can make a mil and sit back and laugh,
And love for the fine stripper’s who get it poppin’ ass,
Love for the single parent’s that’s workin’ through the struggle,
Love for those who gotta make a livin’ movin’ muscle,
Love for those who gotta watch tha hater’s rollin’ bubbles,
Causin’ trouble every time a young brotha try to hustle,
And if I can’t, legally make or not
Then I gotta get, right back on the block
And if it no work we do a stick-up and whip-up a concoction,
Might leave yo face down in the dirt because hurtin’s not an option
Gotta get that money man

[Chorus (Anthony Hamilton) x2]
It’s a lovely day, just got paid,
Stack it up, be on my way,
Lovely day, lovely day,
Lovely day,
It’s a lovely day, just got paid,
Stack it up, be on my way,
Lovely day, lovely day,
Lovely day

[Outro (Anthony Hamilton)]
When I wake up in the mornin’ love,
And the sunlight hurts my eyes,
Somethin’ without warnin’ love,
Bears heavy on my mind

Now, if I can only change the letter “p” of paid, with “l”….

It was my first to drive at night, and to drive alone. So I really have to congratulate myself for that feat. My birthday gift to myself then came a week later.

The car that I bought, with the help of my officemate Jerome, was a 2002 Altis 1.6 with an automatic transmission. I earlier wanted a Honda City 2005, which another officemate called as “ipis.” I like it’s compact feature and well, it is a Honda. But my colleagues said that this is too slow. So I opted for a Honda Civic, either 2001 or 2002. We checked one in Parañaque before, but then it was sold when I was about to pick it up.

Then on March 15, Jerome and I visited two prospects.

1) San Juan
Price: P 300, 000
Mileage: 70, 000 km
Pro: No dents
Con: Overhauled engine

2) Blue Ridge
Price: P 300, 000
Mileage: 70, 000 km
Pro: Clean exterior, cool aircon
Con: High mileage
Note: Had we didn’t find the eight prospect, this could have been my car.

On Tuesday, March 22, Jerome and I went car hopping.

3) Tandang Sora
Price: P 300, 000
Mileage: 60, 000 km
Pro: Good exterior
Con: Flooded

4) North Fairview
Price: P 320, 000
Mileage: 65, 000
Pro: Unique color (old rose), cool aircon
Con: Leaking engine

5) Buting
Price: P 310, 000
Mileage: 60, 000 km
Pro: Non
Con: Flooded

6) Sucat 1
Price: P 320, 000
Mileage: 70, 000
Pro: Good exterior
Con: aircon not cold enough, seller is into buy and sell

7) Sucat 2
Price: P 333, 000
Mileage: 73, 000 km
Pro: Clean exterior and interior
Con: clicking noise in the transmission belt (?), tail light in the left side is broken, it is covered by red electrical tape. We tried to haggle to P 330, 000 but the lady owner won’t budge.

8 ) San Francisco del Monte
Price: P 3XX, 000
Mileage: 62, 000
Pro: Clean exterior and interior, good engine as per my officemate

This last one, again, was what I drove last night. Next thing to learn now is maintenance.

I found some in Canon & Nikon Lens Coffee Cup and USB but you can visit Sulit.com.ph for more options. I own a Nikon camera, so I prefer a mug of Nikon rather than Canon.

Last year during the Christmas season, somebody gave me a mug. It’s not your ordinary mug that can be purchased in any tiangge. It’s personalized and it has my picture on it. No doubt it came from a very special person.

And the second gift I would like to receive is a set of Adidas shirt and jacket. These are not your ordinary Adidas products. These were made specifically for the University of the Philippines where I studied. These products are available in only three Adidas outlets. I already have an Ateneo-Adidas white jacket, and a lot of people were asking why I’m wearing one of those since I did not study in Ateneo. I have never ever set my foot in Ateneo – Katipunan campus. I just say that Ateneo is near, and that I cannot find a UP jacket. The shirts and the jacket are available in Whatsonsale.