Time For Me To Get A New DSLR!

I got this renewed interest in dSLRs, seeing how my trusty little 5.1-megapixel Sony Cybershot can now be easily out-pixeled by a Nokia N82.

See, when a mobile phone can out-shoot your own digital cam, it’s probably time to get new hardware. Which is why I’m really out to find myself a nice little dSLR. On another blog of mine, I actually featured some of the cameras I looked up, and since then, I’ve been scouring the internet for the best possible deals as far as a dSLR goes.

It was then that I found this cool online site for people looking for cams (just like me!)- Camera World Auction. Turns out, it’s an online venue that aims to hook up anyone who wants a camera with people who have em. So it seems to me a great place to look for that Canon EOS 400D I want for myself- great camera for people stepping up from a compact digital to a dSLR, btw.

The site has other great stuff worth checking out- not just cams. And another cool thing is an ongoing promo where you can sign up and register to win a new iPod shuffle at Camera World Auction.

So go check it out, and don’t mind me scoping out a good deal for that Canon EOS 400D I want (pictured just above), with all kinds of lenses and accessories. Time to get my Cybershot a bigger brother.

Cheers, everyone!

I Will Start Me A New Life

Well, nothing’s really wrong with the life I have at this point.  But there comes a time when an opportunity stares at you right in the face, and you just have to acknowledge it and take hold of it- simply because it’s just ripe with endless possibilities.

I am taking a trip to the United States once again (in May) to carve out a new life for myself (and for my fiancee).  I’d like to get some business done, check out how the properties are doing, maybe even continue my education, or at least pick up a new skillset or two.

And while I do have family there, the ultimate goal really is to be as independent as possible.  All these years of living on my own has actually done its job to give me that needed boost of confidence and a strong belief that I can handle this without breaking a sweat.

So everything now is geared towards preparing for that trip in May.  I’ve taken a more active effort in stepping up my activity online- because online assets can be managed anywhere in the world- so long as you have a trusty laptop and a decent internet connection.

For me, that means taking in more writing jobs, managing more blogs (clients’ and my own) , dabbling even more with internet marketing, and dipping my fingers into e-commerce as well.

I have to admit: for a while there, I was really iffy about relocating somewhere else, mainly because I saw my personal network of contacts, suppliers and business partners as a key strength, and something that couldn’t come into play if I move to, say, Los Angeles.  Now I realize that, that network of mine can still very much work out for me- if I look at it through entrepreneurs’ eyes.  Especially with the internet and the ease of travel and communication- you just have to look at it differently now.

With that, I start organizing my stuff, deciding which ones I take with me, ship out, store elsewhere, stash away for safekeeping, or just give away.  I’ve been converting all my songs, TV shows, games and movies into digital media- so I could take a couple of hard disks with me instead of a whole slew of CDs and DVDs.

So much needs to be done, but I’m happy I’m doing this.

Cheers, everyone!

The Quest For Financial Independence

As someone who’s been employed straightaway out of college for the past 14 or 15 years (as of this writing), I’d say it’s been quite an experience working for some of the best companies in my chosen industry.

I’m actually thankful for the opportunity to have immersed myself in the frontlines, build up my network, and learn about real-world skills every time I had the chance.

Then again, after a while, you get to realize that, while it has all been very rewarding, maybe it’s time to move on. Maybe it’s time I had a say on exactly what kind of life I want for myself, and not have to conform to the dictates of, say for example, a traditional family-run corporation.

It all boils down to answering a simple question: what exactly is it you want for yourself? For me, the answer was simple. I want control. I’d like to do whatever I want lifestyle-wise and work-wise without having to worry about what people think about how I manage my deadlines and deliverables. I’d like to do the kind of work I want to do- to give myself a sense of accomplishment and fulfillment, rather than giving that to another corporate entity. I’d like to spend time with the ones that matter most to me- my family, my friends, and myself.

But can it be done? I’m sure there have been a lot of other people out there who want to get out of the proverbial rat race. I’ve asked myself that question several times before, but it isn’t until now that I’ve had that perfect moment of clarity, and that I can answer “Yes, it can be done” with a strong sense of conviction and passion.

Yes it can be done.

The path of the entrepreneur is not easy. But it can be done, and it can definitely be very rewarding. Fortune favors the brave, it has been said. So if you want to seize the day, you have to take a leap of faith.

I’ve stared down that precipice several days ago. And I jumped. I have to say, I’ve never felt so liberated in my entire life.

This is the day I walk a new path.

And you’re all welcome to walk with me.

Cheers, everyone.

This Is What I Dig About Saturdays…

I woke up not more than 30 minutes ago- and here I am hunkered down in front of my PC blogging away while I got Creative Media Player cranking out some of my favorite tunes.  At this very moment, Josh Verdes is singing “Home”.  There’s something Mayer-esque about his style, and this song in particular reminds me of “Your Body Is A Wonderland”.

I find Saturday mornings as a perfect time to catch up on my blogging.  As you all know, I probably have at least 5 active blogs going on right now, all on a particular topic.  I realized that, looking through the  ‘Manage Posts’ tab, it turns out that I tend to amass quite a number of unfinished drafts.  This blog alone has five entries that need some finishing.  So it seems I have my work cut out for me today :).

Days like these are great for reading other people’s blogs too.  Thanks to PageFlakes (and thanks to Andrian Lee of AsiaPay for so recommending it), it’s so much easier to keep track of all my favorite blogs.  I can be really all too focused on work on weekdays that I tend to miss out on some noteworthy events that may have transpired over the week- and a quick review of blogs serves as a good way to bring myself up to speed.

For instance, while I’ve been busy at the radio station, there seems to be some activity on Multiply on a post of mine on Yahoo’s 10 Top Recommended Restaurants in Metro Manila.  I like it when friends of mine and friends of friends take time to drop in and give me their two cents’ worth.  And from the discussion on that post, it seems I’ll go try out a couple new restos this weekend- Sala in J. Nakpil is probably worth checking out, and maybe this Chocolat in SM Mall of Asia, or Conti’s in Serendra.

So I’ll probably end up working on my backlogs for a couple hours before heading out to the gym and get some chores done.  Oh the usual- groceries, pet supplies, laundry- nothing too exciting.  Cristina and I have ourselves the rest of the afternoon/evening to go visit a spa, watch a movie and have a leisurely dinner.  Then I’ll meet up with my friends much later in the evening to just hang out.

And yeah, I’ll most likely write about those too.  So check you all out soon.

Cheers, everyone.

Heading Out To Singapore?

It was almost exactly one year ago when my girlfriend, Cristina, and I took a trip to Singapore. It was a charming little vacation we had- and if anything at all, it made me realize two things- one: I need to go traveling some more, and two: I wouldn’t mind working in a place like Singapore.

I was seriously considering moving there for a while- at least until things started happening for me here. Still, the prospect of moving to SG isn’t unlikely.

In fact, I have a number of friends there who are doing quite nicely. And good for them, I say. Singapore is a land full of opportunities, especially if you’re relatively young, skilled, have better-than-average English, and wouldn’t mind being away from family for a rather extended while.

One of the first things to consider when planning a move to Singapore is getting a place to stay. The HDB, or Housing Development Board of Singapore- is largely responsible for maintaining the country’s public residential real estate- which are mostly high-rise buildings housing a lot of flats or apartments.

There’s an online property search tool found in the Singapore Property site, which you can use to find great deals (or even investments, if you’re into it) on a comprehensive listing of available Singaporean property.

Just to give you an idea- some former radio colleagues of mine told me that it would be cool if you landed a job that paid you at least SGD2500/month. That amount of cash is more than enough to get you a decent place to stay, take care of your day-to-day expenses, allow you to buy some stuff and go out once in a while, maybe even have some left over for savings.

At least you have a general idea how much cash you’d be playing around with.

Let me know how your plans moving to Singapore are working out for you.

Cheers!

So Much SNL Fun!

I’ve been a big fan of Saturday Night Live- particularly during the days of Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Tracey Morgan, Molly Shannon, to name a few.

Anyway, last night was the first time I’ve visited NBC’s Saturday Night Live website in a long while.  See, we don’t get SNL in the Philippines, so I get my fix of the latest comedy bits online.

Well, there used to be a cable channel that showed some episodes of the last three or four seasons, but they’ve been re-running the same episodes over and over again, and some sketches have been taken out of several shows- and I particularly hate it when these local cable channels try to dumb everything down- which is another topic altogether.

Anyway, ever since the Writers’ Strike has been resolved, everyone’s already back to work- which is a very good thing for everybody.  More importantly for fans like myself- we finally get to see our old favorites back on TV (or the internet).

There was a time when I frequented YouTube for these SNL clips, coz there was a time when NBC had its own channel with all the cool promos for other shows on top of clips of Conan and SNL and everything else- but now you can find them on the NBC website, and later on I suppose you could find more when their new video-on-demand services, Hulu and/or NBC Direct, launches.

So I’ve been keeping myself busy catching up on Conan and SNL.  In fact, I’ve been blogging about it on one of my other blogs.

I’ve started to keep track of all the SNL Digital Shorts- being a huge fan of The Lonely Island boys.  So I got “Lazy Sunday” here, the Ariel and Efrim sketch here, and the latest ones with Ellen Page, “The Mirror”, and Amy Adams with Jason Sudeikis and Andy Samberg, “Hero Song” here.  Definitely more of that coming up until I get the whole bunch of SNL Digital Shorts collected on that blog, “Too Much TV!”

Cheers, everyone!