The Traveling Fedora: Korea 2012

Still crappy at taking pictures.

Korea 2012

(Katsy)

 

Nowhere to go but up.

National Tea Museum at Boseung, South Korea

Freebies Galore

They say that the best things in life are free. Well here are a few material things I've picked up for free these past few days. Mostly just feel good everyday stuff.

one. LG SUNBLOCK.

This I picked up from the LG Pavilion. I didn't know that LG made anything else but electronics but apparently they did. They had cosmetics and even building materials. I think I'll go research more into their production and products as they had an impressive display at the Expo.

LG Sunblock. I haven't tried it out though.

two. BANILA CO. SAMPLES AND BEACH TOWEL.

Banila Co. is this Korean cosmetics and skincare company that Anna and I tried out while we were there. The BB Cream looks absolutely great on her and they give out these free samples which made me buy their sorbet-like make-up remover and cleanser, Clean It Zero, in a larger size. My Mother asked me though how I'm going to repurchase the tub once it runs out but that's food for thought later. I haven't even opened it yet or used up the free samples (I have three). I'm all for soap and water actually. I did pick up a few other essentials (namely, brushes) that made them give me a larger freebie in the form of a cute pink summer beach towel.

Clean it Zero. Tried it once and felt nice enough to warrant a full size.

Cute packaging.

Nice shade of pink. Reminds me of Anna's luggage.

three. HED KANDI DISCO HEAVEN STEREO HEADPHONES.

Yes, Digital Walker at Trinoma is having a buy one take one sale on their earphones, headphones (Hed Kandi amongst other brands) and even Canon digital cameras. Head on over if you're buying anyway as the buy one take one thing is a pretty sweet deal. I got my sister the black one for her birthday while I get to keep the pink and blue one. Which may or may not clash with the rest of my gadgets. Thankfully I'm all for black nylon bags in terms of utility. Plus I really don't believe in matching everything. I appreciate a good contrast and advocate eccentricity.

Great sounds. Not that I'm one to accurately judge. I love them though. :-)

four. PANCAKE HOUSE BLUEBERRY CHEESECAKE GURTS.

Thanks to my first job's free lunch. I just had to have dessert.

Just look at that. MAJOR YUM.

I really, really love yogurt. I always have to have stock at home.

five. HAPPY LEMON.

Finally met up with Cla and got to use the free Happy Lemon GCs I got a while back. Alex and I have been raring to use them but every time we get to Trinoma I always forget to bring them along. Now they're in my wallet and Cla and I have used up two. I don't know how many are left though but I'm pretty sure I still have more than two for Alex. 

Happy Lemon. Rock. Salt. Cheese. (Wait I think that's wrong?! Haha. Lex, correct me!!)

Pointing, Shooting, and Everything in Between

A few months back, I was seriously contemplating getting an Olympus Pen Mini in White. I almost convinced myself that I was going to study photography and went as far as reading about the different lenses of the micro-four thirds kind and comparing prices. At the end of the day though, budget won over the desire to get into photography. Turns out that was one of my best purchase decisions ever!

I rediscovered how utterly impatient I am from the moment we set foot at the airport with Ron giving Anna a crash course on their matching Pentax DSLRs - I immediately tuned them out because 1.) I couldn't understand a thing and 2.) I was quite silently thankful for not having to carry the big camera bags they had. I had my iPad filling up my bag quite enough already. I focused instead on tinkering with the iPad and contemplating how sad it was that we didn't have free wifi at the airport still.

Anyway, I went for the point and shoot kind - waterproof, shockproof, and PINK! Which reflects me quite nicely - completely functional and full-featured, effortless, practical while being impractical at the same time, and fun. That is, if you know how to get through to the filters. I love the fact that it's waterproof - there was a slight drizzle one day and both Anna and Ron were clamoring for their DSLRs to be protected while I just waltzed through and walked in the rain. I love how I never read the manual but still got to use it quite easily. I still have to test it under water though.

Meet my Olympus Tough TG-620.

Pink.

Accessories - iPad camera connector and free pouch

I found out though that the battery doesn't last an entire day of pointing and shooting even without flash. I may need to buy an extra battery or two. I bought the iPad camera connector kit just before our trip instead of an additional SD card. I liked having my photos immediately backed up on the iPad. (And yes, the iCloud.) Plus, seeing the pictures in a larger screen is really nice instead of just viewing them on the little camera display.

Anyway, I keep it simple when taking pictures and just follow these 5 simple rules:

one. POINT.

If I see something I like to document, I just point and capture. No framing, no composition - just pure instinct. Sometimes not thinking works. (But honestly, not most of the time. Just sometimes.)

Airport - passing through.

two. VERTICAL LINES SHOULD BE VERTICAL.

As much as I promote my diagonal shots, there are instances when the vertical lines just have to be vertical. 

Display - I forgot which country though

three. TRY AND TRY AGAIN.
If at first you get a blurred photo, it's okay to take another one. Just don't take too long especially if there are people waiting to take a picture at the exact same spot you're shooting.

Blurred.

I think I have to soft press my camera button first for auto-focus.

four. FILTER AWAY.

When I'm feeling really, really lazy in taking pictures, I switch to the Magic Filters mode of my Olympus Tough and click away. Instant anti-boredom.

Fish eye gelato

Anna and Ron - Punk

five. SHOOT.

Just enjoy. Cameras are really useful things to document the experience and details of every moment. I am yet to discover my eidetic memory so in the meantime, I'll be using my TG-620 to remind me.

Samsung pavilion - waited for 4 hours standing in line, in the heat of the midday sun

Because This is My Happy Place.

This is my happy place.
This blog.

Whenever I look at my past entries I am reminded of how incredibly blessed I am and how thankful. I've become accustomed to thinking in blog posts - composing anecdotes and compiling pictures in entries that I almost never get to post. I just wanted to note this tonight after a long tiring day topped with a flu shot that made my arm heavy and my head spinning. But helping out today in my own little way made me feel like there's still so much more that I can do.

And tonight as I rest, I pray for everyone.
Let us never lose sight of the light.

Faith. Always.