Devilishly Red

If you ask me, the one and only perk of being employed is having an income. Obviously I’m not crazy about my job but it’s nothing new, is it? I was offered a permanent role after my temporary contract ended in February and I’ve been working at the company for nine months now. Believe me, I had wanted to make this job one that I could stay on for a few years but I’ve come to realise that I’m not into the company’s culture. Having said this, I’ll definitely hang on to it for another year at least and start looking out next year.

Anyway, back to the benefit of having a job – the money! I finally replaced my old HTC Tattoo for a new HTC One X three months ago. It was really great not having to deal with lags and factory resets anymore. Not to mention I can finally download all kinds of apps to my heart’s content and take decent pictures with my phone when the need arises.

Speaking of pictures, I also bought a new camera two days ago after weeks of research and deliberation. I’ve always wanted to get a Sony interchangeable lens camera when I first saw the advertisements for the NEX series at a MRT station when Sony first launched them a couple of years ago. At that point, I didn’t think I could afford one seeing how expensive they cost but I had wished I could get it one day to take nicer photos. When I decided it was time to get a new camera, I wasn’t sure whether it would be worth spending so much on a Sony NEX. Afterall I’ve always been a point-and-shoot camera user and I have zero knowledge in photography.

In the end, I decided to go for it since I figured the camera can last me a long time. The only issue was, I had planned to get the NEX-F3 but was “convinced” by the salesperson to get a NEX-5N instead. I’m glad I did though! I’ve been experimenting with it and the quality of the photos is fantastic. DSLR quality photos in a compact body. What’s not to like? I just need more time to familiarise myself with its myriad of features and capabilities.

Pretty in white (purely a coincidence)

I’m especially excited and pleased with the purchase of the camera because I never thought I could own one so soon. I know it sounds silly but being unemployed and broke before can make you feel this way. If not for this job, I definitely wouldn’t be able to get my hands on these new gadgets now. I guess I should learn to be more appreciative of my job.

I’ve been given a pair of lovely handmade earrings from a very good friend of mine.

She has recently started her own online blogshop selling her unique handmade earrings at Earrings for Her. Please visit her shop and who knows, maybe you’ll find something special for yourself or as a gift for your girlfriend. Go on, click on the link now!

I’ve always fancied opening a blogshop too but I don’t know what I can sell or what I’m good at. I’m hopeless in handicrafts and I possess zero talent. So yeah, I think I’d better stick to my day job. Speaking of my job, I’ve decided to call it quits, again. I’m not extremely proud of it but I do have my own reasons, however warped they may be.

I’m back to being a jobseeker and seriously, I think I’m getting a little tired of it.

I don’t normally buy things on impulse (well, I’d like to think I don’t) but when I chanced upon the Golden Half camera while browsing through a blogshop sometime back in July, I simply HAD to get one.

My Red Trees Golden Half camera

The Golden Half camera is a 35mm half-frame camera manufactured by Superheadz. I’m enamoured with this camera because it uses the good ol’ 35mm film and you actually need to send the film to the lab for processing like we all did circa 2000. Isn’t it refreshing not being able to preview your photos right after you’ve taken them? No deletion of photos. No inkling whether or not you blinked in the shot. It’s all back to the basics! The idea of collecting the hardcopy photographs with the processed negatives enclosed in the envelope is strangely exciting.

The camera comes with a roll of film in a matching box


The camera with a roll of 24 exposure Kodak film

What’s a half-frame camera you ask? It means instead of getting 24 photos on a 24 exposure roll of film, you get to capture 48 shots as the camera enables a standard 3″ x 5″ photo to be split into half. So if you use a 36 exposure roll, you get up to 72 shots! Awesome!

“So throw away your book and why don’t you go out!” Lovely!

I brought along the camera to Phuket and took a whole load of photos there. Ms Niyo and I had so much fun snapping away on the Golden Half that we had to buy a new roll of film there. I’ll post some of the pictures up in my next entry on Phuket.