Well. It’s actually a shame that I didn’t stay long at my home province (I stayed in Manila) when I went to the Philippines last 2008, but hey, I did take photos!

I guess the next will be in 2013 with my high school batch, but that’s three years from now.

My mother is a pure Cavitena from Cavite City. (By the way, it’s a puzzle for me as to why Trece Martirez (Or is it Imus now) that is Cavite Province’s capital when there is Cavite City. I don’t get it.) I spent my first few months in this world at Imus, but the rest of my childhood and teenage years were spent in the small town of Noveleta. So obviously I am Tagalog, and partly the reason why I cannot speak my father’s language (Waray, from Samar).

Cavite for me is not much of a rural province for me, at least where I grew up. It’s pretty close to Manila (around 30 minutes to an hour, but that is arbitrary given the crazy flow of traffic in Bacoor and Coastal Road) so Cavitenos can easily go to the Metro back and forth.

Much of my schooling life, I was considered as taga-labas (outsider). I attended my grade school in the nearby town of Kawit, and went to high school in Cavite City. My mother has considered enrolling me to this one private school near my house but they didn’t allow me. That time 6 year olds are supposed to be kindergartens and not Grade Ones. But policies change. Maybe I was destined to be a taga-labas after all. (I attended UP for my post-secondary education, which is again, outside my hometown.)

When I went back to meet my family and grade school friends, my hometown seemed to have changed a lot, yet not at all. It was nostalgic to the point that the whole balikbayan thing was romanticized. Or maybe it was just me.

I was supposed to go back to Cavite to shoot the streets but my friends decided to bring me to Tagaytay instead. Ha ha. So much for street photography.

of course, the sunset is still beautiful. I will definitely come back.

Don’t you think?

Spent my Saturday afternoon catching up with my old friends (no pun intended!). And so we went to Chinatown to have Dimsum.

And with my Instax Mini 7, what could go wrong? Basically nothing.

When things like this happen, you get to realize a couple of things: Time is precious. You get old. You change. People change. So whatever that you have, you just have to enjoy it. Hold on to the basics, but don’t cling too much. You get sentimental and all, but hey, we all have to take one step forward. We always have to head out to some place.

But still, dimsum is absolutely great, and so is the company of friends who have been there throughout the years. Cliche, but true.

Taken with Fuji NPS 160 Pro.

Surprisingly I wrote the introduction about this camera a month ago. The time interval between this and that entry is a coincidence.

So I got the scans for my TLR’s test shots. My amazing boyfriend K took the liberty of using them before sending them to me, so majority of the frames were taken back in Toronto.

The last frame was mine though; boy it’s not a glorifying shot. But whatever.

Can I just say that this camera is I-N-S-A-N-E? I am not doing a decent review of this camera since I haven’t got the chance to use it in one session but damn this camera is crazy!

I am getting hang of using Canonet 28 and its aperture priority settings. My third set did not disappoint, which means me = happy.

I was actually surprised as to how sharp the dawn photos. My sister and I were at Downtown late December to visit the Yousuf Karsh installation at WAG and we went home a bit late. Still the photos turned out to be bright and crisp. Just the way I like it.

So I finally got some of my scanned copies in taken using my Konica Big Mini 302. Enough copies actually, for me to make a decent quick review about this unit.

It is such a shame that I am making this entry after writing something about my T4. Not that I am exaggerating about my T4’s capabilities and features, but well, the camera deserves its fame. Nonetheless, I think KBM 302 delivers well too.

Ergonomics-wise, good and not good. Good because it feels better to hold and use the camera. Not to mention the long strap that can serve as a lanyard. Bad because there’s no lens cover for it! How weird can it get? (K says it’s a design flaw, but I really don’t know what the makers were trying to get at).

Based from the sample shots I posted, I think it provides sharp images. I can’t say to what extent because I scanned the photos for only 600 dpi. As for the focusing, it is fairly accurate. I think I only had one shot where there was a mistake in focusing, but it didn’t bother me that much.

I cannot say much how this will perform in low light situations. I’ve had my T4 at night and the photos were really fantastic. Maybe I should try to bring this out sometime.

Anyway, my verdict? So far so good. If you’re looking for an inexpensive pocket film camera, go and grab this one.

Also known as “More Toronto Shots” entry.

I recently acquired a mint condition black Yashica T4 from K. Which of course I wasn’t even planning to get until he told me he’s going to get it for me (for now). He knows I wanted to have one, but the crazy price of this beast prevents me from getting a unit.

But anyway. So when I went to Toronto I finally got a chance to hold it in my hands, and I started shooting away.

Craziness ensued.

First off, I would like to say that Yashica T4 is a no-nonsense camera. It actually lives up to its expectations because it knows how to perform. I can’t blame those photography (or gadget) enthusiasts if they are really after this camera for they have their own reasons (not to mention that their reasons are VALID). And to those who own this camera and who don’t want to use it because, well, it’s film? Please think again. Or if you really don’t want to keep it, make some money out of it because this thing is truly a gem.

I brought this camera last week when I met up with my friends at the UofM Photoclub and one of my friends exclaimed, “Zeiss?!” Believe it or not, Yashica T4 performs really well mainly because of its really nice Carl Zeiss lens. Yum.

What I also love about this camera is that it is discreet. It has a viewfinder which I used so much with abandon when I was in Toronto. Seriously, this film camera can shoot streets. I promise.

What also contributed to my love of this camera is that it is very small. Considering that I brought my bulky dSLR on my way to Toronto… Which almost delivered the same results (well, not really, I just managed to get my photos right away). If I need to pack light on my upcoming trips, I think this is going to be my main companion.

We go technical: I used the following films to create these photos: Lucky SHD 100 (Black and White), Lucky Super 200, Fuji Proplus II 100.

My last day at Toronto. We both went to this small camera fair located in Thornhill (Markham), Ontario.

Yes, well, I’m holding a T4 there, yes. And again yes this picture can now be in the local tourism booklet. He he.

The boy wasn’t joking when he said that it was a good 30-min walk from the bus stop all the way to the community centre where the fair is located. It wasn’t as cold as Winnipeg, but my body does not discriminate. Canada is cold, and that’s a fact wherever I go.

Small is a relative word. The fair is actually bigger than the one that I attended here in Winnipeg last September, and have lots more items to choose from.

The boy spent a lot of time looking but guess what? I was the one who got more stuff (he got me the things that I want though, so it’s an ulcer in his pocket). We got some films, I got a Canon FD f/1.4 lens and an Olympus mju I for a friend.

We just spent the rest of my stay at Scarborough eating Chinese food and getting drenched in the rain. Short trip, but very memorable. Will definitely come back.

This is rather a late post for a travel-related entry but times have been tough. Anyway. I went to Toronto, ON last week to visit a special person and to attend a camera fair.

I find the place to be very busy. However despite of the amount of activities that breathes life to the city, it is devoid (IMO) of that certain feel that I am so used to seeing and living here in Winnipeg. I don’t know what that feel is, if you ask me. Maybe the friendliness of the people?

But that doesn’t mean I don’t like Toronto. I don’t have the right to pass any judgment right now since I didn’t stay there that long.

We went to Spadina last Saturday and the whole place transported me somewhere else other than Canada.

Spadina also reminds me of home.

After a hearty lunch in yet another busy place, we just walked around the area, taking photos.

This puppy knows what “cheese” means. He saw us and he faced us, waiting for me to take his photo.

As of this writing it’s freezing both here in Winnipeg and Toronto. Glad I took that trip a week early.

This is the usual scene that my eyes see every Monday-Wednesday last Fall of 2009 and every Wednesday-Thursday starting this winter.

It’s been hard going to work p/t in the morning and studying at night since I was so used to the reversed routine while I was completing my degree back in 2004. But nobody said it was easy, and careers don’t materialize overnight. My photography suffers because I can’t go out that much, but taking photos has been my lifeline since 2007, and I don’t want to stop now. It has help me see things differently through a viewfinder and it has helped me find love too.

But things will change. I only have three months left in school. For sure, things will be better.