Looking back at Thorung La Pass at Muktinath, Nepal
… to complement my budding prosumer hobby with my D90. Click here or the image to go there, but the link’s easy to find at the top menu bar anyway.
So, here we go. I’m getting close to that date now, and most of the essentials are done.Some stuff left are:
1. Get a haircut
2. Get a 35mm Nikkor 1.8D lens. I could probably get one for under RM800 here.
3. Another pair of quick-dry nylon undies.
4. Some electrolyte boosting tablets
5. Moneychanger
6. Get a knee brace. My knees aren’t as strong as before.
7. Redeem my RM35 voucher at World of Outdoors Mid Valley. Wonder what I can get there.
8. A silicon case for my iphone. Funny, the ringtone and game sounds suddenly died on me. Maybe I should get it checked, but it’s mighty close to the flight date. I hope it’s not a precursor of things to come (*knock wood)
9. Lip balm, sun block, excedrin, stuff from the pharmacy. Maybe some Glucosamine for my weakening knees perhaps?
10. Get my bills sorted out!
Wow, that nicely rounds up a top 10.
1. Movies I need to watch before my mountain pilgrimage: Fantastic Mr. Fox, Up In The Air, Where the Wild Things Are, Haunted University, and if I can catch it in the cinemas right before I leave, Alice in Wonderland!
2. Did some shopping and got the Kata 3-in-1 Bag, Tamron 18-270VC lens, 8 Gig SD Card, Spare Nikon D90 Battery, DigitalEye Monopod/Hiking Stick (RM90, much more affordable than the RM545 Gitzo I saw at ShaShinKi), Hoya 72mm Polarizer, Kenko UV Filter, and now, I’m po. Credit card ‘po.
3. Playing Left 4 Dead 2 with my bro = lots of screaming n’ shouting, “HEEELP HEEELP!” “WHERE ARE YOU?” and “I’m dead.”
4. I’m saving up on episodes of Mysterious Universe Podcast for my trip in Nepal. There’s nothing better than listening to a creepy Alien/Ghosts/Cryptozoology show in the dark at a remote area of the world. Got to remember to cache their shownotes in case I’d like to check out those video clips n’ pictures of them alien sightings and ghost images.
5. Someone should come up with a blog for interesting Malaysian number plates seen. And I’m not talking the boring WBM 1, BBB 888 kind. I’m talking about the more clever ones like JED1 or something like that, those with meaning. So far, I’ve seen MAF14, TV3, PEN15, NAB1, WRG1665 (on a Manchester Utd fan’s car).
OK, I must admit, I’m a review-hound. Meaning, I tend to follow the general consensus of people’s opinions, such as not bothering to watch The Wolfman which got sucky reviews… playing only games rated at least 8.5 or higher on Gamespot/IGN or XPlay. And such is the case with me purchasing my very first DSLR camera, Nikon’s D90 (it’s all Ken Rockwell’s fault!) Got it for RM2600 from a dude named George Lee (like me, BLing, has a pretty nice abbreviated name of GLee) Bought the lens separately, a cheapo RM300 18-55 Nikkor without VR (which I may regret later, we’ll see)… Thought I might start slow, but now that I’ve started getting into this photography beezkneez I’m really starting to get a little tempted to splurge… Stuff I’m looking at:
Gitzo Hiking Stick/Monopod... too rich for my blood
Kata 3 in 1, this bag is so ergonomically awesome, I gotta get this one...
1. 12-24 or 11-16 Tokina Landscape Lens – RM2250-2350
2. Kata D-3N1-30 3 in 1 Large Sling Backpack – RM505
3. Nikon 50mm f/1.8D AF Nikkor Autofocus Lens – RM420
4. 55-200 Nikkor VR Zoom Lens – RM950
5. A Polarizer (not sure how much and for which lens)…
6. Lens Hood
7. A Gitzo GM1130MT Monopod/Hiking Stick – RM545
8. An SD Card (4 or 8 gig)
and all that shingamajig… adding all that together… more than RM4770 and not to mention the RM2900 I’ve already spent on the camera. Maybe I won’t splurge on the Tokina as the 15-55 should work well enough.
And to continue my list with non-photography-related items:
Buff from Corezone: If I do ever get this, I'd better make sure not to look this gay
9. Buffs from Corezone (RM79-115)
10. Teva from World of Outdoor @ Mid Valley (RM299 -20% if I get it before the 21st Feb, dang I’m tempted)
11. Compression Sack from Corezone (RM140 for large, RM129 for med)
MiLi Powerskin for my Iphone... It's an Iphone cover, it's a battery!
12. MiLi Power Skin to give extra battery life for my Iphone, from Machines (RM299, trying to get some sort of 5-10% discount if I can nego)
13. Princeton Halogen Headlamp from Corezone (RM100)
Those I had listed for now, will cost me another extra RM879!
You know, it’s easy to get carried away with all these shopping even though some of these stuff seem pretty essential, but once you see the grand total, it makes you think twice. And I’m thinking I’d better cut some serious $$$ from my want list at the moment. Well, after tennis tomorrow, maybe a trip to Pudu and check out the camera shops there. LowYat too, perhaps for SD cards? Not to mention, a trip to Corezone & Mid Valley for the final day of CNY sales. See if I can get better deals there. In the meantime, I’ll be scouring the FTZ for some good deals if I can find any. Wismilak!