8 more days!

it was a perfectly nice day outside day but i didn't feel like doing anything except to stay indoors and not do anything. maybe i'd watch some television. maybe i'd read more about shanghai or the three kingdoms. or maybe i would go outside and run an errand, to buy one of the last items on my travel list, a circular polarizer for my SLR. so i sped off to zeff's photos belmont, asking for a 52mm filter. they searched and all they could find was a 58mm. "that won't do," i said. while i was there i also got a chance to sample a 60mm canon EF-S macro lens. it was pretty cool, able to resolve details to as close as i could push the lens without the image getting eclipsed by the shadow of the camera. this is the lens i need to get those amazing macro shots that i still haven't been able to achieve with the canon. unfortunately canon macro lenses are expensive ($300-400) so i won't be to get one anytime soon - although they do rent out lenses at $25/weekend.

disappointed with not finding my filter, i remembered there's a photo store near the galleria mall, calumet, so i made my way over there. they did have the 52mm but it was priced $10 more than what i saw online (which was only $20, plus this filer was their own brand). figuring i didn't have time to order it now and have it shipped, i ate the cost and bought the filter. back at home i was eager to try it out. right out of the box i sensed something wasn't quite right...hmm...this filter seems a little small...wait, it's not the right size! turns out my lenses take 58mm filters - i was thinking 52mm because that's a standard sony camcorder thread diameter. so i went back and told them my story and got the filter replaced even though i already opened up the package. wasn't that a great story?

when i got home i saw my neighbor jen cleaning up the little border garden in front of her house. i felt like a bad homeowner and neighbor because i've never tended to my front garden before, satisfied to let the perennials mix with the weeds. we were talking and i asked if she wanted to see my place. let me explain: my house is one of four exact same houses in a row on my street. they were built 100 years ago, and during time that, the insides have changed. what's cool about that is if i visit any one of these other houses, it's like a parallel universe version of my place, where things sort of look the same, but different at the same time. jen first showed me their place. it gave me a few ideas of what i could do with my own house. i like how her two bedrooms are the same size. then i showed her my place along with her husband franz (who was just about to take a shower).

in the evening my family came over for dinner. ang tao wasn't there so i was able to give them a progress report of how the housemate situation is going (pretty good so far, no complaints). after they left, ang tao finally came back from the lab. my parents prepared some leftovers for him to eat for dinner.