makumaro.net

Staying

So I’ve decided to stay in NYC. Heh, not one of my favourite choices, but from a career advancement, experience point of view, there is no denying that it is the right choice. My boss here has offered a year’s commitment to work before going back to Melbourne and he understands how I feel and where my feeling lean to. The decision wasn’t easy, having to be away from Vyanne for a year, and just leaving everything I’m familiar with behind. I wasn’t particularly keen on it when I made it, heh, but I can accept it.

It’s been a month plus, I’ve met quite a number of people and have always made an impact on introduction, since I’m from halfway across the globe. Heh, I still don’t find myself the socialising kind, as knowing little about someone just reduces me to a bystander role listening in on other people’s conversations.

My mind’s been on edge of late. So many things going through my mind. Heh, work is challenging now as it’s really about personal initiative. I’m doing a part finance, part IT role and the former part I’m picking up slowly, the latter part I’m familiar with but it’s more about digging into the slightly more advanced programming concepts to get things to work.

How am I feeling now? Not too sure, a little detached from everything. Listening to Beethoven’s 5th and 9th symphonies (dug these out from Wikipedia) as they remind me of a simpler point in time when life just revolved around schooling and passing exams. The familiarity is soothing and takes my mind away from everything else.

Have August to look forward to, going home to visit family and Melbourne to see Vyanne and friends. A year isn’t long when you are busy just trying to go about things. It will feel long as there will be new things to learn and so many new experiences (which can tire you out sometimes). Heh, change is something I’m not terribly comfortable with but it’s something I’m willing to accommodate if it means improving things around us. The world is just too big to stand idly by.

Retail Therapy

Being alone here in NYC can be quite depressing at times. Life is good at work, where colleagues are a fun bunch, and they can be hilarious at times. Life out of work can be a little dull at times, as I don’t really get to talk to anyone. Not sure if I’ve mentioned this (feels like I have uttered it somewhere before) but chatting online isn’t the same as actually interacting with people. Sometimes all you want to do is just talk in real time with someone face to face, to let the stream of thought flow and not let it get disrupted by all the multitasking you are doing at times. It’s just more intense and it’s a good feeling to express opinions and react to peoples’ responses.

* * *

Was at a Yankee’s game yesterday. This was at the Yankees’ Stadium up at the Bronx, which is just north and outside Manhattan island. Now I’ve never ever watched baseball before this, other than in movies or short clips on the news when the sports is on, so this was a very new experience for me. Heh, now this is probably not something that most people will get to do, but in my very first month in NYC, I get to tag along to watch a game and was told that these were the best seats at the stadium. Well, they weren’t kidding when they told me this. I was basically sitting on the first row beside the players’ dugout and everytime a Yankee’s player prepared to bat, he was just right in front of us, less than 10 metres away.

Heh, it was a fun game, and I’d probably enjoy it more if I understood how it worked. Heh, enjoyed the game American style with hot dogs and beer. The stadium was packed and the fans were really enjoying themselves. As the game progresses, there is a screen that shows you what happens. It’s kind of like what you get in bowling alleys when you hit a strike or a spare, and there’s animation to describe the kind of hit you made. It was exactly like that and it’s quite funny at times when the board says “Make more noise!” and the crowd delightfully complies. The Yankees were playing Arizona and won the game after 2 hours.

Sadly no bags were allowed in, so I didn’t carry my camera along as I didn’t want to parade it. I left my Ixus at my apartment due to laziness and I didn’t get to use it for exactly the reasons I bought it for. Duh!

* * *

So back on topic, to feel a little more enthusiastic about day to day stuff outside of work, I bought a couple of items. Heh, finally just decided to plonk down some money at the Toy’s R Us store at Times Square and got myself a Nintendo DS Lite. It’s basically the latest version of the Gameboy (well, with marketing, always go with the brandname that sets you apart, and the Gameboy is synonymous to handheld gaming just like the iPod is to portable music).

Was thinking about it for a bit and even read reviews online to see what games were good. I wanted to get this in Melbourne a while ago but didn’t do it in the end as it felt pricey and the selection of games were poor. Heh, it’s about AUD$50 cheaper here after conversion costs and so I decided what the heck. Got the latest Mario Brothers game and it’s quite fun to play. My only gripe with this purchase was that the charger that came with it only works in the US due to the 120v requirement. Heh, not really a big deal as I’m sure you can get 240v chargers overseas, just as long as the amper/wattage that goes in is correct after conversion.

* * *

Also finally got my new lens, a Sigma 30mm f/1.4. I’ve tried going to B&H to purchase it twice but both times it wasn’t in stock at the store. This wasted me a week. So I finally gave up that option and decided to try getting it online. Well, not having it in stock was a good thing, as I ended up getting it delivered with an additional item that I wanted (a Pantone Huey – it’s used for calibrating the colour output of monitors) for the same price as having bought it from B&H, all within 2 days! Learnt that you are not subjected to NYC sales tax (8.75%) if you don’t buy it from within the state and delivery is slightly under USD$10, which is much cheaper than what you’d normally pay in Australia.

So far I’ve been quite impressed with the lens as at f/1.4, I can shoot indoors under fluorescent lights at ISO200 and 1/40s. Images will be soft except at the very point where it’s in focus, but that’s also the reason I got this lens, to isolate subjects.

Will spend time shooting this weekend at one of the local museums to test it out. Heh.

Diversity

NYC is really diverse and multicultural. Today I sat at a dinner table where everyone had a different origin and we somehow managed to end up in NYC. I met a Vietnamese, who emigrated to Poland and ended up in NY. I also met a Singaporean, who worked in Hong Kong before and ended up in NYC. Another person from Maine, north east of NY, which is in total contrast to the hustle and bustle of NYC. My colleague is from the Phillipines, who emigrated to Canada and I’m currently working with him in NY. This was just a dinner with our prime broker.

In a sense, America really is a land of opportunity, cause as long as you are capable, no one cares where you come from.

* * *

Was at Times Square last night just to catch the night scene. Shops open until 2am, so it’s really a shopper’s paradise. Things are generally cheaper here, and even after conversion, you get a lot more bang for buck shopping for certain goods here. It’s just so vibrant here, you have to be physically here to feel the ambience. Will leave with a few photos.