After more than 4 years of planning and anticipating, me and the family finally moved to the new house. Moving is not easy. And through my experience and a few others' as well, there's no amount of planning that can guarantee a problem-free transition. We had a few bumps here and there but overall, the whole process went kinda smooth. Although we moved in December last year, we still had to live at the old house throughout January and February 2022. Due to Covid, school semesters end in February the following year instead of the usual December. So we find ourselves spending our weekdays at the old house and only going back to the new house on weekends. During our stay here at the old house, we have to endure the absence of a washing machine, TV and beds. We all sleep on thin mattresses. Good thing we still have the old refrigerator, dining table, sofa and a working kitchen, all of which will either be given away or disposed of. Oh, our internet service here still lives, which helps a lot. As of this writing, we are spending our 7th week here which is also our last week. On Sunday, we can fully settle-in and stay at the new house and finally call ourselves Cyberjayans.
Yesterday, my grandfather passed away. He was the only grandfather I ever had. So losing him was really heartbreaking. We weren't that close, but he did take care of me for a few months when I was a little kid and we've had our moments together. He lived a wonderful life. He was 94. God bless his soul
My one and only Grandpa
My Youtube channel finally made it to 1,000 subscribers and exceeded 4,000 watch hours. This consequently led to my channel's acceptance into the Youtube Partner Program (YPP). I can finally make some money through my videos. Not that monetizing my Youtube channel has been the goal but for me, it's more of an important milestone to aim for. Not everybody gets to reach that level and trust me when I say this. Being a vlog channel, it is extremely difficult to grow on Youtube. Vlogs in nature are not 'searchable' as opposed to niche channels that talk about specific topics in specific industries like tech reviews, music tutorials, food mukbangs etc. Vlogs are not for everybody. Not everybody watches vlogs, let alone vlogs of someone they don't already know. What I'm trying to say is vlogs have a limited number of audience and the industry is saturated with competition. How does one stand out? So as long as you understand this and know that a vlog channel will almost always have a really slow growth, and you're okay with that, then vlogging might be for you. Never go into it with money as your number one goal.
After 3 years and 230 videos, my Youtube channel finally reached 1,000 subscribers
The Covid-19 situation has drastically changed since the last time I wrote here. In 2020, everyone was terrified of the virus. Some of us were even fascinated by the strange absence of people in public places, myself included. Ghost towns and empty highways. And god forbid the wife tells us to go out and buy groceries. How scary was that? We would sanitize our hands every 5 minutes and spray the hell out of those grocery bags.
Then in 2021, people started to grow tired of the pandemic. It's not that they don't care about getting infected anymore. It's the endless lockdowns which didn't seem to bring those numbers down anyway. People got stuck together indoors for extended periods of time. Throw in some restless children in the mix and you get a perfect recipe for disaster. Suddenly, working from home wasn't fun anymore. You grit your teeth as you watch the Prime Minister announces on TV for the umpteenth time, and you're one dalgona coffee away from picking up the golf club and swinging it vigorously at the TV. It was the year when many fall into depression and cases of suicides surged. People were rebelling and retaliating, blaming the government for putting a hefty price as punishment for leaving the house.
Just as the country was at the brink of total madness, the vaccines started to roll-in mid year, restoring order and hope. People were happy again. We saw a glimpse of light that may lead us back to the old days, to get that normal life back. And so it began. Especially in 2022 when they roll-out the booster shots. We now live a somewhat normal life, with a few caveats, of course. Gone are the 'normal' days of pre-covid. Sure, now we can go to the movies, attend crowded events and cross borders and stuff but by accepting the fact that Covid-19 is here to stay, we can peacefully move on to other things now.
With high hopes for 2022, I'm really looking forward to do more travelling and exploring. I need to lose weight. I need to learn to make better videos. I managed to quit smoking for over a year now which is good. I never thought I had it in me. With the help of my vaping device, of course. So I kinda switched rather than quit. Only then did I realize how smelly cigarettes really are. The smell sticks to you like glue wherever you go. For non-smokers, this must be agonizing to deal with. However, I failed to notice any heightened sense of taste or smell upon quitting. That's what people claim to experience when they quit. As an asthmatic person, I did notice some improvements in breathing. I used to constantly have wheezing when breathing and it became more noticeable at night. That does not happen anymore. Asthma attacks became less frequent. I no longer need to use my inhaler on a daily basis. Sometimes I go a whole week without having to use it. So, quitting cigarettes was one of the best decisions I had ever made.
Somewhere in August last year I bought a new camera. I saved up some of that i-sinar and i-citra money to buy a full-frame camera, the Sony A7C. I needed an upgrade to my point & shoot camera that I use for Youtube, the Canon G7X Mark II. However, some might argue that going full-frame is kind of overkill. Needless to say, the quality coming out of the A7C is phenomenal. But the reason people go for smaller sensors rather than full-frame is because they are mad expensive! I now have the camera body with a less-than-capable kit lens. I still can't afford to buy the RM3,000 wide-angle lens for vlogging. On top of that, I may also need to save up for an external microphone which was one of the reasons why I made the upgrade in the first place. Now, without that lens and microphone, I find myself still vlogging with my old camera and only use the new camera for my home studio setup. It may very well be an excuse to hide the fact that I may not be ready yet to fully switch to using the bigger camera. May I find the courage to do so in the near future.
My new Sony A7C
There is no point to this post. I am just babbling about anything I deem babble-worthy. Or perhaps it serves as a proper update to my long time absence here. Whatever the case, I feel relieved to have downloaded my thoughts onto this platform. I'm gonna go now. Peace.
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