It can be quite challenging to be stuck at home for four months (and counting), but it’s the only thing that we can do to help flatten the curve during a pandemic. While I also want to celebrate my birthday with my close friends, I can only share bits and pieces of my special day with everyone digitally – through the lenses of a mobile phone’s camera, so before this special week ends, let me share a couple of life updates from home.
Quarantined birthday
Thanks to online deliveries and technology at the palm of our hands, we were able to prepare simple decorations and order a brunch feast for the family last Saturday (July 11). Heavily relied on indoor lighting but the food still looks great! That shrimp-aligue pasta is the best, though. Skipped the usual spaghetti just to make way for this one.
Road to being a cat lady
The quarantine period marks the beginning of my journey to being a full-fledged cat lady. We’ve adopted two cats to join the family and we’ve named them after easy-to-pronounce Pokémon names — Mew and Eevee! They usually get the “zoomies” so it’s hard to take decent photos, but these four are my favorites. The details and colors of their eyes really pop in each image – they’re really cute!
The “new normal” walks
Walks within the vicinity and gazing at the sky while wearing a face mask would probably be my “new normal” now. Good thing I can still see small flowers within the area and stare at lights at night since it’s too polluted to see stars. Taking photos as a remembrance as well since my view is quite limited. Didn’t bother to take photos of my 9-6 job since it’s jam-packed with meetings and confidential stuff!
A new venture
I rarely take selfies, but when I do, it’s for days when I need to shoot YouTube videos at the small corner of my room. Having more free time means I can explore more platforms, so I revived my YouTube Channel for tech, toy, and lifestyle features! These photos were taken late in the afternoon – my usual schedule for editing videos. I just use my mobile phone for these videos, by the way! You can check the latest one, which has clips using the OPPO A92 for reference.
New hobbies
Being stuck at home even on weekends has reignited my love for anime and manga. I usually stare at these collectibles at night as we binge-watch new seasons of our favorite shows. Some of my Funko Pops are glow-in-the-dark so it’s awesome to look at even with the lights off or with just a mini lamp on. Having an Ultra Night Mode 2.0 feature and Expert options on your phone are really handy when you don’t have a separate camera available. The smartphone that we used had enough battery (5000mAh) to last the entire day without charging, too!
My life has been quite ordinary for the past few months – these scenes repeat from day to night, only with different food on the table and an additional Funko Pop on the shelf from time to time! Not complaining, though. Being able to share and enjoy all these is a privilege, so let’s not forget to give back and continue to help NGOs and frontliners who are risking their lives for our safety as well.
Note: All photos were taken using the newly released OPPO A92 with a 48MP AI QuadCamera for day to night snapshots – may we be in our room or while sky-gazing by our terrace or backyard. I owe all the cute cat photos to its fast-unlock feature, thanks to its side-facing fingerprint scanner (definitely my fave feature). It has a 48MP main camera, 8MP Ultra Wide Angle Lens, Ultra Night Mode 2.0, 16MP front camera with AI Beautification, and 4K Video Shooting mode to name a few. These are just some of the hundreds of photos stored in its 8GB memory (8GB RAM + 128GB ROM), but I still have a lot to share on social media soon! Definitely a good pick for its price – Php 15,990 only in Twilight Black and Shining White colors.
That’s all for now! For snippets of our life and our latest discoveries within (and outside) the Metro, don’t forget to follow Manila Millennial on Facebook, YouTube, or Instagram! Keep safe, everyone!