went to quiapo monday morning to buy the second hand lens that i saw in one of its camerashops the other week. i got hooked by its focal length ( 18mm!! wide angle! wow! ) and price. the owner was kind enough to give me a discount ( hey, the lens needs to be cleaned, and i still need to buy a skylight filter for it - a large 86mm ). despite the heat, i enjoyed walking the length of r. hidalgo street looking at the old and new stuff that the camera shops have to offer. some good cameras ( F2 nikons-those rugged cameras that documented the vietnam war ) are going for cheap. just hope nobody in those shops read this blog or they might jack up the price. for those people who still shoot on film, this place is a gold mine. but since i'm on a limited budget, i have to content myself by just looking.
r. hidalgo with its food ( my dad says the pancit is good )and vegetables stalls, was a welcome change from the somewhat sterile(?) environment of the office. there was a time when the stalls only occupy one side of the street. now you have to weave thru the stalls to find the doors of the shops (a parked honda city was virtually covered with clothes). this will expose you to the back of those said stalls - the vendors eating their packed lunch, the small kids sleeping on wooden planks, some old men playing chess and - cards. i would have liked to catch them on film but i guess i lack the time to establish rapport so the only image i got is this one:
