Mood: Good 
Weather: 26°C, Light Showers, Windy
Location: Mont Fleuri, Mahe, Seychelles
It’s been a bit of a cold day today, it’s just too cold for me to sit at the desk so I’m sitting on my bed and I have the laptop on my portable laptop table. We skipped “movie night” yesterday but we finally watched Speed (1994) this evening. It was just okay for me, but my sister thought it was pretty good. We watched The Lake House (2006) the day before yesterday and I thought it was pretty good. I guess drama is more my thing than action movies. Last night I kept Youtube playing random videos while I sorted through my collection of FDCs. I’m wrapping them all up in plastic but I don’t know how useful that would be, because I still see “browning” happening. With this hot and humid climate it’s almost impossible to keep them in pristine condition. It doesn’t help that I prefer to keep my louvres closed because the last thing I need is to have a wild bird fly in. I’m absolutely terrified of birds. I also don’t want the birds to be caught and killed by the cats, and I also don’t want the cats jumping or falling out of the window.
I don’t really know what to do with my postcard collection either. I want to sell as much as I can and as soon as possible to clear the clutter, but it’s an overwhelming task.
The first thing I did this morning was arrange for the 3 boxes in Shanghai to be collected. I used SF Express on WeChat and input the sender’s information as well as the recipient’s. The 3 boxes were packed by the same company months ago, and I remember they had a volumetric weight of 50 kgs. So the estimated cost was at RMB 112, but I sent the guy RMB 200 through Alipay just in case. Thankfully, I still have my Shanghai phone number, otherwise I would not be able to do any of this! I I contacted my Chinese friend and sent him the courier information. The boxes are expected to be delivered tomorrow morning. I’ve instructed the delivery guy to deliver the boxes at the front desk so that the staff will be able to help me register the boxes. The company has given me clear instructions not to have the delivery guy leave the boxes at the entrance unattended. Anyway, at this point I can only have my fingers crossed and hope that everything goes accordingly. After the storage company receives it, they will work with me on creating an account with them. I’ve asked them to keep my boxes for 6 months. It will cost me about RMB 160 per month. I’m trying to explain all this in English but because all the conversations happened in Chinese, I’m struggling a bit.
I purchased a circular LED lighting online, which includes a desk stand for the light. I’ve decided to jump onboard the Youtube train and share my journey trying to save money in this country. I can only film in the dead of night because that’s when it’s absolutely quiet. I might actually need to get a microphone as well, because I tried recording a video + audio using my phone and I can here quite a bit of noise. I don’t know if there’s an app that will allow me to drown out the background noise. I’ve always loved sharing my life to strangers online, I’ve had all kinds of blogs ever since I had access to internet. I’ve also always been a member of communities online to not only share opinions but to read about other people’s lives and to communicate with them. Vlogging is a whole other ball game because it’s less private and you can’t really be anonymous because the videos will probably be suggested to people in your region, and people who actually know you personally will recognize your voice (and your face if you put it online). But I guess it’s slightly more interactive than just the written word. I only have an issue with the way I talk while recording. I’m trying to practise so that it actually sounds like the me that I know. I also want my production level to meet a certain standard. I feel as though Americans in general are pretty good at figuring out their lighting. Most tiktokers in Seychelles don’t meet the standard level of production that I’m trying to aim for, because their lighting is far too dim. They just switch on their phone cameras and record as is, with no additional equipment.