So my first ever order from Taobao arrived, much to the delight of my missus as there was more stuff for her than me. Altogether just under HK$400 of stuff of goodies for me!
First off, a tripod base for a monopod. Coming in at around HK$170, this was the most expensive item of the lot. When I shoot with my GoPro and it’s not clipped to my rucksack, I tend to hold it either in my hand or on a selfie-stick, the latter gives me different shot perspectives whenever I extend the stick, and it gives me slightly better balance meaning less camera shake. With this tripod base, using the screw hole at the base of my selfie stick, it transforms it into very stable monopod.
The base is quite well made using a combination of plastic and metal, with the legs having catches to either lock them into place shut when you’re storing it, or lock it open to provide a firm base for your monopod. In total with my selfie stick they weigh just under a kilogram meaning it’s very portable, doesn’t take up much room, and be very versatile. Being a monopod, it’s great for lighter cameras such as action cams and smartphones, whilst with a support hand you can mount a DSLR camera for more stable video shots.
In keeping with the camera theme, I purchased a quick release clip for my DSLR. You can clamp it to your belt or rucksack, with a quick release catch to get access to your DSLR. I’ve always wanted one, but the better known brand ones such as Capture Clip, I’ve found to be quite pricey, with lots of addons you can purchase at extra costs, so for a basic setup you’re looking at spending around HK$800. The clip I got was around HK$145.
Made from a metal alloy, for its compact size it’s quite heavy giving off a comforting safe feel that you can rely on it to hold your DLSR. The quick release works smoothly, and trust me, I throughly yanked at it hard lots of times to ensure that when I did mount on the DSLR there would be no accidents.
The final time I got for HK$55 was a dual PS4 controller charging stand. I just hate it when my controller is just lying around with hoops of cables whilst it’s charging. This rather simplistic charging stand eliminates some of the cable jungle that I have.
Just to put the icing on the cake, one of the sellers threw in for free a metal card tool, one of those that fit in your card wallet but you can use it as a cutter, screwdriver, ruler, bottle-opener, etc!
The missus got one of those workout benches, one of those you can do all sorts of exercise on such as sit-ups, push-ups, errr…..I don’t know much else. All metal, padding and foam, it cost less than HK$200!
Now, if you thought that IKEA furniture instructions were bad, the skimpy ‘brochure’ that came with it takes it to another level. Just 4 diagrams are provided to put it all together. And these 4 diagrams presumes you are somehow psychic as you need to pay attention to each diagram’s small details to realize all the loose screws and bolts you are provided with are already installed on each piece in the illustrations. After an hour or head scratching, I’ve managed to put it together but am left with some leftovers; a screw, a bar that supposedly to fits somewhere, and a hefty spring. You know after you’ve assemble that IKEA bed and you’re left with one screw, and you have doubts whether it will one day fall apart whilst you’re lying in that same bed? Yup, that’s how I feel right now.
