Nokia's first 3G; Nokia 6650

In the late months of 2002, Nokia, released their first ever 3G enabled phone; the Nokia 6650. The phone is a GSM dual band with WCDMA (3G) capabilities, compatible in the Europe and Asia, specifically in Japan, where 3G network is implemented.

Nokia 6650 in the flesh

When I was in college, I was able to have this kind of phone in a short time, although 3G is not yet supported in the Philippines. During that time, Nokia 6650 is not available in the Philippine market, but in luck, I found my first in second hand shops such as Greenhills in San Juan City. However, local telecoms such as Globe, have this as an exclusive service unit to those travelers going to Japan. This unit also available in Japan as well during its reign.

The battery still has the telecom's warranty sticker

Years after, I am eagerly searching for this phone again. Until one seller, posted the unit thru online shop and without doubt bought the phone for 2,000.00 pesos. When I saw the phone again, feeling of nostalgia suddenly emerged. I took pictures, made phone calls, play JAVA games, and send messages in a 9 keypad. I was surprise when the pictures I took when transferred to a smartphone gives a pretty good resolution in a very small kilobyte size in a VGA camera.

Although, old fashioned it still useful to me compare to the super smartphones of today. Right now, I am using the phone as a back up unit or rather a work phone so that they won't call me up often in my personal number. The phone's battery won't anyone last a day, but hey, a local shop still has the battery for sale.

The Pokemon Go Craze in the Philippines

Last August 7, 2016, Niantic, creator of Pokémon Go, opened its servers for the Philippines. Avid Pokémon lovers got its long waited hype. Most of them (including me) went to various locations that has Poke stops. I even bring my IPad and hotspot phone to work (I took the advantage of going elsewhere because of my work).

Venue: Bonifacio High Street

But today is different, My colleague and I went to Bonifacio High Street to catch some Pokémon although a sudden trip. Ayala Malls organized a Nationwide event for Pokémon Go from August 12 to 14. Other malls such as SM and Robinsons have this kind of event as well. When I got to the venue, the place is full of people playing the game, standing near the luring Pokestop. When my colleague met up, we walked around and catch them. It's surprising that many Filipinos are playing regardless of the age.

During our quest, I caught a Meowth, Scyther, Voltorb, Tangela, and Sandshrew. Evolved Kakuna into a Beedrill and hatched an Abra Egg. And of course increased Combat Power (CP) of my current creatures.

People playing Pokémon Go.

When I started to feel the hunger we tried to look for a place to eat, however, almost all restaurants around is almost full, luckily we found one. Good thing is that the there is a so close Pokestop in the restaurant, playing while eating that is.

This is the place my colleague and I had a bite.

A Pokestop signage.

Pokémon Go hype is overwhelming, it caused a worldwide craze. Niantic, might add beyond the original 151, because as of the press time, there are around over 700 creatures. It remembers me when I was in 5th grade, I was dying to have a GameBoy Color to play Pokémon and collect playing cards and compete with my friends.