October 15, 2009
Retail Mix
The annual 中秋 fall bonus money is a bit less this year, which is fair enough since sales are still down a bit this year due to a brutal Q1. But we're seeing business starting to pick up, and I felt like doing my part to encourage those green shoots. But with a baby waiting at home, not to mention mom and wife, I can't hardly be wasting time lollygagging at the local emporium.
No, this was going to have to be a surgical operation, a lightning strike on a target of opportunity. The victim? The Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 35mm f/1.8G lens. The 18-200mm lens is a fantastically versatile workhorse, but its aperture is limited so I'm forced to use flash in low-light indoor situation, which may not be the best thing for the baby. A light-weight wide-aperture fixed-focal prime lens makes a the perfect complement for the super-zoom, an yin-yang contrast of optical parameters. Plus we were taking the baby outside of Taipei for the first time for wife's family 中秋 barbecue in Hsinchu, which made for a good excuse to try out a new lens.
Our factory in China was off-line during their National Day holidays. Thankfully our overseas customers recognize it, too, which dramatically reduced our workload for these few days. So I had time to do some research on the on-line sites for pricing, but typically one can do a bit better than that by haggling face-to-face. 漢博區, the main cluster of photographic supply stores in Taipei is right near the Main Station around the Han-Ko and Bo-Ai intersection, just happens to be on the way home from work. Bailed out of work a half hour early so I could hit a few shops for comparison shopping and still get home in time for dinner.
Walked along 漢口街, past the window display full of Leicas (too rich for my blood), and chose a store almost, but not quite, at random. Walked into this store because it wasn't totally empty, but not fully occupied. The sales people were older, not like the typical clueless student part-timers or aggressively pushy young men that staff the counters. And of course, shelves stacked full of Nikkors in their shiny golden boxes. Asked for the 35mm f1.8 and the lady quoted a price just under the Internet pricing. Add a Marumi DHG protective filter, and round down NT50 to make it a whole number. Took a few test shots in the store to make sure the focusing was accurate before I handed over the cash, but even then I've got the goods with plenty of time to spare.
Time for some spontaneous multi-tasking. My favorite record shop in Taipei happens to lie on the way back towards Main Station. It's basically a hole in the wall stacked top to bottom with CDs, but it has a full selection of the latest Chinese, Japanese, and Western music, both indie and mainstream. Sure, the store's not as fancy and the selection isn't as deep as Eslite Music, but then ChiaChia doesn't charge extortionate import pricing, either.
Basically had enough time to walk around the store once and grab anything that looked good. Thankfully all those music podcasts during commute-time had given me enough ideas to grab CDs on sight. Was pretty happy with the result, a full-bingo of eclecticism. Now that I've had my fun, the rest of the bonus money goes to the wife to buy discounted Sogo gift certificates. Hey, an 8% discount off face value is a better return than most investments these days.
