A Gifted Dell Laptop from the Usual Suspect

GPS waypoint: 7°03'51.7"N 125°36'27.8"E
Location: Davao City, Mindanao, Philippines

Dilemma
When my laptop broke down in Singapore, I was a soldier in the warzone with no gun. How do I survive on the open road? My travels, the roof over my head, food in my belly...all thanks to my laptop. But there simply was no budget for a big ticket item like that. Almost from thin air, I got my much needed laptop as a gift. From the telltale sign, I knew it was from the usual suspect.

Samsung Laptop 3-Year Planned Obsolescence
While in Singapore, my 3-year old Samsung laptop broke down. After a repair check by Dino of Dino IT Technology, I was told it could be repaired but it's better to get a new one. He advised that Dell laptops are built good. He warned me not to buy Asus or Acer - waste of money. Frantic, I tried to hammer-down ex-deals for the new Dell, the XPS 13, going to the Electronic Expo and computer shops at Sim Lim Square. But nothing came out of it. I had no money for a new laptop and there was not much time as I was about to leave for the Philippines.

Davao
Arriving in Davao, my first priority was to get a replacement laptop. The model available in Davao was an Inspiron 13, 7000 series, but there was no time to make deals - I had online deadlines that had to be met. I already lost precious time in Singapore being unproductive. What to do now? I thought of using my credit card...even though there was no money funding it. I would have to find a quick fix later for laptop money.

Hong Kong to the Rescue
As if on cue, I got an email from my British client who runs a diamond-cutting tool company in Hong Kong. He wanted an update on his website. It was a multi-change update that affected many files plus some new builds. I scoped the work and priced the many changes individually. To my utter surprise, the total amounted to almost exactly the price of the laptop I wanted!

A Rabbit out of a Hat
I submitted the quote which was approved. Voila, there was my laptop money! Payment was wired and before I knew it, I had my new laptop to develop my new Hong Kong project with. Whoa!

Ending Thoughts
I received a big amount of money (given my nickel-and-dime paradigm)...something that rarely happens because I don't look for it. I received the exact amount in the exact time I needed it - it's too uncanny. This is in no uncertain terms, the telltale fingerprint of the unseen hand that has always been looking after my well-being, the one I call, in my affectionate parlance - my bevolent universe!

Again, I could dismiss that as coincidence. But it's already a predictable repeating pattern to be coincidence. It's the same pattern just a month ago when I lost my phone and I received money from cash clients that corresponded exactly to the amount of the Xiaomi phone I needed, at the time I needed it! When I got fired from my job (for telling my boss she was incompetent), I got a severance pay that paid for my 4-year loan - in the exact amount. It's fractals, Fibonacci sequence, and all of nature's repeating patterns coming to play again - it's uncanny. I remember having this conversation in Cambodia with Ksenia, a Russian Vipassana meditator who has been experiencing the same thing. She remarked, "I'm sick and tired of feeling amazed!". In my case though, bring it on! I'll never be sick and tired of being amazed.

I am drawn to conclude that if you are compliant to the natural order of things, living in harmony with nature, you resonate at the same frequency with the universe (I swear, I'm not wearing a tin-foil hat). If you subscribe to the String Theory, at the sub-atomic level, when particles disappear to nowhere, how they reappear is largely a function of your presence even as an observer. This is the same conclusion the fathers of Quantum Physics (Niels Bohr, Werner Heisenberg, Erwin Schrodinger, etc.) were drawn to when they made this radical announcement at the 5th Solvay International Conference of 1927. Contrary to popular belief, you are not just a passive bystander. In short, you architecture reality. BUT...you have to take ownership of that reality to manifest it. Trippy, no? But that's my personal world order as I see and experience it.

Thank you universe for continuing to look after my well-being.

p.s. - after reading again the above, I am amused that a simple laptop acquisition has invoked Vipassana (silent meditation technique), quantum mechanics, the 1927 Solvay Conference, Einstein, fractals and the Fibonacci sequence :)

Davao City, Philippines

tourist attractions

D'Bone Collector Museum - museum with animal skeletons and preserved animals from around the world

- hotel

Bahay ni Tuding - central Poblacion location, wifi, hands-on owner
160 San Pedro Street, 8000 Davao City
0947 361 3544 | 7°03'57.6"N 125°36'28.3"E
The Pinnacle Hotel and Suites - central location, new management, newly renovated
Sta. Ana Avenue, Davao City 8000, Philippines
(+63) 932-8708621 | 906-3185885 | 7°04'34.2"N 125°36'54.2"E
The Apo View Hotel - Davao's iconic hotel, old world charm, casino
150 J. Camus Street, Davao City Philippines 8000
+63 (82) 221-6430 to 40 | 7°04'09.2"N 125°36'27.4"E
North Zen Basic Spaces - great rooms at affordable prices
Sobrecarey St. (corner Lapu-Lapu St.), Davao City, 8000
(082) 295.3997 | 7°04'43.0"N 125°37'04.3"E
Urban Living Zen Hotel - newly opened - all NEW!
F.s. Dizon Bacaca, 8000 Davao City
(082) 287 3133 | 7°05'28.4"N 125°36'22.3"E
The Royal Mandaya Hotel - heart of downtown Davao City
J. Palma Gil Street, Davao City, 8000
(+63 82) 225.8888 | 7°04'09.4"N 125°36'36.8"E
Alu Hotel Davao - central downtown location
M. Roxas Avenue corner Padre Faura Street, Davao
+63 82 227 5232 | 7°04'07.7"N 125°36'51.7"E
One Oasis Davao - hotel accommodation in a condo unit
Eco-west Drive, Ecoland, Davao City
suki_tac@yahoo.com | 0925.500.3211 | 7°02'49.2"N 125°35'19.1"E

van rental

Apollo Van Rental - Davao City tour, Samal Island tour, airport transfer
0925.500.3211 | suki_tac@yahoo.com

yoga | health | fitness

Yoga Davao - yoga and pilates
Palos Verdes Country Club, Talomo, Davao City, Philippines
0922 897 7779 | 7°06'01.9"N 125°35'54.9"E
Holiday Gym and Spa - yoga | spa | gym | salon
F. Torres St., 8000 Davao City
(082) 222 3041 | 7°04'54.0"N 125°36'32.8"E
Lounge One Yoga Davao - yoga & pilates
Yoga Alliance Certified Teacher Training. Nov 2016-Jan 2017. 200, 300 & 500 Hrs
at North Zen Hotel - Lapu-lapu St. cor Sobrecary St., Obrero
0933.518.6128 | °7°04'43.0"N 125°37'04.3"E

tour

Mel's Davao Food Tour - a culinary odyssey to Davao's gastronomic specialties
Bahay ni Tuding Inn & Resto, San Pedro Street 8000 Davao City
0947 361 3544 | 7°03'57.6"N 125°36'28.3"E

resto |

cafe

Bistro ni Tuding - Gerry's Picks Dishes
inside Bahay ni Tuding Inn, 160 San Pedro Street, 8000 Davao City
0947 361 3544 | °7°03'57.6"N 125°36'28.3"E
Le Cafe Bar & Grill Restaurant - budget meals, payday dinner buffet
M. Roxas Avenue corner Padre Faura Street at Alu Hotel
+63 82 227 5232 | °7°04'07.7"N 125°36'51.7"E
FROG Kaffee - fresh roasted coffee in small batches
Prime Square, F. Torres St., Davao
(082) 224 4044 | °7°04'54.3"N 125°36'40.6"E

advocacy

Shine Life Skills Center - a home for 13+ with Autism, Down Syndrome, Mental Disorders and Disabilities
9 Orchid Road, Buhangin, Davao City, Philippines 8000
+6382 222 2556 | °7°05'55.9"N 125°36'59.6"E
Cinematheque Davao - venue for classic and contemporary Filipino films
Palma Gil Street, Davao City, Philippines
cinemathequedavao@fdcp.ph | °7°04'11.0"N 125°36'33.3"E