Hi there, EvolGarlic here from the department of EvolGarlic's Tech And Gadget Journal, one of the departments of this fine journal central in the corner of the internet: EvolGarlic's Gumbo Goodies Blogletter.

EvolGarlic's Tech And Gadget Journal is back, opened up a little vendor in the corner of the internet world, and nuzzled the space with something that was not sped up or flashing, just pure, warm, and somewhat old-fashioned, and where the old tech and new ones can coexist together.

As you sit down (reading this article) and sip the fine coffee or tea of your choice, let me dial back the time 13 years behind our current year, turmoil year to be exact.

So, what is it 2012? Well, you got me, Pre-EvolGarlic, meaning that I was young, crazy but not that much....maybe a bit, the world was so different from what we have here, Gangnam Style by PSY is born and took the world by storm I was in primary 6, a bridge gap that is connected between growing up and ready to face the challenge with high school.

2012 is also the debut year of a certain feature phone that I still have and own, and it was so tough and reliable (when it was in its prime) that I have to keep it among other old tech and gadget goods that I collect and my household still has.

That phone is named Nokia Asha 202, that kid who has it was me, and the year of usage is probably about 2-3 years (in it primetime before i retired it) and here's the story about this quirk phone that i have fond memories with, if i can recalled all of those memories correctly.

At that time, smartphones were blooming in the market, but feature phones were still holding on for dear life.

Now, most friends in the classroom will have some choice of phone that was either an iPhone (if I remember that some people have one), a smartphone that was not an iPhone, a BlackBerry-ish phone with a QWERTY keyboard, or just a pure Feature phone.

Until my parents buy me something unique than those choices......... the Nokia Asha 202.

Nokia Asha 202, or if i have a name for it "The Tough And Funky" is one of the mobile phone in the series of "Asha" by your reliable friend called Nokia, the same brand that produced the legendary 3310, which was the thing that you can't not drop into the floor, because the floor will crack.

The reason why I called this phone "Unique" was because it was combining two things that mobile phones and smartphones have :

A Keypad? Yes!

But with a touchscreen? Its! It has that too.

Which is making this mobile stand out from other phones that my friends have.

[Fun And Probably Have Me Facepalming Myself Moments With This Phone]

Now before I go digging into the story, a little wisdom liquorice candy, the story and what I do happened a long time ago was real, and it might be cringeworthy for you and me to look, but since it was happening like 12-13 years ago, I'm digging it up as one storytelling about the past me who using this phone, while still have a "wild" attitude, sure, there are some regret from me which, but i learned from it, growing up it, understand it and owning it.

Now, after that wisdom chewed, here's the wild ride of this phone with "wild, young, and not knowing the world"

On The Trip.

In 2012 or 2013, my primary 6 classes had a final field trip, a really big one, a two-day trip to Pattaya and the Dream World Amusement park, to send us off to the unknown and wild world of high school.

Me in 2012? Love TV game shows like really crazy about it (now I still love it, but have it dialed down to lower than what I usually am), so of course, I have the entertainment in this phone to keep me entertained for this two-day trip.

Which started on Friday evening where all of my friends and teacher are on the bus, so am I too, and if I remember correctly, this is the first time I've ever been on an overnight trip (after many one-day trips).

The wheels are rolling, I plugged in the earphones, vibing along to the whatever game show theme tune I have.

Well, I started developing the behavior of "not sleeping in the overnight bus" because of my curiosity about watching the views along.

And well, 12 hours later (after a midnight wandering in ESSO to buy a pie, I wonder if that ESSO still exists or if they changed, did they still have a pie?) the bus and all of us arrive at the first destination in this trip, an art gallery.

Don't expect this phone to be incredibly useful in taking photos. Back then, the photo was an incredible experience, but when you look back at the current state of the smartphone, you'll say that it's a potato that takes a photo with.

And unfortunately, no photo of this phone was taken from this trip, because the SD card is in a turmoil state, it has been virus'd or something, and it is long gone (or that I can't find it)

After our artistic trip, we hit the beach, which was one of the fun moments in this trip, because I was tasting the salt in the water for the first time, as it was flying into my mouth, and it was tasty. No, not at all.

Now, here's a part where the trip is getting unique, the place where all the students are sleeping is the temple near the beach, but for me and my younger brother, my parent who live near pattaya like 30 km away are picking me up to travel to the Pattaya Floating Market, and many more places, and then both of us is sleeping in my parent house.

Well, I think that the battery of this Asha 202 here has performed well, because it is not about the number, it's about the 4 rectangles that indicate the battery life, which are incredibly efficient.

After a night in my parents' house in a busy city, and a bit of my father telling me that I was sleeping under the bed, my parent dropped me and my brother off at the temple to meet my friend the next morning, ready to go on the next trip, the long-awaited trip.

The Dream World Amusement Park.

Again, I was having a fond memory of the trip, because I never traveled to something big like this, every highway thing I see is what I see for the first time, and while I was singing karaoke on the bus (a few songs), I preserved battery power when I arrived.

And after a nice ride, all of us arrive at the literal Dream World, and I think that our hearts are probably going wild here.

Well, we play, we ride on the rollercoaster, sitting to watch an action movie, live action, and I had my biggest "moment" on this trip.

Long Story Short, a Curiosity of mine got my leg shaking, thought that this ride was okay, because it has a seat size that was perfect for me, bigger than the rest of the guys, as it turned out, it was another thrilling roller coaster, but it is indoor.

After a while, and a few screams, I was out of here, leg shaking for real.

After the joy ride, we are going to the bus to end this trip, and this Nokia Asha 202 showed me its first sign of iconic toughness.

The strap that held the phone was snapping off, and the phone was dropped to the hard floor, the literal cement floor here.

The battery and the back cover popped out, but after a quick re-assembly, they still worked.

[More Mess, More Shenanigans in the first half of my high school life]

2013 arrived, and we are not primary kids anymore; we are in high school.

And this phone is coming with me to the high school, where I dropped it on the toilet, and a few floors (if I remember correctly)

Still wild and slightly more unhinged, and this phone is going with me till 2014 or 2015, where I retired this friend of mine from working, and upgraded to the Samsung​ Galaxy Ace 4 Lite, and then the Galaxy J2 Prime (another tough and reliable smartphone that I still own)

[After It Retired]

After I retired this mobile phone, I used it a few times, mostly for nostalgia, and then later, to take a photo.

In 2021, I was still reviewing products and tech things, and thought I would revive this phone back to life to take a photo to do a project about an old camera in the modern era.

So I bought a new battery and replaced it, then it woke up, and I took a photo with it.

(see the sample photos at the end of this article)

But now, time has done this phone a lot of damage (count me too for kinda destroying it), the battery is gone, or presumably lost, and even if the battery is still here, the touch screen is broken.

That's how it lived in my box of things, but its existence was reminding me of a time when I was young and wild 1 decade ago.

Do you have any memoirs that remind you of yourself a decade ago? Is it a mobile phone or a smartphone?

That's all from EvolGarlic's Tech And Gadget Journal, I will stay open-minded for this thing called Tech And Gadget Journal, because sometimes, I will fumble with something, but that's a part of learning.

Until then, this vendor will stay open in the corner of the internet, and if I find (or buy) something interesting, I'll send a morse code that indicated that another episode of this series will arrive in EvolGarlic's Gumbo Goodies Blogletter.

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See you in the next episode!