- Never Stop Dreaming -
Just when I when I thought the great events were about to come to an abrupt end, the festive blessings came in a package of white fluffy contours. Though it was mild and not the massive great balls that I was hoping, nonetheless, IT HAS BEGAN TO SNOW! Yeah yeah yeah...I have been waiting for this moment for somewhat 7 to 8 months which seems like light years when the Lord sent his angels sweeping the magical Heavenly dust from his door step.
Going thru the lunch sessions, I was facinated like a little kid unwrapping presents for the very first time. Though the view North of my position looked like the end of the world with thick intimidating clouds hovering above, the view East of my position looks fresh outta a painting with clear blue skies and luscious blobs of fluffy clouds. Then to the South of my position, the view was a billowing wave of clouds shielding the sun and a white fog in the foreground which so happens to be zillions of little snow flakes brought forth by the strong wind. 3 different simultaneous scenes from 1 position where I am typing this entry. Now that's extra fast festive tidings...
Besides that...the weather report says it will snow for the new few days. YES!
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Teasers
- Never Stop Dreaming -
Just 2 days ago, I was suffering from some post trauma depression that persisted for a while before I unleashed angst and carnage to the pesky insects seeking refuge in my house from the cold. I say to hell with them and thy shall kill, exterminate and torment all that walks in my house without a permit. And that was Monday.
Tuesday, going to work as usual with a little anger lingering in my mouth. While checking some emails, I was more than surprised to read possibly one of the most life inspiring and eyes wetting message. The message was s simple one liner containing these words, "what if I". You see for all those moments of my mangled life, there were times when God shine me a bright beam of light with love, hope and faith. This had to be one of those moments. The "what if I" phrase have implied meaning for both the creator and the end reader. But to decipher the intended meaning of the creator is nothing more than playing with hope, faith and love. There is a possibility and yet there is an equal amount of uncertainty which equates to fruitless, futile and hypothetical nonsense if I try to unravel the true meaning.
Even so, all I can say is that this one email really made my day. "Genki" I was and the day went by in a flash with me smiling all the way home. Thank you ELCC for that wonderful email. Whether the possibility will be realise or the uncertainty to crush any hopes, getting an email like this, mind blowing. I must really confess that I am really looking forward to it and hopefully you can realise it as well. I could pen a whole new Elmo song or lose a kidney if I had to.
Alrite before I go too far, today, Wednesday, another great day to kick start my adventure. Mt. Asama had ridiculous snow on the caps from last nite's thunderstorm. GOSH....that was what I had been waiting for all this while since last winter. Since October, I have been staring at the caps day in day out for the snow. Barren, brown and unsightly scenes greeted me everyday until this morning. Whooooooo...snow is coming and that is all that matters. Right now as I am penning this, I can't help but confess that I have stared at the snow capped peaks like more than 20 times since this morning. I am a sucker for snow and just these 2 days of great news have channel me into the lane of infinite joy. Wow!
Just 2 days ago, I was suffering from some post trauma depression that persisted for a while before I unleashed angst and carnage to the pesky insects seeking refuge in my house from the cold. I say to hell with them and thy shall kill, exterminate and torment all that walks in my house without a permit. And that was Monday.
Tuesday, going to work as usual with a little anger lingering in my mouth. While checking some emails, I was more than surprised to read possibly one of the most life inspiring and eyes wetting message. The message was s simple one liner containing these words, "what if I". You see for all those moments of my mangled life, there were times when God shine me a bright beam of light with love, hope and faith. This had to be one of those moments. The "what if I" phrase have implied meaning for both the creator and the end reader. But to decipher the intended meaning of the creator is nothing more than playing with hope, faith and love. There is a possibility and yet there is an equal amount of uncertainty which equates to fruitless, futile and hypothetical nonsense if I try to unravel the true meaning.
Even so, all I can say is that this one email really made my day. "Genki" I was and the day went by in a flash with me smiling all the way home. Thank you ELCC for that wonderful email. Whether the possibility will be realise or the uncertainty to crush any hopes, getting an email like this, mind blowing. I must really confess that I am really looking forward to it and hopefully you can realise it as well. I could pen a whole new Elmo song or lose a kidney if I had to.
Alrite before I go too far, today, Wednesday, another great day to kick start my adventure. Mt. Asama had ridiculous snow on the caps from last nite's thunderstorm. GOSH....that was what I had been waiting for all this while since last winter. Since October, I have been staring at the caps day in day out for the snow. Barren, brown and unsightly scenes greeted me everyday until this morning. Whooooooo...snow is coming and that is all that matters. Right now as I am penning this, I can't help but confess that I have stared at the snow capped peaks like more than 20 times since this morning. I am a sucker for snow and just these 2 days of great news have channel me into the lane of infinite joy. Wow!
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Paper Planes Revival
- Never Stop Dreaming -
Only in my wildest imagination would I ever dreamed of impressing a horde of 30 odd individuals with paper aeroplanes on a professional level. That certainly became reality as of 12 November in the Year 2008. You see I was actually conducting an educational lesson contrasting the differences between childhood games played in Japan and Singapore. Games from my lost childhood years were dug up good, games like "One Leg", "Hum Tum Bolah", marbles, catching, eraser battles, coin soccer and paper planes were introduced to Japanese kids aged 11 to 12.
Diving straight into the Paper Planes context, I could still remember how my good buddy Noah used to fly insane paper planes with me. And not to mention the very fact that we were 16 or 17 at that time and working at Hong Kong Shanghai Bank (undisclosed location due to security issues). We had crap to do each day and at times, we were simply loafing evidently to get caught because there weren't anything else to do. Taking advantage of the situation with 2 incredibly nimble individuals, we began to "manufacture" paper planes with the intention to creating the ultimate jet.
After numerous hypothesis, trials and failed models, the unassigned, unmarked and un-named jet was born. That was of course less the imaginary "pilots" whom ejected safely before their paper jets crash horribly into the paper shredder. I can't really remember how long we took from concepting the actual flight model to tweaking the designs for longer "hang" time and to the final flyable jet. It was then we realised that we had taken mere paper planes to a whole new level. Features like weight to distance ratio, rudders and air flaps were all taken serious which had ended up in the final jet. Then came the real maiden long distance flight instead of the "hanger test" where the air was stagnant with no turbulence in a confined office room.
On the 7th storey, sometime between 4pm to 5 pm (I think)...Noah and I had sneaked into the stairway stashed at the back of the building with multiple conceptual paper models in our hands ready to take the leap of faith. There were 2 huge upward facing air-conditioner condensers on the second storey's balcony feeding the rising hot air needed for the initial lift. So peering out from a tiny window opening, we launched our planes. Some "cursed" planes plunged straight into the condenser to their doom, while others took tragic turns and crashed. Few had trouble with the turbulence and only 2 among all the planes made the epical flight.
The most remarkable model cruised the air like a glider, diving at less than a 10 degrees incline only to gain more height and distance from the winds. It sailed and curved round the edge of the building passing more than a minute in flight time before disappearing beyond our sight. Delighted was clearly an understatement as the instant gratification from the hours of research that paid off were concealed in our victory smile. This had to be one of the most beautiful day in history.
Since then the legend of the plane which was never found was lost with time. With Noah crusading on in his life, and me in my conquest, those past glories and thrills simply faded away. It was probably by a stroke of luck or maybe even God smiling down on me that this legend was brought back to life for just this once. Not in Singapore but in a little less know school hidden among rice fields and mountains. Initially I had a little problem retriving the blue print of the plane out of my head but because that was a salient memory hidden somewhere, a stimuli was all that was needed to trigger the retrival. In the end, I had 3 conceptual models made, the prototype which was a tragedy, Eagle 1 which made decent flight time and then Eagle 2 which was probably a derivation of the original Legend. To be honest, I cannot actually remember every single detail of the original Legend but Eagle 2 was almost 70% similar less the flaps and missing on the actual dimensions.
Then came the class where I had to tide thru 40 minutes of other misc. games before I proudly unveil my Eagle 2 from an encased box to the class. Of course the kids did not had any "WOW" look on their faces because I had actually made them create their best paper plane prior to showing Eagle 2. Besides that, Eagle 2 resembled like an ordinary paper plane with a lower profile and hidden modifications. By then I had finished my presentation and had gathered the kids on the balcony of the 3 floor. With a decent cold, dry wind blowing, I launched the plane with everyone keeping their eyes peeled on how far Eagle 2 actually went. Yep higher launching grounds did help but ultimately the flawless design of the plane was all that matter. Eagle 2 sailed a ridiculous distance before landing softly. Nothing close to the Legend but this one day of Paper Plane Revival was all that was needed for me to relive those great memories with my buddy, good old crazy times.
At the end of the day, I simply donated the 2 jets to the school as a mark of my paper planes glory history.
End.
Only in my wildest imagination would I ever dreamed of impressing a horde of 30 odd individuals with paper aeroplanes on a professional level. That certainly became reality as of 12 November in the Year 2008. You see I was actually conducting an educational lesson contrasting the differences between childhood games played in Japan and Singapore. Games from my lost childhood years were dug up good, games like "One Leg", "Hum Tum Bolah", marbles, catching, eraser battles, coin soccer and paper planes were introduced to Japanese kids aged 11 to 12.
Diving straight into the Paper Planes context, I could still remember how my good buddy Noah used to fly insane paper planes with me. And not to mention the very fact that we were 16 or 17 at that time and working at Hong Kong Shanghai Bank (undisclosed location due to security issues). We had crap to do each day and at times, we were simply loafing evidently to get caught because there weren't anything else to do. Taking advantage of the situation with 2 incredibly nimble individuals, we began to "manufacture" paper planes with the intention to creating the ultimate jet.
After numerous hypothesis, trials and failed models, the unassigned, unmarked and un-named jet was born. That was of course less the imaginary "pilots" whom ejected safely before their paper jets crash horribly into the paper shredder. I can't really remember how long we took from concepting the actual flight model to tweaking the designs for longer "hang" time and to the final flyable jet. It was then we realised that we had taken mere paper planes to a whole new level. Features like weight to distance ratio, rudders and air flaps were all taken serious which had ended up in the final jet. Then came the real maiden long distance flight instead of the "hanger test" where the air was stagnant with no turbulence in a confined office room.
On the 7th storey, sometime between 4pm to 5 pm (I think)...Noah and I had sneaked into the stairway stashed at the back of the building with multiple conceptual paper models in our hands ready to take the leap of faith. There were 2 huge upward facing air-conditioner condensers on the second storey's balcony feeding the rising hot air needed for the initial lift. So peering out from a tiny window opening, we launched our planes. Some "cursed" planes plunged straight into the condenser to their doom, while others took tragic turns and crashed. Few had trouble with the turbulence and only 2 among all the planes made the epical flight.
The most remarkable model cruised the air like a glider, diving at less than a 10 degrees incline only to gain more height and distance from the winds. It sailed and curved round the edge of the building passing more than a minute in flight time before disappearing beyond our sight. Delighted was clearly an understatement as the instant gratification from the hours of research that paid off were concealed in our victory smile. This had to be one of the most beautiful day in history.
Since then the legend of the plane which was never found was lost with time. With Noah crusading on in his life, and me in my conquest, those past glories and thrills simply faded away. It was probably by a stroke of luck or maybe even God smiling down on me that this legend was brought back to life for just this once. Not in Singapore but in a little less know school hidden among rice fields and mountains. Initially I had a little problem retriving the blue print of the plane out of my head but because that was a salient memory hidden somewhere, a stimuli was all that was needed to trigger the retrival. In the end, I had 3 conceptual models made, the prototype which was a tragedy, Eagle 1 which made decent flight time and then Eagle 2 which was probably a derivation of the original Legend. To be honest, I cannot actually remember every single detail of the original Legend but Eagle 2 was almost 70% similar less the flaps and missing on the actual dimensions.
Then came the class where I had to tide thru 40 minutes of other misc. games before I proudly unveil my Eagle 2 from an encased box to the class. Of course the kids did not had any "WOW" look on their faces because I had actually made them create their best paper plane prior to showing Eagle 2. Besides that, Eagle 2 resembled like an ordinary paper plane with a lower profile and hidden modifications. By then I had finished my presentation and had gathered the kids on the balcony of the 3 floor. With a decent cold, dry wind blowing, I launched the plane with everyone keeping their eyes peeled on how far Eagle 2 actually went. Yep higher launching grounds did help but ultimately the flawless design of the plane was all that matter. Eagle 2 sailed a ridiculous distance before landing softly. Nothing close to the Legend but this one day of Paper Plane Revival was all that was needed for me to relive those great memories with my buddy, good old crazy times.
At the end of the day, I simply donated the 2 jets to the school as a mark of my paper planes glory history.
End.
Monday, November 10, 2008
MSH
- Never Stop Dreaming -
I have to post this...I knew I have to. As a tribute to who-was-it-who-told-me-about-MSH. Nope the MSH acronym doesn't conceal any identities nor does it relate to the latest games. In fact I simply abbreviated it from Miniature Siberian Husky which is sending me into a state of luminality. Smaller than the usual Husky while sharing everything else in common, this mini version is darn adorable. Redefining my all time favs that alwaya end up in a tie for the top spot between a Golden Retriever and a Husky, this new pup have indeed won hands down.
Darn I have never seen any dog more adorable than this...of course with the exclusion of the usual Japanese ladies going "Ga Ga" over the pug, GOSH, instant insult to the definition of taste. Go Wiki it for more info while I leave you one pic to scream with. And if any one who happens to read this have an ACTUAL PUP, please inform me.
I have to post this...I knew I have to. As a tribute to who-was-it-who-told-me-about-MSH. Nope the MSH acronym doesn't conceal any identities nor does it relate to the latest games. In fact I simply abbreviated it from Miniature Siberian Husky which is sending me into a state of luminality. Smaller than the usual Husky while sharing everything else in common, this mini version is darn adorable. Redefining my all time favs that alwaya end up in a tie for the top spot between a Golden Retriever and a Husky, this new pup have indeed won hands down.
Darn I have never seen any dog more adorable than this...of course with the exclusion of the usual Japanese ladies going "Ga Ga" over the pug, GOSH, instant insult to the definition of taste. Go Wiki it for more info while I leave you one pic to scream with. And if any one who happens to read this have an ACTUAL PUP, please inform me.
Friday, November 7, 2008
I am not alone...
- Never Stop Dreaming -
The truth is out there like in the X files is so true. I have made more foreign friends since I got here than I ever will if I had remained in SG. So you might wonder why would anyone want foreign friends? There may be infinite reasons out there but as far as I am concern, I tend to gain an indepth understanding and also at times clear up stereotypes that had plagued me for centuries. Always in the quest to search for interesting adventures, boredom, stale or stagnant ain't quite my style.
That's not really a bad thing I mean konwing tons of foreingers except that I used to be the only exclusive Singaporean within a vicinity of 100 miles, maybe. All that changed when I met the new English teachers...more from Obama's land as usual, some Canadians, Australians, New Zealanders and an English man. The English man named Tom had a Singaporean friend in Ueda which is like 2 towns away from mine.
Dang! I thought to myself but it ain't all that bad to trade some exclusivity for a fellow Kampung Kid. See when the SGreans get together in a foreign land, the Ah Bengs and Ah Lians come crawling out, the slangs, the jargons, the style...the food, the place, etc. You get the point.
Then comes the part where I got hooked to Facebook where everyone else is so crazy. I am a bitch and I admit it...a shopping whore and when I see people having like 2000 friends in their list, I become jealous at times. Self preservation and realization is something that I am clearly lacking until these phrases began to conceive inside me head.
"It's never about how many friends you have but who you have that matters."
"Numbers are nothing more than a statistic."
"It's never about who you are but what you do that will make a difference."
"It's either you go down in history with the right reasons or for the wrong reasons."
"But some will vanish into history with no reasons."
Everything began to make clear sense after that. So I am indeed looking forward to meeting this new SG dude.
The truth is out there like in the X files is so true. I have made more foreign friends since I got here than I ever will if I had remained in SG. So you might wonder why would anyone want foreign friends? There may be infinite reasons out there but as far as I am concern, I tend to gain an indepth understanding and also at times clear up stereotypes that had plagued me for centuries. Always in the quest to search for interesting adventures, boredom, stale or stagnant ain't quite my style.
That's not really a bad thing I mean konwing tons of foreingers except that I used to be the only exclusive Singaporean within a vicinity of 100 miles, maybe. All that changed when I met the new English teachers...more from Obama's land as usual, some Canadians, Australians, New Zealanders and an English man. The English man named Tom had a Singaporean friend in Ueda which is like 2 towns away from mine.
Dang! I thought to myself but it ain't all that bad to trade some exclusivity for a fellow Kampung Kid. See when the SGreans get together in a foreign land, the Ah Bengs and Ah Lians come crawling out, the slangs, the jargons, the style...the food, the place, etc. You get the point.
Then comes the part where I got hooked to Facebook where everyone else is so crazy. I am a bitch and I admit it...a shopping whore and when I see people having like 2000 friends in their list, I become jealous at times. Self preservation and realization is something that I am clearly lacking until these phrases began to conceive inside me head.
"It's never about how many friends you have but who you have that matters."
"Numbers are nothing more than a statistic."
"It's never about who you are but what you do that will make a difference."
"It's either you go down in history with the right reasons or for the wrong reasons."
"But some will vanish into history with no reasons."
Everything began to make clear sense after that. So I am indeed looking forward to meeting this new SG dude.
Tenderness in the Harshest Environment
- Never Stop Dreaming -
While reading the news this morning about more Obama (which is of course a good thing) and the Bhutan New King, etc. I happened to chance upon a really sweet picture that sent vibes of warmth on this cold Friday morning.
A puppy sleeps under a US soldier’s hat and rifles in Baquba, in Diyala province, northeast of Baghdad
(Goran Tomasevic/Reuters)
While reading the news this morning about more Obama (which is of course a good thing) and the Bhutan New King, etc. I happened to chance upon a really sweet picture that sent vibes of warmth on this cold Friday morning.
A puppy sleeps under a US soldier’s hat and rifles in Baquba, in Diyala province, northeast of Baghdad
(Goran Tomasevic/Reuters)
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Gosh...This is quite exhilarating!
- Never Stop Dreaming -
Going by the raging news of Obama's epical victory, where all other sites would probably provide more information than my humble one, I have another piece of news that would probably lead to cardiac arrests for some especially video game fans.
Square Enix the brain child behind the Final Fantasy franchise is hiring an English editor in Tokyo. The requirements are not all celestial stringent but being adept in Chicago Manual and AP style is a pre-requisite. Besides that candidates submitting their resumes have to pen a 1000 word "creative" adventure in the shoes of a character from a Square Enix game who has been magically teleported to Japan. Doesn't that reminds you of those composition test we took when we were like 14 or something.
Geez talk about a dream job in the wake of the financial turmoil...here's one such opening. Sick sick and downright sick. Why does working in a game company seems like the neverending craze? You tell me...
Going by the raging news of Obama's epical victory, where all other sites would probably provide more information than my humble one, I have another piece of news that would probably lead to cardiac arrests for some especially video game fans.
Square Enix the brain child behind the Final Fantasy franchise is hiring an English editor in Tokyo. The requirements are not all celestial stringent but being adept in Chicago Manual and AP style is a pre-requisite. Besides that candidates submitting their resumes have to pen a 1000 word "creative" adventure in the shoes of a character from a Square Enix game who has been magically teleported to Japan. Doesn't that reminds you of those composition test we took when we were like 14 or something.
Geez talk about a dream job in the wake of the financial turmoil...here's one such opening. Sick sick and downright sick. Why does working in a game company seems like the neverending craze? You tell me...
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Fred Perry Japan
- Never Stop Dreaming -
Despite me trying me very best to save up me hard earned yen, it seems that I have been lured by the evil evil fashionista's world. Nothing I do can prevent the exchange of the yen for an object of desire. But then again I think now would be a really really good time to convert all my yen into SGD.
Ok Fred Perry originated from U.K. but Japan has her very own Fred Perry series that are MADE IN JAPAN. Not only do they look good, the feel good and they are free from defects.
Recently the 2 cleric shirts have captured my attention so much that it's giving me sleepless nights. Until I got one of them that the nightmares did end eventually.
The Black Narrow Collar Cleric Shirt.
The Cleric Shirt
In case you want any of these MADE IN JAPAN Fred Perry's, check out their web store and let me know. Because there are no Fred Perry stores around my vicinity, the mark up will be 15% on the price listed.
Happy Fred Perry-ing
Despite me trying me very best to save up me hard earned yen, it seems that I have been lured by the evil evil fashionista's world. Nothing I do can prevent the exchange of the yen for an object of desire. But then again I think now would be a really really good time to convert all my yen into SGD.
Ok Fred Perry originated from U.K. but Japan has her very own Fred Perry series that are MADE IN JAPAN. Not only do they look good, the feel good and they are free from defects.
Recently the 2 cleric shirts have captured my attention so much that it's giving me sleepless nights. Until I got one of them that the nightmares did end eventually.
The Black Narrow Collar Cleric Shirt.
The Cleric Shirt
In case you want any of these MADE IN JAPAN Fred Perry's, check out their web store and let me know. Because there are no Fred Perry stores around my vicinity, the mark up will be 15% on the price listed.
Happy Fred Perry-ing
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
My Brain Hurts and it ain't Ben Weasel
- Never Stop Dreaming -
Uploading photos into blogger has become a much dreaded affair since I came to know Facebook. Indeed I used to wonder why I have to put myself thru such hassles setting up different account on different sites like Fiendster, Facebook, MeSpace, etc. But all thanks to a very special girl Des, who enlightened me with the marvels of Facebook, I have never been more delighted. Not only is it a sick community space, photos uploading is lightning fast.
60 photos took blogger like 30 minutes while Facebook took less than 10 so you do the math.
Anyway My Brain Hurts is a cool song from Screeching Weasel so do check it out. This post has everything to do with head gear. Yep like I have said the photos of Kangol Furgora Trilby and Bern Baker.
KANGOL FURGORA TRILBY
Alrite I took the hat out and paraded it before I took the photos. So the box is pretty much shredded. Anyway imagined it being magically sealed and dropped off my door by FedEx.
This conspicuous brown envelope with bold letters makes this one hell of an interesting parcel. First for me to see such declaration letters.
Box shots...
More box shots...
Ahhh...the "Box Full of Kangol" surprise. In fact I do like this catchline.
The moment of truth...Ta-Daa! Invoice, product tags and the Angolan Bunny.
Reaching my hands into the box...
"Poof!" it's gone! Notice how much cushion Kangol had packed for the hat to enjoy the journey.
The hat was fitted on a plastic container to retain the shape and encased in a crease free plastic bag. That's truly customer satisfaction...way to go Kangol. (Edit. The bag was creased because I folded it)
There...the perfect pride and joy of a true Angolan Fur Hat by Kangol in all it's glory.
In my humble opinion, this box of Kangol that I got off the Kangol Store was even better than my expectations. Right from the box being delivered in 1 perfect piece without dents, to the crease-free almost as if it was being ironed plastic bag that contain the hat. Kangol had put in incredible effort to deliver the products in pristine condition and I am a truly satisfied customer.
Bern Baker Hard Hat
The Bern Baker box.
Nothing much...box shots
More box shots...
Yeah it's for Men and not boys, ladies, girls, etc
Upclose Helmet report?
Helmet encased in bubble wrap, product tag that reads, "HARD HAT" and not a helmet, the middle one is actually a Bern Logo sticker.
Behind the Hard Hat tag the warning explains that this Hard Hat have not pass any safety standards and is to be worn on one's own risk.
A nice looking and extra large Bern plastic bag containing a tiny instruction booklet and a spare goggle clip.
Helmet in bubble wrap and silica gel satchets.
The helmet without the scratches, cuts and evidence of abuse.
The inner knitted liner actually snaps onto 4 points on the helmet. Not a full covered liner though...just a little on the forehead, around the back of the head, around the ears leaving the top of the head expose.
Back where I have moved the goggle clip on the bottom setting instead of the top setting.
Front view.
Inside the lid.
Upclose, there isn't much of an expose area without protection except for the vents on the top.
The foam protection upclose show serious assembly flaws. Well what can you expect...stuff from China.
The box had Hard Hat splated across it to warn people that Bern sells sub standard caps for extreme sports. This makes Bern a joke for taking protection to such levels. If you are not gonna get your products tested for various safety certifications, don't even release them into the market. The helmet do look good I and for that I give Bern the points. Construction wise is also compromised given that this lid is MADE IN LOUSY CHINA. Disappointed. The up close shots of the foam revealed that this is in fact the EPS foam and not the Brock Foam but there is nothing on the box, product tags or in fact anything to verify this. Eventhough on Bern's site, it is stated that the EPS version of the Baker have passed the necessary standards and can be classified as a helmet. The box says otherwise with Hard Hat scrawled all over it.
All in all this helmet looks great on the outside but the ambiguous safety concerns regarding the type of foam used and the construction flaws put the Bern Baker a unsatisfactory item.
Uploading photos into blogger has become a much dreaded affair since I came to know Facebook. Indeed I used to wonder why I have to put myself thru such hassles setting up different account on different sites like Fiendster, Facebook, MeSpace, etc. But all thanks to a very special girl Des, who enlightened me with the marvels of Facebook, I have never been more delighted. Not only is it a sick community space, photos uploading is lightning fast.
60 photos took blogger like 30 minutes while Facebook took less than 10 so you do the math.
Anyway My Brain Hurts is a cool song from Screeching Weasel so do check it out. This post has everything to do with head gear. Yep like I have said the photos of Kangol Furgora Trilby and Bern Baker.
KANGOL FURGORA TRILBY
Alrite I took the hat out and paraded it before I took the photos. So the box is pretty much shredded. Anyway imagined it being magically sealed and dropped off my door by FedEx.
This conspicuous brown envelope with bold letters makes this one hell of an interesting parcel. First for me to see such declaration letters.
Box shots...
More box shots...
Ahhh...the "Box Full of Kangol" surprise. In fact I do like this catchline.
The moment of truth...Ta-Daa! Invoice, product tags and the Angolan Bunny.
Reaching my hands into the box...
"Poof!" it's gone! Notice how much cushion Kangol had packed for the hat to enjoy the journey.
The hat was fitted on a plastic container to retain the shape and encased in a crease free plastic bag. That's truly customer satisfaction...way to go Kangol. (Edit. The bag was creased because I folded it)
There...the perfect pride and joy of a true Angolan Fur Hat by Kangol in all it's glory.
In my humble opinion, this box of Kangol that I got off the Kangol Store was even better than my expectations. Right from the box being delivered in 1 perfect piece without dents, to the crease-free almost as if it was being ironed plastic bag that contain the hat. Kangol had put in incredible effort to deliver the products in pristine condition and I am a truly satisfied customer.
Bern Baker Hard Hat
The Bern Baker box.
Nothing much...box shots
More box shots...
Yeah it's for Men and not boys, ladies, girls, etc
Upclose Helmet report?
Helmet encased in bubble wrap, product tag that reads, "HARD HAT" and not a helmet, the middle one is actually a Bern Logo sticker.
Behind the Hard Hat tag the warning explains that this Hard Hat have not pass any safety standards and is to be worn on one's own risk.
A nice looking and extra large Bern plastic bag containing a tiny instruction booklet and a spare goggle clip.
Helmet in bubble wrap and silica gel satchets.
The helmet without the scratches, cuts and evidence of abuse.
The inner knitted liner actually snaps onto 4 points on the helmet. Not a full covered liner though...just a little on the forehead, around the back of the head, around the ears leaving the top of the head expose.
Back where I have moved the goggle clip on the bottom setting instead of the top setting.
Front view.
Inside the lid.
Upclose, there isn't much of an expose area without protection except for the vents on the top.
The foam protection upclose show serious assembly flaws. Well what can you expect...stuff from China.
The box had Hard Hat splated across it to warn people that Bern sells sub standard caps for extreme sports. This makes Bern a joke for taking protection to such levels. If you are not gonna get your products tested for various safety certifications, don't even release them into the market. The helmet do look good I and for that I give Bern the points. Construction wise is also compromised given that this lid is MADE IN LOUSY CHINA. Disappointed. The up close shots of the foam revealed that this is in fact the EPS foam and not the Brock Foam but there is nothing on the box, product tags or in fact anything to verify this. Eventhough on Bern's site, it is stated that the EPS version of the Baker have passed the necessary standards and can be classified as a helmet. The box says otherwise with Hard Hat scrawled all over it.
All in all this helmet looks great on the outside but the ambiguous safety concerns regarding the type of foam used and the construction flaws put the Bern Baker a unsatisfactory item.
All Hallow's Eve at Spider's Thread.
- Never Stop Dreaming -
If you are expecting to see drunkard clashes between vampires and werewolves than I am really sorry to disappoint. Nothing too spectacular this halloween. Wasn't really in the festive mood to scare the shits outta little kids...so a simple party crasher I became with no costume watever, I walked right in to Spider's Thread, a darts bar located in Miyota Town in Nagano Prefecture. Literally within a 200 mile radius of where my home base is located. As usual the photographer chose not to be featured in his own works...so here are the thrills and spills of young ladies, old ladies, army men wannabe, afro DJs, and a whole string of denizens from below.
The Bartender affectionately labeled as "Oni Chan" that loosely translate to everyone's elder brother. Has ridiculous long tresses and a hair stylist day job.
Unknown Afro DJ and DJ Mitsu who also bartends at Kuroshishi.
Some random shutter chance of a conspicuous glowing bottle.
More of Afro DJ.
Teddy Mummies before getting dragged out at 2 am, drunk and Merlion-ing.
More random PJs denizens.
Mr Count Batman abomination from Sesame Street.
Hana Chan and her friend.
Normal "undressed" "uncostumed" party crashers.
The party before everyone get wasted.
Hana Chan donning a retard hat which the green implications does not apply to Japanese who doesn't know the Chinese meaning. Bad for guys...
Sailormoon failed transformation turned witches high on pot.
This unknown DJ who dishes out sick tunes that send vibes across the dance floor. Boy he is GOOD and perhaps a representation of his T-shirt slogan, BEST!
DJs and guests chill lounge...
If you are expecting to see drunkard clashes between vampires and werewolves than I am really sorry to disappoint. Nothing too spectacular this halloween. Wasn't really in the festive mood to scare the shits outta little kids...so a simple party crasher I became with no costume watever, I walked right in to Spider's Thread, a darts bar located in Miyota Town in Nagano Prefecture. Literally within a 200 mile radius of where my home base is located. As usual the photographer chose not to be featured in his own works...so here are the thrills and spills of young ladies, old ladies, army men wannabe, afro DJs, and a whole string of denizens from below.
The Bartender affectionately labeled as "Oni Chan" that loosely translate to everyone's elder brother. Has ridiculous long tresses and a hair stylist day job.
Unknown Afro DJ and DJ Mitsu who also bartends at Kuroshishi.
Some random shutter chance of a conspicuous glowing bottle.
More of Afro DJ.
Teddy Mummies before getting dragged out at 2 am, drunk and Merlion-ing.
More random PJs denizens.
Mr Count Batman abomination from Sesame Street.
Hana Chan and her friend.
Normal "undressed" "uncostumed" party crashers.
The party before everyone get wasted.
Hana Chan donning a retard hat which the green implications does not apply to Japanese who doesn't know the Chinese meaning. Bad for guys...
Sailormoon failed transformation turned witches high on pot.
This unknown DJ who dishes out sick tunes that send vibes across the dance floor. Boy he is GOOD and perhaps a representation of his T-shirt slogan, BEST!
DJs and guests chill lounge...
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