the entry pumps puma archive

i've been struggling with my sabbatical of partying and events and having my social calendar shrinking to the very least. these days, it is common to find me coming home after a hard day's work of meeting clients and follow-ups, ripping off my toe-jammed socks and attempt a paltry effort to hoop them into the laundry basket, collapse into bed with a decent book, and wake up the next morning with eye poo the size of a diamond carat.

so it was without hesitation that i attended puma's archive event that was at scape. for the uninitated, the puma archive range is a cherished collection of styles inspired by 60 years of sports history and re-issued in up to date colourways and materials. it was pretty much the hyped up event it promised to be. there was loud music, a great line-up of entertainment, awesome people soaking up in each others' awesome-ness, drinking awesome free-flow alcohol.

of course, with yours truly swaddled in quasi-work attire and shorn-off crowning glory, don't expect much pictures of me to begin with. photos were taken with my blackberry that had no light mode function, so they're kinda soft focused. apologies!

armed with buddy jem on my left ..

and eric on my right ..

even the ceiling lights were adorned with pumps. tad of a literal touch.

self-proclaimed school player jun playing in puma's mini table-tennis-off:

he didn't make it through the first round.

how to look hot when you're not: refer to above (just kidding!)

a big thanks to gabe who extended the invitation. i'm so gonna scour for my first archive pumps!

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the entry about zara's fall line 2010

look it, peeps! this is the new collection for zara fall/winter 2010.

in this picture, this is some clothing pieces obviously fixated on the younger men who are able to go out wearing so many garments on their bodies: there's drapes on the waist, on the head, on the neck… basically it's a no-brainer for asphyxiation, and sometimes it looks a little like a shop-window mannequin.

it seems the supreme elegance implies the use of ties or bow ties with vests. that is a great thing for those men who like to wear in a formal way even if they attend an informal event.




this time, the vintage aesthetic is represented by a pilot look that reminds us of the first years of the aviation. it includes quilted vests and high boots.



and finally, the urban look includes denim jeans, t-shirts, jackets covered with fur (on the neck), and long variegated jackets made of wool.

and whatever happened to singapore's version of zara? i wonder why, i wonder why.

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the entry a random cognition

if i stocked my booger in a jar, would a jar be 'nuff?

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the entry about a second coming

every family has that one person that keeps the genealogy in check -- and that's my brother. in no less than two years, he has my sister-in-law knocked up twice. if these statistics were extrapolated, i'd be having a dozen nephews and nieces in ten more years!

so, baby niece danielle was celebrated in no less of a big way like her elder brother declan was a year ago. she was deigned to be celebrated in an affair of a "baby shower" during her one-month old of existence.

for the uninitiated, "baby shower" is a singaporean euphemism for something supercilious and unpleasant involving young parents showboating their infant decked in branded baby overalls and cushy strollers, soiled diapers and incessant loud-pitched bawling. anyhows, this particular "baby shower" was held at a tea reception at swissôtel, a reaffirming tribute to illustrate how much parents would pay through their nose to baby-off each other.

she's beautiful, isn't she?

declan with his woo-hoo wavy, superman-esque hairdo

did i forget to mention that this was a christening session for danielle too?

declan wanting to bless his sister too.

she looks pretty precious and all, and i can't wait for her to mumble her first words, which technically should be uncle des, but in the meanwhile, i'm still besotted with declan like a g6.

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the entry about the young and the restless

although young is idiot-adjacent and right smack in the middle of rage-ville, as much as i'd hate to admit it, it does have its advantages. here's why: a couple of my cronies started a weekly badminton ritual of late. in the the first week, it was really challenging. my legs buckled from lunging too far out and i was practically running the court panting. this never occurred to me a couple years back!

i am guessing age is really catching up. of course, aging doesn't quite rank up there with romeo & juliet on the tragedy scale, empirically speaking, but those of you dudes who have gone through this know how excruciatingly infuriating it is.

so, do you think i made it through the games without falling down? of course i didn't. my flailing arms were inhibited by chronic inertia, and i lost my balance as i stretched a tad much for the shuttlecocks. and as i struggled myself upright, brushed the dirt off my ass, and floundered onwards, i could make out the sniggers and grimacing countenance of my badminton partner. epic failure!

but of course, if any future parties wants know if i'd be keen in future shuttlecock games, the answer is undeniably hell yeah! badminton anyone?

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the entry baring scalp

follicle exodus! all kinds of bald pate-ness.

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the entry of a holiday well deserved

at the whim of a fancy, i booked a flight to tokyo over the weekend. i'd just lumbered back home after a terribly tiring and stressing day at work, and decided to join the passport control queue of pot-bellied passengers and anxious first-time travelers for a much deserved break. yokoso japan!

all packed for a japanese ramen romp.

here's a couple of tips when traveling though:

1. steer clear of bassinet-laden cabin areas. i'm not big on crybabies, and the infants really do a great job of tearing up on the crying front that anyone in their vicinity trying to sleep would be deprived of it. after that, you have this enormous amount of expletives in your head that you want to shout out but you can't. social manners.

2. wear thick mitts and overalls for delta airlines flights. it's either the tragically thin blankets or the copious amounts of air-conditioning. i was getting cabin shivers throughout the flight.

3. eschew pre-dawn flights. you wouldn't want to drag your tired ass up the plane at four in the morning, resplendent with eye booger and a heavy dose of halitosis.

anyhows, i slept as much possible through the flight, despite the cacophony of crying babies, so that i could feast like a pig when i got there. after a while's wait through the necessary customs and carousel pickup for the luggage, an hour and a half's trip on the dizzying bus to the city area, and another twenty minute's cab ride to my holiday crony jun's abode, i was almost feeling faint. i almost yielded to any food in my hunger-addled state when after dropping our luggages at his place, but no, my friend jun had to get his phone card fixed and that meant another hour of waiting. thanks for the love bud.

the incessantly talkative jun, my travelling buddy

jun's humble abode, which was featured in some interior design's magazine.

a look at the myriad offerings of mobile phones

our first ramen stakeout: guang mian ramen

kyushu jangara: he best of the lot!

during my four days there, i was on a ramen pilgrimage and attacked all the various flavors and stalls. nothing beats the real mccoy back in its own homie-ground; the ramen was off the charts delicious. honors goes to jun, who went out of his way ushering me to the more popular ramen ghetto spots.

day 2.

home to famed football superstar nakata

the intricate web of railway stations. it didn't help that everything was in japanese symbols.

tokyo bridge by day.

tokyo bridge by night.

ramen bowl no. 4 @ kujukyu.

and on to number 6.

a little break from ramen intoxication:

a breather of hot chocolate, courtesy of bvlgari

tokyo is an eccentric's haven. i saw a weird contraption that was to contain a banana, an old lady talking into her gunnysack of a bag, tons of ass-flashing folksies in their ultra short kimonos. i tried to make a camera movie but my iphone ran flat before i could do so. thankfully, i managed to snap some shots (shorts).

a banana keeper?!

condoms for your finger.

mega-sized cloth peg. who even needs that?

this lady was seen talking surreptitiously into her bag. apparently, talking on the phone in public transport is met with disdain, hence the awkwardly comical disposition.

and we saw some butts.

ramen no. 7 at azabu's

and finally, one for the road. my final ramen at the airport.

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the entry of two pence perth

it would have been presumptuous of me to liken perth to that of a sleepy town without having experiencing it first-hand, but after this trip down under with my family, i can tentatively place my bets on that. when i got back to singapore, i was almost positively beaming. never again, perth. goodbye!

i spent the mornings there waking up groggy-eyed, halitosis et al, and then lapsed into a unhurried traipse around the city area and meals in the afternoon with nary a thought in mind, only to slumber back to our service apartment at five in the evening. could anyone ever possibly imagine life like that? apparently, if one were caught loitering around the city area after the unspoken curfew, they'd be accorded the titles of homeless-shelter-seekers or hooligans-on-the-run.

ugh! the only indulgence i enjoyed was the sampling of wines at vineyards en route our one-day farmstay and splurging on nut-rich nougat. during the night, my brother and i boozed, digged into an abyss-esque packet of nougat, and fattened ourselves with an bounty of instant noodles.

did i mention that i was driving an over-sized vehicle that was twice the size of any car i had driven, and that i was doing over 100 kmph along the bends? it was an exhilarating ride and a refreshing welcome to an otherwise sedate trip, but was only met with disapprovals by my dad, who thought i was nonetheless a crappy driver.

our respite for the trip, mantra on hay.

our portly receptionist,

who's got the look of someone surfing porn when no one's around.

shopping at the local walking street was a stupendous bore-fest. i ended up feasting my eyes on trinkets of eating knick-knacks, playing with my awesomely cute baby nephew declan, and resigned to watching street performances, which weren't that many to begin with. the day ended as quickly as it could have begun. perth: 0, singapore: 1.

my adorable nephew

more pix of the little rascal, with my brother, his dad.

dad takes a little pic with grandson.

my brother, sis-in-law and me. any signs of resemblance, people?

dad and mom, still at it even after 35 years.

a stiff coffee to perk up a boring day.

this street peddler sells her impressions of people for charity.

and she hails all the way from japan.

the van that i will be in charge of driving my family around.

the second day saw us meandering across the rural areas to a region called bindoon, that was approximately a forty-five minutes drive away from city. along the way, i witnessed lush greenery, rows upon rows of vineyards that stretched on forever, and finally pit-stopped at a windmill farm for a day's stay. it was great. the day was beautiful, and the scenery, breathtaking. perth: 1, singapore: 1.

a word of warning though: eschew the path that marks the wood-cordoned farm housing for bulls and cows alike. the air around is thick with overwhelming dung scent. steer clear or bring cologne. you've been warned.

yours truly piloting the journey to bindoon

spotted: a traveller decked in hazmat outfit on his scooty. majorly weird!

the cottage-esque hovel where we will spend the night.

seems familiar, folks? ...

... a fellow farm-stayer who bears an ominous resemblance

to the hazmat rider we saw on the roads.

a family portrait atop the tractor.

cheers, toast to an orange farm.

my sis-in-law tucked in between the shrubs attempting the sexy look.

a pet kangaroo by the name of whistle

braving it up for the camera, despite the pungency.

and what it really smells like

as we made our way back on the third and last day to the city, we made several stops along the way. our agenda in mind was the varying vineyards, and we ended up slightly inebriated by the nth stop. my dad, brother and i were light-headed and we case-ordered half a dozen bottles of sparkling chardonnay from the nicer folks at edgecombe brothers vineyard.

we toured around an area called fremantle, affectionately shortened to freo and tucked into the best fish & chips at cicerello's, ever. like the operating hours of shops in perth though, the fun was short-lived and we packed our asses back onto our mini bus by the stroke of five. perth: 1, singapore: 2.

final verdict: wine tasting and road trips, aye perth. for anything and everything else, there's the world to see.

one of the wineries, a disappointing and bland one though.

a hummer? checked. a limo? checked. a hummalimo? never heard of? see above.

our table of five festooned with fish & chips, squids & mussels, and garlic prawns.

ever paid for chilli? this tiny tub goes for aud$ 1.70.

treasure your free condiments folks!

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