Shimano Singapore Open House 2016
Shimano is a brand many anglers swear and live by. Some might even consider it a religion of the sport that is fishing. I've yet to own a Shimano product but would definitely consider the brand if they too would consider my job application I sent in a few months back. I've fiddled with a couple of entry-level Shimano brand reels in the past but have yet to have a feel of their flagship Stella range which some consider to be high up on the fishing reel caste system. Shimano Singapore Open House 2016 provided me with an opportunity to do so and I seized it.
The event started at 10am but I was still sleeping my unemployed butt away at that time. I wobbled my way to the event after lunch and reached at about 1430hrs. A fishing kaki of mine wanted to get the goodie bag which was on sale at the event and I obliged. There was no queue when I was there and I promptly paid for the bag and took a quick peek at where they stored the goodie bags and figured that there was at least another 100 bags left to clear (I heard that the goodie bags used to sell out before noon in previous years though). The goodie bag was priced at 35SGD and included various products including a cap, pliers, a jig, an eging lure (size 3.5 which is a little huge for local eging in my opinion) ,a fish length measuring tape, a pen, the latest Shimano brochure, a Shimano sticker and a reel of fluorocarbon line. Each purchase of the goodie bag also came with a lucky draw coupon which saw a total of 50 prizes (and one mystery prize~ wooooo~) up for grabs.
Shimano had a bunch of products on display and on sale. The area where there had reels for sale saw a steady stream of audience which turned me off slightly but I managed a glance. The Stradic FK was going for 150SGD and the Sustain was going at 250SGD if I'm not mistaken. I can't quite recall the current retail price of said products but if I remember correctly, the Stradic FK would cost around 200SGD usually. There was also a booth selling "beginner combo sets" which included a Cruzar rod and a Alivio reel going at 80SGD. With some effort, I managed to squeeze between the crowd and was able to get my hands on the Stella. I must say it is quite a piece of art but honestly, with that price tag, I would take my chances with a cheaper reel (like how I would like Shimano to take it's chances by granting me an interview LOL). I did also manage to play around with the new Stradic Ci4+ which is a more likely purchase choice for me given my unemployed status and also my preference in colors.
Some day Stella, some day.
I didn't stay long at the events area and proceeded to the other levels of Big Box and was surprised to find AJN rods on sale at the sports section of the mall. The AJN Haiburiddo rod was on sale at 150SGD and boasted Fuji alconite new concept guides. There were terminal tackle on sale too and also this rather large octopus lure which looked suitable for trolling. There were no reels or lines on sale which made the range of products rather awkward.
Big octopus lure
I headed back to the events area after awhile and played the side games they set up to give people who purchased the goodie bags and chance to win more egi lures (I'm pretty sure they're trying to clear this range of products now.). The games looked liked they were meant for children but they were hard as hell to win.
At around 1630, lifts filled with people tanned from fishing started unloading and the whole area was filled with a sea of hopeful individuals. By 5pm, the events hall was a scene similar to an MRT train during rush hour. There was probably around 600+ people on the entire floor. The lucky draw segment was brisk with few moments of hilarity. With odds like this, it made sense that certain individuals would purchase multiple chances for the lucky draw. The top prize was the Stella C3000 but the most notable prize was the mystery prize which was a mountain bicycle which had Shimano parts won by a gentleman standing directly in front of me.
All in all, the event was pretty interesting for me as it was my first time attending such a thing and of course there were aspects of the event which could have been improved on which Shimano probably will probably look into given the number of comments they've received on their Facebook page.
Tight lines and smiley face :D
These are apparently pretty popular
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