Sunday, July 31, 2016

HALL HACKS


It's that time of the year again where universities are filled with clueless young souls who will after their time in college, either find the meaning of life or dwindle into Alice's rabbit hole. I'm in the latter but having spent the last 4 years on campus accommodation, I've picked up a few 'hacks' to make living the hall life pretty darn comfortable. Sure, alternatively you could search the web and YouTube for a dozen of school propaganda material where specially chosen individuals, of which the selection process is akin to Trump's systematic analysis of his choice of wives, show you how they decorated their rooms with unnecessary yet seemingly attractive ware in an attempt to hide their empty shells of self. 


I do have to add, however, that the things I'm about to share might not necessarily be relevant for your hall or you type of room. Take what you can and alter it according to your needs if it helps. So yes, before you go out to an IKEA and grab a bunch of rugs and that cliche square and short coffee table that will not fit with any of your home's furniture at the end of your stay, allow me to indulge you with my unadulterated unsexualized knowledge (unsexualized, just in case they create a hoohah like that orientation thing). Oh right, I did contemplate on churning out a post on the whole orientation thing but seriously guys, there are worse things on the internet that will screw with you on a degree far greater than the things divulged in the news. In my opinion, its an over-sensationalization of the facts, like my incident at Jurong Point a couple of months back. 
Now let's get back to topic.

First of all, we have to understand what kind of place Jalan Bahar is before determining the way of life. Situated at the far west of Singapore, the place is close to many factories and the compound internally is constantly undergoing expansion works such as new halls and a new sports complex but the free access gym is still as pathetic as a broken condom AHHHHH CRAP, this article is over-sexualized now. This builds a dusty environment throughout the year which means your floor has to be mopped constantly or you'd be walking in soot. This calls for Hack #1.

HACK #1 - HOOKS 
For this first hack of hooks, the variations and make come aplenty, similar to the choice of similarly named commodities found near the central part of Singapore (no prizes for guesses). The main purpose of this hack is to keep your stuff off the floor and also optimizing the vertical surfaces of your rooms for storage. Do keep in mind to use those 3M removable double-sided tape as the Hall Office will enforce a ridiculous fine if any surfaces are damaged.


I've used hooks to hang everything from fishing rods, hair dryers, frying pans to frying pants.

There are also hooks located behind most hall doors so use those too to hang more barang barang.

See how I hanged my laundry bag on the handle?

HACK #2 - Fridge
Another thing you have to understand is that university students who stay in hall start their daily activities at two in the morning. Depending on where your hall is located, you'd have to walk a distance out to get to the nearest sustenance-serving location or you'd have to order in a delivery of soggy fries and burger. Alternatively, you could pair this hack with a frying pan and you could well be on your way to be the Heston Blumenthal of your block/hall.

Steamboat pot in the bottom left corner of the picture which I have in no way used to conduct any steamboat parties because it is prohibited.

Of course, price would be your first concern when getting a fridge. There are mainly 2 common options when getting a fridge, there is the puny bar fridge that would hold at most 2 chinchillas and then there is this machine that would have no problems chilling a full blown-up life-size doll of Tyrion Lannister (inching closer here. *whispers* that's what he said *whispers*). The price difference between the 2 is around 50-80SGD depending on the brands compared but considering that your're paying 60 or 80 SGD a month (I can't recall which), you should really consider getting a larger fridge that you could share with a neighbor if you're tight on cash. Cakes, milk, sausages, tofu, soy sauce, steaks are just a few of the things I've stored in there next to carcasses. 

Personally, I'd recommend the Kuche brand fridge of 97 litres as its the best value for money and the freezer is intense. Do not put anything not to be frozen directly under the freezer compartment or you'd risk them getting frozen solid. Also, the top surface of the fridge could be used to store a few items including a laser printer so please take a second to consider not buying that IKEA table.
HACK #3 - Printer and router
Get yourself a router and save on that mobile data in your room. I was using a crappy old Linksys router which wasn't the best option but it worked when it worked. There were pretty good reviews from my hall mates using the XiaoMi router but I'm sure anything you pick up these days are pretty safe. There are people selling 10 dollar routers on Carousell and I heard those work great too so the options in this category are really varied.

Printers are not an essential item but mine has definitely saved my friends more times than me. While there are printers all over the school and at least one in each hall, the commercial printers are constantly breaking down or out of paper which would definitely keep you shivering in your undies if you have a paper or lab report due the next day. Another thing I find strange is that while university students start their daily activities at 2 in the morning, the printing rooms close around 2 hours before activity time.

If you're getting a printer, get a laser printer with automatic duplex functionality which will save you effort, paper and time. I've been using the DCP-7060D for the past 4 years and its still going strong and the scanner on this baby is a real bonus to have.
Yes, I was a university student who played with Nerf guns.

HACK #4 - Extension Cables

Yep, that's it for this hack. No explanation needed for a device you could plug and then turn it on *wink* .

HACK #5 - Indoor Clothes Rack
Could totally have been an underwear model had I used this pull-up bar for pull-ups instead.

This is by far my greatest innovation yet. You could use a pull-up bar if your room allows but I found that a really long piece of nylon string would do the same. Just tie a string to an anchor point and tie the other end to another point and you're good to go. You could make the system a little smarter by tying a hook at one end for a more convenient setup. With this hack, you can avoid erratic weathers and underwear thefts whilst riding on a quick-dry system. Furthermore, add an amazing softener to your laundry and your room would smell as fresh as your clothes. Do take note to air your room though as this hack might in turn incubate unnecessary dampness.

So yeah, that's pretty much it for this post. Initially, this was just a 'tips to living in hall' post but the whole hacking thing took over and they're not really real hacks but if you think this might help your freshies do share this, otherwise thanks for reading anyway.


Thank you everybody in Hall 10 who has made this journey memorable for me. This probably will not be the last post on hall by me though. There's just too much to share. Oh, and sorry for the click bait.

Tight lines and smiley face :)

Contact me : jhanliau@gmail.com

Hunting Haruans





Had initially went out to my not-so-secret secret location to field test some lures I acquired recently but unfortunately I lost the lure to a snag early in the day. Still had fun with the BK Vibe (which is available on my Carousell store) and landed 2 small haruans on my go-to lure, the Zman curly tails. Hope you enjoy the vid! :)



Rod: Vivid Light Game Rod 4'6"

Reel: Kenji 2000

Line: J-Braid

Lure: Bear King Vibe, Zman Curly Tail 2.5" with TT Jighead 1/4Oz



Tight lines and smiley face :)

Tuesday, July 26, 2016

The Beauty of Fishing





Just a short update on a recent trip back to Jurong Lake Park first. Went to my usual spot earlier this week for some last light action before heading to an event back in school. The water was unusually clear for the lake but water levels seemed awkwardly low too. Managed to land a couple of juveniles that day and it was great fun. It was actually the first time I managed to spot the peacock basses in this part of the lake because water conditions are usually quite bad. Towards the end of the session I was able to do some spot fishing which was definitely a much better experience compared to my usual blind casting.

For the past few weeks, I've been fishing slightly more at my usual haunts and have met quite a number of characters along the way. It's really quite intriguing how a hobby or passion that has a stigma of being boring has allowed me such opportunities to interact with these strangers. We do not exchange names but the amount of insights they share definitely tells more about who they are than their names ever could.

A man in his early forties shouts to me from afar like we have known each other for years as he leads his family to the beach. He tells me about my terrible choice of fishing location and shares with me his preferred spot. Stories of fish he has caught keeps my attention for awhile before he excuses himself to have lunch with his family. It's been years since they last came here as his daughters reminisced the years that prelude. One of them follows him with a small net in hand as he tosses a pancake with his casting net.

Wrinkles and sun-aged skin covered this next one. A different location on a different day. Trips out to sea and working at ports exposed this man of experience to situations I was not familiar with. A man who has stopped fishing for years as age has crept close but yet he labors on as society deems it so. I realized that for all I know, there is much that I still do not know and he has no trouble reminding me of the fact so tactlessly. 

With this next man, our conversation begins with fishing and ends with a reminder of different systems that govern the world . His dog stares blankly into the distance as he asks about the pliers which I had left in the open. Nobody likes being on the wrong side of the law but the inflexibility annoys him as he explains his woes. An avid traveler who has seen more of the world than I have my own country. 

She smiles at me as I sat next to her and she asks about my destination. The law I abide by of catch and release of fish doesn't go too well with her. A wizened old lady who talked about the Japanese occupation and how I am privileged to be in the now. She speaks truth and while I do not like to admit it, I know that there is no better time to live than in the now. I avoid sitting next to her as we board the bus.

"Hello" was all it took for this other lady. She loves her son and she speaks to me of her son's fortunate circumstances and her take on life. A lady who is familiar with bus captains and had no trouble making friends. We were on the last bus and she smiles throughout but her eyes betray her. She is thankful that I am willing to listen as she talks to me about her family and how her son seem to care more about his pet fish than her. I reflect on my own actions and guilt takes over. She alights and stands at the bus stop to wave goodbye to me. We were both smiling but I am sure she sighed right after, just as I did.

A routine check which I was familiar to. Two young men dressed in blue approached me. One of them initiated a conversation akin to a subtle form of interrogation and the other radio'ed in to do a background check. One of them, I can't recall which, tells me about his fishing experience when he was younger. He tells me to sign on.

He wore a bucket hat and strolled confidently as his lady friend puffed away beside him. A Chinese man who was not local. He set up his rod before proceeding in an exchange of saliva. My casts close to his direction got his attention as he approached me. We shared photos of fishes we've caught and he took a few pictures and videos of me which was a little amusing .



Then there was this boy. A boy who stunned me with a statement. A boy probably ten years younger than me and has gone through so much more. A boy who whilst beaten, is still positive about his future and seizing every moment.

It is understandable. I have felt it too before. We all know that feeling where people come up to you and are moderately interested in your activities and occasionally they prod and prod and get on you. My take is that while many a times, they poke to get information, sometimes it turns into a sharing session instead and you never know what others have to share. This is where the beauty of fishing plays its part in giving people opportunities to initiate a conversation. Sometimes people really just need a reason to share.

It's 3am in the morning and I'm not quite sure if any of it above makes any sense or even what point I'm trying to drive at but just hear me out. You see, I'm at some sort of crossroads in my life currently. I am no longer a student and I am not sure if I am ready to adult yet (is anyone ever ready anyway?). The thing is this, I am all of these people I have met and maybe we all are at every point of our life. Some parts of me are the older folks who occasionally look back at the past to put into perspective of where I am now, some part of me is the man with the cigarette-puffing lady, enjoying the now, and maybe some part of me is also that boy who has ended one journey and looking forward to the next. 

Maybe sometimes fishing is more about people and less about the fish.
Maybe sometime if we share a little, we gain more in return.
Maybe in understanding people, we understand ourselves.

Tight lines and smiley face :)


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Sunday, July 24, 2016

Budgetting Bangkok





It's been almost two decades since I've last set foot on the land of a thousand smiles even though I have to certainly admit that I don't look at all close to two decades old. My friends and I went on a short 4 days 3 night trip to Bangkok around a month back which was filled mainly with filling our stomachs. It was also that same trip where I had my first experience getting a bespoke suit tailored. You can read more about it HERE. 

It took me awhile to get to writing this post and I still have no idea what the focus really should be but i'll try to keep the haphazardness to a minimal and fill this post with appropriate visuals since I'm like a graduate now and supposedly possess a apt level or presentation.

Alright, so the first thing my friends got once they touched down in Thailand was to purchase a local pre-paid SIM card at the airport. This proved to be pretty useful as we regularly had to split our group when travelling. 

Sim card -299 baht for 7 days 4g/3g unlimited data with 1.5Gb speed limit + 100baht talk time
**TIP: Use UBER or Grab app to figure out the estimated cost of taxi trips to avoid getting hustled**

Bangkok does have a decent train system network so do take advantage of it if you're not into tiresome negotiations with taxi drivers.


Can't remember which station I took this at but the system is pretty easy to figure out.
Personal purchases

Having successfully suppressed my good looks for so long with the aid of my yellow spectacles (kinda like Kenpachi Zaraki from Bleach), I decided the world was ready to relish in a little more of my beauty. A short distance away from Platinum Mall lies PRATUNAM OPTIC (postal code 10400) where the new eyewear was purchased. The one I got made me 2500baht (around 100 sgd) weaker and I'm pretty sure there are places which carry cheaper ware but I didn't want to spend my whole trip sourcing for spectacles.



Just me draped in full Bangkok-bought clothes and spectacles

Little shopping was done by me but I managed a few simple tees which ranged from 50baht at Pratunam Mall to around 200 baht at Patpong and also a few casual shorts at around 150 baht at Pratunam Market. Honestly, do give Pratunam Market a visit for great deals and then head over to Platinum Mall for a meal if you have to. 
**TIP: Amari Hotel, the place where I made my suit, has one of the most conducive restrooms in the area.** *wink*

Our home for those few nights was Glow Trinity Silom which was tucked in a small alley. The staff and the room were great (despite a rather creepy encounter I had) but the deal could have been sweeter if they had provided toothpaste and toothbrush. Thank goodness there were a bunch of 7-Elevens everywhere where I acquired the essentials for 15baht and 20baht repectively. Do also note to bring a travel adapter for your charging devices.
**TIP: Most hotels carry a few adapters for travelers but you might not be able to get a bunch of them so bring along a multi plug and you can juice up all your devices concurrently.**



Facilities are great at this hotel.

Touristy places
The two main tourist attractions we headed to were the floating market and Wat Pho.

Personally, I fancied the Wat Pho visit as it reflected a sort of rich history of culture of Thailand. The entry fee to the compound is 100Baht that included a free bottle of cold water which was a life saver given the merciless onslaught of the sun. 

The floating market trip on the other hand was rather tactless in its agenda. A member in our group had kindly helped us book a tour to the place for around 29SGD per person and I was rather excited to simply be near a water body (it's the angler blood) but there wasn't much of a tour, just a dude who told us where we're headed to. The boat ride around the rather minute floating market costs 150Baht per person paddle boat for a ride of around 15 minutes(?) and the merchandises sold were mainly aimed at the classic tourists. I was honestly rather amused by the engines used by some of the motorized boats though. They had on modified car engines (with gearbox and all still attached) to spin a propeller and pretty much used the river water in place of coolant - COOL SHIZZ (it's the technician blood). 


Engineering aside, we were then led to another 2 more locations which were included in the floating market package. One of which was aimed at people who keep pets or encourage animal captivity of any sort (yeah yeah, tell me how they're 2 entirely different things) and the other was for people who loved hard wood. My advice, visit Wat Pho twice, there's a sort of serenity and calm there (mainly because there's a small water feature filled with koi there).


FOOD

Boat noodles -12baht 
They're really puny and comes in a variety of flavors. (Location: Victory Monument)


Padthai chicken+egg -50baht
Bought this at Khao San Road


Scorpion small -60baht Meal worms -60baht
Another interesting eat at Khao San Road which were surprisingly very tasty.


Cockles and Squid Eggs(?) - Really liked these


Chinatown TK Seafood - 150baht per dish


There was a peddler selling YouTiao paired with a cup of kaya at Chinatown but I didn't manage to get a shot of it as it was all gone too soon hahaha.

Youtiao kaya - 40baht(?)


Honestly, this Padthai was very well made but I'm no culinary expert to explain how it's come to be the 2nd best Padthai in Thailand(?)



Can someone help decipher this?
2nd best Padthai - 50baht


Definitely one of the best street foods.
Wang Lang market - Grilled Squid - 55baht, Fishcake - 20baht

From Wang Lang market, we took a River Bus which had legitimate river bus stops all along the Chao Phraya river (I have always felt that this river sounds rather offensive). That's also where my group met with the spiciest little chili disguised as a teenage girl. The river bus conductor was fiercer than those Korean Spicy Ramen I so very much enjoy. If Singapore had one of those, we wouldn't need those silly "Nice moves. Move in a little more, can?" stickers in our buses (man, I do hate those ugly cartoon characters).
River bus - ~14baht


The mookata in Thailand is definitely worth the trip. While their selection of meats might not get you excited from the get go, the free flow of coconut flavoured ice cream really makes up for everything.

Mookata - 169baht, food wastage 169 or 209 Baht, 3L of beer 380baht

Chicken Rice - 20baht(?) (location: temporary tentage opposite Big C Supermarket)

Whey to go, 7-Eleven! :)
On-the-go, however, you could always trust 7-Eleven to bring you a few calories. 
7-eleven - Yoghurt Drink 25baht, Meiji (Chocolate Malt flavour) 25baht,Meiji protein(YES PROTEIN LOL) 50baht, Breakfast set toast+drink 35baht, basil pork microwavable meal 25baht

So yeah, that's about it for this post. I didn't really put much effort into the writing as there's really already quite a number of articles on the popular travel destination. Hopefully the price list helps somebody out there, maybe one of those control freaks who plans everything to the most specific of details. I did left out a few other expenditure including transport costs which took up quite a portion of the money I brought but one should be pretty safe with bringing about 300SGD for a 4 day trip. All in all, Bangkok was a charm and if you're not sure how much money to bring for a trip, more is always better.

Till next time, tight lines and smiley face:)

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SUMMARY
Sim card - 299 baht
Suit - 380SGD
Sports shorts - 50baht (minimum 4 pieces)
Casual shorts - 150baht (minimum 4 pieces)
Tees - 50 baht (minimum 6 pieces)
Specs -2500
Tooth brush -20baht
Tooth paste -15baht
Floating market -28.80 transport. 150baht paddle boat.
Wat Pho -100baht with water
Boat noodles -12baht
Padthai chicken egg -50baht
Scorpion small -60baht
Meal worms -60baht
Chinatown tk seafood - 150per dish
Youtiao kaya - 40baht I think
2nd best padthai - 50baht
Wang Lang market - ferry 3baht, grill squid 55baht, fishcake - 20baht
River bus - 14baht
Mookata - 169baht, food wastage 169/209, 3L 380baht
7-eleven - yakult 25, meiji 25, bfast toast+drink35baht, basil pork 25baht, meiji protein 50baht,

Sunday, July 10, 2016

Jurong Lake Park 9 July First Light Last Light




The videos are pretty self explanatory but here's a summary of what went on that day.

Woke up at 5.30am to catch the early bus out to catch first light. When I arrived at Chinese Garden MRT station, it was still pretty dark out and I had initially intended to fish at the white bridge located in between Chinese Garden and Japanese Garden. A voice called out to me about 5 minutes into my journey and the owner of said voice made an inquiry on my purpose of being there (full conversation in video). After a small chat and a long walk, I arrived at the legal area only to find that it had been closed since 1st July. Slightly ticked off by how the day started, I carried on an arduous journey to the Lakeside area to try my luck. Less than 10 minutes into the session and I got my first bite of the day and also my first on the Jetty. It wasn't a biggie but small fish is better than no fish any day. I stayed for about an hour and left as all the walking had taken so much time that the sun was soon up and glaring.



I came back at last light at my usual spot where baiters and dabao kings hang out. They seemed to have had quite a good haul in the afternoon with plastic bags filled with struggling fish. Some of you might condemn their act or condemn my act of not intervening but to each his own. While I am sad that there's less fish for leisure, I am pretty sure the fish concerned would not go extinct any time soon. Last light was pretty good for me with 3 bites even though I only landed a small one. I dropped the rest just off the edge of the water but they were not biggies either. All in all it was a pretty good day for me until I broke my rod whilst trying to remove a huge piece of rubbish i had hooked up. I guess you gain some you lose some hahaha.

Tight lines and smiley face :)

P.S. Do visit my shop via the link above. Stocked up quite a few nice things and trying to keep the price competitive to benefit anglers. :)

SUPER 24 2016


24 crews with 24 dancers each battled it out on a 8 by 8 meter stage on the evening of 10 July 2016 vying to be champions in their own weight class. 4 Judges sat at each side of the square stage scrutinizing their every action and inaction. Months of hard work for that 90 seconds on stage.

Learning from my mistakes at SDD 2016, I arrived early at Suntec and at 1600hrs there was already a small group of enthusiasts in the queue for the free-seating event. My friends and I sat in the queue till 6pm as we watched the organizers (mainly just this one kid) clamp down any queue-cutters. The rest was pretty rudimentary with the usual bag check. However, while the doors were opened, we were led to the convention hall only to wait for quite awhile before being able to head to the seats. This process made queuing early redundant as streams of people hoarded around us to get a head start for the seat race. We managed to get decent seats either way. Before long, the hall filled with people but the body heat of the masses was insufficient to combat the arctic climate of the hall.

The Apex Project

The night started off with a guest performance by 2 gentleman donning the hairstyle of a well-known Singaporean YouTuber. Their performance was filled with complex moves which my hippopotamus profile would deem inappropriate. There was also a performance of the Singapore national anthem by The Apex Project which I thought was rendered pretty well even though I was waiting for Bryan their beatboxer to put a twist to it but was disappointed for good reasons.

After which, the performances started promptly with the secondary school category which saw incredible talent of the youths. Full footages of their performances below.


The open category saw teams made up of veterans and also 2 teams from my alma mater NTU, Major Crew and Major Syndicate.
The crowd were thoroughly entertained by Ragga Fiyah but Havoc! took the championship of the open category with their baseball performance. (sorry, I didn't manage to get The Disciples' performance)


One crew did get my attention with their costumes though. No, it wasn't the kitties from NRA but Eluminix with their futuristic robots outfit which reminded me of NTU Hall 10's Soulmix 2015 HOCC performance. HEH HEH! :)

Robots vs Kitties

Having decided not to bring an extra battery, I was unable to record the other performances but it meant that I could take in the full package first hand and void of the electronic distraction. Do wait for the official videos of the performances!

Dance competitions are always filled with so many surprises and its incredible how the level of dance is always on the rise with new ideas, new combination of techniques and new blood. These things are never easy and I must say all the dancers have delivered this year. Maybe some day I'll find another 23 but till then, i'll tango with temensis. 

Saturday, July 9, 2016

Headlamps Boruit RJ-3000 vs Zoomable Light test



Just a quick headlamp test.
If you're in Singapore, you can purchase either of these headlamps from my Carousell shop.
Buy my shit: https://sg.carousell.com/jhan.liau/

Thursday, July 7, 2016

Bear King Minnow Fishing Lure Color Showcase

Tuesday, July 5, 2016

STOCK LIST (Updated 10th July 2016)



Welcome to my blogshop! Do contact me on Carousell to purchase any of the following items! :)

ABS LIP GRIP - SGD9.50


BEAR KING MINNOW (non-Trulinoya) - SGD6.00



FISHING PLIERS (SMALL) - SGD4.50


FISHING PLIERS (MEDIUM) - SGD6.30


HEADLAMPS
"Zoomable" LED Headlamp CREE XML-T6 - SGD20
Inclusive of :
  • 2 * 18650 Batteries
  • Car charger
  • Normal charger
  • EU plug adapter

Boruit RJ-3000 LED Headlamp - SGD 30
Inclusive of :
  • 2 * 18650 Batteries
  • Car charger
  • Normal charger
  • EU plug adapter



Check out https://sg.carousell.com/jhan.liau/ to puchase and enuire!

Tight lines and smiley face! :)

Monday, July 4, 2016

My first grouper @ D'best Pro-Pond




It's been awhile since I last went fishing and an even longer while since I last celebrated Youth Day. Anyway, I've been real busy off late having had just finished a great trip to Bangkok, working on one of my side projects to bring to you guys a little something and also sending out resumes. Add me up on LinkedIn here LOL

Okay! Enough about me (not really). Today was my second time at D'best Pro-Pond at Pasir Ris and my first time doing a full luring session (I really hate tiring out my master hand. *wink*). Having had received a couple of lures from a dude in Japan, I thought I'd give the lures a go and see how they performed. Personally, I've not seen them used in Singapore and wondered how effective they could be as the concept was pretty Jenius in my honest opinion. However, having spent about an hour with no takers on those lures, I decided to rig up a curly tail I just ordered on Aliexpress not too long ago.

For those of you heading over to the Pro-Pond, do take note that there are some structures in the water near the fish holding nets and you might want to avoid casting too far deep in said areas even though they've proved to be the hot zones for bites. Even after losing a couple of curly tails to those structures, I stayed resilient and continued fishing riskily at the edge of the structures. After a couple of casts, I felt like I had hit another snag but positive vibes ran through me as I managed to tow the weight at the other end of the line slightly up the water column. The feeling was akin to when you hook onto a huge plastic bag filled with water at one of those west side reservoirs. SPLISH SPLASH SPLOSH and happiness took over me as life struggled at the other end. Man was it heavy to pull the beast with my light-ass rod. As color started to surface, I noticed the swimming pattern of the fish was off and had a hunch that something was not proper but I carried on with the drill. Moments after, my kaki landed the grouper and wrecking the net as a result of simple physics. It didn't matter to me as I've finally landed my first ever grouper! :) On inspection, I found that the I've hooked the fish on one of it's fins hence the unusual swimming pattern.


The rest of the day was casting and retrieving and I landed a pretty decent seabass (didn't manage to capture the footage as I had forgotten to switch out to a fresh battery for my cam. sigh~). Another grouper was spotted a couple of times swimming quite close to the surface and not far off from the edges of the pond like an NSF on guard duty but it didn't take any lures presented and was even spooked by my curly tail. All in all, it was a pretty decent day at the Pro-Pond for me even though my kakis didn't manage to land any. There are good days and bad days but any day spent fishing is definitely a great day.

Tight lines and smiley face :)

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P.S. Anybody knows what particular species of grouper this is?

Friday, July 1, 2016

How to buy a suit in Bangkok



"Suits are full of joy. They're the sartorial equivalent of a baby's smile." - Barney Stinson

Honestly, I've always never understood the essence of why people wore suits especially in a tropical country such as Singapore. I've always harbored the notion that suits in general were part of Western culture and they were made for people who lived in places which saw harsh cold climates. Of course I couldn't write an article without baseless information so I wiki'ed the following information (totally credible, wiki approved).

"The word suit derives from the French suite, meaning "following", from some Late Latin derivative form of the Latin verb sequor = "I follow", because the component garments (jacket and trousers and waistcoat) follow each other and have the same cloth and colour and are worn together."

This pretty much simplifies to Suits = Power Rangers fashion sense.

Putting my ignorance and the impracticality of suiting up in Singapore weather aside, I guess the most crucial benefit of wearing a suit is really that it multiplies a person's Badass-quotient depending on how well the suit fits. If you've watched Pulp Fiction, you know it's true. Additionally, having been an ambassador for fashion disasters for years, I know for a fact that suits would definitely be certified legal by even the most self-righteous of fashion police on Orchard Road.

So okay, let's break down the procedures of getting a suit made in Bangkok.

Time Needed
First off, before you rush off to buy a plane ticket to Bangkok, there are a few things you'll have to understand including the general mechanism that is required for a suit to be made. The full procedure starts with choosing of fabrics and taking of measurements. Depending on the package and your inability to decide, this process could take anything from five minutes to about an hour. After paying for your package, taking measurements and choosing of fabrics, and depending on the time of day which you have completed the first stage, a prototype of the garments ordered will be prepared for the test fitting phase which should be ready the next day. The test fitting stage would require about 30 minutes of your time at most and chances are there would be alterations which you would want to make to get the best fit of your suit which would push your collection of the final products to the next day (your order should be done in 12 hours). On the final fitting, you'd just be there to make sure everything is in order and this would be a breeze unless of course, you find a fault in the order which would require the postponement of your collection to another day. So basically, if you give one day for each of the procedure, you'd need a minimum to 3 days to get your suit. Of course, you could give a day of leeway just in case the orders could not be rushed out or if you require more alterations due to the immense amount of mango sticky rice you've consumed during your stay.

tl;dr You need 3 days to get your suit, 4 days if you want to play it safe.


Money Needed
Having never made a bespoke suit before, I was clueless about the price of getting one done. I had initially planned to bring only about 300SGD worth of Thai Baht for my trip as I was passively coaxed into believing that making suits in Thailand was really cheap but never got around to finding out how much suits really cost there (I still have no idea how much suits cost anywhere. LOL). Thankfully though, my mother convinced me to bring more money and I had just about enough money to last the trip after purchasing a suit package.



In total, I brought about 700SGD worth of baht and spent most of it on big items including the suit package and a pair of 100SGD spectacles I made so that I would not get as much attention in public places due to my sexy yellow spectacles. I've attached the price list (as of June 2016) that Alex's Fashion offers currently but I do not promise you that they're the best or that they're the cheapest but with such raving reviews, they're definitely trustworthy to an extent. (and no, I'm not sponsored by them but it'd be great if somebody would sponsor my unemployed butt.)

Where?
Okay this section is slightly tricky as it would influence your decision on where to make a suit in Bangkok. Alex's Fashion was recommended to me by a friend and I myself had not made any prior research when heading down. I would suggest that you do your own research and find your optimum choice but if you're a lazy bum like me, then I guess Alex's Fashion is definitely something you could consider.



Walk down the slope to reach the Amari hotel lobby

Getting to the shop was not difficult. It hides on the 3rd floor of Amari Hotel (take the lift from the hotel lobby) which is about a 6-minute walk from the overly raved about Platinum Mall. There are a few other tailor shops on the same level and you could go from shop to shop asking for a price list if you please.



The whole city of Bangkok is littered with tailor shops and I've not been in any of them but some of them do display prices at their store front which you could take a look if you're staying in the city for say a week or more.

How?
The hardest part about buying a suit in my opinion is choosing of fabrics. Having had gone ahead with the SGD380 package, I had to choose fabrics for 3 shirts which I had trouble with given the array of cloths displayed at the shop. During this process, the personnel at the shop would recommend to you a range of cloths with your choice of color in mind. This did not help me as increasing the number choices just made the margin for error bigger T^T. I suggest if you're planning to make a suit, have an idea of what you want already in mind to expedite the process. After choosing the fabrics, measurements from neck to ankle are taken and you would need to make more choices including how many pockets your pants would have and whether your jacket will be using buttons or cuff links.

It does get easier though, when you return on the second day, all you have to do is try on the prototype of the clothing your ordered and the dudes at the shop will assist you in making alterations so that your order will turn out awesome when you collect it the next day.

On the final collection, you could try on your orders to make sure everything is in order and if there are any other alterations which are deemed necessary to be made, arrangements will be made to see that your order is good.

Why?
This is where Alex's Fashion won me over. There was a fault in the suit my friend ordered and because it was not convenient for us to keep on travelling to Amari Hotel, Alex's Fashion offered to send all our orders to our hotel the following day with the necessary corrections made. I believe that they would send the orders to Singapore if circumstances would see that it be done (don't quote me on this though). And it is this understanding of customers which truly summons my respect for this establishment. Business isn't always about product or price, it is more often than not about people.(You can quote me on this.) It is because of the positive attitude of doing business that has urged me to put the name of Alex's Fashion on my blog (cheyy, as though people actually read this)

Hope this helps somebody, tight lines and happy face :)

Web Links to Alex's Fashion
FACEBOOK      : https://www.facebook.com/AlexsFashion/
WEBSITE          : http://alex-fashions.com/
TRIPADVISOR : https://www.tripadvisor.com.sg/Attraction_Review-g293916-d4558126-Reviews-Alex_s_Fashion_Tailors-Bangkok.html


And here are a few pictures of me modelling with my new suit.


The Look Away

The no-tie and the overworked wrist

The who-stole-my-wallet

The vogue cramp

This one's my favorite by I can't think of an apt caption. Comment below if you can think of one hahaha! :)

Do contact me if for any modelling opportunities.
Female clothes negotiable.

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