It seems only yesterday when we were busy preparing for the New Year and now, we are already on the 15th of January. Time really flies so fast whenever we are doing a lot of things, yet I still have more to accomplish even before the month ends.

I went to the dentist yesterday and I wore the Abraham Lincoln shirt I have thrifted last Friday. It was really funny because some of the people who saw my shirt were sniggering because they suddenly realized that Abraham Lincoln was actually cross-eyed. LOL It also rained a lot yesterday so it was a good call to use a nylon messenger and my favorite pair of brown 8-hole Doc Martens. For the past months, I’ve been using only my Red Wing and black 8-hole DMs that my other boots were left, uhm, desolate in our wooden shoe cabinet. I cleaned and moisturized all of them last Sunday afternoon and vowed to rotate using my shoes more.

For today, it fortunately did not rain and I used my wexford messenger again. However, my love for heavy bags has been slowly dwindling because well, they are heavy. LOL Seriously, nylons and canvases are doing it more for me now than my heavy leather ones.

Before sleeping last night, I took several photos to be used as ID picture. One of the requirements was an ID picture with my complete name on it. I planned to get this taken in UP, from the same stall where I had photocopied my classmate’s book. But as I highly doubt that they have a chalkboard there to write my name on; and usually, getting pictures taken outside entail limited choices as you get one and two shots and pray unto the highest heavens you have a good one. I wore the same royal blue shirt and silk necktie from an October shoot we had in the office because I really love how the color pops in picture. I got a decent shot in the one but I had a little fun with the camera as well.

I have also finally reserved our tickets to watch Les Misérables tomorrow. We will be on halfday leave because I still have several carryover leaves in the office and I have carefully allocated all of them until February. My friend, Ikle, will be back in the Philippines next Monday and we were to go to Baguio City for a three day vacation. However, as I am desperately trying to complete my requirements for a January 31st deadline, we had moved our sojourn to February 2.

*extremely picture-heavy post

For our last day in Seoul, we already have our itinerary in set and it was non-negotiable for us not to go to one of my must-see places. Back in October 2012, I previously expressed my anticipation of visiting Simone Handbag Museum and I could not believe that I finally had the chance to go to the place. It was very uncommon for tourists to include a bag museum to their travel itineraries but I consider it a sin for sort-of bag lovers like myself not to drop by when in Seoul. So from Myeongdong Station, we travelled all the way to Sinsa station in the upscale Gangnam-gu to visit the museum (directions to this place can be found at the end of this post).

Even in a rainy day, we had no problem finding the Bagstage building as it was very remarkable even from a distance — it looked like a handbag with a metallic round handle on the top. There was no mistaking that we have reached the correct place. Simone Handbag Museum is, as the name suggests, a museum dedicated to anything related to purses and handbags. It was a project of Kenny Park of Simone Acc. Collection Ltd., the company responsible for distributing designer handbags such as Marc Jacobs in Seoul. It was opened in 2012, the same year as the 25th year anniversary of the firm.

Upon the building’s entrance, one can immediately see the floor directory. The museum entrance is situated in the third floor, where you can pay the KRW 5,000 (barely US$ 5) admission fee. Two pamphlets were given to us — one containing detailed descriptions of every item in the Modern Gallery (3rd floor) and Historical Gallery (4th floor); while the other was a short one discussing the inspiration behind the curation of the Special Exhibition “Carosello Italiano” (5th floor).

We started in the Modern Gallery, which houses bags from 1900 upto the present day, and most bag lovers will immediately recognize iconic items such as the Prada nylon backpack, the Hermès Birkin and Kelly, the Chanel Cambon Tote, Dolce & Gabbana Miss Sicily and a Gucci Bamboo Top Handle bag, which was even donated by Gucci to the museum.

Aside from these, there were also a lot of interesting items which I have never personally seen before, such a Coach baseball, the Moschino melted chocolate bag and a Céline Vertical Cabas Tote with a mustang print in gold. They also have this quirky Maison Martin Margiela glove handbag in a mannequin clad with a white long goat hair gilet. This literal handbag was, if I’m not mistaken, reinterpreted in the recent Margiela x H&M collaboration. On another mannequin was the bum bag created by Vivienne Westwood for Louis Vuitton in 1996. Also, I forgot to mention that they also have an Alexander McQueen Union Jack clutch on display right in front of the reception area.

But the two pieces in this floor of historical interest were the items previously owned by the American socialite Wallis Simpson a.k.a. the Duchess of Windsor. If you have watched Tom Hooper’s The King Speech or even the Madonna-directed movie W.E., she was the same person for whom King Edward VII had abdicated his throne just to marry her. One of the items on display was this Elsa Schiaparelli belt bag made out of leopard fur. The Duchess was so fond of Schiaparelli that she even wore THE lobster dress that was made in collaboration with Salvador Dali. Another item was a Louis Vuitton vanity case, bearing her title ‘The Duchess of Windsor‘ on one side. It was at the topmost shelf, at the same level where the Birkin and Kelly were located, as if making any attempt to steal them difficult because these items were exceptionally valuable.

Before exiting the 3rd floor, there was also an installation with two mannequins and an extremely old French courier bag.

The Historical Gallery (4th floor) houses handbags that are made earlier than 1900, and as far back as 1500s. The items are arranged in a very dramatic space: wooden cabinets under low-lighting, with a slight hint of, what Mon noticed, the embalming liquid. O_O I don’t have any recollection of that  scent but it creeped me out a bit to hear what it was. But of course, if these bags date back from more than two centuries, then something must be done to preserve them, especially some of the bags were made in delicate and organic materials such as fabric and leather. Coming from the almost-clinical white Modern Gallery, the stark difference of the installation atmosphere seemed superficial if we would compare the drastic size difference of the items between the two galleries.  As the description in the wall iterated: “Until the late 19th century, handbags were not required the multiple objects necessary for a full day“; which explains the size and choice of material used. Some items are even made entirely in metal such as a Boucheron gold purse from 1880s!

On the 5th floor containing “Carosello Italiano“, a horse-cutout bearing the names of the brands featured in the exhibition would greet you upon entering. Now, this is a happy place because I was able to see reinterpretations of some items of the brands I am already familiar with (Gucci and Fendi), as well as artsy pieces like the bags from Moschino. The exhibition was curated by the outstanding Maria Luisa Frisa, an Italian fashion critic and curator, who puts an analogy between the   temporariness and playfulness of a carousel to handbags made by Italian fashion houses.

I was most especially happy to see the Prada Fairy bag to be included here because I remember it as one of the representatives of my inauguration to appreciating bags, when I saw it on Prada S/S 2008, most especially with its ad campaign featuring Sasha Pivovarova her doppelgangers. There were also four Fendi baguettes in varying degree of playfulness, as well as vintage Gucci bags in curious print on canvas I have never personally seen  before, especially the Bamboo Top Handle one. I was not too sure with one of the Dolce & Gabanna Miss Sicily on display, though, because aside from the astrakhan, python or any snakeskin really scares me (Note: I have a phobia of snakes).

The corridors of the 3rd and 4th floor (if I’m not mistaken) also had interesting things on display. One has a series of postcards with women and their handbags, as drawn by Xavier Sager from 1909 to 1912. The other one was a row of intricately embellished and decorated handbag frames and clasps.

So how to reach this place? I made a map and a detailed description of the directions (click to zoom:)

1) From wherever you are in Seoul, just do your best to reach Sinsa station, which was a station away from Apgujeong —meaning you will be crossing the Han River if coming from Downtown Seoul.

2) Take Exit 8 and walk the length of the sidewalk and you will be crossing two streets to your left. Stop when you see the sign with Dosan-daero 13 gil and Garosu-gil (below):

3) Turn left, from where the MISSHA store was located and walk the length of the street, preferably walking on the left sidewalk.

4) Walk the length of the road until you the Bagstage building to your left, which was approximately right across the street from the FREDDY store.

We had an extremely great time in the museum and I was very delighted to have finally seen the exhibit. I looked forward seeing the modern bags, but I had an equally great time looking at the Historical Gallery and marvel the history behind those tiny items. The amount of work done on them and their utilitarian significance largely speaks of the changing roles that women played during different times. Admittedly, it has a smaller collection as compared to the Museum of Handbags and Purses in Amsterdam, but I was impressed with the amount of work done in curating the museum. Again, the difference in the atmosphere done between the 3rd and 4th floor galleries was well-thought-of. We, unfortunately, had no time to visit the Bagstage Multi-Shop and onineonefour because we had to rush to eat lunch before going to Lotte World.

P.S.

It boggles my mind how I still wasn’t able to visit the Shoe Museum in Marikina City — I live in that city! 

Simone Handbag Museum
17 Dosan-Daero 13 Gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, Korea
+82 2 3444 0912
www.simonehandbagmuseum.co.kr 

*See related posts in this “Winter in Seoul 2012” series.

Today is Mon and I’s 4th year and 5th month together and a few minutes after the clock had struck 12, he gave me a piece of paper with a note and a drawing of the Eiffel Tower and some French macarons from Max’s. =D First of all, I did not even know that these are called as such, and I initially thought that there was a mistake with the spelling (i.e. macaroons). The irony of a French major not knowing French food.

We had a plan to meet up with Ikle today because he is going back to China tomorrow until the semester ends in July. As it is still winter there, I decided to just give him one of the trench coats I bought last November online. I was in such a hoarding phase that I bough two black coats, with this one in the smaller side. It fits me snugly, but coats are not supposed to be like. It should have a little room for the clothing to move nicely and coat’s purpose is just for cover. I had thought that he would love it.

So Ikle arrived in Makati at half past 4PM, tugging his suitcase back for China. As he already planned to stay in the house of one of his friends he met in China until his flight tomorrow, he already brought all of his things with him. Over coffee and some pastry, we talked about what lies ahead of us in the coming months, and possible plans when he finally returns in July.

I actually felt sad to see him go again, but his return in July is definitely a shorter wait than the year and a half when he first left. LOL It was so weird to see time fly so fast, as we all felt that he arrived just a week ago rather than three weeks. See you again, Ikle, and don’t forget to eat properly but avoid greasy Chinese food as much as you can!

A few hours later, Mon and I had our late dinner at Tempura Japanese Grill right across Ayala Avenue, from our office building. I was still admittedly full but it was already late and we can’t put off dinner for another hour.

We did not order much but we still had a little difficulty finishing everything off: chiken roulade, mixed tempura, agedashi tofu and kaisen raisu.

We barely finished eating the rice and tempura, and I was already gasping for air. I was really full. I honestly felt bad leaving something on the plate, as my siblings and I grew up being told not to leave even a single morsel. It eventually showed in my face and Mon had to ask me what was the matter. LOL All in all, it was a good day, even if it meant saying goodbye again to my friend for a few months. Happy 4Y5M again Mon! <3

*extremely picture-heavy post

It has been three weeks since I last wrote a post regarding our trip to Seoul, and it did not help that this post concerned two things that made me unenthusiastic: Lotte World and leaving South Korea. From Simone Handbag Museum, we took the traing from Sinsa Station going to Jamsil station, which is connected directly to Lotte World.

We still haven’t eaten our lunch so we had a quick fastfood lunch with Lotteria, where it was difficult to find a seat due to lots of students fooling around. Then, we went directly to buy admission tickets by the entrance, where a lot of people were already queueing for tickets. But since we are foreigners holding discount coupons (the Tourist Information near the fountain above gives them out, in case you lost yours from the airport) we got our tickets at KRW 34,000 instead of KRW 40,000.

Inside, I can’t express how, uhm, overwhelmed I was with the crowd. We tried falling in line for the ship-swinging ride but gave up after 15 minutes. At first, we thought the long line was bearable, but in fact, it was literall winding up until the stairs that I eventually lost heart. Maybe because I still did not have a cup of coffee the whole day, so I thought drinking some would change my mood but it did not. The long lines still dampened my spirit and I was gently cursing under my breath the idea of going to Lotte World on a Friday afternoon. I tried cheering myself up and hid my disappointment from Mon but I’m really that transparent with what I feel. My mouth is saying one thing, but my face is showing otherwise.

Of all the rides inside Lotte World, we only managed to go here. How sad. =/

We also tried our luck outside in the “Magic Island“, but alas, the rainy weather rendered the rides unoperational and we just wasted our time getting a bit rained at. If only getting our pictures taken with that castle could compensate with the whole disappointing experience but it did not. I remember watching a few episodes of a show where the Wonder Girls went on a date with five guys in Lotte World. I was really looking forward to see at least the Magic Island because I still ahd few mental image of that episode but the fantasy just popped like a soap bubble.

I generally don’t like going to theme parks because I hate falling in line for rides that go on for only a couple of minutes. The only reason I’ve been to Disneyland Hong Kong twice was because I have friends who work there and we were fortunate enough to be admitted for free. Heck, I even hate going to Enchanted Kingdom in the Philippines. It did not took me long to admit to myself that the whole Lotte World experience was a big FAIL with a capital ‘F’ and we have wasted KRW 68,000 doing nothing, or not doing anything worthwhile. I’m pretty sure others had a great time in Lotte World, and they might have presumably arrived on a Monday to Thursday. We were just not so lucky. LOL

Then after leaving the underwhelming Lotte World, we dropped by COEX Mall to eat our final dinner in Seoul before heading back to Myeongdong. We were also on the verge of entering COEX Mall Aquarium, but with an almost KRW 20,000 admission fee, it made me think more and regret coming to Lotte World. Ugh. The universe had a curious way of reminding us of the things that we hate to recall. In the end, we did not enter the Aquarium because we were running out of Won and we still have to do a little shopping of souvenir before heading back to the guesthouse.

We generally try to avoid travelling during rush hour. But I have a nagging feeling that my nephew would not forgive me IF I did not take a picture inside anything that has ‘Gangnam’ on it. So, amidst the hullabaloo, we got out of the train in Gangnam station and I was a bit embarassed to have this photo taken. However, getting back inside the train was a different story because people were walking elbow to elbow and  it was my first time to experience something that crowded in a train station. Even the rush hour here in Manila, when I still used to go home at that time could never hold a candle to Seoul’s rush hour.

Back in Myeongdong, we did our last bit of shopping and took our last cofee in Dunkin’ Donuts. Sitting by the window, we had a good view of Myeongdong and the people passing by with their umbrellas out. It was a nice view especially as Lily Cole was just in front of us by The Body Shop. =D Dunkin’ Donuts also had a curious signage by the door. There must be something in the Dunkin Hours that I did not get but I’m still pretty sure it can be summed up as “Open Mon – Sun — 7:00 – 23:00″. At around 9:00 AM, we went back to the Namsan Guesthouse 2 to fix our things, because we had to catch the last AREX train from Seoul station back to Incheon International airport.

With all of our bags packed (which was not easy because of the amount of clothes we brought and the things we have also bought), we left the guesthouse at around 10:30 AM. We had an extremely great time in Namsan Guesthouse 2 and it merits a separate post of its own. Maybe it was because of the rain that the temperature was not that biting cold on our way to Myeongdong station, or perhaps we were carrying a lot that sweating happened so easily. We arrived in Seoul Station and we were running towards the AREX train tracks because we saw other people with their luggages, already sprinting down the escalator. It gave us such a fright because we did not intend to miss the train and take a taxi, which will set us back thousands of KRW more.

The ride back to Incheon International Airport took almost an hour and the airport was already quite quiet with the establishments already closed.  We have already decided to just wait it out and sleep in the airport for the check-in counters to open,  rather than stay in ‘Spa on Air’ or a guesthouse in Incheon City. It was cheaper, more practical and a new experience we dare not try in other airports except in the safest airport in the world. There were other people sleeping in random benches and we began to search for a nice spot to sit and wait and sleep in. =D

After we found a comfortable position near the Jamba Juice kiosk, few meters from the check in counters, we saw Cebu Pacific’s counter with the following flashed on screen:

We also Cebu Pacific’s Cabin Bagga Policy posted near the weighing scale:

I think I have slept from 2:00 AM until 4:30 AM, with enough time to freshen up and fix our things before the counters opened at exactly 5:00 AM. There two lines: one bound for Manila and the other for Kalibo. The line for Kalibo was composed of Korean familiers who, as we inferred, bound for Boracay and it was astounding how many bags/luggages they have packed! It was as if they were not to return within a month or more and clearly trying to avoid the harsh winter.

We still found the time to eat a good breakfast in McDonald’s and everything came full circle because we also ate out first breakfast there on our first day. It was a bittersweet moment because we would be leaving South Korea in an hour. We had the most wonderful time experiencing winter in Seoul, my first winter ever, and it was enormously memorable, with all the mishaps that happened to us. We hope to go back for another season but that winter in Seoul was magical — that’s the most apt word for that.

P.S.

Since I started riding airplanes almost three years ago, I always travel at night and only get to see city lights. But on our way back to Manila, I finally got to chance to travel with daylight and I was so happy with the sky and the clouds. A bit eerie to see how far above we were but I had a great time looking at islands. When we were at the edge of Luzon island, I took pictures of the islands below and had to check in Google maps on what their specific names were, but I was sure they were from the Batanes group of Islands.

*See related posts in this “Winter in Seoul 2012” series.

It was a fine Monday and we can’t be thankful enough of the overcast weather because we had to go to UP Los Baños and submit the requirements for Lot’s dormitory application. After leaving our things and the office and the collared shirt I would be wearing for work, Mon and I went straight to the Taft area to ride a bus going to Los Baños. To our surprise, the JAM Liner terminal there did not have any bus departing for Sta. Cruz, the route passing by College, to UPLB. One of the drivers there told us to go to Green Star’s terminal few meters away, and we had barely missed the bus because it was already in the highway, about to leave.

An hour and a half, we already arrived at our destination. I was really excited to go there again because I haven’t been to UPLB for a very long time. I have extremely fond memories of the place and seeing the familiar environment brought the feeling back. When we were about to disembark, I remember checking the people online on Facebook to see if some of my friends from Elbi were online. Good thing, Russel was available and I messaged her immediately so we can meet up with her. But we first had to go to the University Housing Services to submit the application requirements.

The University Housing Services is located just behind the College of Development Communication, near the Carabao Park just after the university’s entrance. We thought there was a long line of students waiting to be entertained but they were actually queueing for something else. We just entered that door above and was entertained by the lady in charge after finishing a phone call (and from what I’ve heard, I inferred that it was an inquiry in sending the application via mail). If only we were not hoping to secure a good room slot for Lot, we could have just sent her application via mail as well. However, it was a first-come, first-served application and every moment counts. In less than five minutes, then, we were done with our ‘mission’ and we had to do something else.

I called Russel and she was in a library near BioSci, just behind the University Registrar. So we had to walk from the Housing Services and passed by the Humanities building. We also saw a group of people in the Registrar, looking at two sheets of paper containing information about the wait listing process in UPLB.

Then just as we reached the parking area in front of BioSci, I immediately saw Russel waving from a distance and I was so happy to see her. =) She was busy finishing her graduate thesis and was hoping she’d finish it in time, thus graduate this semester as well. Good thing the library was quite lax and did not require us to present our ID. After a few minutes of catching up, we eventually left to walk around the campus because of the impending downpour.

The nearest attraction was the Pegaraw in front of the Main Library and I wanted Mon to have a closer look at the peculiar sculpture.

There were a lot of students walking past and it was difficult to get a good shot with it. We also had to stand behind the sculpture because the sun was shining behind it and we did not want to showcase our silhouette with the Pegaraw. This explains why Mon’s picture below had the bum shown in full detail. LOL

We then scrapped our walking-for-leisure pace because we still had to travel back to Makati. We wasted no time going to the Freedom Park to have a look around; and we also had a great time having our pictures taken, albeit quickly. Just an hour earlier, we were so worried that it might rain but the moment we set foot in the Freedom Park, we realized that we stressed ourselves out for nothing. In true UPLB fashion, the weather was unpredictable.

Mon also wanted to get a good picture of the Men’s Dorm, which we will be showing to his sister. Hopefully, her application to that dorm gets approved, so we can all cross out the accommodation problem out of the list. If that happens, she will be getting an email from the Housing Services and will have a week to confirm her reservation — and we will accompany her back to UPLB. ^_^

We left UPLB at around 4:30 PM but it took us almost 20 minutes to reach Olivarez again, as the traffic was horrendous. Contrary to what I’ve expected, there were also few buses bound for Manila passing by and we had to wait for 15 minutes just to catch one. We rode an HM Transport bus with ‘Cubao’ signboard and we asked the driver if we could get off in Ayala. But to our dismay, they won’t be stopping there so we just opted for the Magallanes stop. We also paid about Php 95 each, more than what we paid from Taft to Los Baños using Green Star liner (i.e. about Php 73 each). But I guess we were still lucky because the bus driver told us an hour and a half after (yes, the flow of traffic from Los Baños to the entrance of SLEX was ridiculous), just as we reached Magallanes, that they would be dropping us off to Ayala instead. Yay! No more MRT!

We then had a good dinner at our favorite place in Glorietta’s Food Court, Kim n’ Chi! We were so hungry because all that we had eaten during the whole trip was two pieces of butternut doughnuts, a can of iced coffee, a pack of Piattos and a liter of bottled water. I initially wanted to suggest eating dinner in Los Baños but we would have definitely arrived much later given the slow travel back. Anyway, I’m still looking forward to going back to UPLB next week in the happy event that the dorm application turns out well!

The last time I was faced with the task of reviewing for an exam, I had shaved my head off and sported a buzz cut. Well, I would have done the same thing but I wanted to have workable hair come April for my graduation and starting from a buzz cut just won’t cut it. On the other hand, I’ve been struggling recently with my hair and the moment I started feeling a bit uncomfortable with it, it only means one thing: a haircut!

For the past three months, I had been getting my haircut from Fix in Sta. Lucia Mall because I had them done on a weekend. On my way to work today, however, I almost did not go to Ménage Salon in Gateway but Mon persuaded me not to postpone my haircut again. I arrived in the salon and good thing that the person from whom I always get my haircut was present. He remarked that I haven’t got my hair cut from him for quite some time. LOL I normally ask him to shave the side and do little with the hair on top because I grow it out. But this time, I asked him to cut them way shorter because I unconsciously pull my hair a lot whenever I review.

After getting a haircut, I rushed to Handyman in Farmers Plaza to buy a leather cleaner and conditioner for my bags and shoes. The last container I had was already used up a month ago and I have been cleaning my things with only a soft rag. My Red Wing boots suffered the most because they looked extremely scuffed and I can no longer put off buying another container of leather-care product. I already tried Turtle’s Leather Cleaner and Conditioner and I was already at the point of buying one, but I took my time to look at other products on the shelf.

And then, my experimental self saw a pair of leather cleaner and conditioner, sold on separate bottles, and hoped that they will work better than the previous one I’ve used. Tanner’s Preserve Leather Condtioning Cream and Leather Cleaner cost almost twice as the other one (Php 399.75 each *gulp*, whilst the the other was Php 499.75), and I’m very eager to try them out. I’ve also read reviews online and saw that they are generally well-received. The catch: they are used more on car seats and there’s a chance that they may not react well with my items. My reasoning was that “leather is leather” but I know that this logic is highly-flawed, given that not all leathers are created equal.

I know that utmost care must be exercised when dealing with “open” leathers, such as suede or bucksin and I won’t be too crazy to ruin them. Nevertheless, I’m hoping this initiative to treat my bags and shoes will not backfire! Let’s see later on how things will turn out as a ruined item is definitely worth posting about. Just kidding.

Summer is officially here and I should probably start buying lots of plain cotton shirts because of the heat. I love my workshift as I get to do things before going to the office but summer is always a tricky thing to deal with. Lately, I just bring another collared top with me in the office to change my usually drenched with sweat shirt because that was the minimum requirement of the dress code.

Anyway, I attached the trick keychain on the wexford messenger and they looked lovely together under the afternoon sunlight.

What I love most in having a constant access to my email is the ability to read curious events happening on my blog even on the go. So yesterday, when I’ve heard the familiar “You’ve got mail!” AOL-tone, I was surprised to see this message in my Inbox, for a comment left on the entry “Wednesday footwear finds“:

Of course, I was taken aback. It never occurred to me that I had a fake pair of Red Wing shoes. The anonymous reader did not leave any e-mail address nor URL for me to get in touch with him/her, so there was no way for me to reach out to him/her. All I had was the IP address from a user located in G/F Centrum II Building in Makati, just near my workplace. (hmmm…) Anyway, I looked into this possibility and I would have appreciated more this piece of information, had the user elaborated on the reasons why. Personally, it is extremely easy to call out and pronounce something as inauthentic, especially under the cloak of anonymity in the internet. Maybe the comment was not left out of malice and the reader was really concerned; and in his haste, he had forgotten to indicate any contact information. But I can’t help but think of other reasons as well. =D

He had a point, though. When I first posted about the shoes in November, I just cross-examined it with the website of Red Wing and zeroed in immediately on the 875s. I did not bother scrutinizing the tag beneath the tongue of the boots and realized that these were 8875s and NOT 875s. But what’s the difference anyway? I did not know about nuances in design until last night (and I will not bother claiming that I know everything but at least I backed it up with my own research), and thanks to the reader, I got a better understanding of the Red Wing 8875s.

Screencap from redwingshoe.co.jp (Japanese site) with the 8875 boots

Red Wing 875 versus Red Wing 8875 – notice the difference in the color of the eyelets

A careful Google search brought me to forums discussing the 8875 Red Wing boots and I found out here that:

“Different model use different eyelets. 875, 1907 & 877 are different where u can find engrave of ‘red wing’ on each dark color eyelet which silver eyelet dont. 8131, 8875, 8165, 8134, 8167, 9111, 8173 and 8179 are made with silver eyelet.”

I also found out that the 8875 is a model exclusively produced in Japan and is more reddish than the yellowish 875. I also cannot find 8875 in Red Wing’s website but when I was redirected to their Japanese site http://www.redwingshoe.co.jp, I found the boots after a simple search. I also had a little difficulty searching for the 8875, but after knowing the Japanese connection, I had more relevant results when using google.co.jp.

Anyway, I’m still open to hear again from this curious reader. And hopefully, the next time he calls me out on something, he would leave some contact information so I can easily get back to him for a better exchange of words.

“Black is beautiful, but too much black is charcoal” — that was the tongue-in-cheek saying I immediately thought of upon receiving the Porter by Yoshida Company bag on the mail yesterday. I already have eight black bags but it did not prevent me from getting this briefcase/messenger bag. I was really happy because the bag was lightweight and both the straps and rolled handles are comfortable on my shoulders. The coated canvas gives off a leathery finish on pictures, but I guess it will hold up really well under the heavy rains.

Anyway, on my way to work today, I dropped by the Handyman store in Farmers Plaza to buy locks and bolts for the apartment we will be renting starting in June. I found the aisle dedicated to these items and I had a great time choosing what should be used to secure our apartment. At first, I was just looking for a traditional door knob but I remember Mon describing an alternative. He was not able to give its exact name but when I saw the ‘deadbolt lock’, I immediately sent him a photo to ask if it was what he had described.  I subsequently bought approximately Php 900-worth of items, which we would be giving to the landlady so that they will be installed during the repainting of the unit.

Speaking of repainting, I wanted to have the unit’s paint changed from yellow to at least off-white, just like what I’ve mentioned in my previous post. The unit is due to be repaired/renovated for occupation this weekend, so I also asked the landlady if she could have it repainted and I will just pay for the extra cost. I wanted off-white because that is the color of our walls in our house, so the color scheme is a piece of home away from home. So during dinner break, Faye accompanied Mon and me to the apartment . We needed to give out the locks to the landlady, and I also had to measure the floor area so we can proceed in deciding what pieces of furniture to purchase/bring. I know that I should have brought a retractable measuring tape, instead of the one made for human/fabric measurements because my hands were a bit dirty as the place was still quite dusty. It was an oddly-shaped studio apartment (well, at least the area excluding the bathroom), so I have drawn a rough sketch on paper of the floor area to facilitate measurement.

When I got there, my immediate decision was to use inches instead of centimeter. I normally use inch-foot when measuring bags and clothing, but I usually resort to centimeter-meter when measuring space or floor area. SO I had no idea why I immediately jumped the gun on inches, when centimeters could have given me a more accurate measurement, especially I needed every single space I could measure. Well, no good crying over spilled milk so I would just have to live with the measurement I have made.

From the sketch, I have generated this floor plan of the unit with approximate measurements of every single side of the polygon. The total floor area is 115.50 ft²! It was not much but I see it as a challenge.  I’m not big in interior decoration as I never had the chance to foray into tinkering whatever it is that we have in our house. But honestly, I see the limited as an opportunity and I was greatly inspired by this “IKEA Small Spaces – Small ideas” video.

I love the idea of maximizing every bit of space available, and having items with multiple functions. What worries me the most is the amount of clothing, shoes and bag I have. I’ve been doing a mental inventory and selection of what items I will be bringing with me; and as much as I have pared down that list, I still could not think of how I will manage to properly fit them in the unit. We will be going to the Makati malls on weekend, and I look forward to seeing possible options for the bed and closet (if we will be getting one). I think our work would be easier because we have the floor plan with us. I just  hope we’ll find a decently-price sofa bed because that is the whole point of moving from Marikina to Makati —to have a decent sleep!

I do not know if it is safe to say that summer has officially ended. For several days, we’ve been getting a lot of rain and wind, that Marcos Highway and that main road in SSS Village got their first flood of the year. With the effects of climate change, I think at least the dry and rainy season all had moved at least a month earlier. It is boots season again (not that I follow it) and I managed to score another one online. =)

I still love my Doc Martens but I’ve been lately using the pair of Red Wing 8875s because the white crepe soles are very sneaker-y and looks very casual. We still have a dress code in the office but that pair is not technically a sneaker so it is still not a restricted footwear. However, as I do not feel confident wearing chestnut boots with black pants, I have been wanting another pair of Red Wing in black. And along came these 2913s.

I’m not that familiar with Red Wing and whenever I see one for sale online, I have second thoughts. Back in March, I got an interesting comment on my blog from a person accusing me that I have a fake 875. Well, thank God for the internet because an extensive search led me to answers, and I did the exact thing for this black pair of boots.

Red Wing 2913 boots from the Red Wing Singapore website

One thing I’ve learned was that certain styles are not available on other locations, such as 8875s being a Japan exclusive. Then 2913s are not available in the US, but they appear in Red Wing Singapore’s website. I also loved the small history about this style, as it was based on boots worn by electric line workers. According to their website, one out of three linemen was killed by accident while working due to faulty shoes. The design first appeared in the 1940′s on their catalogue and the 2913 adapted it. I expect to try on climbing lamp posts in the coming days, granted this pair has the power to prevent me from falling. Just kidding.

One of the first things I have brought inside the apartment was a full-length mirror — something I did not have in our house in Marikina. As we still do not have a closet, all of our clothes are still to be taken out of  our luggages and bags. We also do not have a flat iron, so we just resorted to the old ‘pagpag-and-hagod’ method to sort out wrinkles.

Last Friday, I was shocked to see that an item sent via Registered Mail, which I thought to have been lost in transit to a buyer in Netherlands, suddenly showed up as “Item Delivered” in PhilPost’s online tracking. It has been almost a month since I sent the item and as the online tracking was under maintenance for weeks already, I was left with no choice but to refund the buyer. My mistake because I was too quick to refund her without waiting for Ebay to do so. Maybe I just wanted the whole thing to be over, and I was counting on the buyer’s honesty that she would return my funds back to my PayPal account once she gets the bag. Of course, I was wrong and naïve.

My initial reaction was to dispute the case, but as it was already past the 45-day period to open an appeal, I was left with no other choice but to contact the buyer directly. In my email, I have informed her about the online tracking showing delivery, and if it was okay, she could send my money back OR return my item because I cannot NOT have both the funds and the bag. I gave her 24 hours to reply because we live in different time zones, and maybe she was busy with something. Then when I received her reply, she mentioned that she was preoccupied (for three weeks, huh?), that was why she was unable to give a feedback about the bag. The catch was, she did not like the bag because it was too small, has several scratches and the leather was stiff. Hmmm… I have disclosed all information in the auction description so I did not get why she was just telling me that when I already contacted her. As a buyer myself, my initial reaction would be to immediately contact the seller and inform her my dissatisfaction. So why wait for 20 days to react? I guess somebody wanted a free bag.

The worst thing about her reply was she was short of asking money from me so that she can send my item back. The auction description clearly mentioned that in cases of return, the buyer has to pay for return shipping. It was fair enough, considering that as Ebay and PayPal have a 21-day hold on my received funds, I have taken the shipping fee to Netherlands out of my own pocket. Therefor, it was unjust tht I shell out money just to get my bag back.

She did not bother replying until I gave her an implied warning about her school hearing from me, and discussing in full details about her fraudulent online activities. I managed to contact another seller from Slovenia, who received a negative feedback from her on May 5, 2013. I found it too hard to believe that she was busy to inform me of her dissatisfaction, yet she managed to give that poor seller a negative feedback three days after receiving my bag. I think her school administrator would not be too pleased to hear that they are employing a teacher with questionable morals in their school.

I think she got scared after that stern warning, as I flat out told her that all that hassle was not worth it — all of that for a bag. So in the end, she ended up shouldering the return shipping and eventually sent the item back to me. However, she did not mark the item as a “Returned Merchandise” and I have a feeling I will end up paying custom fees for a returned item. In my return policy, I have specified to send the item with the original packaging, but apparently, this seller was intent in keeping a bag and thought she got away after not hearing from me since May 2. What a devious buyer.

Moral of the story? Do not use Registered Mail because it takes forever. I am now using International Express Mail Service (IEMS) from PhilPost, and even if it was slightly more expensive, the 3-5 working days delivery time would surely be more favorable against impatient overseas buyer. For instance, a 500g parcel sent to US via Registered Mail cost Php 885 (and Php 1,770 once it passes the 500g mark), while a similar weight via IEMS cost me Php 1,409 (and Php 1,853 if more than 500g). PhilPost’s website is also updated with the fee, and they have the rates printed and inside a clear book so they are definitely accurate. (See link: http://philpost.gov.ph/web/international-mail-rates/) Well, the new batch of items I have sent via IEMS should be received by early next week, but my first experience of IEMS years ago was pleasant. I do hope that my funds get released earlier than the expected 21-day holding period because shipping via IEMS was no dime a dozen!

P.S.

Mama, Kuya and Ate Ja visited our apartment today, and I was so happy they thought our unit was fair enough! ^_^

Say hello to a new day! I have brought along almost all shortsleeves polo with me but I don’t remember wearing one since bringing them. As it is almost raining the whole week, the prospect of sweating profusely has significantly reduced. Another colorblind moment, though, as I thought this was a white polo with gray stripes, but apparently, it was pink in some other color. Oh well. I would never know about it not until I commented that Mon and I were both wearing white polos and looked like high school students. I was evidently wrong.

Anyway, I’m definitely anxious but excited over our week-long trip to Mindanao with my colleagues from CFSI. Again, I have NEVER been to Mindanao and the southernmost place I have been to was just Boracay Island. *facepalm* I have never closely looked at our itinerary until today, so I was shocked to see that we will be basically moving around the island of Mindanao: from southeast to northwest! It will be my first time to travel via plane to a local destination, but too bad because it will also be my first travel without Mon. =(I still have to go back to Marikina for the weekend, but most of my things are already in Makati. I already have a trolley with me, but the “feet” has broken down a bit during our last trip to Seoul. It might have probably been thrown inside the plane that time and it was perilously dangling when we were already on our way home. I am thinking of getting an affordable but sturdy luggage this Sunday before leaving, but I still have to check the budget.

As for my expectations, hmmmm, growing up, I had an impression of Mindanao being a place exclusively inhabited by people practicing Islam. That idea was instilled in me specifically in the early 90s when we had neighbors gossiping frantically about the Muslim couple living next doors. I need not elaborate on the details, but I carried those false notions until when I was about to finish high school. I frankly think that it was a misinformation and ‘miseducation’ by the mostly Manila/Luzon-centric sources of information, and I definitely have to thank UP for widening my horizons.

Enough of the rant! I still have to carefully plan my things and prevent myself from overpacking! ^_^

Housemates Dormitel was just a hop, skip and a pirouette away from our Sub-Office in Davao, so it was a surprise that we had to drive that short distance. =P We conducted two interviews with our colleagues, but the most tiring one was the short clips of everyone working in Davao. Rob and I had an idea of splicing several shots of what CFSI means for our colleagues, but I can only imagine how bloody the editing job could be. Anyway, I will definitely be up for it, and I am still thankful that I get to do these things and have a creative outlet on a paying job. =D

I brought two pair of Red Wing boots with me, but I did not have a chance to use the brown 8875s. It was a pity but I guess it would have been severely abused from all the terrain mishaps that has been happening to us. I was trying to get B rolls from every place as I can, with my humble camera and I was hoping that my shaky hand would not make these clips unusable. I know that I should have bought a portable, mini-tripod to make my life easier, but alas, I was too stingy at that inconvenient time. 

We would be driving all afternoon from Davao City to Cotabato City, and we just dropped by SM Lanang to get our fix of rice! We ate in Mang Inasal and I have eaten about three cups! I normally do my best to limit the amount of rice I eat, but food was my only refuge from the tiring (but nevertheless rewarding) trip in Mindanao. There were not a lot of people, maybe because it was a weekday and I had a feeling that it was just a newly-opened mall. But it was not a surprise to see Marianne gave in to her internal struggle of not entering “Cotton On”! LOL The girl went out of the store with a big smile plastered on her face!

It could have been an eventful drive, but I was just to sleepy from being full and I did not also want to get dizzy, the same way I felt I was about to die driving from the winding roads of Davao Oriental. The way going to Cotabato City was relatively paved and straight, but I still felt compelled to have a nap. We arrived around 7:00 PM in Cotabato City, and it was as a stark different from Eastern Mindanao. Frankly, I was a bit concerned, security-wise because I have heard a lot of stories about Central Mindanao. It did not also help that the brief relayed to us pointed out what should and should not be done in the city. However, it took only a couple of hours to forget this feeling of insecurity — I fell in love with Cotabato City. =)

1) Davao City, 2) Nabunturan, Compostela Valley, 3) New Bataan, Compostela Valley, 4) Trento, Agusan del Sur, 5) Cateel, Davao Oriental, 6) Baganga, Davao Oriental, and 7) Cotabato City

Two and a half months since I got discharged from the hospital, I am already used to getting up earlier than my alarm clock to eat breakfast and then take my early morning meds. However, I still haven’t shaken off the habit of pleading for a few minutes more before rolling out of bed. But as […]
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I mentioned two years ago that I have already abandoned a DIY project. I still wasn’t able to find any acid dye here in Metro Manila to refurbish a tessuto robot tote from 2009. However, this unexpectedly turned up and it was whole again! That is exactly what I hate the most with these bags […]
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The post And another one appeared first on BRYOLOGUE.

A Doc Martens post, yay! It has been a while since I remotely wrote something about Doc Martens. I was cheating with Red Wing lately, and I have used my two pairs more than my other DMs. Anyway, I recalled something I have noticed last Sunday on my usual route back to Makati. I normally […]
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