one half of good news

ok ok..... here's one half of a piece of news...... for those looking to buy a car in the coming weeks and months, pls HOLD ON...... the Additional Registration Fee will be reduced from 110% of Open Market Value to 100% of OMV from march 08 onwards.......... which means cars will be cheaper...... maybe just slightly cheaper than now.....

in addition, the government will reduce the road tax for vehicles..... 15% less from july 08...... right now i am paying S$864 for 12 months' road tax and in july i shd be looking at S$734........ not too bad a reduction but the savings from one pocket will go into another pocket......... for the government will pay more attention at charging for road usage......

and now for the bad news...... more ERP gantries will be up.... a total of 16 over a few phases........ and each time u go pass one, it's going to hurt more.... trust me, the government will make sure it HURTS so that car owners will keep their cars at home haha

more details at http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/325824/1/.html

papa and son

pic copyright of jaw@horomundi

men and ladies watches are usual............ papa and son watches? have yet to see any so these probably are the first?

haha for fathers and sons..... what is IWC thinking of.......? a new marketing strategy perhaps...?? .... i think most pairs would end up with husbands and wives, men and women........

am not a fan of silver dials ..... i prefer the big pilot in black dial..... :)

manly belts.....

belts are great accessories...... especially good at spicing up your office or casual outfits...... just make sure u match your belt with your shoes ok.....

if you crave after exotic skins, you probably will like the following one in lizard skin...... the buckle is kinda retro in design and is a dunhill signature......... i am not quite a reptile fan but this one is cool..... how far can one go with brown calf leather, right? lizard skin is far more interesting.....

even more exotic from dunhill is the brown bony crocodile belt....... using the tough leather from the back of this fierce predator, the hornback is both playful and adventurous.......... a gold or brass buckle usually looks better with brown leather but yet the industrial-looking buckle does not look out of place at all

if exotic skins are not for you, then consider the next one...... much more versatile, it is reversible and also more suitable for work....... i especially like the palladium-plated buckle.......

a good bag

ladies love bags........ so do men.....

other than the briefcase and haversack, what options do men have.....???

well i like shoulder sling-bags..... and these 2 are pretty good looking in damier canvas...... there are not too many options for damier azur but the naviglio is perfectly sized for work and leisure..... of cos i dun expect ppl to stuff their laptop into this but it is sufficient for all your other stuffs.... it is also available in ebony

if u find the naviglio too big for your liking, then the pochette melville should be perfect......



more options to consider if you look at other ranges i.e. monogram, damier geant canvas etc

help is on the way: magnetism

here's an interesting thread at timezone.....

http://forums.timezone.com/index.php?t=msg&goto=3441785&rid=18872#msg_3441785



in his post, user utc explained how he went about to demagnetise his sinn u2...... to make his task simpler, he purchased a demagnetiser designed for watches, which looks pretty neat huh.......

more info about the products from this page...............

http://www.ofrei.com/page_220.html

reach for the stars......

i dunno what to say about this........



well i can tell it is a watch but....... or is it starfish....?? the materials are sure expensive but good ingredients dun make a watch



forgive me for saying this: one can probably buy a better looking watch at a roadside store.........

i am sorry...... bertolluci

breitling: this one is nice......

it's not easy to find something nice at a reasonable price..... and while breitling dive watches are affordable, they are far from nice most of the times.......

this one is different......... a new release from breitling's on-going search for their heritage, it is an extension of the design first seen on the superocean heritage........



likes:

• sleek, cool and very refreshing is the plain bezel........ no tachometric scale and no numerical markings, it is pure black with simple silver markings.......
• retro-looking chronograph pushers......
• crystal and bezel surfaces are flushed......
• the BIG arrow-shaped hour hand

dislikes:

• hour markers just a little too long for my liking
• on the dial, there is too much text concentrated in one small area........
  
  

TAOC: some observations....

i first used the taoc sbl-13 audio stabilisers as tuning devices, which i placed on top of my preamp, power amps and the hydra 6....... the effect was at best minor ...... and of cos i was a little disappointed........ after experiencing the tite-46pin, i was salivating for more.......

recently, i did a little re-arrangement and placed them under the power amps as isolation feet............ the channel islands audio d-100 power amplifiers are too small to accomodate any bigger feet and the sbl-13 was quite the perfect size for it......

turned everything on and even without any warm-up........ i could hear A DIFFERENCE....... WOWOWWWWWWWWW........ damn damn so this is what the sbl-13 is about?????????? so amazing cos for weeks i was wondering it didnt work as it shd...... now i know, its effect is so much more pronounced when placed under components......

now i could only not HEAR but also FEEL more bass..... quality bass......... the gains in the lower frequencies are now deeper in reach, more extension, more power...... well-defined when it should be and yet has the bloom that i like....

transparency of the soundstage is also up a notch ..... followed by good treble extension and harmonics....... notes start and stop faster too.... hehe

assembling a watch....

this is no lego.....

if only it is as simple as it looks....... of cos we know it's far from simple..

i like such pics..... for it gives us a 3 dimensional insight into how a particular watch could be put together.......

wyler: more pictures

the best looking model, at least to me, is the red gold watch in black dial..... most distinctive is probably the applied hour markers and chronograph dial surrounds.....

one can see the sprung suspension in the screw chamber.... pretty neat huh............. i hope it actually works hehe.......

i do find it a hassle to release the crown lock though........ definitely a 2-finger operation.....

the tourbillon looks even better....... especially the layout of the dial

pics copyright of timezone....

sinn u1000..... finally

finally finally.......... after much anticipation, sinn has released pictures of their new u1000 chronograph......

now i have to tell you i was a little disappointed........... i expected more..... i mean more in the look........ the dial is way too busy..... u can see the hour markers and minute track competiting for attention with the chronograph dials.........

it's not ugly of cos..... but given the way the u1 has given the dive watch a new look, i wanted more......

thickness is stated as 18 mm.......... pretty tall for any watch........ but the massive pushers and big crown somehow match the macho build......

wyler watches....

very recently, wyler geneve, together with cortina and pacific time, hosted a event to launch the latest range of wyler watches in singapore........

titled "time suspended", it was held at the red dot design museum...... the building which was formerly the traffic police HQ at maxwell road......

usually when one enters the event area, one can see display cases draped in black covers...... however this time was quite different, there were no watches no display cases........ only bare display stands......

when it was time to launch the collection, the cylinder display cases and the watches within were revealed....... all along they were suspended high up near the ceiling and accompanied by music, dance and models, they were gradually brought down to earth with a steel cable....

it all started abit late ...... fortunately to help pass the time was great food, especially the teriyaki chicken..... and of cos free flow of champange and wine......

ok let's get to the watches..... and i didnt pay too much attention to the jewelled versions and the tourbillon...... beyond affordable......

the entry level model is the wyler chronograph in steel........ list price about S$14000+....... next closest in price is the titanium at about S$17000+.....

physically the watches are big..... although i feel there is no major breakthrough in the case shape.....

judged from its sides, the watch certainly looks much more interesting........ the chrono pushers are shaped like the pedal of a sportscar..... and this timepiece is also equipped with a crown protector...... even the crown looks like a tire.... haha

as there was insufficient information, i cant tell whether the movement is in-house....... but i suspect not........ to make it interesting and for better shock absorption, they have their proprietary incaflex balance...... and the winding weight with ceramic ball-bearings look pretty good though......

i shall wait to see if sales are good.......... :)

a recent convert....

one of my frens, who previously was a anti-watch person, msg me on msn late one evening.....

he wanted to find out more about seiko 5 watches..... price as well as other info like colours, strap/bracelet etc..... now that made me sit up immediately cos our fren, despite our best attempts to influence him on many occasions, could never be persuaded to wear a watch, let alone buy one.......

he was more likely to cut his hair off than to wear a watch.... haha..... that was how determined he was :P

well.......told him i cant remember but that particular model he was looking for could be around $200++..... he was kinda sceptical cos another fren was pretty sure it was about $600+ before discount.....

so what can we do except to march down to mustafa, THE 24 hr shopping destination for people who cant sleep, to SEE the watch just before midnight ......

unknown to many, mustafa does stock a wide range of seiko 5 watches...... most people are pretty familiar with seiko kinetic watches but i think the 5 are more interesting, especially at such reasonable prices....... they start at below S$100 for a simple model with a less elaborate bracelet.....

not contented with just browsing seiko watches, we also investigated many other options like S$10 digital watches....... tissot, casio G-shock and baby G........

our good fren was torn between a seiko LE honda F1 racing team watch and the seiko 5....... the former is about S$700 while the other is significantly less at S$400+.....

after a short discussion, he decided that he preferred the 5..... but the store did not have the one he wanted....... he wanted a black watch on a kevlar strap......... instead there was a black one on bracelet and a orange one on strap........ so we asked the salesguy, could we swap the strap over to the black one...... oh no, he said, it cant be done............ so too bad......

although he did not end up buying anything that night, the 3 of us had a fun time at mustafa.....

they look so pretty.....

am using local-made equipment support for my system components....... reasonably priced, they are quite ok for the dollars but since they have been with me for more than 10 years (or even more?)...... i was thinking if it is time to upgrade to something better.... and nicer looking of cos.....


although my racks come with isolation spikes, there is no such feature for each shelf.... and this is one key feature i am looking for..... individually spiked shelf and isolated from each other......

for optimal rigidity, a 2 shelf rack is the best choice and 3 is the max i would go....... any taller would be too big a sacrifice..... shake it and u will understand....... just like how tall buildings sway more than shorter ones.....

after my good experience with some TAOC products, i was itching to find out how good their racks could be..... given that their small tweaks are so effective......

so i found what i like..... the AS-2B......... sleek and mysterious in black, the rack looks good enough to stand on its own........ hehe just like gardenia bread, good enough to eat it on its own.... no butter no jam required...... it is a wonderful piece of furniture.....

over-engineered is my first impression when i saw the rack........ massively built with high quality parts, u gotta see it feel it to appreciate what TAOC is about....... no compromise.....

ok here is the bad news.......... they dun come cheap........ hehe.......be prepared to spend close to S$2k for the 3 shelf unit..... and guess what, i need 3 of these......... ouch..... i may have to pass sigh

fortunately there is always a way out........... if the racks cost too much, how about using their isolation boards...??? the thin one may not be too expensive after all..... i hope so...

BIY.... as in buy it yourself....

today's questions:

do you buy underwear for yourself...???

or does your wife or gal buy for you...??

or your mommy?

think about it..... :)

do you have a choice of picking what you like most......?

oh oh... another valentine's

oh oh..... is 2008 special? or is 14th Feb 2008 so special? for manufactures are paying so much attention to this day of universal loveeeeeee....... in a way never seen before

after hublot's intro of bb valentine's, here we have blancpain launching a valentine's day model as well......

however, instead of a fiery theme of red, blancpain has gone for white..... a dial in white MOP and a strap in white alligator leather...... finally topping it off with a diamond encrusted bezel.....

what catches my eyes is the bright reddish heart at 6 o'clock............ as deep as blood, the colour chosen was the jewel a lady needs to set her watch apart......



other than tell time, the watch also has a moonphase complication, a concentric date indicator and day/month indicators to make this a worthy companion for female watch aficionados....

limited to 99 pcs, pls book early to avoid disappointment hehe.....................

inner comfort....

are you a boxer type of guy.......? especially if u like to hang free hehe, boxers are great...... and if yes, then do u opt for cotton or silk....? i kinda prefer cotton cos silky is just too smooth......

or do u prefer briefs....... for more support...... this is the safest choice and most men grew up with briefs i think......

somewhere in between the 2 are boxer/briefs........ longer than briefs but yet tighter fitting than boxers.....

or g-string? ....well i think g-strings are for great shapely butts................. and how about nothing? i mean bare........ as in no underwear.....

for guys who are looking for something fresh..... how about this? JOCKE STRAPS hehe.....

kinda daring huh....... surely would invite more than a few stares in locker rooms.....

bell &...? oops it's a levi's

pic copyright of original owner

like the bell & ross br watches? but does not wanna spend that much?

haha now levi's are giving you a choice............ copy/homage/wannabe/lookalike, depending on how you see it

secret admirer....

i've been a secret admirer of patek philippe nautilus watches....... first designed by gerald genta, it may not have been as popular as the audemars piguet royal oak but is still one of the iconic sport watches of all time.....

at the base of the range is the 5711, a simple 3-hand stainless steel sport watch...... the retail shd be S$30,600 ...... as the date font is large enough to eschew the use of a magnifying lens, the dial is kept clean and basic.... notably, the design for the hour and minute hands are similar to that of the RO and the massive bevelled bezel lends a contemporary touch to this latest iteration...



those searching for a little bit more complications can turn their attention to the 5712...... with a PR indicator and moonphase display, it still is able to look elegant and sporty..... i cant live without a seconds hand and is glad that patek has opted to include this feature.....

some are upset that the 6 and 8 o'clock hours markers are "chopped" off to accomodate the date and moonphase indicator but otherwise, the 5712 is still a very much a "looker"........ good stuff



however, the crown jewel is still the 5980 nautilus chronograph...... my favourite nautilus right now...! i believe it retails for over S$60k but is there a premium charged for this? i think so....

the chrono pushers are beautiful designed and integrated into the watch case..... blink and u might miss them..... hour and minute counters combine to make the dial come alive and i also find the longer hour and minute hands on the 5980 to be more pleasing......



good to dream even if i cant afford one.....

valentine's...... valentine's

it may only january but some have big plans.....

so if you have big plans for february the 14th, why not consider this new release from hublot....... the big bang valentine's day edition in 41 mm presented in a fusion of red gold and red rubber....

the gold bezel, set with diamonds, is destined to light up many a lady's eyes....... while the white dial with red gold hands and hour markers is another nice touch to give the watch a contrasting feel....

not forgetting to make the fusion complete, the crown and chronograph pushers are also topped with red rubber..... from the side, red rubber seems to flow continuously from the strap through the heart of the watch case.....

something to behold for valentine's day but what else should you wear for the rest of the year????

rolex clasps...

here i will try to show you some of the types of clasp for some the rolex watches.... not exhaustive of cos but i think it will still be pretty useful......

for 114270 (shown below), 16570 and 16710..... they come with a oysterlock bracelet...... which features a security flap.....



the 116520 has also a oysterlock bracelet that comes with a comfort link........ the centre portion is polished to match the oyster bracelet and it has a security flap as well......



however the clasp mechanism is very different....... unique to daytona watches only....

for the 11671* , which is the new range of gmt master 2 watches, the locking mechanism is even better....... along with it came a new name, the glidelock ....however, it is still a oysterlock bracelet officially........... the clasp is also beautifully made and works smoothly........ there is also a comfort link for this bracelet.....

as for the 116400 milgauss, it is equipped with an oyster bracelet (similar to the bracelet on the rolex DJ 36 mm).......

there is no security flap but of cos the comfort link is there......

hope you have a better idea now.....

bling....! mighty bling....!!

haha, how do you like this one????

i was rendered speechless for a moment after i saw it..... i mean the picture cos i have no idea how the real watch looks like nor am i interested to find out....

to each his own but i think quite a few people will like it very much but the bracelet model is kinda too much...... the watch looks better on a strap...

even the moon becomes a jewelled satellite haha......

maybe a little modesty is good........... when too much is obviously too much.....

for your info, the movement has to be manually wound so any lucky owner will have so much fun winding the diamond-tipped crown...... one can wind the watch and fondle the diamonds at the same time...... :)

rolex: a view from the back.....

a few days ago, i wrote about a fake rolex gmt master 2 watch....... now it's time to present the genuine stuff......



here you can see the 18k and 750 hallmarks i mentioned ...... the size of the maxi case is also clearly evident....... see how thick the lug ends are.......

a rolex movement has distinctive features....... note the red colour gears...... the stout balance bridge.... the non-ballbearing rotor........ and for the 3186 movement, you can also see the parachrom bleu hairspring.....

if the fakers attempt to copy everything, i think the fake will end up more expensive than a genuine rolex watch......... haha

slow weekend.......

there was no update recently cos have been busy these few days ....... so sorry about that if u came around recently and saw the same old pages......... that is if u enjoy reading what you read ......

was so sleepy after dinner this evening that i went to nap on the couch immediately haha....... i am always surprised how a good meal can make me sleepy..... especially after lunch at work....... a short nap after lunch, if possible, is a god's gift ...... 30 mins of a "quickie" always refreshes and make the afternoon more pleasant......

something in the news recently raised alarm bells in my head....... how can malaysia, the world's leader in palm oil production, run short of cooking oil?

i cant imagine if this happens during the festive period like hari raya, chinese new year....... haha we could have riots if people cant get their cooking oil..........

now they have rationing for this essential item....... pretty shocking right..... maybe it's a good time for us to cut back on the use of cooking oil........ much of what we eat is WAY TOO OILY...... eeks........ let's reduce the amount and also replace it with olive oil............ it's good for your heart ok?

more for the ladies....

firstly for the gals......... or little gals rather....... isnt this cuteeeee???

in pink trim and laces....... to make little gals happy........... or make little gals LV fans in no time....



and then for their mommies......... available in matching colours.......

expensive slippers they may be, but heard they are extremely durable..... for a few hundred dollars they ought to be........ i like the refreshing feeling that pink colour brings along......

rolex series continued: folex!! i.e fake rolex watches

wanna see a fake rolex watch?

pls click on the picture to see all the tell-tale signs clearly......



this picture has been around for quite some time...... in fact after rolex launched their new 116718 18k yellow gold gmt master 2, the fakers also introduced their new product not long after......... haha...... talk about meeting market needs, they are very efficient surely......

so let us go after them feature by feature.....

1. this watch attempts to copy the ceramic bezel............. however, there is no bezel in green for the gmt master 2 .. it comes only in black......... moreover, the numerals on a real gmt 2 are engraved much deeper than the folex..... the font on the bezel is also wrong....

2. observe carefully and you can tell that the gold surround for the hour markers are way too thick.......

3. unfortunately the fakers also got the shape of the crown protectors wrong......... far too sharp on this folex.......

4. for the 116718, rolex introduced the maxi case which is a more muscular and wider watch case...... this folex got it wrong......

5. the centre links should be a shiny polished surface.......

6. model number printed on the green hologram is wrong.......... it shd be 116718 and its position shd be slightly below the centre ....not that much towards the bottom.....

7. the SEL (solid end links) look pretty good but again, there shd not be any code on the bracelet...... for late-model rolex watches, the bracelet code are engraved elsewhere (between the end links).....

8. the oyster fliplock clasp is not correct..... only the submariner/sea dweller come with a oyster fliplock bracelet........

9. absence of 18k and 750 hallmarks on the supposedly 18k yellow gold watch case......

and most importantly.......

10. the movement is totally WRONG WRONG WRONG............. rolex does not use a plastic retaining ring.... the rotor shape and engraving are wrong....... the balance is wrong..... the ball-bearing rotor is wrong............... the gears are all wrong..........