Archive for the ‘Pick-ups’ Category
A Bathing Ape tie collection
Apologies for the sporadic updates on my site! For the past decade, summer has consistently been the busiest time of the year, be it because of research, standardized tests or applications for the next phase of my life. This year is no exception! So updates will be a bit slow until I get over this hump.
Brief post today. A few months ago, I was complaining about the ridiculously difficult to find Mr. Bathing Ape ties. I searched high and low for them in a futile effort since the supply was completely dry. Finally, a reseller in Tokyo somehow managed to get a few in stock. Sometimes persistence does pay off!
Mr. Bathing Ape – jacquard camo tie
Japanese fashion label A Bathing Ape released a new collection in March called Mr. Bathing Ape. Collaborating with classy retailer United Arrows, Mr. Bathing Ape moves off the street into the gentlemanly domain of suits, shirts, ties, and dress shoes. I’ve wanted to buy a couple of these dreamy ties ever since I first saw them. The collection was released in only one store worldwide (Mr. Bathing Ape x United Arrows store in Shibuya, Tokyo). Luckily, I have some friends in Tokyo and asked a few to see if they could help with pick-ups.
Photo by Brandon Shigeta
Deciding on an iPad case
Summer is approaching and, as always seems to be true around this time of year, each day is not long enough to fit in everything I want to do. Or more importantly, everything I need to do. I’m nearing the end of medical school with applications, interviews, and all that hassle looming over my head. I’m hoping to avoid taking a complete hiatus like I did last year since I have tons of posts I want to write. Just need to find the spare time to do it!
This post is pretty simple, especially since I already had all these photos sitting around on my computer. After I bought my mom her iPad, I did quite a bit of research looking into the tons of options available for cases and sleeves. This is a quick look at my thought process. What she ended up using completely surprised me and negated all the work I did. Just shows how futile it is to predict what a woman wants.
By the way, I promise this is the very last iPad-dedicated post you’ll see on my site!
My Mother’s Day gift — iPad
For Mother’s Day this year, my brother and I bought my mom an iPad. Our family doesn’t make a big deal about gift-giving on holidays or birthdays, which I appreciate since I hate having a deadline to think about gift ideas. Instead we will buy gifts at sporadic times during the year whenever something appropriate presents itself. This way there’s no pressure to buy something random for the sole purpose of hitting those deadlines. Probably sounds weird, but it’s a more organic way of doing things and I think more people should adopt this philosophy. Not surprisingly, I don’t like Valentine’s Day.
So this iPad is “technically” for Mother’s Day and my mom’s birthday, even though we bought it in early April, Mother’s Day is today (May 9th) and my mom’s birthday is in early June. For those of you keeping score, I purchased my mom’s iPad before Apple banned me. It was the first iPad I bought actually; I walked into the Apple store on a random day and that’s when I realized they had lots of stock and started offering to do international pick-ups.
This also happens to be the first Apple product I have ever purchased. After getting a chance to play around with an iPad in the store, I realized how seemingly perfect it was for my mom and decided to buy. My parents came to visit recently so I was able to give her the iPad and see what she thought about it. This post is not meant to be a technical review, nor an exhaustive and complete analysis of all the features and functionality. You can track down plenty of reviews for that. Instead, it is a look at two people and if/how iPad is compatible with their lifestyles and computing needs.
How I went from Apple store newbie to lifetime ban in one week
I had planned on reviewing the iPad in my next post, but instead I’ll dedicate this entry to my photo below and an incident that happened today. Review of the iPad coming soon.
(UPDATE: now posted)
As was correctly guessed, those iPads in the photo are not for me. When Apple delayed the international iPad launch by a month, early adopters worldwide started to panic. Since my nearby Apple store initially had plenty of stock, I offered to purchase and ship iPads internationally for members of the NeoGAF gaming forum. I was doing this as a favor, unlike hoarders who were unloading iPads on eBay to cash in on the $150+ markup. Instead, my asking prices were very reasonable, just enough to cover all the tax, international express shipping, and Paypal fees with a little left over for unexpected costs.
So as the pick-up requests came in, I went on multiple visits to the Apple store, buying no more than 2 per day since I had heard there was a limit per person. I found this whole situation pretty funny considering I had never bought an Apple product prior to this madness (the iPod Touch I use at work was given to me by my medical school). But the store recently went completely out of stock. I had one last order to fulfill so an employee helped me place a reservation. A few days passed and yesterday I was sent an email notifying that my reserved iPad had come in. The story begins here…
Apple iPad tease
Today I stopped by my local Apple store and went on a little shopping spree.
Stay tuned this weekend for more info about the photo, along with my impressions / review of the iPad. Believe it or not, this is the first Apple product I have ever purchased. The iPad is a very “wow” device that leaves a strong first impression, but I can already tell that it’s not for me.
What about you? Got iPad?
A Bathing Ape shark clan
I’ve been in love with the A Bathing Ape label ever since my first trip to Japan. Their shark hoodies are my favorite and among Bape’s most desired products. Most were created in very limited quantities, adding to their mystique. Due to their rarity, I’ve been patiently hunting for my favorite sharks over the past few years. I finally tracked down the green Shibuya city camo shark for a reasonable price and have completed my collection!
Top row starting from left: Aoyama; Shibuya; Harajuku; Taipei (all city camo series)
Bottom row starting from left: Black/red exclusive to Bape club members; Salmon PONR shark; Navy blue knit wool shark; standard Bape crewneck
Of course, there’s a few dozen other sharks that have been made, but unless I can get any of them super cheap (not going to happen), my shark collection is essentially complete. Unlike some Bape diehards, who seem to be solely collectors and keep all their goods tucked away in the original plastic bags, I actually like to wear my hoodies out and about. I’m still waiting for the first day when I bump into another shark-wearing fan. Probably won’t happen unless I’m in Tokyo.
In case you were wondering what the shark hoody looks like when worn, here’s a photo from last summer when I visited my brother at Harvard. Putting the Harajuku white camo to good use and blending into the marble! It’s impossible to see through the shark face, so zipping the hoody up all the way is purely just for effect. Couple more photos of the Taipei shark hoody.
