A present from my father

My father can be quite loving.  He's not overly demonstrative or lenient but he is devoted to his children and he's there for us whenever we need him.  Like many fathers, he also does his best to provide for us and think up solutions to our problems.

One day, when he was driving me to work, I talked with him about my lenses and how I was worried that they might develop a nasty case of fungus.  Four lenses is plenty and even if I rotate them at the rate of one a week (which I don't; some, like my long lens, don't get called into action very often), each lens still spends three weeks languishing humidly on the shelf.  I was thinking of investing in a dry cabinet and mentioned it to my father, a former photography enthusiast, to get his opinion.

"It would be cheaper to get a dry box with silica gel," he pointed out, "and bake it in the oven like I used to do."

We reached my workplace and as I exited the car, I said that I would think about it.

When I got home that night, I found a giant bottle of silica gel on my bed, along with this:

My very own dry box with a built-in hygrometer and a padded bottom from (where else but) Mustafa!  Apparently after I had left, my father made a split second decision and drove to Mustafa to talk with the counter staff about their dry boxes.  When he saw that they were selling this one for $29, he bought it on the spot.

This is one of the best presents my father has ever gotten me.  It slides nicely under my bed, but all my lenses fit into it, even leaving room for a couple more.  The silica gel (which feels like little plastic beads) goes into the little white tray on the top and stays sufficiently active for about a week and a half.

Once the hygrometer reading climbs to about 60 per cent humidity, I take the gel out, put it into a tray made of moulded aluminium foil and bake it.  I went online to make sure that I was doing it correctly and basically, it's a pretty easy process.

You put the silica gel in a foil tray and pop it into a pre-heated oven at about 180 degrees celcius.  Some websites say you can heat it at much higher temperatures but I've also heard that if it gets too hot, the gel loses some efficacy.  So 180 it is.  After it's baked for about an hour, I turn the oven off but leave it in for another hour to cool and to properly dry out.  If you have colour indicator silica gel, you'll have no problem knowing when it's done.  In fact, it's really cool.

Saturated silica gel is this gnarly pinkish-purple colour.

If you've baked it enough, it is deeply, royally, unequivocally blue.  I actually find myself looking forward to my silica gel baking every week just because I can watch the beautiful colours turn.

My father might not spoil us financially or with his words and standards, but he can't stand to see anyone of us hurting or losing sleep over a problem.  Whenever it is in his power to step in and help to solve it, he does everything he can.  In some ways, taking this supportive position is more reassuring than anything else he could do.

I am so, so grateful for my amazing dry box and I have to say, my dad made a bang up decision.

My Filofax Personal Domino

So about a month ago, I did something I never thought I would do.  I caved and bought a filofax.  I'd been reading about them and seeing them in movies since I was a kid and was very curious about this sophisticated adult planner.  I remember going to a bookshop one day to look at the binders and thinking, nah, not for me.  They were lined up in a glass case in the corner and I thought they were fairly boring and had nothing on the brightly coloured Paperchase organisers we used to buy from Borders for school.  

Recently though, my cheapo spiral bound organiser hasn't been working too well.  Apart from it being a little bit too big, it didn't have enough pages for miscellaneous notes and things that I needed to write down at meetings or when sudden inspiration struck.  It was annoying to have to carry random notebooks for random purposes.  They made my bag heavy and if I didn't bring the notebooks out, things didn't get written down.  

I thought about getting a planner that would be completely customisable and where I could put in as many pages as I wanted for as many sections as I wanted and hey presto, the filofax presented itself as the perfect solution.  

Shortly after I bought my filo at Kinokuniya, I realised that there is a huge community in blogs and on youtube dedicated to the planner.  (If you're interested, start at the awesomeness that is Philofaxy.) It's a lot of fun and even a little bit crazy - people make inserts and printouts that you can add to the planner, there are videos showing massive filofax collections (I can't imagine keeping track of more than one) and even vlogs and blogs explaining how to decorate and personalise your Filofax.  

While I'm not at the stage of naming my filofax as some enthusiasts are wont to do, I have to tell you, I flippin' love the thing.  I use it almost obsessively and while it was pretty pricey, it was worth every penny.  

I bought the Domino in the Personal size in a really cute colour that I think is called Violet (online there are at least three different colour names that look exactly this shade to me).  A5 is just too big to carry around for me, and the Domino is not real leather unlike some models that can go into a couple hundred dollars (!) so it was a lot more affordable.  

As to the setup, I removed all the miscellaneous sheets of paper and random alphabetised tabs to try and keep things as sleek as possible.  In their place, I bought extra lined paper and the filofax balance sheet insert for my finances.

  

The left hand side of the binder has card slots so I've put in cards that I'm not generally whipping out every day like my IC or debit card.

The first page of the whole organiser is a plastic flyleaf which I dig because I can put post its on it.  Behind it, I have a plain sheet with my very basic colour coded system and random washi tape and sticker decoration.

"Sucessful organising is based on the recognition that people get organised because they, too, have a vision."

Beyond the first couple of pages and my personal information, I have a bunch of random things I put in with a hole punch - a quote from Buffy the Vampire Slayer (best vampire franchise ever) on some scrapbooking paper and behind it, a mugshot that my brother gave me as a joke.  (He's going to see this and plotz because he doesn't know I've displayed it yet.)  The next picture is a shot of Shirin, Edie and Trux from when we were in San Francisco at the California Academy of Sciences.

The next thing I have is a fold out year calendar from Popular.  One great thing about this enterprise is that Popular has organisers in the same size and so there is a wide variety of refills that can just be transposed.

Finally, we get to the bit I use most - the diary pages.  

This is a sample of what the pages look like before I actually start to use them.  I divide each day into two and draw lines on one side.  The lined bits are for my to-do list and the blank bits are for appointments, events and a log of my exercise and diet each day.

I love decorating the pages with washi tape and stickers; my mother says I'm mentally eight years old.

Amanda bought me the pastel alphabet stickers.  The black "Today" ruler came with the filo.  It's a detachable one that I just keep stuck in the week that I'm on so that I can find my place easily.

Here are some other random pages I pimped.  

I love the washi tape doodle with the faces on it; it cracks me up that they are looking at each other.  Also a big fan of lizards, so the plump, psychedelic lizard stickers really get me.

"Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination." -- Oscar Wilde

 After the diary, I have lined notepaper and tabs for different sections like work, so I can take notes during meetings, personal, for whatever random jotting down I need to do, and finances.  This system really works for me because now I just have everything in one binder and if I want to rip out or add more pages, I can.  Packs of lined refills cost something like $4 and I still have lots of extra sheets sitting around.

The last thing before the end is a laminated fold out world map with capitals and major states or cities which is going to come in really handy for class.  On the flip side, there are time zones.

Finally, there are clear plastic pockets in the back for stickers and page markers.  The filofax came with one clear pocket (I think most filos come with one) and I bought another.  This is another invention that I love.  Some people buy pockets with a sliding zip so that they can put in pens and stationery.  There are so many uses for them - receipts, post-its, photos, notes people give you, even the really skinny rolls of washi tape fit in there.

The backing of the Domino comes with one long pocket and I put important receipts in there till they can be cleared out or till I can file them elsewhere. 

That's pretty much it for my filofax.  I try to keep the setup clean, simple and intuitive (for me) and as I've said, I'm enjoying it and getting a great deal of use out of it.  I hope to be able to use it for a long time to come.

Oh, and of course, the proof of my undying devotion...

Journalling, Part 2

I talked a little bit about journalling in a previous stationery post here.  Yesterday I was talking to my friend, JM, about it and she requested another post about journal writing (my first proper request apart from Amanda saying things like, "Post this tonight, ah!").  Specifically, we discussed writer's block, keeping up the habit and what goes into my journal.

Well, I'm no expert but as always, I can talk about what works for me and what keeps me writing.  So, JM, this one's for you.  

First off, my journal.

I started keeping a journal when I was 12 years old and at first it was nothing more than a way to keep up with my best friend.  Her journal was a lot more detailed than mine, which was filled with scraps and nonsense.  When I got to about 14 though, I hit an angsty, lonely teenage stage.  I was the most uncool kid in my class and had very few friends and my journal became a place for me to work a lot of the loneliness out.  I wrote about things like dealing with overprotective parents who wouldn't let me out after school hours and feeling like I'd never belong.

The journals became more introspective and I also used them as a chance to stretch and test my ideas about good writing.  Until I was about 18, I would still share bits of what I wrote with friends and they would occasionally even scribble in the margins or draw pictures on the last page.  In some ways, it was a stupid adolescent cry for attention.  

Now though, they are extremely private.  Some time this year, I finally got over the roadblock of feeling like someone was reading over my shoulder all the time and started writing exactly what I felt and thought.  It's really, really liberating and I'll try, as best I can, to explain how I do this.

Commitment

I've said before that I don't find it hard to keep coming back to my journal because I don't put any time pressure on myself.  I've gone three months before without writing and come back to it quite easily because knowing that there is no pressure means that I can start again when it feels enjoyable and comfortable for me.

I do understand though, the impetus to keep writing, to cover ground constantly and fluently and I think it's a good one, so here's what works for me:

1)  Make the time and place

This is an absolute must.  Trust me when I say that if you won't make the time and place, then you'll never journal.  Journalling is not something that happens on the fly for most of us.  It's the thing that we'll put on the backburner when there is too much work to bring home or sleep beckons, so making time is the only way that it will happen for many people.

For me, the best time is in the morning before work, but of course it's different for everybody.  I just think that sleep, family time and leisure aren't things I'm willing to procrastinate on, but dawdle over a coffee for 15 minutes before I have to clock in?  Sure.  Instead of playing candy crush or checking Facebook, I just shut everything out and scribble a page or two.  Making time when you're most likely to be open to making an effort (i.e. not right before bed when you're exhausted) can really help.

Having a specific journalling location helps as well.  Mine is a certain 24 hour Starbucks and the moment I walk in, I know I'm in the right frame of mind.  What else can I do besides journal and play with my phone once I arrive anyway?

After all, the best part of having a pre-planned time and, say, arriving at a destination 15 minutes early, means that you won't procrastinate and think "well, I'll do it tomorrow" because you're already there.  

2)  Examine your motivation

I find that if I think about why I keep a journal, I am driven more urgently to do so.  Whenever people tell me they don't have the discipline to keep one, I imagine that maybe they haven't quite decided why yet, or don't feel that they would miss much if they didn't.

For one, you will have a fail-safe record of everything.  Embarrassing as it is, I can look up exactly when I had my first kiss, when I got my braces removed, the biggest fight my best friend and I have had, the things that happened when my grandmother died.  

I was talking to my good friend, Mel Sim, the other day and we were talking about memory and how it fails as one gets older.  She told me that she would dither over throwing things away because the memories that they held would be lost along with them.  I said, "Well, I keep most things in my journal so..." and it hit me that I write because things slip away from me every day.  My childhood home was just demolished in five swings of a wrecking ball and if I did not sit down and write about the exact layout of the rooms as I remember them, the colour of the bathroom tile, they would be gone forever.  No one will ever be able to remind me of how I felt.

If you're really dying to start journal keeping, just think of what you stand to lose when you don't.  Human memory is notoriously fallible.  Something traumatic or joyful happens and I think I'll remember exactly where I was standing and what I was wearing but really, I won't.  And it's entirely possible that one day, I won't be able to hold even a single thought.  So I write it down. 

3)  Set manageable limits

In the more practical realm, some people don't journal because they think that they have neither the time nor wherewithal to sit down and ramble on for pages.  Hey, you don't have to.

What if you told yourself that all you had to do every other day, or even every week, was jot down one paragraph?  One?  Or one line?  That anything beyond that would be a delightful achievement?  Can't be that hard, can it?  If you set a limit that is easily achievable for you, it's likely that it won't be too daunting.  Combined with the certainty of a pre-planned journal writing time, that one paragraph will get written for sure.

I'm garrulous (in case you couldn't tell) so my limit is one page.  And once I get going, I often exceed it.  

4)  Have a subject ready

It took me a while to get used to this, but now I usually have something in mind when I sit down.  This comes under the second session on writer's block.

Clockwise, left to right: I like to draw bunting.  I love quotes about journalling.  This one, about Sylvia Plath says, "The journal of a writer is often like the barre of a ballerina.  She works out in front of a mirror, watching an ideal version of herself do difficult moves, trying to get them right".  I made a plan of my old kindergarten building by memory; it's all I have left.  I like stickers, too.

Writer's block

One of the reasons why it can be so hard to come back to writing a diary is thinking, but what on earth will I write about?  Amanda often stares at my pages in horror and says, "What do you have so much to say about?"

Nothing, really.  But I do have a whole handy set of journal prompts ready.  Before getting into the idea of journal prompts, I feel that it's very important to prime yourself into recognising that NO SINGLE THING is too stupid or unimportant to be written down.  Don't hold yourself back before you've even started.  You can say anything and everything because no one is going to see it.  Okay?  Now.

1)  Lists

When I have a bit of spare time, I make a whole list of lists (hah!).  The items range from the silly to the mundane, and every time I have nothing to write about, I just write a list.  If you expand on the items as you go, you'll find that you have entries that are both quirky and pretty representative of you.

Ones I've really enjoyed include:

10 things I know for sure
5 pet peeves
5 things that I really, really want
10 things I really love
10 things I really hate
The 10 things I would buy if I won the lottery
5 random facts about me
5 songs I've been listening to lately and why

Simple, quick and when I fill lists out with speed, I find that the answers always surprise me.

2)  Prompts

There are specific journal template prompts that you can Google to get you started on a random entry for the day.  Some ones that I've enjoyed include: Working/ Not working and More/Less.  You just split the page down the middle and on one side, write all the things that are working in your life.  On the other half, you talk about the things that are not working out so well.  It can be eye-opening.

I thought I would share my latest Working/Not working list (or the bits that aren't private anyway) from 8th April 2013 as an example:

Working:

1)  Friendships with people in my office.  I just love them.
2)  My parents both being at home (so far).  My father seems a lot happier since my mom quit to be by his side.
3)  Photography (so far).  I'm really enjoying taking random photos of everything.
4)  Getting in regular exercise.

Not working:

1)  I'm not getting enough sleep.
2)  Stressing out about how my students are going to do in their exams.
3)  Managing my emotions.
4)  Frenemy status with Friend X.  It's either on or it's not.
5)  Eating more healthily.

See?  Quick and dirty.

3)  Scene-setting

When all else fails, just describe your surroundings.  Do it in as much detail as you like, and if it doesn't segue into anything else, at least you'll have a snapshot of the moment.  I start SO many entries this way and they always end up being quite full.    

Here is an example from 3rd May, 2013, written in my house (coincidentally I found a photo I took on that very day):

"Jammy Dodgers, Japanese cheesecake and tea.  It's very pleasant to be alone at the table, the rain falling lightly on the zinc behind me.  That was part of the magic of getting this house - waking up to rainfall that was no longer muted by the 12 floors above us..."

Even if you don't get beyond that, it's a pretty sweet memory to have.

4)  Introduce yourself

If you haven't written about yourself in detail for a long time, go ahead and do it.  Where are you in life right now?  Do you see a future ahead?  How do you feel about yourself?  Be prepared for some serious navel gazing.

5)  Have a topic ready

I keep a couple of yellow post its in the back of my journal.  The moment I see something noteworthy, I scribble a note on a post it and then when I sit down to write, I launch into the topic.  We all have things we're fascinated by and if I see one and write it down quickly, then it won't fade the way it would if I said "I'll remember this for later."

Today, for instance, I watched a little boy throw a tantrum in Guardian pharmacy.  (I am absolutely transfixed by kids throwing tantrums.  I like to see how many stops they pull out and what their parents do.  I enjoy when they start to fake cry without so much as a single tear.  I like it when the parents firmly and sensibly win - I do a little fist pump for them.  I love it when parents handle the situation with good humour, and even more so when the kids come round.)

He really wanted a pack of mini M and Ms (me too kid, me too) and tried to get away with stuffing them into his mother's handbag.  By the time his mother had dragged him out of Guardian, he was squatting on the floor and squalling like a piglet.  I immediately scribbled "Guardian tantrum" on my post it.  Voila.  

This may be the most massively long thing that I've ever written, so I'll stop here.  If anybody with journal writer's block stumbles across this, I hope at least one of the prompts helps or that you enjoy making a couple of lists today.

My main suggestion though, is try it for one month.  Just one month; it's not Nanowrimo, for God's sake.  A paragraph a day if you can, or every other day if you must, even if it's just writing a quote down.  Do it for a month and go over the pages. 

Read them and laugh at things you found important in the moment. 

Savour your words on paper. 

Ask yourself if you'd like to try it for one month more.  If you do, then have at it, one month at time. 

If you don't, no matter.  It was a fun little experiment. 

You'll always have that one month in 2013 for keeps.

Whatever it is, you sure as hell won't regret it.      

All off

It sounds stupid but one of the things I was sore about in the breakup was that I couldn't get my hair cut.  

More specifically, I couldn't get that drastic, post-breakup, defiantly fabulous haircut that everyone seems to get shortly after they're dumped.

Unfortunately, I had cut my hair right before I saw my then-boyfriend for the last time and even though I was in the throes of misery afterwards, short of shaving my head (not work approved), there was nowhere to go.

So I stayed with the hair through the straggly growing out stage and found other ways to reinvent myself (knitting, anyone?).  

Lately however, since I was starting to feel more and more like my old self (and also a new version of myself that I hadn't met before), I thought it was time.  And I really wanted it all off.  I thought about all the people I knew who rocked very short hair (Pri, various girls from pole class) and I was absolutely certain I was going to make it work no matter what.

Friends told me to think about it carefully, just in case I regretted it, but I'm not a girl who is married to her locks.  It's just friggin' hair and it grows back, last I checked.  I hack it off every two years for fun and this was going to be no different, except that now, I'm even less worried about what anyone will think and more sure of what I want.

So I made an appointment with my regular guy and I went down this morning.  

It gets wavy and flippy and frizzy and messy and when I run my fingers through it I look like Robert Smith

But I have never felt more attractive in my life.

And I regret nothing.

Hazy

I'm really hating how stupid and dazed this smog makes me feel.  I just want to stay indoors all day and do sedentary things so that the lightheadedness doesn't bother me.  While I'm at it, I thought I'd put up some pictures of a scarf I knitted recently.

Amanda picked the seafoam green colour for her scarf in a nubbly wool by Panda called Vervale.  I got four balls of it at Spotlight and stupidly failed to check the meterage on each ball.  Before this scarf, I didn't even know such a thing existed.  I would measure the yarn in my palm attempting to guess how many skeins I would need, without realising that the springiness of the yarn added bulk.

Where most of the balls I've purchased would cover up to a hundred metres when unfurled, the silly Vervale yarn only went up to 38 metres because of its nubbles.  I remember feeling horrified when the first skein ran out and I couldn't even wrap the material round my neck. 

When I went back to Spotlight for extras, I decided to surprise Amanda with one ball of cream coloured yarn and a contrast at the tip (thankfully, she liked it!).   I learnt my biggest new lesson here - how to join two colours together!  Look at the ridiculously small mileage one ball gives.

I cast on 28 and knitted a slightly larger rib with a 3 x 2 pattern.  Despite all the yarn misadventures, I'm really pleased with the way it looks!

Lessons learnt from Amanda's scarf:

1) Check the damn meterage!  I don't know how this didn't occur to me before.  At 38m, for a barely 60 inch scarf, you're going to need at least six balls. 

2)  When a wool is nubbly, it's more difficult to see whether you're knitting or purling because everything looks like purl bumps.  Sometimes it's better to knit a little more tightly so that you can see what you're doing.

3)  On the plus side, the wavy yarn hides all manner of sins and the edges of the scarf tighten up very nicely.

4)  Stockinette stitch curls like crazy.  If you want to make an entire scarf in stockinette, it will become a tube.  I didn't make Amanda's scarf in stockinette but I stumbled upon this information this month.

5)  Learning to join two colours was my biggest triumph yet.  I tried to learn from youtube when I first started out but I was far too new to knitting to understand what the woman in the video was saying.  I joined solid colours with an invisible knot. 

After a while though, the steps finally started to make sense to me.  It's important to find a video that you can understand and if you're a beginner, I think it really helps when the person in the video knits with the same hand movements that you do.  I spent far too long staring at people who tensioned with their left hand and wondering what the hell they were doing.  

I've started on the next one and it involves my next mini challenge: yarn overs.  Pictures soon.  For now, I'm going to bed now to try to avoid feeling any worse.  Good evening!

Gratitude list: Impromptu

So I haven't been writing weekly gratitude lists for a while, not because I don't have anything to give thanks for but because there are so many things that they often turn into entire posts unto themselves. 

I'll still do the lists when I can though, like this impromptu one on a ten minute break from work. 

1) Bird farting rainbows necklace.

My friend Becky gave me this necklace over a year ago (in fact she sent it to me in the mail while I was in the UK) and I just love it.  I don't wear it very often because I'm a klutz and I want to avoid fraying the ribbons, but every time I do, I get a ton of excited compliments.  

How could you look at this and not feel happy?

2)  Crystal deodorant 

I know this is a slightly odd (and possibly awkward) choice but Amanda introduced me to this deodorant at Sasa the other day and I really love it.  For about $4, you get a stick of something that looks like a mineral rock and has no scent whatsoever.  I apply it with a little bit of water and although it does allow you to sweat, I have had absolutely no odour problems, even when I'm exercising.

The fact that it doesn't clash with my perfume and that I no longer have to contend with oddly murky cucumber or lemon scents works well for me right now.  It prickles a little on broken skin, but apart from that, I definitely plan to repurchase this.  Avoid dropping it on the floor though, if you get it, I hear it shatters into sharp little smithereens.

(I cannot attest to its pharmaceutical safety or whatever.  I'm pretty sure anything that claims to neutralise the bacteria on your skin is going to raise some alarms somewhere, but aerosols are no better, so.)

3)  My Filofax and sticky notes from Daiso

It is ridiculous how much I love my Filofax.  I think I've finally found an organiser format that really works for me and since it's stationery related, I plan to go on and on about it in a separate post at some point. 

For now, I just thought I'd share these sweet post its that I bought at Daiso earlier today.  At 400 stickies for $2, you can't go far wrong, even if the glue is not 3M worthy.  I love how the blue and pink complement the violet faux leather and I can see myself using them to decorate diary entries as well. 

And now, back to work.  There is no rest for the wicked, and I haven't been behaving.

Old school

This month has been crazy busy so far, and I've taken to waking up very early some mornings to give myself more time to do things.  When I'm not working, I try to get out as much as possible.  Sometimes I go on long walks through old parts of my estate and this morning we drove down to Changi Village for a slow breakfast. 

Singapore is so beautiful and different in the morning light when everyone is still in bed.  The sunlight sits, still on hopeful air.  Somehow, at that hour, it steals over forgotten places.  

The softness of the morning is forgiving, and I feel like I am living thirty years ago in a simpler age when opening a family coffeeshop with bottlecap clocks on the wall was enough to sustain life in the rooms above it.  Cheap sweets came vacuum packed in still cheaper plastic envelopes.  The only toys I ever yearned for were the ones that came in the weird packets of Tora chocolate that they advertised on Malay TV.

On my walks, I pass a row of shophouses.  Now, all but one are residential.  Ching San coffeeshop on Parbury Avenue is one of my favourite old places.  It's so forlorn and forgotten now that at any one time, I only see three or four patrons spread out under striped umbrellas.  And yet, that is part of its charm - that I can eat toast and kaya unmolested any weekday morning and served by a shy, smiling man who makes a strange loping run at the toaster each time I order.  There is a large Caucasian professional who comes to make his business phone calls at a folding table while he gulps his way through three kopi pengs.    

Across the cracked tiles, towards the back of the shop, I can see through the doorway and into an old concrete courtyard made cool by the hanging roots of a Bodhi tree.  It reminds me of my grandmother's old home.

Each time I go, I say a silent prayer for just enough patrons to keep the joint afloat.  I am dying to go in with my camera to try to capture the old school atmosphere.  Right now, all I have are lazy instagrams.  Let's hope that's not all that survives.

 

The Bay

Some time ago, I mentioned that one of the projects my father had planned involved taking pictures of Marina Bay at night.  He particularly wanted to capture the Gardens by the Bay domes because they are so interestingly shaped and because he has a soft spot for them.  

We headed back there last Friday night, on the off chance that the pouring rain would let up enough for photos.  We were in luck; even though the ground was slightly damp, there was nothing but a light breeze in the air.  It was even cool enough to go up onto the Benjamin Sheares bridge to take some photos from a higher vantage point.

I'm really happy with how the pictures turned out.  I like how the skyline looks deliciously clean and the way the lights shimmer on the water.  My father yelped out loud at the first shot because they were exactly what he wanted.

I don't remember the shutter speeds exactly but they were longer than half a second, aperture at around 9 or so.  I capped the ISO at 400 at one point to reduce grain and it worked out well for me.

And of course, we used a tripod.  Next project, ho!

Wise-walker TP07

I met some friends for dinner last weekend and one of them, Jonathan, was carrying a really cool messenger bag.  I'm crazy about bags and when he showed me his black, waterproof Wise-walker and the insane amount of compartments in it, I knew I had to get one to carry my camera.  

I'm not very impulsive about bags - I usually think a lot and trawl many shops before making a big purchase - but this bag really stuck with me and first chance I had, I went down to Cumulus in Wheelock Place and honed straight in on it.

Wise-walker is a series of bags made by the Japanese company Nomadic Inc.  They're not very easy to find here, nor do a lot of people use them, but fans love them because they're durable, practically laid out and hold a lot of stuff.

My new Wise-walker cost $152 (with a ten per cent discount) and even though I was coveting the black version, I had to get it in white because that's all the shop had left.  It's made of waterproof tarpaulin (although the bag itself is probably more water resistant than waterproof) and I actually asked the lady in the shop if I could try wiping stains off the display piece with my wet tissues.  Not kidding.  I'm really clumsy and I really needed to know that most stains could be cleaned.  She was very patient with me, and I could not be more pleased with my choice.

I love my big tote bags but they usually come with only two or three pockets and everything keeps getting lost in the depths.  Small things slosh around and get lost and I ultimately end up frustrated.

The TP07 appeals to the organised person in me.  I'm very messy and destructive but there are small pockets of things that I like to keep organised.  Having a perfectly organised bag or diary, for example, keeps me really energised.

The bag even comes with a map of its pockets and suggestions on how to use them!  Perfect for the anal retentive.

I love that they've provided for your cellphone, magazine, books and even games.  

As you can see, the TP-07 has thirteen compartments, right down to a net pouch that holds your waterbottle so that it's not lolling around in the bottom.  Perfect.  

Here's how I first loaded mine:

Left to right, top to bottom:  Starbucks flask from David, Narcisco Rodriguez perfume, pouch with panadol and other bits and bobs, Aesop handcream, lip balm from Ann-Marie, Vera Bradley wallet.  You know, sanitary stuff for just in case, random stickers, my office pass, my keys with Totoro, the little soot guy Wai Kit got me from Japan and a Starbucks thumb drive.  My diary and wet tissues.  My pencil case and phone.  The only thing missing is my camera which, duh, we all know where that is.

The front flap of the bag folds up to reveal the bulk of the pockets in the front of the bag, complete with a little rubber outlet for your earphones.  You can zip the whole thing up, so it feels fairly safe and compact.  The cellphone pocket is located right in front for easy access and even though I didn't put my cellphone there to start with, I do now.

I have no idea why, but organising the items and labelling them made me ridiculously happy.  In front, I have:

1) Keys.
2) Pads (everyone seems puzzled by my just in case stance until they suddenly need one).
3) Office pass.  For this alone, the bag was absolutely necessary.  We all keep standing in front of the office door and fumbling about for at least ten minutes.
4) My diary, kindle or any other small books I may be toting along.
5) Handcream, lip balm and perfume.  I use these three things very often and now I can just reach down into the bag and grab them right away.
6)  Cellphone pocket.

There's still one empty pocket in the front that I have no use for, and at any rate, keeping it empty means the front of the bag is flatter.  The cellphone pocket is padded and most of the other pockets are made of plastic mesh, so if anything spills, clean up won't be too crazy.

The flap unzips to reveal the main compartment.  This is where any other heavy stuff goes like my wallet and my camera.  You can't see the netting but my flask is nestled very comfortably there.  I like that it zips up and then folds down - double security for travelling. 

The back of the bag has four padded pockets for electronics and the like.

I've got my:

7) Phone (now in the front)
8) Wet tissues
9) Pencil case

The brilliance of this massive compartmentalisation is that I've stopped carrying useless nonsense like ticket stubs or receipts in my bag.  If it's not meant to be in any of the pockets, it goes in the trash. 

Rebecca (thanks!) took this picture of how I wear it for work with my chinos, purple shirt and grey batwing cardigan.  I think it looks fairly rugged, in a good way.

When she saw my Wise-walker, she exclaimed because she has one too!  We spent a blissful half hour talking about how rare it is and how we organise our pockets.  The next day, she brought hers and we took nerdy pictures.  (Or at least Amanda did, chanting "And one, and two, and three" in a creepy voice like an aerobics instructor, while we winced and giggled).

I think it looks nice even with a slightly more formal top and purple pants  Hers is a three-way tote, messenger and backpack in a nylon-ish material.  It might even have more pockets than mine!

And finally, I love this bag so much that I proceeded to fully satisfy the tiny neat freak in me with an homage through drawings.

Um yeah.  I know.

Oh!  And as you can see, the gathering went great!