Profile race cranks

I remember when I got back into BMX racing in the year 2000. I bought a bike to race on because my old Kuwahara was too old-school to be able to take all the racing of an overweight person that I had become. This new-school bike came with these Profile cranks. 180mm in length and factory powder-coated, these cranks were tough and did not flex at all. When I sold my BMX, I transferred these onto my 29″er. I had to get a new spindle for it but these cranks still perform faultlessly. Gotta love these cranks and I still do.

DJ’ing on Micro Seiki DDX 1000 turntables

I saw this video on YouTube and I must say that it is one helluva inspiration. That is the way I started out…not on these beautiful Micro Seiki turntables but on hi-fi turntables no less. Check out the mixing…smooth. And that Tascam mixer. There used to be one just like that installed in the church near my home back in the day.

But anyway, back to these Micro Seiki turntables. These direct-drive beauties had a platter that I simply could not tear my eyes away from. Many back in the day used to make fun of us, stating that only Technics SL-1200s were the turntables for DJs. I proved them wrong. Hi-fi turntables can be good if not, just as good as the Technics. They did not have the torgue of the Technics but they could work the business.

I got this picture from VinylEngine.com which shows the exploded view of these Micro Seiki beauties. Check out the size of the motor. Its huge! There is a separate controller that controls the pitch. That is why when you see the guy above in the video, he is fiddling with a box with a knob on it. That is the pitch control. It does not have the slider like the Technics SL-1200 MKII but it works.

Call me quirky but if I ever see these Micro Seiki turntables being sold online and for the right price, I would snap them up

Tin Tin t-shirts at Uniqlo

Just a couple of weeks back my wife and I were walking around Uniqlo in Bugis and we came upon a Tin Tin collection. That is what I love about Uniqlo. They have good shirts and t-shirts at very affordable prices…and the designs are not too bad either. There was a time when they released a few bicycle-themed t-shirts and that was pretty good. My wife bought a few of these and could not be happier. Looks like I have to get some myself!

Grundig mini-component set

During the breakdancing times in the early to mid-80’s (come on guys…admit it. All of you did some breakdancing or other during that time) we all had “ghetto-blasters” that we used to bring to the breakdance sites. Ghetto-blasters are actually or were actually an American term for portable mini-component sets. So we used these ghetto-blasters to playback the breakdance songs that we recorded on cassettes. My friend Sherman had this nifty Grundig set. I remember it very well because of the metal rails built-in, giving it a tough, industrial look. This thing was powerful too and could take its fair share of bumps and grinds. Yep, miss those days.

Instant miso soup from Daiso

Yesterday evening, it was raining and the weather felt a bit chilly. So my wife comes into the study while I was doing my work and asked me if I would like to have some miso soup? I told her that it was an excellent idea!

The miso soup that she was referring to was the instant kind that we bout in Daiso for $2. There were five sachets in that bag and it all adds up to forty cents per serving. And I have to say that the miso soup tastes pretty good. There are some sceptics among you who will scoff at this instant miso soup and say that nothing beats the real thing. Well, I will have you all know that when I was in Japan in 2011, I had miso soup for breakfast and it was the instant type…and it tasted as good as this. So if they can serve the instant type of miso soup in Japan, why not here in Singapore?

I told my wide that I am definitely going to buy some more of that miso soup when I go to Daiso next. Always good to store it in the house when you need a delicious pick-me-up like that!

Stoke – 6, Liverpool – 1

I am far from being a Liverpool fan. As a matter of fact, I hate Liverpool. I seem to remember some time back, when Manchester United was under the management of David Moyes, how the bloody Liverpool fans taunted us. When we lost 6 – 1 to Manchester City with one man down, we got taunted by the Liverpool fans. We had to endure what some Liverpool fans said, something to the tune of:

No matter how bad we played, we never lost by that scoreline

Well, all I can say is that karma is a bitch. Look what happened the day before yesterday. Look at the humiliation that Gerrard had to endure on his last match for Liverpool no less. Credit to Gerrard, he tried to and pulled back one for Liverpool. And if the Liverpool fans were full of hope that this would be another Istanbul, they were proven wrong. Two goals were scored by an ex-Manchester United player and two were scored by ex-Liverpool players. What a way to go lads…what a way to go.

So after all the dust settled, all that was left was some big questions asked. Parody memes started surfacing and the one I liked best was the one above. Good luck Brendan Rodgers

You’ll Never Walk Alone they said. Gerrard was left walking alone, a forlorn figure. What a way to end a career!

Sewn name-tags at the Beach Road Army Market

There is an “army market” in Beach Road. When I say army market, I mean stores selling army surplus stuff. There are also shops that sell embroidered name tags like in the picture above. I was walking there with some friends the other day. It was a long day and close to dinner time. That is when I came across this rather unique name tag and immediately thought of my late cat Whiskey. Or it could have been it was late in the day and that was a perfect reminder to get my friends into a bar to have a couple of whiskeys. Whatever it is, it works for me. Lots of stuff can be nought in that place, not just army merchandise. There are bags sold there and all kinds of stuff at very affordable prices. Check them out!

Hull City vs Manchester United

In about an hour’s time, we will be facing Hull City. It will be our final away game of the season. Hull is fighting relegation and since this is on their home ground, they are not going to give us any favours. Let us end the season on a high. Glory Glory!

Calbee spicy prawn crackers

Whenever my wife and I watch soccer on TV, we always need to have the munchies to make the experience much more enjoyable. It used to be some fruits and maybe some cookies but one day, she comes across this snack at a supermarket and says she wants to try it. Now, before I go any further, we grew up on Calbee chips. We used to eat it when we were kids, both my wife and myself. So this snack by Calbee, albeit a different flavour from the original recipe, is pretty tasty. The usual disclaimer is…do not eat too much of it…just have them once in a while and what better way to have it than during soccer matches?

Polo Black

For some reason, I do not like this Polo Black. Let us just say that it brings back some very bad memories…memories that I would rather forget. Sometimes, when I go to shopping centres, I take a whiff of the demonstration bottle and instantly, the smell brings back those bad memories. I do not know why fragrances do that to me but they do. I can safely say that if anyone gives this to me as a present, it will be recycled. Thanks but no thanks. Nothing against Polo but this brings back those memories that are just painful.