bsodmike.com ~ The ramblings of a Rolex enthusiast…

Singapore January 2007

Day 1: Omega Speedmaster Professional

Before flying to Singapore, I arranged with the Sincere Watch Co. @ Changi Duty Free Terminal 1 to stock the Speedmaster Professional 3573.50.00 “Sapphire Sandwich”, which I collected upon landing.

This is definitely my most prized watch from Omega as it reveals more of its self almost daily. For example, I found this to be a non-hacking watch, i.e. when you pull the crown out the second hand doesn’t stop, and this is combated by all by applying a little bit of pressure in the reverse direction, which causes the second hand to halt, ever so slightly - which allows for syncronizing with an atomic source.

Further more, one has to wind this fully every day, which quickly becomes part of ones morning routine - it’s the Tamagochi effect all over again!

This is succinctly quoted below,

“Mechanical watches are so brilliantly unnecessary. Any Swatch or Casio keeps better time, and high-end contemporary Swiss watches are priced like small cars. But mechanical watches partake of what my friend John Clute calls the Tamagotchi Gesture. They’re pointless in a peculiarly needful way; they’re comforting precisely because they require tending.” - William Gibson

Why did I decide on the Sapphire Sandwich?

Over the past couple months I’ve been researching and looking at Speedmasters over @ TimeZone.com and it came down to a decision between the 3572.50.00 and the 3573.50.00.

At the end of the day they both featured the latest c.1863 chronometer grade movement while the deciding factor was the 3573 having Sapphire glass on the front and display back with anti-reflective coating, instead of a Hesalite front and Sapphire display back as with the 3572.

This makes the 3573 a much more durable, albeit slightly heavier Speedmaster, which is not a problem since I wear my Omega Seamaster Professional Chrono Diver daily - and this is quite a heavy watch!

Some may argue that one should go for the 3570 as that is based on the c.1861 movement which is as close as you can get to the c.861 movement but Rhodium plated - but as this is my first Speedy Pro, I decided to go for the Sapphire Sandwich.

I also forgot to mention that the c.1863 movement also features an extra jewel, located on the intermediate, bringing the count up to 18 jewels in total.

Here is a clip of the movement that I uploaded to youtube,

Day 1: The Singapore Marriott Hotel

The taxi ride from the airport took around 45mins like usual and we proceeded to check-in.

…we were now on our way to the room, featuring two LCD TVs =)

Day 1: Canon EF f/2.8 70-200 IS USM ‘L’ens

After checking-in and relaxing for a while, I headed over to Sim Lim Square to check out some lenses. Since I got my EOS20D and the Canon EF f/2.8 24-70 USM ‘L’ens, I have been hoping to add this lens to my collection, to bridge the gap between ‘general purpose’ and ’short telephoto’. However, due to the 1.6x FOVCF (Field of View Crop Factor) due to the DSLR body (non full-frame) it seems ‘longer’ than a typical short telephoto, or even a typical 70-200 lens.

Of the many reviews I have read online, including many comments at FredMiranda, they all seem to express the same admiration of this lens, not only in the build quality expected of any ‘L’ lens, but of the quality of images and bokeh further augmented by Canon’s 3-stop IS system allowing crisp images at 1/15s or 1/30s @ 200m!

This lens retails for under £1250 @ Jessops in UK, but I found it to retail for sub £1000 in the US - I had a fair idea of what to expect. Before flying to Singapore, I had called my contact @ Sim Lim and agreed on an initial price which I felt was fair considering that I would be receiving the GST refund when leaving for home.

As I mounted this lens on my body (the 20D that is!) at the first store I visited I started shooting at the f/8-11 range on IS mode 1, but realised that I needed to up the ISO to 1600 due to indoor lighting for the best effect. Then, I did the unthinkable - IS mode 2 was kicked in and I locked on a ‘random’ guy walking past and panned before taking the shot.

The effect simply had me with my jaw hanging - beautiful motion blur/bokeh and the guy was ‘crisp’ with the most vivid colors, all on the ‘not so great’ LCD of the 20D!

This is the moment that had me sold, and I ended up purchasing this lens with a replacement battery and fast charger for my EOS.

The last three images have been taken with the Canon EF f/2.8 70-200 IS USM ‘L’ens.

Day 2: Late Start

Due to jetlag and simply just being tired from the previous day, it was a very slow start as we only woke up around 3-4pm.

We ended up paying a visit to my tailor, Mr. Mah of CYC to sort out some new short and long sleeve shirts. His shop is located on the first floor of the Raffles Hotel Arcade, and is best gotten to via the North Bridge Road entrance, i.e. least taxi to shop walking!

After my new measurements were taken I decided to test my telephoto lens and proceeded to choose a couple test subjects.

Some of you may recall that I got my Omega SeMP Chrono Diver back in December 2006, and found it a little tight around my wrist, simply due to the thick case and have been struggling to find an AD willing to spare an extra link or two.

While randomly checking with the various Omega ADs, at CenterPoint on Orchard, this shop was run by some very nice sales people who were quite willing to remove some links off a retail watch they had in store to ease my suffering and all the extra link cost was S$ 30.00 including labour - Not only was I able to observe how these bracelets are adjusted but I was even able to get him to teach me how to remove the bracelets from the spring-loaded bars, in the event I feel like swapping ‘em for a leather strap or even a Bond NATO!

Day 3: Spoils of War

We headed first thing to the Omega Service Centre @ Wheelock place to query some Aligator/Calf leather straps for my SeMP and SMP - but they were all out of stock.

After that we headed back to Raffles Hotel Arcade to CYC and BPdeSilvas and then decided to visit Raffles City across the street.

Mom wanted to sort out some returns @ M&S and then we hit the food court for some breakfast. After that I hopped over to the Montblanc boutique to pick up a 2007 refill for my Montblanc A5 Organiser, but at the same time checked out some of their leather brief cases before we had to rush back to the hotel.

I had them reserve one of the models at the Montblanc branch @ Ngee Ann City, which we were planning on visiting later on during the day.

A while ago I stumbled upon Danny Choo’s blog (of sorts) and since then have been on the lookout for anime figurines, or as I like to call ‘em - dolls. Of the few models reviewed by him the Mizuho Kazami [Onegai Teacher] and Igunis dolls really stood out.

I was lucky enough to come across Urban Attic on the fifth floor @ Funan on my way to the AppleCentre and immediately booked these two models. I took some time debating between some Shakugan no Shana models and a Mizuki Takase doll. As we still have two more days in Singapore, I may end up visiting the attic again!

I also wanted to pick up a mech and they didn’t have any Gundam models (only some porcelain heads) so I decided to go for this, which cost quite a bit but looks like it is going to be a lot of fun.

Later in the day we ended up at Ngee Ann City where we treated our selves to some Sushi Tei, as pictured below, and that is when I snagged a full calf leather brief case from Montblanc ^^

I have uploaded a video to youtube of the carousel in action,

Day 4: Urban Attic @ Funan

This is one very very cool shop, and if you happen to ever visit Funan it is a ‘must see’. Here are some images of the shop and figurines, taken with permission of the owner - a very nice guy and lots of fun to chat otaku!

“Stop poking me, I’m not that kind of Orc!”

“…oooh that feels good~~”

From the anime Spirited Away…

Shakugan no Shana figurines

Naruto and some ecchi figurines~~

Rei Ayanami from Evangelion Genesis. This is a beautiful piece and they wanted over S$ 500 for her. I would have so taken it if luggage space wasn’t an issue - there’s always a next time I guess.

Death by beauty I guess >.<

Muwahahahhaaa… (Que. chuckling henchmen…) *stop*. I managed to get my grubby paws on a Mizuki Takase figurine, again his very last piece that they randomly found in their closet during some spring cleaning. Kawaii des ne?

Day 5 & 6: Takashimaya & Hobby Point @ Millennia Walk

One of our favourite haunts is the Takashimaya department store @ Ngee Ann City, and on the B1 level you’ll find a pretty awesome food court, and this is by far my favourite restaurant there.

I also would like to wish everyone a happy and prosperous Gong Xi Fa Cai, and the place was done up in style!

I’ve recently started an obsession for Gundam models and I guess it goes with my fascination for watch movements, Nitro RCs and electronics. That said, I was raised on lego, then Technic and other model building so it’s in my blood I guess!

We happened across Hobby Point, which is pretty much a paradise for anyone into Gundams, as I’ve seen most of the anime as well!

Some 1/144 scale models on display,

I ended up researching all their is about Gundam modelling @ Danny’s site and with the help of an excellent shop keeper, Cheng @ Hobby Point, I ended up with the following collection. Points to note, the GP01/Fb is no longer in production, and has been so for quite a while (at least the Perfect Grade model) and was his last piece he specially ordered in from the warehouse. Another rare item is the RX78-2 One Year War 0079 (MG) model, which is again very rare and hard to source.

The Gundam Collection…

RX78 GP01/Fb (Full burnern Conversion) “Zephyranthes”
MBF-02 Strike Rouge (PG) (inc. AQM/E-X01 Aile Striker (PG))
Strike Freedom Lightning Edition 1/60
RX78-2 One Year War (MG)
Gundam MK-II Ver 2.0 (MG)
Zeta Ver 2.0 (MG)
Strike Freedom Gundam (MG)
GAT-X106 Strike Gundam (PG) + AQM/E-X01 Aile Striker (PG), ordered via eBay.

The money shot ^^

All the paint and tools procured @ Hobby Point,

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A professional grade German airbush, with two way control (air/paint),

Day 7: Errands…

On the first day, I lost my M600i, as it slipped out of my pocket into the back seat of a taxi. I only noticed two hours later and was horrified as this is the first time I’ve ever ‘lost’ something, and my first lost mobile too.

So I was forced by my Mom to get another mobile, and after much deliberation went for the Z610i,

We also happened across the Montblanc shop again and I picked up some cuff links and a stand for my Meisterstuck 149 - which I’ve been hunting for quite a while.

Day 8: Home Sweet Home!

I had given up the notion of being able to source a leather strap for my Speedy Pro, but I thought of checking with the staff at Sincere first and convinced them to remove a strap from one of the Railmaster units they had in stock and fit on my Speedy, albeit being a 21mm (lug) strap - however, still original Omega.