reading up on menswear and men's style

[Note: to be updated.]

You have been buying and reading books on menswear, style, and grooming. That kind of stuff. Jiang-Hu-lookalike-Groom-to-be has asked you for a list of the books.

Online: Ask Andy About Clothes, Details Men's Style Manual Perfect Fit, GQ Style Guy, Men's Fashion Tips, The Upgrader.

[note to yourself: list the books and forums.]

on your radar: woven in japan

The days of just Levi's, Lee, and Wrangler are gone; several new brands have risen and proliferated in recent years. And there is this fascination with Japanese denim.

info: AskMen.com's introductory article.

more denim: Denimology, The Upgrader's Basic Blue Hotlist.

[update] you bought: Paul Smith, Red Ear series.

new shoes

Ongoing sale at Hush Puppies stores. 25 to 40 percent off.

You bought a pair of bluchers (open throat lacing) and a pair of balmorals (closed throat lacing).

Useful: info on styles of men's dress shoes.

a not-at-all-metrosexual lament

The years of refusing to use moisturizer have caught up with you.

your choice.

"Everyone will endure pain in life. Misery is optional."

That means you.

Yes, you.

you took the afternoon train going anywhere.

to Punggol, actually. Via the Northeast MRT line.

You and Ah Wai in the train. You were trying to capture an optical effect, but failed. Oh well.

You chose a horrible day to make the trip -- wacko thunderstorms greeted the two of you upon exit. The photographs understate the conditions then.

You assume there is more to the area than crying rainstorms and howling winds.

Signs of civilization at the bus interchange beside the MRT station.

Punggol is still a work of development. The farms you remember from your childhood are long gone.

Bon Jovi moment at the station's LRT extension. Given the weather, the sign was a definite necessity. Though you wonder why the planners and architects did not design the LRT station to be sheltered from the outside elements in the very first place.

gaps

in no particular order of emotional importance:

The World Cup came and went.

You returned. You left five years ago.

Your memories of home are five, eight, ten, twelve, years old.

You do not wish to dwell on, nor reveal any significant detail about them. You think it will be tantamount to a betrayal of some sort.

Maybe more next time, maybe.

You had returned hoping to find, if not provide, answers. Now you question even that objective.

You warn the reader that the next set of posts will be far less introspective.

O'Hare 2006-06-14

You are typing this while waiting for your transit flight to Tokyo-Narita. Chicago-O'Hare offers a $6.95 per day wireless service. But you were mistakenly charged $2.35 for three sausage, egg, and cheese muffins, so you saved on a second round at the food court. Then you remember that C2 wants you to buy her copies of Glamour and Marie Claire. Oh well, hell hath no fury like a women's-magazine-collector-sibling scorned.

States of mind: anxious, excited, guilty (you have not been back for five years, and you certainly are not Superman).

Caught highlights of Spain vs. Ukraine while seated at the sports bar. Disbelief over the scoreline. Xabi!

at long last

You will be back from June 15 to Aug 21.