20240121 This year's first visit to ICW

 IT STANDS FOR INFINITE CREATION WORKSHOP

It has been years since I last set foot at ICW. I think the last time would be before the Lockdown in 2020. But I took the chance tonight although it is a Sunday night where they do not open. When I first found out about ICW in the early 2010's, it was a little different from other places. It is a place where you make friends, get advice & and tips from other modelers, and basically, just hang around. This was a place for modelers who just want to do their stuff while waiting out the evening jam, a place to store their immediate stash and completed works. It is also a workshop for SFTPMS and other Group activities. I also gave a Class on Scale Lighting there. So, basically, it is not a shop.

OK, it is also a shop. I mean, when you first enter through the door, the first thing you'd lay your eyes on would be the paints and shelves of model kits behind them. ICW does stock a good selection of paints (which quickly runs out weeks before a GBWC Challenge) and tools. It was also THE place to go to where the partners bring back wonderful models and tools during their travels. But that was in the naughties.

 

THE CHAMP SALE PART ONE

When a Modeler passes on, his Families has no idea what to do with their stash or well, stuff. The Family would dispose them either by giving it away or through a Sale. If you reflect on it, Scale Modeling is a very lonely hobby and nowadays, not many would know about it nor take it up. I mean, if it was my turn, my Family would not even know what I did except for hiding inside the room, and 'playing' with Computers, while gathering a big pile of... stuff.

In memory of the late Andy Wong, who was also a GBWC World Champion, ICW will be organising the Sales (in Phases) where you can buy scale models and tools from his collection. Looking at the Phase One items, there were a lot of beautiful and 'rare' kits. Not only that, I always assumed Andy to be a full Gundam fan but his collection said otherwise. Alas, the 1/550 Gundam Dendrobium was snatched up before I arrived. Then again, I told myself, if its there, its there. Just buy it and go.

If you're in KL and curious about his collection, here is the link to the Sale. It's for walk-ins only and cash is King.

Well, well, well, the Super Metallic Paints are here!
This is the only place left selling them as many other shops are sold out.

Old friends relaxing and joking

See anything you like?
This is the Phase One Sale of the late Andy Wong's Scale Models and it starts tomorrow.

Apart from getting two boxes of figures, I got myself some 1.2mm pla-plates, polishing cloth, springy tubings and that Super Metallic Paint (again). And yeah, more ICW stickers which I keep losing or gave to friends.

2024.01.14 Dad Joke

The Internet is full of Dad Jokes if you want to look for them. Well, since I'm a Dad, why not?

Finally, I got the (second) chance to reply to this.

Left, Right, Left, Right...

How I started to walk

After reading this story, I started to recall when I was just a kid, I tend to walk quite a lot. From taking the Bus to the Tuition Centre, to the other Tuition Centre, to some shopping malls and even walked back home. On some Fridays, when the earlier school bus dropped me off at the school, I would start walking to either Ampang Park or Sungei Wang. And this was also the time where I discovered that Airfix and Matchbox were not the only model kit brands.

During that time, I was also longing for a Walkman which seemed to make the walking more bearable. But later on in Life, I realised that they were too distracting. I had to worry about the headphone cables snagging and causing that painful headphone pull. Then there is also the issue of constant fiddling with the Volume or Equalizer when the favourite song came on, followed by lots of rewinds. Worst of all, when the battery starts to run down. So, Walkmans are nice but they would not alert me traffic or people walking around me on the streets. In the end, the best time to enjoy them was lying down in a slightly darkened room, maybe lit by a dim light shining up to the ceiling in a corner.

Why I started to Walk

As I was growing up, I realised that Walking is not a boring chore of trudging from A to B but a journey of discovery. It is not just an exercise but more of an opportunity to day-dream, imagine stuff and well, think of things. I know, I know, those led me to depressions and over-thinking in later years but once I realised what was happenning, the Demons kinda hid themselves in the shadows.

Along the way, there were a lot of photo opportunities. Walking takes you to routes or short-cuts which opens up wonders. It's like discovering new secret passages and sometimes, allows me to reach the destination faster when I came across the route again.

The more I think about it, I cannot deny the fact that sometimes, I need to be alone but at my own terms. Maybe this is one of the traits of being an introvert (sigh), a term which I am becoming to accept since there were many proven signs.

Reaching the destination

OK, once I have reached the destination, it was not the end of the World but more of a Bonus. Sure I reached the place I wanted to go in the first place but the feeling of Joy when your eyes sets on the building is priceless. It makes all kinds of pain disappear. Unless it is locked.

The Joy is for me alone

Once again, as I have said before, I like to walk alone. Walking and talking to another person is actually quite taxing. I have to time my breathing and also, maybe even shout a little to make myself heard. Sometimes, I have to wait for the other person to catch up and vice versa which kills the tempo of the walk. More often than not, I have to make way for detours, going to places the other person likes, which means I have less time for mine.

But there were times which I wished there was another friend with me. Especially on a dark or lonely path, a night market, an abandoned place, some nice but errily quiet garden, a beautiful house, etc. After that, then I wished they would disappear. Ha ha.

20240101 Happy New Year

 For those who knew me, I have started a new Job in March last year. It was OK, then stress, then OK, then stress and so on.

For the last few months, I realised that most of my dreams were centered around the Job. And it was no different from what I was doing during my waking hours.

Anyway, in the last dream, my job was to assign Technicians to blonde the hair of the 4 members of the 4 Non-Blond group. Then I woke up.