When i was in school, my favourite presents from my dad were my watches.
(Ok i loved my Katarina Witt Ultrawheels to death too but today we’ll talk about the watches!)
I had a classic Mickey Mouse one.
A grey and purple Casio.
Before i got upgraded to a couple of Guess ones.
I may throw away many things while cleaning out my room…
but one thing i can’t bring myself to chuck are those watches.
Having worn and stared at them every day during my childhood,
just holding it in my hand and looking down at it now,
gives me glimpses into what it felt back then.
What i felt back then.
As i grew fonder of fashion,
my appreciation for watches grew as well.
For me, accessories are highly taken into consideration when dressing up – shoes, bag, watch, jewelry.
These are things i’d splurge more on
(i’d have to say ‘more’ cos i pretty much splurge on everything else too -_-)
as they’re items i use daily.
I think a watch shows a lot about one’s personality.
Whether you’re classic and timeless,
or glitzy and attention-grabbing.
Unconventional and contemporary,
or luxurious and flashy.
A month ago, watch distributor Crystal Time were in touch with me,
on the possibility of giving out watches to KinkyBlueFairy readers.
(They distribute watches from BCBG, Kenneth Cole, Cosmopolitan, and other brands to stores in Malaysia.)
Of course i said yesΒ 
I’ve recently taken to the idea of giving out prizes to my readers…
and what better than to start this for 2011!Β 
This month, i’ll be giving away 1x Kenneth Cole watch.
Sleek and chic, Kenneth Cole’s digital watches are always functional and fashionable.
Featuring large digital displays attached to durable waterproof PVC straps,
they are the essential functional time-telling fashion accessories in your daily or weekly routine.
The men’s digital watch is also available in stainless steel strap against stark white for an added cool factor and greater versatality in complementing daily wear.
(Besides watches, Kenneth Cole also sell footwear, handbags, apparel and accessories)
Here are a few designs from Kenneth Cole i thought i’d post up:
And below is the watch i’m giving away!
To enter the contest, just tell me a fond memory of a watch you had/have.
It could be something from your childhood,
or a piece you currently wear.
You can either comment on this post,
or email your entry to joycethefairy@gmail.com with the email title – Kenneth Cole Watch.
Don’t forget your full name, email and valid address.
Deadline: 31st January 2011
Open to Malaysian residents only.
I still keep the watch that my late father gave it to me. I was so into Garfield. It might be a toy watch to everyone, but it wasn’t to me. It was my first watch and I treasure it as how I treasured my time with my late father.
My current watch is a lady’s Casio. It has a rather sweet story behind it…
I have been wearing rather cheap watches all along and although they look pretty, the batteries always run out within a few months. I wanted a good watch that was nice looking and yet professional. Being a student I could not afford such a watch therefore I mentioned to my dad that I would like one. It was just a subtle mention and I didn’t press the matter because I did not want him spending an unnecessary few hundred ringgits just for a watch, and it wasn’t even any special occasion! In any case, my dad just nodded and said yeah you should get one, then nothing more was said and I assume that he had already forgotten it as my dad’s a very busy man.
Out of the blue a few days later, I received an MMS from him. It was a picture of two watches, a green and blue one. He asked me which I preferred, and even called me to say that he thinks the green one looks prettier and suits me best! It was a pleasant surprise that he did not forget and I still wear this watch up til now. (Although it’s already more than a year old)
I want to give my dad this watch as a thank you present for all that he has done for me π
Joyce, only can tell a story for 1 watch? O heve a few and each of them have their own story.
Hi Joyce,
I got my first proper watch when I was in standard 4. My parents bought my first ever Swatch for me because I got number 3 in class.(a way to encourage me to study hard :)…I was so thrilled then.I kept staring at my watch all day long. Refused to take it off, silly me!I was loyal to swatch all the way till form 5…I still keep all my old swatch as a collection although it stopped working…
Anyway(not related to the above), i love reading ur blog….so cool!
My ‘watching’ experience
I can still remember clearly my first ‘expensive’ watch that I have earned on one condition – good grades in school. It was a black and gold leather Guess watch and I was beaming on top of the world – oh, the feel of being upgraded to a higher level of status. We weren’t exactly from the well-to-do; and with only one ‘branded’ watch – me and my sis would take turn to wear this Guess watch to school. One week would be hers and the other week would be mine. It was still a great feeling back then and it certainly puts a smile on my face as I’m writing this π
My boyfriend and I entered in a long distance relationship a few months back and to put it lightly I was not taking it well. Before he left, he gave me this children’s Spongebob Squarepants watch (my favourite cartoon character ever), which had a big, silly, grinning Spongebob face and told me to wear it as a daily reminder to smile and be happy. It’s permanently set on Brisbane time so i always know what time it is on his side of the world.
It’s remarkably tacky, the strap is way too small, and it costs next to nothing but it’s the most precious watch i’ve ever owned.
I’m glad to share this with you.
I used to get a black simple Swatch (with shinning surface, galaxy like)from my dad when I was in primary school as a birthday gift.
Every night before I went to sleep, I used to imagine myself pressing the watch like pressing a button, fly myself to the moon and have my time off.
I’ll always fly back before the alarm clock beeps the next day, LOL.
However, I stop imagining that after I lost it when we were moving to a new house.
As we all know, we always think we can do everything, once when we were little.
But I never stop believing, after loosing the watch.
I always use that memory to remind myself, I can do anything, even I have more worries now, only if I really want to.
Hope to hear from you soon and have a great day ahead!
Happy new year by the way! π
Watches. Its always be a part of me, saying that because I wore it everyday.
My current one is a TIMEX : Expedition which I wore everyday and I just fell in love with it immediately after I saw it. MUST HAVE ! and its now MINE ! *smiles*
My relationship with watches goes way back. When I was young my first watch was some cartoon characters watch that my family bought for me. Canβt really recall what or how it looked like but the really official ones are my Swatch watch collection which I have like more than 10.
I love the colourful designs they have on different occasion of their watch launch.
I got most of them from Malaysia and also some from Australia & Japan when my dad goes for his business trip. So, back then, my love with watches was all βSwatchβ.
Also I have a few watches from Guess & J Bovier.
J Bovier is also a good piece and also one that has a sentimental value. Its actually from my grandmother, she gave it to me shortly before she passed away. Itβs something that I will cherish and keep safely forever.
Now that I am on a different stage of my life, I have a different preference for watches.
Working now and I prefer a much professional looking watch as it makes me feel confident. Me likey the βseriousβ and more βformalβ type of watches where its pretty much like the Kenneth Cole watch that you are about to present me, perhaps?
Hope so!
Happy New Year Joyce!
Dear Joyce,
My watch memory:
When I was 4, my mom and I decided it was time to get me my very first watch. At the time, there were probably two things in the world I was most crazy about: pink, and dinosaurs. (Well, horses too, but that’s another story! ) We were walking about in the city, looking for a pink dinosaur watch to buy. Eventually we wandered into a small-ish watch shop. I don’t remember the name of the shop, or the person who sold us the watch, or even anything else. But I remember holding my watch in all its pink-rubber-strap, yellow-brontosaurus glory and feeling like the happiest little girl in the world. It was pink, brontosaurus-ey, and the bestest kind of watch in my eyes! I’ve had a few watches since then, but nothing compares. Period. π
Thanks for reading this! π
the watch that i’m currently wearing is a gift from my dad. he left us on the 1st of Sept 2010. he passed on due to renal failure. this watch is one of the very few things that he bought for me. i remember how i used to not have so much faith in watches as most of them will die after few months of wearing. and dad bought all of ’em for me with his hard earned money. we were not rich, and he always had that extra penny to buy me a new one after the last failed. this watch that im wearing, it’s special. it lasts for a good 7 to 8 years now. and it’s the last thing that i have from my daddy dearest. i still miss him, dearly.
My parents bought me a pair of Swatch Irony (most expensive watch to date, it costs RM390) for my birthday – after much pressuring, haha! My previous Casio watch was 8 years old and went kaput. So, after just TWO WEEKS of getting my *new* watch, I was mugged and fell, breaking the watch in the process. FML. Scars all over to remind me of that day. The glass broke, so we went to Wisma Goldhill and tried to get it fixed, but they said they can’t fix it, and offered me the same watch but for 50% discount. I cried, and we left. The watch was kept in its box for years.
Then one CNY at my grandma’s, I was at a shop and the uncle was fixing old watches, so I asked if he could have a look at my broken one. He said yes, and told him i’ll be back in a few months (ching ming) and pass him the watch. So ching ming came, and we’re back at my grandma’s kampung again. Gave the uncle my watch and he said the damage is too bad and may take some time. He kept it for ONE YEAR, a year later, i got my watch back, working perfectly… Still wearing it up to this day.
Since I was little, I had this penchant for watches. Whenever I went out to any night market, I always looked out and kept my eyes on those little stalls that sold all these fancy watches.
I constantly bought myself new watches every time I had my own extra money cos I knew my dad would not spend his money to buy me watches. Up until I was in secondary school, I got really excited when I saw these fancy watches.
As my love and passion for fashion grew when I was in secondary school, I even started buying myself all those branded watches, by that I mean the knock off version of them. LOL. I remember getting myself the knock off Guess and Dolce & Gabbana watch, and I would be really pround wearing them. LOL, that was real funny!
And as I grew older, I realized that knock-offs suck balls and I stopped buying them. Since then, I stopped wearing watches and just recently about 2 years back, I started wearing a watch again. Currently I have two watches, an Emporio Armani which is a gift by somebody and a Gold Casio Digital watch, which is my favorite!
Since then, I just don’t feel right whenever I am not having one around my wrist. I always make sure I wear my watch before I step out of my room or house because “my watch completes me”. Hehehe.
That’s all.
Toodles!
I have only 1 simple reason for wanting a new watch for my man – because he can’t seem able to be on time on all our appointments! π With a watch, I’m sure he has no reason for being late again, ever!
From here, we gonna have a lot of fond memory by not arguing why he’s late for our appointment again.
Dated back to Form 3 time, everyone was wearing a Baby G and i was still wearing a pasar malam Spoon because my father just do not have extra money to buy me a decent watch. Baby G was really a hit that time, that I really really really want to own one to the extent that i will round the watch counter every time we were out for groceries shopping. Almost every each time I will said “Pa, you know how cool is this watch..” i think i got a bit too obsessed about that watch, that my father decided to gave in and bought that watch for me, a baby green color Baby G. And for a week, I was Cool. Thinking back, i didn’t appreciate my father effort much and i dont even say a proper thank you, the first thing i did was to set to be in the same time(in term of Hour:Minutes:Seconds) to my high school sweetheart. Those were the day. And i lost that watch 3 years after when i went to the university π That is the story of a father trying to give the best to the daughther.
Hi Joyce,
Would like to share with you my watch story in hopes of winning the awesome Kenneth Cole watch you posted up online. One of my most memorable and favorite thing that I ever owned is a Swatch – Kotinos 1996 fall winter collection. That is my first most expensive and cherished gift to myself when I was 13. I remembered the pleasure of wearing this limited edition wherever I went and the care I had taken to prevent it from scratches and peeling from sweat and water. My biggest regret came when I chucked it away after the picture on the strap peels away! Now and then I’m still reminded of my 1st watch whenever I browse in a Swatch shop. I guessed no watch can ever replace the kind of joy my 1st watch has given me, that is the one watch I have ever set my eyes upon for a very long time and took me awhile to save up to buy it. The pleasure when I finally get it is priceless! Lesson learnt here – never chuck any watch away, especially your very first one! π
Great to know you are giving away goodies, a whole lot more to look forward to now π Your post on watches got me thinking about my first expensive watch and thought I had to give it a try! The KC watch you are giving away is to die for anyways..so I’m thinking why not!
I must have been about 9 at that time when I came across a Cornetto competition where there was RM100,000 up for grabs, by simply designing the most creative ice cream wrapper. Just like any other competition, the catch was to send in a lid, every time you submitted an entry. Being the chubby 9 year old on a long school break, I couldnt think of anything better at that point but eat truckloads of ice cream, I was determine I was going to win the grand prize of RM100K so I could buy my dream barbie house and a whole load of other stuff. I sent in more than 30 entries (yes you can imagine what I looked like after that school break).
A few months later, I got a package in the mailbox. I still remember that day, my elder sister sat beside me in while I ripped the package open (jealous as hell of coz) I found the coolest ever skin edition from Swatch. It never really stated who or where it was from, but I am guessing it was either from the organizers or my dad who was amazed with my determination to win. (And really, Im thinking Daddy). It didnt matter at that point, what mattered was I won! π
It will always be one that means a lot though the straps fell apart and stopped functioning. Everytime I look at it, there is a sense accomplishment. I didnt get my dream Barbie house or everything else I had listed down on my wishlist, but I was definitely the kid with the coolest watch…(Well at least for a term that is)
Dear Fairy,
I have been your ardent reader. Forgive my English. I try my best to make you understand my story.
I don’t really have a fond memories of my watches i had/have. Its because i always lost them! My dad always gave me watches as birthday present and the last one is the current one i wore. Which is free ones from Selangor government (my dad already retire). But I do remember this particular watch, its black old fashion Casio watch. I think it suits my personality very much. Even my dad offered me another brand that is more expensive and pretty, I really like that watch at that time. I can glow in the dark, go underwater and have alarm on it. I know it sounds normal but to have that kind of watch when you are in secondary school, it makes you happy. LOL
The thing is, even I have lost and use a lot of watches, never really seems to be the same with that old Casio watch. I already use many kinds of watches. Fancy or classic one. Cheap or expensive ones. But somehow, the one that close to me is the one that simple, cheap and really dear to my heart. Its not what kind of watches you wear, it is what suits you. I have tried to find that kind of Casio watch at the shop but its like looking for a 1st love all over again. You may find it, but it wont be the same ever again.
I think that it. Thank you for reading LOL π
Hey!
The first thing that popped into my mind when I read the post was my current watch. It’s a very unassuming, silver Seiko ladies watch.
A little background, I’ve always been a little brat, admittedly. Being the youngest baby of the family, I’d demand for things and throw tantrums when I didn’t get what I wanted. Despite this, my loving parents were always very patient with me. My mother would say I’d learn the value of money in the future, and hopefully change my ways.
A year ago, during my university summer holidays, I interned at a local company, earning barely enough to cover my travel expenses. Just then, I needed a new watch because my old one broke, like seriously haha. Since I was “earning my own money”, my Mom decided to not get me a new one and instead, insisted I buy one with my own money.
I truly learnt the value of money, when I found it so difficult to part with my hard earned dough to purchase a new watch. I finally settled with a reasonably priced, grown-up looking Seiko watch, that will hopefully last me a long, long time. Not only did I gain a new watch, I also had new-found respect and love for my parents. My parents worked so hard to provide for us siblings, wanting only the best for us. I will be sure to reciprocate the love in their golden years π
Who knew a watch could teach such a valuable life lesson?
xoxo
I have more than a soft spot for watches. In fact, they are part of me so much so that I can’t leave the house without one on. I wear mine on my right wrist despite being right handed and it was actually this quirk that sparked off my first conversation with my first love, well puppy love truth be told π Being the new kid in school and all, I found myself a new friend and a few days down the line when my 12 year old other half started wearing his watch on his right wrist as well, I knew he was going to be one hell of a sweet ‘friendly’ friend haha. Up to this day when I look down on my wrist at an idle moment, I’m brought back to the day when I first noticed his Casio watch on the ‘wrong’ side of his limb and smile knowingly to myself just like what I did back then whilst the BM teacher was looking for spare chalks in front of the class, just how blissful life can be if you just embrace the moment.
Dear Fairy,
Everyday, the first thing that i did when i reached my office is to read all that goes around about you. Then later only i read my office mails that would never excite me like the excitement you gave me when i read about your blog . As my new 2011 resolution, I’m gonna be brave to enter the competition that you organize.
I have always been obsessed with watches. Though I didn’t come from a wealthy family i did save every penny of my savings just to purchase a watch. Current status are 2 pair of Swatches (1 is an old watch that i cant’ bring myself to throw it away and another 1 is currently i’ve been using), 1 pair of white Baby-G (that i borrow to my sister and it turn into black), 1 Esprit that dissapoint me and 1 Casio (that i gave to my sister that turn my white Baby-G into black). To conclude, i only left with 1 Swatch that i been using everyday and i would love a new watch (so that my craving for watch is over).
Therefore after much consideration, I hope to be able to have this watch for my hubby (so that in return he can buy for me another Kenneth Cole Watch ). Isn’t this a great idea? . I can’t imagine how delighted he will be to have this and the most great part is that it is a gift from a ‘fairy’.
Thank you with a cherry on top an apple pie that you ate in France beside it.
Sincerely from a boring wife that wants to suprise her husband.
P/S: Sorry if my English is not as good as others.
Hi Joyce,
When I was younger I bought myself a Casio Databank watch from isetan lot 10. It was in white and almost transparent. I wasn’t really attracted to the geeky features but a dinosaur will appear when I press the backlight button! I love that little Dino so much that I bought the same watch (in yellow this time) after my ex lost it. But again he lost the yellow one.
Yup, I was very much in love and stupid to let him wear my watch.
I used to work in a kindergarten and the kids loved my little dinosaur that lived in my watch.
I guess that why I still don’t own any watch.
I tried googling for the watch but nothing came up.
Love to read your blog.
Yen
Writing in to tell you a short story about my watch. Many years back while I’m still in primary school, the Baby G watches with the velcro straps are the coolest thing to own. So I did well in school and my parent bought me watch. I was so happy to have it, I grew obsessed with it, strapping it tightly around my wrist everyday without taking it off. I will only take it off when I bath and quickly strap it back on tightly.
After a while, the watch died a natural death and I noticed that my left wrist is and still is significantly smaller than my right wrist Freaking out, I stopped wearing watches after that but had picked up the habit again when I started working. But to my small wrist, it’s very difficult for me to find suitable watches and I’m avoiding straps on with all cost..
Thanks for reading though! π
Have a good day,
Dear Joyce,
The first thing that popped up in my mind is my Swatch Limited Edition Summer Watch. I bought this baby in 2002 when I was in Form 2. I have always dreamed of owning a Swatch watch as it was a big trend back then and all I had was a Casio watch my sister gave to me which I loved dearly. However, kids being kids and being greedy, I saved up money by doing chores at home and charging my parents for measly pay and also saved up my allowance to buy the watch.
I still have it now at home π
Love
Pamela
Ironically I wear my Projects Watch not to tell time but as a decorative wrist piece π
here’s why:
1) it’s quite hard to read the face π
2) I’m used to my habit of looking at my Laptop or hand phone for the time, or just shouting to my desk elf next door ‘Oi! what time is it ah?!’
3) I’m a Detail nerd which means:
a) the design is based on the Guggenheim Museum in New York which I had the chance to visit in October. <3 Architecture bucket list (checked!)
b) the strap is of metal mesh!!!!! how awesome is that?! reminds me of SekSan's designs such as Sekeping serendah
that's all! π
Hi Joyce,
My favorite watch is the last watch that my late father gave to me. I don’t know hat brand it is but the back is written JF. I never use this watch and I don’t know why. Maybe cause I am not a watch wearing person or deep down I love it to much to use it. It’s a cute watch. On the face us written woof woof. The strap is colourful dogs & woof woof. Coincidently it’s my year (: I’ll change the batteries from time to time. I’ve had it for more than 10 years now & everytime I see this watch, it reminds me of my late father who died 11 years ago. It’s really a simple and some might say childish but I love it to bits (:
Name: Geraldine Voo
Email: gerry.voo@gmail.com
Address: B6-1-8, phase 2D, taman penampang apartments, 88300 Kota Kinabalu Sabah.
Regards,
Gerry*
A memory of a favourite watch I had was from high school.It was a classic guess watch from my mom.The watch was given to her by her formal boss some years back.And the dial was marbley pretty with brown straps attached.She had borrowed me the watch as I had none to wear for school.Anyways,wearing it to school daily was what I did.Then this very day,that rushed morning,I decided to keep the watch in my baju kurung pocket.I went to school as usual and absolutely forgotten I didnt have any watch on.Hours later only I tried to remember where I had misplaced the watch.Then there was this blurry memory of the watch dropping off my pocket hole(the open ones from a baju kurung). Oh no! After school I went back to check the road/pathway to my school from the time I came out from the car.I was absolutely devastated.I tried recalling the spot I have came down from the car-see if the watch was on the road or something.Several days later, when I tried looking around for the watch,only to find the remains of the watch on the road.The only remains were the brown of the straps of the watch.It was a day I would remember and to give back something as precious as that watch to my mom would be amazing. Then,there’d be new experiences with this one!
Being a kid, I of course never knew much about brandsβ¦nada, zip, yelekβ¦. And of course it was up to my parents to buy stuff that was practical for me. I remember being in primary school and my dad had come home with a watch for me. Nice and sleek, small little round faceβ¦ red, green and black. I loved it! It was pretty, dainty and it was a brand new watch. I also remember rubbing it with my t-shirt when there were finger prints on the face, placing it carefully by my bedside when i slept and making sure I never go it wet.
It wasnβt until I was much older and realised that it was a Gucci watch. Now, I canβt say for sure if it was a copy or not (doubt its original considering I was just a kid)β¦ but it didnβt matter then. I may not have that watch now (imagine it if was original and I kept it!!) but Iβll definitely remember the first time my dad wore that watch for me. This is my first watch memory from childhood.
xoxo
Dear Joyce the fairy,
Thanks for the opportunity to win that watch. I’ve been an on-off reader of your blog for some time now and it’s been interesting to say the least π
All i want to say is to keep on living life with full abandon and to stay fairy-ish always. Cheers.
My entry for the contest is down below:-
My favorite memory was when i was given my first casio digital calculator watch when i was still in primary school, about 10 y/o, if i have to hazard a guess. Those things were da bomb then! A watch I can finally crunch numbers with as well as tell the time (wonder if that’s a subversive tactic that my dad used to get me involved in finance). Anyway, that watch became my pride and joy for the next few years or so, until my fingers became too clumsy to press on those delicate buttons. I would just calculate away, anything and everything… but mostly it involves how many cups of coca-cola or sweets or twisties i can buy from the canteen auntie with my allowance. I think that i even calculated how many more days till the school holidays on that watch. Such pure, unbridled calculative joy i had with my nerdy watch.
I think that in getting me that calculator watch, my father must have hoped that i will learn about the importance of time and that once time is subtracted from our lives, it will never be added back again and we must divide our time usefully in doing things that multiply our knowledge and experience. Or then again, maybe it was just to stop my constant whining for the watch… π
i still remember my first ever watch,which i had when i was seven. back then, i had this curiousity on how to tell time from an analog form. so i insisted my mum to get me one. being a great mom, of course she did.
so that weekend, we went to the mall somewhere in kajang, i remember it was called as “the ocean”. it was like the midvalley of that era,at least to me. so we passed this one small watch shop, and something just caught my eye.
remember, i was seven and knew absolutely nothing about fashion or style. somehow that bright red,round face with very thin strap just stood there shining. it was of mickey mouse brand. in my mind, i started to imagine how it will stand out with my white kurung school uniform. i told my mum i wanted it so badly, but she refused as the price was too much for a kiddie watch.
being a hard headed i am, i rolled onto the floor,started yelling and screaming like a kid just infected with rabies. i was so inconsolable that my mum finally agreed to buy it.
since then, i wore the watch religiously, that i kept on telling people time,even when no one asked me. i am that obsessed with the watch. when i go to bed, i’ll put it next to me,near to my ear so that i can hear it ticks. and it ticked me to sleep.
sadly after about 2 solid years, i lost it at school. i was so devastated that i never wore any watch until i was 16.
though this might sound ridiculous,but the red watch really taught me on punctuality and discipline. im still looking for a watch that resembles it and hope one day i might found one.
My first swatch that I bought for myself after 2 months working as a sales assistant when i was 17years old.
It follow me till I am 33 now. I remind me what I promised myself to succeed in my career… since then, I bought 1 watch every promotion I had. π Well, the pop swatch still my favorite even when I lost it in a burglary incident. :'(
Watches mark my time spend in my life journey…
Hi Joyce! π
When I was younger, my Mom and I fought all the time. I guess, as a rebellious teenage daughter, I was quite a pain in the ass. But now that Iβm older and wiser, we found a new understanding and I started to see her ways.
Just like this Orient watch (picture attached) that belonged to my Momβ¦I remember her wearing it when I was young. And I remember not liking it. Nothing my Mom did was ever cool and I always hated her choice of clothes for me. But today, Iβm always ransacking her wardrobe for pieces that I can borrow or take!
Haha, this watch is the perfect reminder of how wrong I was and how much I really love my Mom. I wouldnβt change a thing about her. Knowing that I have a piece of her wherever I go, never fails to make me smile!
Itβs definitely no surprise that this little watch is my all-time favourite, most overused watch. π
I was beaming with pride when I got my first watch when I was a wee lad. I felt like an adult since it means I could tell the time. Just like the first time you’re ordering food NOT from a kids menu or when you could cycle without support wheels.
It was a tradition with my parents to bring me to KL at least once a month. I used to stay with my aunt or grandma then as both my parents were working in shifts and wouldn’t have much time to spend with me during the weekdays. I was always looking forward to our weekend trips; the bus rides downtown, catching a movie, getting candy or cookie treats from Famous Amos, a visit to the toystore. My parents weren’t rich but gave me everything a boy wants and more.
I was probably around 4-5 years old and strangely, I could still remember my parents bringing me into the watch shop that was ran by a Chinese uncle. I ran eagerly into the glass display and stared with amazement to all the various watches calling out to me. I was a Disney kid with a library of videotapes of their fairytales and Mickey Mouse cartoons, so naturally my eyes were laid on a pair of Mickey watch. It has a leather strap and what amused me most was because Mickey’s arms were the watch’s hand! Alas, gone are the days when we’re easily captivated by the simples things in life.
Needless to say, my parents got me that Mickey watch and I wore it immediately in the shop. The rites of passage to being an adult, I’d thought.
We headed to a mall after where I played in a playland. You know, those indoor amusement park where you get to play on slides and ‘swim’ in a pool of colourful plastic balls, much like the one in One Utama (how I wish they allow me in again!) I played for a good period of time and when I went of of the playland, to my horror, my watch was missing from my tiny wrist! I told my parents and luckily managed to convince the guard to let me in the playland again to look for my watch. I searched and I searched and I searched, but to no avail. I even ‘dived’ and scour the pool of rainbow hued balls, looking for it (but secretly I was happy to be able to get into the playland again ;P) I came out defeated and disappointed. My first and short lived watch!
I graduated to other watches throughout the course of my life; Simpsons, the KFC kids’ meal watch where it’s shaped like a fighter plane or tanker to the Tissot where my parents gave me as my graduation gift (and still intact, mind you), but I shall never forget my first watch, much like my other firsts of my formative years.
Time is Golden…..
It plays important role in my life to keep track of every second in my life by ‘saving’ all the happy and sad memories.
I remembered my 1st watch was a purple Mickey Mouse brand watch as a birthday present from my uncle and it was sent all the way from KL to JB.
My family couldnt really afford a nice and good watch for me when I was young.
All I could have was a RM 10 watch.However, it did mean alot to me.
I remembered I was on top of the world when I received the purple Mickey Mouse watch a a birthday present.
I believe Kenneth Cole can be part of my life….
Don’t put off what I can do today…
Time does not wait……………
Thud! My heart was broken when I heard the sound. No…my heart had broken into pieces even before that. I knew I should not have placed so much hope in an inanimate object and almost wanting for a romance to happen. I threw the watch I bought for this girl that I, a dreamy teenage boy in high school, admired and blindly loved. Yes, I flung the colorful yet minimalist Swatch out of the third floor from Block C, where my classroom was. I never wanted to comprehend the emotions within me when she said the dreaded words, “De Way, I like you too but I think it’s better that we stayed as friends. Alright?” Alright sure.
It has been 14 years since Form 2 (Lord forbid a Form 2 kid thrashing a perfectly good watch with his full month’s pocket money but yeah I did) and no, I am not with the dream girl that I ruined a watch over. As of today, it has been 3 days since I celebrated my 11 years anniversary with my fiancee. I have bought her a Seiko Criteria, worn ever so elegantly on Miriam Yeung shown on those billboard advertisements. Sometimes, I wonder how things would have turned out if the girl in Form 2 accepted my gift and my feelings for her. But nay, today with this memory made public that I shall stop wondering and dedicate my time to my lovely fiancee. I hope she likes the watch I bought her.
There have been such amazing memories in between the Swatch and Seiko Criteria, and for once I am being sentimental about time.
Great reading here, thanks for a great article, been reading it twice now and I had to show my friend too, hehe. Thanks again. Lisa Herreure Jensen , Denmark