Keychains
“Gu gu,慧慧買Bear Bear的keychain送給你。” (Translation: I've bought a Pooh Bear keychain for you. From Disneyland of course.)
"Orh. Thank you ah, 慧慧."
I collect keychains. Have I mentioned that before? It's yet another of my weird hobbies. This one probably started during my early teens when I received a few keychains as gifts from various sources simultaneously. After that, I started going out specially to look for them. I believe I have over 150 now.
I take this hobby rather seriously too. They're kept in those sealed plastic containers to prevent exposure to air and rust. On top of that, I will oil the metallic parts from time to time, with some hairdressing cream (I am not kidding). Those that are 24K gold coated, I keep them in tiny ziplock bags to further protect them (I really am not kidding).
I'm not into those keychains where you have a small piece of picture declaring you have been a Hawaii or such. Instead, I like those with everyday objects. Shoes, food, cigarettes, dice, billiard set (numbers 1 to 15 plus the cue ball!)... etc.
My favourite keychain, or rather set of keychains, involved Ah-Gee. Heh, he seems to get involved in all the stranger tales I've related here, doesn't he? Anyway, this set of keychains is a FULL SET of mahjong tiles. Yes, every single tile with a keychain attached.
So how did Ah-Gee come into the picture, you ask? Well, this set is homemade and he made them for me. I think it was shortly after graduation. He was still looking for work and had some time on his hands. I had received four such keychains (東，南，西，北) from my new colleague who had just been to 女人街 in Hong Kong. I showed them to Ah-Gee and mentioned it was a pity I cannot find the full set anywhere in Singapore.
Upon which he hatched the idea of making them for me. Getting those small sized tiles (each about the size of your thumb) wasn't too difficult. Getting those keychains to attach to the tiles seemed a bit trickier but he had his lobangs. Drilling the holes into them at the correct angle and without cracking them was probably the biggest challenge of them all.
A few weeks later, he showed me the completed articles. Well, I was most impressed. He did pretty nifty work on them. And I have to believe nowhere in Singapore or perhaps in the world would you be able to get a full set of mahjong tiles on keychains.
Yet another of my treasured gifts from a friend.
My latest acquisitions to the collection would be the Pooh Bear I've mentioned above and a 棺材. The latter comes with a sliding lid. My mum had seen it at Great World City about a month ago and bought it for me. That should be quite a hoot to look at!
Since I've left Singapore for Sydney, some of my keychain collection have become toys for my niece. But my mum has been careful enough to keep the more fragile ones. Hopefully, everything will still be intact when I return.
Akan Datang: Chinese phrases
30 days to go.
Edit: The pictures below were added on 25th May 2006. They were taken after my return home, thanks to the digital camera borrowed from my sis:
The first half of my keychain collection. The jackpot machine on the extreme left actually works (with a battery of course).
The second and more interesting half of my collection. Note the full set of pool balls, mahjong set, and pair of brass fish keychains I had mentioned in a guest blog post.
"Orh. Thank you ah, 慧慧."
I collect keychains. Have I mentioned that before? It's yet another of my weird hobbies. This one probably started during my early teens when I received a few keychains as gifts from various sources simultaneously. After that, I started going out specially to look for them. I believe I have over 150 now.
I take this hobby rather seriously too. They're kept in those sealed plastic containers to prevent exposure to air and rust. On top of that, I will oil the metallic parts from time to time, with some hairdressing cream (I am not kidding). Those that are 24K gold coated, I keep them in tiny ziplock bags to further protect them (I really am not kidding).
I'm not into those keychains where you have a small piece of picture declaring you have been a Hawaii or such. Instead, I like those with everyday objects. Shoes, food, cigarettes, dice, billiard set (numbers 1 to 15 plus the cue ball!)... etc.
My favourite keychain, or rather set of keychains, involved Ah-Gee. Heh, he seems to get involved in all the stranger tales I've related here, doesn't he? Anyway, this set of keychains is a FULL SET of mahjong tiles. Yes, every single tile with a keychain attached.
So how did Ah-Gee come into the picture, you ask? Well, this set is homemade and he made them for me. I think it was shortly after graduation. He was still looking for work and had some time on his hands. I had received four such keychains (東，南，西，北) from my new colleague who had just been to 女人街 in Hong Kong. I showed them to Ah-Gee and mentioned it was a pity I cannot find the full set anywhere in Singapore.
Upon which he hatched the idea of making them for me. Getting those small sized tiles (each about the size of your thumb) wasn't too difficult. Getting those keychains to attach to the tiles seemed a bit trickier but he had his lobangs. Drilling the holes into them at the correct angle and without cracking them was probably the biggest challenge of them all.
A few weeks later, he showed me the completed articles. Well, I was most impressed. He did pretty nifty work on them. And I have to believe nowhere in Singapore or perhaps in the world would you be able to get a full set of mahjong tiles on keychains.
Yet another of my treasured gifts from a friend.
My latest acquisitions to the collection would be the Pooh Bear I've mentioned above and a 棺材. The latter comes with a sliding lid. My mum had seen it at Great World City about a month ago and bought it for me. That should be quite a hoot to look at!
Since I've left Singapore for Sydney, some of my keychain collection have become toys for my niece. But my mum has been careful enough to keep the more fragile ones. Hopefully, everything will still be intact when I return.
Akan Datang: Chinese phrases
30 days to go.
Edit: The pictures below were added on 25th May 2006. They were taken after my return home, thanks to the digital camera borrowed from my sis:
The first half of my keychain collection. The jackpot machine on the extreme left actually works (with a battery of course).
The second and more interesting half of my collection. Note the full set of pool balls, mahjong set, and pair of brass fish keychains I had mentioned in a guest blog post.
posted by Acey Deucey at 8:08 am
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