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I was listening to the song “Your Side of Town” by The Killers on the radio today, and it very much reminded me of a close friend of mine who has the same tastes in western music as I do. The style of this song got me reminiscing about the kind of music each of us used to listen to when we were in high school…or maybe even younger.
I was listening to this song, bopping along in my car, and my mind started imagining and making up a story/scenario. I was imagining my friend being back in high school, but the whole tone had a John Hughes (a classic 1980s movie director, if you didn’t know) vibe. I was picturing my friend standing against the wall on the side of the school, wearing skinny-ish jeans & a slouchy blazer with a collared shirt & skinny tie, trying to flirt with girls while feeling super angst and moody.
That got my mind drifting and wandering even more, & as I parked my car in my driveway, I stopped my imaginary stories. I suddenly realized, while also talking to myself aloud in the car, that I love my imagination. I love the way my mind drifts & I can invent wild & fanciful stories that I can picture to myself so vividly.
I have always been a kid who can make up stories with my own imagination, on the spot. I rarely write them down, but I often remember stories I’ve thought of years ago. Sometimes I will go back to one of my old imaginings & reimagine the whole scenario with added embellishments, or to fit the current time. Other times, I will think back on an old story I made up just to reminisce about that scenario I once thought of.
No matter how old I get, I will never stop imagining stories or daydream in my mind. I love every one of my made up stories. They are little scenes just for me, and they make me so happy. Cheers.
I follow a few selective fashion influencers on Instagram. Two of these such fashion influencers demonstrate more traditional (maybe old fashioned) fashion trends from bygone eras. Both of these guys showcase two totally different styles. However, they both advocate wearing traditional analog watches, not just as fashion accessories, but as actual classic timepieces. I even used to wear watches once upon a time, watches in all shapes & sizes.
When I was younger, around middle school to high school age, I wore watches. My watch wearing phase started with a vintage 1980s Sanrio Hello Kitty children’s watch handed down to me from my sister (her father used to import-export Sanrio merchandise from Hong Kong & Japan). The watch had a white (faded to a dingy yellow) plastic analog face with a tiny fish bowl as the second hand & a blue & red striped band. I wore that watch until it no longer fit my wrist, & am not sure what happened to it after I stopped wearing it. I even tried wearing it once after the battery had expired, but the children’s sized band just wouldn’t fit around my chubby wrist.
The second watch I ever wore was a gift from my mom that she got at a department store sale. It was a white & silver Guess brand watch with a white braided leather band & a round silver analog face. I wore that watch every single day throughout my high school days until the coloring on the leather band started peeling. After that, I wore a long silver chain necklace with a spherical shaped pendant that had a watch face in the middle. It was a very small pendant on a too-long-for-me chain, but I still wore it every day, even though it was difficult to read the time on it. One time, I asked my friends if I looked like rapper Flav-A-Flav, but they had no clue who he even was.
Since those high school days, I stopped wearing watches, mostly because I had gotten lazy. From my college days until young adulthood, I had no interest in fashion, jewelry, or accessorizing my outfits. I did go through a Japanese streetwear tomboy phase in my mid-twenties & tried wearing a Casio G-Shock watch, which had become very trendy & collectible at the time, but it didn’t make me look like a tomboy or a hipster. It only made me look like a try-hard playing dress-up in men’s clothes. So, I stopped wearing trendy watches.
At one point in my early twenties, I went back to wearing watches for a bit & had another Hello Kitty watch. It had a wide black silicone band, black square watch face, & a tiny red bow for the second hand. I bought this watch right around the time I started working at the Sanrio Surprises store at my local shopping mall. I used my meager employee discount to get my hands on the latest products before we displayed them in the store. I saw this watch & snapped it up immediately.
Somehow, in recent years, I started thinking about wearing watches again. I guess my romantic feelings toward nostalgic things has piqued my interest in watches again. For the past two to three years, I have been considering very carefully whether or not I truly want to continue wearing watches again, or if it is just a trend I am fixating on. Have I been noticing other popular influencers wearing traditional analog watches & feeling some sort of FOMO? Is my nostalgia increasing in strength as I grow older? Or maybe I am trying to actively wean myself off of being glued to my phone, & I am trying to not use my phone’s clock as an excuse. Maybe it’s a mixture of all these things. It doesn’t really matter.
I carefully thought out what I really wanted, waited patiently, then pulled the trigger & bought myself a watch. I have been seeing this brand BREDA on Instagram a lot in the past year, & I really fell in love with their watch designs. I consulted with Jian, who is my voice of reason, my truth mirror, & my sounding board. He helped me to choose a watch that fit my body type/shape & would fit my everyday lifestyle, but also match my wardrobe. This watch is not extremely expensive, yet also not the cost of a cereal box plastic prize. It looks fancy, but also can be worn with everyday ease. Here are the photos as follows:
So far I am loving this watch, & I am pushing myself to get back into the habit of wearing watches every day. I cannot wait to see how the band will look & feel once it’s been worn in. It’s a little bit stiff now, seeing as how it is out-of-the-box brand new, but it’s still comfortable to wear. Also, since this is the mid-size sedan equivalent of watches, I’m not too concerned about minor scratches or everyday wear & tear. It’s bound to happen anyway, but that doesn’t mean that I won’t take good care of this watch. I’m hoping to wear this one for as long, if not longer, than the one I wore in high school (which is a very long time).
I am so glad that analog watches are coming back in style. I have no desire to wear a digital watch. It’s nice to have something functional, practical, & pretty to look at instead of always reaching for a mobile device. I hope more people of the next generations get to appreciate the joys of owning & wearing a traditional analog watch like we do. Until the next post, cheers!
Today’s song of the day:
What’s the story behind your nickname?
I am very annoyed at the moment because I wrote an entire post about this prompt, posted it, but it never published on my blog. My original draft was never actually saved either. So, when I went to check back, the only draft copy I had was blank. Other than that, here is a rundown of all of my nicknames.
When my dad was alive, he would often refer to me by my full English first name. Occasionally he would call me 妹 (mèi, the shortened version of 妹妹, which means little/younger sister). In fact, within my immediate family circle, I am often referred to as 妹 (mèi)…little sister, as I am the youngest child. My mom even calls me 阿妹 (ā mèi)…mostly. She also calls me by my full Chinese name, but only when she is very mad or very serious. (No, I am not going to reveal my Chinese name.)
The only person, however, who does not call me “little sister” is, in fact, my older sister. She just calls me Mel, the shortened version of my first name. Jian & most of my friends from all of my various circle of friends, also refer to me as Mel. Very rarely do they address me by my full first name.
One nickname that I go by jokingly within my friend groups, that I also use on the internet is “Melsenpai”. This nickname has more of a cultural meaning for me, & has absolutely nothing to do with the “I Hope Senpai Will Notice Me” internet meme.
Politeness has always been a critical facet of Japanese culture. Ever since the feudal era, when Japan was a highly stratified society, use of honorifics – which can be defined as polite speech that indicates relationship or status – has played an essential role in the Japanese language. When addressing someone in Japanese, an honorific usually takes the form of a suffix attached to one’s name (example: “Asuna-san”), or as a title at the end of one’s name or in place of the name itself (example: “Negi-sensei,” or simply, “Sensei!”).
Description courtesy of: DelRey Manga, Kodansha, & Ballantine Books
Sempai/Senpai: This title suggests that the addressee is one’s “senior” in a group or organization. It is most often used in a school setting, where underclassmen refer to their upperclassmen as “senpai.” It can also be used in the workplace, such as when a newer employee addresses an employee who has seniority in the company.
Description courtesy of: DelRey Manga, Kodansha, & Ballantine Books
I have been using the “senpai” honorific as a nickname for many years. It just so happens that I am the oldest in age amongst all of my friends, so they jokingly call me “senpai”, not as an actual status symbol or seniority title, but simply because I am their elder. In the beginning, when this nickname was first circulating amongst my friends, I had some sensitive sentiment towards this name. Back then, I was very sensitive towards revealing my age & had negative feelings regarding my age. I still have an extremely hard time talking about my age bracket, but I have become more comfortable with the “senpai” title, & have grown into that role, especially since revealing that one of my biggest & most defining traits is being a take-carer.
Can I count the times when people have mistakenly called me Melissa or Melanie as being called a nickname? Probably not. Hopefully this post will actually publish this time. Sheesh. Cheers!
Today’s song of the day:
Rabbits & Foxes 
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