Brisbane’s new landmark — “Vespa Girl” — seen riding high above Scooters Scooters in Wickham Street Fortitude Valley has another reason to smile and wave at passers by, having won Gold in the Australian Sign Awards on the 31st of October 2008!
The annual competition is held on a National basis and the Vespa Girl took on contestants from as far away as W.A to take out the ‘Neon bending & lighting effects’ category.
Dealer Principal Joe D’Ercole was thrilled with the award stating that “we really wanted to make a statement, and an impact with the Vespa Girl sign. People are already using the store and sign as a point of reference in the area. We believe we have achieved this, and taking out the award is icing on the cake.”
Scooters Scooters is Vespa’s showcase store in Australia featuring a full line up of the stylish, economical and environmentally friendly Vespa, Piaggio and Gilera range of scooters. [source]
couple of weeks ago, I attended a Baptism Reception of the four-month old baby of a Vespa buddy (Dax). While waiting for my company (Adrian) to arrive, I decided to look for a gift to while away the time. I went to Gingersnaps and saw this shirt for babies (with sizes 0 to 18 months). What a perfect gift indeed.
There were two Vespa designs but I chose this one…
I forgot to take a picture of the shirt when I bought it. When my wife went to the shop take a picture of the merchandise a few days later, the saleslady told her that all sizes for both designs are already out of stock in their branch. Luckily, Dax volunteered to send me a pic of the shirt I gave.
Vietnam is a motorcycle country. Two wheels (about 90%) greatly outnumber the cars on the road. But as seen in the images on my two previous Vietnam-related posts here, hardly anyone there wore a helmet on the road. Thankfully, that’s a thing of the past.
So how did the country get it’s more than 12 million riders to wear one? Well, it all started with this campaign.
On December 15, 2007, wearing a helmet became mandatory (Government Decree Number 32 - Mandatory Helmet Law) to all motorbike riders in Vietnam making it one of the world’s most successful public-health initiatives in years. My recent visit there is proof that indeed, everyone now wears a helmet there and not just in Ho Chi Minh but in the rural areas as well. Our tour guide said not everyone is happy with the new law but all are forced to comply than pay the fine of 200,000 dong or roughly about U$D12.
And since the “coolness” factor ranks high for most Vietnamese riders, some of their helmets (they used to jokingly refer to these protective headgears as “rice cooker”) don’t look like helmets at all! For a rider like me, Vietnam roads was practically an endless showroom of fancy helmets money could buy. There are ones that are shaped like baseball caps, cowboy hats, bowler, sola topee, and knitted beanies. There are colorful visors made of cloth attachable to a plain-looking helmets. At one time, I think I even saw a helmet that looks like the familiar Vietnamese straw hat (Nón lá). You name it, they have it!
And since I myself fancy unique helmets, I bought some for myself. I even bought one for my daughter which is shaped like a ladybug. That one’s just too cute to pass up. See them here. Read the rest of this entry ?
That’s my 3-year old nephew, Enzo, riding the all-metal, vintage toy Vespa I recently acquired. I got it from an antique dealer at the Suan Lum Night Bazaar in Bangkok which is like our Tiendesitas here in Manila. It didn’t come cheap but I figured I’d rather have this one than look for an actual vintage Vespa to restore. hehehe I had to carry it riding a tuktuk back to our hotel, looked for a box big enough around the Divisoria-ishPratunam Market the next day, and paid overweight charges at the airport. All that hassle just to get this baby in Manila (thanks again to spank_me for the “meet & greet” at NAIA ). But mind you, it’s not even like I’m the only one who has it here.
Meet Charlie(aka Vestsinoy). He’sgot one exactly like mine and only paid a freakin’ P300 for it. What the…?!! That’s not #@%* fair! hahaha! Here’s his story:
“If luck is on your side you’ll stumble on things and it will find you. Well luck was on my side that day, while strolling around downtown Manila I happen to be at the right place at the right time. I saw a kid sitting on a small old metal Vespa. WOW! A faithful detail replica made of metal. “This is soo mine!” (with greed ng konti hehe). I ask for her mom and offer to buy it, she instantly agreed. “How much?” i asked. Clueless mom…“Ikaw?” 300 pesos… Done! It’s like owning the best toy in your block, when I was a kid. Now it adorn my bookshelves.”
I’ve been wanting to blog about this for quite sometime now but I simply don’t know how I should approach in writing this. Clearly, I’m not a technical guy who knows the inner workings of a Vespa — electrical, mechanical or otherwise. I’m just into the riding part and not too keen with tinkering and DIYs.
But like any other Vespa PX guy, I knew I wanted to upgrade my headlamp to improve nightime visibility. I know a number who are considering an HID upgrade for their scoots but are still waiting by the sidelines due to some concerns and considerations. I too had those but as soon as I’ve learned that an after-market HID kit fit for a Vespa was already locally available and heard good feedback from a couple of friends who had it, I decided to go for it as well.
True I still had some concerns but I felt the improved nightime visibility is worth taking the risk. Below are the questions I had before which I now have the answers to. I figured others might have the same things running through their heads. The answers I have is limited to PX and I really don’t know how it goes with the other Vespa models. Here goes… Read the rest of this entry ?
MBK Center(Mahboonkrong) is an air-conditioned, multi-storey bargain mall in Bangkok much like the Greenhills Tiangge here in Manila only on a more tiring scale! When my wife & I was there last November, we came across on the 6th floor a table setup displaying tiny cartoon and anime figures made of what seemed like a lightweight clay which feels more like a hard foam. They’re called Took..Ga..Toons.
Along with the familiar characters, there were also mini-sculptures based on the faces of real people. And what we thought were mere cute characters keychains like these…
were actually functional USB flash drives when the body is pulled away.
When I saw this particular motorcycle thumb drive, I asked the talented artist manning the booth (his name is Worradej Juengjaroennorasuk — Toe for short) if he could make one for my daughter riding a pink Vespa. I showed him my daughter’s picture in my iPhone and he took a digital shot of it and saved it on his laptop where he’ll base his work.
Enrico & Bing Gaw of Gallery 7 / Art is Me gifted us with our very own 16×20 family pop art. My wife & I were never really into buying paintings nor having big portraits of ourselves displayed in the house that’s why, for the longest time, our walls have been bare… until now.
We felt that this pop art is the best compromise between a painting and our self-portrait: casual, colorful, fun, a bit self-indulgent but definitely not highbrow.
Enrico simply asked me to send a high-res photo via email and I submitted one from this series. After a few of days, we already got an email from Bing with a couple of studies for approval. We sent back our comments and color suggestions and that was all there is to it. The only time we physically saw each other was when I picked-up the actual artwork in their shop. It helped that we have an idea of the quality of their work.
Here’s a great apparel that any rider should have, especially those who ride at night. Reflectorized vest are available in hardware stores in malls (i.e. Ace Hardware, Handyman, True Value, and The DIY Shop) and they’re not expensive at all. This may just proved as your most practical riding gear. While helmet provides protection for serious head injury, a reflective vests helps prevent the accident altogether by making the rider more visible to other motorists on the road especially at night time.
I celebrated my 35th birthday on the first day of last month. Yes I know, I don’t look my age but I’m really just in my mid-thirties despite whatever impression my hairline gives you.Weeks leading to that, my wife suggested that I had a party in a bar; hire a band maybe, and invite all my friends. Of course, I initially liked the idea. Having my family, friends from work and high school and even my Vespa buddies gathered in one place sounds like fun. But then again, I remembered the few big birthday parties I’ve had in the past and got reminded of the feeling of being so overwhelmed with all the people. It’s like, time was never enough to chat with all those who came, and I never liked that feeling. I guess, I’m just not a social butterfly. I’m comfortable with a small group, but bring all my friends together in one place, and I clam up.In short, the big party idea was scrapped. What I had were few and separate small gatherings with different sets of friends. My only special request to my wife is that my birthday cake should have my very own caricature figurine riding on a Vespa. I wanted the scooter to be black like PIKE but my wife wanted it to be colorful so I agreed with her suggested yellow. Here’s how it looked like:
(apologies to Karl for cropping my face out of this picture)
I know it actually look more handsome than the celebrant but the sculptors still based that face on me — in my picture here to be more specific. Check out the hairline! So here’s how wifey put it together… (the cake, not the party!) Read the rest of this entry ?
Brisbane’s new landmark — “Vespa Girl” — seen riding high above Scooters Scooters in Wickham Street Fortitude Valley has another reason to smile and wave at passers by, having won Gold in the Australian Sign Awards on the 31st of October 2008!
). But mind you, it’s not even like I’m the only one who has it here.
hahaha! Here’s his story:
