Jordanhead: My Jordan collections

My sneakers addiction started probably during my 2nd year in university. My favourite has been Air Jordans and it's the only sneakers that I ever bought since I began falling in love with sneakers. I think it must have started when I started watching Youtube videos about sneakers during my free time in university. I love basketball and I've been a fan of Michael Jordan thanks to my eldest brother's influence. That's probably why I love Air Jordans more than any other sneakers.

My love for sneakers has a relatively less expensive (xD) beginning. The first two sneakers that I remember buying myself, as in walking into a sneaker store alone and picking sneakers to purchase, is a pair of black and white Nike and another pair of blue Nike. I bought these two sneakers in a sneaker store in Berjaya Times Square in 2014 before I went to university study in Singapore. I did not even know what these 2 sneakers are called until I did a research on them years later after I fall in love with Air Jordans. Those 2 pairs of sneakers are Nike Blazer and Nike Eric Koston 2.

The Nike Blazer and Nike Eric Koston 2 were my daily kicks to wear from 2014 to 2016 until I found out about Air Jordans. I came across Youtube videos on Air Jordans and I fall in love with it right away. However, I was still a university student laden with student debt and Air Jordan sneaker is expensive. Nevertheless, I came across Hoops Station website and saw a pair of Air Jordan 9 Low Pantone sell with a 42% discount. I made up my mind that I was going to purchase this pair and so it became the first pair of Air Jordan that I own.

To be honest, I never think about collecting Air Jordans as a hobby when I first bought the AJ9 Low Pantone. But my friend Jeff Choong once said to me: the first pair will open the gate to more pairs to come in the future. And damn was he right on this as I began to buy and collect more Air Jordans since I graduated and started to earn my own money. I love Air Jordans and so I make it a life goal to collect all the Air Jordans that I love.

My Jordan collections stand at 6 pairs/models as of March 2020. And plenty more will be coming as I intend to build up my Jordan collections. I'm not an OG or hypebeast Jordanheads per se. I just love Air Jordans in general and would purchase any colorway (I'm partial towards blue) or slight alteration to the model as long as I like it.

Sneakerheads often say every sneaker that they own has a personal story. And this is true for me as well. So, I'm going to share a little personal story for every pair of Jordans that I've owned and shared on my Instagram.

Air Jordan IX Low Pantone

As mentioned earlier, this Air Jordan IX Low Pantone is the first pair of Air Jordan that I ever own. First love is memorable most of the time and this is true as well for my Air Jordan IX Low Pantone. I bought this pair for RM399 (a 42% discount) from Hoops Station. I first broke this pair out for my mum's birthday in 2016. And this started a habit of me breaking out my new pair of Jordans on special occasion. That's how I add personal story to every pair of Jordans that I own.

This pair is extra special to me not just because it's my first Jordans, but it is also the pair that I wore the longest. I wore this pair from end of November 2016 until I decided to retire this pair to my collection (i.e. not wearing it anymore) in November 2018.

Since I wore this pair the longest, it was on my feet for a few special events in my life:

i) I wore this pair during my internship oversea trip to South Korea. I even wore this pair while hiking in the Sangdangsanseong Fortress. Oh mind, I remember I spent almost 4 hours in cleaning this pair in the hotel room after the hike. 

ii) I also wore this pair for my graduation trip to Taiwan.

iii) And this pair was on my feet for most of the exams in my last year of university. You know what they say: you feel good when you dress good. And I've always felt more confident when I'm wearing my favourite sneaker (at that time my only pair of Air Jordan).  

Here is me wearing the AJ9 Low Pantone for my last paper in university

Air Jordan 1 Mid Royal

This pair of AJ I Mid Royal is the second pair of Air Jordan that I own. I bought this pair for RM439 from JD Sports in Sunway Velocity. People always said the AJ I is the most classic and timeless sneaker from the Air Jordan line. You can dress this pair up. And so, I decided to break out this pair while attending my uni friend's wedding.

No special event or moment is associated with this pair but it's the pair I wore the most now. I also decided to beat this pair up, i.e. kept wearing it, because this will definitely not be the own pair of AJ I that I'm going to own....ahem...waiting for retro Bred 1s or Royal 1s to come back again.

Air Jordan IV "Motorspot Alternate"

This pair of AJ IV "Motorspot Alternate" is the third pair of Air Jordan that I own. I remember I saw this pair in a Hoops Station store in 2017 but I couldn't afford it then. But I love this pair because it is in black and royal colorway, just like the AJ I Mid Royal. Lucky for me, I was able to purchase this pair from Limited Edt Hall of Fame in Vivo City on Deepavali 2019.

I broke out this pair on New Year Day 2019.
I also wore this pair when I went to Thailand with my mum and brothers:

This pair is probably my favourite pair of Air Jordan out of my current collection. The leather quality for this pair of retro is just top notch. I wore this pair the most in my current sneaker rotation whenever I go out with my friend.

Air Jordan V "Laney"

Technically, this AJ V "Laney" is the fifth pair of Air Jordan that I own. I bought this pair from Sneaker Club Singapore, on the same day that I bought fourth pair of Air Jordan from Limited Edt . It's my 1st time purchasing two pairs of Air Jordans on the same day, so I guess this qualifies as a milestone on its own in my sneakerhead life. 

I broke out this pair on my one year anniversary (6 Aug 2019) as a full-time working adult. No special event or moment is associated to this pair for me yet but I'm sure I will find a way to include this pair once I retire my AJ IV "Motorspot Alternate". (Yes, I have a plan on when I will retire my Air Jordans too. Lols)

Air Jordan VI Retro "Infrared" 2019

This pair of Air Jordan 6 Retro "Infrared" 2019 is the first non-blue Air Jordan sneaker that I own, and the first pair of OG colorway Jordan that I own. I bought this pair on the same day as the AJ 5 "Laney".

I broke out this pair during Chinese New Year 2020. This pair, along with the AJ 5 "Laney", is in my current rotation of kicks to rock for daily life. Hopefully I'm able to find special events to attach to this sneaker in the near future.

Well, there you go to a little insight to my love for Air Jordan as well as my Jordan collections. My Jordan collections will only get bigger as I aim to collect all the Air Jordan models that Michael Jordan wore during his basketball career. Hopefully my Jordan collections will get big soon enough for me to build a sneaker room for my room in KL. xD

读死书

I believe most people step into the working world with a chip on the shoulder. Whether it's proving one's education history doesn't define future successes or showing one can translate academic excellence into successes in adult/professional life, there will never be short of doubters in life.

For myself, the word I constantly hear from others is "读死书", a derogatory phrase that is meant to belittle people who excel academically but unable to adapt to the dynamic working world. I would never claim I'm a creme-of-the-top student, but at least I excel well enough academically to be able to graduate from a prestigious university, and hence I do not appreciate when I hear the phrase "读死书".

Whenever I hear "读死书" in social gatherings, I try to maintain silence and listen to how others describe education excellence means very little in the working world. I guess it's a combination of being more mature as I aged as well as how university life has taught me humility. My university life has humbled me beyond anything I can imagine before I entered university. The pre-university Tiong Chin would never keep quiet when others say "读死书".

I do not deny that the working world or adult life is an entirely different ball game. Everyone takes varied paths towards achieving success in the post-education life, unlike education where excellence is evaluated mainly by grades and we are educated in a more-or-less standard system. I am fully aware that academic excellence means very little and everyone starts from zero as we step into the working world. I understand it's the reality of life.

But I find it amusing that those people who brought up "读死书" to undermine academic excellence, often cite Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerberg as example of successful people who excel in life but never graduate from university. Little do these people know both Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg excel academically before dropping out of university, Harvard University nonetheless tqvm.

Even more amusing is that many of these people, who did not excel academically, seems to think/feel that they are special just because they surround themselves with successful people outside of their office life, and often talk about success by quoting from successful people's stories. As arrogant as this may sound and regardless of what these people think of me, it means little to me to be quoting and talking about success in life when they have as much to show about their success in life as those who excel academically. It is other people's success stories, not yours.

All in all, we all strive to be the best that we could be, no matter at which stage of our life, be it as a student or working adult. The past is not a guarantee of success in future, but never doubt what you strive to achieve in the past because what you did in the past paves the way for your future. I wish the best to every one of my friends out there, whether you agree with my post or not.