Sydney....From Watson's Bay 

Think the picture speaks for itself 

Under The Bridge 

The Harbour Bridge and The Opera House 

Brooklyn 

Sydney's Blue Mountains 

Sydney August 2006

View of Sydney By night 

Brighton






Photos from Brighton

 

Melbourne...

2 weeks in melbourne for placements, makes me wanna move over there. 

Was at windy point tonight, got a view of the city in all it's flourescent glory 

Bags



I've just counted the number of bags i own, and it's shocking...

The bags i own come in 2 varieties, Crumpler and STM. at last count, i have:

1) Crumpler Faux Deluxe with Bunion insert
2) Crumpler Weeton
3) Crumpler Limited Edition Camera Bag
4) Crumpler PCS medium
5) Crumpler Thirsty Al XL
6) Crumpler Winkler for iPod
7) Crumpler Winkler for iPod Mini
8) 2 Crumpler Thirsty Al XS
9) STM Small Drift
10) STM Baby Brink

See attached photo:
















Why the need for so many bags you ask? Well, i didn't mean to buy that many, they just kinda, fufilled a need that arose in the course of my daily life, hence the purchase of a bag. One after another, before i knew it, i had the collection you see above.

Crumpler is a Melbourne based company that started making messenger bags back in 1995. The Seedy Three was the first bag designed for the Urban cyclist, with a stablizer to hold the sling bag in place. They have diversified into laptop and camera bags.

1) The Faux Deluxe

this blue beauty was my first Crumpler, and judging by the color, you can guess that it's been through a lot. this was one of the first generation, the 'big brother' to the original Seedy Three. I first got this almost 3 years ago, in 2003, and still find it a joy to lug around.

The thick padded shoulder strap distributes weight evenly, so as not to cut into your shoulder., the interior has enough space to hide an elephant, if you know how to pack it and the design allowed me to run after public transport without hindering movement. One thing i love about shoulder bags is that you can reach into the bag without having to put it down.

This bag has seen me through a trip to New Zealand, 8 months of daily use in the army, 4 return trips between Singapore and Adelaide, 3 trips to Melbourne and constant use throughout my first 4 semesters at Uni. It has held a powerbook, enough clothing and essentials for a 5 day road trip, university textbooks and even groceries.

The major drawback of the Faux Deluxe was that it lacked the protection i wanted for my laptop and camera, this was solved by the use of the bunion insert, the insert was padded all round and had a sleeve for the lappie as well as plenty of room for photographic equiptment. This has addressed the major bugbear of the Faux Deluxe
















2) Weeton S

While the Faux Deluxe was perfect as a carryall, sometimes i did not want to carry all. In Febuary this year, while i was back home in Singapore, shopping with Mom in simlim, i chanced upon the Weeton S going for about S$18 in a clearance sale. It comfortably holds my mobile, compact camera and ipod. Perfect for running about town.

The bag was designed as a camera bag, hence it is padded, and generally i'd use it if i was going to be carrying the compact camera.

There is a belt clip, but considering the weight of the camera, phone and ipod combined, it'll be pretty uncomfortable to wear it on the belt, i always use the shoulder strap.












3) Crumpler Limited Edition Camera Bag

No Mystery about this one, i got when i bought my DSLR. It's a limited edition made as a promotional gift for the Canon EOS 350D kit, but i saw it and twisted the salesman's arm into selling it to me for A$30. It's comparable in size to the 4 Million Dollar Home, which retails for A$80.

This bag comfortably holds my Pentax ist*DL2 with one lens attached and a spare lens in the main compartment, my Canon Ixus 400 in the netted lid and a lens cleaning kit in the small front compartment.

As with the Weeton, the main compartment is padded to protect its precious cargo.
















4) Crumpler PCS

I got this for US$5 off ebay, haven't found a use for it yet tho...

Slightly smaller than the Weeton, holds 2 of my 3 most connomly carried items, the ipod, mobile or compact digicam.

5) Thirsty Al (XL and XS) and Winkler for iPod and iPod mini

I got these at a clearance here in adelaide, along with the winklers at A$10 each, the Winklers hold the respective iPods, the Thirsty Al XL holds my compact Canon, while my mobile resides almost permanently in one of the XS ones. These all go nicely on the belt.

6) STM Baby Brink

I got this one back in singapore the day i picked up my 12in iBook. It fits the iBook and nothing else, so i was forced to either bring nothing else along for classes, or carry the babybrink along with the Faux Deluxe, which meant having to keep an eye out on 2 bags.












Which is why the last bag comes into the picture;

7) STM Small Drift

This is probably the most used bag at this point in time.

STM is a Sydney based company that has been hailed as the new Crumpler. It is to the digirati today what Crumpler was to bike messengers in 1995. Their designs have the end user in mind, with well thought layouts and plenty of internal pockets for all the gadgets i carry around.

The top flap zips open to reveal a mesh pocket, coupled with a slit for headphones, this compartment is ideal for an MP3 player.

The main compartment is padded, and divided into 2 sections, one holds my 12 in iBook in the included sleeve, while the other holds notebooks and stationery. The internal pockets hold my power adapter and mouse. All in, my entire mobile setup fits into this one bag, with room to spare for the other things i might need for the daily commute to and from uni. The bag zips up and is water resistant. I really appreciate the all round padding.










BTW, there's an XS Drift, which holds a camera, that's an option i'm exploring for a small camera bag, along with the Crumpler 2 Million Dollar Home.

Crumpler Australia

Standard Technical Merchandise(STM)

Found this while wasting internet credit. Typical POM wankers.....