Dear Ate Arnie

*insert "Lovingly Yours" music here*

Dear Ate Arnie,

After hearing all the wonderful stories about your silver Chuck's and how it was making waves in New York, I became more determined to buy the pair. It's been more than a month since I SMS-ed you: "Silver Chuck Taylors. Should I?" and it turns out that you bought a pair ahead of me. Now I really have to have them.

So, after answering your comment, I proceeded to the shoe store in Granville where the shoes were a few days ago. When I got there, the shocking truth was revealed:

They were gone!

Yup, they're all out of silver Chuck's. No more. Gone. Out of stock. I even went as far as asking them to call their branches, but they didn't have the numbers. Bummer. Even though it was an exercise in futility, I still went around the shop and combed through the racks of multicoloured Chuck Taylors, hoping that my eyes were only playing tricks on me and that they were still there. But alas, they weren't.

Forlornly, I walked down Granville Road headed towards Tsim Sha Tsui East. My aimless wandering led me to this hole-in-the-wall store near the end of the road. If this were a Hollywood film, I'd probably find the pair of shoes I wanted there. Unfortunately, this is Hong Kong and not California, so Hollywood endings aren't expected all the time. But while MY pair of silver Chuck Taylors weren't there, something just as wonderful awaited.

These:


They're not easily recognizable in the photo, but they're Black Patent Jack Purcells.

Yes, they're BLACK PATENT JACK PURCELLS! How ultimately cool is that!!!

These are the shoes I wanted a couple of months ago, but were gone overnight. Now, they're back! Not wanting a repeat of the silver shoe episode, I quickly got my size and bought them. (Good decision because they apparently only have one pair per size.)

So it turns out that disappointment CAN turn into delight. While I wasn't able to get the shoes I soooo wanted to buy now, I found the one I soooooo wanted to buy before. Yup, now i'm the proud owner of Black Patent Jack Purcells.



At least now, we won't have to worry about running into each other while wearing the same shoes. Hahaha.

Regards,

Lester

P.S. Don't forget my pasalubong from the US. (A pair of silver Chuck Taylors, perhaps?) Hehehe.