Warehouse World Tour - The magnificent bunch

[oomslokop]

gave lendo my address so lookin forward to some duck diggerin. if you guys want i can get the jeans hemmed at old blue's. let me know.

[Lendo]

I've got one more update to post before I wash and ship them out to oomslokop next week, I'll be sure to get post wash pics & measurements as well.

[Lendo]

Greetings from Frank and I

 

 

My time off was spent putting together baby furniture

 

After which the jeans and I went to see a few people/places. First stop Shockoe Atelier, formerly known as Shockoe Denim.

A selection of some of their impeccably made shirts and outerwear.

 

 

An example of some of their jeans showing some great wear.

 

My friend, fellow denim enthusiast, and SA's production manager Robert inspecting the finer details of the jeans.

 

 

More to come folks!

 

[Lendo]

Jeans were posted to oomslokop today.

 

Last week the jeans and I paid a visit to my friend Drew who owns an awesome vintage/new stock shop called Yesterday's Heroes.

 

Checking out the details

 

Fit pic! We are very close in height/weight so our consensus was: the jeans are awesome, but still too long.

 

Special appearance by shopdog/footstool extraordinaire Hank!

 

Thanks again for letting my have a crack at these, hope you enjoyed the small glimpse into my neck of the woods.

Edited March 9, 2016 by Lendo

[Bobbo]

Thanks for playing the part mate. 

[volvo240thebest]

that's a fun thread, guys you're doing well, fair play!

[oomslokop]

thanks lendo. good leg!

[itsbenhere]

Well would you look at that... it's the Hank with a hankering for Road Champs!

[swiss-jeansfreak]

Great updates Lendo!!!!!!

[oomslokop]

latest tracking status on the jeans: "in transit". it can take up to two weeks from the us to jakarta, so still within reason. will call pos indonesia in a couple of days if there's no change in status by then. i'll keep you guys updated.

[pomata]

that signed copy of nebraska!

[Bobbo]

Any news on the jeans whereabouts Ooms?

[oomslokop]

hey man sorry about this, haven't been able to get in contact with ems indonesia or customs, so will try the post office asap. weird as this has never happened before. latest status on the package is still in transit (if checked on usps site). the tracking number "doesn't exist" if checked on ems indo site. sometimes a package does take a while to clear customs but usually it shows up on the tracking site. will update you guys asap. 

[oomslokop]

not getting any luck with tracking (had now disappeared completely from the usps tracking site) and could not get thru by phone to any of the indo customs or post office customer services, there was nothing left to do but visit the big post office in jakarta. 

 

 

hahaha just kiddin. the reality was somehow... worse.

 

after getting no luck either with the ems counter, i was directed to the "overseas packages counter".

 

 

whaaa?

 

 

"keep this door always locked" 

 

got myself outside. could the jawnz be in one of these trucks?

 

 

or... :'( :'( :'(

 

 

finally found the overseas packages counter.

 

 

but it wasn't there either. they told me pos indonesia can not track packages sent from the us on usps first class mail (with tracking number LJxxxUS) and i had to go to their warehouse (ha!) to try to find the package manually.

 

fuck.

 

 

an officer told me to look for my name in a list of packages received in the last month. 

 

Edited April 9, 2016 by oomslokop

[oomslokop]

voila!

 

 

back to the overseas packages counter

 

 

to...

 

 

pay customs! yes, forgot to tell lendo to undervalue the package and got to pay Rp 409,000 in customs fees which is about 30 dollars. since i'm only gonna be wearing these jeans for 30 days, this could be the most expensive jeans i'll ever wear. LOL!

 

 

 

 

o yeah!

 

some impressions on the jeans:

 

- denim's très slubby. looks and feels like a cross between sc okinawa denim and samurai's old jin denim with a lot of horizontal "falling". or maybe strike gold's -05 denim. very bumpy though, not like the oki or hawaii which can feel a bit flat after lots of wear.

 

- front pockets very short, no smartphone in my front pocket for a month.

 

- all the bells and whistles of the perfect repro jeans as explained in the old double volante thread are there: rolled back pocket tops, peek-a-boo selvedge, raised belt loops, etc.

 

- apart from one, the selvedge line is fat not thin like koniyoshi likes it. 

 

- the fit is almost golden for me, roomy thighs with a bit of taper. the rise for me is a bit high though, and the front to back rise ratio is a bit too "equal". i prefer high back rise and considerably lower front rise.

 

moral of the story:

 

- never use usps first class mail if sending packages to indonesia (not lendo's fault of course, i just found out about this as well. to pos indonesia's credit this rule is actually typed out on their website and flyer). use usps priority mail instead.

 

- try to undervalue packages to indonesia to <$50. doesn't always work but you can try.

 

tour is back on! 

Edited April 9, 2016 by oomslokop

[Foxy2]

Glad they had been found, Ooms!

Happy to donate to cover the unexpected expenses - just let me know...

And now, let the show continue!

[redragon]

Great news!

Cannot wait to see the jeans for real...

[Cucoo]

I don't get why you had to pay customs, you didn't buy those jeans and it was just some dude sending them to you, not a shop, why is what they cost months ago even relevant?

[oomslokop]

they worked it out from the value declared which was $100. it doesn't matter to them who sent the item, or what it is (second hand/new), it is regarded as an imported item which incurs customs fees. 

Edited April 9, 2016 by oomslokop

[chicote]

hahah, very entertaining post Ooms—though I feel a bit guilty laughing at the shit you had to go through to get those jeans. (plus, with the customs fees, I am literally laughing at your expense...)

 

But I'm glad to see you've got the jeans in, and they look like they fit you well!

 

I wonder what the postal workers thought you were doing taking pictures all around the facility? Maybe gathering evidence for some sort of smear campaign against the postal service in the event your jeans were truly lost?

[oomslokop]

hahaha no worries. people take photos everywhere with their mobile phones here so none of them batted an eyelid. maybe they were more worried why i wasn't taking any selfie. ðŸ˜

[beautiful_FrEaK]

Great that this tour is back on track! Custom officers are an own species I think...

 

You made the best out of this situation

[volvo240thebest]

this has been so far a very entertaining tour to follow and I am certain that Ooms will keep it up at the great standards set by the previous players! like how the jeans fit you too mate!

wish I was some 25 kilos less and could join the tour, fabric and fit on these seem to be something I would totally enjoy myself.

[Bobbo]

Haha, nice detective work Ooms!

 

Very happy that they found their way and the show can go on!

[Lendo]

I'm glad you finally got them and I am very sorry for all the hassle to get them! The fit looks great, enjoy them.

[setterman]

I've looked at shipping internationally recently, figure over $50 to ship a pair of jeans USPS Priotity Mail to the other side of the planet.

Glad to see these have been found and the tour is back on.

[oomslokop]

no worries lendo, part and parcel (pun intended) of living here, these unpredictabilities! hehehe.

 

had to pick up my daughter's school report very early in the morning yesterday (7.30 a.m.), i thought i'd show you what i see everyday on the little back alleys (we call it "jalan tikus", rat streets) of central jakarta, the shortcut to her school.

 

 

a cart for selling coconut juice, freshly machete-ed out of its fruits. too early for thirst quencher, i guess.

 

 

but not too early for breakfast! "warteg" = warung tegal = foodstall from tegal (a region in central java). migrants from tegal are renowned for these tiny stalls selling cheap and tasty rice dishes. a lot of them are open 24 hours, like this one.

 

 

people put up makeshift signs on the road to announce an event. this one, made out of coconut leaves, announced a circumcision ceremony for okan and akbar. my sympathy, boys!

 

 

a yellow flag announces that somebody had died, and streets might be closed for the wake.

 

 

a flag for the "freedom brigade", the local group of thugs who rule this area. these flags are everywhere in jakarta as street thugs, we call them "preman" (from "free-man"), use them for territorial pissings.

 

 

a makeshift gate erected to celebrate indonesia's independence on 17 august. this one is from last year, when the republic of indonesia turned 70. people usually leave it until next year before redecorating it again. 

 

 

"born and bred in kampung bali". kampung bali = bali village is so named because it used to house soldiers and slaves from bali during dutch colonial era. some historians argue that there is no "native jakartans", there were so few native sundanese population in the area when the dutch first came in that they had to import soldiers, slaves, and obviously women! from other places in the archipelago as well as from other dutch colonies around the world. there are many similar kampungs in jakarta: kampung ambon (for ambonese), kampung melayu (for the malays), kampung banda (for people from banda, the original spice islands), etc. there's even another kampung bali in central jakarta, not too far from this one. 

 

this kampung bali used to be a famous drug-dealing/junkie area until the end of the 2000s. now, like a lot of junkie strongholds all over the world, it's almost totally gentrified. high-rise flats and "kos" (bedsits, from the dutch "in de kost") have moved in, along with all their all mod cons accoutrements (fancier restaurants, laundry services, etc.).

[oomslokop]

my daughter's primary school, santa theresia, is one of the oldest catholic schools in jakarta (even though it is only about one hundred years old), run by ursuline nuns. its motto is "serviam". 

 

 

 

santa angela, patron saint of all ursuline schools.

 

 

 

the school still retains its old half-walled classrooms. no air-con, a rarity these days in relatively expensive private schools in jakarta. that's actually my daughter's classroom, 1a (she's still in year one).

 

 

a javanese pendopo to relax in next to a pool in a small garden just opposite the classrooms. mostly used by the kindie kids.

 

 

parents nodding off in the school assembly, waiting for their kids' school reports. 

 

fat duckdigger selfie on the school's toy mirror:

 

 

then my iphone's battery ran out. till next time.

Edited April 10, 2016 by oomslokop

[beautiful_FrEaK]

Great one Ooms! Nice to see your part of the world

[oomslokop]

random scenes from the last few days:

 

a wedding tent in front of my flat

 

 

just the ushers, not the lucky couple. you bring your invitation letter to a wedding and the ushers will exchange it with a small gift, then straight to the all you can eat buffet! (but i wasn't invited to this one)

 

 

i work as a copy editor at jakarta globe, an english-language online paper. out the front of the building there's a starbucks copycat where i sometimes have my coffee.

 

 

my kretek (clove cigarettes) of the day

 

 

the globe is owned by a conglomerate that has its hands in everything from media, private hospitals, property to super exclusive funeral homes. the owner is a personal friend of the clintons (the clintons always stay at their house in the outskirts of jakarta whenever in town) and one of his sons was named in the panama papers (oops...)

 

 

slow news day 

 

 

getting even slower

 

 

walking home