Boy Toy

What's that? It is a high pressure cleaner clad in attractive bright yellow that can be used to produce a water jet at 1400 psi with a light weight trigger gun, all fitting into a compact 40 x 20 x 30 cm box. The question is, is there a guy who would mind having one of these in his storeroom. Heck, it can even fit into a locker. Or a suitcase. So you can travel the world and spray at things. 


Trust me, it is that satisfying. For a start, think about your grease-caked kitchen hood filter. I don't care what method you use to wash those. That is only one thing you should do, jet the hell out of it. The same goes for your vent cover, fan cover, dirty boots and even your face if you hate it enough. The Exterminator will spare none.


Who introduced us into the world of possibilities? The new guy Wee Tuck. One fine day, he turned up at work like an excited boy with a catalog of boy toys. Within minutes, he was able to convinced us what might be good bargains off their usual prices. Well, asingaporeanson do not access his purchases based on usual prices. He measures his purchases based on the value it will bring to him. With that framework, a 50% discount voucher off a $2000 LV bag will go straight to the dustbin. That is how simple the principle had made decision making these days.


So would I pay $99 for a high pressure cleaner? Actually yes. But what could be better? Part-ownership. Since the guys were happy to be enticed into a time-share scheme, I became a third of the owner of the machine with just $33. Now I can jet the hell out of things.


The opener would be our terribly dirty cars. I shot at them all from the cleanest to the dirtiest car - Wee Tuck's Honda Civic, Rahmat's Toyota Corolla and Ugly Green in that order. Even without soap, it was able to provide a satisfying clean up. We will do a proper one next time perhaps. At the end of the day, Ugly Green hit the road at its cleanest form since our purchase. That showed how much I had slackened since I moved from Singapore. Though my buddies were clean car zealots, my van didn't pale in comparison among their shiny cars. I bet back in those days we wouldn't hesitate to fork out $33 each to have one of these. The question is - where do we use it in Singapore? Where could we find a quiet place with a electric and water source that we can legally use to fulfill out simple wish of keeping our cars clean in a more thrilling manner than bucket splashing? When I was jetting their cars, I experienced another wish-you-were-here moment. Believe me, these moments will never feel good unless they are fulfilled. It feels worse when you know they will never be.


I couldn't help but notice the spending differences between Singaporean and Aussie men. Spending habits can be easily traced by observing the trend of advertised products. To get money off Singaporean men, marketers in Singapore focus on electronic goods, cameras, cars, gym memberships, weight and hair gain programs. In Australia, it was about tools, knives, sheds, tools, cars (same), car repair tools, gardening stuffs, kinky kitchenware and tools. Hair loss? Bah. They'll just get on with it or slap on a hat. Weight loss programs? Haha. Did I mention Aussie men like tools?


If you ever visit a hardware (not computer) warehouse or car accessories shops here as a guy, I promise you'll stay for awhile. Too many toys for grown up boys.

2 comments:

  1. I used one of these to clean out a whole swimming this past visited to perth. It was very fun. I went to bunnings the time before that and it was man-heaven.

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  2. These things have potential to strip paint. Don't go too crazy with them. ;)

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