2015.1.30 #Strategist《港股策略王》破天「方」專欄
今次殺落我老豆地頭—深水埗，竟然深水埗有正咖啡？感謝#CafeSausalito老闆Michael受訪。
預告：本周五出版的人物專訪，想做多年終於做到，記得買番本支持下啦! #column #coffee #cafe #le...
2015.1.30 #Strategist《港股策略王》破天「方」專欄
今次殺落我老豆地頭—深水埗，竟然深水埗有正咖啡？感謝#CafeSausalito老闆Michael受訪。
預告：本周五出版的人物專訪，想做多年終於做到，記得買番本支持下啦! #column #coffee #cafe #leather #shamshuipo #tai smarter #深水埗 #大南街 #akinafong #方健儀 《當皮革與咖啡混在一起》
深水埗，典型香港舊區一個，近年成為眾人最愛。
福榮街：因為人稱「阿方」，即家父的汽車維修店在這兒扎根三十年，親朋戚友司機熟客最愛；
鴨寮街：電器零件音響雜貨集中地兼二手電話轉手銷售點，男人最愛；
北河街：街市菜檔肉檔魚檔價格相宜，主婦最愛。
至於我的最愛，必然是大南街—皮革及皮包配件集中地。最近這條長約一公里的街道更開了首間咖啡店。兩項最愛走在一起，我沒有不愛的理由。
每次到大南街總會消磨兩三小時，因為我與「皮眉」（即皮Mate(s) ，一起學習皮革的朋友）喜愛逐間皮革店，逐卷皮革翻開搜索，碰上心頭好或新貨到必會大卷小卷買入，然後橫放在脖子後兩肩上，就像劉德華《真永遠》的MTV般托走，費力非常。當時心想，如果大南街有一間咖啡店，讓我們此等「苦力」搜購中途歇一歇，回回氣多好。
去年十一月，終於在新舊皮革店及傳統配件店中間，開設了一間裝潢極具格調的Café Sausalito (Sausalito名字似曾相識，上網搜尋，發現除了是美國三藩市一城市外，原來亦是我區一著名私人屋苑的英文名字)。從外面看，以為是這是間細小的咖啡店，門口放了兩張小木桌，進店後才發現是一間長型店舖，用多個昏黃燈泡及吊扇作裝飾，可坐二十至三十人。喜歡邊喝咖啡邊欣賞周遭景物的我，當然選了店外座，縱使看到的只是馬路汽車或搬運工人，聽到的是鄰店正在裝修的聲音。
首次光顧，由於之前餓壞了肚皮，鮮有地不點美式咖啡而是拿鐵，順便試試奶泡的滑度。未幾，樣貌與鄭俊弘有幾分相似的年輕咖啡師兼老闆Michael端上一杯拉花拿鐵。我最怕拿鐵只有奶味沒有啡味，但這杯兩者的比例適中，幼滑非常，再配上一個價錢相對其他咖啡店便宜，盛惠六十二元的全日早餐，十分滿足。
與Michael閒聊，知道他在美國唸室內設計，似是與咖啡或飲食業風馬牛不相及，但正正是因為他熱愛咖啡，毅然把之轉化為事業，碰巧與我把皮革興趣轉為工作的理念一致。Michael說，咖啡店取名Sausalito，是因為在美國留學期間經常到這滿街特色藝術小店的海灣小城度假，跟大南街非常相似，加上近年不少本地年輕皮藝發燒友﹑外國皮革買手及修讀設計的學生都喜歡在這裡流連，因此他選擇在這條深水埗的老街作為創業的起點。
喜歡這家剛冒起的咖啡店，除了食物質素外，還喜歡它與區內店舖的互動與合作。我在Café Sausalito收銀處旁邊發現一張畫上深水埗區地圖的宣傳卡，十五家區內的咖啡店﹑概念店及皮革店聯手勾劃出一條消閒路線，打造出一個藝遊區，讓遊人在深水埗也可體驗品味生活。市民更可在每間參與店舖內蓋印，儲滿七個印可獲紀念品乙份。接過這張宣傳卡我興奮莫名，因為紀大部分的參與店舖我都認識，只消十數分鐘，我已儲到四個印。
領取紀念品還是其次，最重要是十多家店舖體現了舊日香港和睦共存的精神，不會因為大家是競爭對手而互相排斥，反之店與店之間攜手合作，和諧共處。以Café Sausalito為例，最近與對面的亞里皮藝合作推出優惠，憑對方的收據在本店消費可享九五折。這種互相扶持的合作模式，相信是現今香港社會既罕有但嚮往的精神。
音響維修價錢 在 波波 Boo Facebook 的最佳解答
這次的Sudio音響真的讓我美哭了，
放在家裡的整個就像藝術品了🖤🤍
音質也很好，價錢又很甜美，現在還有折扣。
折扣代碼(全館商品85折)：wow15
Sudio官網：www.sudio.com
@sudio
#sudio #好音質
🖤現在官網買Sudio耳機/喇叭，隨訂單贈送限量品牌質感卡片夾！還享有全台免運、一年保固、免費維修退貨服務 (服務試營運 至12/31，限台灣本島與離島)
音響維修價錢 在 波波 Boo Facebook 的最讚貼文
這次的Sudio音響真的讓我美哭了，
放在家裡的整個就像藝術品了🖤🤍
音質也很好，價錢又很甜美，現在還有折扣。
折扣代碼(全館商品85折)：wow15
Sudio官網：www.sudio.com
@sudio
#sudio #好音質
🖤現在官網買Sudio耳機/喇叭，隨訂單贈送限量品牌質感卡片夾！還享有全台免運、一年保固、免費維修退貨服務 (服務試營運 至12/31，限台灣本島與離島)
音響維修價錢 在 謙預 Qianyu.sg Facebook 的精選貼文
【我與可惡麥克風的故事】(English writing below)
我的 Blue Yeti 麥克風只用來錄一年的有聲書就掛了，而且是死在錄音要開始時。
我先生到百勝樓的Swee Lee詢問時，也既是我們買那麥克風的店，店員說類似這樣的話：「哦，你用了差不多兩年了，也是時候了。」
這是什麼話啊？不會吧？？？
把麥克風送回美國維修不划算。我也不確定是否要再花$210買回同一個可能比我還早死的麥克風。
於是，我花了很多個晚上來讀網路評價和觀看Youtube影片。坦白說，做後製時，我是聽得出Blue Yeti 錄音很多不足的地方。唯有搭配Voicemeeter Banana這音響軟件一起錄音，音質才會好很多。但這軟件只能使用在Windows. 我也花了很多個夜晚才搜索到這方法。
這些陌生的科技對我這門外漢而言真的很累人。我不是只是個風水師嗎？怎麼在看這些器材的資料呢？
但為了能把師尊的有聲書做的更好，我還是一頭栽進去這令人匪夷所思的音響器材世界裡。堂堂一個資訊科技的碩士生，我先生卻完全無法幫上忙。都說了嘛，現在做女人不容易呀！
長話短說，後來我向 Sennheiser 買了個Neumann TLM102 的麥克風。今天，我購買了一台 Universal Audio Apollo Twin Duo Core。這些器材其實應該在四月時就買，但當時太忙而且舉棋不定，而最近器材的價錢都掉了幾百塊。
當初考慮了很多不同價格的麥格風和音頻接口。你知道的，只要一開始閱讀亞馬遜的網路評價和觀看Youtube影片時，就如同走進一間超大的糖果店，而裡頭的一塊巧克力可能就是自己一個星期的薪資，甚至一整個月的血......汗錢，
Sinamex員工的產品知識非常的好，人也很主動熱心。他示範了各品牌的音頻接口如 Apogee DUO, Audient and of course, Universal Audio。其實還沒踏進店裡時，我就已想買Universal Audio這品牌了。聽過店員的解說後，更慶幸沒有在網路上買Focusrite or Apogee。
據員工說，這 Universal Audio Apollo Twin 也是新加坡音樂創作者們 Dick Lee、 林俊傑、Jonathan Koh 許偉強和 Sydney Tan (2019年國慶慶典的音樂總監)。#六度分隔理論 #又與俊傑拉近一度
希望回到家後能夠學會如何操作這非同凡響的器材。我還需要到蘋果買個Thunderbolt電纜。這器材也適合用在Windows的電腦。
感謝師父做這次器材更新的大財主。
我有多次差一點又買回Blue Yeti，因為覺得這些科技太難懂，太麻煩了。但老娘怎麼說也是個新加坡人，怕輸怕死的血液在我身體流著，怎可能笨到同樣的錯誤犯兩次。😁
改變有時真的滿痛苦的，尤其是要花錢、花時間和花精神時，而偏偏這些資糧都不夠。說自己害怕改變，比說自己太驕傲太懶惰不要改變，來得好聽，因為前者能贏來同情，而後者則是輸給了命運。我們新加坡能夠有今天，絕對不是因為我們的建國一代一成不變，而是我們都願意去進步、去爭取、去拼搏、去吃苦。
這個國慶日，讓我們都不要忘記這股勇於嘗試和承擔的精神。新加坡，生日快樂，我以您為榮！謝謝您給予我和我家人的一切！🎉
......................
My Blue Yeti died after one year of weekly usage for audiobook recording, and it died just when our recording session was about to begin.
The Husband asked Swee Lee @ Bras Basah about it. That was where we bought the USB mic. The store staff said something like: “Oh you used for about two years. It’s about there already.”
I was like “what the duck”...
Sending the mic back to USA for repair doesn’t make financial sense. And I’m not sure I want to burn another $210 on a metal mic that is going to die before me.
So I spent nights reading online reviews and watching YouTube videos. To be honest, I hear a lot of inadequacies in the Blue Yeti recording. It only sounds better when I use it with Voicemeeter Banana, an audio application software that can only be used for Windows. Even that took me nights of Googling to find this solution.
It was exhausting. Thought I’m just a Feng Shui practitioner...why am I looking at mics and audio interfaces?
But for the sake of my Grandmaster’s audiobooks, I threw myself head first into this whole alien world of audio tech. The Husband, with a MASTERS in Information Technology, was of ZERO help. #toughbeingawomannowadays
Long story short, I bought a Neumann TLM102 from Sennheniser SG and today I purchased an Universal Audio Apollo Twin Duo Core. I was lucky because I should have bought all these in April, when my mic died but I was so busy with work and couldn’t decide what was most suitable. Then the prices went down by a couple of hundreds.
There were many mics and audio interfaces I was considering. You know how it’s like when you start reading Amazon reviews and watching YouTube videos. Macham like walking into a candy store where one piece of chocolate can cost you one week of salary, and some, your entire month of blood supply.
The Sinamex staff was very knowledgeable and helpful. He demonstrated the various audio interfaces like Apogee DUO, Audient and of course, Universal Audio. I had my eyes on UA even before I entered the store. After his explanation, I was glad I didn’t buy the Focusrite or Apogee.
According to the gentleman, the Universal Audio Apollo Twin is also used by Dick Lee, Lin Junjie, Jonathan Koh and Sydney Tan (NDP 2019 music director). #sixdegreelaw #onedegreeclosertoJJLin
I hope I can figure out how to operate this impressive machine back home. I still have to buy a Thunderbolt cable from Apple. This also works with Windows by the way.
All credit goes to Shifu, for being the generous man that lays out the moolah for both the mic and audio interface. He lets me decides what to buy because in his words, a high-level Master doesn't bother himself with all these. Only a low-level one will. Okay, fine, that's me. 😀
There were many times I almost went back to buy a Blue Yeti. It was too difficult and troublesome to figure out all these tech stuff. But hey, I’m a true blue Singaporean. The kiasu and kiasi blood run deep in my veins. How can I be so dumb to make the same mistake twice? 😁
Change can be really painful and uncomfortable, especially when it involves money, time and effort and all these 3 resources are scarce. It’s easier and socially more acceptable to say we are afraid of change, instead of saying we are too proud or too lazy to change. Because the former will win you sympathy while the latter will make you a loser to your own Destiny.
Singapore is where she is today not because of our resistance to change, but for our ready willingness to strive relentlessly, to fight, to endure the pains, etc.
As we celebrate our 54th National Day, let us not forget this spirit of bravado and the quest for new frontiers.
Happy birthday, Singapore! I am so proud to be a Singaporean and thank you for all that you have given me and my family!