I've been busy this long weekend. Playing badminton and squash, getting my bike well acquainted with some pot-holes, and doing laundry after all the activity. One can only hang out so many sets of shirts and socks before suffering sun stroke. The rest of the day is then spent shirtless lying around in front of the fan, drinking a lot of water to stave off dehydration. Resting, in preparation for the next day.
Yeah, we've been having what some crazy folk would call "Beautiful weather". I'd like to trade them these sunny days for a nice cold and chilly day. I'd even toss in some sweaty clothes and an extra dark sun tan.
Anyhow, what I really want to talk about is my new shoes.
I bought these last week but I've been holding off writing about them because I wanted to try them out a few times first. We found these Ascis shoes at Deoji's in Mark Street, Suva.
My mum took me shopping because she knows me well. I like buying stuff but I don't like going all over the place to find a single item. That Saturday, we went from one end of Suva to the other end, visiting all the shoe shops in between.
We went to Tappoo and to Prouds but all they had were some running shoes and dress shoes. We went to the sports shops but they only had soccer boots and really old tennis shoes that's been on sale forever. We visited the Adidas outlet in Mid-city mall but the only shoe that looks suitable had really hard soles and I didn't think it would suit me well. I didn't think I'd find a suitable pair but my mum being the experienced shopper, kept on looking.
After walking most of the streets in town, and doing a bit of shopping on the way, we reached the other end of town. Deoji's is a pretty big shoes dealer in Fiji but they were at the other end of where we started looking. We were coming down Mark Street after visiting Yon Tong the Chinese shop for some groceries. I had given up on finding the right shoes so I was just concentrating on carrying the shopping when mum saw the shoes in the window and asked me if I wanted to try one more shop.
So we went in. They had a small rack at the back holding sports shoes. All but one of the shoes on display were running shoes. The sales man was helpful in getting me a couple of different sizes of the remaining shoe to try on. I normally wear a size 8½ but this shoe is narrow in the front so I tried a size 9. That was still too tight so I finally settled on a size 9½. I didn't check myself in the full length mirror but I may have looked like Ronald McDonald.
The shoe was on sale for $99.00 that's a huge drop from the marked price of $156.00. The huge drop in price can be fully understood when one looks at the display piece. The white canvas looks dark grey from a distance. It's been sitting on the shelves collecting dust for that long. Yep. Welcome to Fiji :-)
It passes the bend test. That's where you try to touch the toes to the heel to check for flexibility. There's a good arch in the middle that fits my foot's natural arch. So important in a badminton shoe as it helps you stay on your toes and prevents flat-footedness. The soles are nice and soft. That translates to good traction. The heel is a little higher than my old shoe. Making it heavier but also making it easier for me to jump backwards which I do a lot in badminton. The insoles are padded with GEL™. Ok, so I don't know what it is but it's nice and spongy. I had another Ascis pair about 4 shoes back that had the same thing and it was wonderful. That sums up the good.
I've worn them in two intensive badminton sessions and they're still too tight. I pulled the laces to the maximum extension and still feel crushed (I wasn't born with shoes on my feet so yeah I've a pretty wide foot). That shoe gave me a blister on the side of my little toe. I hope it stretches out before I get more blisters.
Post Scriptum: The Ascis socks in the photo costs $10.80 a pair. I bought them to match the shoes. They feel so good.
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