My favourite sneaker of all time, AJ11 'BRED'

AJ XI Spacejam & BredCDP

Air Jordan 11, is always been my favorite shoe of all times. The reason is not just about how good it looks,which of course it is awesome, i believe is the story behind this shoe that make it so special to me.

Back in 1995, i was in my secondary 2, i remember seeing this '100ft rim Air Jordan XI advertisement on TV, i was totally 'present' and felt myself being 'suck' into the scene and flying together with MJ towards the 100ft rim. It's crazy but it's true, the power of advertisement is just unpredictable. That's the moment i said to myself, 'I WANT ONE!!!'. lolz

From that day onwards, i have been walking around and following my mom up and down the house,around the house,in and out of the house,wait outside her bathroom while she is showering, stand beside her while she is cooking and sit behind her while she is driving. HAHAHA that's how after a week, she finally agreed to get me one, YEAH!! by the way, i did that because i knew my mom is the CFO of the family, if i can get her to approve the transaction, its pretty much a done deal, lolz.

One fine Saturday which i have been waiting for so long, finally came, we are on the way from Seria to BSB, to YAOHAN, by the way, at that time, that's the only place i know can get great shoe and love YAOHAN, too bad it's no longer exist now. Well, with all the anticipation and excitement when i reached there, they do not have the 'Concord' that i wanted (the one in the ads which MJ was wearing),          

                       

instead they are selling AJ XI Columbia blue (whole white + columbia blue AJ logo), i was pissed, i still remember it's selling for B$190.00, i hold it in my hand and said this to my mom: 'I'm not getting this, it is superbly ugly and i had enough of white shoe to wear to school!' and walked away with great disappointment.

Things changed after a week later, while i was watching NBA All-star game, MJ was actually wearing that Columbia blue AJ XI and scored a triple double and made the MVP of the game. I was like 'Mommmmmmm, i want that shoe in YAOHAN, can we get it like NOW!!!!' lolz!! of course, things don't usually happened the way we want it to, at least not always, which means i didn't get my hand on the columbia blue as well, coz' it's SOLD OUT completely.

Actually this AJ XI columbia blue looks awesome and just so hot, i just don't know why i didn't get it at the  very 1st place and missed the opportunity. If only i could turned back time, but well i guess everything happens for a reason. That's not the only time i missed the chance in getting myself a pair of AJ XI. 

Remember it was my exam, and i made a deal with my parent, i want a pair of AJ XI Bred if i get top 10 ranking in my class, and of course i did it at rank 9. lolz, happily driving down to Miri, at that time, the exchange rate was BND1 is to RM1.60, and this pair of AJ XI cost RM799.00 (BND499.00), that was insane when i think back. And yes, i missed it again, coz they do not have my size, still remember i was wearing this pair with size US7, actually I'm wearing US8 at that time, my toes were super painful and i have to force my feet in, i still tell my mom, 'ok,its JUST nice!', and i think my mom and dad could tell from my facial expression on how painful my feet was and how awful i walk, in the end, i gave up, i said, it didn't fit actually, so i put it back to the rack and again, i made a point to myself, 'let's forget about it and get an AJ XII next year, I'm sure it will be better'. (and true enough i got myself a pair of AJ XII just about 4-5mths later, but it was not as good as the AJ XI, at least to me).

2 years later, i was in HK, suddenly my unfulfilled dream of owning a pair of AJ XI sparks again when i saw all 3 colours on display in one of the shop in HK. i can tell u, i thought I'm in heaven, all 3 colours, concord, bred and columbia blue, OMG OMG OMG!!! the 1st OMG is excitement and the last 2 OMG were shocking, why? coz it was priced at HK$5,000.00 a pair (BND1,111.00 a pair, not a set of 3 pairs! lolz) Did i get it? of course, NOT! i don' think i even have HK$5,000 in my pocket at that time. so there goes my 3rd chance of owning it. and really from there, i thought i would never able to get it again. my dream dies off....remain as an unfulfilled dream, buried 6ft under the ground.

15 years gone. From the first time i saw the ads and fall in love with the AJ XI until now, its been 15 years. Freaking 15 years that i have been waiting for a chance to get my hands on a pair of AJAJ XI. Allow me pause here and bring you guys back to a year ago, 2009 March, i was in Singapore with my current wife, who is still my gf at that time, we were going for a shopping trip and i suddenly,i found a great sneaker store in Far East Plaza called the Warped store. this shop is fantastic!! it re-ignited my passion for sneakers, especially owning the AJ XI. when i walked in, i walked really slowly towards a rack on the last part of the wall on the left, i saw tonnes of J's, my heart was beating reallllllll fast, and suddenly my breathe was taken away when i saw a pair of AJ XI Spacejam edition 2000 retro, and next to it was a pair of AJ XI Bred 2008 CDP!!!!!! it seems like the whole world stop in front of me and time is just an illusion. i didn't know how long did I spend in that shop looking at this 2 pairs of AJ XI, but from the face and body gesture of my wife, it must have been pretty long, hahaha the Spacejam is retailing with a price tag of SGD780.00 and Bred CDP is SGD500.00. i couldn't made up my mind, i really want them, either one will do, but even SGD500 for a pair of shoe was quite high, to date, the most expensive pair of J's i ever bought was SGD230, that was like more than double. i think our monkey mind is so powerful that we will starts to give ourselves tonnes of excuses either to get or not to get it. in my case, to get it, i told myself, 'Hey,your dream shoe only cost around SGD780 the most, the price of girl's one LV bag can get you both pairs already, your dream is so affordable, get it', LOLZ, that was exactly what i told myself, and we went back to the store again the next day, we walked all the way, i tried both the shoes on, but i didn't get any one of them. What happened this time? i have the cash in my pocket, but when i put them on, the Spacejam is too 'fragile' to wear, coz it's a 10 years old vintage shoe retro back in year 2000, released in Japan. So followed by the AJ XI Bred CDP, it was too small, i am wearing size US9, but it was size US7.5. There goes my opportunities again. sad sad. but looking at the brighter side, i still have my cash in my pocket and spend them wisely for the trip.

I think this is very important, don't get blind off by the excitement or ego or anything to make rush or unpractical decision. No doubt that i love to own a pair of AJ XI, but my character or attitude is always looking for 'value for money' deal. that's definitely was a bit over-price (for me). I'm glad i didn't bought them after that actually. lolz

Now back to 2010, 15 years later, by the way, i forgot to share with you a story 15 years ago, that is actually i borrowed a pair of AJ XI Bred 1995 OG from a friend, thanks to him, we all called him 'siao chai', he agreed to lend it to me for a day, and i walked from my home to his home after school which takes around 5mins, we stayed in the same kampong, and once i got the shoe, i asked my mom to bring me out for a haircut, i had a skinhead, trying to looks like MJ, ahhaha and Yes, i did a skinhead just for that 'one day' or 24 hours. no regrets, i will still do the same even if i could turned back time. haha On 2010, January 12, my wife and I were in HK for our honeymoon trip, and in one of a shop in sneakers street, i got my Spacejam edition, and a 1984' jordan Olympic sweat shirt and jersey. All at once, and to be exact, i actually bought 2 pairs of AJ XI spacejam,one for wearing and another for display. Lolz that was definitely one of the 3M (memorable, meaningful and magical) moments of my life.

Just a few months later, i got my AJ XI Bred CDP as my 2011 advance birthday gift from my mom and Sis Annie, yeah!!! hahaha on my journey to get the concord and columbia blue! Go Go Go!!!