Flashback

One already forgotten day, about 10 years ago, a kid stood in awe in front of a shelf in a toy store, fixated to a mass of boxes printed with incomprehensible characters, amazed at the vividly colored robot figures illustrated on the boxes. But these robots were unknown to this boy's then-current knowledge of animes and cartoons. The deterring factor of steep prices notwithstanding, he reached for a maroonish-colored box of a 1/144 figure and decided to use the money given to him by his ever generous uncle for visiting them for the weekends. Back home, what the boy found was something that would, years later, turn into a crazed series of collection and pursuit. About a year later an anime series Gundam Wing aired on local television. The boy watched every episode faithfully, never missing one, not minding the inconvenience of having to go to his grandmother's house just to watch when their set at home broke. Nearing the end of the series, the boy had a fateful rendevous with his first ever Gundam kit; Gundam Epyon

12 years later, in Plaza Singapura, a guy stood outside a toy store on the topmost level of the shopping mall, looking intently at a Master Grade box of Gundam Astray Blue Frame Second Revise, feeling the same giddiness and excitement as he had when he was a kid looking at a shelf-full of boxes of build-your-own mecha...