Woohoo! The site is up and taking clicks again... so feel free to contribute anytime! Just remember, one click per person... or per IP address, really. So if you are using the same network as your friend/classmate/family/village, the website is only going to take one vote!
Thanks everyone for your support and Many Thanks to Joel M. and the Agion team for their efforts to get the bugs fixed :)
VOTE FOR ME HERE!
I am still having fun anyway!
A sort of quickie note to those who have been helping me test out the link:
Thanks much for your dedication, ladies and gentlemen. I really appreciate your support and I have to admit that I very much would have liked to get that prize ;D
Alas, it seems that the link isn't going to be fixed anytime soon and the competition is swiftly catching up. It is kind of sianz, especially after everyone put in the effort and helped to spread the word, but I guess what will be will be?
In any case, I just wanted to thank you for clicking for me. I still hold faint hopes that they might fix it, but figure it also might not happen. Ah well.
----EDIT---
Yayness! A miracle breakthrough! We are back in business again :)
http://zsup.blogspot.com/2010/04/update-on-agion-website.html
So after some exposure to nice clean water and a little sunshine... (Ok, we really did get around to washing machine, detergent and a dryer cycle) the shirt was subjected to a little more stress!
We spent the last couple of days in Kagoshima, the furthest south we have been in Japan. This meant that the ambient temperature became quite a bit warmer than we have been used to so far, so the Agion tee got promoted to base layer. For the most part, it was actually the only layer - first time on this trip I actually got to run around wearing just tee and berms! It did mean that the shirt got a good workout right after it was washed though, and I have to say that the shirt seems to be working better now.
I hesitate to say it is completely back to normal, though, because while the treated side registers a noticeable degree of difference from the untreated side, it seems that it has not completely recovered from its unwashed ordeal. The treated side used to be practically smell proof for days! Now it is working hard enough for a day's climb, but I think more regular washing is needed to get things back to what it was before.
So remember, ladies and gentlemen, treat your equipment well and it will love you back! :D
At Yunohira Lookout Point on Sakurajima - the nearest anyone can get to the volcano without working for the Met agency. 1/2 shirt straining but still smelling all right for 2 hours uphill slog!
We are back to 3 layers weather, but the Agion tee is going to the Takayama Spring Festival as base layer next for some more hard work. I really want to see if having the really thin thermal layer I was wearing before was helping the tee to do its job all along ;D
EDIT: Forecast of snow showers at Takayama today, with 1 deg temp at the lowest. No freaking way to wear the Agion as base. Maybe in warmer climes...
Also, the chemicals seem to have kicked in while I slept in it overnight... half the shirt now smells nice and clean while the other half smells like... well, like I slept in it! I think the earlier sniff test was probably when the sweat hadn't quite cleared out yet.
Morning bath to the rescue! ;D
p.s. Don't forget to cast your vote for me, if you haven't done so yet, k? If you have already voted, thanks a million!!! ;D
Vote for me here! (Click the word under the vote count)
No kidding. The net connection from the place I am currently in is not bad, but the computers are laggy as all hells, so I will have to make this blogpost text-only, and (relatively) short. BUT.
HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY! Actually, 2 of them
1. I am once again impressed by Japan's excellence in being, well... human. I thought I lost my memory card for good when I left it behind in Himeji a while back, at the internet cafe I was staying overnight in. Lo and behold, today we happened to pass through so I thought I'd pop by and check, just in case... IT WAS STILL THERE!
This is something that would never happen in Singapore. Leave your phone behind... *pouf* Leave your keys behind, change your lock. Leave your snazzy bicycle outdoors... still a high chance of disappearing. Leave your memory card out of your camera? Forget about seeing it again.
I will definitely post more about the amazing place once I get on better computers. Now that my entire set of photos are back, I can do the extravaganza I planned for the amazing Himeji Castle outing!
2. I have BUSTED my Agion Tee!
Well, not exactly, it still looks like a T-shirt and all. But in the latest cycle of wearing it down, after a mere 8 days of non-washing, both sides are smelling exactly the same. Of course, this might have to do with the fact that I haven't really bathed properly in a while (plus minus dunking in raging river waters), but I think this still counts for something. When the trip began, the treated side of the shirt was holding its own against my personal pong for longer than.
We are currently considering if I have actually just overwhelmed the chemicals with the sheer extent of personal nonhygiene I have been subjecting it to. Will be giving it a good wash and then updating again in a bit.
So, apologies to all for the half-dead blog, we do have loads of backlog to catch up on, really!
I'm amazed how well the treatment works. I was dubious at the start, but now I really wish I had my socks and underwear on this trip dosed with the same wonder chemicals! -.-"
After bath time, both sides of the shirt smelled the same again...
Rinse and repeat. Dashing around in the city, taking alternate day baths to save money, letting the sweat soak and marinate the shirts just to see what would happen...
This was one of those places which was so well heated inside that under all those layers, my clothes were totally damp. I didn't take off any layers until I really couldn't take it any more, partly to see how much the Agion could take, and partly because there wasn't really a convenient place to plant it.
Again, it gradually became more and more obvious which side of the shirt was needing more care to keep fresh.
Good stuff, this!
If I wasn't smelling fresh enough I would never have dared to take this picture. Two days without bathing, and I stripped off my jackets to do this photoshoot under a sakura tree in Hikone Castle grounds, one of Japan's National Treasures. There were visitors all around us, and nobody so much as sniffed when I walked by. I know this could be because they are a polite people, but I doubt it.
I have to say, the T-shirt really works well in more ways than just being so amazing that I haven't had to use my one other spare tee yet, keeping me carrying minimal clothes and less whiffy than otherwise. With the shirt on, my jacket layers aren't getting to stink as quickly as in my previous travels. To put it indelicately, it doesn't matter whether I've used any deodorant on my armpits, as long as I have the magic (half of the) shirt on.
It is also praiseworthy that the material of the test shirt is fantastic - it feels ultra good on the skin, and I very much like sleeping with the shirt on. A touch of comfort in the days of roughing out...
I think if I had Agion Tech's treatment on my clothes, I wouldn't bother with bringing more than two sets on any of my backpacking trips. One for in case it rains, the other for just wearing on, and on, and on! In fact, if they bottled and sold the stuff in a spray can, I'd probably douse all my clothes in it so I know I never have to worry about being smelly again!
In a couple days, we're headed for hotsprings and monkeys. I'm going to bring the shirt in with me to the sauna. I want to see how it holds up against sulphuric fumes!