I have been vaping for a reasonably long time, and if my blog archives are anything to go by, then October 2013 serves to be quite a reasonable – although not an entirely accurate – starting point.
I wish I could go all boomer and start this second paragraph with the typical “things were much simpler then”, but the truth is that things weren’t. Vaping was a relatively new thing in Malaysia, and I knew pretty much fuck all about it.
Sure. The mall-kiosk cigalikes had been on the market for several years by then, but they seriously sucked ass. The tasted like ass, had less puffs in them than a COVID patient’s lung capacity, and were pretty expensive to maintain. There was also the issue of cartridge compatibility – or rather, incompatibility – which meant that you couldn’t just go to any mall kiosk for a reload for the simple reason that the cartridge might not even fit in your piece of shit cigalike.
There were next to no physical vape shops around, and the ones that were in existence at the time, looked nothing like how they look now. They were dark, dingy, and rough around the edges. They usually faced back alleys, operated without any signage and would only open in the late afternoon.
They didn’t have Facebook pages or snazzy sexed up Instagram feeds to hawk their wares on either. To find out what was in stock, or coming into stock, you had to know someone who knew someone who was in a closed Facebook group, and had to look out for store proprietors posting details on upcoming releases.
Not in a group? Tough fucking luck. You’re on your own mate.
In many ways, vaping was like Fight Club. To the untrained eye, it would seem that people didn’t talk about vaping. They didn’t show off their newest purchases, or make meet up plans on their public timelines.
But once you knew that someone who knew someone who got you into a group, then it was as if a whole new world opened up.
Getting beginning of the end
Unfortunately, I didn’t. So I ventured into vaping on my own. Unarmed with even the most basic of knowledge of what vaping was, what gear I needed or how much money to prepare. And boy was I in for a shocker.
Well, not completely alone to be fair. Between the time it took me to find out about the existence of vaping, and discovering that there was store in my neighborhood, I had managed to convince my best friend to join me on a crazy adventure.
With RM100 (~US$30) in my pocket, a good attitude and the desire to “quit smoking right now and make my life better”, we headed out and arrived at the front door of a 100 square foot shop in Damansara Perdana.
Ironically though, it was a door that was locked on a store that was unmanned. Remember, this was during a time where “opening a vape store” was more of an extension of a hobby than a real business – so no real shocker there. We dialed the number published on the door and waited.
“Sorry bro, I’ll come now,” quipped the voice on the other end.
”How long will you take?” I asked curiously.
”Around 30 minutes, ok”, he answered.
Half an hour later, a chap rolls on in and asks me nonchalantly – “What do you want”.
“We want to buy vape,” I answered. Shop dude didn’t bat an eye lid. It was a vape shop after all…
“Do you want liquid? Do you want kanthal? Mesh?”
Not knowing what any of those things were, we decided to come clean and present our current predicament.
“We don’t know anything about vaping. How do we start?”
Famous last words
Not realizing what we had just done, shop guys once sleepy and slightly annoyed gaze suddenly came to life.
“Oh.. newbies ya? No problem bro. Come let me show you.” He motioned us closer to the showcases, and pulled out two metal tubes.
An eVic, and a Provari.
He reached in again and pulled out two more boxes.
A purple Vivi Nova and an AGA-T.
“So do you want the good one or the cheap one?”
I shot a quick glance over to my mate, and realized what we had just done. We had walked into a hobbyist shop and presented ourselves as complete noobs to a hungry salesman.
“What’s the difference between them? They look the same,” we replied.
Fast forward one hour later, and we emerged from the store – each with an eVic and a Vivi Nova in hand.
The rest as they say, is history.
Different strokes for different folks
I took on to vaping pretty quickly. I fell into the endless vortex that is vaping pretty hard. And within 2 months, I was well on my way down the bottomless pit.
I had joined various Facebook groups by now, and had discovered mechanical mods and rebuilding. I was venturing out of my neighborhood, and discovering new spots the underground vaping scene every week.
There was the custom liquid store located in the back of a cyber cafe, where you could choose any flavor from a long list, and mix in as much nicotine as your body could take.
There was a thriving fly by night scene in the local night bazaar that sold silica by the foot, and had all the ejuice in unmarked, unlabeled bottles under the counter.
And then there was the legendary shack – a literal fucking shack made out of plywood – in the back alleys next to a old town bus station. But let me remind you again, that we’re still in the era where the outlook of a vape shop meant fuck all.
Inside their hallowed (and visibly DIY makeshift) hall, this shack had the sickest gear you had ever seen, the most amazing array of Made in USA eliquids, a huge mounted press drill in the back (this is a rarity in Malaysia – trust me), and served as the home ground for the local scene’s most OG individuals.
For a shack, this joint was doing very well for itself. They were the official dealers for Style of Mojo products and attracted lines out the door and down the alley every drop day. They were one of the few importers of Mr E Liquid in the country, and every few months, would cause pandemonium in Facebook groups by posting pictures of Jade Tiger liter bottles.
It was a vapers wet dream, and walking in felt literally like a kid walking into a candy store. You wanted to buy everything. You wanted to hang out there all day. You wanted to hang out with the OGs. You wanted to show off your setup. But most importantly, you wanted to be recognized as a regular.
For the record – I achieved none of the above.
What I did do though, was swing by every now and again and pick up some eliquid. I never had the spare cash to buy a Chi Yu, the connections to get first dibs on that new shipment of Jade Tiger, or the extroverted nature to introduce myself to the OGs.
But life went on, and instead of spending my waking hours there, I decided to start my blog and my (now abandoned) YouTube channel instead.
On the other hand, my best mate took his time. He used what he had, and was happy with his gear. He made gradual upgrades, quit altogether, and started vaping again thanks to the introduction of today’s modern pod system.
Although he didn’t share the same fixation on vaping as I had, I’ll always be grateful that he took the initial plunge with me. Cheers mate!
Revisiting the classics
As you can gather, as much as I loved vaping, I couldn’t really afford all the coolest stuff. I never lined up for a Chi Yu, simply because I couldn’t afford one brand new. I never stocked up on Jade Tiger because I couldn’t afford to spend more than RM50 per vape shop visit. I never bought a new Kayfun until the much more affordable Lite was released, and could only afford off-brand DIY DNA boxes, and not brand name boxes like the Hana or the Opus D.
But this isn’t a sob story, and those circumstances didn’t stop me from vaping, from being excited about vaping or from appreciating the handiwork of modders from around the world.
I made it work, and got my hands on various bits and bobs (as you can see from my old Instagram photos) for enough time to satisfy my itch, and reselling them soon after.
If anything, I hope that my story has served as a build up to what I’m going to embark on in the coming days, because I think that it’s time to revisit the classics.
It’s time to put aside the latest and greatest (which IMHO, have been pretty meh for the past year or so), and take a closer look at the devices that have shaped me as a vaper.
The ones that made me go wow.
The ones that took my breath away.
The ones that I saved up for but couldn’t get on a list for.
The ones that I had but resold all too quickly.
The ones that I had only seen and lusted after digitally.
The ones that I had a strong disdain for.
The ones that I never understood.
It’s time to revisit the classics, and I invite you to join me on this journey.
Vaping with Wern 
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