Wednesday, August 29, 2012

i want this, and that and that too...(also selling rilakkuma iphone case)

I'm back from Cuba and while I should make a post about my awesome trip, I have to make to this one first. I've been wanting to make an updated post about my kawaii wishlist (old one can be found here) and I think it's about time that I did.

Ok, so the first item on the list is this super duper uber kawaii Tuxedo Sam plush. I've always loved Tuxedo Sam because who doesn't like an adorable penguin in a tuxedo!? He's got more class than most of the male population because he wears a TUXEDO! That's right, boys, you want class, wear a tuxedo. That's what real men do.


GAAAAAAAAH!!!! SO CUTE!!!

There's a tragic story that comes with his adorable Tuxedo Sam plush. My sister bought hers in Alberta where she's currently living and she came to visit during the summer (she's still here). She brought this too cute penguin with her and I fell in love with it. I've been plotting so many ways to steal it from her (replace it with a real blue penguin, pretend that Obi tore it apart, hope that she'll forget it when she leaves...etc) but none of them worked yet.

Anyway, so we went to Toronto about two weeks ago and I actually saw this EXTREMELY DESIRABLE plush for only $20! BUT I DIDN'T BUY IT!!!!! I had spent a lot of money on those Maneki-nekos and didn't want to spend any more money. WHAT WAS I THINKING?! Ever since then, I've been in Regretsville crying and moaning over that plush. It doesn't help that my sister brought Tuxedo Sam to Cuba and it was constantly in my face (since our beds were right next to each other).

Next is another Tuxedo Sam plush but I actually ended up buying this one! I had found it on ebay and it was soooo cute but it was a bid (I hate bidding, I'd rather pay the highest price than have to deal with the stress of trying to win an item). There was only one other bidder and I did that really annoying but usually effective method of bidding at the last few seconds. I got it for pretty cheap too!


Picture is courtesy of the seller.

It's a vintage Tuxedo Sam plush from 1987 (before I was even born) and it looked like it was in pretty good condition. The tags are obviously gone but the official Sanrio smaller tag was still there, proving that it's genuine. I won and paid for it last night and it's already been shipped! Can't wait to get it!!

I also really want a Totoro bento box. It was weird because when I went to Japan, they had a some selections of bento boxes but none of the Totoro ones that I wanted. It was the same design that was sold everywhere and I wasn't too crazy about the look of it.


Not sure if I should get this one...



Or this one.

Although I have way too many iPhone cases (something that I promised myself that would never happen, huh), I desperately want this beautiful case!


Chirimen Goldfish Case

Not only does it totally upgrades your already sleek iPhone but it comes with a slot for you to put your cellphone charms! If there's one thing I don't like about the iPhone is that they don't have a slot for you to put your cellphone charms! HOW THE HELL CAN YOU DEPRIVE AN ASIAN OF THAT?!


Pink Version.

They also have the case in pink. I personally like the blue one better but it seems like everyone else I ask likes the pink better, even my sister's boyfriend. Do I just have weird tastes?



Oh, speaking of cellphone cases, I'm selling my rilakkuma sweets iPhone 4/4s case. I bought it because I thought it was adorable but then went to Japan and bought another case. It's never been used (I didn't even open it). It's a hard case and it'll make your iPhone really kawaii. It fits the iPhone 4 and the 4s. If anyone's interested, leave a comment with your contact details :)


BUY ME, RAWR!!!

Last but not least is this giant furry Pusheen plush! It's like 20" or something and so huge and cuddly! I love this but I can't justify paying $45 for it plus something like $15 shipping because I unfortunately (in this case) live above the American border.


I love you Pusheen.

I had the regular Pusheen plush on my previous wishlist and I ended up buying it but when it arrived, I was disappointed with it. The quality wasn't really that great, I mean it was still soft and cute but the stitches could be clearly seen and it looked a little deflated. It was as if not enough stuffing was put into it. I ended up selling it. When I have a bit of extra spending money, I might get it and hopefully, it won't disappoint this time.

So that's my kawaii wishlist for now, it'll probably change within a week or something since there's always so much kawaii and not enough money o(╥﹏╥)o. What's on your wishlist?

Monday, August 27, 2012

Modes4u giveaway

Hey everyone!

Modes4u is having an super kawaii giveaway! They have two kawaii packages for the winner to choose from.


Picture taken from Modes4u.

Which one would you pick? I'd choose the rilakkuma one. I wanted to check out the Sky Tree when I was in Tokyo but you had to buy reserved tickets and when it was finally open to the general public, Alex and I were heading off to Beijing! Grrrr....

Check it contest details here!

Saturday, August 18, 2012

cigars, rum and beaches



Hey everyone! I'm heading off to Cuba this afternoon with my family so I won't be able to blog until I get back. I'll be returning on August 26th, sun-kissed (not fried hopefully) and relaxed with loads of pictures to share!

This is totally stupid but I'm unsure about which kawaii plushie to bring with me and which book to read! I bought book II and III of the Fifty Shades of Grey series (because everyone loves to read about sex on the beach...HA!). I didn't buy book I since they didn't have it at Costco, I was so annoyed because that would've been the PERFECT read. Now I'm stuck debating about whether I should buy it at a overpriced bookstore at the airport or wait until I get back and buy it on amazon for less than half the regular price.

Oh woe is me, so many important decisions.

Have an awesome week!

Friday, August 17, 2012

toronto mini haul

My family and I went on a day trip to Toronto on Tuesday. My dad also had some business there so it's like hitting two birds with one stone! It was a lot of fun and I obviously bought some things, as much as I tried to control myself, some things just cannot be left unclaimed.


Items that were calling my name.

The first item that I bought was this adorable Solar Bear mirror. Those of you who read this post will know how much I love Solar Bear and how impossible it is to find its products. I went to Japan and I didn't see any so you can imagine how I reacted when I saw it.


IT'S MINE!!!

I mustered all the grace I could and politely while sweating bullets, anxious that someone was going to come and steal my mirror, told the store owner that I'm interested in the "bear" mirror when in my mind, I was screeching, "DIS IS MEINE!!!! GIMME GIMME!!!" I should be presented with a gold medal in keeping up appearances.


Yay! Now I can bring Solar Bear with me everywhere

My mom was buying a bunch of re-ment items for my sister and asked if I wanted anything. The actual re-ments that I wanted cost more than what she was getting my sister and I didn't want my mom to spend more on me so I choose this Mickey Mouse food one.


Mickey Mouse Re-ment Prize

I also bought this adorable puppy re-ment. Most of the possible outcomes were adorable so I decided to get one since the odds of getting an ugly one were lower. And guess what?

I GOT THE ONE I WANTED!!!!! YAAAAARGH!!!

The stars must've been aligned again just like in this post when I bought my sleeping sheep!


My re-ment prize, the shiba inu!

My sister bought one also, and she was really happy with her prize. She opened her's first being the less patient one and she had gotten the adorable little Corgi wearing the police hat. That is, until she saw what I got.


Eeeee! Look at this face :D





Obi obviously tried to steal it.

I also bought a Japanese magazine that I fell in love with when I visited Hong Kong 5 years ago. It's called ViVi and they make a Hong Kong edition of it but the Japanese version is obviously better. It's also way more expensive though. The Japanese issues cost between $20 - $30 while the HK edition ranges from $10-$25 depending on how old the issue is. But I found this one for $9 at T&T Supermarket. I just look at the pictures anyway since I can't read a word of it (or character).


ViVi July 2012 Hong Kong Edition


Inside look about rainy day fashions

Last but not least, I purchased not one, but two Japanese ceramic lucky cats, also known as maneki-neko. My parents told me that they bought one and I wanted to check it out as well. I ended up buying one for my office in hopes that my kawaii selling, will improve and one for my room, for my personal life.


Golden Maneki-Neko

This one is for my office. The right paw is lifted signifying that the cat is pawing money towards me. The treasure chest means that it'll collect and keep all the money safe. The gold reinforces all the symbolism so it's super lucky if you want to look at it that way.


Back end

The eggplants mean that all my wishes will come true concerning my career and Mt. Fuji represents good money. So if this kitty does work, I'll be able to buy all the kawaii and clothes I want!!



This one is for my room. The eggplants mean the same as before as well as Mt. Fuji. The turtle represents longevity so that I'll live a long and healthy life while the cranes represent good relationships with friends.


Back end

The bag is pretty much the same concept as the golden one except that it's not meant for collecting money. The colourful bag is so that everything will be kept together meaning that all this amazingness will stay with me forever.

If both these kitties work, I'll pretty much have the perfect life! But they only work if I put money in them, and they both have to be facing a window so that the kitties can "rake" in the money, happiness, good health etc. Here's hoping!

Friday, August 10, 2012

otakuthon 2012

I went to Otakuthon with my friend Suzy last Saturday. I didn't even know about it until I called her and she told me that she was participating in a contest at the anime convention on Friday. Since I've never been to one before, I asked her if she'd like to go with me and she happily agreed.


Within seconds of arriving, I immediately saw a lot of cosplayers. That's obviously normal since it's an anime convention but it was soon apparent that I was going to stick out like a sore thumb. I was one of the weirdos who wasn't in costume. I felt out of place for wearing normal clothes. Crazy, non? I was immediately relieved when Suzy showed up sans costume though.

Instead of just lining up and paying for your ticket, you have to register. It seems to be a complete waste of time since you have to fill in a form with your information and then line up instead of just simply...lining up. But at least you're allowed to choose what you want to have printed on your name tag.


Naturally, I chose this.

We walked into the Exhibition Hall, which is basically where you buy all the merchandise. There were a lot of local artists and their beautiful works! Made me feel artistically challenged -_-

Since I couldn't decorate my room and my office with my own artwork, I splurged and bought a lot of prints. I didn't have time to take pictures of the prints yet since my sister and her boyfriend are visiting and have taken up lodging in my office which is where I put the prints. I'll have pictures for my next post :)

Obviously, there were a lot of plushes as well. But they were mostly pokemon and they weren't that cute and/or fake. There was only two booths that sold authentic kawaii goodies. They also happened to be my cup of tea so naturally I gravitated towards them.


Nemunekos!!!

This booth was one of the first booths that we passed by. At first glance, there doesn't seem to be anything other than Nemunekos that I liked so we just breezed by. But we came back a few hours later and I guess the owner cleaned up the booth a bit and some more kawaii plushies started to surface.

There were smaller kapibarasans (although none of them uber kawaii), some san-x plushies including Rilakkuma and Korilakkuma. I riffled through some of the not so kawaii ones and I found a tiny Rio plush that I've had my eye on forever! From what I could see, it was the last one so I clung onto it for dear life. An adorable little Chou Fleur plush also caught my eye and I brought both of them home, despite my overload of kawaii plushies (keep an eye out for a selling post, real soon. My flickr has all the newest kawaii that I'm selling).


Chou Fleur and Rio the Lion!

I also bought these two adorable Mt. Fujipon and Fujiko Chan keychains. I saw them on Strapya World and I had wanted to buy them but didn't want to pay for shipping. I grabbed the two that were cutest since not all kawaii were made with the same level of kawaiiness!


Mt. Fujipon and Fujiko Chan keychain plushes

During our second and final round of the exhibition hall, we passed by this older woman who was dressed in lolita style. She has a cute display of handmade plushies but my eye was immediately drawn to this adorable takochu. I debated for about 5 mins whether I should get it or not since I had spent quite a sum already. But she seemed like a very nice lady so I decided to get one to support her (and let's be honest, it was too cute to pass up!). It comes with an adorable little matching pin.




Video Game and Movie Glasses



Game of Thrones!



Pokemon & Zelda

I was tempted to get one (or two) of these glasses or at least split with Suzy, since one was $12 and two was $20. But instead I bought a different cup.


Chocobo!

I was tempted to buy a chocobo plush as well but at $25 each, it was too expensive, especially since I'm trying to save money until I get a job (or until I sell a lot of my kawaii away).

During the middle of the afternoon, we decided to check out the Cosplay Café, as it was called. It was basically the cafeteria and they had a "Japanese" menu which consisted of sushi, takoyaki and taiyaki. We both opted for a good ol' artery-clogging tradition Quebecois dish, poutine. With a Japanese twist.


POUTINE WITH SQUID SAUSAGES!!

It was good (because how can poutine not be good), but it'd have to considered a bad poutine since it's served just about every where and there are so many other places that make it way better. I don't know if you understand what I'm trying to say...

As I mentioned there were a lot of cosplays but I didn't take as many pictures as I should've since I was more into enjoying the sights. But I did manage to take a few that I thought were pretty cool.


Belle & Cinderella



Tonberry from the FF series.



Dantes from Devil May Cry



I don't know who she's supposed to be but I thought it was a really nice cosplay



A Geisha



Sailor Scouts & Tuxedo Mask



Naruto Team



Not 100% sure who they're supposed to be but the guy one the left looks like a Persona from Persona 4 and the one on the right looks like Gilgamesh possibly?



Elizabeth & Margaret from Persona 3 & 4

Check out Suzy's instragram, suzysweet57, for some more pictures! Tomorrow is Matsuri, the Japanese festival, first time I'll be attending that too!