new kapibara-san rements!!!!

Guess what boys and girls, THERE'S A NEW KAPIBARASAN RE-MENT COMING OUT IN JUNE!!!!!!!!!!

Look at that little kapi table!

OMGBBQWTFTHISISTHEBESTDAYOFMYLIFE!
Kapibara-san Family Restaurant
Release Date: Mid June 2012
Price: 399 yen each
Line-up:

1. Morning Set
2. Kitsune Udon Set
3. Omushichuu
4. Sandwich
5. Hamburger Set
6. Oko-sama Set
7. Katsu Gozen
8. Purin ala mode

This is so exciting! This will be the second set of Kapibara-san re-ments, the first one were sweets and they were keychains. I made a post about them here. But these ones actually look like re-ments. I normally don't collect re-ments (the only ones I have are the kapi sweets ones) but I must have these!

Re-ment details.
Hm, it says that it's 399 yen each, which is about $5. It'll probably be cheaper for me to buy them while I'm in Japan this July instead of getting it here. Assuming that it's $40 for the whole set from J-list or Play-Asia, plus shipping which would be about $10 (which is freggin' expensive, I hate paying for shipping), the total would be about $50. When I'm in Japan, it'll be $5 x 8 = $40 so $10 cheaper. Damn, they're expensive. I'll probably end up getting them anyway, unless I spend all my money on kawaii plushies first.

Imagine having real food like this?
If I had to choose a favourite, I think it would be the Katsu Gozen, which is number 7. Number 2 and 6 are super adorable too though! Gah, they're all cute! This is why I need to get all of them. When in doubt, just buy all of them XD.

In other news, the wedding was fantastic! It was beautiful and I've never been to a wedding like that before (not that I've been to many to begin with). The weather was gorgeous, 22 Celsius, nice and warm but not hot. Unfortunately, I was stuck doing my CMA review for the better part of the day but left early so that I could get to the reception on time. It did cheer me up from all the issues that has been happening lately and I'm feeling fine now. Next post will be the wedding post, give you a break from my kawaii obsessions ;)

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arpakassos + nemunekos for sale

This is going to be a selling post. I don't have time to make a proper post since I've been extremely busy lately and I'm really behind on my studying. One event keeps happening after another and it's taking a toll on me physically and emotionally. Hopefully, I'll be able to forget the problems plaguing my loved ones long enough for me to enjoy the wedding tomorrow (and the finishing of my CMA review)!

Cuties all for sale!

Adopt me and my mousey friend!

Arpakassos for sale! You know you want them! Side note: I'm really pleased with how this picture turned out.

Baby arpakassos for sale!
As always, it kills me to sell them but my trip is looming overhead and they're invading my room (basement and spare room). If interested, leave your contact information in the comments section. Thanks for looking and happy shopping!

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nemuneko invasion

I forgot to show Alex's mom's gift. She had bought me a beautiful Matt & Nat wallet. I found it on my side of Alex's bed when I went upstairs to look for something. Alex told me that I wasn't allowed to open it until she had come home so that she can see my expression. Except she didn't come home until well past 10 PM that night and Alex was already knocked out after being heavily medicated while I was close to being knocked out due to fatigue.

Matt & Nat were established in Montreal and they specialize in "vegan" leather. They're considered a pretty high end brand in the Montreal and New York areas. Other than that, I've never really seen it for sale anywhere else. I used to be obsessed with their products 5 or 6 years ago when I first purchased my "adult" wallet. I was fresh out of high school and was shopping with friend. We both saw the wallets and fell in love, luckily she fell in love with the white one and I, the black one. It was about $50 and for a broke fresh out of high school student, that was a lot of money. But I got a lot of usage (and compliments) out of it and I still have it today, even though I never use it anymore.

I love the ribbons!

Ta-dah!

Inside.
I love wallets that have a lot of card slips and when they're arranged so nicely. My first Matt & Nat one was like that, so was my Lacoste one that followed, and now my Michael Kors one is like that too (although the best one would have to be my Lacoste, it was so easy to find the cards I wanted).

Back.

The wallet was made with 21 recycled bottles. They're very environmentally focused.

Good Luck Coin his mom put in the wallet. She told me that it was bad luck to gift a wallet without a coin in it.

I received my huge order of Nemunekos earlier this week. I had decided to stop buying kawaii things but felt bad cancelling on the seller because she was so sweet and she gave me really good discounts (plus it was a big order). So against my better judgement, I ended up buying it. I did the same thing with two other sellers, omg I'm going to be drowning in kawaii AND I'm going to Japan. Judas Priest, help me.

Tons of Nemunekos!!!

Big Furry Pepper & Grey.
LOOK AT THESE TWO!!! They're so cute and fluffy that I had to get them. And instead of being smart and trying to save my money, I bought both! My money woes were forgotten when I saw these two and I couldn't stop TOUCHING them (in an appropriate way, get your mind out of the gutter!). They're so soft, it's like...a pile of soft bunnies.

Stacked (soft) fatties.

Nemunekos with LEGS.
These ones have legs! Look at that those litte stubby legs! I bet you they can't run very fast though, but it beats me how they're still so fat. If anything, they should be thinner than the ones without legs since they can at least move, instead of remaining stationary like the legless ones.

Flower Power Quadripedal Nemunekos.

LEGS!

Maybe they're mutant Nemunekos or something, or they're the next generation of nemunekos. Evolution at it's best, evolving from sliding around to having legs. The quadripedal ones stack a lot easier too. It must be evolution.

Smaller Nemunekos.
These ones are much smaller than the other ones. They're keychains and cellphone charms.

Double Kitty Nemunekos.
I think I might've ordered similar ones from Kawaii Pile but they're larger. At least they better be for the price I paid for them. You know you have a problem when you can't remember which kawaii you buy and end up with doubles. I seriously think I need to go to an KA meeting or something. The outsider (scarf) was a gift for purchasing the whole but he seems to be right at home with the other ones! He may not have another kitty sitting on his head but he's got a rocking red scarf.

Cellphone Nemuneko Charms!
These are really cute, and I believe they're one of the rarer ones since Furyu hardly makes cellphone charm-sized goodies. My favourite is the black one.

Freebies!
The seller was sweet enough to give me some awesome freebies! She knew that I was going to buy a Kireizukin Seikatu plush from her but I decided at the last minute not to (trying to save money, give me a bit of credit for that!) so she just gave me to me!

Kireizukin Seikatu & Kiiroitoris.

Adopt Us!
Last but not least, I now have too many Nemunekos. This happens to me all the time, whenever I fall in love with a kawaii character, I go crazy with buying the plush and end up with more than what I know what to do with, so I have to part with some of them. All of these are up for adoptions! If interested, leave me a comment with your contact info!

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solar/sora bear

I aboslutely adore this character designed by Japanese artist, Shinzi Katoh. It's called Solar Bear or Sora Bear as the Japanese call it.

Sora & Bea.
Although the characters are supremely cute, the story behind Solar Bear is very sad. It's about two polar bears, an older brother and a younger brother and here's their story.

"Far away at the North Pole live two polar bear brothers. The　Older one is named Bea, the younger one, Sora.　Bea and Sora are crying. The two brothers got separated　from their mother after the temperature of the Earth's surface rose, causing ice cap at the North Pole to melt and gaps to open up in the ice. They are determined to find their mother one day, so that they can live together as a family again. Bea and Sora are the main characters in a children's book about global warming. They are the creation on worldrenowned Japanese designer Shinzi Katoh. "
Taken from Sorabea FB Group.
IS THAT NOT SUPREMELY SAD!? I've always been conscientious about the environment even as a kid. I tried hard not to waste anything and even berated my family for wasting electricity and water. I also go around the house turning off the lights when there's no one in a room (to my mom's annoyance since she always claims that she just left for a second to get something). I turn off the water when I'm putting shampoo/conditioner/soap/cleanser etc and only turn it back on when I need to rinse. I'm also an Olympic showerer, I finish my shampooing, conditioning and..soaping(?) in less than 5 mins.

It really angers me when people don't care about the environment and don't even try to protect it. It's not hard to throw something in the garbage instead of just throwing it wherever you feel like it because you're a fat lazy stupid ignorant dick. Even worse when it's someone you know. I know someone, who will remain anonymous, who is a champion waster and although it's not my place to lecture him about it, it urks me every time I hear the water running uninterrupted for minutes on end or when I see a lot of uneaten food left of his plate. If you can't finish it, don't take so much, or pack it up as leftovers instead of throwing it in the trash!

People like that make me....

Anyway, rant over, back to Solar Bear. To increase awareness about the environmental problems that we are facing and to encourage the future generation to prevent environmental issues from escalating, The Sorabea Foundation was created. The foundation adopted the polar bears as their mascot and it encourages children to think about their impact on the environment and to help put a stop to global warming.

:(
The Solar Bear also has a line of products, although most of them are mostly used for the home, or zakka. Products include teapots and towels. According to the fb group, all Solar Bear products are subject to the 6% royalty of which 10% is donated to　environmental conservation efforts. In Japan, the donations go to the Sorabea Foudation.

Cute Little Mug.
So not only do you get these super kawaii items, but you'll be helping the environment and Sora and Bea find their mother and conserve their home! I found out about these two poor babies sometime last year when a friend of mine were selling the plushes, I bought two of them and I've been on the lookout for more Solar Bear items ever since. I'll upload a picture of it later since I'm not at home right now.

I'd love this card holder.
Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like there are that many Solar Bear products out there. The ones that are available are pretty expensive, at least to ship it to me. I saw this really beautiful iPhone 4s case that I really wanted, but it would cost be over $45 to have it shipped to me. I'll try my luck when I'm in Japan this summer, hopefully, it'll be cheaper.

Sora & Bea iPhone 4s Case. This is going on my super wishlist.

I should've bought this when I had the chance.

I'd love this deco tape but I can't bring myself to pay $8 for one.
Not only do they have super kawaii products for these two bears, but they also have a statue of them at Aqua City Odaiba in Tokyo.

Their tears light up.
I will be sure to pay these two a visit when I'm in Tokyo, hopefully, I'll be able to find Solar Bear products for much cheaper there too. But since Japan is expensive anyway, it's entirely possible that the prices won't be too different from what I'd have to pay right now.

Help Them Find Their Mommy!
Good luck finding your mom, little babies. Hopefully, you'll be able to find her soon.

[edit] I just saw this video and it made me T______________________T. It wouldn't let me embed unfortunately but you have to watch it. Help those poor babies find their mom! And omg, those little seals!

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toronto goodies

My trip to Toronto was a lot of fun! My family and I (minus my sister who had too much homework) left at around 8 AM and we arrived at around 1:30 PM. We had a delicious lunch at a restaurant that we usually go to called, "Congee Wong." After lunch, we went shopping and I went on a mini shopping spree.

Goodies purchased from TO.
Here is a picture of all the goodies that I purchased from Toronto. Although they had a lot of stores that sold kawaii, I was disappointed with the selection since a lot of it were fakes. There were tons of fake rilakkuma, totoro and other kawaii character items. Worst of all, they weren't even good fakes, I could tell right away that they weren't the real deal.

But a lot of new shops opened up in the mall that we usually go to and we haven't been to Toronto in a long time so I still managed to spend a good 3 or 4 hours shopping. A lot of Asian makeup stores has opened up, my sister would've loved it. I, on the other hand, am too lazy to learn to apply makeup well so it didn't mean much to me unless it's creams or cleansers.

Kitty/Doggy Hand Cream
So it's not unusual that I bought this! The packaging obviously caught my eye so I went into the store to inquire more information about it and there was a tester and it passed! It didn't leave any stickiness behind. I hate it when creams leave a sticky residue. I bought a Korean brand hand cream and it feels disgusting after you put it on. Plus, it doesn't even work!

There isn't much but you don't need to slather a lot on her hands for it to work either.

Birthday Teddy Bear
This one my parents actually bought me and it was funny because I was planning on buying it and I kind of ruined my own surprise. The store that was selling it had a huge display of these cute little bears. I thought it was super cute and although I'm normally not a fan of these birthday toys, I couldn't resist this cute little bear. But to my dismay, April 27th was all gone! They had a whole bunch of other birthdays still available but mine had been all snatched! I asked one of the saleswoman who worked there and asked if she had anymore of April 27th, she said that she'd go check in the back.

I also happened to run into my dad about 5 seconds later (we had split up) and he asked what I was looking for. I told him the teddy bear, then he asked which date and I told him my birthday. He gave me a look and said,"Already bought it for you." and proceeds to take it out of his shopping bag and gave it me.

So soft too!

There was a store that sold a lot of Shinzi Katoh goods and other unusual items. I was surprised that they had a shop like that since the majority of the mall sold fake kawaii goods, car parts, copied DVDs, and Asian makeup. They had so much Shinzi Katoh! They were reasonably priced too (as far as Shinzi Katoh items go for anyway).

Ugly Duckling Tin Pencil Case
I thought this was really cute but Alex told me that it's super depressing. My brother agreed. They said that every time I need to get my pencil/pen, I have to look at the sad ugly duckling I don't think he's ugly at all!). I told them that it'll remind me to not judge things by their covers. They still insisted that it was depressing.

Inside.

Bottom.

Sheep Earrings.
I also bought a pair of sheep earrings from the same store. I normally get an allergic reaction to the cheaper earrings because of the metal or paint that they use, but I asked the girl and she said that they're titanium so they won't give an allergic reaction. I hope she's right.

Kapibara-san Gashapon
There used to be a lot of gashapon shops in the mall but I guess they weren't doing really well since there was only one left. It was a small one and they toys were ugly! I couldn't even remember what they were but they did have a kapibarasan one :)

Kapibarasan Screen Cleaner.
I usually don't buy collectors' toys or figurines but this one is cute! The figurines are sheep and I had previously bought one of these (but a different collection, I forgot what it was) when I was in Hong Kong 5 years ago.

They're dream sheep. The text on the box didn't make any sense but I'm guessing it's sheep that grant your dreams' wishes or something.

Possible Toys.
This series is the horoscope collection. I like the Taurus and Virgo ones the most. You have a 7:8 chance of getting a white sheep, which are the ones with pictures and a 1:8 chance of getting a black sheep, which are the question marks.

What's Inside?

OMG I GOT THE TAURUS ONE!!!!!!
DJFKAJFKLDAJFKDSJFKDSJDFLJSAFF IT'S THE TAURUS ONE!!!!! WHAT ARE THE CHANCES?! THE STARS MUST BE ALIGNED WITH THE PLANET NEPTUNE AND IT MUST BE THE RIGHT TIME TO BUY THESE DREAM SHEEP!!!!!

In case you didn't know, Taurus is MY sign and it's the one I wanted! I can't believe this! On my first (and only) try too!

MY ACTUAL BIRTH DATE TOO!?
And that's not all, my actual birth day is printed on the bottom of the sheep. WHAT IS THIS?! THIS IS DESTINY! THE SHEEP AND I ARE MEANT FOR EACH OTHER!

Apparently, it's a game and it came with this paper. I'm not going to use it but here it is just to show you guys. OMG THAT SHEEP AND I ARE SOUL MATES! I DON'T NEED THIS SILLY PAPER GAME TO TELL ME!

Instructions that I'll never use because WE CHOSE EACH OTHER!
Last but not least is Alex's birthday present for me! At the Shinzi Katoh store, I was debating on whether I should buy this adorable tote (since I have a lot of bags, I'm a plush and handbag addict). I left the store without it and decided to think about it. Within an hour, I decided to get it, life is too short! It was then the cherry on top of an awesome day when Alex offered to get it for my birthday (even though it was over our budget, we had decided to get each other small gifts of $10 so that we can get amazing gifts for each other in Asia). He said that he didn't mind going over the budget as long as it made me happy (awwww!).

Shinzi Katoh Doggy Tote.

Front/back.

Bottom.

Yummy curry fish and beef balls.
At some point during the day, my brother got hungry so we went to buy some delicious fish and beef balls. Every time we come to Toronto, my brother feasts on these. I wanted to get escargots too but they ran out. We had ordered much more but Alex and my brother were like vultures and ate a lot of them before I got a chance to take a picture.

Baby Polar Bear.
I didn't buy this little guy in Toronto but he was purchased a few days before we went. I found him in an outlet candy store and there was three of them lined up together. Although all 3 were cute, my eyes were immediately drawn to him. After little deliberation, I decided he was coming home with me. Alex, on the other hand, bought some chocolate almonds.

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