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!

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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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