JSR #32 : I threw away the packages so I forgot the names...

I'm back in Sibu. For quite a few days already. ^-^" The weekend saw me being dragged by my parents down to Sarikei for trip - again. -_-" We went a-hunting for wild 'paku' and 'biling' - Sarawak vegetations - at my parent's little piece of orchard near an old school. Aside being food for mosquitoes for an hour, I was quite fascinated with the outcome. We actually gathered enough greens for 2 meals! :D Dad also managed to chop down some bamboo shoots. I was asked to peel off the outer shells of the shoots. Hell, was it a nasty job. -_-" Getting teenee bamboo furs stuck to your hand is not exciting at all. -_-"

So, yeah. Not doing much these days. Just lazing about - menganggur la katakan. T-T Here are some photos of Japanese ice-creams and wafers to look at while I figure out how to start my crafty engines. -_-"

{ Super yummy fish-shaped wafer with vanilla ice-cream, uber sweet red bean paste and a thin layer of chocolate. }

{ Green tea + milk ice cream. Very padat. Very creamy. Not too sweet. Just right as a dessert after a heavy meal. }

{ Wafer with vanilla ice-cream and red bean paste. Somehow, I just can't taste the red beans. -_-" Not as nice as the fishy wafer. }

All bought from Isetan. Price is about RM5-7 for each. The fish wafer is definitely a must try for you sweet-tooths out there. :)

Poketo!

Long time no updates. :P I've been lazing about after completing the elective report. Each day, it's Facebook, Facebook and more Facebook. I'm helplessly addicted to Restaurant City and Pet Society. It's quite scary how I can sit for quite a while every day and stare at my friends cooking, serving dishes and cleaning up. -_-"

But that's only one tenth of my daily routine for the past few days. I've actually been glued to youtube, watching every video featuring Korean boy group 2pm. Will tell you more in a while. :)

For now, let's take a look at some cute stuff!

{ Poketo! Donutsu Mug by Heisuke "PCP" Kitazawa }

{ Poketo! Coffeepot Cafe Mug by Silvia Portella }

{ Coffeepot Cafe Mug - ain't it just keeeyooot! }

Poketo! is sort of like an art community whereby international artists promote their works through functional yet creatively fun wares. These mugs are just two from a unique collection of funky homewares.

I just love their wallet collection. :)

Lazy Enjoymenths, A Day Out

Went out yesterday with Tuan Chin, after we met up with our research co-supervisor. We headed for Times Square and had lunch at Kiku Zakura, a Japanese restaurant.

{ Sushi platter~ }

{ Unagi with rice = super yum! }

We had an okonomiyaki and a special ice cream sundae too. I really enjoyed eveything. :) I find the okonomiyaki particularly delicious, as well as the unagi. :9

After that, we got Krispy Kreme. I think I'm going to have to set aside a weekly Krispy Kreme fund from now onwards. T-T

{ Aaahhhh~ Tuan Chin's first bite into the Krispy Kreme! :D }

Then, we headed for KLCC. Spent quite some time at Kinokuniya looking at the books. When we were about to leave, I spotted this :

{ OMFG!!! It's Q-POT!!! In a BOOK!!! }

I grabbed it that instant. I can't believe I got a hardcopy of photos of Q-Pot's fantabulous collection! Woohoo!

For more information about this scrumpilicious brand, check out the post here.

{ I can look at these two pages all day. }

{ Can anything go yummier than these? }

I'm particularly excited that the book came with a free Q-Pot item!

{ A bar of chocolate~! ♥ }

{ It's a bag! }

The bag is folded into the pouch. Neat eh? :P

Art For Grabs May 2009 : Part Three

Er... Sorry for leaving 2 days' gap till part 3. ^-^" Darn research proposal.... T-T

Anyways, here are some awesome finds at the event. :)

{ Cupcakes by ngonyes. Pretty and yummy. ;9 }

{ Dollhouse and miniatures exhibition by a few talented girls }

A booth the right of ours was accomodated by a little exhibition on dollhouses and miniatures. The dollhouses were unbelievably intricate, carefully done down to the minutest detail.

{ Busy little kitchen worktable }

{ A shop? Or a corner of a cosy home. }

{ I find this one very very impressive! Hair salon! }

{ Fabric store! }

{ Cafe? Omg! I wanna go there! }

{ Omg! I think this one really is like a miniature of the real Malaysian florist's. The details are just unbelievably life-like! }

{ Goodies! }

The zines are by chi too, pretty notecard-sized drawing by Carr Win *kahwin! XD* and fish-scale patterned postcard by liyana. They're given by the artists themselves at the end of the second day. I should have given something from my shop in return, but I was like a blunderful blur person that I didn't. T-T The zines really make my head big. ^-^" A few of them I understand la, but most of the content is beyond my comprehension. ^-^"

That adorable lion plush cellphone hanger is made by a guy! XD He's the first customer to come to my booth and buy something eh! After a little chat, found out that he makes cute little felt animals. He showed me a winged horse and a terrier, both of them in 3D! :D And he gave me the lion as a present! *happy~happy* XD

Oh, and thanks to everyone who came and stopped by Kawaii~neh!'s booth. :)

Art For Grabs : Part Two

I really want to thank Tuan Chin for helping me out all the way till the end. She's been a great source of moral support and she practically did half of the preparations - setting up the booth, entertaining customers and manning the booth. I think she's perfect for Kawaii~neh! - as the model and as the pretty assistant! :D I scare people with my look and my awkward silences, so Tuan Chin being there truly helped a lot. XD Though not too bubbly, her pleasant smiles and little talks really made customers feel at ease.

I'm praising you to the skies. Your head don't become too big ah. XD

{ ♥ Kawaii~neh!'s pretty assistant ♥ }

We actually took my little table *used for putting my laptop in the room* to the gallery on Friday afternoon, and some of the props as well.

Saturday morning, we went early to set up the things.

{ A bit of wall deco. The cut-out alphabets were done on the spot with the help of my pretty assistant, lil sis and her friend. }

{ Necklaces on corkboard. }

{ Pins hanging on clothes-pins. Wanted to use wooden ones but the pink plastic ones were already at hand. }

{ T-shirt that Tuan Chin drew. It was her idea that we make our own T-shirts - for the crew la katakan. We actually planned to wear them at the fair, but I chickened out... ^-^" Someone actually wanted to buy them eh. :D }

{ Table ready }

I didn't expect kids to be there. It was really fun to see them running to the table and oogle at the stuff. XD A pair of sisters came every few hours to look, and bugged their poor mummy *also selling handmade jewelry there* to buy them something. I was worried that people may not like bending or squatting down or sitting at the booth to look at stuff, but guess it turned out to be a good thing that I brought it. :P

{ Ooh... Donut. *chomp* }

{ Felt cakes with no function whatsoever. I think I should have made them into hats. }

{ One side of the table loaded with inedible yumminess ♥. A little surprised that the bracelets did not attract much attention, though the younger of the two girls who bugged their mummy really liked the purple one. XD }

{ Actually planned to make more of the onigiris, but didn't have time. T-T Darn exams. }

{ One-of-a-kind embellished felt cuff bracelets. Really love them and thought I couldn't part with either. }

I felt a deep sense of accomplishment as everyone who looked appreciated my creations. We loved watching people's reaction when we were asked where or what we're currently studying. Ei, science students can be full of surprises de ma. XD *muahaha~*

This participation was intended as part of my semester 6 Electives, and I submitted the topic as 'How to manage a craft booth'. There were a lot of things learnt. One thing I know I could have done better was interacting with people. I apologise for being more of a wood block than an artist selling her wares. I've always have a sort of fear for talking to people. Guess I really must break it and start communicating properly. Oh, and I couldn't say anything else other than 'thank you!' to everyone.... because I really am thankful. ^-^" That probably made me sound like an over-enthusiastic seller. T-T

Other than breaking my back and subjecting my lungs to a possible risk of lung/throat/nasopharynx cancer 40-50 years down the road, it has been an invaluable experience. :)

Art For Grabs May 2009 : Part One

Fuuhh... The weekend passed by in a flash. There wasn't any time to think. Before going on to share with you the whole craft-fair experience, let's first take a look at some of the things that I whipped up fresh for the event.

{ Fruit Salad plushies with a lobster clasp for hanging }

{ Little Cloud plushie cellphone straps }

{ Yummy felt donut pin brooches ♥ }

{ Strawberry pins! :D }

{ Purteh cupcake felt pin ♥ }

{ Wooden map pendant necklaces }

{ More map necklaces. The silvery yo-yos are actually made from a folded umbrella cover. :D}

{ Woodland & wilderness creatures printed -manually- on map circles, laminated and with a pin-back stuck on. Mid-way through the first day, we found out that the pin-back could actually be prised off with just a delicate nudge. Omg. T-T So teruk! Tak wat quality control before putting them up! T-T But then I did test them after a day of completing the making, and they were fine then. I guess mixing G17 and Bostik Super Glue wasn't a good idea after all. T-T.

Later, we used only G17, and it proved to be an excellent bonding agent for plastic and metal. }

{ Polymer Clay cookies. Took a whole day to make them. ^-^" But I'm really satisfied with how they turned out. Sequence of making : green, blue, pink and lastly orange. The pink was a second one I made - the first one got burnt on the underside... T-T }

{ Fruiteh Candy Cookies ♥ }

{ Chocolate Sweetheart Cookies ♥ }

{ Made them into necklaces }

{ Juicy Lollies necklaces ♥ }

Hokay. There are still some pieces left from the fair. I'll be putting them up in the shop some time this week. The laptop's running like a 100-year-old lady with a sack of potatoes. -_-" Am planning to complete blog entries today.

Beard Papa + Krispy Kreme

Here's a long overdue post about Beard Papa, a Japanese snack store selling cream puffs. I had it once before, and I couldn't forget the fragrant vanilla cream. Some few weeks ago, I bought an original cream puff, a chocolate one and one of their chocolate cakes.

{ Beard Papa cream puffs + chocolate cake }

Somehow, this time around, the cream puffs didn't really work for me. Possibly because of the egg-y-ness of the puffs? I simply can't pin-point it. Well, I almost choked on the cocoa powder when I took a bite out of the chocolate puff. As for the chocolate cake --> WOOH! It's a chocolate lover's MUST to try! It's like a molten chocolate cake, with the insides soft and a little creamy. :9

The next day after end of exams, I went out to do some stuff and buy stationery supplies. On the way home, I stopped by Times Square to buy me some Krispy Kreme doughnuts! So unlucky that there's only another person in line, so I didn't get a free glazed doughnut. T-T

{ Oooh yes! I've been wanting to try these for a long time, ever since I stumbled across flickr photos of them and Mister Donut. }

{ Oo la la~ }

{ First bite with anticipatory yumminess. I was quite stunned. OMG THE SUGAR HIGH!!!! }

I was wondering if doughnuts can go even softer than Big Apple's or J.Co's. All I can say is Krispy Kreme proved to be worthy of all the excitement it stirred in KL recently. The glazed doughnut was crisp on the outside and mighty soft on the inside. With its amazing sugar glaze, I think this is possibly the best doughnut I've ever had. :D No wonder the original glazed doughnut is the most popular.

{ Hershey's cookies n cream }

The first time I heard of a cakey doughnut, it was from the post on Bakerella. I'd always thought that doughnuts are bread-like. When I saw cake doughnuts at Krispy Kreme, I bought both vanilla and chocolate ones. To my disappointment, the chocolate one was a little hard and tasteless. But contrarily, the vanilla was delightfully soft, rich and simply yummy. Better than either cake or doughnut alone - no wonder they call them cake doughnuts!