Excellent!

Neatly done by Groovisions for MAFF.
(Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries).
This is an infomercial about ensuring the future of food in Japan.

Perhaps it would be good for all of us to take note of this as well. :o)

Illustration Friday: Hoarding

This topic for this week's IF is hoarding & I thought it would be perfect to illustrate my little secret (well, not so secret anymore) obsession-passion for daruma or dharma dolls.
I itch to buy mostly any I come across!

Darumas represent the ever growing list of harder goals I wish to accomplish during my stay on Planet Earth! It also seems like I've been hoarding this list for quite some time.

Oddly, I find them absolutely adorable! Round roly poly dolls that hardly get knocked down. A little note on darumas for the unacquainted: they are little Japanese dolls used for wishing. Fill in one eye (usually the left) whilst thinking of your wish. You are then, only supposed to fill in the other eye once the wish has come true!

Wiki has it that the daruma has become symbolic for optimism, persistence, and strong determination! (This is probably due to their "low centers of gravity, some types of daruma doll return to the upright position after being tilted to one side".)

I have quite "a few" under my wing however since Daruma dolls are only supposed to be used one at a time, I have to wait till I can colour in all their other right eyes! :D

NOTE: For illustration purposes, I coloured all their left eyes in so that they wouldn't seem so "blind", I would not do so to my precious darumas in real life! chuckle* They should be used wisely, in the correct manner of course!


EXTRAS:
Interested in getting a daruma but don't really have the space for one? Here's links for anyone interested in Daruma Wallpaper! No physical space needed! Let him inspire you everytime you switch on your PC!

Click here to download the one eye-d Daruma (make your wish whilst downloading your selected wallpaper size) & for a Daruma with both eyes coloured in! (once your wish has been achieved)
[Note: Scroll to the centre of the wallpaper list, daruma wallpapers are there!]

Once More

Stitched them together for a better view. Go on, clikity click it.

A view of Lake Chuzenji in segments.
I absolutely love this place.

Elebot Update

Harro everyone!! I'm back for now!!
Would you believe it, not too long ago-an hour after I got back, I received news that I am to be off on another working trip again in the coming week, meaning the end of April, first week of May. More on that in my upcoming post. =----------="" It doesn't seem like I would have enough time to settle down let alone blog much. I shall do my best to blog whilst I can!!! :D

Here's a quick update for now! :)
I just found out that Elebot is finally in Tokyo! Part of the Speakerdog Papertoy Exhibition @ Cafe Pause hosted by Jean Snow. You can view her below:



































Art imitates Life or Life imitates Art? In this case, it would be I'm beginning to imitate an illustration of my own illustrations. GAHH!!! :P I went for a hair cut! I think I look rather different. I am not even used to my own NEW look. I have been keeping long hair for ages and it was time to crop it short. This is way shorter than I had ever tried before. =-----="" Here's a peek!























A quick shoutout to to my dear friend, Ju, who's about to launch his Senior Thesis Show on 28-29 April '08. Its entitled "Doll-like", an interesting showcase of fine artworks he shall portray. I am only guessing his obsession with dolls will be the main highlight wink*

It will be held in Anderson Hall, Room 819, 333 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, US of A. Big HUG dearie! I know you can do it!

p/s- more of the papertoy exhibition here.

I shall go back to enjoying the last bits of my weekend! Cheerio!
Lynn*

The Bigger Picture

Sometimes, its good to take a step back, to look at the bigger picture.
No doubt the minuscule detail you're looking so intently at is an artwork by itself, but you could be missing out on a whole bunch of other details if you miss viewing them from a larger perspective.

Interestingly, my tolerance & stress levels are being pushed to the test with the amount of work commitments I've taken on. I think I am now able to relate to what a headless chicken feels like when its running around! plus I feel a little less human & a little more robot-like with the 7 day work-work schedule I have now =------=""

With that, I've decided to try to take a deep breath........(counting to 10)
& focus on the main goal at hand, instead of worrying about every other little detail along the way.

It may sound like common sense now when you're calm & reading this, but trust me, when you've got a uber tight, make it spandex-tight (don't ask me where that came from :P) deadline for a project you've just been briefed for, about 10 minutes ago, let's see you not flail around madly!

I'm not saying I've mastered the art of being calm in the midst of a storm but at the very least, I'm learning to swim real fast after being thrown into the deep blue sea!

Picture Caption: Little did I know I was being photographed whilst I was focusing on the magnificent mountains of Nikko, Japan in early winter.

p/s- posts might be a little sporadic but I will persevere!
Shall update here whenever I can! :D

Hugs to all,
Lynn

Note: Thank you, bunny :D I'm learning!

:D I'm absolutely thrilled to announce that Elebot is selected to be part of Speakerdog Papertoys: The Greatest Hits! Exhibition held at Cafe Pause, Tokyo from the 17th - 23rd March 2008! (This starts TOMORROW!!) More details here. I sure wish I'm in Tokyo now.

OH HAI flickr!

flickr got pwned! LOL cats style :D Cute! ROFL

Status update: Am currently rushing to meet Jinjerup's new range deadline, veggie patch + catch up on my little mountain of reading material due at work tomorrow! arhhhhh!! Longer posts when I'm a little free-er! hugs* Meanwhile, here's a look at the places I wish I could zip on over to right now.























1. Lake Chuzenji in Nikko, Japan.
Its cool mountain wind from the lake was wonderfully soothing. It almost felt as if all thoughts & worries could've been swept away. The waters, due to the strength of the wind, glint every once in awhile from being touched by the sun. I could've sat on that pier for the whole day.

























2. Temple area in Nikko, Japan.
Luscious mountain greens towering above you whilst you stroll, whispers of the wind rustling amongst their leaves. Most of the temples are placed near enough for you to walk but yet far enough for you to contemplate whilst doing so. Just picturing it again calms me down. I have made a promise to try to visit this very spot again in my lifetime. (It's personal)




























3. A cliff overlooking a valley in Cameron Highlands, Malaysia during sunrise.
(Note: would only like to be here during the break of dawn, other times of day would be either too hot or too cumbersome with the amount of commercialism it now has to offer) Standing there for over an hour just to catch a brief glimpse this was one of the most breathtaking moments of last year. Looking back, I am glad I got a chance to watch the valley sleepily shrugging off its misty coat to reveal the wakening of life beneath.

Shimokitazawa

To make up for the lag of posts these past few days,
am resuming my brief photo-mentary of Tokyo with this place called Shimokitazawa. Having read heaps about it before I visited Japan,
I thought I was well prepared to face the maze of little streets its so famous for. Haha, so much for that!

Shimokitazawa is more like a very elaborate labyrinth of lane-roads which criss cross all over the place. Its quite an overwhelming sight once you step out of the train station. Quirky little shops line every bit of available space on both sides of the street. Its a place where locals chill, shop & strut. (Young ones that is! Mostly everyone looks like they're below mid 20's.)

Jewellery, music, clothing, bags, hair dressers, bars, cafes, live music, food, people, people, people, toys, anime, manga, houseware, handmade work, second hand items, bicycles, art... ZOMG.... (it seems like everything imaginable in the world can be found :P ok,ok, I am exaggerating) is crammed into that little hotbed of activity! I love it ever so much! Heaps! So many, many things to gawk at, to touch, to feel, to hear, to consume!








Weird kitschy display of bike, stunned mannequin beside a poster of a kimono-clad lady grasping her big man-gun.
All this to decorate the front of a hair salon!

















Orange, lemon, lime bikes.















Cute rice cracker store!
Everytime I look at these in their neat piles, I feel like running my hands through them :P
















Perty rice cracker store display.

















Seeing red in the dark (alley).

















I love how their logos are so graphical.












Rice slips, noodles slosh!
Funniest gyodan display.
(gyodan= japanese food replicas)







Salt licked yakitori &
ice cold Sapporos, we had, in this cozy little nook. Its always crowded with patrons so we waited quite a bit to get seated.












They have an extensive display of local wines.











Japanese storytelling, near the Shimokitazawa station. He's a real charmer, very good at what he does.
Not being able to understand Japanese, just listening to his intonations & watching his varied crazy gestures was great fun!












I am pretty sure most everyone would know what this is. (PM me if you don't) I had no idea they were still readily available or still in use! :P














Street shot of the endless, seamless shops.
















Waiting to cross to the other side of the track.














Comings & goings.
Of trains, pictured through a tunnel.












:) Chinese New Year (CNY)'s next week!!
Posts shall be a little sporadic till after the busy period of pre-CNY has phased past.
Till then, take care everyone!

MOS, Utterubbish & Ueno!

My heart gets all fluttery,
my knees go weak,
I go all happy-crazy inside, whenever...

I see a MOS burger!

For those unfamiliar with MOS burger, its a Japanese fastfood brand. (MOS stands for Mountain, Sun, Ocean .... =-------=""" very weird name but oh well....)
I salivate @ the mere thought of its unagi (eel) rice burgers, prawn burgers, or even their basic beef ones... It's not as icky as it sounds, not at all! If you're a fan of Japanese fast food, you probably want to give this a shot! I reckon you'd be able to find MOS burgers outlets peppering most of Singapore city.

Thinking it'd be the same in Tokyo, we hunted for one high & low, only to be told by a local that they're mostly situated in either the outskirts of the city area or in its quieter areas! How very odd! & there we were thinking, it was a major Japanese fastfood outlet. We only found 3 MOS's, 1 in Shibuya, 1 in Shimokitazawa &
1 more in Asakusa!

(Gah! Its horrible that we can 't find any back home,
how I pine & wish they'd reopen here....)




Here's the one in Asakusa!
Another odd thing is that
they don't serve the unagi
rice burgers in Japan!
(Only in Singapore)
















Colorful rolls of MOS tape!











For their christmas promo,
MOS teamed up with
Devilrobots (the guys who
did Tofu Oyako).
grin* my 2 faves rolled in1
(Pic from MOS S'pore site)






The MOStraps
are handphone straps
featuring 5 different
MOS inspired
characters!











I managed to catch
a design exhibition
in Singapore too,
<---- titled "Utterubbish"
Its a collection of
useless ideas =----="









Drew a kitty cat
on their wall.



















Can you spot kitty?
(tip: she's more to the right)







The perty work of
Heath Nash who makes lamps out of plastic waste, ie: unwanted plastic bottles, etc..

















The following are
random pix of
the exhibits there!























































My last pic of
this mish-mashed post.
lol...this is a cute looking ??...
I frankly don't know what on
earth it is? Maybe the Japanese
characters can help? :P
Shot it because I like the contrast-y colors
& composition.
Taken in Ueno Market, Japan.







Have a great week ahead everyone! Till the next post!
XOXO,
Lynn

Links to MOS Singapore, Utterubbish for the curious.
Check out MOS's interesting menu!

Ghibli Museum

Behold! The spoils from my trip to the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka!
As we were only allowed to shoot the roof exterior & its surroundings & since it was an ultra ,wet, rainy day, most (all) of my shots have that wet, rainy glare to them. Nonetheless, it was a lovely, lovely trip after all. A most inspiring one! I can't imagine anyone not wanting to have such a studio after a trip there ^- ^"








Robot from Laputa on roof

















Spotted a Daruma
on the back of
the Ghibli Museum Bus!


































Ticketing Totoro at the entrance!
















Totoro again with
foliage imprints
cough*cough*
(foliage glare i mean) ^- ^;;










"Let's get lost together", the Museum's tagline is brilliantly ironic
(It holds lots of meaning, I tell you!) Its one I shall store & keep to heart, like the memories I have of this fantastic place.

Man Holes!

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What on earth were you thinking? :p

Another cute drain cover spotted in Kamakura.
I forgot to post this up with my other Kamakura pix.
Two more, here & here! They're all so perty!
Beats the ones we have back here anytime....... = ...... =""

Yokohama

Here's a quick glimpse at Yokohama, about 45 mins or less from Tokyo.
(depending on your mode of transporation) Imho, its more of an entertainment-shopping-corporate-y & officey place which has all
the delights, a major city like it has to offer.
:p I still prefer the rural & suburb areas of Japan







The Cosmo Clock,
Yokohama & the world's largest clock.
It was the world's largest ferris wheel when it was built in 1989.
Interestingly , its seating capacity is 480 people at a go.


















Carriages of
the Cosmo Clock
ferris wheel.
It sure is one slow
but great bird's
eye view of
Yokohama City.















Maybe luck
wasn't really
on his side?
He doesn't seem
too happy with
his capsule toy.


















I like how the little
colorful houses
are offset by
the drab,
taller buildings
in their background.
















Spotted these
cute bunmoticons
(bun+emoticons)
at a bakery where
we were having lunch.













You'll know a style is the pinnacle of the pattern world when it is used as the design of a manhole cover in Yokohama! Leopard prints are
still quite in!














Side profile
of a ticketing officer.
Her lovely portrait
shows how almost
absolutely straight
her back is!



















Real reindeer games.












Well, ladies & gents, that brings Yokohama to a wrap! I can't decide which little gem in Tokyo to feature next, so tune in for more!
much love :)