It's time to gear up for lots of store visits, there will be a lot of layout changes, one more new store and multiple phases of Xmas promotion happening from this week onward. My gears will change from office setting (mind.depositor, Moleskine diary, fountain pen, calculator, camera) to field setting (pocket Moleskine, camera).
One of the indispensable tool is this "Holder for M" from Vintage Revival Productions. It is an ingenious two piece product made from a combination of leather and denim label material. One piece acts as a holder which allows you to insert your M into your jean's back pocket (8,800 yen), the other is a pen holder (4,500 yen). Both pieces are looped so that you can slide to the front and back cover of you M easily without permanent damage.
Where did I found this you asked? It was last July when I thought I was having the last meeting of a business trip in Tokyo, Mr. Doi from Sweetroad (a great store to visit mind you) told me about Mr. Iwata and his shop Iwata Denki. I had to rush to that store in Setagaya before it's closed. Full of sweat and unable to communicate in Japanese, I was signing and nodding a lot and had a great "conversation" with Iwata san, a designer himself, who published 2 design books called GOALD (goal of design), and constantly working to create new products. Do visit Iwata san's blog to get a glimpse of his works and product collections from his friends.
Iwata san made some very nice leather Moleskine covers. They are like stickers, only in leather, which are removable and probably can last several uses when you change your Moleskine. I was about to buy the brown snake skin embossed or the wood imitation cover but too bad they were out of stock. He also made those cute little leather photo clips which look like smileys, they are put into recycle film cans and sold in stores like Tokyu Hands and Loft.
Iwata san was very keen to show me his collection of great products in the shop, wooden iphone case, his leather credit card holder, coin pouch etc. "Holder for M" was the one thing I got from his shop, then I was out of cash in Tokyo :)
So if you are going to Tokyo, I suggest you to dig up these interesting small shops to go, it is far more rewarding as a journey. As for myself, the connection and sense of discovery always give me the thrill.
Xmas to me for the past 6 years has been a gradual build up of pressure and anxiety because of work. After yet another day of number crunching I reached home finding a surprise in our guest restroom. I would've expected a lonely cat or dog lurking around in the house if it wasn't our restroom, the only culprit here must be Olgua. I was furious for a few seconds and click..... I switched to story telling mode, about dogs and cats at home and why they do things they do because nobody clip their nails etc. Then it was the plead to tell yet more bed time stories. I must remember that flick of switch, to turn anger into stories, to turn anxiety into something creative. It shouldn't be a positive reinforcement of bad behavior or emotion if the subject can grasp the good intention behind given a review is done, and it is no surprise and a pity that this works best with children, 'mature' people just have too much pride to see things through.
A lot of Blythe people are doing their dolls' favorite fifteen items on Flickr. I decided to do a photo for Plum! She has so many favorite things... It was difficult to fit even just fifteen of them into one shot. o_O
And actually, all the items in this photo are Plum's favorite clothes and accessories, not just the fifteen that are tagged on my Flickr. I cheated a little! But I only tagged fifteen of the items, haha. ^__^
I can't wait to take more photos of Plum in the outfit she's wearing right now. She's totally dressed for autumn and winter. I dressed her and Jinkies the other day and they look so cute next to each other. It's been super cloudy and rainy every day this week so there haven't really been any opportunities for me to go outside and get good lighting for photos. I was lucky I got a chance to jump outside for this quick photo today. In fact, I almost didn't get any shots in because the tiny dresses started getting blown away. x_____x Shawn stood outside with me and made sure it all stayed in order, tee hee.
Who would you most like to be stuck in an elevator with?
that horrible man i used to work for..
Least like?
...witnesses.
- Laundry is.. laundered.
- Dryer cycle has finished
- ...while i am standing in front of it
- and laundry is WARM.. WARM is good.
- nothing good is on TV
- nothing bad is on TV
- gmail is DOWN
- facebook is uninteresting
- vox is read/updated
- myspace spam is deleted
- I am not hungry / thirsty / tired and all bathroom functions have been executed
- Jonas is not laying in a cute way
- my phone isn't ringing and
- i have no voice mails
- mercury is not in retrograde
So much has happened since I left for BlytheCon. I'm not sure I can go through every single thing I've experienced, but I'm definitely going to try. To sum it up in a sentence: BlytheCon was amazing. I can't believe how busy I was over the past few days!
When I arrived at Rebecca's house in Indiana, everything seemed to fall into place. All my insecurities disappeared... She made me feel so welcome and I'm really thankful for that. As soon as Shawn and Ryan left, Rebecca and I got down to some serious dolly business. We talked for a long time as we got ready for our trip to Atlanta the next day. I helped her make a sign for her booth while she cut up some business cards, and I showed her all the dollies and toys I brought with me. I really felt like we had known each other for years.
Sherri arrived early the next morning. Like I told both her and Rebecca, I was so nervous about meeting Sherri. O__O She's been one of my idols ever since I started collecting Blythes; her saran and mohair reroots are incredible-- one of the absolute best rerooters in the world! I felt intimidated before Sherri arrived, but as soon as she arrived, my nerves settled down. She was so down-to-earth and so much like me... I immediately felt like I could relate to her, and that doesn't happen very often when I meet new people.
Our ride to Georgia was extremely long: about nine hours. Surprisingly, I didn't fall asleep once. Haha, Sherri, Rebecca and I talked the entire time-- about dollies, Pet Society, our lives, and so much more. In fact, we talked about so much, I'm almost afraid I'm going to forget some of the details. A long car ride was the perfect way to get to know Rebecca and Sherri even more.
We were able to settle into Rebecca's mom's house really quickly. I think it's because we were all so tired and hyped up for the next few days. For a while, we sat around exchanging dolly clothes and stories about our girls. I've never had the chance to talk for hours on end about dollies in my pajamas before... I wish I could do it more often. I felt almost spoiled for having such a great vacation so far. My sleep was wonderfully deep and comfortable.
Friday was the day dedicated to the Georgia Aquarium. Sherri, Rebecca, Rebecca's mom and I all went. We were all a little disappointed at how little there was to do at the aquarium, but everything that was there was really beautiful. My favorite part of our visit was definitely the tunnel that's underneath water. To be surrounded completely by water, fish and sharks was incredible. We all loved that part so much that we decided to walk through the tunnel a second time before we left.
One of my other favorite things about going to the aquarium was how interested people were in the Blythes we brought with us. Sherri brought Penny (her @Nai custom); Rebecca brought Tallulah (Betsy's crazy cross-eyed custom); and I brought Nami. We not only had visitors coming up to us to ask us about our dollies, but the aquarium's staff expressed even more interest. A security guard wanted to hold one of our dolls. A few of the staff members in charge of taking photos asked me a bunch of questions about where Blythes could be found. And the absolute best Blythe experience was at the end of our aquarium trip. As we were paying for our items in the gift shop, cashiers started piling up behind the registers to ask us all questions about Blythes. They couldn't get enough of our girls and left customers waiting in line and at registers so they could see the dolls! Rebecca, Sherri and I all took turns showing them our dollies. They loved changing the doll eyes. Rebecca and Sherri got a few photos of all the staff people (like seven or eight, I think) asking us questions.
Dinner that night was fun. The four of us went to a restaurant where we had some delicious meals. I had a shrimp and alfredo meal. *drool* It was so delicious and it was a relaxing experience to have before the busy day ahead of us.
Finally. Saturday was BlytheCon. All of us were so antsy before we left! We had packed most of our stuff up the night before so we got to the con on time. Because Rebecca was a vendor so we could get into the building before any of the other attendees (which I was happy about because I didn't want to be stuck outside in the cold). The girl she was supposed to share a table with was sick so Rebecca had the entire table for herself. I helped her set everything up and went back-and-forth between the convention room and outside, where more and more people were starting to arrive. I switched between taking my three girls out; a lot of people seemed to already know who they were, especially Pigeon! I had fun posing for photos with my dolls and everyone was incredibly nice. <3
The convention was so much fun, but it all seems like a blur now. Everything was so fast paced. I somehow lucked out and was one of the first people to register. Because of that, I got into the con fast enough to check out all the vendors and their items. I snatched up everything I was instantly attracted to-- oh gosh, my loot is all so cute! I keep looking at all the clothes and accessories I bought.
I was constantly meeting new people. A lot of the people are friends I've had online for a few years. I felt like crying a few times because I was so excited to actually meet some of them in person. After all these years... finally! Pigeon's customizer, Megan, was there. She was one of the main reasons I knew I had to attend BlytheCon. She was such a sweet person and I feel like I know Pigeon more because of meeting Megan. I feel bad about not remembering every person's face; so much was happening at the time so I knew it would be impossible to remember everything.
One of the most exciting parts of the day was the raffle. I only bought five tickets but THREE of my numbers happened to get picked. O____O Because one of the items I won was a double, I only got two of the prizes-- I didn't mind though. The big prize I won was a free mohair reroot for a Blythe. The second prize I won was a free Blythe application for an iPhone. Because I don't have an iPhone, I gave my prize to Rebecca. I was so excited (and surprised) that I was shaking the entire time after my numbers were called.
Needless to say, the entire event was more fun than I could have ever imagined. Like I told Rebecca and Sherri later on, the BlytheCon trip was the best vacation I've ever had. Getting to know both of them is probably what I love most from the experience. Unlike the friends I had in high school and college, I connected with Rebecca and Sherri. They didn't make me feel socially awkward and we shared so many interests. I think it would have been impossible to not love those two girls.
All of my photos can be viewed on my Facebook BlytheCon 2009 album and in my BlytheCon 2009 Vox Collection.
Many thanks to Shawn and Ryan who drove me all the way to Indiana. Many more thanks to both Sherri and Rebecca for being the sweetest friends ever. And a lot of other "thank yous" go to those of you who followed my adventure on Twitter!
"What?" You asked.
Whether it is digital or analog, mini cameras are the most trendy thing happening in the industry. Digital Minox, Rollei, Diana mini, Digital Harinezumi (just released new white edition), etc. They are all in this tiny little promotion happening in Festival Walk and APM LOG-ON.
The earphone market is getting more crowded these days. Two years ago a good pair of earphone at about HK$200 was difficult to find, quality earphone often means at least over a thousand HK dollar from names like Shure and Sennheiser. Now a reasonably good earphone costs only around HK$150 and you get to see so many choices in retail stores. Earphones like candy indeed. The price is definitely going down further but I also observe a drop in quality from some of the bigger manufacturers, obviously hurting their brands and allowed some of the new comers to catchup with the market.
