it’s love in a box

i recently found my favorite discount store in federal way, wa!

it’s called daiso! i pretty much bought out the store just yesterday….

what began as a casual browsing of their plethora of strange-but-fascinating merchandises, just collecting a item here, an item there and before i knew it i was hunting for a basket to carry all the goods i accumulated. after the first 30 minutes of wondering what this doodad and this thingamajig was used for, i narrowed down my shopping spree to bento items only. i’ve been a bit obsessed fascinated with bento lunches lately. you can’t imagine all the tools there are to make bento lunches — i sure didn’t. but im soOOOoo happy with my collection!

this morning, i made lunch for my sister (+ for me, too). here is a picture of my first attempt:

oink oink

the piggies got squished from the lid and one octopus sausage was gobbled up before the picture was taken. :(

funny thing is, i felt a sense of pride making this and found myself a bit giddy staring at the little creatures in the small red box…. heehee :D

bon appetit!!

(inspirations)

herbs

another attempt at gardening…. (circa early october 2008)

i won’t admit defeat, apparently. no matter how many once living plants met their doom under my well-intentioned care.

**************

hindsight (1/1/2009): i started an herb garden. ambitiously, i tested my horticultural skills and nurtured these infant plants from it’s seedling days [pictures below]. as always, my over confidence and over active imagination provided enough momentum to last a couple months of growth. eventually, the plants shriveled up and died. mostly out of neglect, which is actually to my surprise, kinda heart-wrenching. i actually felt pain and a sense of “you’re a bad mother, how could you have done this” sensation.

ahhh… the beginning looked so promising:

basils and cilantros!!!

nueva era

welcome 2009

[cue buck rogers theme song]

where are the death phasers, family of 4 hovercrafts, and silvery-unisex apparels?

a fast forward/recap/catching-up sorta deal for the following posts!

ho ho ho

help….

a little something something

having a tough time finding alikat’s birthday gift (the big day – august 4th). so while i shop around the web for the real gift,  i thought i’d buy some time by placing an order at the somethingstore.

the concept is so simple and all for a measely $10:

1. place an order
2. wait
3. a package arrives at the point of destination

you don’t know what you’re gonna get but that’s just part of the fun! according to the somethingtracker webpage, the package could be just about anything; a usb mug warmer, a weatherman tool, a ceramic teapot, an andis hair trimer, or the jackpot of somethings, a navigon 2100 gps system or the magic bullet blender! myself, i wouldn’t mind getting something impracticable like a make-a-wish-pearl or an eggling crack-and-grow.

whatever it may be i hope it’ll put a smile on alikat’s face.

will keep you posted once i hear the news of the somethings arrival!  ;)

in the meantime, you can listen to a 4 minute npr blurb on this wacky-but-fun-store.

edit//:

YES! alikat finally received the something from the mail. you can take my word for it, that it definitely works! sooOoo… what is it that she received?!? a not too shabby of a gift, if i say so myself. my sister, alikat is now a proud owner of a water-resistant radio!!!! she tested it as soon as she got it — in the shower no less, to which she responded to my eager request on how it fared with it’s boastful “water-resistant” claim, she unenthusiastically said, “[sigh] eh, it’s alright.”

featuring: koko

i have known kokopuffs for about 2.5 years now. she had initially come to the us to study english, but now finds herself studying theology in los angeles. she has a quirky sense of humor that i love. i often find myself teasing her, sometimes going a bit too far. although by nature a wallflower, she can be quite a ham. she vacuums very well, as my bedroom carpet will testify.