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Nitori

I haven't blogged on interiors for a while and was thinking of what to write about. It was eureka before long and I could hardly wait to share this wonderful place with you.

We were entering the cold season and I was complaining of how icy cold my bedsheets were. It was making sleep unpleasant. Silly me was still sleeping on my cotton sheets. See, back in where I came from, we use cotton sheets all year long. Never did it enter my mind that one needed to switch to sheets of warmer materials. This was when my sweet Japanese friend introduced me to Nitori　ニトリ.

Nitori turned out to be much more than I expected. My eyes widened like a little girl in a candy store the moment I stepped in. My heart was pumping and endorphins were released without me exercising. Nitori carried EVERYTHING from furniture, interior furnishings to kitchen ware and bedding. Beautiful, well-designed products. I told my Japanese friend in quick breaths that we would be taking a while in there. Nitori is Japan's answer to Ikea! I strolled down almost every single aisle, never mind that they were displaying things I obviously do not need.

Needless to say, I made several subsequent visits to Nitori. And I have been sleeping on snugly warm bedsheets ever since. 

[images from Nitori]

Moolah

[click on images to enlarge]

I received this little milk carton in the mail yesterday. On top of being cute, Moolah is "Melamine Free" and requires "no refrigeration, stays on top in all economic times". In case you can't read it clearly (I apologise for the poor lighting), one side of it reads--

INGREDIENTS: 

Loose change, cash, leftover coins from overseas trips, hongbao fillings, 10% bonus

NUTRITIONAL FACTS: Per servings

M: Mint money in the new year 888kcal

O: Outperform your competition 9.8g

O: Optimise your resources 10.8g

L: Lead in the marketplace 68g

A: Advance towards your goals 10mg

H: Head for the stars 107mg

BEST USED:

During economic crisis

It's actually a marketing material by a local brand consultancy, A. S. Louken Group. Isn't it great how they pay attention to all the details on a typical milk carton and give it a twist? Creative, witty and cute!

The Magic Faraway Tree

[images from Krisatomic via Soon Lee]

Check out these treehouses nestled in the rich green woods and beside a calm river. Do they call to mind anything? They certainly do for me! And bring with them a sense of nostalgia too.

I grew up on a staple diet of Enid Blyton book. As soon as I stepped into a bookstore, I would loosen my hand from my mum’s grip and dive for the Enid Blyton book shelves. I would disappear into the fantastical world of The Enchanted Woods, Magic Faraway Tree, wonder why I neither go to a boarding school nor get to enjoy midnight feasts, and I partook in the endless adventures of the Famous Five. These books definitely added much colour and excitement to my childhood.

Aren't these old book cover designs simply lovely? Were you a little Enid Blyton fan too?

[images from The Enid Blyton Society]

Top 5 Things I would Do/Pursue

Do you look forward to weekends? I definitely do. It's the time when I can indulge in my hobbies, read, blog, get some exercise, bond with my loved ones etc.-- basically doing things I enjoy. But it's always a challenge fitting them all in into 2 short days. So some things I want to do never get done. I always find that having a day job inhibits me from doing the things I love. Other than draining me physically, it consumes my mind. I find myself thinking and worrying about work long after I've stepped out of the office. It's a sad reality because it means that the majority of my time is spent at work, doing things I love a lot lesser.

I envy and admire individuals who live their dreams and passion, pursuing them even if they are unconventional or contrary to what society perceives as "money-generating careers". Obviously, when embarking on such a path, practical concerns such as finances come into play. Afterall, one needs to eat, pay rent and it doesn't help that shopping is one of my loves. Someone once told me that as long as we are true to ourselves and chase our passion, the money will come. We don't have to worry so much about it that we never attempt to find out what our lives could be like. Imagine the possibilities!

Lately, I've been thinking about what I would do with my life if I left my day job and had time in my hands. So, I came up with my list of Top 5 things I would do/pursue:

1. Take up a visual communication/graphic design course

2. Set up an etsy shop (obviously entailing me doing craft/design work)

3. Freelance writing for magazines

4. Learn Japanese

5. Exercise everyday (jog, yoga)

What about you? What's your Top 5? Try imagining. Trust me, it's liberating.

Judging a Book by its Cover

Remember the days back in school when studying literature meant reading lots of classical works? The common perception is that classics are boring and heavy. So ingrained are these notions that I find these books repulsive even before flipping the covers open. This is reinforced by the look of the book which often screams "dullsville". I am sure many of you agree with me on that. Being aesthetic people, we are not sorry to judge a book by its cover. Much as I love reading, I was always behind time in lit class with these books and sometimes resort to reading the simplified versions as the exam dates drew near.

Oh, but times sure have changed. I spotted these lovely book covers over at Penguin Classics. Aren't they inviting? I hear their calls to enjoy the British countryside.

More beautiful English journeys here. 

[images from Penguin Classics]

Liliy bouquets

I love lilies. I love them for the elegance, simplicity and purity they exude. What better flowers to have for a bride bouquet than lilies? They look classic on their own and pretty when accented with other flowers too. These are some of my favourite liliy bouquets from Martha Stewart Weddings (which I can't resist because of its many gorgeous dreamy images). See more liliy bouquets here. Too many. Too beautiful. But what's a girl to do since she can only one wedding? What's your ideal bride bouquet or what did you have for your wedding?

[images from Martha Stewart Weddings]

Death

An ad in the papers caught my eye recently. It occupied almost an entire page but all it featured was a picture of a flower with just 2 lines of text. I couldn’t quite tell what it was about but Lien Foundation was clearly indicated and there was an URL: http://www.lifebeforedeath.org.sg. I was intrigued but did not check out the website till I came across a similar ad again. “Life Before Death” is actually a campaign to raise awareness on end-of-life care (hospice and palliative) and to promote understanding of the needs of patients and their families, with the vision that quality end-of-life care should be made available to all who needs it.

I found the website very informative. Death is something we shun from thinking about because it screams of the fragility of life. And we feel that we can hide from it until old age, until illness comes courting or when confronted with death of a loved one. Maybe death needs to be always personified as Brad Pitt for us to find it more approachable (“Meet Joe Black”). Recently, I caught the Japanese film, Departures, winner of the Academy Award, Best Foreign Language Film. The movie tackled the subject matter of death in an interesting way and infuses it with humour. It shows how different people react to it, reminding us how we should treasure the present, live life to the fullest and most of all, it is a flim about love. On seeing the trailer earlier on, I smugly felt I already knew what the film is about. I was wrong and it way exceeded my expectations. Excellent mise-en-scene and the shots of inaka (country-side) Japan really made me miss the place.

The topic on death seems to be surrounding me recently. But I was reminded that the answer to the fear of death is what we marked last Friday and Sunday. Because of the first Good Friday years ago, death is but a transition zone.

“He hangs, by whom the world was made,

beneath the darkened sky;

the everlasting ransom paid

I see my Savior die.”

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter weekend.

Uniqlo on local shores

Japanese fashion retailer Uniqlo has arrived in Singapore!! The popular clothing giant is known for its trendy and casual wear, for men, women and kids. Yay! I recall going quite crazy about Uniqlo when I was in Japan. It was good-looking clothes at affordable prices. What more could I ask for (we all know the cost of living is not exactly low in the land of the rising sun)? My basket was always full when I was in Uniqlo (yes, they provide baskets for you to carry the clothes you are intending to purchase while you continue to shop). And I always had big Uniqlo bags in the house for re-use.

[Images from Uniqlo].

Harumi's Japanese Cooking

I am one who is head over heels in love with Japanese food. I thought I was having good Japanese food in Singapore until I went to Japan. And boy, was I blown away! Everything is delicious. Everything. My words here only do it injustice.

The freshest ingredients are used and food is prepared in such a way that it retains its original taste. Condiments if any, are used to enhance the original taste. On top of that, the food is presented so well aesthetically. The Japanese takes pride in preparing food. A proper meal is a holistic experience, not simply eating per se.

Now that I am back home, unless I pay a premium, the lackluster Japanese food I get is hardly satisfying my craving. I came across this cooking book, Harumi's Japanese Cooking at Kinokuniya a while ago. Harumi is a household name in Japan and this is one of her two cook books that is translated into English. I simply love it because it showcases Japanese food that is healthy, home-like and simple to prepare. Now, I just have to discover the culinary skills in me.

I should also dig out some pictures of my food adventures for a future post.

Silhouette

I have been looking at some wedding photography. These shots of the silhouettes of the couple caught my eye. I like it because it speaks so much even without the details.

[Images from GreyMatter]

Simple Touches

Want to add a little baroque feel to your bedroom but have limited funds? A simple frame over the bed like this does the trick.

[Image from Home & Decor]

Little Green Guy

I made this little green guy over the weekend. So far, people either love it or they don't. 

Old Town Coffee

We were craving for a good old cup of coffee. Not done the Starbucks way but in typical local Singaporean style. It was 11.45pm by the time we arrived at Old Town Coffee. I checked the sign and it indicated that they were opened till 12am. We decided to try our luck anyway. The waitress popped into the kitchen to check out if they were still able to take our orders and returned with a smile. Yippee!

Before long, two cups of steaming hot coffee were before our eyes. Perhaps because they were served in old traditional cups and saucers , the coffee just seemed particularly aromatic. Consistent to what they sell (traditional local beverages and food), the interior was fitted with wooden marble-topped tables and stools as well as ceiling fans. The entire place was furbished to be reminiscent of 1960s Singapore.

Since it was kinda late, we savoured our coffee free from the usual daytime bustle and crowd of this place. Lovely.

Little Purple Book

This is a booklet I created for my company. We are a small but growing company and needed an employee handbook to document our human resource policies. After some discussion, we decided that we wanted to relate the company's beginnings to new members as well. Knowing our roots and passion of the pioneers would help establish a sense of identity. Hence being the radicals that we are, we wanted our handbook to read like a story book. Yours truly was then tasked with seeing the book to fruition.

With the partnership of another colleague, I somehow managed to present the story of our beginnings, our family work culture, brand and human resource matters in the form of a book. Instead of titling it "The Employee Handbook", we gave it an interesting title, aligned with our quest to be the Purple Cow.

The printing was done in-house (thank goodness the printer didn't die on me). I would have bound it differently but we had to manage the cost.

SILNT

Gorgeous design by SILNT (found via Casual Poet). I love how understated it is. SiLNT was commissioned by the National Arts Council of Singapore to design this book for Noise Singapore 2009 (an arts festival for young people, by young people, dedicated to creating noise about the creative young talents in Singapore). Founded in 2005, SILNT is a local design studio that works on a diverse range of projects from art direction and design, brand development and campaign services to curatorial direction etc.

More pictures of the book here.