This was what caught my eye – well honestly, the cover illustration, then the entire concept – while I strolled through the Japanese section’s bookshelves at Kino today.

Rental Children tells a story about, based on what I understood from having read the summary, “Taishi and Fuyumi, a couple who had lost their beloved son Yuu to an illness, were introduced to a children rental/sale company P.I. and from the list, they decided to purchase Yuu and Uri without hesitation. However, a month later, the two children experienced a sped up aging process; their faces kept dissolving.. In a bid to find out the truth, Taishi sneaks into the P.I. laboratory to realise of a terrible experiment being repeated day and night.”

I know it’s quite irrelevant; but I totally adore the drawing style 8D

Having not been out shopping for the longest time, I took the chance to visit a dozen places in the afternoon to conveniently attempt to satisfy my food cravings (but that being actually satisfied, or not, is another story); strike out items on my shopping list; observe the sights (new buildings? huh) and sounds before I forget how town looks like again; check out new magazines and books around Kino; collect something from school and meet Grapes for dinner.

It’s no wonder why my previous ezlink top-up didn’t last for more than a day.. Home > PS > Cathay > Ion > Taka > Tampines > Boon Keng > Vivo > Ang Mo Kio > home. At this rate I’d probably covered a good third/half of Singapore, BUT I’ve fulfilled my agenda for the day so I’m not complaining.

Daily work has taken a toll on the well-being of a certain woman by the name of i-like-the-guy-whose-looks-make-esther-foam-at-the-mouth-and-die. (no, really, that I will NEVER approve. neverrrrrr) But I love hanging out to kill what’s left of her after-work time and commenting on different brands of facial wash and asking for extra honey sauce for our Japanese parfait <3 Weekdays aren’t too bad, afterall.

8D

Just to show you a couple of purchases I made recently. <3 New pens to go with the two new notebooks; plain recycled paper for sketching and white dotted paper for general/work purposes. MUJI

Mini English alphabet stamps from Made With Love @ $2.50

Coloured stamp pads from Made With Love (the colour of the “Pinecone” is off due to reflection on the casing.. it’s closer to black/brown) / Mini Japanese hiragana character stamps from Kinokuniya / Bird in cage stamp from Japan

Xyron create-a-sticker machine from Spotlight @ $12.50 (half-price). You have no idea how amazing this product is, so let me just show you here.. It measures 9.5cm x 10.5cm and creates stickers up to 4cm wide. Grace successfully tempted me into buying this XD Check out what I made with her pink sticker maker: *flaps*.

First you place the bits of materials – be it printed photos, punched shapes, drawings etc – into the slot.

Then as you pull the tape from the bottom, you’ll find the materials encased in between. At this point of time G and I thought we had slotted the stuff in the wrong way because the usual ones would come out “laminated” with clear plastic over and we would have to cut it into the desired shape.

Now you peel off the adhesive layer – p-peel you say? Tada! And there you are, original stickers!

GO FIGURE! I HAVE NO IDEA HOW IT WORKS STILL PLEASE TELL ME.

Wallpaper, 1280 x 900. Picture taken at Tennouji Zoo, Osaka.

この写真は大阪にいた時、天王寺動物園で撮った。
冬だったので、あの日の気温が低くて、人も少なくて、自然な景色を撮れてよかった。
写真に動物がいないのに〜　
午後の静けさに自分で歩きながら、『冬の時の動物園がやっぱきれいだね』と思った。
いつかほかの季節になったら、あそこに戻って行きたいな。★　

写真に歌詞も付いているよ〜

大切な思い出さえ　because even the important memories
いつかは色褪せてくから　will fade of their colours someday
現実から目を逸らして　averting my eyes from reality
夢という言葉に逃げた　I escaped to the word called “dream”

明日の記憶 – 嵐

First of all, for the birthday wishes on msn, facebook and via sms, here’s the THANK YOU namelist:

Erfa, Atikah, Weijie, Adeline, Tiffany, Yiliang, Max, Sheena, Yingle, Ps Raymond & Sis Lily, Ps Wilson, Ron, Abigail, Ray, Hongbei, Eugene, Kar Kin, Jonathan, Raymond, CJ, Sharon, Bochun, Hazimah, Najib, Amanda, Alvin, Tommy, Carmen, Yanjie, Amanda Lee, Ruth, Sherrilynn, Gifford, Faith, Jolene Fu, Siitee, Tse Yun, Jonny, Samantha, Crys, Shane, Amelia, Atika, Mattea, Lijia, Shermaine, Tan Chun <3

Meetup with the PL Clique: 27 Jan | 313@Somerset, Ion

A belated/early birthday meetup for Sara and I with Claudyne, Cathleen and Mindy. To think the last time we actually had a gathering like this was almost exactly a year ago?! Everyone’s changed – drastic or not – within the span of 12 months; and that short but sweet outing had made me realise how comfortable we could be around one another still. Counting the years of friendship – 8 to be exact? – even when we don’t meet that often, in the end there’s always something that clicks. Thank you guys for the great afternoon, the lovely messsages on the birthday card as well as the sketchbook. <3

Birthday Surprise: 29 Jan, home

Grace, Hajar, Charissa, Nural, Justin Tan, Azmi, Joshua, Daniel, Justin Lee — GAWD one moment I panicked because Azmi’s car has arrived to drive us for supper but I wasn’t done with make up, then I had to open the door for Grace (because she absolutely needed the washroom, uh), the next moment had me thinking that some freaky neighbours were lurking at the lift lobby, THEN A FULL FLEDGED ATTACK, at 2400!!! OMG it took half a second to snap back to reality :O and gawk at the birthday cake and heart-shaped balloon and the horde of ‘Bintan’ people trooping into the living room. That was followed by the real supper at simpang Bedok lol.

It’s….. the best birthday surprise ever, and I suspect nothing in the near future will surpass that. Aww XD

High tea: 30 Jan | The Rose Veranda @ Shangri-La Hotel, CQ Brewerks

I was late because it rained and there had been a jam at Chinatown where I collected the cupcakes. Speaking of which, Onicupcakes, was a disappointment; out of 3 flavours only the nutella one tasted good, while I had been misled to think the cupcakes were actually quite pretty on their website? One paltry blob of cream on a flat cupcake with a plain looking holder and that’s all? Hajar can do way better. Simply put: I will pay Hajar 70 freaking dollars for not just 15, but many more pretty cupcakes the next time.

On the other hand, we had a whale of a time (literally stuffing food in our faces, more like) having high tea at The Rose Veranda *which I misspelled as Verdana, oh designer blues* with the same people: Grace, Hajar, Charissa, Nural, Justin Tan, Azmi, Joshua, Daniel, minus Justin Lee plus Mayfen. Nural and I sneaked up on the rest at the hotel entrance because they hadn’t seen us ^^ And I received balloons again – this time in a bunch; huge and pink and red and imprinted with hearts – exactly matching my dress <3 THANK YOU LOVELIES <3 The restaurant had a real pleasant ambience and an awesome spread not including the more awesome dessert bar.

Afterwards, we managed through the evening traffic and headed to Clark Quay, sat at Brewerks and were treated to a visual feast of GORGEOUS FIREWORKS!!! Stunning *___* I knowwwwwww you guys totally planned that too.. XD

Meetup with the cousins: 31 Jan | PS Hot Tomato, lift lobby *lol*

Our gatherings have never been full of over-the-top parties, expensive meals or remotely materialistic, yet my younger cousins garner the most respect and awe from me, because they are the ones who understand what quality time is. We relished and reminised fondly our past as well as discussed about our futures over dinner and dessert. Besides the familiar topics, there’s always something more profound in their conversations and meaningful purposes I find attached to their thoughts. They share, they teach, and I gladly learn. One of the simpler discussions during that night was, “Have you found your goal in life?”, to which I didn’t have a concrete answer. The time for change will come, surely.

But what I wanted to be thankful for was the company and the knowledge that these awesome people have grown up to be positive influences. And that they’ve been in my life for about as long as the 21 years I’ve lived. <3 HEARTS TO YOU ALL <3