20th Anniversary with Danbo

Danbo !! <3

Happy New Year 2012

Happy New Year 2012, everyone ! How was last year ? Did you accomplished last year's goal ? Sorry for not updating this blog as often as I promised. Last year, especially last month, was a bit hectic. Now that things are starting to quiet down, hopefully I will have more time to blog.

Anyway, goodbye 2011 and welcome 2012 ! Hope for more adventures in 2012. Happy New Year ! :)

Culture Japan HQ

It all began one day when I noticed that Chun, a very talented doll fashion designer, was tweeting from Akihabara, Tokyo. I contacted her immediately and we all ended up invading Culture Japan HQ. XD

Paris Revisited

My Europe Trip last month started from Paris. Originally, I didn't want to visit Paris. But then I changed my mind. There were still a few places that I hadn't visited last time such as the Sacre Coeur. So, there I was. In Paris. For the 2nd time.

I Amsterdam

Danbo in Amsterdam !
ダンボがアムステルダムに行った！

Chess Game

Ever wonder what Danbo and others do when they're bored ?
暇の時にダンボたちは何をやっているのか分かりますか？

Goutokuji - The Maneki Neko Legend

The Maneki Neko ( 招き猫 = The Beckoning Cat ) is a Japanese cat sculpture, usually made of ceramic, which is believed to bring good fortune and wealth. If you come to Japan, you will be able to see Maneki Neko in shops, restaurants, pachinko, banks, offices, houses, etc. The Maneki Neko is also one of the famous souvenirs from Japan. You could also found Maneki Neko as piggy banks, keychains, straps, and other miscellaneous ornaments.

招き猫は日本の猫の彫刻です。招き猫は福を招くとして商家、銀行、事務所などで飾る縁起物です。招き猫は有名な日本のお土産です。彫刻だけでわなくて招き猫の貯金箱、キーホルダー、ストラップなどもある。

There are many stories regarding the origin of Maneki Neko. The three famous legends are the Goutokuji, Imado, and Yoshiwara.

招き猫の由来はいくつ説があるけど豪徳寺と今戸神社と吉原説が一番有名です。

Takano Fruits Parlor

There are many All You Can Eat restaurant in Tokyo, such as the Guts Soul for the meat lover. For those of you fruits lover, let me introduce you a fruits buffet restaurant called Takano Fruits Parlor.

東京には食べ放題レストランが多いです。例えば,、Guts Soul、焼き肉食べ放題レストランです。Guts Soulは肉好きの方にとっておきのレストランです。果物好きの方にタカノフルーツバーを紹介する。

Wonder Festival 2011 Summer Coverage

Here's the full coverage of Wonfes Summer 2011. Continuing from the previous post, this summer Wonfes was held in Makuhari Messe (幕張メッセ), Chiba, on July 24th. I was actually forgot about the Wonfes, luckily Danny called and invited me to come. Otherwise, you probably will never see this post. ^^;

Shuugi Bukuro ( 祝儀袋 )

Last week I had the opportunity to visit a Japanese wedding in Hiroshima. There are lots of wedding custom in Japan. One of them is the Shuugi Bukuro. There is a custom in Japan to give money inside an envelope for special occasions such as wedding, new year, or funeral. The standard general envelope is called Noshi Bukuro (熨斗袋). There are also a special envelope for specific occasions, such as the Otoshidama Bukuro (お年玉袋) for giving money to kids on new year. You could easily find most of the envelopes in a stationary shop. The price ranging from 100 ~ 500 yen. Make sure you get a nice one !

The tradition of giving money gifts in an envelope goes all the way back to the samurai period. The money had always been considered as something "dirty", something that "corrupts" the society. Simply by looking at the money, you could have a corrupt mind. Because of that, the money was put inside an envelope before giving it to somebody.

Shuugi Bukuro (祝儀袋) refers to a traditional envelope (paper wrapping) to celebrate wedding or recovering from illness. First, the money is placed inside an envelope. Then the envelope is wrapped in a piece of decorative paper folded in a certain way based on what it is going to be used for. The last touch is a bow wrapped around the paper.

One thing you need to know is that there is a rule, an etiquette on how to use the Shuugi Bukuro correctly. This post is a guide to properly use the Shuugi Bukuro.

Nippon, Fight !

Received this lovely drawing of Danbo from Felix yesterday. Thanks, Felix !

Head over to his galleries to see more of his work.
http://nekomancerz.deviantart.com/
http://nekomancerz.cghub.com/

iDanbo

My Danbo is a gadget geek.


If only he could get his hands on the new iPad2, he would be very grateful. ^^

2010

Whenever I reach the end of year, I usually spend my time to look back and think how fast time flies. 2010 for me was a memorable year. Lots of good and bad, happy and sad things happened in 2010. So many things happened that I couldn't really follow what had happened.

There is one great thing about blogging your life. During this time of year, bloggers could go through our own blog to go through the entries. Looking at the photos that we've taken through out the years, reading the words we wrote, and recalling back how we felt at that day at that time. With those we could easily remember our stories.

Let’s take a quick look of the things that I did in 2010.

Merry Christmas 2010

It's Christmas ! Hang up your socks cause Santa Danbo is coming to the town. Merry Christmas. Wish you have a fun Christmas and a joyful New Year.


Danbo got a lot of presents this year. :)

Showa Kinen Koen

Showa Kinen Koen is one of the nicest park I've ever seen in Japan. It's a little bit out of the way from the city but the nature is gorgeous. It is a perfect destination to watch the fall colors.

Autumn Colors

The Fall season is upon us. I brought my little Danbo with me around so he could enjoy the beauty of autumn. Danbo just love the colors of autumn. :)

Happy Halloween

At this time of year, in the dark of the night, when the black cats are hissing and the werewolves are howling, strange ghosts, zombies, and Danbo the witch are out to bring you lots of thrill. Wish you a hell-y happy Halloween !

Miso Soup

Miso Soup is a traditional Japanese soup based on dashi. Miso soup is rich in fiber, protein, vitamins, and minerals. It is also believed that miso soup helps prevent breast cancer because Miso Soup is rich in isoflavones, which are believed to help block out cells that can become cancerous. Sounds delicious and nutritious ? Let me show you how to make one.

Bokeh

Bokeh (暈け or ボケ) is a a Japanese term for the subjective aesthetic quality of out-of-focus areas of a photographic image. It refers to those beautiful magical out-of-focus light, with different shapes and colors that you found in the background of many photos taken with large aperture ( such as f1.8 or larger ). Normal bokeh usually has a circle shaped like this one, but I've been playing around with my lens to create a love shaped one. ^^

Guts Soul - Koenji

Guts Soul is known among people as the super cheap Yakiniku Tabe Houdai (All-You-Can-Eat) restaurant. It means you can sit down and eat Yakiniku as much as you want. Sounds like heaven for meat lovers.