Spring Gift from Friend in Japan

Two good friends from Japan visited a few weeks ago. When we got together, every night we were not able to go to sleep but to talk until 5 in the morning. Good girl friends are the friends who you never run out of things to talk to, aren't they? During their stay, I showed my curiosity to the things that they were wearing. They looked very fashionable. One of them promised me to send me some popular fashion items from Japan. And today I received a package from her. Inside the package, there are 2 hair accessories, a thank you card, and 2 leggings...one of the leggings has an unique design. It goes below ankle and goes under your feet so your legs will look longer. I need these! Thank you for the spring gift : )

Cherry Blossoms in Full Bloom

It's been a very nice warm week in Los Angeles. There are flowers blooming along the streets to let me know that it's time to go seeing Cherry Blossoms at Lake Balboa Park. So I visited the park today and the Cherry Blossoms are in full bloom. Spring has come. Hello Spring!

Animal Motif Logo

I saw a couple of flying seagulls this afternoon when I was in a parking lot of some shopping plaza. They were flying by palm trees and all of the sudden one image appeared in my head. It was a logo of a clothing brand, HOLLISTER. mmm....what other companies are using animals/birds as their logo motifs to represent their corporate brand identities? Here they are. I found a bunch. Most of them I could think of were clothing companies. These logo uses simplified shapes of animals/birds that could be identified what they are even the size become half an inch.

*From left to right, (row 1) A&F, Mobil, WWF, California, KIRIN, Paul Frank, (row 2) EVERNOTE, Tiger Balm, Penguin, PLAYBOY, Bull Dog, MGM GRAND, (row 3) PAPYRUS, LACOSTE, HOLLISTER, Nestle, Puma, NBC.

Donut + Chocolate + Lots of Colors = American Cultural Icon

The color combination of the donut stood up from the rest of the plain donuts in a box in our company lunch room on Friday morning. My initial reaction was to grab it and to take a picture of the American cultural icon. Though It's a little bit too colorful and the colors appear a bit unsafe to eat, I wanted to eat it and I ate it. Yes, it was a delicious donut...yum yum...

This donut is very pop and very American in my opinion.

I feel fun and excited when I look at this donut...Did Andy Warhol make a print of Chocolate Sprinkle Donut?? I don't know why buy I am very attracted to the look of the donut : )

"My miniature toy collection"

I used to have a habit of buying a miniature toy every time I would go back to Japan for vacation.

There are many series of miniature toys and each toy sold in a little box and you will not know which toy you are going to get until you open the box.

So far I tried Airline Meal series, Japanese Tavern Food series, Asian Food series, Party Game series, and so many more that there is no more space in my display shelf. So I have stopped collecting them for now...

I am always impressed by the new ideas these toy makers can come up with for the fun series. And their craftsmanship and attention to details are just like the things you see in the real size objects. It made me giggle when I saw a miniature potato chip bag that actually contains mini chips : )

{ Looking Up }

Los Angeles has a lot of photogenic locations. I can be very happy just by walking around the town and
looking for things and places to photograph these days. My CASIO EXLIM compact digital camera had stopped working since last year so I bought a new SLR camera. But due to its preciousness, I only used it once. I cannot bring the camera everywhere I go so I usually end up using my iPhone a lot. I love the compactness and convenience of it. Almost everyday I take pictures of food, flowers, leaves, buildings, colors I see, etc...all of them using my iPhone.
Here are some photos from last outing. Today's blog title is called {Looking Up.}

Because I realized that all the shots were taken from low angle unlike my other photos taken with TiltShift Generator.

This time I used Hipstamatic app on iPhone to get the retro look and feel.

Also I photoshopped a little bit to give more dreamy look.

Girls Day { HINAMATSURI } Celebration

March 3rd is a special day for girls called Hinamatsuri in Japan.

It's the day to wish girls' good health and happiness by decorating a house

with a set of Japanese dolls. If I remember correctly, setting of the Hina dolls are for Ohina sama (the empress) and Odairi sama (the emperor)'s wedding celebration. So along with 15 dolls, a set of furniture is displayed as well as special food and drink such as three-tier mochi and sweet rice wine for the wedding.

As most grand parents in Japan, my grand parents also bought me a set of Hina dolls with a seven-tier stand to express their joy for the birth of a little girl. I used to help my parents with decorating the dolls. Those are good family memories.

Me and my friend at work felt that we shouldn't live this special day as just any other

day so we decided to set up a set of Hinamatsuri dolls on my desk.

We didn't realize until we actually made the dolls and stage how delightful it is to have these cute little dolls and share our childhood memories of Hinamatsuri. Our spirit were lifted.