Thursday, November 13, 2014

WINTER SHOUJO DIGITAL STAMPS

Newly released Winter Shoujo series digital stamps, they can also double as colouring pages as they are large enough and will print out beautifully, 7" to 8" height each. Hope you like them! I was deciding if I should make them victorian-ish shoujo or modern shoujo fashion, and ended up somewhere midway.

As you guessed, I will be coming up with the other seasons as they arrive. The set is cheaper at $10, should you like to purchase them individually they are $4 each.

"Snow in my Palm Shoujo"
https://www.etsy.com/sg-en/listing/209820858/

"Winter Cardigan Shoujo"
https://www.etsy.com/listing/210529213/

"Winter Muff Shoujo"
https://www.etsy.com/sg-en/listing/210116641/

"Winter Shoujo Set"
https://www.etsy.com/sg-en/listing/210534074/

Monday, November 3, 2014

MOVIE RECOMMENDS - Love Letter 1995

Today I am going to recommend something sentimental for the upcoming cold season (or rainy season for us at the equator)....

Love Letter (1995)

Directed & written by: Iwai Shunji
Cast: Nakayama Miho, Toyokawa Etsushi, Han Bunjaku, Shinohara Katsuyuki, Sakai Miki, Kashiwabara Takashi

Iwai Shunji has crafted quite the artistic piece here. Beautifully cinematographic movie: white snow whispering down the sleepy frozen town of Otaru.... light softly streaming through the trees... even the normally dreary classroom appears romantic. The soundtrack is hauntingly pleasant, I'd say much of the success of the movie also lies in the atmospheric music composition. Every song conjures up different scenes of the movie and also nostalgia. The pace was fitting, the unraveling of the story's plot is wonderful. The ending is wrapped up perfectly.


The story:

Watanabe Hiroko (Nakayama Miho) attends the second death anniversary of her fiance, Fujii Itsuki. She has not gotten over his death and in his bedroom she flips through his high school yearbook. She discovers his old home address in the yearbook, and decides to write a letter to him. The house did not exist anymore as there was a highway built over it. With hopes that her letter would reach heaven, she wrote: "Dear Fujii Itsuki, how are you? I am fine.".

Surprisingly she receives a reply that read, "I am fine, but have caught a cold."!


 
**Spoilers ahead**

Was her letter actually delivered to heaven? Or was it a prank? The truth was neither. The reply was certainly from a Fujii Itsuki - except that 'he' is a she. A case of mistaken identity... there were two Fujii Itsukis in the same class, one boy one girl.

Upon discovering the truth, Hiroko continues to correspond with female Itsuki, unawares female Itsuki resembled her (Nakayama Miho plays dual roles). She requests for the latter to share her memories of male Itsuki during high school.

The story then proceeds in semi-narrative style, on how both Itsukis were ridiculed to no end in school for three years.

I believe this is the scene most people remember or at least it's the one I like best:

 
 
The library scene! The school library is the pivotal point for their off-beat relationship. I like the "Maybe we can be friends, if only we didn't have the same name!" look from female Itsuki (Sakai Miki). It was short-lived though lol.


 
This is also one of the signature imagery from the movie, I thought it had an ethereal quality to it. It's no wonder Kashiwabara Takashi was tagged Japan's bishounen (pretty youth) of the 20th century, he is very good looking and resembles a manga character. I'm a fan of his drama "Itazura na Kiss"(1996), yes only the original Irie Naoki please.


Love Letter's visual and mirrored symbolism are apparent in many parts of the movie, emphasising on forgotten & reliving memories, lost chances & second chances, the seasons & colour palettes distinguish moods with the use of appropriate filters. The small bits of humour from the flashbacks are a nice touch to balance out the sentimental parts of the movie.



Nakayama Miho, of course, is outstanding, moving and natural. Both roles are so distinctly portrayed one might imagine they were played by different actresses. Toyokawa Etsushi who plays Akiba Shigeru, Hiroko's and male Itsuki's friend, is energetic, fits his role perfectly and ever popular. The two young Itsukis were movie debuts: Sakai Miki is a pretty charm to watch, while Kashiwabara Takashi, the wierdo with little dialogue but so memorable there are still people reminiscing about Fujii Itsuki by the window curtains. Another supporting character, a kooky schoolmate played by Suzuki Ranran stole the show whenever she appeared. This movie is highly recommended for a gloomy day! Maybe I will watch it again.

 Original Trailer (Eng subs)


Wins

1996 Japanese Academy Awards - Newcomer of the Year (Miki Sakai)
1996 Japanese Academy Awards - Newcomer of the Year (Takashi Kashiwabara)
1996 Japanese Academy Awards - Most Popular Performer (Etsushi Toyokawa)
1996 Blue Ribbon Awards - Best Actress (Miho Nakayama)
1996 Kinema Junpo Awards – Best Film (Shunji Iwai)
1995 Hochi Film Awards - Best Actress (Miho Nakayama)
1995 Hochi Film Awards - Best Supporting Actor (Etsushi Toyokawa)
1995 Toronto Film Festival - Audience Award
Nominations
1996 Japanese Academy Awards - Best Film
1996 Japanese Academy Awards - Best Music (Remedios)
1996 Japanese Academy Awards - Best Supporting Actor (Etsushi Toyokawa)


Friday, October 31, 2014

OWL ON BRANCH DIGITAL STAMP


Just out! Versatile owl on leafless branch digital stamp, you can add floral decoupage or whatever you like to swop out the seasons.

Digital download is available here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/208271748/

Friday, October 24, 2014

THE HAUNTED QUEEN MARY

Halloween is up next so this is a good time to post my Queen Mary photos from 2010! I was too lazy to post it then and only had it on Facebook albums. Better late than never.



The RMS Queen Mary is permanently docked at Long Beach California and reputed to be one of the most haunted ships around.

The ship's maiden voyage started in 1936 as an express transatlantic passenger liner between Southampton and New York. She was converted into a troopship in WWII and became known as the 'Grey Ghost' for her speed and new camouflage colour. In 1942, she collided with her escort ship HMS Curacoa, killing 239 British soldiers. The ship was ordered fullsteam ahead nonetheless and to abandon survivors, many of whom were killed when the giant propellers cut through them. This is one of the reasons why people believed the ship is haunted besides the other deaths onboard. In 1947 she resumed passenger service, and her last cruise was on (get this) October 31, 1967 (Halloween), arriving on Dec 9, 1967 at Long Beach where she has been docked ever since.



You can freely walk the top deck and the next few levels like the hotel corridors, restaurants, lounges. The infamous pool area and lower decks are out of bounds unless on a guided tour. Here are rows and rows of carpeted corridor, it is easy to get lost since they look identical. It is very quiet and your ears may hurt from the silence. The hotel rooms are still functioning so you should be quiet anyhow.


We were there for the Coast to Coast AM 'Ghost to Ghost' live radio talkshow broadcast and for me it was mostly to see a place of interest in California that wouldn't require me to pay. The others wanted to see George Noory lol. Guided tours have a fee so we skipped it and decided to roam as not to make it a wasted trip since there was a small paranormal convention going on, but it was badly organised and we backed out very quickly after they wanted to charge us too much money.


A banquet room. We peeked in, we were curious because it was so dark in there, I had to turn on the flash on the camera.


The bathrooms were nice, just dark and eerily quiet. It had one those annoying eco-lights that would turn off if it determined no noise = no people. We were deep in the ship so that was unsettling.


Deco style bins.



One of the exhibit areas.



Top deck.


One of the views overlooking Long Beach.


Life rafts on the sides.


You know Singaporeans call reversing a car 'Go Stun', actually it came from the phrase 'Go Stern' like the back of the ship.















In case you were wondering, yes we saw George Noory. There was actually a crowd gathering outside the small lobby and you can look through the glass window and watch them chat! And no, we did not see any lady in white!

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

TRUSTY PO CHAI PILLS


These are great, these Po Chai pills or Bao Ji Wan <保濟丸>. My grandma took em, my parents took em, I take em. I had the runs from eating something left out too long - beware Hainanese chicken rice at evening, folks - and that was an ORDEAL as I was at the mall. Anyhow the first thing the older folks here would say is to 'ki jiak po chai yin' (go eat the po chai pills). Another alternative is charcoal pills if Po Chai didn't work but that is utter last resort and charcoal pills are the worst.

The instructions say to take 2 bottles but I ate one and that's that. The end of the runs. Maybe you can do a few more doses if you got the serious case lol.

It definitely beats that thing called Peptol Bismol (yukity yuks) and I only ended the runs after 3 days of Peptol Bismol but had no other choice because I was in the US back then, and wishing for my Bao Ji Wans. Next time I will remember to bring a couple with me just in case.




10 vials per box, I like the packaging. It's nice and old-school, it's got embossing too. When I was little, I used to keep the plastic vials for no reason.




Li Shiu Kei from Foshan, Guangdong developed them in 1896. He moved to Hong Kong after the Chinese civil war occurred.



They are herbal. No known side effects, unless you are allergic to any of the ingredients. They say you can take it as a supplement if you have any gastrointestinal problems, or after some greasy food if you can't seem to digest properly. Maybe a half vial will do for those. It says fever and cold too, but I am not sure since I only take these for tummyaches and runs. When I was little, I would take a few bits whenever I saw my dad eating it since they were so tiny. The smell smells like typical TCM, and it is bitter but chinese herbs usually are. The chinese believe the more bitter, the more potent (with the exception of poison), this one would be mid-way bitter.

Back in 2010, the Po Chai in capsule form were found tainted with cancer-causing chemicals and both products were banned in Singapore, the capsule form is no longer in production since they aren't even popular to being with; I never knew they came in capsules either. The pills are not tainted so the ban on those were lifted shortly. They are available on Amazon if you do not live in Asia.