kouign amann

remember the "kouign pudding amann" that mokoyama made in the yakitate!! JAPAN episode where the two neighbouring bakeries competed in the tv special?

well there's a recipe for a kouign amann online! clicky here (david lebovitz site)

guess wat. today i got another free thing from the newspaper subscription! it's the INCEPTION DVD!! weeeee
and also, i went to allan's music just to check out their 20% off sheet music, and turned out that there was one more copy of washington's album!! when i went last week, they sold out already, and the person said they'll probably restock after the new year. so happy :) and the arrangement sounds exactly like the songs :D

more kitty photos! too much to put up here, so here's the facebook album link:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=253597&id=691111746&l=08363ae9d4

ratties!

as well as the two cats living (illegaly) in the apartment, there are 3 rats & 2 foster rats (temporarily lived here from a rat rescue place - they've gone back now). i've never had any experience with rats before, and some of the stereotypes of them being dirty/smelly, mean, bitey are really not the case for PET rats! all omnivorous animals do have smelly poo, but if you clean the cage often enough, they really don't smell. and these rats are all so friendly! because they're used to being handled. when i open the cage door, they all rush forward and try to hold onto your hand (they hold onto your finger/hand with both hands - so cute!) and sniff/sometimes softly lick it! nyoooohhh and when you wet your finger with water, they'll often lick it off your finger! anyway, conclusion: rats are quite great pets! more interested in humans/sociable than mice. and more trainable apparently. but too bad they only live for a short time (2 years). anyway, let me introduce the boys.

this is remy (hard to photograph rats! they're always moving...)

this is how they sometimes sleep - with their heads rolled in towards their body. or most of the time, just on their side with legs stretched out. looks like they're dead. but just asleep.

remy has such a nice fur colour & cute black eyes, and he's the nicest too! very polite. probably because he's the only one that's neutered.

these two are panda (black/white) & simon (albino)


panda is the most brave, he's always the first to come up when you approach the cage, and likes to grab your paper towel/wet wipes when you're cleaning the cage floor. i didn't realise that albinos have a poor eyesight until now! so at night, sometimes simon will bob his head from side to side to help focus. it was kinda creepy the first time -__-" simon also likes stealing wet wipes. you also have to approach him slowly through the cage bars, so he can smell you first. and so that he doesn't think you're a cat and nip you.

and now the foster rats: tin tin & fatty (his full name is some long thing like fatty mcfatfat)
(all the photo below are of tin tin..)

inside the upside down house


eating antibiotic disguised in peanut butter

when they eat, they hold the food in both hands! they even shell peas!

the only photo of fatty: accidentally part of the background..

they didn't have names when they came, but the owner & her housemate gave them one. fatty was not fat, really. he was just big compared to tin tin - nearly twice the size. and he was really quick in grabbing whatever foods that were offered & nibbled on them with super speed, imagine the sound of a speedboat/lawn mower engine starting after you pull the string. tin tin was really tiny and easily scared - zoomed off easily when you approach. but one afternoon, he was breathing really heavily/making weird noises, sitting hunched in a corner, with his hairs all standing on its end. and after some google research it was decided that he had a mycoplasma infection (respiratory infection). so after giving him antibiotics/special treatment by giving first choice of frozen vegetables (which they prefer in this order: peas, corn, the yellow cube stuff - still don't know what it is), i grew attached to his cuteness! especially when he was no longer scared/looked forward to my feeding him vegies on my lap T__T! by the time the rat rescue person took them back yesterday, he gained some weight, and not so small compared to fatty. tin tin is such a cute rat, hopefully he goes to a good home.

enough rodent tales. here's a picture of a googly-eyed & blushing stone sucking fish from the mekong river.

(source: national geographic)

つくりましょうー

i found this book while browsing the kino crafts section, and decided to make a few projects as xmas gifts!

source: ebay (click to see sample pages)

the first is a yaki-mochi! the grilled mochi bubbles out in a panda shape X)


first i stitched a rectangular prism made out of normal felt sheets in white, and filled it with felt cut offs, then i wrapped the wool fibres around and poked it with needles so the wool fibres interlock with the felt prism underneath. and for the panda, i rolled wool fibres into a ball, and poked it some more with a needle until it turns into a firm ball, added the nose/ear/black wool fibres for the eye patch/eye balls and then poked it to attach it to the mochi. the first time i heard of this technique, it sounded like magic! anyway..

next is grilled squid on stick!


i glued the base of a paddlepop stick onto one edge of a rectangular piece of cream-coloured felt sheet, and then rolled the sheet until the other edge meets the first glued end, and then stuck that on. then i cut out two holes so the paddlepop stick can be inserted through the squid. after that, i cut out three 'knife-scores' on the front, and filled it with cream coloured felt strips. and then wrapped purple-coloured wool fibres around the squid and needled it. and finally added a triangle-shaped purple bit on the top (don't know what part of the anatomy that is!) - i also used a felt sheet in the middle so it's easier to start needle felting the wool fibres on.

last is a wall hanging thing for a baby's room.


same method as before - roll and attach stuff to make the panda head, and then cut out shapes of stars & moon from a felt sheet of similar colour, and then wrap wool fibres & poke it with a needle. and finally just have to insert a string (i used double layer of thick cotton) through each item, and tie 3 knots on the base of each so that they don't slip down. and make a loop at the top for hanging.

and i put them in this gift box (instructions from an origami book) & added decorative sticky tape along the sides (you can decorate more/write/draw stuff on the box too, since it's just paper).


surprisingly it only took two days to make them all! i remember the first needle-felting i made (biscotti1 & 2) took like a week -__-"!

♪♫ on the day after xmas..

we go boxing day sales shopping ;D i went at 7.30am and the city was already crowded! though not as frantic as previous years where security guards had to shuffle people through one entrance only. people were walking, not running. maybe because it was raining. but anyhoo, definitely calmer & less claustrophobic, also shorter (not that many) lines to some of the designer stores.

surprisingly, i found some things!

t-shirt ($15!), shorts, socks, grey & turquoise nail polish (matchingly named "down low" & "up beat" xD)

afterwards, we had a lovely sandwich brunch at the dymocks cafe mmmmm. i had the dymocks club sandwich (chicken/bacon/avocado/salad/herb mayonnaise on wholemeal bread) & my cousin had the smoked salmon/cream cheese/capers/avocado/salad on wholemeal bread. their food is always so delicious and with very generous portions! (no food bloggers around, so we just ate it and didn't take photos xD)

photos of xmas pressies (& more cat photos) to come :D

HAVE A WONDERFUL XMAS EVERYONE!

sleepwalking in tokyo

this is what i mean when i say that punk loves to snuggle.


awwwwwwwwww! i can't help but feel so loved. don't you wish you have a cat like that? ;)

meanwhile, eva is very content just lying on the carpet.


more on her later. she is a very strange kitty indeedy.

thanks australia post!

what a good day of mail! first, my package arrived & the shop gave me a candy cane :), then notified that my bank term deposit has matured, and found that i've gotten an award from the uni, and on top of that, i received a $25 coles/myer gift card as a subscriber of the sydney morning herald!
ahhhhhhh.... c'est un bon jour!

punkkkkk!

this is punk. the super chubby and cuddly boy cat who has super big eyes, meows like a girl and likes to snuggle next to you whenever you're on the couch/bed *nyuuuuh* (this is the cat that looks like biscotti, and also has 3 legs - missing the same leg!)
he is staring at my edamame in this photo.


more photos of the other animals to come :)

all from bird on the wire

pink apple mug by koloni stockholm

remix pink cushion by ferm living

white bunny night light by egmont toys

i love winter. which is not now, sadly.

i lie xD more stuffs post.

actually a tea cosy! but it'll make a really cute beanie :) with holes on the side.. (TOAST)

breton tunic (TOAST)

manitu scarf (TOAST)

anntian round shawl. the description says it's 'very soft' ahhhh.. (creatures of comfort)

btw, so bored today i furminator-ed the carpet of an apartment i'm house-sitting atm. afterwards the carpet felt so much plushier ;D

last stuffs post before christmas!

sparkling toothy earrings (komodokat via fred flare)

like & dislike stamps (nation)

recycled coffee sack bag (ethikl)

felt ice skates ornaments (recycled parts)

spilt milk bowl (fred via moma)

egg pants (design glut via mr sparrow)

bird & cloud salt & pepper shakers (moma)

hidden animal teacups (ange-line tetrault via imm living)

hookmaker tile & jar tile (design glut 1 & 2 via mr sparrow 1 & 2)

kubus vinyl wall decal (hort via architonic)