My love for Kokeshi Dolls

My love with them Kokeshi dolls started late last year. A lady on flickr asked for a Kokeshi as part of a swap. I went to Takashimaya and saw some there and got the lady one. It was an opportunity for me to take a closer look at the dolls and that was how I fell in love with them.

When my brother flew to Japan, I asked him to get me one. He wasn't sure what exactly it was and got me one based on sample pictures I showed him. And for a guy, he sure picked the prettiest one I have seen:

I love her expression and the details on the kimono is just awesome. What a way to start a collection with one as pretty as this. Other than the little corner at Takashimaya (checked today and they didn't have any more wooden dolls *sighs*), I found another shop at Holland Village Shopping Centre that sold bric-bracs from all over and they have a good collection of Kokeshi dolls. But, the only catch is that it is very expensive. I guess that is the price you pay for imported items.

I couldn't resist but bought one from the shop. Was one of the smallest one there but still cost quite a bit. But with a face like that, how could I resist.

So at the moment, I have two Kokeshi Dolls in my very small collection but am hoping that it will grow. I am scouting on Ebay to look for vintage kokeshi dolls. Am not an expert but am slowly reading up on these dolls. For more information, check out Dolls Of Japan which has lots of information about traditional and creative Kokeshi dolls. I seem to sway towards the creative Kokeshi dolls.

Also googled for books and so far, found only one book that deals with Kokeshi dolls specifically called Kokeshi: Wooden Treasures of Japan, a Visual Exploration by Michael Evans and Robert Wolf. Looks like a good book and I tried looking for it at Kinokunya but no luck there.

And if you would like to purchase Kokeshi Dolls online, JUN Japanese Gifts & Souveniors have really good ones here and cost slightly cheaper than the shop that I bought from at Holland Village Shopping Centre (yes, even after including shipping). Reasonable prices yes. Will keep adding more things as and when I find anything related to Kokeshi. Found another online shop that sells Kokeshi dolls but it's UK so prices are in pounds so can come up to quite a bit. But they do have a lovely collection!

Anyways, if you know anywhere I can get nice Kokeshi dolls here, do let me know! Appreciate that.

As I said before, am not an expert but have some things that I personally look for when I look for them dolls.

• Face: I like to look at the faces of the dolls before picking the one that I like. The face has to be well drawn and has to make me smile. Most do but there will always be that special one or two that will just catch my attention.

• Design: If the design is simple then I go for colours. The colours must be rich and attractive. If the design is detailed, then I got for clean lines rather than one so mushed up that you can't tell what the designs suppose to be.

• Shape: I like the unusual shape ones which is different from the normal dolls.

• Uniqueness: It doesn't have to be pretty but if there is an X-factor that attracts my attention, then I will get it. I guess I have to get one to help explain what I am actually referring to here.

• Price: That is a factor too as I have seen the most gorgeous kokeshi dolls but have to sadly put it down cuz it was just way too expensive. This is very hard to do for an impulsive shoppaholic like me but for this, I will have to put a limit unless it's a special occasion (see, I somehow manage to figure a way to get around this budget thing).
  

Like I said, I am not pro so what I look out for is based on personal preference. I think for anything that we buy, it has to be what we like about it rather than what's in fashion right now. Trust your own instincts and go for what appeals to you most.

So here's to many more Kokeshi Dolls for me!!!

Updates:
Thanks to atlantaga who has a lovely page on Dolls of the World, I found more useful information on Kokeshi. There is a lovely site, Miyagi Traditional Kokeshi Dolls Home Towns, that takes you to the five areas in Japan where the traditional kokeshi dolls are made. Another site, The Kokeshi Village, has lots of information about these dolls and yes, they have some dolls available on ebay too. Lots of links available on this site so do pop over if you are hungry for more information.

Things Japanese....

The Japanese people must be one of the most creative people ever. I mean, I have never been to Japan myself but was told that it's gadget heaven if you are a gadget person. And who would think of having anything and everything via the vending machines? Was told that you can get pipping hot chippies from a vending machine. Always had this idea that there's an old lady who works IN the vending machine and busily dishes out things when order being made. Now these venting machines are a must see if I get the chance to see Japan.

I love watching Japan Hour. Why? Because the presenters make the simpliest meal look like it's heaven sent! Like the oooohhhhssss and aaahhhhsss plus the orgasmic look that comes with tasting a super expensive and super thin slice of beef...they must know something that the rest of us obviously have been deprieved of for yonks.

And they have to be like tops in coming up with things kawaii or cutesy. I am NOT a Hello Kitty fan or POKEMON or whatever cutesy character they have there. Am also not a manga fan. But when it comes to two things in particular, I kinda go a little nuts.

One is this new Unazukin which are forest fairies that nods and shakes her head when listening to you. Yes you are probably thinking right now 'sucker' but that I am. It is just the cutest and yes, all she does is nod her head once or twice or shakes her head once or twice...but it's just so cute lah. So far, I have spotted only the Flower Series and yes, they have lots of other series like Nature Version, Gift Version, Yura Yura Version, First Version and the one I am SOOOO eyeing, the World Version. If anyone knows where I can get my hands on the World Version (at reasonable prices please), do let me know ya.

Anyways, this is the first one that I got 'Rose' and will get the other from the flower series too.

And what is the other thing Japanese that I am crazy about? Well, it's them Kokeshi dolls. I only have two at the moment but am definitely looking to increase the numbers. I will devote another post just for them kokeshi dolls yes.

Till then, have my Unazukin to keep me company while I mark away. Am thinking I really need to get a life cuz of marking away on a beautiful Sunday and my Rose is nodding her head TWICE *sighs*

Thaipusam 2006

This post is a little late but I have good reasons. Had to do a little research work so that I could share more about this festival thus the delay!! Anyways, a little bit about Thaipusam. I pasted some info here but the pictures are mine, taken on 10 February 2006 during the festival.

Thaipusam is a Hindu festival in honour of Lord Subramaniam, son of Shiva, and is a day of purification and penance during which devotees make offerings of thanks for blessings received through fulfilment of vows.

Picture: Devotee carrying a kavadi

The festival centres on the two-mile (4km) procession of penitents who carry ‘kavadis’ (large wood or metal frames) hung with offerings such as milk, honey or flowers and decorated with bells and peacock feathers. These loaded shrines are gruesomely supported by heavy spikes, hooks and barbs driven into their bodies, and some participants pierce their tongues and cheeks with skewers and spikes. Supporters will gather around the devotees chanting prayers and encouraging them along the way. Devotees undergo a period of spiritual preparation before the procession and enter a trance-like state in order to tolerate the pain involved.

Picture: Devotees carrying milk pot and walking barefooted.

Found a site where a guy who sharesd his Thaipusam experience. Here's a little bit from his site:

The piercing of vel originated from India but however Singapore kavadis are designed to be attached with 108 hooks. So therefore a standard big kavadi comes with 108 hooks/spikes,1 for the head vel,1 cheek vel & 1 tongue vel.
Reasons behind different piercings:

• For the head – the most prominent part of ones body, only people with high supernatural power can realise it.

• "Mounam" – the act of piercing the cheek and tongue - is the greatest thing to observe. People do this to punish themselves for harsh talk and to prevent harsh talk.

Go check out his site for an interesting read about this festival.

Here are more pictures from that day:

Picture: One of the more colourful kavadis I saw on that day.

Picture: Think this guy wasn't too pleased with me taking shots of him.

Picture: At one particular stop, the devotees had their feet washed. A cleansing ritual I am assuming.

Picture: Was speechless when I saw this. He is walking on spike slippers. And on his back, he had some hooks attached to a chariot that he was pulling. Truly a sight to behold!!

Picture: This little boy was also carrying a smaller kavadi but minus the hooks.
He looked like he was doing good and enjoying it :o)

Picture: At the stop where feet get washed, the kavadi bearers also
did a little dance, like a celebratory dance.

Please let me know if you have more information about the pictures cuz I would love to add on more...like the significance of some of the rituals etc. Also have a movie clip of the dance and it's quite awesome. Email me if you want a copy of it while I try and figure out how to include it in this blog. And if you know how to include a movie clip here...share!

Valentine's Day 2006

What was I doing on Valentine's Day this year? At home infront of the telly and marking 40 test scripts frantically. Very sad yes but the kids are already losing hope of ever getting back their test scripts so I really had to finish it so that I could return them today. And that I managed to do. Well done to me!!!

Received these from Slawek. Am going to watch and see if the roses will bloom cuz I think it's going to be awesome. And yes, there are suppose to be ninety-nine roses. Did I check? Nope, I didn't cuz I would probably have gotten lost after 30 so am not even going to try *grins*

Went for Thaipusam last weekend and will put up some pictures here soon. Needed to do a little bit of research work first so that I can share some info to go with the pictures that I have so look out for that ya!

The night before the release...

... of the O' level results that is. I am nursing a splitting headache right now but am not too sure why. Had dinner out and my plans for tonight is simply to send off an email for work and then head to bed. Been real tired last few weeks and finding it hard to focus on work *frowns*

Bought a bottle of Clary Sage Aromatic Oil that was highly recommended by my cousin. Clary Sage is good for those with asthma (which I don't have), insomnia (no problem here either), migrane (well more of a headache actually), depression (hmm....) and high blood pressure (am borderline for that). Will crash early tonight and try this oil and lets see if it works.

Am not doing work work tonight. Need to get some sleep cuz would need all the energy tomorrow. Have some classes who will be getting their results and am very very worried about them. At times like this is when you start thinking if what you've done was enough, what else could you have done to help them even more etc. But no point thinking about that now. Can only hope for the very best.

Am making some sock pals instead tonight as part of my plan to take it easy. This is one of the two that I am working on. This one is available on etsy.

Alrighty, time to crawl into bed. Nitey nite!

Tunisian Crochet

Yes yes, you're probably wondering what the hell that is. It's my finished...well almost finished scarf. I still need to tidy up the loose ends but am done crocheting this one. I used yarn from moda dea and used really simple stitches for this one and it's not perfect yet. Some parts are narrower than others cuz yours truly was experimenting with tight stitches and loose stitches. But once it's bunch up around my neck, no one will be able to tell.

And this yarn that I picked turned out lovely cuz it's so soft that your neck feels like it's being caressed when you have this wrapped around your neck. And I am not kidding!! Am already eyeing the next colour that I am going to crochet with *laughs*

And why scarves you ask? Well it's the easiest to do that's why. So until I learn some new stitches, am using the same one for the next scarf! Am also working on a shawl that's not turning out like how I wanted it too but let's see.

Anyways, here's a big yay for completing this one project!! Now juct need to find an occasion to wear this. To Eski Bar maybe? :o)

A sad day indeed.....

It breaks my heart to hear about what is happening as a result of cartoons that were done of the Prophet Muhammad in Denmark in the papers. It was done by the newspaper and NOT something that the whole Danish population took a vote and decided to do as a country. What got me upset was hearing on the news today that there were threats by some extremist Muslims to blow up or gun down selected Europeans if no apology made for publishing the cartoons.

Who do we blame for this? It is so simple to point fingers but it doesn't really solve the root of the problem. In the first place, could all this have been avoided? Most definitely!

Firstly, the Danish newspaper should have been more sensitive in printing such materials in the papers. Mind you, it's not one 'kuching kurap' (i.e. small) newspaper agency but rather, it's 'Denmark's largest selling broadsheet newspaper'. And why was it done, it was seen as an exercise in 'self-censorship'.

The Danish newspaper, Jyllands-Posten, had asked 40 cartoonists to draw images of the prophet. The purpose, its chief editor said, was “to examine whether people would succumb to self-censorship, as we have seen in other cases when it comes to Muslim issues.”

Carsten Juste said: "The 12 cartoons ... were not intended to be offensive, nor were they at variance with Danish law, but they have indisputably offended many Muslims, for which we apologise."

To the folks in the paper, it's just good fun or what was referred to as a little 'exercise' but I am pretty sure there are Muslims in Denmark that they could have consulted before publishing such cartoons. And if it's a publicity stunt, it was sure done in bad taste. Maybe it's something new to non-muslims but it is wrong for a face (or any face) to be given to any of the prophets. I have a movie made about the life of Prophet Muhammad but it was done such that only the back shot was taken so no face was shown. And what is the fuss about putting a face to a prophet you may be asking?

Islamic law, based on clerics’ interpretation of the Quran and the sayings of the prophet, forbids depictions of the Prophet Muhammad and other major religious figures — even positive ones — to prevent idolatry.

Critics say the drawings were particularly insulting because some appeared to ridicule Muhammad. One cartoon showed the prophet wearing a turban shaped as a bomb.

It may seem silly but to Muslims it's not. Maybe we don't have a great sense of humour to not appreciate such cartoons. But honestly, what is so funny about insulting somebody who is so important to us Muslims. Why is there even a NEED to ridicule anyone. As Muslims, we don't expect non-muslims to agree with the rationale or reason why we don't do it. You don't have to like the reason. But all we ask is that you respect that we have such beliefs. And as Muslims, it is our responsibility to explain such things to other non-mulims in a civil manner to promote better understanding among different religions.

I think living in a multi-religious and multi-racial country like Singapore, it makes you more aware about the need to be sensitive about such issues, to respect the religious beliefs of others and all this can only come about by knowing and understanding the differences.

Are we humans so dumb that we need to constantly make such mistakes to realise how grave the consequences can be? Can't we learn from history and see how such actions can lead to horrible consequences of people getting hurt or killed unneccesarily?

I was also disappointed to hear about the threats made by extremists Muslims, threatening to hurt people if no apologies were made. It is these same people that we need to protect Islam from because they are doing more harm to Islam than good. Why is there a need to resort to violence? Yes, we can make a stand but must it always be violent? There are ways to make our views known in a more peaceful manner. Sign petitions, have peaceful demonstrations where you make your views be known without hurting or harming anyone...be creative to put our views across. it may take longer but why the need to hurt others.

It is so important for us to educate our young about such things. It is so important that we use this as a teachable moment. It is important that we teach our young to think about our actions, think about the consequences of our actions. It is important that we teach our young to be responsible in ensure peace and harmony in our country.

Sounds like I am preaching but this is something that I feel so strongly about. I am not one to go on and on about religion because I believe that it's a personal thing. But this is one of those rare moments where I feel that I just need to vent some and hope that we all can learn from this incident.

Update:
The Jyllands Posten has apologised. Some extremists might have taken the opportunity to use the incident as an excuse to blow a few things up or gun down some people. But let's just stop all this. Apology has been made. They are trying to make good. Mistake was made and lesson learnt. And in Islam (and in all other religious faith), we are to forgive and try to forget :o) Group hug!!!

Maxim's 100 Things You Need to Know About Women...hmmm

Am sharing something that an informant (I am not allowed to name who s/he is) but thought this makes an interesting read - Maxim's '100 Things You Need to Know About Women' and as I read the long list, I was hmmm-ing quite a bit..some I agree...some I was going 'ya right' *grins*

Go take a look at the list of 100 things if you have time. I picked ten I absolutely like:

96. Jewelry. Now you always knkow what to get her for a last-minute gift.

89. A girl would prefer to get a $100 gift from Tiffany & Co. than a $500 gift from Fortunoff. Why? Because her friends will ask where she got it.

69. If you have something to hide, she’ll find it.

66. They can't live without tension. Every once in a while she's gonna pick a fight with you for no reason. Accept this as a running, inevitable theme and your relationship will make a lot more sense.

65. The most painless way to end an argument: Let her win.

61. When a woman tells you her problems, she does not want you to offer solutions.
-> this is a Liza's all time favourite!!!

49. They dream of one day peeing in a urinal.

39. It never hurts to say you're sorry, even if you don't mean it.

20. All women think they’re smarter than their partners in some significant way.

5. Female serial killers tend to use poison rather than guns or knives.

Happy Awal Muharram to all fellow muslim and muslimah out there!

Guess it's only appropriate to wish all Muslims out there a Happy New Year as today in the Islamic calender is the start of the new year for us. It's not celebrated as grandly as end of Ramadhan or the fasting month, but nonetheless, it's an important enough day!

There are twelve months as well in the Islamic calender and they are in the following order:

1. Muharram
2. Safar
3. Rabiul-Awwal
4. Rabi-uthani
5. Jumadi-ul-Awwal
6. Jumadi-uthani
7. Rajab
8. Sha'ban
9. Ramadan
10. Shawwal
11. Dhil-Q'ada
12. Dhil-Hijja

And nope, I have yet to memorise them though I did learn them yonks ago. And a little bit more information about the Islamic calendar that I 'cut and paste'...

The Islamic calendar is based on the year prophet Muhammad and his fellow Muslims (known as Sahabah, the Companions) emigrated to Madinah in the year 622 C.E. (Christian Era). The emigration took place after thirteen years of persecutions by the disbelievers of Makkah. By the command of God, the Prophet left the city with his companion Abu Bakr Siddique (R.A.) and escaped a death threat by the disbelievers. The event marks the beginning of a second phase of the Islamic movement. It is the phase when Madinah became the center of an
Islamic state.

The Islamic calendar is lunar. Each month must begin with the evening when the new moon is sightable by the unaided naked eye. Muslims are obligated to sight the crescent in every country. Different countries may begin the year at different days based on their own sightings. The calendar is called Hijri calendar. The Arabic word Hijrah means emigration.