A bimbo moment ...how many bags does a girl need?

I am in such a procrastinating mode that it's not funny. So am just aimless surfing the net to see what I can find that's interesting. I guess I am in a shopping mood. And since I am not shopping shopping for now, will just surf and find things that I would like to buy in case I wake up tomorrow morning to find that I inherit HEAPS of money *laughs*. I am in a Bag Lady mood so let's see what I can find ...

I found these cool keybags, where each bag is made from 393 keys from computer keyboards. You can buy it from the site for 130 Euros (for the black and white version) to 145 Euros (for the gorgeous pink and orange version). Now, no prizes for guessing which one I am eyeing *grins*.

I am a strong support of things handmade so naturally I spent some time at etsy to see whats new. I came across on etsy this pretty handpainted bag for about US$48.00. The artist is in Beijing, China and it may take a week for the bag to get to you after payment.

Clutch bags are usually tricky because they are usually too small for me to put all my stuff in. But recently, am learning to pack light when I head out at night so that I don't have to lug around a handbag. So this gorgeous clutch bag below would be lovely to have. But at US$56.00, it will just have to go on my wishlist right now!

I usually lug my netbook around over the weekend and it would be nice to have a cool laptop bag like the one below from Mareri for US$50.00.

Colour for the next wristlet by Squirrellicious is rather bold but I guess it's a nice change though there's a black and white version. At US$35.00, not too bad ya. It's about 20cm by 18cm so not big enough to put alot of stuff but great for the evening out. Hmmm ....

Okay, this next site is not about handbags but is an online store, Gizmine, that sells the cutest gadgets. Read careful. I said cutest, not necessarily useful but they may actually make work alot more fun. For instance, if you have US$29.99, you can get this toy boy mouse that moves the way you want *laughs* Yummy huh? Well, do they have the guys' version so guys won't feel left out either. Go check out the other kawaii gadgets on that site!

This is not related to shopping but just found it interesting so am gonna just plonk it here. It seems that if you work for Lego, your business cards will be in a form of a toy figure which looks like you with your details printed on the toy figure. That is like so creative! So what if carrying your name card can be a little tough but who cares. These are just so cool. Now anyone knows anyone who works in Lego so that I can get one of these?

Alrighty, enough for tonight. Let's hope I will be able to get some work done tomorrow, including the additional 10 minute homework, otherwise ...

Surfing some ....

I am simply amazed by the kind of '-opoly' board games you can find these days. Everyone is riding on Monopoly's success and coming up with anything that you can possibly think of. I think I might have blogged about it before that when I travel, I do try and look out for the local version of Monopoly and bring it home as a souvenior from the country.

Today, while surfing for something else (yeah, online retail therapy time), I came across this rather interesting cool photo-opoly board game from Photojojo which by the way, is a pretty cool online shop for things got to do with photography. But a little later on Photojojo, now let's look at this photo-opoly.

How does photo-opoly work? You dig out your photographs, pick your favourite ones. There are spots on the board for your photographs, which are about 1 & 1/4 inch square. So you may want to find a photograph of that size or resize and print it out. The stick it on with the glue stick which comes with the board.

These spots are for the normal Monopoly real estate spots. Then go ahead and create your own labels. Really use your imagination and come up with your own themed board games. I would probably do a travel theme if I had this boardgame. I just need to see how I can get my hands on one of these locally. Didn't see it at Toys R Us. May have to ship it in, just need to find one with a reasonable shipping rate...

Next, back to Photojojo Store. It's really a cool place and I have already picked out several things I want (not need ya, want *grins*).  For example, for US$50, you can get this retro-ly hip bowler bag for your SLR camera. Go check out the website to see how it looks with the camera in it.

For US$10.00, you can get this bottle-cap that allows you to use any plastic bottle as a tripod for your camera. Sure beats lugging around a tripod stand and these bottles are easily available anywhere. This bottle-cap fits most plastic bottle. Cool ya. I want!!!

For US$20.00, I can pick a strap for my camera. And best part, there are SEVEN different colours to choose from - burgundy, teal, silver, lime, red, white and gold. And if the straps look familiar? Yeah, they are your regular car seat belts *grins* Cool huh?

And if I had another US$30.00, I would get this monster-mini tripod that holds the usual compact camera and able to stick to over 1000 surfaces and objects, even upside down! *sighs* Nice ...

That's a total of US$110 and there's heaps more that I would love to buy from that store. Now just need to rework my budget for next month to include some of these yummy goodies in my shopping basket *grins*

I luv my bolster ...

I love my bolster but it's too embarrassing to take a photo of it in its current state because of it's almost 'dead' state *laughs* you bolster users will know what I am talking about ya. Bought a bolster today to replace my old one (usually takes a few days to get use to the new bolster) and I remember having conversations about bolster with friends before.

 

For us Singaporeans, it's quite a common thing to have bolster in bed with us. It is so common that when we buy bedsheets in a set, it includes (and we EXPECT it too) bolster cases. For us Malays, we call it 'bantal peluk' which means hugging pillow. And I feel totally lost without a bolster. When am travelling, I usually ask for extra pillows because it just feels weird to not have a bolster!

Now, to a western who has not seen a bolster used the way we do it here in Singapore (and even other parts of South East Asia), s/he would be wondering why would anyone want to sleep with a pillow in between his/her legs *laughs* I swear it's really comfy!!! Guess it's a cultural thing huh?

Anyways, was wondering how bolsters came about and wiki-ed BOLSTER and found some information which I have included below. Guess it's not an Asian thing, just that it's called by a different name in the West. Happy reading ...

"A bolster (etymology: Middle English, derived from Old English, and before that the Germanic word bulgstraz) is a long narrow pillow or cushion filled with cotton, down, or fibre. In western countries, it is usually placed at the head of bed and functions as head or back support. In southeast Asian countries, in particular Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand, the bolster is designed to be hugged when sleeping. It is called a dakimakura in Japanese. In the Philippines, many call it the "hotdog pillow" (or more natively, "tandayan") following the close resemblance to the food bearing that name. In Chinese, its hanyu pinyin is "bao zhen" (lit. "hugging pillow"). In cantonese, it is called "Lam Chim". The Indonesian/Malay folks called it "bantal peluk" or "bantal guling".

Tradition suggests that a wife would fashion the bolster out of bamboo and give it to her husband when he travelled away from home so that he would not be lonely at night, hence the name "bamboo wife," or "Dutch wife," or chikufujin in Japanese.

In many Chinese and Malay families, children are provided with a bolster and the habit of sleeping with a bolster carries over into adulthood. It is said that hugging a bolster will calm one's mind when sleeping, and, in the hot tropical climate of Singapore and Malaysia, it is often too hot to cover oneself with a blanket when sleeping, especially in a non-air-conditioned room, hence hugging a bolster will avoid catching a cold. Bolsters also helps avoid skin from touching and rubbing resulting in irritation and fungal infections. Instead its cotton covers absorb perpiration helping its hugger to cool down naturally.

In the past, it was common for people to make their own bolsters. Old folks usually made the inner cover with a slit at its centre and stuff cotton wool until it is fairly compact and then sewing the slit up. A bolster cover is then made, with tie strings at its end, to keep it clean. Now most shopping centres and Department Stores like Target, John Little, do sell ready made bolsters with different insert/fillings to cater to different needs and price ranges. Because of its popularity among the locals, bedsheet sets often come with matching pillow and bolster cases.

In more traditional Chinese families, a newly-wed couple's wedding chamber will most likely have a bed that comes with two pillows and one bolster with embroideries of love birds, flowers etc and are usually bright red in colour. It is said that the bolster is to provide the husband with something to hug when the wife is not in the mood or vice versa.

In many other countries, particularly Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, a bolster is quite different. They use a bolster the way what some western countries use their body pillows. These are pillows that the sleeper can rest his head on and also hug it with both arms and legs. This is great for children who like the comfort of sleeping with something and the habit extends to adults too. It is also good for people who have hip, shoulder, or back problems. The sleeper can adjust the body pillow bolster to make sleeping more comfortable.

The use of the bolster is so common among Indonesian people that most local hotels provide bolsters for their guests. However, this is less common in westernized hotels in bigger cities in Indonesia. In Singapore, most hotels do not provide bolster for guests unless they specifically request it.

The equivalent of bolster in the western countries is the body pillow. So exactly what a bolster is depends a bit on the country you live in. No matter where you live, it is long and narrow rather than square or rectangular pillow for the head. Bolsters for the bedroom are often cylindrical."

Could this be a sign ....

Update on 1 September 2009: How disappointing! Received an email that the lecture has been cancelled because the speaker was unwell and was advised to return to the States for treatment. Was so looking forward to this. I sure hope this doesn't mean that *reaches out for the wooden table* ....

I was clearing my email before I start on some work and came across a mailer from Asian Civilisations Museum on an upcoming talk. After the weekend trip to Angkor Wat, I was actually considering Borobudur as my next weekend trip. The area being earthquake prone (think one took place in 2006), I am not sure how long these ancient structures will be around longer so would definitely like to see this temple and a few other great ones at Jogjakarta.

So receiving this email is a real good sign *grins* So am gonna sign up and go for this talk. If you're interested, drop them an email to 'chope' a spot. Have copied the info below or you could go to ACM's main website.

(3 things that made me happy today: 1. Found information about inter-tidal walk for Chek Jawa and there's one coming up on 18 Oct so hoping that I can book for that. 2. Broke fast while driving home from work with yummy Crunchie Chocolate from my 'Angel' at work. 3. Did some grocies shopping and bought some nice things for a hamper I am putting together for somebody.)

Bian-hong: Mastermind of Borobudur?
02 Sep 09 . Wednesday . 7.00pm - 8.45pm @ Ngee Ann Auditorium, ACM Empress Place

Hiram Woodward will provide a tour of Borobudur, describing the nature of the spiritual ascent that culminates in the open terraces at the summit. The meaning of these terraces has never been well understood, and the speaker will present new theories about their meaning. He will discuss the possibility that a Javanese monk who studied Tantric Buddhism in China in the late 8th century might have returned to Java and played a role in the design of this monument.

The Javanese monk, known only by his Chinese name Bian-hong, arrived in the Tang capital of Chang-an in 780 and was initiated into the Womb Mandala by Hui-guo (also the teacher of the Japanese master Kukai). Dr. Woodward’s presentation will explore the hypothesis that Bian-hong subsequently returned to Java and was involved in the design of Borobudur. He will propose that the template for the design of the upper terraces of the monument was derived from a letter diagram found in Tantric texts.

Borobudur can be interpreted in the light of texts illustrated in its reliefs. But other texts were involved, and which texts these were is a matter of controversy. Dr. Woodward will present new views concerning these texts.

About the speaker

Hiram Woodward, Curator Emeritus of Asian Art, Walters Art Museum (Baltimore), is the author of The Sacred Sculpture of Thailand (1997) and The Art and Architecture of Thailand from Prehistoric Times through the Thirteenth Century (2003). He is an art historian who received his doctorate from Yale University in 1975. His first publication concerning Borobudur appeared in 1981.

This lecture is organised by the Research and Publications Unit of ACM.

Due to limited seating, registration is required. Please R.S.V.P to nhb_acm_rpu@nhb.gov.sg by 1st September, Tuesday. Successful registrants will be notified by email.

Talk is free. Admission charges to galleries apply.