i want the Harajuku Lovers Snow Bunnies gift set! :)

i first saw the Harajuku Lovers EDT collection in September 2008 when I toured Seattle.
fell in love instantly, and brought home the solid perfume set + the Gwen doll (0.33 oz/10ml mini version).

now take a look at the limited edition Snow Bunnies collection for winter 2009!

sooooooo festive, sooooooo adorable, aren't they? and the dolls have rosy cheeks! hehehe

i'm glad they'll finally be bringing the 10ml tinier version into Singapore (i don't like the bigger bottles, find them too chuncky), and i can't wait to get my hands on the entire set! yay! big splurge! ;p target to launch mid-next week...

or maybe i should always just collect the "G" Gwen Stefani doll version for each and every of their future limited edition seasonal collections... hmm..

anyway, don't forget to check out the super cute "doll-house" container for the whole set too! definitely a collectible item *swoon* lol.

get yours from Sephora US stores at US$100 (entire set), or SG$38 per doll/bottle locally - CK tangs, takashimaya, BHG etc.

brilliant ad. - samsung's guide to taking better pictures...

(via @benkoe @danielgoh @samsungsg on twitter - courtesy of AngelsorAngels on youtube)

hahaha.. simply awesome!
definitely viral! kudos Samsung!

great ad. aside, this is a great product too!
companies should have launched a digicam with a self-portrait function/mirrored screen ages ago! wonder what took them sooo long to get here :)

find out more about the dual-touchscreen LCD samsung T550, plus reviews here.

guess who's the next up and coming "Playboy" cover girl?

as though we ladies don't have enough real-life competition vying for attention with the men in our life, look who else is joining the "every man's dream" league as the next nude cover girl on the upcoming November issue of the Playboy magazine.....

*whistle* ;)
"The magazine promises a story inside on "The Devil in Marge Simpson," an interview and more pictures, including a centerfold pullout.

Playboy said Marge will be the first cartoon character to grace the cover of the magazine, which has featured movie stars, athletes and other celebrities through the decades in addition to the usual 'bunnies.'" (abstract from yahoo news article)

i wonder if guys will now get turned on the next time they see an episode of The Simpsons on tv... hmm...

perhaps Marge Simpson may also suddenly become the hottest dress-up character for this year's halloween parties ;)

this is a P.S.L.E. math question...

this is what a primary 6 (12-year-old) student had to answer in this year's Primary School Leaving Examination (P.S.L.E.) mathematics paper:

"Jim bought some chocolates and gave half of it to Ken. Ken bought some sweets and gave half of it to Jim. Jim ate 12 sweets and Ken ate 18 chocolates. The ratio of Jim’s sweets to chocolates became 1:7 and the ratio of Ken’s sweets to chocolates became 1:4. How many sweets did Ken buy?"

supposedly, students are now allowed to use calculators for some sections of the math paper (including the one above).

so what do you think?
is this too demanding/difficult for them?

click here to find out the answer to the math question above (scroll to the end of the article: Parents up in arms again over PSLE Mathematics paper).

ps: i have to admit it took me quite some time to finally get to the answer *oops* :P

thanks to "Fences": now you see it, now you don't...

thanks to a brilliant recommendation from a friend, my computer desktop looks amazing now! :) if you're like me who likes to maintain lots of shortcuts and icons on your desktop for easy access to project folders and files, then you might want to check out this free program - Fences.

not only will you be able to maintain your icons, "fence" and label them into specific groups, you can also customise your look, make them appear and disappear as and when you want them to - just by double-clicking on your desktop :) this way, you can show off your favourite wallpaper in its full glory and still have easy access to those many many icons anytime. simply brilliant! *smile*...

so now you see it, now you don't!

what a lovely way to start my BIG 30 today *grin*

BIG THANK YOU - to both of you angels (you know who) - for the TWO lovely surprises today.. created quite a bit of commotion and excitement in the office.. hehehe. you know such a gesture will forever be remembered, right? :)

thanks too, to friends and family - for the generous donations made to charity, birthday treats, little gifts, sweet touches here and there, just for my birthday *touched*.

a happy birthday for me :D

PhotoSketch - cool application that makes you go WOW.

i'm not sure if this application/software - PhotoSketch (Internet image montage) - is actually available in the market yet, but spend a few moments to a look at the video below, and you'd be so wowed by the ingenuity of it all. (featured in SIGGRAPH Asia 2009)

(original reference on mashable.com)

in summary, here's how the tool works (abstract from mashable.com):

• Step 1. Draw the outlines of the figures you want in your picture – anything from seagulls to a Mercedes, whatever tickles your fancy.
• Step 2. Add labels for each of the items, as well as for the background.
• Step 3. PhotoSketch will then find real-life images to match your doodles and put them together in a Photoshopped image that will make your jaw drop.

another simple example of how fast and far (scary too!) technology has advanced ahead of us... a very powerful tool for graphics search and image creations, i can definitely see many people making use of this. mind-boggling.

singapore tv commedy - sayang sayang

i'd only managed to catch some odd episodes of this local tv drama serial - "sayang sayang" - from the 1st season, as well as the just-ended-tonight 2nd season "sayang sayang 2". even so, this is actually one of my more favoured local tv series from mediacorp channel 5, light-hearted, sweet and funny in a heart-warming manner. i find the modern peranakan (straits chinese) theme interestingly portrayed by the cast (though some of my nonya colleagues disagree), a very different style from that of channel 8's former "little nonya" blockbuster.

one other thing that i really like about "sayang sayang", is the show's very dick-lee's style theme song - which i don't even know what the title is :) nothing fancy, just a lovely, soothing and touching piece.

so, enjoy...

(courtesy of nonyalover123 on youtube)

MSN/hotmail phishing alert

for those of you who have hotmail or MSN accounts, take a look at this phishing scheme announced by MSN yesterday.

seems like MSN is quite prone to hacks/attacks (but what's new?) *sigh*... so whether you're affected or not, it's best to just log in and change your password immediately (do so for ALL your MSN/hotmail accounts), just to be safe :)

how to change password:
1) from your hotmail inbox > scroll right down to the bottom, locate the "Account" text link at the right-hand corner.

2) click "Account" and you'll be lead to your accounts settings page > under "Password reset information", click "Change" next to your password field, then update accordingly.

voila! :)

red room revealed...

the answer to the little quiz in my earlier post today is...

an interesting composition of light, colours and shadows formed from this morning's rays peeking through my parents' red-curtain bedroom windows and projected onto the ceiling.

*tada*!
so did you guess it right? :)

a very simple yet beautiful sight, isn't it?
i like how the rays separated into different shades of red and created this amazing spectrum of lines on the ceiling.

just another one of nature's little surprises we're often too busy to notice while scurrying about our daily mundane routines.

wish it would get cold enough here..

just so i could find a reason to get one of these adorable cupcake beanies for myself! lol.. super duper cute with a cherry on top! love both "flavours" (vanilla/strawberry).

gets yours from fred flare at USD30 each ;)

why do we hiccup?

(picture courtesy of justsayyes)

i've always had this question in my mind, yet for some weird reasons i've never gotten around to actually finding the answers to that until now. the other day my 7-year-old nephew asked me "why do we hiccup?" and i didn't have the answer for him, so i promised i would research on that and let him know.

yesterday, i broke into this bout of hiccups. it would come and go after each meal and lasted about 5-15 mins. each instance. although pretty harmless, we all know how annoying hiccups are, especially when you're trying to get some rest or carry a conversation with someone. so finally, i sat down and googled around to find my answers.

in a nutshell, here's what happens when we hiccup:

"Hiccups are the result of an action the body takes to protect itself. Hiccups can start because hot food has irritated the phrenic nerve near the esophagus, or when gas in the stomach presses upward against the diaphragm. The diaphragm separates the chest from the stomach. The diaphragm tightens and pulls air into the lungs.

But air can't get through and we feel a "bump" at the moment the air is stopped. So hiccups are a reflex action of the body trying to get food or gas out of the stomach, thereby irritating the diaphragm. This in turn, affects the passage of air in and out of the lungs. We feel this as a "bump" and say we have the hiccups." (extract from medical news today)

i'm still not sure how to translate that into child-friendly language for my nephew.. hehe :P guess i'll have to try when i see him at our family lunch later.

some readings:
- medical news today: why do we hiccup?
- medical news today: what are hiccups? why do we hiccup? how to get rid of hiccups
- BBC: why we hiccup?

guess what's this?

I took this picture on my iphone earlier this morning, guess what it is... :)

why have i gone PINK? :)

(banner design by kim west)

yes, PINK is one of my favourite colours - whether i want to admit or not - i just get drawn to pink items in my day-to-day life (i'm sure most ladies do too *smile*)... but this is not why i've gone all pink on my blog today.

for the month of october, in conjunction with the breast cancer awareness month, i will temporarily go pink both on celestial as well as on twitter :) so do your part, spread the awareness too... go pink for october.

find out more on the Pink for October campaign website and download some pinks here and more twitter patterns here!

the 15th day in the 8th month of the lunar calendar...

happy mid-autumn festival to all!
~ 中秋节快乐 ~

whether you get to see a beautiful full moon or not...

enjoy the mooncakes over a pot of fragrant chinese tea with your family and loved ones :)

the pink ribbon walk 2009

today, i did my very first charity walk in my entire life - the reebok pink ribbon walk (in support of the breast cancer foundation - BCF). not exactly a big feat but still a first anyway :)

my day started real early at 6:00am this morning (terribly early for a saturday, since i usually catch up on sleep over the weekends) ;) nonetheless, it's a really great way to start the day, especially for a good cause.

met irene at the Eunos MRT station around 7:30am and took the free shuttle bus to The Big Splash @ East Coast Park (ECP). the bus came very frequently, one in every 5 - 6 mins which was really good, since everyone were rushing to reach the ECP around 8:00am.

when we arrived at the venue around 8:05am, the competitive runners were already waiting to go at the starting line right by the beach. too bad i didn't make it there in time to cheer on my other gf who took part in the run, only saw her when she's back at the finishing point. most of the competitive runners completed the 5km route in under 30 - 45mins.

the mass walk started next at 8:45am - ladies and gents, young and old, some with dogs, some trendy mums pushing their baby strollers.. it was an interesting mix of walkers. it was also really nice to have a companion to walk with, the weather was great (slightly cloudy + nice sea breeze), we chatted and shared stories with each other as we brisk walked through the crowd. it took us about 1 hour to get back to the finishing line. irene even did a mini triumphant pose at the finishing line lol.

this was definitely a pleasant experience for both of us, it was fun.
now i'll consider trying the competitive run next year :)

october is the breast cancer awareness month, if you'd like to support the cause or make a donation to BCF, here are some interesting ways to show your support and spread the word:

• take a look at how these three men are "running for a cause" this december
• go Pink for October - show your support by turning PINK on your blog and/or twitter :)
  

sweet sweet dreams..

saw this on vie couture - the loveliest sexiest sweetest lingerie from victoria's secret.
soooo beautiful and looks soooo comfortable! gorgeous soft lace v-neck matched with romantic dusty/rose pink satin, complete with ultra feminine pleated ruffles offering just about enough coverage to show off your legs....

i LOVE this!
oh, did i mention i love all things pink+brown/nude? *yum*

this is definitely a treat both for the lady wearing it, as well as the very fortunate companion of hers in the bedroom ;) sweet sweet dreams guaranteed for both...

so tempting, you'd want to get this satin romper (USD58) in both colours available - rose bloom or sugar plum.

ps: vs models are always so HOT, everything looks great on them :P

new value sets from too faced

too faced value sets always look so good :)
these are no exceptions, i adore the queen theme for the new collection, so chi-chi, so french, lovely packaging - compact and comprehensive.

the glamour to go III and glamour revolution look promising, though i really don't need anymore makeup lol.

exclusively at sephora only.

glamour revolution (USD39.50)                     glamour to go III (USD19.50)

french & fabulous palette (USD28.50)          queen for a day value set bag (USD45)