THINGS I SAW & DID

View of Vulcan Lane from Raw Power Cafe.

Got to see the sun rise because I stayed up all night working on a project.

Neighbour spying.

Moth.

Saw this car strolling through Takapuna.

Mum's friend got us some Korean granny socks.

I made fake nails out of blu-tac. Real nails are better.

THINGS THAT HAPPENED ON BIRTHDAY WEEK

• A friend got me a rare story book and a rare Japanese KitKat!
  I love story books. I love chocolate. And I love rare things.
  I found a quiet space and read the book while eating the kitkat. It was bliss. 

• Another friend got me a bag full of yummy food. Seriously, she know me too well hahaha.

• Went to a French Market + French film screening in Takapuna with a couple of friends. It was such a good evening. So much laughter. J baked some amazing fig & walnut tarts. They were so amazing that we wondered if she had just bought some from the market while we weren't looking. Oh and the films themselves were really thought-provoking. Really good.

Clockwise from top left: Very edgy cancan dance performance; Outdoor film screening; Revive salad and AMAZING fig and walnut tart that my friend baked herself; Salad bits that got stuck in the seat; Stranger with a cute jumper. 

• A friend who knows that I like beans and nuts, made this super sweet card. I was smiling all day after I got this. I'm still smiling.

• Another friend shouted me lunch. It was a nice afternoon.

• Lastly, I caught up with one of my friends and she broke my heart. She told me she is moving to Sydney. I cried like a baby. I haven't cried for over 4 years so it was really awkward. Why are tears uncontrollable? :( I'm so upset but I'm also really happy for her. She will do well in Sydney. 

Went to the post office with her to send some documents. I want to be sent away too. 

MY BIG LITTLE BROTHER IS BACK

My little brother has finally returned from his three months of internships and travels. I'm just so relieved that he has made it back in one piece. I am the one who found the internship for him and pushed him to do it. He says it is the best thing he has done in his life, so that's a relief. I was worried that if anything happened, it would be my fault. But now I can say, "I told you it would be good. I was right. And I am always right". Hahaha.

He arrived a couple of hours after midnight on my birthday. So today is like a welcome back party and a birthday party mixed together. Extra fun and extra food.

Speaking of food, my brother brought back a lot of food and a few little non-food things:

Mini flavoured vodka bottles from Poland. He could only bring in 1 litre of alcohol. The rest got confiscated apparently.

Handpainted and handmade pottery from Poland! 

Handmade colouring pencils from Poland.

Little Dutch shoe things.

Misc chocolates and sugary things from Germany, Poland, Belgium,  and Italy.

Today is a good day.
The plan is to be on a sugar-high all day.

CHEESE FOR THE CHEESE STORER

The cheese storer has been empty since the day we bought it.
I open it and check it every now and then to see if mum has put any special food inside it.
It has been empty every time.

Today I put a block of cheese inside the cheese storer.
It fits perfectly.
I am content.

Gold Medal Triple Cream Brie. Bought it at the Puhoi Cheese Cafe specifically for the cheese storer. 

MARIMEKKO IN NEWMARKET

There is a Marimekko store in Newmarket!

Who knew?
I didn't.

Such a cute store. So much beautiful fabric.
I want to live in the store.

Spent ages in here just absorbing the awesomeness of all the colours, prints, patterns...etc

www.marimekko.com

2 Osborne St, Newmarket, Auckland

HANDY THINGS TO HAVE WHEN GOING OVERSEAS

Yay I'm off to Shanghai for 4 weeks on a Summer School programme.

Bought a reporter-style journal and a pack of blank notebooks today.
I think I'm ready. Yeeee.

I should be concerned with the fact that:

• I am only able to complete two full sentences in Chinese.
• I've never been to China before.
• I don't know anyone there.

But right now I'd like to spend some time on my own, feeling and sniffing the pages of these new notebooks.

MY LIFE JUST GOT SO MUCH COOLER

Today I did a mural/wall drawing in a super cool office space called Movers&Shakers ( www.moversandshakersbritomart.co.nz)
I did it with three other Elam girls.
It is going to feature in a music video by Boh Runga, Anika Moa, and Holly Smith.

This is so exciting.

Inflated cool space. Our meeting was held in here. It was awesome.

Desks with cool lights.

Mural number 1 - completed.

LUMIA 920 PROS AND CONS

I've been using the Nokia Lumia 920 for a couple of weeks now. Seriously considering changing to an iPhone 5. But there is something about the Lumia 920 that keeps stopping me from putting it up for sale.

Here is a very unprofessional, personal review for the Lumia 920:

The good

• I really really like the design. It's different to any other smartphone. Really streamlined and minimal. I guess iPhone is minimal too. But the Lumia is more beautifully minimal. 
• The curved display glass is so nice to touch. I know it's just a small difference, but it's so much nicer compared to the generic flat surface of the iPhone 5 and other phones.
• It takes really good photos. Even in low light. And it has a separate camera button.
• Cinemagraph makes it really easy to make gifs. (I guess iPhone will have a similar app for this)
• Live tiles are so beautiful and minimal. Especially compared to the iPhone icons and app buttons (which in my opinion look really kitsch now)

The bad:

• My productivity has gone down. I am checking Facebook more often and blogging way too much.
• It's heavy and thick. Just a bit too wide to use with one hand.
• Not able to protect the phone with covers or cases because it would make the phone uncomfortably heavier and thicker.
• Photo albums and folders cannot be made or organised. This really really bugs me.
• Limited number of apps. I don't use many apps or play any games so I thought it wouldn't be a problem. But it is. There are so many good apps out there on iTunes that are not available for WP8. (Especially design-related apps and hipster-esque apps)
• I don't want to search using Bing. There are three buttons at the bottom of the phone. One of those is a search button for Bing. Unnecessary in my opinion. I keep pressing it accidentally when I'm doing other things and no, I do not want search using Bing. 
• Difficult to sync with my Macbook.

POSTCARDS ARE MAGICAL

Yeee! Just received postcards from New York and Honolulu.

So much happiness :D

TOASTIE TIME!

Something unexpected and pretty good happened recently.

I won a super cute jaffle machine from Breville!

It's such a well-designed little kitchen appliance. All sleek and classy and stainless-steely.

And the good thing is, I didn't know I wanted this machine until I found out I was getting one.

I haven't had jaffles or toasties in ages. The last time I had it was probably in primary school.

Breville's "Original '74 Jaffle Maker"

Scalloped design for pretty toasties

Recipes that were included in the box. So many different types of toasties I never knew existed.

Apparently it's meant to look like this.

Uhh yeah... mine turned out *slightly* different. 

"The Original '74 Jaffle Maker" (BSG1974).
Breville's new redesigned version of their 1974 toastie machine. 
The photos on their website are much nicer.

SUNFLOWER AND SNOW

Snowy Seoul and my new sunflower umbrella!