Several levels of it. After repeatedly attempting to put Aki's head back together, I was stumped as to why her eyelid refuses to close. It works when I push it from the inside, but not with the eyelevers. After the nth time of attempting, scraping the paint, repainting and stuff, I realized that during my first clean up attempt (I sanded off her pink eyelid paint), I filed off a bit of the peg that's supposed to go into one of the grooves. Hence the inability of the eyelid to swing shut cleanly. I know, I know. It doesn't make sense unless you (1) own pullips, (2) fiddle with them but the bottomline is:

I stupidly made a massive failed experiment and am now scratching my head on how to make her eyelids work again without having to buy new ones. I plan to resculpt the peg with epoxy, I'm just not sure it'll work. I can put her back together, worse case scenario, but her left eyelid just won't be able to close anymore, if I fail with resculpting.

Anyway, I'll try fixing it myself (I just needed to vent, really) but if anyone on my Flist has spare pullip eyelids lying around, I'd be glad to buy them. I need her left eye...the one on the right side if you're looking at it.

Looks like I'll be picking up my August dollie, Sophie, personally from Magma Heritage. Yay for Cebu Pacific!

And I have a sneaking suspicion she's going to figure greatly in a certain writer / rockstar's life.

i. upgrade turned to downgrade
Today felt like a good day to upgrade my doll blog to Wordpress 2.5 to check out its features, as well as to give it a trial run before implementing to Kitchen Cow. Okaaaaay. Looks okay. I backed up my database and all. Five minutes into uploading files MANUALLY via my control panel's File Manager, my eyes began to droop. Ten minutes into it, I give up. *flails about*

My dollie blog is in a coma right now. Hopefully, it can be revived when I get home, as soon as I can find a decent Windows-based FTP client that comes as freeware. Days like these, I just want to fork over money and buy WS-FTP, the client I've been using on and off since college. But seeing my bills kill the idea.

ii. desperately seeking needle
The jersey needle eludes me once again. I really need to get my hands on one of those things if I want to make dollie hoodies. Normally, I like sewing on my machine, it feels therapeutic and productive. But whenever my colored jersey cloth gets eaten by my feedplate (or whatever you call it, I don't remember anymore), I tear at my hair in despair. I mean, how unlucky can I be, SM doesn't have it! They're supposed to have it all, for you! Liars! They lie! Their ad agency should be shot

Friends, by any chance, do any of you know where I can buy Roxsen products locally? In particular, I'm looking for a Minolta MC/MD Mount to Canon EOS converter. I found a HK-based ebay seller that carries it but I'm not sure if I can stand the shipping wait. ^_^;; If you know anybody, or know somebody who knows somebody, please gimme a holler.

*brimming with excitement and "lensabilities"*

Edit: *somewhat deflated* They won't focus to infinity. *sobs* But at least I guess I can use it for macro work...

Looks like Sachiko's having more fun than I am. And no, this one's still taken with Natsume. My brain is overloading with information as I read the manual while fiddling with Natsuki. Truth be told, I'm quite intimidated. I don't remember being this lost during my film SLR days. So many buttons, 80% of them I have no farking idea what for.

Still, despite feeling like such an idiot, it feels good holding a nice, fat SLR. The weight, the grip, the nice shutter sound---it just feels so therapeutic you know? The act of actually putting your eye to the viewfinder, I never knew how much I missed it.

I still have a lot to learn though, that's why you guys won't be seeing pics anytime soon. All the pics I've taken so far are crap. But I'm damned dedicated to making Natsuki submit to my will (or at least arrive at a compromise) so there's hope yet.

New toys make me happy. :D

i. food "gloatage"
Sometimes, I waste perfectly good blogging opportunities just because I'm too eager to dig into my food. Case in point, tonight, John's Mom treated us to dinner at Renaissance Hotel's Emperor Court. There's something nice about being treated like a VIP in a nice restaurant. Don't get me wrong, their food is usually good even if we're dining by ourselves (like during the holiday buffet late last year) but I guess the staff make an effort to put their best foot forward when she's around.

Anyway, instead of being the snap-happy food blogger I usually am, I just ate slowly and relished every bite. I'd love to blog about it, but the fact is, with no pictures to show, it'll be a very boring post. So instead, allow me to gloat about the creamy, crispy, fleshy Hot Mango Prawn Salad, the meaty, resilient, oh so yummy Scallops in Black Bean thingie, the Oriental-style Spring Rolls with crunchy, crispy bits inside, and the steaming hot eggplants, minced pork and something else cooked in a clay pot. Obviously, I wasn't there to work---as evinced by the fact that I couldn't even bother to remember the names of everything I was stuffing in my mouth. It was soooo good. Heck, even the Yang Chow Fried Rice was priceless---it had a special distinctive smokey flavor that's achieved by only the best yang chow fried rice. Just thinking about it puts a smile on my face. And to top it off, Mango Pudding! Some days, you really just have to put that camera and pen down and stuff your face happy!

ii. heeheehee
Something happy is coming tomorrow. I don't know how I'll last until the evening. So tempted to slip out during lunch and grab happiness by the neckstrap.

iii. april 8
Yay! Zettai Kareshi! Mizushima Hiro! I can't wait.

iv. see you later, space cowboy!
FYI folks, John's leaving for an 18-month training stint with Marriot in Guam. His flight's on April 11. Don't forget to say bye-bye!

As title says, I'm shopping for a new webhost. Suggestions anyone? I run a site on wordpress and I'd like the transition to be easy since I've never moved hosts before. I'm not happy with my webhost (ploghost) anymore as their tech support leaves much to be desired. I'm considering bigskymedia right now but they're not taking new clients right now. Suggestions?

Grey: Not too loud please, you're scaring the puppy.



Yes. I can has new wigs? I'm liking him better now that he has non-pink hair and he's not in his stock clothes. He feels more like my Grey now, instead of being just another Horizon. I need to get him glasses though, he can't keep borrowing Seiji's since Seiji-kun absolutely hates his guts. I wish releaserain would restock, I'm thinking silver frames for him so he won't look too emo. I'm considering dollmore as well, but --- aaack! Too emo!

At least now I can figuring out how I can get him into my storyline.

Previously, on #4 Dokidoki Place



Read the rest at:
http://dolls.kitchencow.com/2008/03/25/4-dokidoki-place-episode-6/

i. after the legend
Finished watching Tae Wang Sa Shin Gi / The Legend of the First King’s Four Gods a few days ago. After a couple of nights of minimal sleep, we finally finished it. My mom and I started and ended the series on opposite camps---she was empathizing with Kajin / Kiha, misunderstood, victim of circumstances evil girl while I was happily cheering for wild, street urchin Sujini who was the poised, valiant warrior princess Seoh in her past life.

( Cut for spoilers )

Thankfully, Dian came to my rescue with this link about the original script to the last episode. It really makes me feel better and I like to think of it as canon. Even if I can't watch it, it's nice to think that this is what really happened.

ii. ever so busy
We've been so busy at work these past few days. Almost daily overtime coupled with a weekend at the office. So the holiday starting tomorrow will be such a welcome respite. I'm crossing my fingers that nothing will happen to screw it up. Yes, it's that bad. I feel like I can't really rejoice until I'm already on my way home tonight.

Productive to do list:
• Fix up things that need to be fixed up with Kitchen Cow, including layout tweaks, additional plug-ins, and new articles.
• Shoot dollies.
• Get some sewing projects going.
• Bake macaroons. It's very specific since I already bought the dry ingredients a few weeks ago. *laughs*
• Scan some more of Gokusen v11 for our Gokusen scanlations project. Plus, edit my next few assignments.
• Troubleshoot my lighting set-up.
• Do research on possible freelance writing programs.
• Put together a sample work portfolio for freelance writing projects.
• Design and make business cards.
• Get started on 365 Toy Project again.
• Redesign / reconfigure This Doll's Life

What's more likely to happen:
• Start playing Layton again as I have finished (finally!) Apollo Justice.
• Read some of the books I borrowed from Chris.
• Trawl Dollie Mixtures and Flickr for dollie piccies.
• Nap.
• Eat potato chips.
• Snooze.
• Watch anime / jdrama.
• Read manga.
• Be lucky to accomplish at least one thing on productive list.

iii. objection!
I want more Ace Attorney action! Apollo Justice was one wild ride, and I want more! Joining Phoenix, Godot and Iris as my favorite Ace Attorney characters are Apollo, Trucy, Ema Skye and Gavin---Klavier, not Kristoph. So much fun! I hope they release Ace Attorney 5 already. Last I heard, Capcom did a press release about it May 2007. I just hope it comes out soon and is followed by an English language version at once as well. Makes me wonder who'll be in it. A defense-attorney-again Phoenix? Herr forehead Apollo? Or a totally new lawyer?

iv. photo request meme
I've seen Jannie and more recently, Cla do this. Now I want to join in the fun!

Photo request! List up to three things you'd like me to take pictures of. Give me a week to do this, and once I'm done, I'll post your requests.

Just a note, I reserve the right to turn down requests if they're not feasible, are expensive, or is obscene / pornographic.

And Cla, no, you can not request for a Junpei x Seiji yaoi photoshoot.

It was a pretty sedate morning for me as I set about doing my morning things. I started my morning off early, played some Apollo Justice on my way to work. Enjoyed a cup of coffee.

Checked my flist and saw Sakuya Masaki's entry about Zettai Kareshi being turned into a J-drama. Which really was pretty meh news. Zettai Kareshi was a fun read for me. Escapist, a bit dumb (hated Riko!), illogical (but then, when was Yuu Watase ever logical?) but nevertheless fun. Plus, I really, really liked Soushi, even if he was so stupid to like a ditz like Riko. So it wasn't big news or anything.

Until I saw that they casted Mizushima Hiro as Soushi. HIRO! Yes! Remember him? Nanba-sempai from Hanakimi & the ever droolable Tendou Souji from Kamen Rider Kabuto!

So now my brain is totally mush. I've been jumping up and down, fangirling so much. I know Zettai Kareshi's story so I know there will be a lot of cursing from me when I actually watch the series but I don't care. Give me Hiro, give me fanservice and I shall be a very very happy fangirl.

And to end this entry on a happy happy note:

Sometimes, when things seem bleak and you can't help but feel frustrated over the deep shit your country's in, ( a simple song can be your ray of hope. )

ps.
I'll catch up with your comments to the previous entry tomorrow. Must...sleeeeeeeep~~~

i. puzzled
I was happily enjoying switching between The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass and New Super Mario Brothers when khursten told me that Layton's English version was out. She's been raving about it for some time now, playing the game in its original Japanese version. Her initial games got me curious but frankly, I can't even play RPGs in Japanese, what more a puzzle game?

So, anyway, I nabbed the game yesterday and was blown away by the opening sequence. It's soooo purty! And it's dubbed! So much love! Professor Layton and the Curious Village is a mystery game where you travel across St. Mystere, solving puzzles as you go along. The puzzles range from logic, to match, to optical illusions to brain-bending difficult things that can break your sanity! AND I LOVE IT!

View the English trailer to get a feel for the game but really, you have to really play it to appreciate it.



ii. out and about town
A few piccies I snapped from the past few weeks:

It's a restwaran! So Pinoy! Only, it's Japanese!


In my day, we had Cheer bear, Bedtime bear, Funshine bear---really simple bears really. But this new one takes the cake. I mean, BILINGUAL AMIGO BEAR! How original is that? At least we know he can be friends with Dora.


A tester. For feminine wash. In a supermarket. OKAAAAA~~Y.


iii. purikura love!
Ganked from Super Donut: Insant Purikura fun for your existing piccies!



iv. squiggled updates
• Updated Kitchen Cow with a new obento entry.
• Updated my movie list with Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo / The Girl who Leapt Through Time and 2 more episodes of Coffee Prince.

Looking for some dokidoki? #4 Dokidoki Place Episode 5 is now up! Yes, that nameless Pullip Comic series finally has a name. Yay!


Teasar is page 1! Clicky clicky for pages 2-5!


#4 Dokidoki Place - Episode 5

Old news but still news to me! Emura's starting a new manga. Yay! W-Juliet is one of my favorite manga series so it's understandable why I'm looking forward to this new series.

It's called Kyo mo Ashita mo (Today and Tomorrow Too) and is about a girl who wants to be a mangaka but her parents won't let her. Reminiscent of W-Juliet definitely. While W-Juliet isn't the world's best manga, it's still one of my favorites because it's a story I adore and I love the characters. That's why I can't wait to read this new series, because I tend to really like Emura's characters. Especially Makoto-kun / -chan. <3 <3 <3

I sure hope someone scanlates it. Or gets picked up by Chuang Yi or some US company.

Source: Anime News Network

i. assistant to genius
I was reading Neil Gaiman's journal entry about him writing The Graveyard Book by hand and having his assistant type it up and I think that would be a magnificent job, being Neil Gaiman's assistant. You get to read his stuff in its rawest form and you get to pester him about what happens next.

Assistant to literary genius. Pretty nice job description, huh?

ii. surfacing
After a busy past few days, I finally got a full night's sleep last night. After a quick Sweet and Sour Prawn Dumpling Rice dinner from Luk Yuen, I got in the car's back seat, instead of the passenger seat where I usually stay, grabbed a pillow and said goodnight.

It was a pretty good nap because when I woke up, we were already at home. I knew we were making a stop-over at my cousin's house to pick something up---and we did---which probably shows how deeply I was sleeping because I didn't even stir when we got there.

When we got home, roughly at 10 pm, I quickly switched Tsukiko (my PC) on, figuring I'd post a few photos before I sleep. But first, I wanted to snuggle my pillows while Tsuki booted up. Only to wake up at 7am.

Well, sleep is good!

iii. ebay strike?
I had no idea that this was happening, but even if I am not an ebay seller (I do have intentions to list some items in the near future), I believe this will still have a trickle down effect to my future transactions as a buyer. If you guys shop on ebay too, please read up:

Dolly culture link where I first encountered it - Quick rundown about where things stand.

Additional links:
CNN money
Auction Bytes