Little Twin Stars Watch

It all began with my friend Mitz who, during one of our usual gimiks, arrived with his new and oober cool Ultraman kiddie watch which, when you press a certain button, POPS out the time for you! We were all so amused, especially me, and I wanted one as well (but I wasn't an Ultraman fan, so nevermind that haha). He said he bought his at the local department store.

When I was out shopping with my other friends at SM Megamall, I decided to check out the kiddie watches section just in case they had other designs other than Ultraman. MUCH TO MY UTMOOOOST JOOOOOOY, they had a LOT but this LITTLE TWIN STARS ONE TAKES THE CAKE!!!

It was the first thing my eyes landed on and I squealed so loud and long that my friends were all embarrassed to be with me (not to mention that the saleslady assisting us was laughing as well). It took me time to choose whether I wanted the white strap or the pink, or the other design with Lala kissing Kiki on the cheek (ITS SO CUTE but it was colored blue and I'm not too fond of blue). And for a while I also got distracted and thought twice if I wanted the My Melody one too (because it was SO CUTE as well and I also love My Melody!). But I ended up buying this and i ABSOLUTELY LOVE IIIIIITTTTT!!! When you press the button, the time also pops and I LOVE PRESSING IT!

As a lot of people know... it doesn't take a lot to make me happy :D Hahaha. Just bring me to the kids section of the department store and I could stay there forever.

And did I mention this costs only 250php ($6-ish)? Nyehehe!

Barbie Silkstone Collection

When I was a little girl, I loved Barbie dolls, not because it was a great toy, but because I loved the different outfits. Dolls served more as a display for me rather than a toy (except when cousins or friends would come visit and ask to play with them), and I loved them that way (Here we see the beginnings of my obsession with pretty things haha). Recently, I have been surfing the net for new references for different costumes when I came across a Barbie website arranging dolls according to collection. The Silkstone Collection was the first thing that struck me and I was completely drawn to the unique style of the dolls.

The facial features of the dolls is the most impressive detail in this collection. They all look so sophisticated and elegant. Reminds me so much of Audrey Hepburn! The costumes also feature a wide range of outfits with the theme of high class society women.

The elegant midnight gowns are so entrancing and even the casual outfits were so well designed! There are times when I wish I lived a life as such, and these dolls only heightened this desire! Such lovely lovely costumes! So vintage and so classy!

As some of my close friends may have already guessed, my favorite among the dolls is the Equestrian doll, officially known as the "High Stepping" Barbie, simply because I have always been in love with the culture of old style tea-parties and polo matches on a Sunday afternoon.

I think I'd post more entries about other Barbie doll collections which I find wonderful!

Wooden Dolls Collection Update #1

I have now decided to post regular updates (as new entries) whenever I acquire new additions to any of my collections. Links to the original entries will be found at the bottom of each update entry.

The first new addition to my collection is the one on the far right. It's actually made of paper, not wood, but paper came from wood, so meh. Don't argue with me, it's be part of my collection. Haha. So anyway, this adorable thing was a gift from my friend, Reno! His mom makes all these cute paper doll sculptures which I've always said were so amazing. I didn't know he was eventually going to give me one! And since I know that his mom doesn't just give this away that easily, I'm really really honored and thankful to have her (her meaning this dollie). I love it so much. I'm naming her Mei-Xing, which means beautiful star. Such a work of art.

Next is the one on the far left. A friend of my youngest brother went to Thailand and bought loads of little dolls to give away (beats me why he'd give away dolls to his guy friends). My brother, knowing I collected these, got me one wearing my favorite color; pink! He said the red one looked better but someone already got it, but I don't mind! This is really cute! So for a Thai name.. hmm, Isra. It actually means "nocturnal journey" according to the internet, but whatever, I don't care. Isra sounds cute. I love countries with loads of handicraft stuff.

Lastly, one of my greatest finds ever is this mother doll in the middle. I found it at a local store here in the Philippines, but it was actually made from Tibet (yes, I trust the seller that it's from there, hopefully she's not lying haha). It's one of a kind and I got it at a really low price! 150php, imagine that (around $3.5 usd). And to think that I got Chimmi (the small doll from Hong Kong, which is super cute, but not cheap) for double the price. I love bargaining. So, I'm naming the mother Tara which is the name of a female mother goddess in Tibetan Buddhism. As for the baby, well, I'm not sure if it's a girl or a boy, so I'm naming him Dawa, a name associated for both male and female, and it means "moon's child".

Link to the original entry: My Wooden Dolls Collection

Polly Pocket

When I was younger, I absolutely loved Polly Pockets. I'd work really hard at school so that when I get an honor, I could guiltlessly ask my parents to buy me a new set. I'd have friends over and ask them to bring their own Polly Pocket sets so that we can all combine them and as though create an alternate world. It was also what I would ask for my birthday or as Christmas gifts.

I still remember my first three Polly Pockets ever. The very first one was a pink heart shaped set (which when I researched was a 1989 set) with three doll pieces; polly, a dog and a cat. I lost the original cat now, but I was able to find another cat replacement. The second one was a blue flower shaped set and I couldn't remember if it was one of my aunts who gave it to me, or if I got it from a Christmas party at my pre-school. It was a garden themed set, with a bird on the background even (on the stickers of course). The third one was another pink heart but the shade of pink this time is darker. It was a winter cottage styled set and I think this was my favorite out of the three. It had a reindeer, a snowman and a cute Polly in winter clothes. But the Polly piece was broken in two already, and I couldn't find it anymore.

So over the years I collected more; from people's gifts and from my rightfully earned prizes. Polly Pockets also became more complex in design and back then, I was amazed at this. One of my all time favorite sets is this Winter set that I have, which is shaped like a storybook when closed but when opened, it's so pretty and sparkly that you just couldn't help but stare at it for a long time. I also liked this horse show set (which I have no idea where I got from, I'm just sure I didn't buy it) because the Polly riding a horse in the middle would even spin and you could press a sound button so that there would be horse sounds. Heeehee. It's so cute! I also had this treasure chest design set. It was so nice. Polly and her friends could swim and dive. And you can make Polly stand on this balcony thing, as though watching her friends in the pool. It's so cuteeeee!

Then they started the magnet moving Polly thing sets. The first one was extremely nice. Three sets combined in one huge stage and you can move Polly around. I had that (I asked it for Christmas) and I remember spending so much time playing with it. It was their breakthrough design I think, and sadly, it was also one of their last good sets to ever be made again. And it was also the hardest to clean... mm, moving on.

I don't know, maybe I just really grew older, but after buying that huge magnet Polly set, I only bought one last set (a smaller magnet Polly but with a water park theme). The last set I had was I think one of their last good designs because after that, whenever I stopped by to look at toy stores, the latest Polly Pockets just don't look like Polly Pockets anymore! It was like a miniature sized hard plastic-ed Barbie doll with separate play things and moveable objects. The true essence of the original Polly Pockets was gone and it sucks. No more pocket sized playsets and inch tall dolls. I would honestly say that I loved the toys back in my generation better than the ones now. The Bratz dolls, for example, are really odd... as though there's a huge marketing plot behind it to turn all young girls into sluts at an early age. And the Barbie dolls back then were much more simpler and there weren't so many Barbie characters. Now you can make a whole army of Barbie and her friends. I liked our old toys, the simpler Barbies, Air Dancers, Polly Pockets, and those other dolls which I forgot the names of (there's this one wherein there's a princess inside a flower and the flower opens and closes... haha, I'll find out what that's called). And oh my gosh, I just found out that there's an Air Dancers cartoon?! What the hell man! Haha.

I miss the good ol' Polly Pockets. I guess I'll have to scrounge the net, flee markets and other such places so that I can add more to my collection. They look so pretty, especially in pictures, and it would be a shame not to appreciate them for their true beauty.

My Wooden Dolls Collection

I enjoy collecting things. But one of my favorite is my collection of wooden dolls. And for this particular collection, it is impossible to pinpoint exactly when I started.

Every trip, I'd always make sure that I bought sufficient souvenirs. Souvenirs and taking pictures are two of the things I love best in traveling. I'd buy everything from Venetian Masks to the smallest keychains; anything that would remind me of the happy experience.

Just before my latest trip to Hong Kong earlier this year, I decided that I wanted a particular theme for all my travel souvenirs. I wanted a collection which I can happily display side by side without looking like a mix of hullabaloo from all sorts of places. So I gathered all my past souvenirs (those which I can carry with my two hands at least) and sought for a common theme. Voila, the wooden dollies collection was born.

Since I just decided upon the theme, obviously I wasn't able to purchase enough dollies to accurately represent each place that I've visited (one of my few regrets in life). Here are the dolls that I was able to buy (by the way, I also include in my collection gifts from people of dolls form other countries. I shall note which are gifts)

In the picture, the Russian babooshka (I love this word! Russian for grandmother^^) dolls were from my mom's friend. All the other dolls are from trips I've been to like those two dolls at the back with pipes, I got them from Germany. The green one's name is Ludwig and the blue one's name is Albrecht. The male and female duo are from Korea (still nameless). The red one on the far right is Chimmi from Hong Kong. The two boys in the middle are my London boys named Edmund and Edward respectively. And lastly, the three little dolls left were from China and are still also nameless for the meantime.

As I was recalling the different dolls that I had, I remembered a Japanese little doll-keychain that I bought around 3 years ago. Unfortunately, I couldn't find it anymore. :( I searched all over my room and asked everyone in the house to hold a search party for her but to no avail. Luckily though, I was able to take a picture of her (I don't remember why I did that though). Sadly, that's all that's left of her, for now at least... I hope I find her soon! But if I don't, oh well, I hope she's in a better place.

Oh, and just a short sharing, the other night, I actually dreamt (how obsessed am I) of a doll that looked similar to my Chimmi doll only it was bigger and had a traditional Filipino Ifugao costume on. It was super nice. It got me thinking, do we have cute dolls like that in this country? If we do, I'd really really like to purchase some. ^^ It looked very pretty. If we don't, maybe the dream was telling me to start designing dolls like that! Haha.

Looking forward to bringing more cute dollies home!