Wrapping with Paper Fasteners

I have recently started wrapping presents with paper fasteners instead of tape and have found it to be easier to do so. I started with novelty paper fasteners bought from Prints/Kikki K, and have since moved onto plain regular ones from the neighborhood stationery shop.

It looks like neat little rows of buttons. Instead of wrapping paper, I am using scrap-booking paper.

You can fold a box base securing it down with paper fasteners, put the gift in, then pinch the top and secure it with paper fasteners.

You can also join 2 pieces of craft paper together with paper fasteners, put the gift in, pinch the 2 sides down with paper fasteners.

Japanese food for lunch, small bowls of different types of rice - salmon sashimi & unagi tamago. I also love ordering the different types of tofu, it sounds healthy but it tastes really nice & mild.

Singapore Garden Festival

Visited the Flower Dome at Gardens by the Bay, soo crowded! It's $12 per Singaporean adult on a weekday.

Right at the entrance are these shophouses filled with orchids like the real houses of old. OK, so its usually like 1 pot of orchids but this looks soo much better.

The walking paths are filled with these powder puffs of orchids, soo cute!

This new breed of orchids really caught my attention, its like Tron with petals that resemble computer chips.

Newer versions of prize winning orchids resembling garlands, so you don't have to bunch blooms to make a wreath, you can just use 1 branch by 1 branch.

These lantern flowers are too gorgeous, this time I took pics of the ombre purple/hot pink ones.

Pointy star vine leaves, amazing find if you see this in the wilderness. Leaves with unusual shapes are really ornamental, these look like shurikens.

Completely black pansies, I wonder why we don't see more pure black flowers around.

Giant flowering plants. This entire section has grass level flowering plants.

Mega Dahlia, think this is the biggest I've seen so far.

Full Zinnias, looks like this is going to be my new screensaver.

Just as we stepped out of the Flower Dome, we saw the walkway covered in bright orange blooms, don't know what its called.

That's an actual human size comparison, so you know how big these are.

Stopped for a souvenir but got a white rose milk ice cream instead. Other ice cream flavors include fruit, milo, chocolate, orchid vanilla etc.

Afternoon Tea and such

Popiah and Kopi-C is my personal preference these days but sometimes when there is a larger group of us its Chinese style Rojak that looks vegetarian but really isn't.

Some of my recent supermarket favorites are :

(1) Snow brand Neo-Soft Spreads that do not harden even when left in the freezer, kinda reminds me of clotted cream really. 

(2) Darlie All Shiny White Supreme in Citrus Mint, that is a bubblegum flavor that is minty but not too minty if you know what I mean. 

(3) Red Bull Yellow Edition, tropical energy drink that is still red bull but tastes like a pineapple cocktail instead.

(4) Pokka Natsbee Honey Lemon or Pokka Green Tea with Honey drinks. The honey used is really perfumey that is worth trying.

(5) Super 3-in-1 instant milk tea, use 2 packets for a regular cup. It tastes just like in the coffee-shops.

A great afternoon treat my mom likes to make is Peking Duck wraps where you can buy a whole roast duck home to slice. Wrap with spring onions, duck sauce, dark sauce to create an addictive meal.

Thai coconut & mango ice cream from this new Thai mee pok stall.

Souvenirs from Europe

Parents came back from their Europe cruise with souvenirs for me! Everyone keeps going on cruises lately, I don't really mind missing out on a few.

More magnets for our fridge and that wood coaster actually costs 25 euros, absolutely reminds me of how much things normally cost in Europe.

Handheld fans, the cheap ones look better than the expensive ones, lighter too. Handheld fans always break after some time, so I don't mind receiving more.

Out of all the accessories, I love these cute doll brooches that move. I've never seen these before, its like those string puppets in the old tourist towns.

Souvenir T-shirts and Desigual bags that I absolutely love. The Desigual brand has many patchwork/scrapbooky clothes and accessories, available in Singapore stores and on Zalora.com.

Some pricier items like these Italian lemon soaps that smell really good. Blinged out wallet with a cross in front and a glass cameo pendant that I dunno how I feel about it, I like the traditional matte cameo.

Olive oils, whole dried fruits and salt, all flavored with local produce. I cannot believe the fruits are all dried whole, there must be 35 peaches in 1 bag, that's more than a carton. 

Souvenirs from Japan

My family went on a vacation to Japan without me, but they did return with lots of souvenirs and Jap food products. Cannot go without these seasonal Kit Kat/Collon/Pokki flavors. The seasonal Kit Kat is great with a scoop of matcha/red bean ice cream, it's like a really good dessert in a Jap restaurant.

Japan's famous plums, comes dried/sheets/whole. These are not for eating on its own, you have to chop it up and serve with rice.

Traditional hard boiled sweets and also Japanese bar snacks. I love traditional Japanese packaging and I remember it being really famous for just that - great packaging.

Genmaicha or rice mix tea that sometimes people mistake for togarashi but its actually tea mix. I think the trendy thunder tea rice is actually based on this, you place the tea mix on top of rice like toppings and add hot water.

I received some cute accessories like this pink crystal hair clip that goes with the baby pink Lanvin pouch from Isetan, as well as a blue crystal necklace and a red hair tie.

I did have a great lunch at Kotobuki with its 3D chirashi bowls. This one here is torched mentaiko roe and salmon sashimi $26.

Yuzu juice with a cute little spear stirrer. I like these really authentic Jap places, once in a while you will find one hidden in some corner.

Hallmark Cross Stitch

Hallmark's Forever Friends Cross Stitch Kit from Spotlight, $39.90. It's postcard sized making it easy to gift and takes about 3 days to complete. My friends told me I needed to get some of the more high-end cross-stitch kits to try out and see the difference.

I took out my pencil & slim post-its again to organize the sewing. Hallmark kits are more expensive but for syndicated designs there really is no choice. I would love for my next purchase to be a Memorial/Christian themed kit, I have already purchased several Asian themed cross stitch kits.

This kit is a little skimpy on the threads provided compared to the China cross-stitch kits. I was afraid I would run out of thread during sewing but I never did. This Hallmark kit also has more charts to refer to and colour-in, the instructions are also user-friendly. The China kits are really low priced and plentiful in designs, but I find the chart images kinda irregular and require adjusting before sewing or the resulting cross stitch looks CGI blurred or crooked.