2009 Autumn/Winter Momoko Dolls

Picture taken from www.momokodoll.com

Travelling to Japan – tips and tricks part 2

If it is your first time there, it can be pretty overwhelming the moment you touch down in Narita. You can either take a limousine bus to Tokyo, or you can take the Narita Express. I am purely speaking from my experience here, and I have taken both forms of transport. The limousine bus takes about 2 hours to reach Tokyo, including traffic jams etc. They do take you to the doorstep of some hotels in Tokyo though, so if you are staying in one of those hotels they go to, then it is convenient for you. The train takes about an hour to reach Shinjuku. If you are using the Suica + N’Ex, you pay ¥3,500, which includes a value of ¥2,000 in the stored value Suica card. If bought separately, these two would have cost ¥5,110. You save money!

If you plan on travelling outside of Tokyo, you can get the JR Pass. This pass cost ¥28,300 for 7 days, ¥45,100 for 14 days and ¥57,700 for 21 days. These are all Ordinary class tickets, but they are valid for travel on all JR lines, including Hikari Shinkansen aka bullet train. A trip to Kyoto and back and you will almost cover the price of the JR Pass. In addition, if you get the JR Pass, it includes a ride on the Narita Express and back, provided you arrival and departure dates fall within the time period specified on your JR Pass.

On the same note, if you are planning to travel out of Tokyo on the Shinkansen, regardless of whether you have the JR Pass, it is preferable if you reverse your seats in advance. You will not like the nasty surprise when you are ready and eager to take the train to Osaka and when you reach the train station the seats are all occupied.

If you are adventurous enough and want to travel to Miyajima, which is near to Hiroshima, you can even use your JR Pass to take the ferry to Miyajima because it can be used! I am not advertising for JR Pass, but during my last trip there I was using the JR Pass and found it really convenient and cost effective because I did travel to Kyoto. In my next trip I plan to go to places more far away from Tokyo, so I am getting the JR Pass again. If you are in Singapore, during certain times of the year, JTB offers a 5% discount on the price of the JR Pass.

Join me next time as I let you know what are the hot items to buy in Japan!

Mango and Guava? Fruits party?

My friend show me the illustration on the new blythes to be released next year – Mango and Guava… Their names sound funny.
I am guessing that the yellow hair must be mango and the pink hair one is Guava (cause I cannot read the Japanese words)

Photos from STGCC - Blythe Booth

Customised blythes

Customised blythes display during event

Rainbow Blythe?

My favourite customised blythe on display during the event

Up and coming neo blythes - Punkaholic People, Simply peppermint and Simply lilac

Ticket promotion from SG to JP

In my search for cheap airline tickets for my Nov trip to Japan, I found this promotion from ANA:

The booking period is from 1 Aug to 04 Nov 2009 and the travel period is from 01 Aug 2009 to 31 Jan 2010. I book my ticket with them considering that their air fare is only S$570 per person after adding in the taxes and fuel surcharges, which is quite a bargain considering that the wonderful services provided by ANA and that it is a direct flight without stop over.
For more information, you can refer to their website at :http://www.ana.co.jp/wws/sg/e/travelservice/reservations/special/fare/index.html

She rocks!!!!!

New love interest? Maybe?

Saw this photo when searching on news about Jun Planning bankruptcy rumour.. Is she cute? The caption - "I hate wendy, peter pan is mine" fits her expression completely.

For those who do not know her, she is a Dal. They are releasing a few new dolls for the Peter Pan series, including Peter Pan, Tinkerbell, of course the villian Captain Hook and a Indian girl - Tiger Lily (Any fan of Peter Pan can tell me who this Tiger Lily is.. I really have no idea of this character). I wonder why they do not have Wendy.

Here she is from Tokyo.. my favourite city. :)

Tokyo Blythe

Tokyo Blythe

Tokyo Blythe Sticker

Travelling to Japan - tips and tricks part 1

Ever thought of travelling on your own to Japan, without the convenience and guidance of a tour guide? It may sound daunting, what with the language barrier and the size of the country, but it is possible. All you need is proper planning, plus maybe a little tip here and there. I will be giving some tips from the experience that I gained from going to Japan. For the first instalment, we shall talk about booking of air tickets.

I have flown only by SQ to Japan. The first time I went there was in ’05. Back then, the plane ticket cost $900++. The second time I went there, the tickets cost $800++. The third time I went there, there was a special promotion so my ticket cost me $698. Nowadays, there are many other airlines flying to Japan and they cost much less than SQ. For example, Malaysia Airlines flies there for $398, which is a steal.
However, you have to take note though, that Malaysia Airlines does not fly there direct from Singapore. You have to transit in KL ie. Disembark and take another plane. They usually arrange it within an hour of each other, but there are instances where you have to wait up to 3 hours for the connecting flight. Northwest Airlines flies to Tokyo non-stop, but the timing may be odd for some, because it is at 6am in the morning. You have to pick and choose something that you are comfortable with. Of course, if money is not an issue, SQ is the most convenient flight to take.

Next let’s discuss seats on the airplane. I have taken Boeing 777, 747 and the Airbus A380. All these gave me different experiences. The seat on the 747 felt really crammed. There is not much legroom to speak of. For 777, try to choose seats on rows 31 to 43(information from seatguru.com), as they have better legroom. The drawback is that those seats are located near the wings. That’s where the engines are at. The seat on the A380, despite it being touted as being roomier, feels no different from that on the 747. 

I thought that it would have more legroom, but unfortunately it is the same as the 747. It’s a novel experience taking the A380 but I would stick to taking 777 if I could. Emergency exit seats are the best as they are very roomy, but they are usually hard to get. You would have to pay extra to get the emergency exit seats on A380. For 747 and 777, you just have to be really lucky.

Seats on the Airbus A380
Tune in next time as I discuss how to travel around in Japan!

Neo Blythe "Punkaholic People!"

I am taking pre-order for Neo Blythe Punkaholic People at USD 150(or $210sgd) each (exclude shipping). Those interested, please drop me an email. First come first served as stock are limited.
Update - 15 Jul 09. Hi, please note that I am not taking anymore order for punkaholic people.

Any more CWC limited Neo Blythe?

It seems that JM is releasing more limited Neo Blythes in year 2009.
With Princess Milk BisQuit de Q-pot in Jan, Doronjo and my Little Candy in Feb, Bloomy Bloomsbury in Mar, the Prima Dolly Tokyo and the Anniversary Blythe in Jul and the new Baby's Breath in Aug. I wonder are we expecting more for the period Sep to Dec?

CWC Limited Edition Anniversary Neo Blythe "Fashion Obsession Jenna" and Petite Blythe "Fashion Obsession Jill"

New 8th anniversary blythe releasing soon (see picture below). She is again limited to a quantity of 2009 only, which also meant that it is very hard to even buy one and the price on the secondary market will be very very expensive. It seems that they are adding a more modern twist to their anniversary this round instead of a "princess" theme as seem in their past anniversary dolls. I'm looking forward to see the promotional photo before making my decision whether to try for her or not as the illustration fails to appeal me.
Jenna

Jill

The gals are here

Finally my shipment from Taiwan is here. It took almost a week or so for them to reach.

Momoko dolls - space rendezous, normal version spring forest and love a da mode (from left to right)

I think both the normal version and sky version spring forest has petwork head. I wonder whether it is just me cos I did not read about this anywhere else. I also bought the latest release of wake-up momoko dolls. Like cosmo, the pair came with relatively "fat" face compare to the rest of my momoko wake-up collection, but I would still like them the same regardless.
With this recent shipment of 5 new dolls to my collection, I have a total of 11 momoko dolls in my collection and that was done in a span of 8 months. Wow, no wonder my bank account hates these gals.

CWC Limited Edition Neo Blythe "le jardin de maman"!

Photo of the new CWC limited Edition Neo Blythe - Le Jardin De Maman taken at Junie Moon Store. I totally fall in love with her outfit. I even have the intention to let momoko wears that outfit. Oh, I sound so nasty to little cute blythe for trying to steal her dress for another doll. Hahaha...

Visit to Junie Moon

Went to Junie Moon Store during my visit to Japan. The exterior of the store is very sweet, very much like a candy store. Actually we are not suppose to take photo inside the store, but we still managed to snap 2 photos of the store before the staff stop us.

No updating to blog till Mid May

Yes, I would not be posting any entry to my blog till mid May. I'm too busy preparing for my Japan trip (2 May till 10 May).
I am surprised at the number of items on our shopping list submitted by Z. It consists of burberry blue label bags/wallets, agnes B bag/wallet, even uniqlo t-shirts, legging from a certain harajuku shop, and some dunno what japan's sauce. But of course, i do not really mind helping them, as the fun in shopping is the process of buying things.
It would definitely be a shopping spree at tokyo like my last trip though this was not our original plan. It is a pity that the cherry blossom started to bloom a bit earlier this year, and by the time we reach Japan, the flowers should be all gone.

Uniqlo is coming to Singapore!!

Yes, Uniqlo is coming to Singapore. There have been a number of media coverage on this over the past few days in the newspapers, media coverages on TV. Its first store is open on 9th april at Tampines one. I was with my friends on this Friday at Tampines with the intention to visit the store, however we were surprised to see the long queue outside the store. Instead of waiting in the line like the rest, we decided to go to orchard to do some real shopping.

For those who are not aware of the background of this company. uniqlo is a japanese casual wear designer, manufacturer and retailer. It is a bit like giordano in Japan as their clothings are "affordable" for the mass. Comparing to giordano, their designs may be slightly better.

We have been to Japan Uniqlo stores at different parts of Tokyo. The one near takashimaya - shinjuku is like a warehouse sales with great discount - 3 for 1000 yen. While the one at harajuku is for the younger generation, it is like a convenience store for t-shirts. Each t-shirt style is displayed on a stainless steel display cases, with individual t-shirts packaged in clear plastic canisters resembling tennis ball cans (which i call them tubes).

It was a disappointment to me when I saw that the outlet at Tampines one is nothing like the one in Harajuku. Just hope that the next outlet opening in Orchard be something more appealing.

Uniqlo Singapore website http://www.uniqlo.sg/

Clearance sales - 12 Apr 09

Before my trip to Tokyo, I would like to clear my balance stock of momok0 dolls, blythes and other doll. So anyone interested to get any of them, please email me. For serious buyers only.
List of my balance stock (**price exclude shipping charge):

1. VOLKS Super dollfie Iris (NRFB) - usd 1500
2. Bloomy Bloomsbury (NRFB)- usd 475
3. Wake up momoko doll (NRFB) - Black hair Wu003 - usd 60
4. Momoko Alice in Snow forest - usd 168.80 [she is from the second batch so she is of a much better quality]

Pictures can be provided on request.

New momokos coming Spring 2009

Yipee.. finally Sekiguchi is coming up with new releases of momoko dolls for spring 2009 on their website.

1. New wake-up momoko WU005 and WU006 (Apr 2009)
2. Spring Forest (Apr 2009)
3. Love a La Mode (Apr 2009)
4. Preppy Girl (Spring/Summer 2009)
5. Natural days (Spring/Summer 2009)
6. Fruit of Passion (Spring/Summer 2009)
7. Honey wild (Spring/Summer 2009)
8. Lacy Modernist (Spring/Summer 2009)

More details can be found at http://www.momokodoll.com/en/lineup/index.php

09SS - Spring Forest and Spring Forest Sky version