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This November my husband’s college classmate/roommate/close friend will be getting married to his fiancée (who is now a part of our tight-knit circle of friends). Our friend’s fiancée is originally from Taiwan; her entire family is still based in the city of Taipei, & they are planning on getting married there in a few months. Our entire circle of friends are planning on attending the wedding, so it’s going to be pretty amazing.
My mom grew up in the city of Taipei, but she hasn’t been back to Taiwan in over 35+ years or so. I have heard plenty of fun stories from my mom about her experiences growing up in Taiwan. However, I have never once visited that place myself. So, I’m pretty excited visiting Taiwan for the first time with my husband (who is the best travel companion). We are planning on making this trip an extended vacation, so we will also be passing through Japan (to visit my grandparents at the cemetery again, & to visit friends + family). We will be spending 7 days in Taipei, Taiwan, then hopping over to Tokyo, Japan for another 10 days. (For our experience this year, booking a layover flight was much more affordable than booking a direct flight. So, we decided to extend our layover in Japan for a few more days.)
Since the wedding is fast approaching, my husband & I have started to get ready for our trip by digging up all of our travel necessities from our storage closet, & also getting a few extra items here & there. This past weekend, I went shopping with a friend & we stopped by one of our favorite Japanese home goods stores: MUJI. I picked up a few new items for my upcoming overseas trip.
1. His & Hers travel neck pillows: This is the first time we will be using neck pillows on our fight. It’s a curious thing why we haven’t used them before, since we tend to travel overseas often, but we are using them now, so… & these neck pillows are very versatile. The strap is adjustable & this neck pillow also does triple duty: 1. a neck rest (obviously), 2. a waist pillow for lower back support, & 3. a foot rest when you open it horizontally. The cover can be removed & machine washed. I got a pink & grey striped one for myself & a charcoal & grey striped one for my husband.
His & Hers travel neck pillows
2. travel slippers: We always bring a pair of slippers with us on our overseas flights, so as soon as the plane takes off, so do our shoes. It is much more comfortable to take off one’s shoes on a long flight, & it helps to have a pair of slippers on hand to wear on the plane. These room slippers are very comfortable, affordable, & come in a handy carrying case. This is very slim in size, so it’s easy to stow away in a backpack without taking up much space.
slim travel slippers w/ carrying case
3. portable folding scissors: These small scissors are very handy. They fold up like a pen, & they are easy to carry around in a backpack or a purse. There have been many times my husband & I have needed a pair of scissors in our overseas hotel room & were not able to locate one. Of course I won’t be bringing this on the plane, but I will be packing this for sure.
portable folding scissors
Ok, so I couldn’t end this post without mentioning that I also went a little nuts again with some stationery shopping. I couldn’t help myself! Well, it was mostly because I had a store credit voucher to one of my favorite stationery shops (& that voucher was practically burning a hole in my wallet). Anyway, I didn’t exactly go buck wild, but I did end up getting some new pens.
Zeebra Sarasa gel ink pens
1. light blue 0.5mm
2. dark pink 0.4mm
3. metallic pearl pink 0.7mm
4. metallic pearl purple 0.7mm
What a delight, a real super surprise! I just couldn’t believe my very own eyes…I had found it tucked away in the deep dark corner of my dad’s makeshift (a.k.a. DIY) tool shed. Has it been there the whole time? I had given up hope years ago…long thinking that my mom had given it to one of her friend’s children (which she had done to so many of my childhood belongings…even while I was still a child playing with them.) I really had tucked these memories away to the far reaches in the back of my mind.
THEN THERE IT WAS, STARING ME RIGHT IN THE FACE, CRYING OUT TO ME.
It had most definitely seen brighter days. It was severely beaten, chewed up, spat out, ravaged by lack of any care or attention. What is this thing I am talking about, you ask? Why, it is the SANRIO HELLO KITTY 1984 CHILD GUIDANCE DOLLHOUSE PLAYSET. This toy was my most favorite thing to play with when I was growing up…it didn’t matter how old I was. I treasured it with all my heart & then some, until I had outgrown my toys & asked my parents to put it away for safe-keeping. Little did I know that it was to be chucked to the back of my dad’s flimsy tool shed, only to be ransacked & torn apart by a family of rats…who chewed up the plastic windows, burrowed inside, shat EVERYWHERE, couldn’t find their way out & eventually died. Oh look! A new figurine for my dollhouse. Nope. That’s just a dead rat skeleton. Wait. There’s two of them, plus the fetus of the baby rat. Lovely.
I was so extremely excited to find my childhood memories come flooding back as I found my favorite toy again. However, that elated feeling quickly drained from my body when I noticed the state of my old friend. It was thoroughly damaged beyond repair. It was such a devastating feeling. I was frantically trying to salvage whatever I possibly could. It was all in vain. Not only was it a sanitary issue, but there were a lot of chewed up parts & all of the stickers for the dollhouse had turned dark brown, beyond recognition & had also begun to peel &/or flake off. I also noticed that a lot of my figurine & furniture pieces had been missing. The ones I did find inside were from when I was a kid & had “Frankenstein’d” & pieced together my playset with another set. I can’t even remember what I had done with the original pieces. (Probably tucked them away in a storage box, within another storage box.)
Since I have no way of salvaging my dollhouse, I have been frantically searching on the internet for another one (even a “previously loved” one will do, as long as it has all the matching playset pieces & figures). To my dismay, I have been unsuccessful in my search…which kind of bums me out. I was really hoping I could regain a piece of nostalgia from my childhood & perhaps pass this toy on to my 3-year old niece or even my future child.
This is what the toy looks like in all its mint glory:
(Photos courtesy of eBay and Etsy)
Sadly, this is what my dollhouse looked like when I found it:
My birthday is coming up towards the end of this month, and my companion has decided to take me on a road trip down to Southern California (Los Angeles to be exact). We are going to drive my new station wagon (which I found out is also categorized as a “shooting-brake station wagon” in car/auto language) down to Los Angeles for an extended 3-day weekend & just relax. I’ve got my fingers crossed hoping that the weather will be warm enough for a no-sweater-necessary weekend getaway.
Ok, so from where we live (near San Francisco), Los Angeles doesn’t seem like such an exotic or very exciting place to “get away”, but it’s a place very familiar to us that we want to explore more of. Plus, it’s the most affordable option, since April seems to be one of the most expensive months out of the year to travel, & we just want to go there dang-nab-it. Oh yeah… Also, my husband wanted to do something special for my birthday while saving some money by driving instead of flying, since we’re traveling overseas at the end of the year…again. Yes, we’re going to Asia again. Our friends are getting married in Taiwan, so we will be there for 1 week. Then, we planned a 10-day layover in Japan to lower the cost of the plane tickets. (It was less expensive for us to book a flight with a layover rather than fly direct.)
I chose to head to Los Angeles for my birthday & try the local food scene over there. I live near San Francisco & practically go there every weekend, so I’ve pretty much plunged right into the whole foodie culture/movement. I’m not quite at the organic-everything, gluten-free, açai, kale veggie, foodie level… BUT… I have sort-of gotten into the whole locally-sourced, small-batch, seasonal ingredients menu, phase. I thought it would be cool to try out some local (& possibly hip, but not hipster) places to eat. I’m also on a quest to find some tasty pastries & non-Starbucks coffee while we’re there. For my birthday, my companion & I made reservations at a semi-swanky restaurant close to the hotel. (I’m staying at The Standard hotel in Downtown LA by the way.)
It’s only a 3-day trip, but I’m very much looking forward to it. I’ve decided to treat myself to a special manicure with nail art at my favorite Japanese nail salon (Marie Nails), & my companion is going to get his hair cut at a traditional-style old school barber shop (Baxter Finley Barber & Shop) which he read also serves whiskey & other alcoholic beverages to its customers. The birthday getaway trip is only a few short weeks away, but I’m already anticipating it with a child-like excitement. Cheers!
Rabbits & Foxes 
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