broylim Birthday ~22nd: LITTLE MONSTER~ PART 3: プレゼント + word shutter is ONE!!

Before I start...

word shutter is officially 

1 YEARS OLD!!

YES!! This is like my don't know which version of my personal blog but so far, I have no complaints blogging on Blogger because there's been so much improvements since the last time I blogged here way back when I was in lower Secondary. It's easy to use and extremely flexible in terms of customization so it really makes me feel like I own my own blog~

I shall take this opportunity to thank all my readers (even though I think most of them come here the One Direction album unboxing but still~ :D) for actually making me feel like the things I write are relevant - especially my CD packaging reviews because those are the ones that garner the most views. No one's really interested in my personal life it seems but I will blog them anyway to document my life and to share my views with the world - even if the world is just a handful of people!! :D

I will continue bringing more content to this blog - hopefully more diversified contents, and definitely more unboxing of more CDs (yes yes~~!!) and of course, more photographs that I've taken!! Hope that y'all will continue supporting word shutter yes? :)

LITTLE MONSTER | PART 1 IS PLATOON | PART 2 ZHADAY | PART 3 プレゼント

Back to today's post!!

After three days of blogging about non-DVD/CD topics, I've finally made it to the final post of this LITTLE MONSTER collection - featuring (if you can't read Japanese), the プレゼント (presents) that I've received from everyone this year.

But before I start...

THANK Y'ALL FOR ALL THE THOUGHTFUL GIFTS!!

I really appreciate every one of them because
they somehow made a difference in my life even if it's in a small way.
Your thoughts are appreciated~
I feel so loved~~

To do these presents justice, I took, yes, photos of each and everyone of them. Or at least most of them because there was one that was particularly hard to photograph so I kinda gave up. :| So here I am, sitting alone in front of my light box shooting away like the lonely person again - self-indulging in the process of photo making...

Here we have the X-Mini II orange capsule speaker and the Apple Magic Mouse from Alvin! We all know that the X-Mini speakers are packed with awesome sound so loud and so bassy that the speakers actually moves when you blast your iPod on maximum volume. He got this for me because my Green Alien speaker's sound quality isn't as good. Thoughtful thoughtful eh~

The Apple Magic Mouse is something that I've constantly been fascinated by. Every time I drop by an electronic store, I would go play with it because it's so nice to click! The top of the entire mouse is a button itself and you can scroll by just running your finger up and down anywhere you want. The mouse also allows you to right click~ But the reason why I didn't get the mouse was because it's apparently not very good for photo editing (which I actually busted because once you get used to it, it's reasonable but a tablet would still be better for precise control) and that it's a little pricey so it came as a surprise for me when I received this one. :)

Have you seen these bottles before? They are made of plastic and are foldable so once you're done drinking from it, you can fold it into a smaller package for easy storage. Cool eh? Even comes with a clip for you to clip on your bag or on your pants if you don't want to risk a water bag bursting in your main compartment of your bag. This Vapur Anti-Bottle is also from Alvin because he knows I lost my Nike lime green bottle (sad~~) some months ago. My best friend has the best memory eh?

And the last present from Alvin is this book - Cat Capers: Catitude for Cat Lovers. It's a photo book by photographer Gandee Vasan and yes, the book is packed with photos of adorable felines doing what felines do the best - being extremely cute! The occasional poetries and trivia on cats keeps the book light on words and extremely heavy on photos. Due to the fact that it's all photos, I took only half an hour to get through the entire book~ So cute!!

Have you guessed what's inside that package that was featured in the ZHADAY post (Part 2 for the numerically inclined)? It's a Levi's leather bag! I'm not sure whether it's real leather or not but I love the material because it's so soft and actually quite huggable. Thank you, ZHADAY, for this bag~!! I think they had probably seen me with only one bag so they decided to give me another one to mix up my style a little bit more~ :D Couldn't take a photo of the whole bag because the space in my light box is limited. :S

They also gave me a blue, V-neck T-shirt which, if Hazel didn't mention, I wouldn't have realized was actually stuffed inside this bag. Didn't manage to take a photo of the shirt too, unfortunately, but I would definitely wear that shirt because it's kinda me - flat and simple.

On top of the bag, Daniel also gave me a huge glass container of these famous Sticky Smiley Rock candies! I remember there was one Christmas where he also gave out Sticky candies and unfortunately, I left them out for too long and it was kinda inedible at the end but this time, he gave me a second chance to try this entire glass of smiling goodness! So now and then, I would go to this container to pick a candy just to make sure I don't waste them again. 

The small birthday card found on the wrapper of the Levi's bag. :)

And for the most evil one of all - the counterfeit boarding pass made from scratch by the IS Platoon (actually, Jia Wei did most of the counterfeiting from what I understand) which doubles as a birthday card! In case y'all can't read what was written in the previous post, here's a clearer photo of it. If they didn't tell me, I wouldn't have known that this is a fake and would bring this to the airport on the day we head to KL~ On top of this counterfeit boarding pass is also the real deal so yes~!! :D

I hope y'all can actually read these heartfelt wishes from my platoon. It's a little small, no? But try to squint a little~ :P Lots of references to my constant tweeting and Gaga and alarm clocks and yes, BITCHING, in their wishes. Well, some key words to summarize who I am. :)

Last but not least, the limited edition steel case version of the movie "那些年，我們一起追的女孩“，or in English "You Are the Apple of My Eye". Click on the title for the unboxing of this amazing box set from my beloved sister, Vera!! Well, Miss Sister was uncertain of what to get me for my birthday, as usual, so I gave her the suggestion of getting me this DVD since we both want to watch the movie again anyway. On top of that, I just want to take photos of this amazing packaging so yes - we killed a few birds with one steel case.

And yes! This marks the end of this 3 part blogging "marathon" of my 22nd birthday celebration - LITTLE MONSTER! I can't believe that I've grown on by another year again but nevertheless, I will continue being who I am until I decide to grow up even more mentally!

Being childish isn't being irresponsible - it's respecting who you really are and embracing your true self!

Oh yes~ Be sure to catch the previous parts if you missed them because I spent hours working on them okay! Give me some credit, yes? :) Even if you don't read every single nonsense word I've written, at least enjoy the photos yes? Because I must say, comparing this year's film and last year's, my photography did improve okay~! :D

Time to sign off~ Thanks for reading *waves to the single reader over there* :)

LITTLE MONSTER | PART 1 IS PLATOON | PART 2 ZHADAY | PART 3 プレゼント

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Unboxing the Presents - PART 2

making of | PART 1 | PART 2 | Presents (Part 1) | Presents (Part 2)

Was meant to post this entry a few days back but I was extremely busy because as y'all know, I'm now not in SAFTI and that goes to say that I will not be as free. Well, I wouldn't say my new place is horrible since I have lots of friends over there (not new ones though - some new people are just plain annoying) but that story's for another day.

FINALLY! The last post for TOY MUSEUM since I started out this new blog. Okay. Let's start already!! Do take a look at the previous post to see where I left off~

This has got to be the most...shockingly dangerous?? present I've ever received in my entire life and it came in these 2 innocent looking brown boxes. Presented (there was really a presentation "ceremony" on the actual day but it was kinda private) by Zhi Kai, Kevin and Haikal.

A pair of Wakizashis (Japanese short swords)!! Before you correct me, I know~ I placed the swords the wrong way. They should arc the other way round as opposed to in this photo so stop correcting me! Don't worry~ They are not sharpened so they are legal, I hope. They are really beautiful, no? :D

WOOOO!!! A black and "white" Wakizashi~ I feel like a ninja now! These swords are now sitting on their stands in front of the TV in my living room, in case you're wondering. Zhi Kai and the rest were actually planning on getting me a pair of sais (yes, the Elektra ones) but good thing they didn't because I already have a pair. Somehow, I think I like weapons that comes in a pair... Like these, sais, Tomb Raider's twin guns, etc.

Moving on to the next present. DISCLAIMER: This plain looking package is a SHOW STOPPER. You'll see... :) The following presents (including this one, of course) is from Daniel, Yin Zhi, Chong Yee, Hazel, Ain and Yahya.

I think this bar code belongs on this white package because I found it in the plastic bag where I put all my presents inside that night. May have dropped off from the package and it's a little crumpled. :( But this bar code idea is really cool, no?

TA DA!! Presenting to you the SWEETEST PRESENT AWARDEE, this black booklet given to me by the marvelous friends above. I saw them making this booklet during my party itself and they were constantly shooing me away so that there's still that element of surprise. And it certainly touched me~

Some of the pages inside this booklet featuring some of the photos that I took! Even I'm not bothered to develop my own photographs to even keep them but these people were so hardworking to look through my collection to pick out nice ones to present them back to me! I feel so honored that people goes through my photos and it motivates me to take even better photos~

The shots that we took during the 2010-2011 Countdown at Woodlands Waterfront - my first countdown event ever outside my own home! If you want to see all the contents of this booklet, visit my facebook album - they are all there! I just had to show off their hard work and creativity!!

A short note at the end of the booklet. AWWWWWW~~~ Sweetest thing ever! I disagree with some points inside the note though because I think the booklet is extremely well made (Hello! From scratch!! The whole thing was glued together from scratch!!) and it definitely reminded me of a lot of good memories I had with these great friends.

Stuck on the back of the booklet... Made for ME!! :D

Besides the heartfelt booklet of marvelous pictures (because I took them :P) and memories, they also gave me this notebook with my name on it. Nice colors!! I like~ This notebook consists of calendar pages and blank pages so it's basically for me to write on. Yes, that kind of notebook, just personalized. :)

AND besides the 2 books, they gave me this present wrapped in a teddy bear wrapping paper. The shape is pretty obvious now, no?

A PICARD wallet! And I love the texture too~ Another gang of people who knows that my wallet is was breaking apart. I'm currently using this wallet right now because it's so cool!

While I was taking photos of my presents, I did not go through each and everyone of them because there were so many subjects to be shot. It was until my father looked through some of my presents that he discovered that Daniel and all had included 20 dollars in this wallet. I was extremely shocked because I had never expected that! Aren't they fantastic? Surprises after surpries~!!

And as if they were running for "Most Number of Presents Given", they gave me this shirt as well! Hmmmm~ I wonder when I'll wear this shirt though. Maybe they are like "Broy's always wearing the mono-colored oversized T-shirt. Maybe we should give him something else~" When I get the chance, I'll definitely try this shirt out! :D

They were not the only ones to give me clothing. Chua Ying Ying gave me this pink T-shirt (apparently from UNIQLO since she works there) because she said that she wants something to rival my lime green T-shirt in terms of boldness and I think she matched it. I wore this shirt on the spot that night and I thought it was quite comfortable and the color made my skin look so much fairer. I wonder if that's a good thing though but something's for sure~ It made me look thinner! :P

Next... Bing Ru gave me this elegantly wrapped purple box with a small card on it.

Adidas spray and deodorant! There were times when I stopped in departmental stores to consider whether to try these out or not because they look so cool but I dismissed the thoughts most of the time because I didn't want to waste money and on top of that, I don't always smell awful. Now that I have these, maybe it's time to experiment! :)

An unexpected present from Kaka. She suddenly gave this to me days before TOY MUSEUM because she knew that my birthday was coming even though I did not tell her directly. Very thoughtful!

Ferrero Rocher~ One of my favorite kinds of chocolates. Though this present is simple, it's really significant because it proves that people remember me. Thanks Kaka!!

The following presents gave given to me by Alvin and I titled this the BIGGEST PRESENT of the bunch because it was really huge. Good thing he left these at my house before we went to set up at Downtown East because otherwise, I would have to carry this home and that wouldn't be very convenient.

LITTLE BIG PLANET 2 : COLLECTOR'S EDITION!! Comes with a Sack Boy along with the game as well as 2 book/game holders in this big box! Really cute, no? Must have cost a lot though... :S

This edition of Little Big Planet 2 also comes with downloadable costume packs such as THE GREEN ALIEN costume! Another Green Alien under my belt~ Other than the Green Alien, there were costumes from Tron and other popular Sony games. And of course, you can more or less guess which one I'm currently using, no? :)

The book stand and Sack Boy included inside the box. Like I said, I was too busy trying to complete photographing everything so I haven't really had the chance to take photos of the contents so forgive me. Maybe I'll take them when I have the time. :)

Besides the game, Alvin also gave me this Parker pen with my name engraved on it! How awesome is that?!

Not only is it a pen, it's a fountain pen! I used to have this fountain pen back when I was in primary school. I remembered saving up for it but it wasn't very good because it leaked constantly and my hands were forever black whenever I use the pen. Threw it away eventually. Now, at least I know for sure that this pen won't leak because it has a proper ink mechanism as opposed to my previous pen. In case you want to know, it writes like a normal pen just that you have to angle it in certain ways to make the ink flow. Really cool stuff~

Third present from my best friend came in this box and no matter how hard I guessed, I couldn't guess what's inside because the shape doesn't feel familiar - or does it?

The Gilded Tarot deck! I always wanted this deck because its artwork is GORGEOUS! Furthermore, the imagery is less threatening and serious as opposed to the Rider-Waite ones so they are great for readings in parties and light hearted events. This box set comes with the cards (duh~), an companion book as well as a black organza pouch - saves me the trouble of having to sew another pouch to keep the cards. :) Thanks Alvin for reading my mind~ :D

And finally, the last present to be posted from Leon. He gave it to me after TOY MUSEUM. I think he forgotten about it and kept it inside his cabinet. -_-

It's a Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L USM CUP! Well, if it was the real thing, I would be over the moon because this lens is good~~ Vera and Rena told me that Leon's going to give me something that I would probably not use and hmmm... I think that's true to a certain extent but this cup does make a very good decorative piece on my table.

The cup itself. The plastic is a little too thin for my liking and that's the main reason why I wouldn't use this as a drinking cup. Furthermore, the base is not very wide as it tapers to the bottom and that means that this cup will topple over very easily. The replica is quite accurate, no? :) I like it~ But I wouldn't use it. :)


YES! Finally at the end of this post. Was extremely distracted because I was blogging this while watching Ellen Degeneres' biography on cable TV. Anyway, this concludes the whole TOY MUSEUM Special and I'm glad it's over because it's well overdue. Be sure to read the other parts because I put in so much hard work writing them~

Later on, I have to book in and that feeling sucks. But oh well~ Life there isn't exactly hectic but I wouldn't say that I love it a lot as well because people there are not the nicest people you'll meet but I can live with that. 2 medical appointments next week... Wish me luck!

Okay~ Off to find something else to do~!!

making of | PART 1 | PART 2 | Presents (Part 1) | Presents (Part 2)

Click to visit other parts of the ~TOY MUSEUM~ Special

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Unboxing the Presents - PART 1

making of | PART 1 | PART 2 | Presents (Part 1) | Presents (Part 2)

Maybe I should change the title of this blog to "TOY MUSEUM happenings" because other than, well, TOY MUSEUM happenings, I haven't been blogging anything else.

But look! I'm at the second last post for probably one of the biggest days of my life - my 21st birthday~ This unboxing post was supposed to be done in a single post but when I went through the photos, I simply couldn't help myself but to include lots of them inside. Because to me, if people took the effort to buy the present and to wrap it up nicely (or not so nicely, you'll see) for me, I think they deserve the due credit, no?

Without further ado, let's start, shall we?

The very first present I've received even before TOY MUSEUM arrived in the mail and it came from my mother's friends/colleagues and they are so sweet! I invited them to my party but because of their hectic schedules, they were unable to attend and so, they sent me a package! We love packages, no? :D And for obvious reasons, I removed my address.

The contents of the box less the scissors (that belongs to Vera); a lovely pink note, an ang pao and another smaller package wrapped in Isetan's wrapper. Was extremely delighted to read the note because it's so adorable~ I wonder if you can see the words from this photo though.

And beneath the Isetan wrapper is a wallet-purse! It's huge!! Comes with lots of card compartments, a coin compartment (a must have for me) and you know, normal wallet stuff. It's a little big though so I'm keeping it aside for when I need a bigger wallet. But it's really thoughtful of them because somehow, they magically knew that at that point of time, my wallet was dying already.

The second present which I unwrapped before TOY MUSEUM was from Vera, Aik Hin and Nick and it came in this really cute wrapping paper. However, it's more than just cute duck and teddy wrapping paper though. When you feel the present, you'll somehow feel that it feels funny.

That's because a whole day's worth of newspaper is wrapped around the present!! I swear that this is the most irritating present to unwrap in my entire life because after that, the whole living room was littered with shreds of newspaper and my hands were covered in yucky stuff. A WHOLE DAY'S WORTH! That's pure evil!

And finally... The present shrunk down to something 70% of the original size, no thanks to the endless layers of newspaper. I'll definitely take my revenge one day. I won't use "The Newpaper". I'll use "The Straits Times". But you have to give it to them for spending so much time and sticky tape to put this present together.

AN INSTAX MINI 7S!! *holy Ahhhhhh~~~~~~!!* Well, Vera knows that I wanted an instant camera and she also wants an instant camera so what better thing to get for me but an instant camera (the words "instant camera" appeared 3 four times in a single sentence, how 'bout that!). So, she bought this camera so that we can share it. Thoughtful, no? But I love it anyway~ :D

And now... *drum rolls* These are the presents I got from TOY MUSEUM! Just one glance and you can see lots of Green Aliens but that's not the main point. Unwrapping the presents wasn't easy you know~ I had to go through each and everyone of them and take photos of them and Maomao was constantly messing up the mess. Now~ For the individual shots...

Okay. The first present which I unwrapped was from FATTIES! I wonder who's idea it was to stick the "21st" because I think it will take awhile to tape those letters up, especially the "ST"; so tiny! Just looking at the wrapping, you can more or less guess what's inside.

The FATTIES!! Of course I don't mind the design~

Either my friends or family knows me extremely well or I'm not shy when it comes to announcing my hobbies but I think everyone managed to give me something that's according to my personality! The fatties gave me a really helpful book on Light & Exposure in Digital Photography and it covers lots of things that I always wanted to learn more about! :D Jum even told me that they picked his book because the photos include the technical specifications. Meticulous~

Along with the book, they also gave me this smaller package wrapped in... I don't know~ But I wonder if the names mean anything though.

White Sony Earphones!! When I saw this, I went "Oh no~!!" because I just bought another pair of earphones not long ago. These earphones are really gorgeous but I'm keeping them for the future because I don't want to get tangled by too many wires. And the fatties know me well because they know I love my music~ :D

Mystery solved. They used some sort of SP magazine to wrap the present. Not bad considering I couldn't recognize that it wasn't wrapping paper in the first place. At least they were not as cruel to use a whole day's worth of newspaper to wrap the gift...

A silvery chromish "box" from Rini. Nice wrapping paper~

WOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! National Geographic photo book! The magazine has some of the most stunning shots I've ever seen and this book packs all those works conveniently together for my viewing pleasure. And do you know that the cover photo actually won an award? Stunning eyes, no? Haven't really found time to read it yet but I definitely will!

Somehow, I have a feeling that Nicholas was like "What should I get for him? This is cute... This too... HECK!! Just get everything!!" and ta da~ GREEN ALIEN OVERLOAD! Best room mate ever gave me 3 green alien organizers and a memo sticky pad - all in this Mickey Mouse plastic bag. I hope it didn't cost too much though... :S But I love these because they are all smiling at me!

I'm really really really sorry because I forgot who gave me this one but I gave it be "BEST WRAPPED PRESENT" award on facebook. Please tell me who you are and yes, you can yell at me for being so forgetful. :S

More Green Alien goodness - a 3D Green Alien Jigsaw Puzzle! I saw one of these at Jurong Point once and went like "Green alien!!" but I never expected someone to give this to me. Okay~ I was half expecting it from my Tango friends but they admitted that it wasn't them. Then who managed to read my mind?! Tell me!!

The puzzle in its assembled form is now sitting on my shelf in my bedroom. So cute these little green aliens~

Kenvin also managed to find out that I like Green Aliens and he got me a Green Alien plushie! See~ My friends know me sooooooooooo well!

I opened up Nicholas' Green Alien stool box to put some of the stuff inside. Useful gift right? A gift that takes care of itself in terms of storage. Surprisingly, the box held up when I sat on it, proving that I may not be as fat as I thought I am.

I HAD TO TAKE THIS SHOT! I placed all the Green Aliens I can find in my house inside this box and took this photo. Pixar should be so happy that they have such a huge fan like myself. Thanks y'all for the green aliens! I will keep them company for sure.

Another present which came from people who can read my mind - Benjamin and Ronald!! I've been eyeing this yellow toy gun for very long and I ALMOST bought it days before my party so that I have yet another toy as a prop but luckily, I didn't! Thanks for reading my mind!

Chocolates... Mmmmmm~

This weirdly shaped package is from my cousins (Sheena, Rena and Laura) and it felt suspiciously soft. My first impression of this present was that it's probably going to be some kind of clothing or something-or-nothing...

...NOT AGAIN!! Newspapers again! I swear I will take my revenge one day. Instead of wrapping it up neatly like how Vera and Nick did it, they chose a messier approach. Probably because the irregular shape will throw me off guard because it indeed did~

If you put this package out in public, people might mistaken it as some dangerous substance because it looks so extremely suspicious! No clear tape? Use masking tape cut in weird shapes. Feels as though they were low on tapes to hold the present together. Or is it a creative direction? Hmmmm....

I recognize this box~ It's Rena's hard disk's packaging and she shamelessly used it to hold this envelope. Recycling? Maybe... When I unwrapped this present, the first thing I saw was "Samsung" and I was wondering what this was but I was cheated... Again...

At least it was worth the effort~ $60 (not $50 because I missed one in the photo) worth of HMV vouchers! They know me so well~ They know that I will definitely buy CDs from HMV so what better present to give me right? Thanks cousins for knowing me so well!! Judging from the date, you can tell that this present is a last minute gift because it was issued in April and my party was on the April 2nd. Meaning they either got it on the day itself or the day before the party. I should be a detective.

A sweet letter from my secondary school friends / poly school mates - Peggy and Peijin.

A home made card with my name on it! And I wonder how much time they spent to make this~ It's a little crumbled though but I think it's probably because it was placed in their bags and before coming to my party, they went cycling. Purple against black - not bad~

A pop-up card featuring toys~ They sure know the theme! "Stay happy & Young..." YES!! I still look young!

The card's not the only thing they gave me~ They gave me HMV vouchers as well! Another bunch of people who knows me very well! At least you can tell these are not last minute ones... :P




So touching right so far? I didn't expect so many people to know me so well! At least I know I'm loved~~ *sob sob* So touched...

Anyway, that's all for this post. I'm probably in camp right now doing god-knows-what because I set this post to update on itself. Part 2 will be coming soon~  Turned out the scheduled post didn't work so here I am, posting this in the middle of the night after I just finished bathing.

Stay tuned for the next post, simply because I'm so committed to blog everything~!! :)

making of | PART 1 | PART 2 | Presents (Part 1) | Presents (Part 2)

Click to visit other parts of the ~TOY MUSEUM~ Special

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