ゆりの世界

...and everything else such as family competitiveness of course but at times like that we were focusing too much on how to win and didn't really bother to take pictures.

Let's face it, Asians are obsessed with food so here are our festive meals for the weekend. First the traditional Christmas food according to our family Christmas expert.

Follow by a typical Japanese (maybe with some Korean influence) meal for the cold Winter season - Kimchi Nabe.
And the traditional pile of boxes under a tree naturally grew in the living room! Well, actually I forgot to take one without people in it so I've borrow one from somebody who did remember. I hope she doesn't mind.
When we were done with the pile, it kind of looked like this.

Christmas eve coming up tomorrow and I've found a perfect Christmas card to share with friends and blog readers out there. Merry Christmas! Happy Christmas! Well whatever you prefer ^^

Despite recession, the Swedish teens seems to have a lot of money to spend on clothes. So much that they are willing to pay double the price for the item!
If you think about it, almost all clothes, big or unknown brands comes from one source or country where they were made. The further away from the source you buy, the dearer the price you'll pay. This is quite logical in the old world where you've got to make a lot of effort to buy from a foreign country but with today's efficient infrastructure and internet technology, there's simply no excuse to pay more.

Now there's a couple webshops in Sweden that take advantage of this and using popular blogs as marketing media they are making a fortune from ignorent Swedish 'teens'. Chicy.se is one of the site.
I'll pick out 2 of their items as example.
You can find this Luxury Sequin Dress for 699SEK at Chicy.

 But if you really can't afford it, you can get it for 41USD = 280SEK at Zipia, the Korean online shop where Chicy got their goods from. Of cource shipping is additional but I bet it won't cost the 419SEK extra Chicy charge you for.
Fancy a nice coat? You can find this lovely one at Chicy for 989SEK.
 Or go to Zipia and get it for 424SEK.
Actually Zipia is still the middle man. After receiving your order they'll go and buy it from shops in the street and don't do this favor for free. With Zipia, at least they deserve the credit they take in filtering out the nice stuff, arranging pictures and got out there and get it for you. What Chicy does to deserve the 100% profit margin they've added on the item, is a mystery to me. If you're going to order the clothes online, save some money by typing www.zipia.net instead of www.chicy.se.

...this!

Wonder if they've got it at Gmarket?

I've been out shopping for a whole day today - in the pissing British rain! Feels good to be back in the warm and dry. Gonna relax a bit before heading out for food.

 Update frequency will keep remain low for a couples of days since I'll still be away from home.

The Chrismas food I know is something you don't afford to eat everyday. That's why during Chrismas they will all be gathered on one table. The Norwegian Chrismas food surprised me a bit. They are preserved food, salted and dried or preserv in other manner.

For example the 'pinnekøtt' I had the other day are dried and salted lamb. Meat that was fresh 6-8 weeks ago! What's more surprising is that it's actually tasty and goes very well with the veggie mix of potatoes and turnips.
Also, I don't know why there are so many different kinds of desserts on a Norwegian Chrismas dinner table but I hope that this part of the tradition get spread around the world.

That's what I felt like right now. It's the inside that counts right?
Also I ran out of wrapping paper so I've only done Mom's and V&M's. Need to get some more and finish up L's.

This is a short model, suitable to wear with party dresses, skirts or shorts. Feels so nice to cuddle with.
Love this red one, too bad the color in the picture does not make any justice. The color is so vibrant!
Lastly this long hoodie, it's actually a short dress and the whole front is painted. This will go perfectly with black tights.

Today is a special day for people who is obsessed with number, especially with the number '1'. At 11.11 on the 11th of the 11th month of the year 2011 I was consuming my not so tasty Norwegian pizza, just like all the Fridays before.
Then I returned to my desk and sent out a document marked with today's date, '111111'.
At the end of today I'll have seen enough of the '1's that I would gladly welcome the '2' that replaces the last digit.

Christmas is still far away but I've started the Santa workshop. First out is something to keep mom's head warm.

Even the yarn is handmade (by Koreans)....hm how does that work?

....and a progress pic on the Chinese (?) painting. The flowers are coming out.

I didn't realize it until recently but one of the Jdrama genre I'm quite keen on is the dark ones. I find the elements such as  desire, hate, passion, ambition, ruthlessness etc depicted in Japanese culture fascinating. Because the ordinary Japanese is obedient and aim to fit in.

A young girl in love with her little uncle move to Tokyo with the desire of being close to him. Only to find out that the uncle has got a steady girlfriend and they are about to get marry. His bride to be is wicked emotionally and the main reason why she agreed to marry him is the desire to watch this young lady in pain. Because she saw directly through this young girl's secret the first time they met.

Got this one from Gmarket the other week (link). The brush is detachable and can be hidden/closed state if you turn it around and stuck it into the bottom part. Feels steady when using.
Feels a lot better than Etude House's Code B in the way that the gel is softer and does not dry and form lumps in the container.