3D paintings by Shintaro Ohata

Japanese artist Shintaro Ohata has a fresh way of making paintings come alive by having painted sculptures in front of paintings, creating a pop-up collage-like visual effect. Born in Hiroshima, Ohata's works tend to focus alot of the everyday life, and the everyday sight of urbanization. 

For more of Shintaro Ohata's works: Yukari Art - Shintaro Ohata


All pictures are taken directly off Yukari Art Official Site & Toxel.com.

Happy 2013

Happy New Year folks! 

I would like to thank everyone around me for all the love and support! 

I might not have been blogging frequently but this little virtual space is definitely not abandoned! 

 May 2013 be filled with love, joy, peace and pink health! 

2013 Japanese New Year Greetings

Autumn went by in a blink of an eye, now that we're frantically trying to get all our New Year Greetings, also known as "Nen-ga-jou" （年賀状） out to all business partners, friends and loved ones. 

The Japanese New Year Greetings mostly come in the postcard format, without all that hassle to glue each envelope and making sure the ink doesn't seep through the thin paper envelopes while writing the addresses of the recipients. 

Here are a few very lovely greetings for Year 2013 (the year of the snake according to the chinese zodiac) that I came across. 

By midori.

By Tsuyuko

By Takaaki Suzuki

By Sugoroku

By Show.

By Nishimura Shin.

By Individual locker 

By Individual locker

**The rights of the works above belong solely to the respective artists. **

Autumn Walks in Japan - Sagamiko, Kanagawa Prefecture

In coming weeks, I would be writing about my little wallet-friendly weekend trips in and out of Tokyo, all for catching the autumn foliage. 

While many Tokyo-ites chose to visit Mt. Takao（高尾山）, an hour west away from Tokyo, I decided that maybe Sagamiko (相模湖)would be more humane, in terms of the crowd. 

Just 10 minutes away from Takao by the JR Chuo Local train, I think I made a pretty good decision. :) I would recommend this place for a little cosy family picnic because there's plenty of space and picnic-friendly greens at the Sagamiko park（相模公園）. 

How to get there from downtown Tokyo:

At JR Shinjuku　(新宿）, catch the JR Chuo Special Express/Express Train（中央特快／快速） bound for Takao（高尾）.

Alight at Takao, and change to the JR Chuo Local Train (bound for Kofu-甲府) and alight at the next stop, Sagamiko Station（相模湖駅）. 

Photos are taken with a Sony NEX-5 and Instagram on Android. 
Photos not to be used without permission. 

Bento, by Hlynur Atlason for Umbra

Why didn't anyone think of that earlier? 

or rather, why didn't I think of such a simple yet almost-life-saving innovation? 

A simple frustration that ends up being ignored everyday for people who cooks: chopped food ending up everywhere, and the struggle to find and get those bowls to put those chopped carrots and onions into. Especially when your hands are busy and not exactly clean enough to open cabinets for bowls. Quite a battle for a person that is unorganized in the kitchen, like me. 

Icelandic designer Hlynur Atlason, based in New York City made a brilliant partnership with Umbra, a houseware company to introduce Bento, an innovative cutting board that is supposed to solve all that cutting board mess! 

Bento is not just-yet-another cutting board made from bamboo, but one that sits on top of measuring cups-cum-storage compartments for your chopped ingredients. Perfect for a clean prep of ingredients for easy cooking after that! 

Now there's probably no excuse for that kitchen prep mess!
Get the Bento cut & prep set from Umbra online.

Source: Design Milk