Happy Anniversary (Again!)

A♥ and I are celebrating another anniversary today. Yes, it’s a REAL anniversary, not one of my many made-up ones, heehee. On anniversaries or any special occasion, I never really ask for gifts from A♥ ; he just does it on his own accord. I am much too grateful for him already to keep asking for material things. If A♥ is generous and thoughtful, I have nothing to do with it- it’s all him and him alone. So when people say I am lucky to be blessed with his love, I quickly answer “Don’t I know it!”

He has always loved to surprise me. Even when we were just boyfriend-girlfriend, he would devise ways to make gift-giving an occasion all by itself. There was none of the simple handing over of gifts; there always had to be the element of surprise in it. I think he just finds my gawking and gaping reactions funny. Weird, right?

Sometimes, however, his attempts at devious surprise-planning backfires, like when the air cargo delivery service called the house a little more than a week ago to inform us that A♥’s boxes had arrived.

Boxes? What boxes? How many? The nosey mama had to have her answers then and there so poor A♥ fessed up grudgingly. He would not, however, reveal the contents of the box to me, even under pain of “torture” (a lot of poking and tickling). There was the “code of silence” to be lived up to, he said.

“You REALLY want to know what’s in the boxes, honey? Then YOU have to open them, ” he dared me.

I took the dare. But boy, was I in for the suprise of my life! A♥ got me again!

See the happy smile on my face?

The smile got even bigger when these Tuxedo Triplet Babies came out of the small box. I love these charcoal cat babies!

Wait, there’s another one? What could be in it?

Surprise!!! Wheeee!!!

Willow at the Horse Show

The Whiskers cat sister Carly and her horse Willow in a horse show

Britney Bunny’s Ballet Recital

One of my favorite sets ever, this reminds me of my friend Chat’s daughter, Joanna, who is a lovely dancer.

Cloverleaf Corners Cheerleaders featuring Molly Mouse and Stacy Bunny

Happy Halloween 2011

A closer look inside the box (nope, I haven’t opened it yet!)

Costume Critters featuring bunny and chick, frog and lion

The Milky Mouse Family and Twins

The Fisher Cat Family and Twins

Beagle dog twins and Golden Labrador twins

And more twins: Hedgehog twins, Furbank squirrel twins, and Norwood mouse twins

~0~

Happy Anniversary, A♥!

Thank you soooo much! I feel so spoiled and loved always.

(Part Two coming tomorrow)

PH♥Sylvanian Families First 100 Likes Raffle

It took a few weeks to make the diorama but now, we are ready to give it away to one lucky person among the first 100 Likes of the PH♥Sylvanian Families page.  Many, many thanks to all those who liked the page, who continue to stay and check for updates, who comment on and share our posts, and all those who have opened up their world to us, Sylvanian collectors.

This diorama would not have been possible without the kind donation of Madame C of Little Creations. Thank you, Madame C, for the Filipina dress which we are all very pleased to show off to our collector friends abroad.

And so, we announce the winner today…. (drumroll please) but before we do so, allow us to share with you the raffle process and how the winner was chosen.

One hundred names were listed and printed. (Copy blurred to protect the page members’ privacy.)

The names were cut into equal sized strips and rolled to hide the members’  identities.

The rolled strips were then placed in a Hello Kitty container which was closed and shaken.

The box was shaken and rattled and tossed a few times…

but wait…what is that mewling we hear?

We quickly opened the box and were surprised to see three little dizzy creatures who just had the ride of their short lives.

“Thanks for letting us out, Kittymama!” they said in unison.

“The Sylvanian Menace managed to lock us in before the shaking,” they cried as they clumsily tried to climb out of the whirly chamber.

Midnight had latched on to a piece of paper that had caught on his arm as he stood up.

“We have a winner,” he announced triumphantly, as Peppermint and Angelica looked on, still dizzy.

Congratulations to Ms. Caren Tan!

You get to own the very first Filipino Sylvanian. 🙂

Thank you, Tuxedo triplets, for your all your help! We hope you like it here in Kitty Little Lanes!

~0~

P.S. The name was actually drawn by Alphonse from among the hundred rolled-up strips. The Tuxedo cats graciously agreed to appear for a dramatization of the raffle because the Sylvanian Menace ran off as fast as he could without time for pictures.

P.P.S. Ms. Caren Tan, please send me a private message on FB or e-mail at okasaneko@hellokitty.com to claim your prize. 🙂

The JP Red Family Car: Cherry Sweet!

I have been meaning to write a review post on the JP Red Family Car since I brought it home from Singapore in late August. Alas, there’s no excuse for late news on the web, haha, and djds2004 from the US already beat me to it in the Sylvanian Families Forum. You can check out her lovely pictures and review here. Her Cherry Cruiser is from the Calico Critters line; mine is a Sylvanian Families Japan release. They seem to be the same, except the CC version is a US release, thus accounting for the lefthand drive we know here in Manila (steering wheel on the left side), as opposed to JP (and UK) cars, which have steering wheels on the right side.

There have been two family cars (and one wedding car) released in the local lineup of Sylvanian Families in the last two years. The blue family car from Flair was released first and separately from the caravan; the green family car came in a value pack bundle with the caravan a while later. Both are 2010 local releases. Incidentally, this same style of car is also available in cream and burgundy in the SSK website.

As far looks go, the only difference between the two is the color change. Both are sparse in accessories, counting only the wicker traveling suitcase/picnic hamper and two baby car seats as their add-ons.

On the other hand, the red family car, which for the purposes of naming it may also be referred to as the Cherry Cruiser (its CC name), is smaller and shorter compared to the original family cars. It is meant for a five-figure family, but because of its compact size, larger figures might have difficulty fitting in. The absence of body detail makes the car look more elegant and less dated than its old counterparts. The front bumper is distinctive in head lights and grill design and differs from the blue and green cars with its rounded edges.

As far as accessories go, this car certainly packs more. Housed within its equally compact box (plus points for not having too many cardboard packaging as space filler) are two tray tables for attachment to the back of the front seats, which may be replaced by the single car seat also provided. The latter, to my surprise, can be positioned three ways (left, right, middle). There are food and drinks provided for the family on the go- a small basket of sandwiches and a covered tray of what appears to be some sort of salad (potato with egg? yum!).

There are two cans of soda; these can be placed on the cup holder between the two front seat or on the trays for back seat occupants. There are also stickers for the soda cans and the licence plates (SF-002 in the JP version as compared to the vanity plate 2-CUTE in the CC version).

Most ingenious of all is the addition of a pull-out low picnic table from the front license plate. Although not entirely workable to my rational mind (license plates can be made off by scheming thieves that way, with a table to boot, haha!), this really seems like an innovation worthy of Sylvanian Families.

All in all, I like the JP Red Family Car aka the Cherry Cruiser. For a purchase I hadn’t planned (I passed that car three times for three consecutive days until my husband picked it up and forced it on me, reasoning that a collector MUST collect EVERYTHING- thank you, honey! Men and cars, what can I say?), it turned out to be one of the most pleasurable buys of my recent trip. For SGD59.95 (less 20% off + additional 10% off- SGD43.17`or a little over PhP1500 ), you could say it was a steal the day A♥ bought it. 🙂

Watch out for more picture of my recent purchases, hopefully, in the coming days. And don’t forget the Sylvanian Families Passport Promo ongoing till November 30. Head on to the nearest Toy Kingdom and Toy Express- hurry!

Prayer for the Week

I thought I’d start the week with a prayer I received via e-mail.  Over the last week, there haven’t been too many good news around the world. I think we all need to reflect more on where we want to be at this point in history. We have so many good things in the world and yet there are still so many things wrong today. Even if you’re not the praying sort and even if your belief system is different from mine, please take the time to think good thoughts and send them out to the world. We are all brothers and sisters of the world, united by our humanity.  

May the Lord be with us today and the coming days. May we always be worthy of His sacrifice. And may we spread love, tolerance, and peace in His name. Happy Monday!

Monday Washday 

 Lord, help me wash away all my selfishness and
Vanity, so I may serve you with perfect humility
Through the week ahead.

Tuesday Ironing Day 

   Dear Lord, help me iron out all the wrinkles
Of prejudice I have collected through the years
So that I may see the beauty in others.

Wednesday Mending Day 

   O God, help me mend my ways so I will not
Set a bad example for others.

Thursday Cleaning Day 

Lord Jesus, help me to dust out all the many faults
I have been hiding in the secret corners of my heart.

Friday Shopping Day

  O God, give me the grace to shop wisely so I may purchase eternal happiness for myself and all others
In need of love.

Saturday Cooking Day

Help me, my Savior, to brew a big kettle of brotherly
Love and serve it with clean, sweet bread of human kindness.

 Sunday  The Lord’s Day     

O God, I have prepared my house for you. Please
Come into my heart so I may spend the day and the
Rest of my life in your presence.

Calico Critters Come Alive

I got this via email today and it just about got me tickled pink.

If you’re not convinced Sylvanian Families are the best toys ever, then head on to International Playthings’ official Calico Critters site and try on the new, improved features. Not only is it one of the cutest sites ever, with pictures and activities for the Calico Critters/Sylvanian Families fan, now, it also includes an interactive experience that lets you begin your CC/SF journey even before deciding to buy your very first playset. 

This site gets awarded the very first Kittymama’s stamp of approval. 🙂

All I Wanted For Christmas

When I was a little kid, I always got the least number of gifts. On Christmas morning, after all the gifts have been distributed, my siblings and I would retreat to our individual corners of the living room and open our gifts. Because I was always bigger for my age, except for my parents, no one ever gave me gifts of toys. Mostly, they were “useful” stuff like socks, underwear, or clothes. Sometimes, they’d be school things, like a book bag, or art sets, or stationery supplies (Sanrio naman). It didn’t help that I only had one baptismal godmother, and she lived abroad, too far to send any gifts then. While my siblings opened presents from their godparents, I had none of my own, and would wistfully compare my meager loot with theirs.

There wasn’t room for envy, though. After all the rituals of gift-opening, my siblings and I would hunker down and play. My younger brother Jeffy, with his eighties’ robots, would ally himself with troops of my older brother’s GI Joes. My sisters’ Barbie dolls would set up house, only to be demolished by an invading robot-Joe army. We all had a rousing time. Moreover, they all shared their presents of toys with me, and sometimes, would even be naïve enough to swap them for some candy canes (I got Voltes V’s arm for this), or staple wires (I think I got a doll for this), heehee.

I thought about all these when two large boxes arrived for me  on the second week of December. They came much too early in the month for the actual celebration, but each time I opened a box, it was like Christmas morning. And this year, unlike all the previous years of my childhood, I got all the toys. 🙂

Now, here’s where the fun begins- Guess what I got for Christmas!

(Warning: this post is picture-heavy.)