Let's Count Down to New Year, 2011

New Year Countdown

Would like to celebrate Count Down Festival in Thailand  --> click

www.chiangmaicountdown2011.com/

Look! What Katie Ate

What Kate Ate is a foodie photography blog. It includes recipes and food photography by Katie herself. Katie is a professional food photographer and food stylist. She presents what's hot and tasty within the Sydney and Australian food scene.

I'm a sweet lover so I'd like to eat every things I see in her blog. What Katie Ate is one of the prettiest food blog I have seen. 

Let's take a look What Katie Ate. I'm sure you'll love it.

There aren't only gorgeous food photos. There are something cool more.

.... Recipes...

...Tips...

...Lovely packaging...

...Markets & Resources...

...Pubs, Clubs and dinning places...

...Australia, Australian made and Melbourne...

and much more.

Let's Count Down to Christmas

Mariah Carey - Santa Claus is Coming to Town - Funny blooper videos are here

Magnolia Vanilla Cupcake

Some of you might notice that I haven't posted for around 2 weeks. I'm a bit busy this month. There're lots of thing to do and have fun. I enjoy travelling, making cards and gift tags, baking (more than usual), shopping many gifts, joining parties, and so on.

Are you fan of Sex and the city? You might familiar with 'Magnolia's Bakery', right?

Magnolia Bakery is so popular in New York. It's the name of the gals' favorite bakery shop.

I've just tried this Vanilla Magnolia's Bakery recipe for 2 times.

I like this recipe (since I baked it for the first time) so much. It's very easy and yummy.

Everyone like these cupcakes more than other vanilla cupcakes I've baked.

Next time I'll adapt this recipe to be matcha cupcake.

I also plan to bake many cupcakes for Christmas gifts and Christmas parties.

You can find many recipes of Magnolia Bakery Shop in these Magnolia Bakery Cookbooks.

The Buttercup Bake Shop Cookbook: More Than 80 Recipes for Irresistible, Old-Fashioned Treats [Hardcover]

Chocolate Mail

     

Do you love chocolate?

Are you a stamp-licking?

It's said that licking stamp is not good. Anyway someone usually lick stamp cause it's easy for them. Toby Ng Design get cool idea for these one. 

If abstaining from stamp-licking a stressful thing to many, why not making the lick a cheery one by giving a taste to it? These chocolate-flavoured stamps are leading a joyful reform to the habit of stamp-licking. With dark, milk, and white chocolate flavours to be chosen from, stamp-licking may well become a prevailing and irresistible act for those who shunned. Each set of 24 1st class stamps are arranged as a bar of chocolate and packaged in an envelope in the colour of its flavour.

I'm a chocolate-aholic but never licked any stamp. Anyway I'd like to lick these stamps once :-D

If you’re going to lick a stamp, why not make it tasty?

images & content credit : Toby Ng Design

Butter Better! & Spooning The Yogurt

I realy love these two spoon ideas. They're perfect designs for both covenient single-serve way and reducing waste.

Butter Spoon
The idea here is to package butter in a very convenient singgle-serve way. Since single serves are usually consumed during travel and picnics, this package includes a wooden spoon lid. The solid spoon is used to spread the butter and does away the need to carry additional cutlery. It's cool!!!

Designer : Yeongkeun Jeong


Yogurt Spoon

Most often yogurt cups come with extra plastic spoons but these yogurt cups don't. Yogurt Spoon Design Package is so handy. The top seal of the cup comes off and can be folded into the shape of a functional spoon, wow!!.   



Designer : Cho Hye-seung

images and content credit : Yanko Design

Manner Beans Chopsticks Game

Can you use chopsticks? Many of my western friends can not use chopstick cause it's eastern style not western. I don't remember how I start using chopsticks. Anyway I remember that it's not easy for my western friends to use chopsticks. I have an idea for you to practice your chopsticks skills!

Learning to use chopsticks properly takes a lot of practice, but it pay off when you can deftly grab even the tiniest bean from your plate and look like a natural. It CAN be done! The Manner Beans Chopsticks Game lets you practice anytime and hone your skills before off to Asia or your local sushi bar. Or, just play for fun!

The game includes lots of littles beans, sorted between "male" and "female" beans so you can sort them while you practice. There's no better way to get kids up to speed as well! Plus, the included instruction booklet visually shows you exactly how to hold chopsticks properly and grab your food without offending your dining companions.

You can buy this idea game from Japan Trend Shop 

images and content credit : Japan Trend Shop

Holiday Card Contest

Get in the holiday spirit and enter the 5th Annual Paper Source Holiday Card Contest! Show them your best holiday card made from Paper Source materials and your creativity. All ages welcome and winners receive Paper Source gift cards!

Winners: Each store location and our corporate office will select 2 winning submissions - one from the adult category and one from the child category.

Prizes: Each adult winner will receive a $50 Paper Source gift card; each child winner will receive a $25 Paper Source gift card. Winners will be notified via email or phone during the first 2 weeks in January.

Deadline: You may submit holiday card entries beginning October 7, 2010. All entries must be received by December 22, 2010 via mail or in person at a store.

Click here for more detail.

Enjoy & Good Luck!

Christmas Gift Tags



I'm now enjoying with finding and wrapping many gifts for Christmas and Happy New Year Festival!!! I create many gifttags which are 'Christmas' and 'Happy New Year' theme. They're so cute. So, I'd like to share my idea with you all. Let's enjoy making your own gift decorating.

Have fun!!! Santa Claus is comming to town.

What American’s Love & Hate About The U.S.A

click on the image to see bigger size

 
A new Harris Poll measures what Americans think about the United States, or, more specifically, how they rate 16 elements of American life.

Words Matter
The contrast between the 70 percent of the adults who give the Constitution positive marks, the 23 percent who give the political system a positive rating and the 43 percent who give the system of government good marks is very striking.
Differences by Political Party
Civil rights gets better marks from Republicans (70 percent) than from Democrats (53 percent). Equality of opportunity also gets more positive marks from Republicans (65 percent) than from Democrats (47 percent). The environment gets much better marks from Republicans (61 percent) than from Democrats (37 percent). On the other hand, the political system is viewed less favorably by Republicans (19 percent) than by Democrats (33 percent).
Differences by Education
On almost all of the 16 items, the level of satisfaction is correlated with the level of education. For example, those giving the system of government positive ratings increases from 31 percent of those with no more than a high school education to 45 percent of those with some college, 58 percent of those with a college degree and 61 percent of those with post-graduate education. This same gradient, or correlation with education, is true of satisfaction with the Constitution, quality of life, colleges and universities, standard of living, the legal system and the political system.

image & content credit : visualeconomics

PAC-MAN Cookies Cutter

Have you remembered the PAC-MAN game? I started playing computer game with this one. I really love them, both Pac Man and ghosts, they're so cute.  

SUCK UK wow you with their design by bringing out cookies cutters in the shape of characters from a 30 year old video game.

After so many years watching the big yellow circle eat the slightly smaller yellow circles, They've come over all hungry! They can only assume the people at Bandai's plan was to subliminally instruct SUCK UK to wait a quarter of a century, then leap into action and combine the Pac Man characters with the tastiest food they could find. So they did!

Pack of 4 (one Pac Man and three ghosts) officially licensed plastic cookie cutters,
shaped like the characters you've known for so long.

PAC MAN COOKIE CUTTERS

£12.00

images & content credit : SUCK UK

Loi Kratong Festival

image credit : www.google.com

I'm so glad today to see Google logo shown like above. Some foreigners like you might be wonder and thought 'What is this?' These are Krathongs (in Thai), which we float in Loi Krathong & Candle Festival.

image credit : Loi Kratong Festival

     Loi Krathong festival is a Thai tradition which has been conducted for a long time ago. Loi Krathong has been held since the middle of the eleventh to the middle of the twelfth lunar month, which is a great flood season- especially on the full moon night of the twelfth lunar month. When the moon shines at night, it makes rivers clear. It is very beautiful scenery which is suitable for floating krathong.

The reasons for Loi Krathong in Thailand can be concluded that:-

     
    1. To ask for forgiveness Pra Mae Khongkha because we use and drink water. Moreover, we often throw rubbishes and excrete wasted things in the water.
     2. To worship the foot-print of the Buddha on Nammathanati River beach in India.
     3. To fly away misfortune and bad things like floating sin- Bhrama ceremony.
     4. To pay respect to Uppakhud whom mostly northern villagers show their gratitude for. According to legend, he was a monk who had supernatural to kill Mara. 








Krathong could be made from anything else such as banana leaves, banana trunks, coconut barks, paper, and etc. Stuck with incense stick and candle to make a wish and float it in the river.










more information about Thailand & Loi Kratong Festival

• Tourism of Thailand
• Tourism of Thailand Los Angeles
• Travel & Leisure Southeast Asia Blog
• Discover Thailand
• Web Sawasdee
• Loi Krathong Festival

content credit : http://www.loikrathong.net/