Project: It’s More Fun In My Room!!!

This is it!!! My DIY room, I can’t say this project was cheap because (it’s not) most of the items are from Ikea (my love). We don’t have Ikea here in the Philippines so I had those items shipped from Singapore and it took about four big boxes – big meaning, each box stood 4 feet high while some are from my travels around Asia and Australia.

You must know that all the furniture that I shipped in was assembled by yours truly, LOL, and honestly I enjoyed every minute and scratch with it. Let’s start first with how it’s supposed to look like, with the use of Photoshop – you just have to use a bit of imagination to visualize it from my own perspective, LOL.

And there you go, a room using Ikea furniture, LOL. How do you find this design? Start drooling over it because that’s not how my room is going to look like! Far better, LOL! Are you ready? The renovation ended over 2 weeks ago but I couldn’t post any photographs because I was waiting for my best friend to take them for me. Yes, these photographs that you’re about to see were taken by my pregnant (with twins) best friend, Riz (who married my guy best friend, sweet, Huh?). She and my other best friend, Ivy – spent an afternoon of bonding that you will see later too.

So drumroll please!!! The final look of my new room, Simple and Better!

This room is about 3 meters X 3.5 meters, small but what can I say – small can be FANTASTIC! The walls are now in white and if you must know, the roller shade which I bought from Ikea was way too tall for the boxes I had shipped, so I had that check-in in my flight back home. Before I used curtains but I’m a changed woman – no more curtains for me! I sleep on a single bed, well I share this bed with my Chihuahua, Bambie and I decided to swap my bed frame from the spare bed we have and it turned out just nice.

Now let’s go through the details of where I got these pieces from. I have mentioned before how in-love I am with snow globes and a proof of that – here you will see a few of them. On top of my bed, I had asked my dad to drill for me this shelf which I just love!

• A: Big frame, shelf & holders and printed cloth behind are from Ikea. Snow globe was from a shop in Singapore named TYPO, the letter ‘M’, heart and human model are from the same shop. The framed butterfly, I got this from my trip in Cameron Highlands, Malaysia.
• B: Side table, beddings, picture frame are from Ikea. The ‘LOVE’ word, coaster and magnetic tree are from TYPO. The owl was from a shop in Singapore named Odjectives. The lamp was a souvenir from Universal Studios Singapore. The kissing snow globe was my Beijing, China trip and the other snow globe was from Sydney, Australia. The camera I got it from eBay which I have not tried using yet but it kind of looks nice there already so i have no plans of using it anymore. The magnets are from my Bangkok, Thailand trip, oh those are hand crafted magnets, hihihi. The four-drawer small cabinet, I got it from my Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam trip, in those drawers you will find bracelets, headbands and other hair accessories.
• C: Twiggy the big dog was from Singapore and Lulu the blue Ugly Doll was a gift from Riz & Bud (from the US of A)

You are aware of how much I love photos right? Here you go, plenty of photographs. The framed photographs were from my trip in Sydney, Australia (taken with film cameras). Those frames took hours to be positioned, haha. Or maybe because I took my sweet time doing it.

• D: This is Riz & Bud, LOL – this photograph is from an instax camera (same concept with Polaroid).
• E: The photograph with my two buddies came from a Polaroid. The guitar magnet was from my sister, she bought it from Cebu, Philippines. The ‘quote card’ was from the wedding invitation of Riz & Bud.
• F: The desk, frames, lamp, sun accent (holding instax photographs) are all from Ikea.

These are the things you will see on my desk, aside from a laptop of course. After my Encounter with God I have decided to make a prayer calendar, I used a regular calendar and wrote the family names myself – nice right? What’s even nicer is how God answers our prayers, here are a few verses of His promises.

Mark 11:24

²⁴ Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

John 14:14-16

¹⁴ You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

James 5:15-17

¹⁵ And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. ¹⁶ Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

• G: The small mannequin, I got this from my trip in Bangkok, Thailand. The shells and snow globe are from Singapore. The red platform is actually a heart-shaped wood – from TYPO.
• H: The calendar was a gift from my Auntie and the book or frame stand; I got this from an Artsy Craftsy shop in Singapore.

This side of the room was not fully shown here, it’s on the left side of my desk. This is the area where the TV, Cable and HDMI Player are located at. The shelves that you are seeing now, I drilled those myself and seriously my respect and love for carpenters and construction workers will never be the same again! I salute you all!!!

• I: Big frame, shelf & holders are from Ikea. The world map is actually a wrapping paper which looks nicer on a frame, don’t you think so?
• J: The red shelf is from Ikea. I just can’t have too many snow globes, Ey? The New York snow globe was a gift from Bud, the medium snow globe was from my Beijing, China trip and the small one was Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
• K: The green dog/reindeer was one of my souvenirs from Sydney, Australia and the wonderful globe was a gift from my good friend Glaiza (who lives in Singapore).
• L: The white book end and human model were from TYPO. The word ‘dream’ is locally made, I got it from a shop named Papemelroti. The ‘gong’ was from my trip in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam where I got 5 stars from bargaining! The snow globes were souvenirs from Singapore Zoo.

Here are more little details that made a big difference. Those hats that you see are actually at the back of my door that I painted with white too. The frame with a cage print is at the side of my cabinet.

• M: This sun accent is from Ikea and those photographs are from 3 different instax cameras and those faces are the people closest to my heart.
• N: This is a good way of displaying those hats and mostly for them not to lose form, instead of placing them inside your cabinets and then you start to forget about them, LOL.
• O: I got this frame from TYPO. Yes! I am a fan of that shop!
• P: This is what’s on my side table; the book end and Polaroid lamp (yes! That’s a lamp), I got those from TYPO, on sale! The round box is the packaging box of Crabtree & Evelyn, nice right? I actually bought perfumes and lotions because of the box.

Yes I heart wire works! I love them so much that I hand-carried those items from my travels. They are just very useful and great accent pieces too!

• Q: It’s a nice piece decoratively and it serves it purpose fully, I got this from Bangkok, Thailand.
• R: This heart wire accent is sort of a bulletin thingy, I got this from Berrima, Australia.

Here are a few more items that I purchased from Ikea that were not shown in the photographs. I especially heart the red file cabinet! When I saw this in Ikea, I just fell in love with it. And assembling it was just fun too! If only we have Ikea here – I probably would be there every week!

• S: I use this to store my shoes and sandals, I got rid of all the boxes and now they just look uniform and nicely stored.
• T: I’ve decided to use two of this instead of using a tall book shelf/cabinet, I use these to store my file folders in and it’s good to use when you don’t have so much space.
• U: You can laugh all you want but I bought this trash can because of its color!
• V: This file cabinet is probably my favourite purchase in Ikea.
• W: I have this beside my bed, I usually use this when I watch movies on my laptop, instead of using the side table that doesn’t have enough space for a laptop. And the best part with this, it’s movable and light in weight!

I re-painted all the walls with white and used red and black as accents. It’s simple but lively. I’ve always been fond of collecting things but now I still get to do that but I have used them as my accent pieces – I displayed only the key pieces, my sweet memorabilias from my travels and my loves. The most important thing to remember when designing for your bedroom, make sure that everything in it is what you love and you are comfortable with. And the best part with having a room that you love, you would want your friends to experience it too!!!

There now you’ve seen it all, it’s time to enjoy them! I love my room so much that I can actually stay in it for hours/days but of course sharing it with those you love is FUN too!!!

My friends since birth and our kids will be friends too, they won’t have a choice! LOL

Friends forever – mushiness. Oh, there’s Riz (the one in the middle) pregnant with twins!!! And there’s Ivy with the colorful stripes dress.

I enjoyed sharing my space with you and I’m sure you enjoyed my tour as well… because It’s More Fun In My Room! LOL

P.S.

Photographs were taken by my friend, Riz.

City of Smiles: Bangkok, Thailand (Day 3)

A few minutes before boarding the plane to Bangkok, I did send an email to a friend from Bangkok whom I met from my trip to Davao, Philippines (2011). I wasn’t expecting a reply from her since it was such a short notice thingy, luckily, she was going to be at the city same time I was. She and her sister arranged a day of adventure for us – Day 3 in Bangkok: Operation here and there

good morning Bangkok!

I woke up really early because I was meeting the girls at The Platinum Mall – Fashion Mall (we were just meeting there but I did make rounds in that mall on my first day), I reached the mall 15 minutes early and ended up saying hello to McDonald’s. Even Ronald learned to embrace the culture there, hehe. You wouldn’t believe this but I honestly thought that I was getting stud-up in Bangkok! LOL The girls were late for more than an hour, and just when I was about to leave – there they were. Seeing them just swept off my discomfort and I was head-on ready for the tour they’ve prepared.

This was the day that I almost tried all their means of transportation in Bangkok (I just missed out one but I did try it in Vietnam (2011), motorcycle ride, hehe), first off – we took a bus going to somewhere I’ve forgotten already, walked in the streets of Bangkok.

streets of Bangkok

streets of Bangkok

SKY train

Then took the sky train to another mall and took a picture of the Victory Monument of Bangkok. After which, we took a ride on the famous ‘tuktuk’, even Pierce Brosnan tried it (in one of the Bond movies). This was one of my favorites, it was so refreshing because they were kind of a bit fast but I loved it anyway. They say that you wouldn’t consider your trip in Bangkok complete if you didn’t try the ‘tuktuk’ experience.

Victory Monument

tuktuk experience

You can laugh about our next stop – but who cares, we’ve done it already! Hehe I insisted in making a visit to a Zoo, I know it can be a bit childlike but I just had to. I won’t get to experience the Elephant Ride already so I didn’t want to pass on even seeing an Elephant in Thailand, LOL. Next stop: Dusit Zoo!

Dusit Zoo

And a trip would not be complete if you won’t try some munchies – we tried something that was made of wanton wrapper (honestly, I have no idea what it was made of) and it was deep-fried and you had to dip it in a sweet and sour sauce (or was it sweet and spicy?), it tasted nice and it was something new so it was worth the try.

Warning: I am a NatGeo fan, meaning – I love watching documentaries about animals, call me geek or whatever but there is such fulfilment in learning about animals (another blog entry in the future).

The next 3 photos are my favorites in my experience – I was able to touch them, gave them a path in the head. Remember that I was using film cameras (toy cameras/lomography) and the ones I used didn’t have any zooming on them. Yes, I was really this much close to these guys.

This Camel experience was the first of the three favorites, I had to squeeze in the crowd, which were by the way, kids! They all wanted a photo with the camel that needed a little combing, hihihi. And I also wanted a photo, haha!

The Giraffe was a huge moment for me, I was never this much close to a Giraffe before – and the other Zoo’s that I’ve been to never had a viewing deck that was two floors high! I stood right in front of the Giraffe’s head; you can just imagine how close I was in the photo, this was a show stopper for me. Okay, am I starting to sound like the child who was deprived of trips to the zoo? Let me put it this way, I’m just appreciative of what our Creator has blessed us with and honestly in visiting a country – learning about what animals it was gifted with is a must. Hehe

Our last stop in the zoo was the Elephants, this was the finale since we are in Thailand where they are famous for the Elephants. I was hesitant in touching it at first but there is that gut feeling that you just have to – so I did, and his skin had the thick texture and he had hair in his trunk that was thick and felt like it wasn’t suppose to be there but there it was just sticking out. It was a wonderful experience and if my day ended there, I would have given it a score of 11 out of 10 already. But there is more to come! From the zoo we went back to the mall where I met the girls. We had a late lunch at another mall, somewhere nearby.

Bangkok day time

After lunch, charged and ready for the next stop: A boat ride in the Canals of Bangkok

From what my friends told me this was another way of getting from one end to another. My friends and I were laughing really hard saying that we should go barefooted crossing over into the boat. We were all so scared in dropping our Havaianas in the canal, mind you this was not one of those romantic canals! This was one smelly but bearable canal.

You have to know that this was the funniest experience! I didn’t know that there weren’t going to be any ramps in order to go in the boat! So what happened, there was a boat coming towards us and then when it reached the alighting area – I was so surprised that everyone was like jumping off the boat! And I was like, ‘what’s happening?!’ As it turned out, this was the normal way of alighting. There was a Caucasian man in his mid 50’s I think, he was trying to jump off the boat like everyone was but his other foot got caught in some rope, he seriously almost fell off the boat, luckily he was able to hold on the stairs and everyone was grabbing him just so he could cross safely. But still, it’s one of the highlights of the trip.

We reached our destination and enjoyed a long walk in the city, went in some malls and after I said my goodbyes to my friends and was just overjoyed with sharing that wonderful day with them. I took the subway to go back to the hotel because this was actually my last day in Bangkok and honestly… it has been a blast!

So to culminate my Bangkok trip – this was something that had a bit of everything. You got to know the country and loved it as well, the people were all so kind and respectful and the sites were just great! One thing I learned from the few travels I had, in order for you to appreciate a country and to enjoy a trip, you just have to try the food, try the public transportation, respect their religion and culture, go to places where the real action is – don’t be contented in staying in the main city where the malls are all at, there is so much to explore and try.

The funny thing is, we travel to see the world and to make the world smaller to us but the more that we do – you start to realize that it’s not getting smaller, in fact – it’s always bigger the next time you travel.

I love Bangkok, Thailand.

P.S.

All photos were taken by film cameras.

City of Smiles: Bangkok, Thailand (Day 2)

1^st day of the year fell on a Sunday and you know what Bangkok is known for on weekends???  SHOPPING and more SHOPPING!

Day 2 in the City of Smiles:  Spreading my wings in Chatuchak Weekend Market

All geared up for spending and long walks – I asked the receptionist from the hotel to call in a cab for me but she suggested taking the subway instead.  I was a bit hesitant at first but she did manage to convince me in taking the subway.  Actually the subway station was only a few blocks away from my hotel which was convenient for me (honestly I am the worst with following directions – listening to someone for directions, it’s like my mind would suddenly block off and all I would hear is… blah blah blah, LOL).  So, ‘Hello!’ public transportation in Bangkok!  I have to admit that I was a bit surprised, I didn’t expect it to be organized and clean, LOL – kindly excuse my manners and allow me to explain my bluntness.  I guess I had this impression because most movies that featured Bangkok, they put on so much effort on showing the bad sides of the country.  Which I learned to be the opposite!

My public transportation escapade was a success!  My excitement level was on to 80% when I was on my way and it kept on getting higher and higher every time the door of the train would close, because it meant that I was getting closer, LOL.  When I got there, the sun was up and it was just a perfect weather.

Subway Experience

Chatuchak Weekend Market is the biggest market in Thailand and almost everything was there.  They had clothes for his and her, bags, accessories, shoes, figurines, flowers and even furniture; name it, they had it!

Chatuchak Weekend Market

Chatuchak Weekend Market

I’ve actually out done myself, I did set a budget for shopping and yes, I exceeded – tremendously! LOL  Oh, they had all kinds of food there too but what I had my eyes on was the homemade coconut ice cream, it was yummylicious!  I also didn’t pass on buying a bag of tamarind, my favourite!

FoodTrip

You wouldn’t believe this but I had to buy a big canvas bag to put in all the plastic bags, LOL, I bought a lot of clothes – cheap but good quality clothes!  So, I was walking back to the subway station and look what I saw…

Chatuchak Weekend Market

Yeah, I guess they are big on those things too?  It was indeed a great way of spending your first day of the year! Haha  Apart from the cheap clothes and great food – the locals of Thailand are very nice and polite, and they really were big on giving smiles.

And by the way, I hope you are starting to appreciate film photos, those were all taken with film cameras ❤

City of Smiles: Bangkok, Thailand (Day 1)

I’m in my comfy jammies, my inspired thoughts are flowing (right!), music – let’s crank it up a notch… there, perfect!

Are you up for a day tour in Bangkok, Thailand? I hope you are because today I’ll be sharing about where I welcomed 2012. Early December I was thinking of skipping New Years, I was dead on decided to just stay here in Singapore and maybe sleep on it (hello 2011!). But most of my friends made plans otherwise, plans that didn’t include me! LOL So I had to over-power their plans which I did! I booked a ticket to Bangkok, Thailand!!! I’m guessing that the young impulsive Mae just had too much sugar that morning, haha. Honestly I was so psych about the trip at first but when it was coming down to counting the days… I was considering backing out on the whole trip. It was going to be my first trip EVER by myself! Well, I’ve been to-day tours in Malaysia but that’s just a bus away from Singapore. And Bangkok takes a plane to reach, anyway I did braved myself and took the challenge I placed on myself, LOL.

I flew in on the 30^th of December, night-time and took a cab to the hotel. While I was in the cab, my face almost got ripped off because of how hard I was smiling! I was too proud of myself and seriously… I was in BANGKOK!!! Hahaha

I’ll be sharing photos taken by film cameras (LOMOGRAPHY), they are the grainiest, but what can I say – I LOVE THEM! On the 31^st December, I rented a cab for about half a day and the first stop was at the GRAND PALACE.

Grand Palace

When I was about to enter the palace – I had to make a quick stop at the souvenir shop and bought me a snow globe, I’m so in-love with snow globes but that will be another day to tell. When I entered the palace, it was just JAW dropping!!! Seriously, the time and effort they’ve put in to construct those structures, it’s just amazing!

Grand Palace

The details on each corner, each mosaic tile – it was a beauty I’ve never seen before.

Grand Palace

Grand Palace and Wat Po

And the second stop was at Wat Po:

Wat Po

Wat Po

And how the sun shines on gold finishes and bounces back to your eyes – glaring never felt so soft and calm. I was just so amazed and mesmerized. And alongside too, I got lost! I was looking for the Reclining Buddha — I made a couple of turns here and there… and always found myself in the same place… So yeah, I took a short break and went again with looking for the Reclining Buddha (I wasn’t able to take a photo with film cameras 😦 but maybe next time I’ll post some photos from my digital cam).

Wat Po

I took a few more clicks and I was good to go with so much peace and awareness of what beauty is out there.

Wat Po

Wat Po

My day didn’t end there; of course there was plenty of shopping too (but that will be another story). Bangkok was a wonderful experience, one that I think I would have regretted if I didn’t allow myself to explore. It was a glimpse of how creative people were before and it was a journey that will be remembered for a very long time.

I hope you enjoyed my so-so diary here and looking forward to sharing another sojourn with you.