Tuesday, July 29, 2008
What IKEA Furniture Are U?
Recently I have become a big fan of the Apartment Therapy (A.T.) blog. It all started with my good friends whom bought a couch not too long ago. While I was looking for the perfect couch, I stumbled upon A.T. and was amazed at how theraputic it was to look at all the beautiful spaces that even a non-designer like me can put together. At first, I was interested in the House Tours where people post pictures to give the public a virtual tour of their house. Many of the interior spaces were designed on a budget, with affordable furnitures and accent elements. So when I bought the couch (YES, I bought the couch!), I wanted to make my space POP like those in A.T. without the big price tag. I just realized that sounded ironic because the couch has a big price tag. Anyway, a beautiful space has to start somewhere and I thought the couch is the perfect way to start making our space more homey and stylish. As of now, the place still looks and feels like a college dorm room but I am working on it...which brings me to this picture shown below. Kind of ridiculous to have an essay as an intro to why I am posting this picture. Here comes another intro...I was looking at the IKEA furnitures (bookcases to be exact) and stumbled (along with a million of my other stumbles) on this nifty Swedish furniture name generator. Ever wonder how IKEA come up with their furniture names? Well, click here to see what IKEA furniture you are!
I am a bed named SFUI. What's yours?
Friday, July 25, 2008
Bad D!
Drivers in Hawaii are so crazy I have given them a name, the Bad D's.
When the light is red, come to a FULL STOP and LOOK before turning right. Bad D speeds up and try to beat the pedestrians.
When there is a car slowly speeding up on the freeway, signal and WAIT before changing lanes. Bad D speeds up, changes to your lane, and starts driving slow. WTF@*#&$^!
When the pedestrian is crossing the street, WAIT until he/she is halfway across the road before making the turn. Bad D waits until there is just enough room between the pedestrian and the curb for his car to squeeze through and then speeds up ANGRILY as a gesture that the pedestrian is walking too slow.
When looking for a parking spot, watch for the shoppers and be considerate of other drivers looking for a parking spot at the same time. Bad D drives 0.0001 mile/hour, stopping at every spot as if he is the ONLY one in the parking lot looking for a spot. Then when he sees an empty spot, he speeds up to the spot, almost crashing into the shoppers and the carts.
Now the taxi drivers are a different story. Most of them drive like they don't have a license!
When the light is red, come to a FULL STOP and LOOK before turning right. Bad D speeds up and try to beat the pedestrians.
When there is a car slowly speeding up on the freeway, signal and WAIT before changing lanes. Bad D speeds up, changes to your lane, and starts driving slow. WTF@*#&$^!
When the pedestrian is crossing the street, WAIT until he/she is halfway across the road before making the turn. Bad D waits until there is just enough room between the pedestrian and the curb for his car to squeeze through and then speeds up ANGRILY as a gesture that the pedestrian is walking too slow.
When looking for a parking spot, watch for the shoppers and be considerate of other drivers looking for a parking spot at the same time. Bad D drives 0.0001 mile/hour, stopping at every spot as if he is the ONLY one in the parking lot looking for a spot. Then when he sees an empty spot, he speeds up to the spot, almost crashing into the shoppers and the carts.
Now the taxi drivers are a different story. Most of them drive like they don't have a license!
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
My Couch, Ahhhhhh!!!!!!
On our list of things we need to buy, sofa is at the top. We have had the futon for 5-6 years now. After the first two years, we stuck a card board underneath the mattress so we wouldn't feel the bars of the frame when we sit. The third year my mom made a cover for the futon mattress. We added cheap pillows and a large foam for extra padding. The fourth year, I got tired of the cover and asked my mom to make a different cover. In the fifth year, we felt there was nothing we could do to make the futon more comfy so we decided to put sofa on our list of things to buy.
My good friends had recently bought a couch for their place from Scan Design, which is going out of business along with CZ Brio (aka A Furniture World Outlet). We had previously looked for couches at Honolulu Desgin Center, Inspiration Furniture, Scan Design, CZ Brio, and Z Design (now called Dezign Home) when we were shopping for a coffee table. We saw a couple we liked, especially the $13,000 bean shaped couch at Inspiration Furniture. Since then we (or I) haven't found a couch more beautiful than the $13,000 couch! Yeah, no surprise there. So when we saw our friend's new couch, we decided to give couch shopping another try. CZ Brio didn't have anything in the store except for one "It's a Bed It's a Sofa" couch that has the weird brown color. You know, the brown that is trying too hard to be brown but just failed? Anyway, Scan Design had a couple love seats we liked but too small for the place. There was an innovation futon we thought of buying at first but felt it wasn't such a good idea to buy another futon to replace the current one. So the next day we visited Dezign Home. Holy Moly we saw quite a few couches we liked. We were interested in a sectional with a chaise. We started with 1st floor and found our first favorite (see picture below).
We liked this couch because it is compact and soft, a little bit too soft. Then we went to the second floor and found the PERFECT couch! Compared to all the other couches at the store, this one is bursting with vibrant colors. Unlike many other sectionals with a chaise, this one allows for rearranging so the chaise can go in the left or right side. The frame has a dark chocolate color contrasted with the caramel colored stitiches. Twelve big fluffly pillows come with the couch and their colors, so beautiful! The ottoman also comes with the set and it is one comfy gigantic otto! This couch looks big but is it only 8.5' x 9.5'. It may be a little oversized at out apartment but we can manage until we find a bigger place. You know what the best part is? I like this couch more than the $13,000 couch at Inspiration Furniture! Ahhhh, I am insanely in love with this couch. This couch has it all. It is playful yet the neutral colors give it a matured look. It is comfy but the cushions are not so soft that won't support your weight. The colors are vibrant yet not too overwhelming. The browns are the perfect shades of brown. Now the question is, should we get it?
My good friends had recently bought a couch for their place from Scan Design, which is going out of business along with CZ Brio (aka A Furniture World Outlet). We had previously looked for couches at Honolulu Desgin Center, Inspiration Furniture, Scan Design, CZ Brio, and Z Design (now called Dezign Home) when we were shopping for a coffee table. We saw a couple we liked, especially the $13,000 bean shaped couch at Inspiration Furniture. Since then we (or I) haven't found a couch more beautiful than the $13,000 couch! Yeah, no surprise there. So when we saw our friend's new couch, we decided to give couch shopping another try. CZ Brio didn't have anything in the store except for one "It's a Bed It's a Sofa" couch that has the weird brown color. You know, the brown that is trying too hard to be brown but just failed? Anyway, Scan Design had a couple love seats we liked but too small for the place. There was an innovation futon we thought of buying at first but felt it wasn't such a good idea to buy another futon to replace the current one. So the next day we visited Dezign Home. Holy Moly we saw quite a few couches we liked. We were interested in a sectional with a chaise. We started with 1st floor and found our first favorite (see picture below).
We liked this couch because it is compact and soft, a little bit too soft. Then we went to the second floor and found the PERFECT couch! Compared to all the other couches at the store, this one is bursting with vibrant colors. Unlike many other sectionals with a chaise, this one allows for rearranging so the chaise can go in the left or right side. The frame has a dark chocolate color contrasted with the caramel colored stitiches. Twelve big fluffly pillows come with the couch and their colors, so beautiful! The ottoman also comes with the set and it is one comfy gigantic otto! This couch looks big but is it only 8.5' x 9.5'. It may be a little oversized at out apartment but we can manage until we find a bigger place. You know what the best part is? I like this couch more than the $13,000 couch at Inspiration Furniture! Ahhhh, I am insanely in love with this couch. This couch has it all. It is playful yet the neutral colors give it a matured look. It is comfy but the cushions are not so soft that won't support your weight. The colors are vibrant yet not too overwhelming. The browns are the perfect shades of brown. Now the question is, should we get it?
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Crazy Legos
Last weekend, we visited Kahala Mall to look at people-sized lego sculptures. They were so amazing! There were 9 sculptures: galaxy, doggy, ball balancing on tip of a cone, green person with head detached, swimmer, spider, Hawaii flag, the Partenon, and person hanging off a wall. Of course my favorite is the swimmer. The spider was kinda' scary because it was soooo BIG! I wonder how long it took the artist to build all these sculptures.
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Makiki Valley Loop Trail
To continue our weekend of fun as partial sickies, we decided to go on a relatively easy hike. We chose the Makiki Valley Loop Trail which turned out to be a perfect hike for a hot and humid day. The trail began as a nature walk with a small collection of native Hawaiian plants along the trail. Then a wall of green (see picture below) opened our eyes to some of the most amazing scenes that are even more beautiful when seen from up close (as opposed to the freeway).
We love the trail because of the canopy that protected us from the intermittent rain and the ever shining sun. The mountain is covered with different species of plants, which gave us a pleasant surprise with every step we took. Oh yeah and we had to watch our step, otherwise we could've tripped on the intertwining tree roots that carpeted the forest floor.
On our way back, a small section of the stream caught my eye as it was bordered by an eclectic array of plants with leaves of varying shapes. There are the broad-heart shaped leaves of the taro and the broad-elongated leaves of the ti. There are also small nickel sized leaves like those of mini roses, star shaped leaves like those of sweet potato, narrow-elongated leaves like those of a bamboo, and the fan shaped leaves that resembles a green flower. I love this picture so much I nominated it to be the newest Pigture Champ.
We love the trail because of the canopy that protected us from the intermittent rain and the ever shining sun. The mountain is covered with different species of plants, which gave us a pleasant surprise with every step we took. Oh yeah and we had to watch our step, otherwise we could've tripped on the intertwining tree roots that carpeted the forest floor.
On our way back, a small section of the stream caught my eye as it was bordered by an eclectic array of plants with leaves of varying shapes. There are the broad-heart shaped leaves of the taro and the broad-elongated leaves of the ti. There are also small nickel sized leaves like those of mini roses, star shaped leaves like those of sweet potato, narrow-elongated leaves like those of a bamboo, and the fan shaped leaves that resembles a green flower. I love this picture so much I nominated it to be the newest Pigture Champ.
Happy Fourth!
HappyOblivion and I have been sick for quite some time now. On Independence Day, both of us felt good enough to finally get out of the house to do something, anything. In the morning, we went body boarding at Kalama Beach. The waves were great, around 2-3 feet. Then we ate lunch at Teddy's. At night, we wanted to avoid the crowd so we decided to watch fireworks from the topmost floor of our building. It was a quiet evening but a great celebration.
Above: For those of you who didn't have a chance to see fireworks.
People Always Leave
Aiyaa, everyone is leaving...people always leave. The sad part is not knowing if they will ever come back. A week ago, we held a farewell BBQ for our friend who is now working at the Kaiser in San Francisco. The BBQ was at Magic Island and I took some pictures to capture the beautiful day we had.
Above: Looking up at a Rainbow Shower tree. Below: A cute friend that also came to say goodbye. 