Stash from STGCC 2009

I missed last year’s convention and I’m glad I made it for the preview this time round!

Yes! I’m talking about Singapore Toy Games & Comic Convention! I was expecting a little more then what I saw, but still it was good! Might pop by over the weekend to get more toys if I’m in the area.

Above are things I bought and got from the convention. If I had any more cash with me, I might end up with more! I am very very weak at cute and photograph-able toys!

Let me give you a quick rundown on some of the exhibitors at Singapore Toy Games and Comic Convention. Do note that I am only sharing those that interest me, there are much more to see and drool for.

First up, The Dooodolls from Malaysia.

Dooodolls at STGCC

Created by Darren Chen, a graphic designer by day and moonlights as a yoga teacher by night. Dooodolls started from his love of drawing; a passion so great that he wanted to bring his creations to live, and to share them with friends and loved ones.

I love the touch and feel of Dooodolls. Made from fine Softlon, the plushies are sooo huggable and ohhh-sooo-nice to touch! I loveee it! If that big red fellow a.k.a. Reddish was available for sale at $60, I would have brought it home immediately! Sadly, it was not for sale. And $60 was the price of a 24-inch plush. The yellow fellow a.k.a. Missy Micey is from the series of horoscope collection. Yap, that’s for my zodiac. She is a protector of Mother Nature and all things living. Sounds like a cancerian alright!

Go check Dooodolls out at Booth C05.

Next, there’s this group of young and cheerful team from 2:Spot Studio.

2:Spot Studio

2:Spot Studio is from Bangkok, Thailand. Their design philosohy is to make emotional character brand that kids will understand and love at first sight. They have five different characters under their belt and my favorite among them is Bloody Bunny!

Based on a short animation, Bloody Bunny is a discarded bunny doll who comes to life to avenge for its long lost owner. The story is set in a dark gothic world where dolls are living creatures with good and evil purposes.

I forgot to ask how much the price for Bloody Bunny figurine! Now looking at the photo, I am tempted to bring one home! Only bought the keyring and a purse with Bloody Bunny on it.

2:Spot Studio is exhibiting at Booth D06.

The next one shouldn’t be unfamiliar to the general public here in Singapore. You see this piece of white tofu everywhere, even in your wet market!

To-Fu Oyako and Designer Devilrobots

These cute To-Fu and many other characters are available at Play Imaginative (pi.) booth located at the extreme right side of the convention hall, J11. I was eyeing on the 4-inch baby To-Fu which was selling at $20. Good thing my eyes darted fast enough to spot the membership recruitment counter for pi. For $20 sign-up fee, I’ll get Baby To-Fu, a Strawberry To-Fu notebook and my choice of membership card design for pi. More value for money lah! So now, I’ll get 10% discount at Play imaginative store at Iluma. This is NOT a good sign! *looks at wallet*

Before I left the convention, I exchanged $10 of one-dollar coins and spinned for the To-Fu Oyako magnets. I should have spinned till I get the full set! Now I’ve got 4 from the series of 7. *heart itchy*

That’s all I’m going to share with you! Go check out the convention yourself this weekend! Bring lots of CASH yio! Muahahaha!

Ending this post with more photos from the show…

STGCC Opening Ceremony

Monopoly Deal Anyone? Muahahahaha!

By Crazy Label from Hongkong at Booth D09

Crazy Labels Baby Apparels - Coming Soon

ddung at Booth C12

Can't recall where I spotted this... -_-||

Uglydolls at Booth E05

Spotted at Mindstyle Booth D04 (I think)

Spongebob Bearrick from Action City Booth F05

Blythe Dolls at Booth B05

Great collection of Transformers spotted at can't-remember-which-booth.

Try spotting these two dual - Mario and Luigi

Everyone meet Miumiko my new kitty! from Being Kids Booth D02

Have fun shopping!

Singapore Toy, Games and Comic Convetion 2009
Suntec Convention Hall 401 – 402
14 to 16 August 2009

Go read TOYSREVIL blog for more updates! He’s the official blogger for STGCC2009 wor! Don’t play play k! He is Singaporean!

Both of us were looking forward to the movie and hope to enjoy a good show. But when we saw the seats in Eng Wah Suntec Cinema 2, I almost puked. Throughout the show, I was paying more attention on whether any part of my arms, neck or uncovered skin was touching the seats or not. I laid tissue on the seats and arm rest but still my mind couldn’t help but picture those dirty cushions touching me!

I didn’t get to enjoy my movie. Pictures tell a thousand words, here’s how clean my seats were!

Those who came in after us didn’t get to see the state of their seats as the lights were turned off already. When we entered, they had all their lights on. Seriously, if you have seats like that in your cinema, turning it dimmer might save your ass for a while. But please get the cinemas renovated and cleaned quick!

There was also a stale and sour smell lingering around the seats around me. Arghhhh! Thought of it makes me feel sooo dirty right now. Going to get myself showered again! I’m not going back to Eng Wah anymore, until they get their cinemas upgraded. I wonder if the other cinemas of Eng Wah are in this state too!

Just for record, here’s our tickets for the not-so-comfortable-nor-enjoyable movie tonight. Don’t get me wrong, X-men Origins was great! Maybe I should just go catch it again at GV cinema.

Claudia’s Unofficial Survival Guide for IT Show 2008

PLUS Review of the Canon Ixus 950IS

Part 1 – Before Going to IT Show 2008

Check out the prices and promotions from the IT Show newspaper guide, or from hardware zone. Do your homework before heading down. Read reviews, compare prices and packages with those at Sim Lim Square. Know what you want to buy before leaving your home or office. This is very important as it’ll save you lots of time and agony too! You’ll see why later… read on…

Part 2 – Getting to Suntec City…

The not-too-bad jam towards Suntec at around 7.15pm

Every year before we head down to IT Show at Suntec, we’ll strategies a plan. We know the kind of traffic, both vehicles and human, will be horrible during this crazy period of time. So today, we head on down to Suntec City after a trip to the Army Market at the Beach Rd.

Approximately 7.03pm, after ERP hours, we entered the crazy jam going towards Suntec City. Same as previous years, we parked our car at Shaw Towers. (Parking is $2/entry after 5pm on weekday, after 1pm on Saturday and whole of Sunday)

This time round, getting into Shaw Towers was pretty easy. Be prepared to get stuck in a mini-jam over the next 3 days cos everyone will be parking at Shaw Towers since parking charges is one of the lowest around Suntec.

Part 3 – Travel light! Get ready to squeeze and push!

Study the map displayed almost everywhere around Suntec Convention Hall. Mark down the locations where you should be going to get your things. Most of the big brands are on Level 4, and Starhub and Sony are on Level 3. Level 6 are mostly consumable stuff and some gaming stuff.

Part of the loooong Sony Booth along concourse at Level 3

Look at the crowd! I got giddy riding on the escalator!

Entering Hall 404

At the entrance into the main hall on Level 4, you’ll be surrounded by rows of flyers distributors. Since you’ve already done your homework earlier, please don’t take them. Save the trees! Just smile to the pretty ladies and handsome guys and move on.

When you enter the hall, be prepared to squeeze through the jammed packed hall. Be alert at all times. Look after your personal belongings and stay close to your friends! These are what you’ll be encountering upon entering the exhibition and sales area…

“People Mountain People Sea”…

I caught some people looking at me!

Tell me how to shop like that???

That’s why we should prepare before we go! Like what we did today… Know what we want to get, locate the booth, go straight to the booth, get the stuff, and out we go! You really don’t want to stay in there and compare prices, ask questions, check out the gadget and what not in there! The hall was overly packed and with all the lightings and all, the hall was very hot and sometimes you’ll even get stinky smell from people around you.

Thanks to my research and my BF’s credit card, I consider myself one of the happy and satisfied shopper today! So you know what you should do already ya? All the best to those of you who’re planning a trip down to IT Show 2008! (If you’ve totally nothing to buy, please don’t go add yourself to the crowd. Spare some thoughts for the serious buyers. I’m sure you also wouldn’t want to go squeeze with the crowd right?)

Phew… that’s the end of my IT Show 2008 Survival Guide. Now… my damage for today…

3 bags of Canon products!

These are the stuff inside…

Canon IXUS 950IS ($599), Canon Selphy CP740 (FREE!), Canon Ink Refills (for office), and whole lot of other freebies that came with the camera purchase.

This can be considered a very good deal from Canon this year! Before the promotions were released, I was hoping that they’ll throw in a free printer with camera purchase cos I need a new photo printer. And when I saw the flyer online, I was thrilled! Canon heard my wish! Haha! So of course, I got to get it right? The total worth of the bundle is about… $998 (cam:599 + printer:199 + SDcards:70 + etc:30 + swensen voucher:100).

I did a simple comparison between my new toy and my current ones…

Shot taken with Nikon D40 (DSLR)

Taken with the new IXUS 950IS

Taken with my old Fuji Z3

All the shots were taken in similar mode without flash. Using the white text “DIGITAL IXUS 950IS”, we can see that the D40 gives a sharpest and cleanest shot. If we were to compare just between the IXUS and Z3, there’s more noticeable noise by the Z3. The color by IXUS is also brighter and the focus (the picture of the camera) is sharper too.

Here’s the videos I took with both the IXUS 950IS and Z3…

The quality is compromised due to the web movie settings. I can see much more difference between the 2 videos in their original state. IXUS 95IS takes a better quality video as compared to the Z3. Both are able to continue recording up till the capacity of the memory card used.

Ayah bought a bright pink tricycle for minmin today at Suntec Carefour! She was very excited about it and couldn’t wait to get her hands on it! She even attempt to bite off the handle bar!

Still need time to learn paddling it on her own, so for the time being, we’ll have to push her along.