Muji + Lego=Ultimate Fun!

Dear Muji,

Why have you gone and achieved awesomeness yet again? Give the rest of us a chance will ya'?

Seriously though guys...just when I thought legos were about sold-out (star wars, sponge bob, Indiana Jones, etc) you, Muji had to come right along and inject some of that playful simplicity you so soaringly distribute to everything you touch.

The result: a simple set of legos made spectacularly and invariably more interesting via a few sheets of colored paper, a hole punch, and a few basic suggestions. You've managed to remind me exactly why legos were a childhood favorite of mine...it wasn't the razzle-dazzle space ships as much as the endless possibilities of our imaginations.

Oh, but you have failed in one respect where you have also failed in the past: making it easy for an Americans like us to get our hands on your best products. While this product doesn't appear to be available on the US Muji site, it looks to be available on the Japanese one. Why do they torture us like that?!

These brilliant little wonders will be released in Nov 27th in Japan. Would it be crazy if I got a ticket to Japan just to get theses? .......NAH!

via Design Boom

Makeshift Muji

4 years ago Jean made one of my wildest fantasies come true...you know the one about owning a wall mounted Naoto Fukasawa Muji CD player (which at the time was not available in the US). She had so thoughtfully picked it up on a trip back to Taiwan, lugged across the Pacific Ocean, wrapped it up with care, and presented it to me with pride...What a women! It sat so proudly on the wall occasionally playing a CD, but mainly just looking totally awesome until one day I went to pull that so-satisifying-to-pull power cord only to have nothing happen! :( I was told by a local repair shop that it couldn't be repaired. Double :( !!

Now there may be hope for those yearning for a working version of the same concept. If you don't have a totally awesome gf who will buy you one or if yours broke like me or if you just think the real deal isn't rough enough around the edges, give this crafty version a try:


All the instructions are located here. Looks like a fun, but involved project! If done right, it just might quench the urge for the real thing.

via Blue Ant Studio

New Year MUJI Resolution

My new years resolution for 2009........is to cross off the list of ALL the MUJI things I want!! I don't need to eat healthier, drink more water, watch less TV, read more, exercise more, be nice to people....yeah yeah yeah...I can always do that when I retire.MUJI recently launched their 2009 screen saver calender, PLAY MUJI where they showcase one of their brilliant, simple & clever product each day right on your computer screen....everyday!! Imagine that...they're really not making it any easier for me to resist them!! Why do I have such weakness for them? or are they simply just TOO powerful? But whatever it is they're hypnotizing me with, it's working.
Oh! How I would sell my soul to live the MUJI life!!Must have....everything MUJI....everyday.....every week....every month....forever and ever and.... ever....

My Recent Muji Finds

Forgot to mention about my recent tiring yet exciting trip to NY.... When I was there, I kept seeing people around NY carrying MUJI shopping bags, and it was killing me that I didn't have to time to make it there! Thank MUJI! for their brilliance in opening a MUJI TO GO shop in JFK, I was able to compulsively buy great little everyday well-designed and thoughful objects from them!! (noticed I didn't say god?...cuz MUJI is it's own religion..my religion) I got this neat soap sponge dish where it drains the water while allowing air flow to keep the soap dry same time!! So no more picking up soggy wet slippery soap, then dropping it & slipping on it and crack your tail bones on it. I hate that! Raise your hand if you agree with me....yeah! I know! Nobody likes craking tailbones on SOGGY soap. eew.
I also got this clever schedual planner notebook they produced by one of the winning designs from MUJI award 02. Designed by Won Kok Keong, this brilliant mind came up with this idea of using a simple and intuitive reference of a clock, to help you (and me!) visually log and graph out your daily schedual! I just can't wait to fill in those pages. All the exciting things I get to write in there!! OH BOY! oh-kay....here's what this coming Monday is gonna look like....Dec.29.2008
10:00AM-Alarm goes off
10:05AM-hit the snooze button for the second time
10:10AM-hit the snooze button 5 more times
10:35AM-turn off the alarm and falls back to sleep
12:00PM-get a wake up text from Chika wondering why I'm not at work and I text back "I'm up"
12:30PM-Finally get out of bed
12:45PM-brush my teeth and whatever
1:00PM-make some coffee and read my emails, check on L&G shop, read up on some blogs, watch some youtube videos, and go on facebook and super poke the crap out of everyone and throw snow balls at them. (nothing like virtual snow ball fights...yeah....)
2:00PM-gets exhausted from all the interneting and makes some lunch
2:15PM-eat lunch and watch some daily show clips online and laugh my head off while dropping food all over the keypad
3:00PM-check on Chika to watch more daily show clips and admire Jon Stewart's wit and charm together.
ahem...okay...I'm starting to think the whole filling in everything-I-do-during-the-day is NOT such a good idea....I'm just gonna write in "work from 10-6pm." DONE.