Something arrived from Japan! Akoya Pearls

Fedex courier guy knock on my door....... not ring the bell ..... :X

Yea my purchase has arrived from Japan. Pretty daring huh since its pretty expensive, the seller no longer selling at ebay, (previously ebay also 3 tokens (good) )...

I paid on 31 Mar and received it today. Cannot blame the seller though because it so happened the Tsunami happened and the chain is delayed. Plus I have special request to lengthen the pearl strand after getting the set so he has to take some time to find the matching pearls for me.

I decided not to wait for the chain and asked for the pearl set to be delivered first.

Hanadama Pearl Certificate Set

I've read about some companies talking abt Hanadama grades and those on the forums have different interpretation of Hanadama vs another company (all these companies not from Japan). They said that the Hanadama grades are the best under Pearl grading (Mikimoto used Hanadama pearls)

However, the Japan Science Lab that issue the Hanadama certificate doesnt only grade AAA under its certificate? The pearl quality can range from AA-AAA.

For my pearls, its AA quality. It looks average under daylight but under fluroscent light, its excellent luster (to me) and its smooth, very smooth indeed. Better than some of the Mikimoto I saw. No idea if it has anything to do with light too. The clasp I choose is Made in Japan 14K WG. Not cheap. I think Japanese are very detailed with their stuffs and one is paying for the quality. Maybe also because reseller will get better price than end consumer.

This pearl strand is white with pink,green overtone. The pink overtone is very minimal. Most people (asians, japanese etc) will look good with pearls with pink overtone. For me, such pearls doesnt look good. I need to find real white pearls with little pink overtone for it to look outstanding on me.

The picture is taken with iphone 3. Photo quality really sucks but the pearl set is really very good. The seller is also very nice and i think he's very stressed over my order because i've asked him a lot of Qns. I hardly get to chat with people that know abt pearls so i like to learn about it instead of just blindly like pearls.

Nice right? :) I need to change my wardrobe clothes to match my pearls

The quality is really good. Under Day/Sunlight, its like good but under fluroscent light, its very good luster and smooth! Eyes Zoom onto the pearl surface & it looks smooth too. Very good and its just AA Grade! AAA will be freaking expensive for the size of 8-8.5MM.

I went home to check the pearls again under artificial white and then fluorescent lights. Even the white light is very nice! In the day time, I see it under normal sunlight/daylight.
Overall I am very happy with my pearls especially checking them out under the lights @ night.

This morning I checked out again against daylight/sunlight and i can see iridescent colors of pink/green/white. Very nice

Its 295500Yen and I paid when Yen is high :(

Oh ya, initially i kinda worried abt the radiation but Kobe is far from Sedai and the earthquake area... plus the pearls are earlier stocks. I am now considering the 2nd pearl strand. *sweat*

The seller is based in Japan Kobe. I know some US companies are selling the hanadama pearls that are graded by Pearl Science Lab too. This seller also sell pearls that are qualified to be hanadama pearls as certified by Pearl Science Lab (again, they certified AA, AAA as Hanadama under their category. But their standard isnt exactly the same as Mikimoto).

I think Seller is not known in the states because his business is mainly in Japan? He has own website and also yahoo Japan.

My friends' are really surprised that I dare to purchase such expensive stuffs online.... err but well I am a person that depends on instincts & my religion hahaha. Plus the email exchange etc. I know the seller is honest and genuine and really helpful. :)

I will be providing more pics around May. So stay tune!

Pearls !

went around looking for pearl strands and pearl pendants recently. i find that the local staff are poorly educated in pearls. even worse than me as a consumer. first of all when i look at freshwater pearls and asked them what pearl is this, they will say.... "cultured pearls" zzzzzzzzzzzz WRONG. They should just tell me its freshwater or cultured freshwater. anyway its so hard to find natural pearls (not cultured).... and then, cultured pearls can be referring to Tahitian, Freshwater, Akoya etc. its just that they are cultured differently (seawater, freshwater) and by different oysters, mussels etc. then the best part is when i asked them what culture pearls... they just say its called culture pearls. WAAAAAAAAAAAA win liaoz

I've Donated to Japan (to IFRC) via HUBLOT! Have you?

jUst wondering.... hmm i always frequent US sites and right now, some companies are like having a day sales and all proceed will go towards Japan to help those affected by the tsunani, quakes etc.

Forever21 USA just held the one day sale 1 or 2days ago.



Now, this is another one but its by world reowned Watch company, Hublot.

Those that are into watches will heard of this brand. Those that only know of Rolex, Omega and Tag Heuer will probably not heard of this. Their watches starts from abt SGD20k onwards and its kind of a 'lesiure' watch i supposed? Not the usual names we often heard about (because not much value to pawn? lolll)

They have a boutique at Marina Bay Sands and they can be found at big watch retailer shops like Hour Glass.

Ok, why do I say so much? Because they are having a 'matching' donation. When you donate $100, they will also donate the same amount. So instead of donating to Red Cross directly, u donate to them and this will double the amount u donated.

Remember to state 'HUBLOT' under the company link when you are directed to the ifrc link. Even at ifrc link, u can do the donation too.. just type HUBLOT as well.

http://www.hublot.com/en/#/NEWS

This is the link u get after clicking the Red circle with Japan word. http://www.hublot.com/site/commitmentforjapan/

I donated liao! So i can confirm its legitimate.

Because after u filled up the Form at Hublot, u will be directed to this link which is under IFRC. .
http://www.ifrc.org/en/get-involved/donate/donation/?DisasterPageID=51098

THen from here u will be proceeded to RBS WorldPay to process the donations

And then after this I went to Hublot site and I saw my address twice ... Opps. I think I might clicked twice but well the amount I donated is not that much so even if I 'accidentally' donate 2x, its still within the amount I want to donate.

So if you plan to donate, might as well donate through this link. (ps i have come to know abt this through hour glass email. Now, I have already donated it to ensure its legitimate.)

Lets hope that things will get better for Japan

〈弟子规〉- A REMINDER to myself!!!!!!

谨

朝起早　

夜眠迟　

老易至　

惜此时

晨必盥　

兼漱口　

便溺回　

辄净手

为人子应早起，把握光阴及时努力，

若经常晚睡、甚至熬夜

不但对身体健康不好，

也影响白天正常的作息。

岁月不待人，青春要珍惜。 （少壮不努力，老大徒悲伤。） 早晨起床后，务必洗脸、刷牙、漱口使精神清爽，有一个好的开始。

01-01-2011 to 15-01-2011 ZZzzz Reports

HMMMmmmm my new year resolution.....

1st day = Failed because i went to see fireworks and zzzz at 5am or so.

so from 1st Jan to 15 january there's only 2 days that i zzzz at 2am. The others are like 3 am, 4am , 5am and 6pm!!!!! Oh now is 15 January, and today will be calculated as 1 day zzz before 2am LOL

OMG

Really bad habit.

At 12am = Oh night is still young... wait a min then shower
At 1am = Ok still have time. wait a bit more.

wait wait wait UN-TILLLLllll *take a look at clock 2.00-2.30AM... oh very late must go shower...

then 10MINS shower only okay.....

need > 1hr to blow the hair dry. Zzzzzzzzzzzzz

End up 4am then 70-80% dry and go zzzzzzzz

Oh dear. Must change this cycle

Now 10pm. What am I doing?


Doing Work at office and then decided to update my 'January zz reports' lol

Ok i have a package send to me yesterday. will do a reveal soon when i'm free. VERY free.

Oh my God! 31.12.2010!!!

Wa its really unbelievable. I have so many things to do at work (rushing the 2010 workload) and now, this is the LAST day of 2010!

time really flies. Especially when we start working and become 21yrs old. Just fly.
Now more white hairs (shit!!!), waist getting wider and skin pores become bigger. Not forgetting my steadily increasing weight.

Looking at my 2010 Resolution, its what I've always want to accomplish but always cant. I am an owl that stay awake at night. Just yesterday (due to work), i went home at 4am. Zzz at 6am

My resolution for 2010 is like my resolution in 2006 and beyond. The piece of paper on my wall about 'Zzzz early' and my brother came into the room, point at the paper and said I can strike of 2006 and just write '2007'. So yea........ till now, the 2010 resolution will be changed by entering the '1' to replace the '0'..... so it becomes 2011.

Really need to buck up (ai. said for so many yrs but never did). I need to be more enthusiastic about life, look forward to 2011 (and my Prada bag hahahahha and my pearls hehehe) and try to finish my office work. But the most important thing is to give a precious gift to myself. Something that $$$ cannot buy but yet without $$$$, its impossible to support.


So yea, I must buck up, Zzzz Early, Wake up Early, Go to Work Early so I can go home Early = Healthy cycle
and then give myself a great present for the future. "Fighting!"



아자 아자 파이팅!!!

아자 아자 파이팅!!!

아자 아자 파이팅!!!

A great, happy, joyful, fanastic 2011 Here I come!

BOrderlinx User = DO NOT ever use Autoship!

Why? A picture says a thousand words.............

Siao Bor = Singlish term of = Are u sure? CRAZY? something like that

Can you imagine how much one will have to pay if this is under autoship where items get shipped out automatically? Paid GST to government for something that is never so heavy and also pay to Borderlinx. Then later they tell u they are sorry, they cannot refund u. They can only issue u credit note of USD440++ then how?