I don’t need to tell you that Japan is a favourite travel destination for many. The country is beautiful and safe, even for single female travellers.
And if you have a dog or cat, it’s actually pretty fun to shop or even just window shop through the stores selling pet-related goods. I recently returned from a short trip to Kyoto, Nara and Osaka.
In this post, I’m sharing with you some of the Kyoto and Osaka pet shops and cat and dog products I saw in Japan.
Kyoto station is a gargantuan block of metal and concrete housing the JR, subway, various shopping belts and malls, outdoor performance space, theatre and even a hotel! Eating places are plentiful. Our bento set tonight came with a small bowl of soup with eel liver! More -http://weliveinaflat.com/blog/can-eel-liver/
I’m writing this post now because it’s time to part with our old beat up Casetify cases that Mr P and I have been using with our previous mobile phones. So what better time to do a Casetify review? :P
Casetify is not a new brand. It’s been around about 8 years it seems. And it’s one of the brands I like because it lets me customise my handphone case with Donna’s photo.
We’ve used these cases for at least 2 years, maybe more. (Can’t really remember.) Take a look at how chipped the original printed design has become!
I had fun shopping for dog at Don Quijote when I was in Japan. Don Quijote opened it’s first outlet in Singapore this week called Don Don Donki. Come with me to Orchard Central to see what they have brought in for pets!
Trying to stretch that dollar while touring in Japan? Don Quijote is a discount chain where you can buy pet supplies and products for cheaper. Here’s my pick from visiting Don Quijote stores in both Kyoto and Osaka! ;)
Don Quijote stores in Japan are like a chain of megamarts that stock EVERYTHING. These stores stay open till late while most stores closed by 9pm. So definitely the place to head to at night, if you were unable to squeeze time into your day for shopping because of your tight travel schedule. ;) Popularly known as “Donki”, they stock food, drugs, luggage, cosmetics, clothing, home and garden tools and accesories, you name it. So you will likely find lots of things to buy, and not just for pets. :P
One of the aisle in the pet section at a Don Quijote store in Shinsekai, Osaka
This is where I share with you ALL I know about dogs and feeding them! Click on! And if you have questions at any point in time, just ask me on facebook or comment below. ;)
We are spoilt for choices when it comes to dog food today! I feed Donna a variety of kibble, canned, commercial dehydrated and fresh home-made food. I believe in variety and I believe in rotating foods from quality brands.
Here’s the low down on how to determine quality and how to plan what you buy. ;)
Basic Knowledge
Premium Dog Food (Raw/Dehydrated)
Fresh Dog Food
Dry Dog Food
Canned Dog Food
Where to buy the cheapest pet food, go here
Yes, dogs can eat some people food and it’s actually good for them in some cases! Donna loves yogurt and cheese ALOT!
But you need to know how to determine what is good for them. Not all yogurt is good for them, just like not all peanut butter is good for them. Here are my choices.
Celebrating your pup’s birthday or adoption day? Here’s where we love to get our party food from!! Nothing beats a good pupcake, says Donna!
You know me, I scrutinise recipes, I do. We enjoyed specific products from the various well-known local home bakeries that we tried. Here are some of them. ;)
Tell me in the comments below!! ;)
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So we were in Kyoto a few months back, and we just happened to be walking around when we saw a sign that was unexpected with letters that were instantly recognisable.
The AE86 is after all the iconic car that delivers tofu at racing car speed to customers. ( We don’t read Japanese but it was not difficult for us to guess that the Japanese letters on the car probably read “藤原豆腐店” or Fujiwara Tofu Shop. ) And if you’re clueless what I’m talking about, it all happens in this comic. :P You can also find out more about this Kyoto place with the AE86 here.
Speaking of tofu, I was quite amused by the thought of ten courses of Tofu for lunch. Ten! 3150 Japanese yen is roughly USD30 or SGD38.
What does Donna say about cars?
Sketches can be made in any drawing medium. The term is most often applied to graphic work executed in a dry media such as silverpoint,graphite, pencil, charcoal or pastel. But it may also apply to drawings executed in pen and ink, ballpoint pen, water colour and oil paint. The latter two are generally referred to as “water colour sketches” and “oil sketches”. – wikipedia
And of course, with mobile app and digital imaging technology, we now have features in our apps that lets us turn photos into sketches. Personally, I find this very useful for blogging. Some photos that don’t work so well as photos actually don’t look half bad as a sketch! ;P
Welcome back to Week 7 of the Snappy H’appy Photo Challenge hosted by weliveinaflat and firebonnet ;)
This challenge asks you to (1) share a good photo that you took or edited last week, (2) run it through a photo app on your smartphone or mobile device and share with us the result. We’re back to the theme of Art effects this week – Sketch effects. 
Most of my photos filtered with the sketch effect is done using Camera360. Whatever complaints I have with the app, the Sketch effect in it is seriously useful. The photo usually comes out looking rather refined as a black and white sketch. I love it because ugly, unwanted details in the background are usually diminished.
Above: Can hardly see the ugly storage boxes behind Donna, yah? ;P
Camera360 also gives a more refined black and white sketch effect. See if you can guess for the picture below, which one is the result from Camera360, and which one is not.
Camera360 is a free app that offers 15 categories of Multi-effects. You can access them by tapping on the Multi-effects button (screen i) after you have loaded up your photo in the app. From there, pick the Sketch option (screen 2) from the Effects menu. You then will get a choice of 9 sketch effects (screen 3). My favourites are Surreal (which is black and white) and Colour.
Screenshots from Camera360
Surreal gives you a black and white sketch like this: 
And Colour gives you a result that is somewhat like a refined colour pencil sketch:
I like that in both cases, the original ugly photo now looks more like a work of art.
The Sketch options in Camera360 are limited to nine filters. There is no option to tweak any of them. Just tap and apply, that’s it. Simple to use, but doesn’t really give you any sort of experience or appreciation of the art of sketching.
The paid app, Paper Camera, is more interesting in this respect. Offering 14* different filters, Paper Camera also gives you the option to play around and experiment with variables like – strokes, vignette, edges, contrast, brightness and lines.
*Out of the 14 filters, I only found 2 of them useful. I don’t really think I will use the other 12 that much as the styles didn’t appeal to me ;) You can see the filters in their video on their website here if you are thinking of whether you want to buy it.
Screenshots from Paper Camera. This screen shows the Sketch Up filter being applied. The slider bars under the Variables -Strokes, Vignette, Edges, Contrast, Brightness and Lines – can be adjusted to tweak the intensity of the variables.
The result – you can create something that ends up looking more like a rough sketch, instead of a finished sketch that Camera360 always gives you.
Above: Donna on the floor using Paper Camera’s Sketch Up filter. You can control the strokes, lines and edges. It looks very much like a rough sketch, doesn’t it?
Above: Donna on the floor using Camera360 Surreal Sketch effect. The sketch looks like it is coloured in and the strokes are not determinable compared to Paper Camera.
Here’s a another result from Paper Camera Sketch Up filter. This time with the Vignette effect. I do have an issue with the vignette which did not white out the edges of the image like I expect it to.
Just for fun, you may remember the original photo from last week’s photo challenge, for your reference here:
Paper Camera also has colour sketch filter options. I found that the filter Pastel Perfect worked well for some of my photos. Here is the same shopfront rendered with Pastel Perfect. Notice the the strokes across the photo:
Compare that to the same shopfront using Camera360 Sketch effect – Colour in the photo below. The photo is outlined to look like a sketch but without the strokes. I think it looks more like an inked comic in this case, rather than a colour pencil sketch. 
Further experimentation with Paper Camera showed that it delivers well when it comes to rendering more of a vintage, stylized effect for photos of flowers.
Paper Camera – Pastel Perfect filter (left); Comic Boom filter(right)
But because Paper Camera tries to replicate the the lines and hardness of strokes when it comes to sketching, details will be obscured like in the result below. You get the rough sketch of the shape of the dog but miss out much of the details.
Where it comes to getting a result that looks more finished and pleasant, I definitely still do prefer Camera360. Below you an see clearly Donna’s sleepy expression and her eyes, as well as the gentle detail in the curves of her side and in her paws.
iPhone users
Android users
Photo of the Week
Hand, edited with Snapseed, VSCOcam M3 present (adapted) and Photoshop.
App Challenge Image
Hand, Paper Camera Pastel Perfect filter, using the original photo, not the edited Photo of the Week.
Hand, Paper Camera Pastel Perfect, using the edited Photo of the Week. The hand does not stand out as cleanly from the shadow as the image filtered using the original photo. I prefer the former because of the raw quality of the sketch and because the feathered bud comes out clearer than the latter.
Create your challenge post from now until Sunday, 30 Mar end of your day. Post your Photo of the Week and your App-ed version of that photo on your blog. (You can follow my format above if you like).
Pic 1 – Your Photo of the Week can be taken with any equipment – a regular camera, a DSLR, a smartphone, hack even a pin-hole camera if you so choose!
Pic 2 – Pic 2 is optional. The theme this week is Sketch Effects, but if that is not your cup of tea, you are free to choose other app effects for your app-ed photo. In all cases, it would be helpful if you can name the app effect used so we can understand what you are doing ; )
Add the challenge badge and link your post to the host and co-host sites. Be nice and visit with some of the other challengers for this week! :) And do remember to leave me your blog post link in the comments below, in case I do not receive the pingback/trackback from your link.
For more information, you can read in detail more about the challenge and the instructions at the About page here. You can also grab the badges here.
Questions? Feel free to pose any questions in the comments below or email me at weliveinaflat@gmail.com. Next up, what happens after you have linked up? Why you start getting your challenger photo grid filled up!
Every week, challenger grids get updated with the new photos! At the end, you get to grab your grid off this blog for your own pleasure. :D Meanwhile, you can view one another’s photos on the blogs by clicking on the linked numbered weeks above each challenger’s photo grid. I will try to keep it up to date as quick as I can ;)
Host| weliveinaflat.com
[ photos tagged “snappy happy” ]
Host| firebonnet.com
[week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12]
Challenger| Blogagaini
[week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12]
Challenger| Little Dogs Laughed
[week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12]
Challenger| 1stworlddog.com
[week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12]
Challenger| completelydisappear.com
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Challenger| LivingWithMyAncestors.wordpress.com
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Challenger| Roxy The Traveling Dog
[week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12]
Challenger| Zeke’s Adventures
[week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12]
Challenger| ForestWoodFolkArt.wordpress.com
[week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12]
Challenger| sassmuffins.com
[week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12]
Challenger| Claim your photo grid, join the challenge today!
Next week, we’ll get Snappy H’appy with Mirroring effects! Thanks for checking out this Photo Challenge and making it all the way to the end of the post! ;)
How often do you apply a light leak filter on your photos?
How many ways to Sunday can you do it?
Welcome back to Week 5 of the Snappy H’appy Photo Challenge hosted by weliveinaflat and firebonnet ;) This challenge asks you to (1) share a good photo that you took or edited last week, (2) run it through a photo app on your smartphone or mobile device and share with us the result. We’re back to the theme of Light this week and we will look at Light Leak Effects.
Our awesome Snappy H’appy crew includes co-host Meghan (Firebonnet) and also Melinda (1stWorldDog), Christy (Sassmuffins), CompletelyDisappear, Gretchen (Zeke’s Adventures), Meg (Little Dogs Laughed), Blogagaini and Mary (RoxyTheTravelingDog).
If you didn’t join us in the last four weeks, there are 8 weeks left in the challenge, so feel free to join in the fun. Backdated posts for the previous weeks are optional. ; ) For more details about the challenge, check out the Photo Challenge page. Now then, let’s talk about light effects.
A light leak is a hole or gap in the body of a camera where light is able to “leak” into the normally light-tight chamber, exposing the film or sensor with extra light. This light is diffuse, although parts within the camera may cast shadows or reflect it in a particular way. For most purposes this is considered a problem. Within the lomography movement it is seen as a positive effect, giving photos character. – wikipedia
Light leaks, especially those big stripes of red on a photo could be a little cheesy but some light leak affects can also have a dreamy, romantic feel or a dynamic city feel that this video tries to incorporate.
If you like simple and straight forward, Plxlr Express has Light Leak texture maps that are easily applied to the image at the tap of a finger. You can find them in the Overlay section in two categories – Leaking HD and Leaks.
Applied the Ovverride Leaking HD filter, Fade not 100%, in Pixlr.
PicsArt has a selection of Lights Effect, which when set to the Screen setting can imitate the diffused light leak effect.
Under Effect > Lights, Light 18 is applied to the photo with a screen setting (see dropdown menu at the top of the screen) to create a dreamy atmosphere.
The screenshot below shows you the other controls that lets you flip, rotate and make more or less transparent the light leak or light effects being applied to the photo.
If you like slightly less control, retrolux in Snapseed has a randomize function that applies retro effects, including light leaks when you “roll the dice”. Or you can start out with a preset and customise from there. Within the different Retrolux effects offered by Snapseed, swipe your finger up or down and you will call up the menu that lets you adjust brightness, saturation, scratches, style strength and yes, light leaks within the Retrolux effect you have chosen to apply.
Image with added light leak from Retrolux in Snapseed
With a heavy hand, I repeated layering Snapseed retrolux filters and ended up with a photo that is quite different from the original, but whether it looks better or worse than the original is debatable and down to the individual.
In the instance of this cat photo, my preference is for the original without the Retrolux filter. A general rule of thumb, if it distracts from the photo’s subject and focal point, than it’s perhaps better to do without. But if it enhances the photos, achieves your motive of a cohesive vintage or lightleak inspired photo set and helps focus the eye on the subject, than why not? ;)
Lomography photos can be colourful with intense lights and darks as well.
Within the Lights section of Picsart, there is a dropdown at the top of the screen that offers different blend modes. Earlier in this post, we selected the “screen” setting to create a dreamy light leak effect using one of the filters available. The dropdown has more than just Screen settings, so you can always experiment and choose the setting you prefer for a different effect.
Light 20 is applied to the photo with the overlay setting (see dropdown menu at the top of the after screen) and that created more a dynamic and colourful photo, rather than a light, dreamy look for the building interior.
So now I’ve showed you the different ways, I use the apps on my mobile device to create light leak effects on my photos. Here are ten more photos from other people to give you further inspiration!
Ten Light Leak Photos –
different subject, different approach, by different authors of the images. ;)
[ Flowers 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Close ups 1 | 2 | Scenes 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 ]
My photo of the week
This are the only thriving flowering plant in the garden below the flat right now. Everything else is drying and dying as we are experiencing a dry spell at the moment.
App Challenge Image
PicsArt, Light 18, using the Overlay setting. I like how it looks kind of mystical with the tops of the foliage reaching out to the light beams shooting down. ;) I edited the original photo with Snapseed before applying the light filter in PicsArt.
Create your challenge post from now until Sunday, 16 Mar end of your day. Post your Photo of the Week and your App-ed version of that photo on your blog. (You can follow my format above if you like).
Pic 1 – Your Photo of the Week can be taken with any equipment – a regular camera, a DSLR, a smartphone, hack even a pin-hole camera if you so choose!
Pic 2 – Pic 2 is optional. The theme this week is Light Leak Effects, but if that is not your cup of tea, you are free to choose other app effects for your app-ed photo. In all cases, it would be helpful if you can name the app effect used so we can understand what you are doing ; )
Add the challenge badge and link your post to the host and co-host sites. Be nice and visit with some of the other challengers for this week! :) And do remember to leave me your blog post link in the comments below, in case I do not receive the pingback/trackback from your link.
For more information, you can read in detail more about the challenge and the instructions at the About page here. You can also grab the badges here.
Questions? Feel free to pose any questions in the comments below or email me at weliveinaflat@gmail.com. Next up, what happens after you have linked up? Why you start getting your challenger photo grid filled up!
Every week, challenger grids get updated with the new photos! At the end, you get to grab your grid off this blog for your own pleasure. :D Meanwhile, you can view one another’s photos on the blogs by clicking on the linked numbered weeks above each challenger’s photo grid. I will try to keep it up to date as quick as I can ;)
Host| weliveinaflat.com
[ photos tagged “snappy happy” ]
Host| firebonnet.com
[week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12]
Challenger| 1stworlddog.com
[week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12]
Challenger| Little Dogs Laughed
[week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12]
Challenger| Roxy The Traveling Dog
[week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12]
Challenger| completelydisappear.com
[week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12]
Challenger| Zeke’s Adventures
[week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12]
Challenger| sassmuffins.com
[week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12]
Challenger| Blogagaini
[week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12]
Challenger| Claim your photo grid, join the challenge today!
Next week, we’ll get Snappy H’appy with Colour Filters! Thanks for checking out this Photo Challenge and making it all the way to the end of the post! ;)
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