kiiroitori

The most adorable Rilakkuma and Hello Kitty cookies

by modes4u March 16, 2013

The cutest cookies ever! By accident we discovered the shop Icingland in Hong Kong that sells the most amazing cookies. Their icing and decoration is so detailed, it is really impressive. They have incredibly cute Hello Kitty and Rilakkuma cookies from different collections. Their website is just in Chinese, but obviously you can also send them pictures and they will make and decorate cookies for you.

Incredible Hello Kitty Cookies

It is so impressing how detailed the decoration is

These cookies are inspired by the fairy tale collection that was available at McDonalds in 2012

Cute Rilakkuma squirrels and mushroom cookies

Kiiroitori looks great on cookies

Great Rilakkuma Halloween cookies

March 16, 2013 0 comment

Tokyo Gift Show Impressions

by modes4u March 3, 2013

A couple of weeks ago part of our team flew to Japan and visited the Tokyo International Gift Show. You might have seen one or two pictures on Facebook already, but now we selected a few more to show you. Taking pictures on the Gift Show is really not easy, because you’re only allowed to take pictures of shows, but not of the exhibition booths. If you try to, security is there right away. Still we managed to photograph secretly to get some general impressions. One of the highlights was of course to see Rilakkuma and friends. They were dressed in Hawaii outfits, as this is the theme of the newest Rilakkuma collection that we will have in our shop soon.

Hawaii Rilakkuma and friends during a show

They were real stars, Kiiroitori has an assiastant and security to bring him to the show

They were real stars, Kiiroitori has an assistant and security to bring him to the show

At the San-X booth we dicovered lovely Sentimental Circus fabrics

At the San-X booth we discovered lovely Sentimental Circus fabrics

A super cute machine to decorate your Pocky or chocolate sticks

In this funny game you have to build a high tower with Dango Mochi sticks

Lots of funny games and stationery

A kwaii Hello Kitty area with a traditional Japanese Hello Kitty

A kawaii Hello Kitty area with a traditional Japanese Hello Kitty

Everybody wantet to take their picture with one of the huge characters running around on the Gift Show

Everybody wanted to take their picture with one of the huge characters running around on the Gift Show

What a super kawaii panda bear!

Sandra with lots of Gift Show goodies

The very futuristic exhibition centre in Tokyo

March 3, 2013 0 comment

Rilakkuma baking classes in Hong Kong

by modes4u November 4, 2012

How adorable. In one of the local Hong Kong magazines we found a big article about baking classes in Hong Kong, where you learn how to make lovely Rilakkuma pastry. One class really just focuses on baking the cutest Rilakkuma and Kiiroitori cookies, in another class, which is especially for families, you learn how to make the cutest Rilakkuma macaroons.

You just want to eat these Rilakkuma cookies right away!

In another Hong Kong class you learn how to make Rilakkuma macaroons

The Rilakkuma macaroons are really lovely

November 4, 2012 0 comment

Meet the San-X characters: Rilakkuma and friends

by modes4u August 20, 2012

As you might know we are an official San-X retailer and currently stock nearly 1,000 products from the Japanese company. But even though most of our customers know the cute Rilakkuma bear, the Sentimental Circus animals or the little Mamomega seals, you might not know the story behind them. This is why we start a new mini series on our blog today. In the next weeks we will introduce 4 of the most popular San-X characters more detailed, tell you about their characteristics, relationships and friends.

And today we start with probably the most well-known member of the San-X family: Rilakkuma bear and friends.

Rilakkuma

When translated literally from Japanese into English, Rilakkuma means ‘Relax bear’ or ‘bear in a relaxed mood’. So the name already tells you the most important thing about the little bear. He loves to lay around, is never in distress or a hassle and just enjoys his life. This is why you always see him lounging on pillows, meadows, chairs, relaxing in cafes and so on. Rilakkuma totally loves food, so you’ll see him eat a lot. Some of his favourite dishes are pancakes, omelettes, dumplings and puddings. He also enjoys listening to music or watching TV.

Rilakkuma has a mysterious zipper on his back and you see a white cloth with blue polka dots when you open it, still nobody knows what’s inside Rilakkuma. Rilakkuma is most of the time surrounded by his friends Korilakkuma bear and Kiiroitori chick.

Rilakkuma honey bear mini Memo Pad by San-X

Rilakkuma bear die-cut Letter Set by San-X

San-X mini Memo Pad Rilakkuma bear picnic & guitar

Korilakkuma

The little white bear Korilakkuma is a friend of Rilakkuma, but sometimes also a little troublemaker. He is a cheeky little fella who likes to make a joke and sometimes also enjoys annoying his friends. He emulates Rilakkuma a lot and also likes musik and sleeping. He is quite adorable when asleep.

Rilakkuma small plastic folder 3-pocket picnic flowers

San-X Rilakkuma white bear mini Memo Pad with sweets

Rilakkuma A4 plastic file folder cookie & sleeping hat

Kiiroitori

The little yellow bird Kiiroitori is a tidy chick that likes to clean. As Rilakkuma is lazy and messy, Kiiroitori often scolds him, but ends up cleaning up his mess after him. Korilakkuma is also often mischievous towards the little bird, so Kiiroitori sometimes has a hard time with the two bears. Still they are best friends and love each other. Kiiroitori likes to save, he saves little treats or treasures that he gets or finds.

chick Kiiroitori with cookies A4 plastic file folder

yellow chick A4 plastic file folder Rilakkuma San-X

Rilakkuma Memo Pad with bears and chick by San-X Japan

August 20, 2012 5 comments

modes4u team: Rilakkuma asks……. Lok

by modes4u July 31, 2012

It’s time to introduce another one of our staff members to you in our new blog series. This month you’ll get to know Lok – one of our packing staff – a bit better.

Hello, who are you by the way?

I’m Lok. I’m 24 years old and was born in Hong Kong. I love everything yellow and adore food, so Hong Kong is the right place for me, as there are hundreds of restaurants with different kind of food. Before I started working at modes4u I was working in the jewelry industry. Although I’m still pretty young, I am the “oldest” employee at modes4u, because I started working here in 2010.

What is your job at modes4u?
Together with my colleague Karen I am responsible for everything that is connected to sending the packages: I pick the products for the different orders from our warehouse, pack them and prepare the postal formalities. I also cut the fabrics from the big bolts for all the fabric orders that we get every day. And of course I go to the post office every evening with all the packages to mail them all over the world. So my job is very active, I am up on my feet and moving all day long.

What is your favourite product or your favourite category at modes4u?
Yellow is my favourite colour, so I like all the yellow products in our shop. The yellow Kiiroitori chick from the Rilakkuma family is really cute.
And since we got quite a few clay books which show pictures of clay craftings, I am also quite interested in this. Until now I have just crafted some little clay items, but the pictures are really inspiring and I love to look at them.

What do you like most about your job at modes4u?
We are a really cool team. Everybody helps each other and is really nice. The atmosphere in the team is great, everybody is working hard, but still we laugh a lot and have fun at the office. Plus the products are so lovely. I really enjoy picking them, and sometimes I’m really surprised when I pick new products that I haven’t seen before.

You’re surrounded by creative stuff the whole day. Do you like to craft or to be creative in your leisure time?
I really love to craft and to try all kinds of different styles. In Hong Kong you can get most crafting accessories super cheap so that’s a great opportunity to experiment and find out what you like. I sometimes craft jewelry like earrings and also like to sew little accessories and pouches. But my latest obsession is leather crafting. I have visited a class where I learned how to work with that material and already made all kinds of things.

Our office mascot Rilakkuma is really taller than Lok, but she has far more power than the lazy bear

Lok sewed this little Rilakkuma herself

One of Loks first clay craftings – she did it all without any molds

July 31, 2012 1 comment

Rilakkuma Chocolate & Coffee promotion in Hong Kong Mall

by modes4u July 18, 2012

What a yummy surprise for summer! The mall ‘The One’ in Hong Kong just started a super cute Rilakkuma promotion. There are three Rilakkuma Chocolate & Coffee booths with very kawaii installations for taking pictures. You even have to stand in line if you want to get a nice photo with the huge plastic Rilakkuma, Korilakkuma and Kiiroitori eating chocolate and drinking coffee, because it’s so popular. The little exhibition really has lovely details like a huge cup of Rilakkuma coffee, Rilakkuma chocolates and so on. If you shop for over 300 HKD in the mall, you can play a funny Rilakkuma game and win a special gift, if you purchase items over 1200 HKD you even get a free Rilakkuma tote bag. Of course there is also a big merchandising booth in the mall where you can buy all kinds of Rilakkuma stuff. Lucky for all of you who don’t live in Hong Kong: You can get really a lot of Rilakkuma stuff in our shop too.

The entrance of the mall already shows that Rilakkuma is visiting

The major Rilakkuma booth with cute details and lots of chocolate

These super kawaii Rilakkuma chocolates are probably almost 50cm high

The very cute Rilakkuma coffee cup was one of the most popular photo motifs

A really big Rilakkuma chocolate cookie jar

In this booth you can stand with Rilakkuma behind the counter of Rilakkuma Cafe

All the booths are designed in brown and pink of course, just like the real collection

In the third booth you can relax with Rilakkuma at home on the sofa having hot chocolate

The exhibition are from above - even the floor has a Rilakkuma design

The exhibition from above – even the floor has a Rilakkuma design

There is a big merchandising booth with hundreds or Rilakkuma items to buy

The whole mall is in Rilakkuma mode – even the elevator doors

July 18, 2012 7 comments

Cute Rilakkuma Forest plush charms at 7-Eleven stores in Hong Kong

by modes4u March 30, 2012

Awww, this is just adorable. The convenience store 7-Eleven in Hong Kong just started a new Rilakkuma promotion this week. Now the whole city is covered with gigantic Rilakkuma stickers and posters on all their shops. During the 7-Eleven x Rilakkuma Forest Collection campaign customers can get seven super cute plush charms with suckers by collecting stamps. For every purchase worth 20 HKD you receive one. Once you’ve collected 15 stamps you get a charm for free. If you can’t wait just add 12 HKD when you have 5 stamps and get one too. Rilakkuma, Korilakkuma and Kiiroitori have super kawaii forest designs, which all you Rilakkuma fans know already. There are toadstools, capes and squirrels involved. The charms look totally adorable and are pretty big. Which one do you like best? Unfortunately we couldn’t touch them yet to test their softness, as the 7-Eleven stores just display them in glass boxes. But we’re pretty sure they’re super soft and extremely squeezable.

Super kawaii 7-Eleven shop front with huge Rilakkuma stickers

Rilakkuma, Korilakkuma and Kiiroitori on a sticker flower meadow

Big pictures of the 7 plush charms of the 7-Eleven x Rilakkuma Forest Collection

Inside the stores you can take a look at all the charms – behind glass unfortunately

One of the official photos for the Rilakkuma promotion

March 30, 2012 2 comments

San-X store modes4u: Nearly 1000 San-X products in our shop

by modes4u March 7, 2012

We are still busy adding the products from our last San-X delivery to our shop. It was the largest shipping we ever got from the Japanese company and made us realize how much of their products we sell on modes4u.com. We are really proud that we offer almost 1000 San-X items. Currently we have more than 700 of their products in stock and order more and new things regularly. Last year our shop also became an official San-X retailer, which made us very happy.

San-X is one of the largest character oriented stationary and gift manufacturing companies in Japan and one of our biggest suppliers for cute stationery, bento boxes and accessories. The characters they developed belong to the most popular ones in our shop. Do you want to know which characters you can find in our little modes4u San-X store? Here are our Top 5:

1. Rilakkuma

We have nearly 500 items with the relaxed brown bear and his friends Korilakkuma (white bear) and Kiiroitori (yellow chick) in our shop and currently stock over 400. No other San-X character has such a strong presence on modes4u.com, and our customers love Rilakkuma. We mainly carry Rilakkuma products in our stationery section, but also in accessories and bento boxes. The Rilakkuma meets honey collection and the Rilakkuma Chocolate and Coffee collection are totally popular in our shop.

Rilakkuma Memo Pad with bears and chick by San-X Japan

2. Kutusita Nyanko

By now we already carry 100 products with the cute little black cat wearing white socks on every paw. Around 80 items can currently be bought, especially in the form of stickers, pencils, erasers, deco tapes, plushies and cellphone accessoires. Kutusita Nyanko has many cute cat friends in different colours.

kawaii Kutusita Nyanko black cat mini Memo Pad

3. Sentimental Circus

More and more of our customers are in love with the cute Sentimental Circus crew. The 80 items we currently stock out of the 90 products displaying the cute abandoned toys have a very special aesthetic and just look adorable. 9 different characters belong to Sentimental Circus with rabbit Shappo being the main figure of the circus team. He is the circus director with the top-hat.

Sentimental Circus ring binder notebook aimals San-X

4. Mamegoma Seals

The cute baby seals have a huge Fan base, therefore most products we get are sold out super quickly. This is why we ‘only’ have around 35 of the 90 products in stock at the moment. The cute Mamegoma seals charm with a fun and positive attitude. Our customers love the stationery products such as folders, memo pads or stickers with the small swimmers.

Mamegoma A4 plastic file folder San-X cloverleaves

5. Kireizukin racoon

Kireizukin is a little racoon that loves to clean and sew when he is wearing his colourful hood. All of the 25 products we carry with the little animal belong to our stationery section, but only half of them are currently available in the form of memo pads, folders, stickers or pencil cases.

cute mini Memo Pad Kireizukin racoon sewing machine

Of course we also carry items with other San-X characters such as pink rabbit Chou-Fleur, cute dog Berry Puppy or platypus Kamonohashikamo. Which San-X character is your favourite?

March 7, 2012 4 comments