Muji Yourself at Muji Central

April 6 was marked the 71st anniversary of the Little Prince & where was I? Trying to attend to my crazy busy schedule (and finding some me time in between). Gahh..So here’s my mega late submission to the Thinkie Tank. Well, okay. I didn’t submit this anymore but I’ve been planning to make one since this tweet.

Actually, I’ve been reflecting about this quote quite a lot lately (mostly when I’m stuck in traffic or when I’m in the bathroom *TMI!*). Sometimes I don’t know if I actually need everything I have or I need to do whatever I’m actually doing–and for what? You know that awkward moment when you suddenly question your existence & purpose in life? I get that a lot.

Anyway, I hope you also get to spend a few minutes to a few hours figuring out what really is essential to you and hopefully, we will all have the courage to declare to that public that we’re letting go of certain things & it’s okay. *Breathe in, breathe out.* But wait, I think I should stop here or else I’ll end up rephrasing the lyrics of Let It Go from Frozen.

Anyway, speaking of existential reflections. I don’t really know how many times I’ve already said it but most of the time, I don’t really know what it is that I’m doing except for the fact that it makes me happy. If you’ve been reading the blog for a while, you know how much I love origami & colored papers. Last year, during the MT Casa Washi Tape Exhibit at Heima, I practically hoarded lots of colored paper from Muji just so that we can cover the roof. Well, staring at our place right now, I just realized, I don’t just get art materials from Muji, we also have a shelf, a tall clear drawer, a few dividers, a pair of bedroom slippers, notebooks & clear bottles for cosmetics from the same store. I also get my cat & dog paper clips for my feline & canine loving friends there.

Upon reading the invite about the Muji Yourself event where it said “for the kids & kids at heart”, I went, “Oh my gosh! That’s me!” I don’t think the kid inside me–the one who easily gets excited and loves discovering new fun things–will ever grow up!

Muji has moved to a new place in BGC. They’re now at the second floor of Bonifacio High Street Central. Upon arriving, we were greeted by a pretty Bizu Dessert Table: chocolate tartlets, animal cookies & choco lollippops! We had lots of blue, purple & bluegreen translucent brushes as well as art materials to choose from.

The thing that attracted me the most was the textile paint. I’m not very familiar with textile paint & it always scares me just the way acrylic does. However, looking at our overwhelming choices: crayons, oil pastel, stencils & markers, I realized that with the primary colors + black and white textile paints, I can expand my palette. I spent more more than half the time mixing colors. I was telling Ava and Thei that it looks as if long after the event is done, you will still find me searching for a particular hue until I’m satisfied–with practically zero actual output. I slightly panicked because I can’t seem to get a good shade of teal even when I always do with watercolor. Luckily, our tablemates shared their cup of teal with me and that prompted me to start painting (because…ermm…umm…everyone else has started except me).

I was initially planning to paint random geometric figures but with the heat of the sun outside, I just had to resort to my go-to Googly Gooey food prop, popsicles! I just thought what a perfect workspace Muji has prepared for us. They have stuff that Instagram dreams are made of. There was enough natural coming from one side of the store, we had a clean matte table, there was faux grass, glasses of yellow & blue lemonade with pretty polka dots–what more could you ask for? 🙂

Clockwise: Ice Cream on Tote Bags by my seatmate Thei Palijo of Nuffnang Philippines. We agreed that we should be using the same color palette & theme 🙂 Lower Left: The hold-it-right-there-don’t-drink-it-yet Blue Lemonade shot. Upper Left: Just one of my favorite sections inside the Muji Central store. 🙂

The event was hosted by S̶c̶a̶r̶l̶e̶t̶t̶ ̶J̶o̶h̶a̶n̶s̶s̶o̶n̶ G Tongi-Walters. Her cute kids Sakura & Kenobi also joined in the tote bag painting fun! The rest of the guests were actually busy stamping notebooks with letters. When you purchase a tote bag or notebook from Muji, you will also get to design them with the available stamps. 🙂

Who’s that guy on the lower left? That’s Ponggo proudly wearing his Ponggo apron. (How meta!) He insisted that I take a picture of him at the parking lot. 🙂

Happy Crafters (L-R): Paul Chuapoco of Paul the PR Guy, Isobel Althea Paljio of Nuffnang, Nikko Panti of Madhouse MNL, Ava Te-Zabat of ArtsyAva, Ponggo, Denise Cua & Jel Directo of Nuffnang Philippines & Mika Wee of Pepper.ph

All in all it was a fun & colorful weekend! Thank you so much Muji for having us! Don’t forget to drop by your nearest Muji branch for all the crafty goodness & check out the new Muji Central in Bonifacio High Street Central. 2/F,BHS Central. 🙂

Website: www.Muji.com/ph/
Facebook: Facebook.com/Muji.PH
Twitter: @MUJI_PH