You might have heard of the old Micropets and now Takara Tomy has released a new, more interactive version of this critter. Ahw, just look at it:

The series consists of nine different pets, new versions such as adorable bunnies and tigers will be released later this year. The robo-animals, with names like Whipped Cream and Mocha, can move around and avoid obstacles themselves.

Each pet moves at the snap of your fingers, in four modes:

1. Chase mode - chases after its ball or other objects.
2. Stroll mode - moves around while avoiding obstacles.
3. Song mode - sings one of the two installed songs.
4. Duet mode - sings together with another micropet.

Watch this youtube video to see the micropet in action.

You can adopt them at Strapya World or Brando for about $20,-

Can’t get enough of this pet? Enjoy yourself by playing this simple game - move the micropet along with your mouse to collect candy, but avoid all obstacles. Or put a cute paper home together for your pet.

Yes, I’ve been gone for a while, let’s call it a summer break. The last month and probably until Christmas (=vacation!) I’m up till my ears in work, but I do hope to blog more often. Also I’ve finally updated the cute links directory at http://www.kao-ani.com/cute

As you might know I really enjoy cute food illustrations and goodies. Some people even take it to the extent of creating real kawaii food. My hubby stumbled upon this cake on the internet:

It’s a birthday cake for a girl who wanted Octonauts themed cupcakes. More sweetness, including a pizza cake , Can be found at Coco Cake.

Hello Noami has probably baked a million of cute cupcakes, considering her impressive Flickr account. One of my favourites are these creations a based on Puccho - Japanese candy:

Hungry? You can find lots of recipes on the internet, like these ones. But if your oven has just broken down -like mine- you might like to create a treat with no calories. How about some plush cupcakes?

Instructions and a pattern are available at Fantastic Toys

To end this sugary sweet entry in style, I would like to plug the Tummie Friends .

Messy garden

About two weeks ago we discovered that something in the bathroom had to be leaking. There was a big ugly spot visible on the ceiling downstairs.

My dad came to the rescue and tried to fix the toilet. But it wouldn’t stop leaking. Turned out that the toilet tank had a crack. In-wall toilet tanks are supposed to last for at least 20 years, but the previous owners probably wanted to save a few bucks and opted for a cheap one My dad had to break that part of the wall down and we ordered a new tank. Never thought I would go shopping for an in-wall tank, had no idea what it looked like until last week

Now the downside of the renovation work is that me and my hubby have to clean up the mess each day -for a good couple of hours- because we have to use the bathroom. I hope it will be finished by next week because I want my clean and uncluttered bathroom back!

We’re also working on the garden, you can see in the picture what it looked like a few weeks ago. The gravel will be replaced with bricks and my brother in law is helping out with the plants. If everything goes according to plan it should be finished in two weeks. I can’t wait to start decorating it ^_^

Thursday night (in the Netherlands) we turned on CNN to watch the news on Michael Jackson. In the morning we found out he had died. Although I wasn’t a huge fan, his music was there during my childhood and teenage years. It’s weird that he’s gone now. I feel so sorry for him, he never seemed to be at ease. I think his father is largely to blame for this, forcing him to perform at such an early age. My hubby and I had a discussion about it and thought it looked a lot like the way Elvis had died. This is the cartoon he made about it. Today I read the blog post that Lisa Marie Presley wrote and it explains a lot.