June Shieh

Boxes on shelf at a store showing the Celebration Dollhouse with rainbow roof next to a taller box for the newer Movie Dollhouse with pink roof, LCD screen eyes, and a spiral tower. Lower shelf shows smaller sets of the Movie Mermaid play set with a slide and in the shadows next to it is a light-up Movie Mermaid doll

Toys for the Gabby’s Dollhouse Movie are on shelf already! (This was at Target but it’s also at Walmart & other stores www.walmart.com/ip/GABBY-HOU... )

YouTube video by Universal Pictures Gabby's Dollhouse: The Movie | Official Trailer

ICYMI here’s the trailer for the Gabby’s Dollhouse movie coming out this Sept. 26 starring Kristen Wiig and yup that’s Gloria Estefan, too! Tell all your favorite preschoolers! youtu.be/S-GFCPEWqe4?...

‘Gabby’s Dollhouse’ Debuts Magical New Toys Ahead of First Movie This Fall (Exclusive) The popular preschool TV series' dollhouse gets a high-tech upgrade with whimsical interactive accessories — get the first look of the set and more movie-inspired toys here.

Cat’s out of the bag! A Meowgical Dollhouse I designed, with animated LCD windows, 7 buttons, music, elevator detection, and a spiral slide comes out this fall for the #gabbysdollhouse movie. It interacts via RF with the new Pandy Plush & Roleplay Cat ears. www.hollywoodreporter.com/lifestyle/sh...

Illustration of DJ Catnip, with red envelopes in his pocket, holding up a plate of oranges, puppeteering 2 green snake puppets dressed in red Chinese traditional garb, to entertain 4 little Cupcake Cousins and Cakey Cat (all cat characters from Gabby’s Dollhouse), who is holding chopsticks and a bamboo steamer of dumplings. A row of 5 red lanterns hang overhead, and a vertical red banner hangs on the left with gold Chinese words that mean “Happy New Year”

Happy Lunar Year! I made a #gabbysdollhouse drawing of DJ Catnip, Cakey, and the Cupcake Cousins to symbolize my recent trip to Asia for the holiday aka the Spring Festival in Asia. www.instagram.com/share/BAEzJX...

A corner restaurant with brown awnings and an orange sign with black Chinese letters and English in small font below that says “Xiang Nian Rice Balls”

A to-go bottle of soy milk, and two wrapped packets of food with the restaurant’s orange logo stickered on, sitting on a plastic bag on a stone table with a playground in the background

A small fried cruller dough stick (“yo-tiao” in Chinese) and a bit-open Fantuan showing the fillings: marinated tofu, mustard, greens, boiled egg, pork floss, and fried crunchy yo-tiao.

A gua bao stuffed with boiled egg, cilantro and pork that looks as big as a burger

I had a hearty fantuan here (rice tightly wrapped around breakfast ingredients like a burrito with no tortilla) but I overdid it getting the gua bao (like a steamed bread taco). Soy milk comes with a yo tiao (fried cruller dough stick) to dip in it. No tables but there is a small park nearby w seats

Two posters in a Domino’s Pizza window showing different pizzas specials with unusual toppings, like shrimp and greens and both have a volcano looking center to hold dip. The one on the left has a cheesy yellow dip and the one on the right has a creamy white dip with maybe green scallions on top.

I didn’t try it but Domino’s has some crazy offerings in Taiwan! They got pizzas w a cheese dip built into the center! I mean, maybe I would try one out of morbid curiosity on a future trip lol

A handful of postcards in front of a red Taiwanese post office box With two slots, one for air mail, and one for prompt delivery

If you are in Taiwan during Lunar New Year and want to send postcards, go to Lai Hao gift shops (in Ximen and Yong Kang) because they also sell postage stamps which you will need when the post office is closed for the holiday.

A picture of a cup of soy milk behind a close-up of a souvenir pouch from Taiwan. The pouch is yellow with a cartoon drawing of a giant face of a Chinese man with big wire glasses trembling flared, slightly runny nostrils while stuffing a cookie in his mouth.

Back in LA and my car battery is dead of course. Otherwise generally considering myself really lucky that my water & power is fine and the LA fires are finally contained! Will post more about TW but this sums up my trip for now & why I need to switch to salads & smoothies for the next month or three

I wandered more into Ximending & found a tiny shop that sells custom ink stamps with really cute Sanrio character handles, so I got one with my Chinese name and they made it so fast! In an alley behind Uniqlo near some tattoo parlors. Here’s how it turned out:

Happy Lunar New Year from Taipei! Gong Xi Fa Cai! (Hope you get rich!) Wishing you all good health and happiness. Here are cute Lion dancers I saw from inside Ximen Red House

Outdoor installation and decoration for new year of a gold & red Chinese palace-like throne with a cute little sculpture of a Chinese goddess inside. The Chinese sign over her translates to our lady in heaven.

Selfie with a bite full of double berry donut that I am holding

Mascots for Mister Donut: A little toy lion that looks like he has emoji doughnut for his mane and a little toy lamb that looks like it’s been inserted through a big French cruller donut

A little yellow bald-headed toy lion with a brown mochi donut piece separate on the table top as his detached mane.

The coffee donut from Mister Donut tasted weird so I had to redeem it today with a double berry one. Also picked up a Pon de Lion and French Cruller lamb toy. Taking a bite in Ximen in front of a cute goddess display.

So lucky to find postage stamps sold at Lai Hao gift shop because the post office is closed during the holiday. Figuring out who gets which postcard now.

The iconic mascot character sculptures that represent Yongkong Street. Three mice, one red, one orange, one black with white faces. The smallest is dressed like a baby, the biggest at center, is dressed like a chef, holding a tray of tea, and the last is dressed in a business suit and holding a bowl of mango shaved ice

A tray of funny hand-felted pins. 8 are profile views of capybaras with oranges on their heads. Three are cat butts, including their testicles. One is a big corgi butt.

2 Snoopy sibling plushes (Marbles & Olaf) and a Patty plush

A black sweatshirt that displays diagrams of what might be various ways to win Mahjong (in Chinese text I can’t read)

Quick stop in fun Yongkang, may need to head back to shop & eat more but I need to check if I even have space left in my luggage 😅 I love Lai Hao & Jumeng gift shops for their stylish, fun, & cute gifts. Also there is a corner shop that has the best freeze dried fruit and yummy yogurt samples.

Three-quarter view of figures that look like little creatures popping out of milk carton shapes in mostly orange and green colors

A few remaining Gabby’s dollhouse toys on the shelf, mingled with other brands

My left hand closed to show a manicure in a soft shimmering pink glitter and shiny cherry blossom sequins

Very low extreme view looking up at me with a donut bite stuffed in my mouth, holding the donut, with the Taipei 101 building behind me. I’m wearing a pink sweatshirt with red Chinese words that read 謝謝 or Thank You (repeated from top to bottom like that common plastic shopping bag in English)

Here are some figures of monsters that are hidden in snack packages? Found in a toy store at Eslite Spectrum Xindian mall, where I also found more Gabby Dollhouse toys & got my nails done. Then I went to Taipei 101 & had a Mister Donut.

Three chubby plushes of a penguin, a duck and a slice of bread, all with vacant eyes and a very funny lipped mouth designed to hold cell phones and a tote bag with the same slice of bread character with funny lips

An assortment of magnets of various characters lying down for a nap, including a polar bear, a black cat, and a lady in a pink dress

Four potato-shaped plush toys of a pink rabbit, an orange tiger, a yellow cat, and a gray cat, all facing a tiny red table with a picture of a Mahjong game in action

A picture of Six assorted keychains, all shaped like a slice of bread each one has a cartoon of an anthropomorphized slice of bread with a weird face in goofy poses

I read somewhere that it’s bad luck to buy books during Lunar New Year (which sounds oddly fascist to me lol) but I went back to Eslite to browse their fun gift section. I didn’t buy these but you can pretend I did. (I did get some cute Frixion pens & Snoopy tape, though.)

Wooderful Life has enchanting shops around Taipei, where you can customize mechanical wooden musical wind-up toys. They sell a few other token crafts too, so I bought a Chip ‘n’ Dale punch embroidery kit.

Here’s my ice cream burrito getting rolled up

Sticky rice dumpling in a dark leaf wrapper w orangy brown sauce on top. Cup of guava juice & straw in the background w tiny ziplock bag of sauce

Selfie holding up a flattened fried chicken breast in a paper wrapper to show it’s as big as my face.

One person’s arm grating a big peanut brittle block into powder while another person is sprinkling cilantro on an open crepe blanketed in peanut brittle powder and 2 scoops of taro ice cream, next to a blank crepe on a metal table

Selfie standing in front of Ningxia Night market entrance, holding the ice cream burrito missing a few bites

I got a zongzi (sticky rice dumpling), guava juice, a jumbo spicy fried chicken fillet, and of course the ice cream burrito! Not pictured: strawberries wrapped in red bean/ taro and mochi that I’m saving for later. #ningxianightmarket

Booth with purple sign & Chinese green words, plus Chinese menu hanging over metal trays of darkly marinated and stewed or roasted meats

Fully battered and dried squid, skewered upright w the tentacles up, the size of pineapples

A row of neatly square flat dough on a grill, each with egg mixtures with scallions spread on top while a masked woman starts to arrange another row

Rows of plush toys sitting above pinball machines, next to a booth with balloon dart games

Ningxia Night Market was overwhelming; I felt like I had to pick 3-4 things at most. I browsed a kids’ game section at the front for a break. A couple food booths were closed and others had ridiculous lines already. Even the oyster omelet place nearby had a crazy queue. Some booths I skipped:

A cracked open Cherimoya in my hand, which is filled with white, thumb-sized long segments for each seed inside.

Dangling strings of light from trees among a city walkway with more tiny tree-like lights along grassy areas next to the walkway.

A lighted sculpture of 2 giraffes forming a heart at night

A big crowd of Asian people gathered under a tent with a big red banner sign at the front of the Ningxia Night market, with small lanterns flanking the center walking area

I just had a cherimoya for lunch and then headed to the Ningxia Night Market… where there were just too many people and queues, oh noooo

So… is it time to get a trainer and level up Sarah-Connor style now? (I gotta burn off the 50lbs I gained in Asia anyway) Gahhhhh!

Was this robot Chinese dance show related to Deepseek or is it just another horrifying tech company?

Trying to comprehend this game show (which seems like some innocent knockoff of Squid Games) in my Taipei hotel just reminds me how poor my Chinese is 😩 –never mind my Diamond levels on Duolingo

Toys R Us storefront signs and big wall banners at the entrance advertising Paw Patrol & Gabby’s Dollhouse

Selfie next to the Paw Patrol & Gabby’s Dollhouse banners

Shelves of Gabby’s dollhouse toys with Carlita cars, the Kitty Camera, Gabby figures & dolls, one last Cakey oven, and some Pandy doctor kits

Wider shot of Gabby’s Dollhouse toys around a pillar with floor-to-ceiling Gabby poster art. Gabby’s Dollhouse set and kid-sized Kitchen are against the pillar, and smaller sets are in a small window display on the shelf, surrounded by more Gabby’s play sets

A cab driver told me that the biggest Toys “R” Us in Taiwan is near my hotel, which is open despite the holiday. Nice to see the Cakey oven & Kitty Camera almost sold out & the Carlita (which I designed) so prominently on the shelves! A-meowzing!

Birds-eye view of a elegant place-setting with a cappuccino, bottle of Yakult, ice water, and two plates of custom breakfast: freshly cooked radish, cake, slices, and a pork floss omelette (in a crepe, TW style), and chopsticks and silverware on a Parkview-logo napkin

An elegantly lit hotel room with a huge king size bed, fluffed pillows, two pieces of luggage and a big curtain window next to a TV and hardwood floors

A clean modern hotel bathroom with natural light coming in over the bathtub through a big window showing a building across the street, and a lit mirror over the sink with fresh towels stacked below

A very grand, wide, entrance to a clean modern dining area with a bar in the back and bright red hanging lanterns in the front plus various red decorative display for the lunar new year

This is the longest I’ve ever stayed in hotels and it’s going to be a harsh adjustment back to normal life in my cluttered & likely smoky LA apartment. 😅 Even w. various world events and disasters, I feel immensely lucky. Thinking about my friends back in LA. Gonna find some PPE to bring back home.

I suppose this is the Taiwanese version of Dick Clark’s Rockin’ Eve. Excuse my sleepy Chinglish commentary 😅 I should look this band up to learn their lyrics & practice some Chinese!

A bunch of us (in Taipei) scratching off the Lunar New Year lotto tickets. I didn’t know the scratch-off material could be in more colors than silver! (Also I’m slow because I’m holding a puppy with my other hand)

Here’s the salesperson at the Coach Play shop applying my name in gold leaf to my free custom tag Chifeng store for Lunar New Year. What a fun job!

Just realized that I can share videos. Here’s a fun fortune-telling Year of the Snake gift I wanted to buy from a Taipei 7-11, but I realized I wouldn’t be able to bring this back to the US because it seems to include seeds.

Selfie with sweet little fluffy brown poodle

A lotto ticket with a drawing of Chinese New Year cartoony snakes mingled with red envelopes, a treasure chest, and hanging firecrackers in front of a glass of whiskey & a bottle of Hibiki whiskey

Spent Lunar NYE over dessert w my cousin & her friends who treated me to a Year of the Snake lotto ticket, whiskey, & cuddles with their little doggies. Cousins sent me home w a cherimoya (fruit), gold bunny, and a bag of sweet snack puffs