Due to the massive hack on all MediaTemple GS hosted websites (literally thousands) my website, and many others, are still experiencing random outages, slowness and broken images.

This was NOT a wordpress hack. Wordpress is secure. This was a hack perpetrated on ALL websites hosted at MediaTemple, regardless of whether they were Wordpress, Joomla, Drupa, MovableType, plain HTML or CGI driven.

All of my plain HTML websites were also hacked.

I’m going to write up a few more reviews soon, but please be patient while the web host fix the issues surrounding delivery of my website content.

So this website fell victim to the nasty SQL Injection attack that Wordpress claims doesn’t affect current versions.

Well, it DOES affect current versions. And I am not happy. Almost 20 hours dedicated now to trying to eradicate this pest from all my different websites.

When I entered the lottery to win a chance to buy Beatrice Vest (BV), I wasn’t sure I was going to keep her. You see, I’ve never been a fan of orange lipstick on Blythe, and BV’s lippy is definitely orange.

Beatrice Vest - Orange Lipstick

But on this girl, the shade actually goes nicely with her incredibly blushy cheeks and the slightly auburn tint to her long straight hair.

As is rather typical with any NEO Blythe out of the box, BVs hair is a little oily, and her fringe (or bangs to the Americans reading this) has that annoying centre-gap thing happening. But it’s nothing that a careful wash and taming won’t solve.

Beatrice Vest - Fringe Gap

When you pay this amount of money for an item though, how many tiny faults are acceptable? For me, knowing the hair is rooted in a factory means I know that the oiliness is from the machines. But I do wish a little more quality control went into the thatching of the part, and the neatness of the fringe. When you receive this it really does barely resemble the picture-perfect sample photo supplied:

Beatrice Vest Promo Photo

Let’s move on to the outfit.

EARMUFFS

Simply beautiful. Simply made, they have just the right amount of play in them to allow you to style your Blythe’s hair in various ways, and the earmuffs will still fit.

Beatrice Vest - Earmuffs

They are made of a lovely soft, fluffy white synthetic and brown velvet bows. Very pretty.

VEST

The vest is made from the same fluffy white synthetic as the earmuffs, with little pompoms at the ends of the brown velvet ties. Lined in blue cotton with white polkadots, it’s rather cute and very well sewn.

Beatrice Vest - Vest

SOCKS

The socks are stretchy polycotton. The bottom part is brown with stencilled poly brown polkadots, and the tops are a pale ocean green. Rather lovely.

SHOES

These are the same style as were released with the Jane Marple collaboration limited edition earlier in the year, but these are of a quality that I can not recommend to anyone.

Usually, the Takara branded-shoes are well made, well sized and finished with little L and R on the soles of the shoes. These look and feel like cheap knock offs.

Ridiculously oversized in comparison to Blythe’s feet – they fit my Pure Neemo Advance’s clodhopper sized feet rather nicely!

Beatrice Vest - Shoe Sizing

Made from an unusually squishy rubber, they look rather nice. The buckles are detailed incredibly well.

Beatrice Vest - Shoe Buckles

The problem is the soles. They are painted in a sticky, tacky cream paint that literally sticks to everything, and will certainly peel off over time. The paint is uneven. The soles have a thick ridge down the middle where the mold was obviously joined at the factory, meaning that the soles are not flat.

Rather disappointing quality in Takara’s usually precise execution of designs for Blythe shoes.

SHIRT

Long sleeved, dusky pink stretchy cotton. Plain. boring. Nothing to review here.

PANTIES

Plain white, lacking the velcro closure that makes them easier to change.

DRESS

I left the dress until last, because my impressions are almost entirely positive.

Negatives: I wish the brown tweed-like under skirt was removable. I think the apron-like effect of the rest of the dress would have been enhanced, and ultimately more versatile for use over other outfits if it were left off.

Beatrice Vest - Dress Detail

The stitching is impeccable, the frilly capped shoulders, the pretty ricrac detailing, the blue then red ruffle – all exquisite and my favourite part of the entire outfit!

Beatrice Vest - Dress Detailing

OVERALL

Beatrice Vest is a surprising release. The blue eyes are so intense, it’s hard to believe they don’t use this colour for every release. The other standard colours are all very meh. Her eyeshadow is a gorgeous shade of yellow/green that compliments her blushy cheeks and lips. Her auburn touched hair is beautiful and the perfect length.

Apart from the dissapointing shoes, her outfit is really rather divine, and I can see the secondary market going a little nuts for it.

Rating: 7/10

Yoko shows off my new cards

I do most of my shopping online. In fact, other than groceries, around 95% of all my purchases are made via the internet. Either via well-known auction websites or small, personal websites.

When ordering from the net, you can be taking a bit of a risk. But only the same risk you take any time you make any purchase.

When you want a watch you can go to a reputable store front, or buy it from the back of the van in the alley – you know your risks are higher with the guy with the van. The internet is no different.

What I’m actually trying to say now though, is how amazing customer service can keep me coming back to the same shop over and over.

Take Moo for example. They have never ever gotten my order correct on the first go. Never in all the years I have used them. I can hear you all thinking! Why the hell do you keep using a company that can’t even get your order right?!

The answer is quite simple – not only do they acknowledge my disappointment, they take the time not only to fix it – the take the time to explain to me how and why the error occurred. That’s way above and beyond.

Especially when the error was my own fault. See, I design for the web. Not print. I haven’t produced colour print work in more than 8 years. That’s a long time to be out of the loop. So when my cards turned up with all the blues looking very green indeed I contacted Moo.

They responded within 12 hours (they are in the UK) and explained the colour process for the particular Pantone shade I uploaded, and how printing on coated and uncoated card can make colours appear differently to how they look on the computer. They even suggested what I could do to fix the problem – slightly alter my shade to a more blue hue.

And they’d not only reprint my entire order for free – they’d upgrade me to a new product just launched – double sided full designs.

The cards arrived today and I couldn’t be happier.

New cards from Moo.com

Another kind of customer service is that which happens when you are not even a customer. I’m searching online for a particular kind of top to wear over an evening dress, in case I get a bit semiconscious about my oppai at a fancy wedding I’m heading to this month.

The store I find on eBay has something that looks perfect – but the listing is for a size that wouldn’t go over my head, let alone my chest area. I emailed the store (Tres Elegance) and asked if they had larger sizes. I wasn’t really expecting much. I had a response in less than a day, explaining they had none in stock. Such a shame really.

The very next day however, I received another email from Sue, the owner of Tres Elegance, saying if she received new stock, would I like to be informed? Not only would I, but her gentle, non-pushy approach has ensured she is now on my Favourite Sellers list without even having made a purchase from her!

If you treat customers and potential customers as the most important people in your business then they will treat you the same. And like me, pass on the good word to the world.

Head Chef and owner of Kushya in Kyoto

Having eaten out many times in Japan, I’m fairly comfortable pointing at something and then enjoying the surprise of what turns up at the table.

I can even cook a little myself

Katsudon made by Me

But as this next trip is extra special, I’m wanting to get recommendations of good restaurants that I could try for my big 40th birthday bash in Tokyo.

I’ve eaten at was called the “Best Kushiyaki Restaurant in Japan” and also at street-corner beef bowl shops that offered incredibly value for money. Couldn’t say which is better, but I can tell you I wouldn’t swap my experiences for anything.

So, Tokyo-dwellers and visitors, where can a non-Nihongi speaker go for a very nice night out with friends, and not end up being served the only two items in the world she loathes – unagi and Sea Urchin?