Tokyo Girls Collection

Today I went to the

"17th TOKYO GIRLS COLLECTION 2013 AUTUMN/WINTER"

Held at the Saitama Super Arena, the event exhibited a "Fashion Fiesta" to promote the concept of a "girls lifestyle" of fashion, music, beauty, and art.

The program included:

FASHION SHOWS
I was so stoked because I got to finally see some of my favorite models walk the runway such as Hinano Yoshikawa, Lina Fujii, Ellie Rose, Rola, Mai Miyagi, Melody Yoko, and so many other beauties.

LIVE ARTIST PERFORMANCES
Kana Nishino was one of the main performances. She was so adorable and wonderful. I really enjoyed her the most.

MISS TGC COMPETITION
and
SPONSORED BOOTHS

It was a lot bigger than I expected. There were so many people; the entire arena was full, so it was kind of hard to find a seat.

The best part was that they gave away complimentary G O O D I E  B A G S !!!

The bags were full of lookbooks, advertisements and samples by sponsors.

Some of the samples were products of:

shampoo and conditioner (Oilim) , amino mineral refreshing gel (Za Cosmetics Japan), oil blotting papers (Sense of Place), eye contact solution (Abbott Medical Optics), diet/ enzyme jelly (Truffe de Beauty), diet gummies (Svelty), laundry detergent (Laundrin'), and condoms (Glamorous Butterfly).

Love being a girl <3

Satisfying Day at Shin-Okubo

I did Chinatown, so whats next??

Koreatown !!!!

Shin-Okubo Korea Town is just a 10min walk through Kabuki-Cho from the Shinjuku Station which is super convenient for me; no need to take the train when its a beautiful day out. I love walking anyway :]

Majority of the people working there are Korean who are bilingual. cool!
This area is abundant with 3 things:

1) Korean food
2) Korean beauty products
3) K-Pop stores

I started off my adventure walking down Okubo-dori, right where the Shin-Okubo Station is. I first stopped by one of several Korean supermarkets. This popular place is named Chongane. They have Korean groceries and food on the 1st floor. I love how they offer samples of all the kimchi and banchan!!
The 2nd floor is known as Skin Garden where they have all the Korean cosmetics and beauty products.

Then I went to Seoul Ichiba for more groceries. This is my favorite supermarket there.
Got my lunch there~~

My Korean lunch set:

kimbap

dukboki

kimchi pajeon

(very traditional, common Korean comfort food)

I'm in love with PAJEON, so I bought another whole pack of it
yes I ate it ALLLLLLL .....oops!


Girl loves her food too much. You guys gotta know that I came here for the

F O O D > . < !!

I noticed that Hotteok was selling on every street corner. I finally tried these puppies and OMG oishii <3

Hotteok is a popular Korean street snack that is grilled, pancake-like that comes with a variety of fillings.

I got the traditional honey one with brown sugar.

AHHH soo yummy~











Walking back down towards the Shinjuku Station, I had to hit my fave place Don Quijote.
This one in Shin-Okubo is particularly famous since its the biggest location and is in the heart of Koreatown.

This alley that Don Quijote is located in is a very popular spot because it is packed with the best Korean dessert cafes and beauty stores.

I also stopped by two more Korean super markets on this street below Okubo-Dori called Ababaka Fudado and Kankoku Hiroba to get more goodies >.<

Going to all these Korean grocery stores, I realized how much I love yakbap <3 I just wanted to mention that LOL. Its so good, you guys should try it sometime. It basically sweet steamed rice with nuts and raisins. It has such a different taste and chewy texture that I dig. 

And I bought SOOOO many snacks. 

I had to.

 One of my favorites....

YAKGWA 

Its a Korean traditional sweet confectionary made from wheat four, honey, and seasame oil.

So simple........but so good

Thank god I had a walk home to look forward to because I was in desperate need to burn off all those carbs today HAHAHAHA!! Im cray cray. 

Yokohama's Chinatown

One of my aunts lives near Yokohama, so today I went to Yokohama Chukagai.

Its is known as Chinatown, which is a pretty famous and touristic spot in the Tokyo area.

I coordinated my get-up especially for this outing: 

Top: Brandy Melville
Bottoms: American Apparel
Stockings: Avantgarde
Shoes: Deandri

GAHHH it was so much fun~ mainly for one reason.....

the F O O D!!!

Of course many people venture out to Chinatown for its traditional and spiritual customs of visiting the temples and festivals. It is also nice to see the beautiful scenery and atmosphere of the decorated temples and buildings. 

But another big reason that I think we can all admit that the whole point of going there is for the delicious Chinese food!!!

I ordered these assorted dumpling skewers that an old cute obaa-chan was grilling!

I got the ones on the left..
it came with 4 different kinds...
~pork shumai
~niku-man
~niku manju
~and another type of shumai (sorry I can't remember)

SUCH a good deal

AHHHH I LOVE SHUMAI <3

NOM

NOM

NOMS 

Look at how happy I am ^o^!!!!

**DESSERT TIME**

I got the most amazing mango pudding parfait.

bottom: warm mango pudding 

top: andofu (Chinese almond jelly) ice cream soft-served

toppings: boba

I could die happy

Then I couldn't leave without eating the traditional sesame balls.
These things are so bad for my diet but so worth it.
These little baddies are glutinous rice cakes deep fried and coated with sesame. They are filled with ooey gooey anko (red bean paste). Perfect.

I had to be a P I G today. I totally reminded myself of those people who get turned into fat pigs in the Miyazaki film "Spirited Away" TTATT. 

Lastly I stopped by to check out where they make the Baby Star ramen snacks! 

Thanks Sonoe-chan for such a fun and satisfying day!!

Im gonna go die of over-indulging my self now. Don't know if I'll see you soon. 

byes~

Settling in My Crib

I was lucky to find this really awesome apartment near Shinjuku where the price was low but the room is big!! Thats an incredible deal because living in Tokyo is expensive; plus all the places are super compact and tiny.

I live in whats called a "shared house." I love it here because I only have one other roommate, and we have a huge kitchen and shower room that we share along with my own bedroom that came with a TV, big bed, drawers, and basically everything ^ . ^!!

This is where I keep all of my babies.

I'm such a shoe-girl. L0L

I had to have a special place to keep them so that I can admire them all the time 

tee hee hee!

Gosh I love having my own place :D

I then took a trip to ドンキホーテ (Don Quijote) which is a huge chain store that sells literally everything that you need at a discounted price!!! This store is like heaven to me because I go here at least every week to stock up on my beauty cosmetics which can get super pricey anywhere else.

I love the Japanese facial care brand called AHA+. I have super sensitive skin that is acne prone, so this brand makes real good facial cleaners and an esthetic soap bar for my conditions.

Don Quijote also is the only place that carries my favorite brand of falsies known as "Nature is Lovely." They make my eyes look so cute without looking too scary and made-up. Its a natural look and the shape of the lashes look the best on me. 

and more stuff from my Don Qui haul...

Since my hair is on the frizzy side, imagine how hard it is managing it in Japan's humidity?!?!

Thus I had to pick up a bunch of hair serums and deep conditioners to tame my hair. After shampoo and conditioning, I use the Japanese Pantene creme on my damp hair. After my hair dries, I use the Japanese L'Oreal intensive oil to calm the frizziness.

I've noticed taking baths are super important, especially in living here. I sweat so much everyday in the hot weather that I am in desperate need to sweat out all of my gunk. Detoxing my body is so important for my skin; otherwise, I would get rashes from the sweat that clogs my pores. 

Thus I bought all of these bath salts to make my in-home-SPA!

A Fresh Beginning in Tokyo

After growing up in Southern California all my life, I finally made a big decision in staying in Japan for a bit.

I love Japanese fashion, music, culture....and obviously F O O D!!! tee hee hee

Plus I have family out here; so I am so excited to start my new life here in Japan!

Shinjuku...here I am~

On my first several nights, I went to some awesome restaurants to celebrate my arrival. 

I went to a really nice seafood restaurant in Kabuki-cho called Isomaru Suisan. So delicious...put me in a great mood after a long flight. 

 I had baked fish and one of their famous/ popular things on the menu which is this crab puree (the one you see on the grill).
OMG soo good!!








I also tried shark's fin and whale meat for the first time!!! The shark's cartilage texture was interesting; nevertheless, yummy because it was in this awesome spicy sauce. The whale...i don't know about that HAHAHA. It was good though! I love trying new food.


I am just so excited and anxious for my future here and whats to come.
...so Tokyo...ARE YOU READY FOR MEH???