Sunday, July 27, 2014

Japanese Food Adventures in Torrance

Living only 20 measly minutes from Little Tokyo in Downtown LA, I only occasionally get my lazy bum up to drive to Torrance for Japanese grocery shopping. 
I was running low on my Japanese food stock at home, so this was the perfect reason to go shopping in one of the largest Japanese communities in Southern Cali. 

My first stop was Marukai Market on Artesia Blvd. where I was overwhelmed by the large space that the market occupied and their loads of goodies that all tempted me. 
Presenting to you my haul….

You must try the Country Mama's vanilla chocolate chip cookies because they're my favorite packaged cookies. 

Hokkaido milk bread with honey makes the best and simplest Honey Toast.

I don't care for American chicken nuggets, but karage is just something else.

It was then nearing lunch time, and I was feeling the Japanese cravings keep up with my Japanese vibes today, so I thought: what better place to eat than the Mitsuwa in Torrance? 
This Mistuwa Market has many places to eat inside their food court, and all of them have pretty darn good food. 



I hit the jackpot with my decision because Mitsuwa was having their annual Unaju (teriyaki eel rice bowl) sale for a limited for this month, and me…I'm the biggest fan of unagi <3 Scoreeee




Pretty good for a store-packaged unaju. I have yet to try the real deal in Japan though :(
We were still hungry, so we completed our Japanese lunch with a tonkotsu ramen, of course, from Santouka Ramen. Their pork broth is always perfect, and the chashu-don was just how I like it: light, not too oily or fatty, but flavorful.




Being the sweet tooth that I am, I read about this popular mochi place inside the Mitsuwa Market known as Mochi Cream. I was ecstatic to finally try it!
I picked out 4 different flavors to carry out my taste test…




The Review on These Little Gems
(starting from favorite to least)

#1

#2

#3

#4

I walked out of Mitsuwa feeling up in the clouds from eating such divine mochi desserts.
It didn't stop there…
I shopped at Daiso as well because it was in the same complex as Mitsuwa. This Daiso is, once again, a lot bigger and carries more products than the one in Koreatown that I usually go to. 

Also in the same complex, 85C Bakery & Cafe was the last stop; I unintentionally saved the best for last. 


I tried their most popular goods--as the yelp reviews say--such as the egg tart and sea salt iced coffee. 




Okay so I am a 85C egg tart-addict and proud.
This pastry is everything I dream about in one bite: the crust was flakey, buttery, warm, and fresh straight out of the oven. The custard filling was lightly sweet, creamy, light, and just delicious.


Strawberry Tiramisu
nothing fancy...

Sea Salt iced coffee was amazing!
I'm surprised why other coffee shops don't sell salted coffee!! 

Bathroom selfie HAHAHAHA, sorry!


I couldn't return home without buying more of these babies. I'll dream about these little egg tartlets. 
And the Rum Raisin Buttermilk bread pictured above was wonderful. I recommend getting it too! 
I love my eating adventures. 



Friday, July 25, 2014

Questions of the World of Blue

Too free and independent to let things constrict me,
I need the space and air.
Yet, I sit and think about what I want to do out in the sea,
Where to begin? I do not know where.















Wearing American Apparel

Photography by: Joshua Dearing 

Monday, July 21, 2014

My Heel's Makeover

I had the raddest outfit styled for my birthday party this weekend. Everything was perfect….except the shoes!!!!!!
Panic hit me like a gust of wind shortly after I realized that I didn't have any shoes to go with what I planned on wearing. 
The perfect shoe that I dreamed of would be nearly impossible for me to find within a short amount of time, so making my shoes was the only option.

Luckily I had a pair of these plain but very cute heels that I bought for super cheap.
They were begging me to have them pimped-out. 


I would like to share with you the process that these babies experienced.

STEP. 1
I painted the white wooden parts with this awesome rainbow, metallic, oil-spill colored nail polish from American Apparel.  




STEP. 2
I found this really cute ribbon at Michaels for only $2, so I knew I had to incorporate this material on my shoe somehow. 
The back of the shoe it was!


STEP. 3 
BLING TIME! 
I love these cohesive gems that I got also from Michaels. I super-glued them all on the back of my heel and on the sides. 
I also used the left overs to stick on my face and body hehehe. 


That was basically it!
TA-DAHHH <3



Customizing your own stuff has such a rewarding affect. I felt so proud to wear these bad boys around and now even able to take credit from compliments on them.




Sunday, July 13, 2014

~My Birthday~

I started off my lovely day with a cake run to my favorite bakery in LA known as Sweet Lady Jane.
Their cakes are extraordinary because it always has the perfect amount of sweetness, cream, and moistness. I couldn't get my cakes anywhere else.
I added some fresh flowers to my vase, and viola! My birthday decorations came together just as I had  visioned (I was going for a cute floral kind of vibe as this year's theme.)

top: Italian Rum Wedding cake
Right: the infamous Triple Berry Shortcake
Left: Coconut cake
beneath the "20"candle: Banana & Chocolate Icebox cake
My favorite part about birthdays is the gift-opening part…duh!
It made my day to see my grandmother's package from Japan make it here just in time.
Just as I expected…the packages from my grandma are always sardine-packed with Japanese snacks and cute stuff.
Since it was my birthday, I requested her to get me these Balance Up Genmai Biscuits by Asahi. Last year in Tokyo, I became obsessed with those cream crackers, so I desperately needed a supply here in LA. 
Now I have it, and I am a happy gal ^_^

Thanks Jim Shires for the cute birthday gifts of the Kutusita Nyanko cat that I adore.

Being the sparkle-lover and dollcult-obsessor that I am, I had to get some of my Nikki Lipstick pasties and clothing as gifts <3 


The rest of my day was simple amazing!!
I went to get my nails done, followed up by getting a full-body thai massage from Nuch Royal Thai Spa
Black-Dripped Chanel gel french tips

I spent the rest of my day at the Grove and had a wonderful dinner at Maggiano's, which is one of my favorite Italian restaurants. 

I ordered the Chicken Caprese Salad…and omg, one of the best salads I've ever had!!!
I also highly recommend ordering their Baked Ziti and Four-cheese Ravioli





My best friend Noella works at Top Shop, so I decided to pop in and surprise her at work since I was already at the Grove..…hehe
Love this babe.

My OOTD
TOP: Lip Service Cult
HEELS: Jeffrey Campbells

Thank you to all my friends and family for all the sweet birthday messages.
I feel so loved <3
This year was definitely one of the best birthdays!!!!