Health Nut Dailies

I believe that eating clean and taking care of yourself is such an important thing to maintain on an everyday basis. It can get hard to keep up when you're busy with a billion other things to worry about.
However, I've been living a healthy lifestyle for quite sometime.

I want to share with you how I recently been taking care of myself…

Right when I wake up I drink a bottle of COLLAGEN!!!                

Between the two brands I tried (Shiseido & Tsubaki), I recommend taking the

Shiseido "The Collagen Enriched"

It really helps make your skin look plump and glowing. 

A must for healthy skin and hair. 



When I was in Shin-Okubo, I noticed that they were promoting this "Inner-B" Beauty drink everywhere. It was at like EVERY beauty product store!

Along with one bottle of collagen drink a day, I drink glass of water and my daily vitamins. 

I can't skip breakfast! 

One of my favorites is NATTO!!!

It is traditional Japanese food made from fermented soybeans with Bacillus Subtilis; however, it is known for smelling like fart. 

Yes, it is slimy, strong in smell/flavor, but I think the yummy taste overrides its negative qualities. 

I LOVE IT

Its low fat/ calorie and rich in protein which is perfect for me since I like to keep in shape!!!

Then I start my usual pilates and core-work out.

Living in LA I would jog or take dance classes, but since its too hot to exercise outside in Japan and since I live in a small apartment, I have altered my exercise:

• 10 mins of crunches/ sit-ups
• 20 push-ups
• 3 mins of quads
• 5-10 mins stretching

I always keep myself hydrated. 

drinking lots of water = healthier skin

Personally, I drink Omugi Wakaba (young barley grass juice) everyday.

It is a powder tea mix that I add to my water bottles.

This I can't go on a day without drinking a bottle of this.

It is loaded with chlorophyll, dietary fiber, and helps regulate the digestive system and de-toxing. 

And it provides a good balance of vitamins and minerals.

It is also combined with beauty components (ceramide and collagen). 

You can buy it at some Japanese markets.

   My lunches consist of veggies and lean protein.

salmon salad

miso mackerel and asparagus

Whats better than to end your day relaxing in a BATH?

I take a bath everyday since I started staying here!

 This is my favorite bath salt.

It works as a full body de-tox since it contains a type of germ. 

It also generates sweating to remove unwanted substances and other junk in your body. 
Plus its r e l a x i n g ~

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. 

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!