Tokyo Nail Expo

It was my first time going to one of these things, and oh my gosh....it was so packed! I expected it to be crowded inside, but I did not expect about an hour of a wait to even GET IN. My friend and I were joking about how much it was like Disney, (which has crazy long lines in case you have never been to Japan's Disney) and it was funny to see those with fast passes (Nail Techs, Contestants, etc) just zoom past us on the side cause they are on a special list.

Anyway the wait was a small price to pay for all the glorious nail goodies that awaited us, at discounted prices. I ended up buying Gel nail products, even a new LED light, (because my old UV light is huge and bulky), and a few other brushes and filers. I recently decided to switch from using nail polish to gel nails, so I had to start collecting from scratch =(.

  I have never heard of Betty Gel before, but when I walked in I saw so many of the huge bags, that I had to see what the hype was about. When I finally found the little stall later on, I totally understood what the hype was about. They had this awesome deal - buy 5 gel (...polishes?)and get a handful free! So I bought 5, and of course managed to grab 7 at once, for FREE! I still need to try it out to see if it was even worth buying but for now I'm happy with the purchase=). I bout some more from Ace-gel and their products were also SUPER popular... They had a crazy system to buy the stuff which took ages  (3 lines: one to get in, one to tick off things you wanted while looking at a poster with colors, and lastly one to pay after they call your name with your products). Lastly I went to my favorite nail store's stand and got my other things.

 Look at how tiny that LED light is!! (That's my phone next to it!!)

The rest of the night was just watching live demonstrations and drooling at all the things they had there. I definitely did not get everything I wanted, but I still feel really happy about what I got. Funny story--when I was at the convenience store, I overheard two people talking about how much they took out at the ATM, and one said $300 to which the other responded, "What?? That's it?" Turns out the other girl took out close to $2,000... wtf... is all I could think when I heard that...(O_o)

Anyway, I hope you guys are staying warm, the weather here is getting pretty darn cold. Bundle up!!

My blog might as well not be about beauty, nails, or Japan because lately all my posts have been nothing but that. Yet again, I am traveling out the country for vacation =)
This time I'm heading out to Thailand/Cambodia for a little over a week. I was looking for tips for how to pack and saw many great suggestions.
Some tips required me to go out and buy some things, others were as simple as using things you already have at home, and others were reminders that there are different cultures that we need to respect.

So here's what I packed. Just one back pack and a mini bag that I'm gonna carry around in town. I packed light because obviously things are super cheap there and I can come back with more things and no one wants to be hauling huge bags trekking across countries.

I found out that short/tight shorts and spaghetti straps are pretty much not acceptable in the cities (I hear people still wear shorts around malls though) and temples and that they even have skirts or something to cover up at the gates if you are not dressed appropriately. I was a bit shocked to find out that even tight pants weren't acceptable and you had to wear something over that. Sandals are also not allowed apparently, so I had to stop by an "outdoors-ish" store to buy suitable shoes to go exploring around the temples in Cambodia.

I took three pairs of shorts and tops for the days I'll be spending on the beaches/resort and two dresses that I can war at other times. I intend to buy clothes while I'm there and just wash and mix and match what I have.

Next I only took one swimsuit and cover up, again, I'm sure I'll be buying more there...

I also took my yellow sarong, if it doesn't match the swimsuits I buy I can always just use it to lay on the beach.

under water cameras and power converters are a must. Can't forget my camera's charger and other charger I might need.

I keep my undies in this bag, and opted to bring these silicone coverups for the days I wear my dresses... 

I used my roxy bag to keep my swimsuit in, can't forget sunscreen and my shades...

Can you believe this all fit in that blue little bag?? And the rest of my things all fit in the black backpack that you can sorta see in the top right lol.

So here I got my guide books for both countries, my money pouch that I will wear hidden under my clothes, wet wipes, anti-bacterial wipes, tissue, bug repellant, power wipes (it also has sunscreen on it and it's a great way to refresh yourself if you're all sweaty) 

I also have the very Japanese gel cooling strips and one that you can tie around your neck to stay cool. The way it works is that once it's wet it gets plump and the gel inside feels real cold so you can just put it around your neck to stay cool. When it starts to wear off, all you do is wet it again and get gets plump again and cool... 

Lastly I have my toiletries bag with stuff like face wash, lotions, etc...

I also have my tinted moisturizer, a paintpot, eyeshadow (clubbin'),

gold and black eyeliners, and a power foundation (mainly for its mirror) 

I know it seems long now that I listed EVERYTHING, but it's just one backpack and a shoulder bag...( I forgot to mention my flip flops for the beach) n still has room for a little more. I'm leaving out tomorrow and I hope to take great pictures to share when I get back XD

Nails Nails Nails

One down side of living in Japan is that there isn't a beauty store like Sally's where you can go and find all your beauty needs in one place...at a decent price too. I've been forced to have to buy 20somthing dollar O.P.I polish and other ridiculously priced nail art things. That is, until this month. I finally just decided to search for nail polish stores in Tokyo and got a couple results... Yea, I know, after four years I realized just cause I don't see them it doesn't mean they don't exist. 

I stopped by two stores and hauled a bunch of things in a rush (I went 5 minutes before closing in one of the stores)

Of course Max has to get into the picture...

 Oh, Max....

and this is what I did after I got all the things I bought...

I was really exited to see that the OPI was only 10 bucks or so at one of the stores (SCORE!!) and they had TONS of things I can't get in the places I usually shot at (i.e. Plaza). 

I hope you guys are having a great summer so far~

My New Baby and Spring Nails

Well, if he will let me type that is... lol
I've been M.I.S again for many reasons... Two of them are traveling (I know, again...) and I got a new kitty
and he keeps me soooo busy. Of course I am fighting him off as I type because he is the neediest attention seeker in the world!!!
But I love him so much <3

Of course I have a million pics but just so you guys don't think I turned into some crazy cat lady, I'll only post a few. He is still just two months old n sum change. If you are wondering what his name is, he kinda has three that i put into one long name...
My students named him "Bobby Wasabi" and he also got the name "Max Jyamma" because like I said he's sooo needy and always has to be in the mix. (Jyamma means in the way) But I just call him kitty, just like I acll my rabbit bunny, lol so He is Bobby Wasabi Kitty Max Jyamma lol.

 

Look at how tiny he was!!!

He is getting sooo big. This is him playing the guitar in his sleep, lol arms n legs r all into it LOL

bunny, u get sum luv from me too

After I cleaned his cage n started putting things back in, he decided to soil the cage as soon as he got a chance... hater...

And now for my spring nails, I just did some green and yellow nails with some flowers and other shimmery stuff to jazz it up. Pretty simple nails for the week =)

A little late for but my Valentine's Day Nails

Hey guys! 

How was your Valentine's Day? It may have been weeks ago and over with, but I was a it busy around that time and didn't have time to post it then.

I went to Kyoto for the first time this month, and it was beautiful (but cold)...

I'll be posting pictures later on, but for now, it's just my nails.

The black hearts were obviously an after thought... lol

in case you can't notice, it's cupid =)

I hope you guys had a great V. Day =) 

Kyoto posts and a new giveaway will be coming up soon!

After the Tsunami in Iwate

I recently went up north (in Japan) to visit some family, and when I went they drove me out to see the remains of a town that was hit by the tsunami after the earthquake last March 11th. It looked pretty barren, and for a second didn't seem like anything was wrong; it just looked like nothing was probably ever there. However, the few surviving skeletons of buildings were what was all that was left, and mounds and mounds of garbage piles. I can't believe just how much they cleared off in the last year... It was a really sad sight that my pictures can't fully portray.
Unfortunately, I recently heard some bad predictions made by Tokyo University about another big earthquake that will hit the Tokyo area in the next four years. I only hope that it will not be another disaster like we saw in the last year.

I'm not exactly sure how to end this entry... 

I hope everyone is healthy and safe. My prayers still go out to the many people who are still affected by that disaster and other natural disasters that seem to be happening way too often in recent years... 

~1Love~

Forever21 Jewelry Haul

Hey guys. How are you al doing? This is jewelry from Forever21 that I got on sale (30% off)!

I never wear bracelets because 

1. I  don't like the way the fit at times,

2. In the winter the metal ones feel cold on my skin,

3. Depending on the clasp/strap/ whatever, it can be hard to take it off

This picture doesn't do this one any justice... It's SO shiny I had to buy it, lol. I don't have a lot of gold stuff so I thought it would be good for those days I wear gold earrings.

This next one is more hippyish. The main reason I bought it was the magnets that hold it together in place. The magnet is pretty strong though so you have to be careful not to let it pinch you.. but it was so cool! lol

I only have one pair of feather earrings... And I couldn't even find those here in Japan when they were really IN. I was able to get a hold on one pair in HnM later on, but rarely wore them... These are more of my style anyway.

You can never have too many hoops lol.

This one was an edgy piece, I'm not sure how often I'd wear it, but it's actually the one I like best =).

Here's how they look like on. I only did the bracelets though,

What kind of jewelry do you guys go for? gold, silver, plain, over the top....?