Machida!

Ahh.... So this post is kind of overdue... ^^; I got into one of those moments where I started writing, but then got distracted by something else and completely forgot about the whole thing! @_@ Anyways,we went to go spend time with my husband's friend and his family over the weekend! ^_^ They met us up at Machida Station, and then they took us out to see the lovely city of Machida. I don't know why, but every time we visit new place out here, it feel like I've stumbled into some magical world. There's just always so much going on, something new to see or to try... It's incredible! Each place we've been to offers up something different. :)

Walking out of the train station!

Le wild cosplayer appears.... :O

Their main goal was to show us this one store called Animate, which as the name might imply, stocks just about anything and everything pertaining to anime, video games, and manga. xD I'm actually amazed with just how many stores they have out here that are dedicated to nothing but anime. Though, maybe it shouldn't come as such a surprise since even convenience stores carry things like mini figures, manga, and even what looks like hentai magazines. :P It seems like almost anywhere you go, you'll find something anime. 

But yeah, Animate.... It's pretty awesome! My husband and I were walking around staring in awe over various items and drooling over them! It was so packed with things in there, that it was actually kind of difficult to move around. ^^; 

This is pretty much what you see as soon as you walk in Animate. You can kind of see how much is in there already, sort of. It's a little hard to tell with Sena the floor map in the way, but yeah, my husband really likes her for some reason and wanted a picture of her.

We really had to control ourselves while we were there, since there were so many things that we wanted! xD  We landed up getting a few things that we really liked though. ^.^ We got:

A chie figure....

The September issue of Newtype Magazine....

I screamed in delight when I finally found this! I've been looking for Newtype all over since we arrived here in Japan! xD I was such a fan of Newtype USA and had always made a trip to Barnes & Noble every month just to get it up until it was discontinued. It was so disappointing... :(

A P4 Poster of Rise...

Annnd.... This fan.... -_-

I swear this isn't mine. =_=

After that, we went over to my husband's friend's house (I don't want to give out his name, so sorry that I keep referring to him as "my husband's friend"....). We spent the rest of our time just talking and playing with their adorable son. :3 He really is a funny kid and made us laugh the entire time. xD He even made my husband wear this mask in the picture below:

We also landed up eating dinner over there, all prepared by said friend's wife. :D It was really delicious (we had rice, vegetables, and what seemed to be pork fried in a sweet sauce with sesame seeds, along with a couple of other dishes that I'm not very familiar with... all I know is all of it tasted amazing!) and we tried to practice our Japanese etiquette while sitting at the table. ^^; For dessert, we had the peach roll that we had bought from Cozy Corner! <3 Never in my life had I bought a cake with such fresh tasting fruit! :O  I also liked how it wasn't overwhelmingly sweet, and how fluffy it was. I was really impressed! I'll definitely be going back to try out other things from them in the future. ^.^ If any of you are visiting Japan or are planning to, keep an eye out for this place! :D

*Ahem* Now that I've finished raving about Cozy Corner, back to our little adventure... There actually wasn't much to it after that, but we didn't land up leaving until 9 pm, and didn't make it back home until 1 am. O.O We accidentally had landed up getting on the wrong train, and had to take another one back... ._. We're still trying to get used to the whole train system out here, but we're slowly learning. Lols! It's a good thing I don't mind getting lost at all, because I'm sure we'll land up getting lost again on our next big trip. xD It makes it more fun, in a way. ^.^

So yeah! That pretty much sums it all up! :3 Everyday here so far has just been truly wonderful, and I'm really loving it! My husband is too! We're really considering permanently living here already. Lols! Anyways, see you guys in my next post! 

So Pretty~!

About a week or so ago, my husband and I decided that we would check out the BX (it's sort of like a tiny mall) on post. We came across this one store that was selling a ton of Japanese toys and antiques, and we were automatically drawn to it. xD While we were in there, I spotted these adorable Hello Kitty figurines, and I couldn't stop eyeing them up. They all were dressed in different kimonos and  carrying different items such as fans and toys... They were all so cute! x3 I was really hesitant about leaving that store because I wanted them sooo badly~! 

Until today, I haven't really thought about them since then. The only reason why my thoughts have returned back to the dolls was because today after work, my husband came home, and told me to close my eyes because he had a surprise for me. He told me to hold out my hands and placed a box in them. I ran my hands over the surface trying to figure out what it could possibly be. I eventually gave up trying to guess (I kept thinking it was food-related).  I opened my eyes, and to my surprise, I saw a picture of one of the figurines that I had been admiring! I couldn't wait to get it out of the box!

I still can't stop staring at it as it sits so beautifully on top of our table! My husband sure does know me well. ^_^ I didn't think that he would even remember how much I had wanted it... I kind of forgot, myself, so there was no way I would have expected him to! I feel like such a lucky girl to have someone who thinks so much of me and who just wants to spoil me all the time. xD  Now, I'm going to have to think of way to return the favor.... ^.^

Simple Matcha Green Tea Mask!

As I've stated in my Bath Time Beauty Tips post, green tea is great for your skin. ^.^ It's loaded with antioxidants and does wonders for your complexion! So, here I'm going to teach you how to make your own homemade matcha green tea mask! It's all natural, and won't irritate your skin at all! You will need:

1) A clean face
2) A small bowl or container
3) A spoon
4) Matcha powder (the brand shouldn't matter)
5) Some water


Instructions:

Take about a fourth cup of matcha powder and pour it into your container. Next, add in 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of water (adjust as necessary). With the spoon, mix the two ingredients together until it becomes thick and gooey. You are now ready to start applying it to your face! Leave it on for 10-15 minutes, then rinse off with warm water!


Easy, right? So the next time you treat yourself to an at home spa day, be sure to try this out!

I Think I Love Seiyu

Really, Seiyu is actually a lot of fun to shop at. >.> It's almost impossible for us to go to a Seiyu and not buy something. O.O We went yesterday to go buy my Tamagotchi ID L 15th Anniversary Version (I'm kind of a freak for Tamagotchis... I'm currently taking care of 3 at once!), and we landed up not only buying that, but green tea and vanilla ice cream flavored kitkat bars, a Tamagotchi Nano (which my husband had wanted for himself), some yokan (a gelatin-like dessert usually made from sweetened red beans), and mitarashi dango, among other things. ^^; We always seem to walk out with more than what we came in for. It's kind of dangerous.... What makes it worse is that it has a pretty good-sized arcade on the very top floor, so we spent even more money playing Taiko Drum Master and even Pachinko there. xD

Either way, I'm so happy I finally have all of the latest tamagotchis~! They're so much fun, even though sometimes it's so hard to keep up with them all. @_@ But yeah... I've been wanting the 15th Anniversary one for a little while now. It's so cool, because with the 15th Anniversary one, they added some of the older and original Tamagotchi characters back in! I think it's pretty cool that you're now able to see them in full color and in more detail now. ^_^

Ignore the mess in the background.... Just focus on the pretty  Tamagotchi....

Isn't this surprising? I actually got a purple one instead of yet another pink!

My Princess Spacey ID L and my husband's Tamagotchi Nano side by side.... Look how tiny it is! It's also very reminiscent of the older Tamagotchis....

Oh! And also, while we were shopping, I also found this super cute Alice in Wonderland stationary set!

I've already opened it and have written out two letters for my mother and my brother so far. I thought it would be nice to actually send them both a handwritten letter. It's so much more personalized than typing out an email to them or talking to them through Skype. It's such a shame that not too many people write letters anymore... I used to love receiving letters from my friends in the mail when I was younger. It was just so exciting! There's just something special about them... I still have all of the letters from my friends to this day, and every now and then I love to pull them out and re-read them.^_^ It kind of gives me this warm, fuzzy feeling inside! Does that sound strange? 

I kind of went off topic there.... xD Oh well. :P It's my blog, so I guess I can do that if I'd like~! ^.^ Plus, it's more fun if it's random.... Or at least that's what I think. Anyways, I think I'll end my rambling here. Bye bye, everyone! 

Bath Time Beauty Tips

It didn't cross my mind until a couple of days ago, but I had pretty much just realized that I can actually take a bath where we currently live now! Back where we used to live, our tub was way too small and cramped, and fairly shallow, so it made taking a nice, soothing bath somewhat difficult. Anyways, I've been taking an advantage of soaking in the tub over here, and I thought that it might be a good idea to share some of my bath time beauty tips with everyone! So, here they are...!

1.  Just add milk!

We all know that drinking milk helps build strong bones, but it also does wonders for the skin, too! The lactic acid helps exfoliate and remove dead skin cells, and the protein helps keep your skin hydrated, leaving it feeling soft and silky to the touch! All you need to do is add 2-3 cups of milk into your bath water (you may also use powdered milk, I just prefer to use normal drinking milk), and then let yourself soak in it. After about 5-10 minutes of soaking, take a loofah and gently scrub your skin.  Then allow yourself to soak some more for another 10 minutes. This will help your skin look more healthy and radiant, and also, it seems to help very much with keratosis pilaris (they're usually little reddish bumps that resemble chicken skin. Keratosis pilaris is more commonly found on the upper arms, thighs, and sometimes even the face). I personally have keratosis pilaris on my upper arms (mainly on my right side), and doing this has proven to be quite effective in helping it clear up!

2.  Or would you prefer tea, instead?

Another option is to add green tea to your bath! You can use either matcha or teabags, it doesn't really matter much either way (if you use tea bags, I suggest using either two or three of them, and I would keep them in the water for the entire duration of your bath). Green tea baths are great for cleansing your skin, helping with acne, and can even help speed up the healing process of cuts and scrapes! It also has lots of antioxidants and vitamins that can keep your skin looking younger. Not only that, but it'll make you feel very relaxed and rejuvenated after your bath is done! 

3. Don't just sit there!

Okay, So most people take a bath to relax and wind down, but did you know that exercising in the bath is quite good for you, too? The water provides some resistance, so you can get a nice, light workout from it! I like to start off by doing some stretches, such as trying to reach for my toes as I sit down in the tub with my legs stretched out, bringing my knees to my chest, and stretching my arms up toward the ceiling. Then, I follow this exercise routine (be sure to place a bath mat down at the bottom of the tub before you start, though!):

A) Reverse Crunches

Lay back as far as you can without submerging your head under water. Keep your arms to your sides and use them as an anchor to keep yourself from floating. Lift up your legs and bend them at a 90 degree angle. Using only the lower half of your body, lift your legs toward you, then bring them down away from you. Try not to bring them down too low!

B) Sit ups

Lay as far back as you can in the tub (without submerging your head under water) and place your hands behind your head. Place one foot on each side of the water faucet and press them a bit against the wall. Have your knees slightly bent (they should be pointing toward you a little bit) and begin doing your sit ups!

C) Body Lifts (?)

So, I don't really know what to call this exercise or it's proper name, but what you have to do is sit straight up, with your legs stretched out (again, keep them together) and toes pointed. Your body should be at a 90 degree angle. Then, take your arms to your sides (palms facing down at the bottom of the tub) and then slide them back a couple of inches. Use your arms to lift your body up and hold it for as long as you can. If your bottom touches the floor of the tub, set yourself back down, and try again.

D) Flutter Kicks

Lay out far enough to where you can stretch out your legs out comfortably. Place your arms at your side with your palms face down on the bottom of the tub. Point your toes up. Now, start kicking, but don't let your legs go above the water or touch the bottom of the tub.

After doing these, finish off with more light stretches and some breathing exercises, and you're done! ^_^

Extra Tips

* You can add in some essential oils along with your milk or tea bath such as sandalwood, rose, jasmine, or lavender to make your bath even more relaxing and beneficial!

* Be sure to rinse off and wash up after a bath! Bath water contains all of your dead skin and dirt, so you definitely don't want to keep all of that on you!

* Moisturize, moisturize, moisturize! It's always good to re-hydrate your skin, especially after rinsing off!

And there you have it! Hopefully you guys find this information to be helpful! :D

Akihabara!

Sunday was the best day EVER so far! We took our first big outing since coming here to Japan! ^.^ We had so much fun exploring and looking around Akihabara, the electronic district! We took the trains all the way over there and had met up with one of my husband's best friends along the way (it was so nice of him to take us on a bit of a tour of the area ^_^). Amazingly, riding the trains over there wasn't so bad at all. It only took about an hour or so to get there from Fussa Station!

 Once we arrived, I was in awe to see how huge and how busy it was compared to where we live (we live in a much more quiet and small suburban area). I guess that's to be expected though, since Akihabara is quite  a popular and well-known area. Of course, we took quite a few pictures on our way to Akihabara and as soon as we got there, so you guys can see for yourself! ^_^

Here's some pictures of  the area we live at.....
(Note: these were not taken on the day of our trip)

My husband took a picture of me as we were walking to Fussa Station one day.... Sneaky... -_-  Also, my hair seems to get messed up so easily in humid weather! >_<

I love how they have drink vending machines on EVERY street in Japan, especially with how hot it is right now! These are a life saver. x3 I got the peach drink (the pink one), and it really tastes like an actual peach! So yummy!

Now Compare the pictures above to these!

Annnd here's Akihabara! There was just so much to take in once we got off the train what with all the different signs and huge buildings surrounding us! Also, there were actually a lot of cosplayers around, too, but when my husband asked if he could snap a picture of them, they said no. ^^; I kind of don't blame them, though. Who knows how many perverts had probably asked them for pictures... o.o

It may not look like it, but this is a map and guide of the places around Akihabara!

The Sega Arcade! I've noticed that the arcades around here don't have too many video games, but a ton of capsule machines and crane games and other machines where you can win a wide variety of anime figures, shirts, and other things.

 A few of the many figures you can try to win at the arcade....

 These Pictures of Chie, Yosuke, and  Narukami covered a huge wall!

So... I have absolutely no idea what this game is or what it's called (I can't read the title of it just yet....), but it starts off as a driving/racing game, and then all of a sudden, your car transforms into a robot and fight other giant robots using the controllers that come out from below the steering wheel. Pretty cool, right? ^.^

For some reason, a picture of Katy Perry was on the window of an adult store.... o.O

Lastly, here are the pictures we took of the things we had bought! Most of the things we got came from capsule prize machines (I think my husband likes those machines just a little too much.... ^^;)

You can actually get one of these banks from J-list.com, but we actually found this one at an electronics store!

Annnnd that's all, for now. :) We definitely plan on going there again, and hopefully take even more pictures and see many other new things!

My Japanese Is Getting Better!

I'm not a pro at it yet, but I'm starting to understand the language more and more! <3 It's so much fun and I just want to keep learning every time I figure out a new phrase or how to use certain words properly... I get that feeling that I've achieved something big and it just feels great! Hopefully if I keep at my studying and observing my surroundings, I'll be able to pick up Japanese fast! So far, I've almost mastered the hiragana symbols and how to use them (I'm still learning new things about it, though), and now I'm slowly easing my way into memorizing katakana.

Also, I've learned a handful of useful and simple phrases recently! I'll list them here (in romanji) with the translations next to the phrases, so anyone who's interested can learn a bit of Japanese, too!

1. Keisatsu o yonde kudasai - please call the police!

2. Isha o yonde kudasai - please call a doctor!

3.Toire wa doko desu ka - Where is the bathroom?

4. Ikura desu ka - How much does this cost?

5. Onaka ga suita - I'm hungry

6. Nanika tabetai desu ka - What do you want to eat?

7.  (Insert name of food) ga tabetai desu - I want to eat _______

8. Nanimo tabetakunai desu - I don't want to eat anything

9. Eigo ga wakarimasu ka - Do you understand English

10. O namae wa nan desu ka - What's your name?



I've also learned some "counter words" (words used to specify the amount of certain things). These sites have actually helped me out a lot and has made everything so much less confusing (I was becoming so overwhelmed when trying to figure out the use of them through Rosetta Stone by itself), so check them out! :D


http://japanese.about.com/od/Grammar/a/Counters.htm
http://www.trussel.com/jcount.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_counter_word



Annnnd that's about it so far! ^_^; I still have a long way to go, but I'm not going to give up! :) Wish me luck everyone!

Shopping and Exploring!

Last night, my husband and I decided to explore more off base~! It was the first time that it was just him and I went out on our own just for the mere enjoyment of it. ^_^ We first stopped off at a place called Co Co for dinner, which was recommended to us by a nice man who had overheard us talking about possible places to eat while my husband was purchasing a new phone (that means we were finally able to take pictures again!). He said it was really good over there, so we decided to go there and check it out for ourselves!

 It's a restaurant that serves nothing but curry, and it was conveniently located right outside of the train station! :D As I looked through their menu, I was so amazed by how many different ways you could prepare curry! I never thought to put things such as tonkatsu or shrimp or a chicken cutlet in it. There was even natto curry! I also thought it was pretty cool how they allow you to customize your own curry and add whatever it is you'd like to it. You're also allowed to select the level of spiciness and the amount of rice you'd like. I landed up ordering the cream croquette curry, which also had crab in it (and I went with absolutely no spice! I can't handle spicy foods very well....). Needless to say, it was just as delicious as it looked!

After we had finished eating, we hopped on the train over to Hamura and just explored some shops. We mainly bought a lot of food and snacks, since we kind of needed to stock up on some (we had almost nothing in our fridge and cabinets! TT_TT). I landed up picking up some melon pan (melon bread) out of curiosity on what it was like, since it's so often seen in anime. xD It tastes absolutely nothing like melon, but it's still sweet and the crust is sort of cookie-like. :) We also bought some onigiri among other things.

Everything we bought spread out on the table

On our way back to base, we ended up stopping at a store called Seiyu (which I now refer to as Junes. Persona 4, anyone?). If I had to relate it to something, I would say that it's similar to a Walmart, except with more interesting stuff (or maybe I just think that because everything was so foreign to me?). Either way, we somehow eventually landed up wandering into the toy/electronics section, where I found the latest Tamagotchi ID L Princess Spacy! I just had to pick it up! x3 (it was actually a lot cheaper than when I had bought my older Tamagotchi ID L! It's so expensive ordering the ID L online!).

Princess Spacy ID L

My Tamagotchi ID L and Princess Spacy ID L side by side

And that concluded our mini-trip! Expect more pictures and posts to come!

I'm in Japan!

Okay, so I wasn't able to write any posts during our 10 hour trip from LA to Tokyo due to not having any access to the internet on the plane, but I'm glad I have the chance to blog now at least while waiting in a lobby to figure out our lodging issue that we're currently trying to figure out. It's kind of a hassle to be dealing with at the time being, as both my husband and I are extremely jet lagged and are super exhausted! I had underestimated just how bad jet lag can be, apparently. I kept falling in and out of sleep and am still trying to keep myself awake. =_= 

Aside from that, I really am glad to be here! Japan is absolutely gorgeous from what I've seen of it so far! I was really surprised to see how clean everything is, including the streets and highways! I'm not used to seeing that at all. Also, interestingly enough, when I went to the bathroom here, I was so shocked (yet fascinated at the same time) over the toilets. >.>  I was faced with this as soon as I walked into one of the stalls:

(Not a picture of the actual toilet I used, but it pretty much looked like this)

I stood there looking at it in confusion for a while, wondering just how to use it. I eventually just went for it and hoped that I was doing my business the right way (sorry, sorry, too much information). I wish I had looked up instructions on how to use a toilet like this before arriving here, but I wasn't really expecting them to be so different from the ones back at home in America. xD The thought of that hadn't even crossed my mind. ._. Anyways, I decided to google instructions on how to use a Japanese toilet just now, and I'm happy to find out that I was using it correctly!

Here's how you're supposed to use it, in case any of you reading this are curious:

I haven't been here for that long and I'm already learning new things! ^_^ How exciting! Lols! Can't wait to see what other things I find out about. :3

Finally Done!

Right now, I'm typing this post from a hotel room! We finally had finished up all of our cleaning and packing and we found a solution to the issue we were having with the cats! We luckily found a reliable boarding place to look after them for awhile, so we're back on schedule. ^_^ It feels so good to be able to relax again. It feels like it's been forever since I've felt this way, even though we've only been dealing with the stress of moving for just a few days. 

In any case, I'm looking forward to getting on the plane to Japan tomorrow morning! We'll be taking a straight flight to Tokyo, so it's going to be a loooong flight, but it's no biggie, because I have.... THIS!

Yes, I got the 3DS (it's pink, isn't that a shock?) along with the new Kingdom Hearts game, Dream Drop Distance. That game became my third reason as to why I should get one as soon as I saw the commercial for it on tv. xD But yeah, this should totally keep me occupied for quite sometime. At least until the batteries run out. Lols! If that happens, I have some backups. I'll have my laptop, my Tamagotchi ID L, and volumes 1 & 2 of  A Devil and Her Love Song (which I seriously recommend checking out! So far, this manga series is really good!). So yeah, I think I'm all set! 

Anyways, I should be blogging while I'm on the plane. As for when I actually arrive to Japan, it may be awhile before I can post anything. I'm not sure how long we'll be without internet. You can bet I'll be posting a ton once it's up though! I'm sure there will be so many new things to do and write about! It'll be a pretty big adventure! 

A CATastrophe!

Well, things have become a bit troublesome all of a sudden regarding our trip to Japan.We're having a hard time trying to figure out what to do with our cats, since apparently, our original plan that we had to transport them there would cost us way more than we can afford (we didn't receive any info on prices when we originally set up this plan, so we thought everything would be reasonable and easy to take care of). Now, we're only left with these options:

A) Try to change our leave date to the 21st of this month so they can actually board the same flight as us, which we're not exactly sure how well that would go... We might only have a slim chance of that happening. Plus, the movers are here right now and packing away all of our furniture at this very moment, so we'd have absolutely nothing aside from our laptops and clothes that we packed into our luggage bags on hand, and I'm so not thrilled about that idea.

B) Find someone to take care of them until we can fly them over to us.....

or

C) Give them up, which we definitely don't want to do.


So yeah... Things are pretty stressful for us at the moment, especially when we're supposed to be leaving in two days. This popped up so last minute, and we've been rushing around trying to seek help from our friends and family members to see what they suggest. So far, option B is our best bet, it's just a matter of finding someone fast... :/ Let's hope all goes well.