materialism: consumerism

I took a look at Majolica Majorca's holiday collection last night.

The Secret Lingerie sparkly scented body cream seems rather nice with mild sparkle and a pleasant scent. It's quite a lot of cream too; I'm not sure I'd be able to use it up. Actually, I'm quite unlikely to be able to use it up unless I use it every day during the winter!

The sparkly powder in the collection was a bit disappointing though - the powder leaves a whitish cast on the skin which is quite noticeable if skin is a bit dry - it'd be difficult for me to use, although the sparkle is rather subtle.

The palettes are cute and the pigmentation of the eyeshadows is pretty good. The dark shade is only slightly powdery, and the lighter shade is rather smooth and shimmery. I found the purple shades to be a bit nicer than the grey ones in softness, but that could be my imagination. The glittery gloss is not really useful, but the pigmented gloss is useable.

Tempting, but I think I'll pass. I just don't need more glosses, and I could buy a regular MM quad palette for the same price.

I may pick up the body cream though.

mini review: bb cream, dhc makeup base

tried missha's bb cream today. The one in the brown packaging, No. 23.

My face feels a bit itchy so I'd like to take it off, but it's my only sunblock today, so I think I'll deal with it.

I'll probably toss the rest of the sample. I was hoping it'd be a nice alternative to foundation in this dry cold weather, but I hate stuff that makes my face itchy. When my skin recovers from this sample I'll try the Hanskin super bb cream sample I have. Then maybe I'll use up the fancl foundation I got from my roommate. In this dry air, powder foundation just isn't working well on my skin.

By the way, I've tried DHC's rose makeup base; it looks rather nice - brightens my skin - but my face feels a bit stiff afterwards and I can't really smile or yawn normally, so I'm keeping it around just for special occasions. I should probably just dump it; it's not like it even occurs to me to use it :P

japanese vocab: 試行錯誤 shikousakugo

試行錯誤(しこうさくご): trial and error

today's breakfast

yogurt and a steamed meat dumpling 肉まん

カタカナ英語

カタカナ英語を使うのは面白い。。。

i just don't understand

Why should someone else's religion dictate my health care? It doesn't make any sense.

And I do think there is a need for ethical evaluation of technological innovations, which includes medical advances, but this is distinct from moral judgements on what medical care should be provided. Ethics are distinct from morals.

lady gaga

I want to hate her, and I do hate some of her videos and lyrics, but her songs are darn catchy. "Telephone" is addictive!

gyoza (pan-fried dumplings, aka potstickers)

Went to a little gyoza shop in Ginza last night for a quick dinner. They focus on gyoza and beer, heh. They do have some other options, but I opted to try the shop's chao chao gyoza (like a sheet of mini open-ended taiwanese dumplings), the shiso-flavored gyoza, and the shrimp gyoza. All were pretty good but I think the shrimp gyoza were the best. But man, that was a heavy, greasy dinner!

materialism: cleansing oils summary

I've been steadily trying various cleansing oils, like Naive, Sana Nameraka Honpo, Shiseido Perfect Cleansing oil, but still I think DHC's olive oil based one works the best on my skin. It's also the harshest, but it really cleans my pores. Fancl's cleansing oil comes in second for me. Once I use up my current bottle of Shiseido, I'm going to give Extra Virgin Olive Oil a try; can't beat the cost!

kenji yoshino

Read an excerpt from his book here; articulate and perceptive. I want this book!

The First Death by Jay

The First Death by Jay

tsuke-men showdown

Ramen events rule.
In Hibiya they're holding the last of 3 ramen showdowns; about 8 ramen shops hold temporary stands in this park near Ginza. It's all tsuke-men - ramen that you dip into the thicker than normal soup. Usually tsuke-men is more popular in the summer, since it's cooler to eat than a regular bowl of ramen. Yesterday I tried this Fukuoka restaurant 博多　新風's ramen - soo good! The soup was deliciously thick and savory, and meshed perfectly with the noodles. By itself the soup was overpowering, but with noodles; perfection!

I took a picture with my cell phone but it was dark and blurry; darn this newer Sharp phone that lacks a flash!

persimmons and girl crushes

Lately I've been addicted to persimmons. They're sweet and delicious and very halloween-y as they look akin to smooth mini pumpkins.

However, they take a while for me to peel (bleh). Clementines and Japanese mikans are the best for peel-ability.

While peeling, I thought of some of my biggest girl crushes.


Salma Hayek - long-time girl crush on her. She's just fabulous. Sexy, hot, and smoldering. She really knows how to dress but is never tacky.

Michelle Yeoh - she's just beautiful. And strong. I love that. Line her up next to Zhang Zi-Yi and you can see how much more beautiful Yeoh is. Zhang is just plain in comparison.

Megan Fox - never seen her act, but her pictures always make me take a second look. Probably the less I know about her the better, heh.

Former crushes include Catherine Zeta-Jones. Just beautiful, but lately I see her and think of her husband and that's just euw. Don't need that, nothing personal. Angelina Jolie - fabulous, and wow she can work those stilettos, but dunno, Pitt is just rather boring now that he's with her. Her kids are adorable though.

Boyz II Men

Boyz II Men cover Cyndi Lauper's "Time after Time" on their new cover album, Love! I can't wait to hear their version. The album comes out Nov. 17th, so just 2 weeks.

Rather addicted to their song Booed Up from The Remedy:


Anyone see Michael Jackson's "This is It"? It's not exactly a documentary, and a way for people to profit off of his last moments, but it's also a way for fans to see what might have been in London.