All products are 30% off.
I heard that J. Crew is also withdrawing from Japan; I should drop by.
Bloom Cosmetics withdrew from Japan last year.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
food news
Not really "news-worthy" but new info about food topics:
* Vivivavi.jp: this little shop in Ginza only sells pork feet; they offer it grilled with salt, grilled with garlic, stewed, and marinated. They have also started offering lunch bento - croquettes with japanese sweet potato and bits of pork cartillage, and the regular grilled porcine menu, along with a healthy selection of vegetables, marinated salad, and spring rolls. Quite tasty and good for the consumer who is new to this part of the pig. Next time I will get the grilled version, but I am quite a fan of the croquettes. All for 500 yen! Including rice.
I'll take pictures next time. I've been using my film SLR (single-lens reflex) a lot lately; even with my simple 50 mm lens, it takes pretty pictures. Film and development costs add up, but it's just much nicer than my little digital camera. It's funny because everyone assumes it's a digital camera, so I have to explain that no, it's archaic that way.
* tried a ramen place called Toraji 虎ジ in Hamadayama, a couple stations north of Meidaimae on the Keio Inokashira line. The noodles were quite tasty, and the salt-based soup was good, and the pork slices were tasty but overly salted. The guy managing the shop was a bit brusque for my taste though; I think guys would enjoy the experience more. No complaints about the ramen, although for 800yen it was a smidgen pricy.
* Vivivavi.jp: this little shop in Ginza only sells pork feet; they offer it grilled with salt, grilled with garlic, stewed, and marinated. They have also started offering lunch bento - croquettes with japanese sweet potato and bits of pork cartillage, and the regular grilled porcine menu, along with a healthy selection of vegetables, marinated salad, and spring rolls. Quite tasty and good for the consumer who is new to this part of the pig. Next time I will get the grilled version, but I am quite a fan of the croquettes. All for 500 yen! Including rice.
I'll take pictures next time. I've been using my film SLR (single-lens reflex) a lot lately; even with my simple 50 mm lens, it takes pretty pictures. Film and development costs add up, but it's just much nicer than my little digital camera. It's funny because everyone assumes it's a digital camera, so I have to explain that no, it's archaic that way.
* tried a ramen place called Toraji 虎ジ in Hamadayama, a couple stations north of Meidaimae on the Keio Inokashira line. The noodles were quite tasty, and the salt-based soup was good, and the pork slices were tasty but overly salted. The guy managing the shop was a bit brusque for my taste though; I think guys would enjoy the experience more. No complaints about the ramen, although for 800yen it was a smidgen pricy.
materialism: lunasol, primavista, cle de peau, guerlain, etc.
Lately it seems like shopping is on my brain.
Beware, below lies only ramblings on cosmetics.
After giving up for a while, I'm again seeking a good powder foundation. Over the winter I tried samples of Lunasol Skin Modelling Foundation and Primavista's winter foundation, but nothing stood out.
Color-wise Lunasol was quite nice, but in the end the coverage was only average and oil-control was only average. As a fall-back, it would be quite acceptable, but if I'm going to spend $40 or more on a foundation, I'd like something a little better.
Primavista's winter foundation was pretty poor on coverage and average on oil-control, so I forgot it immediately. The sample was a print on paper, so perhaps the sample formulation had issues to begin with.
However, I've heard good things about Coffret D'Or and Primavista's spring/summer foundations in terms of both coverage and oil-control so I'm looking forward to trying them.
I recently received a sample of Cle de Peau's powder foundation teint naturel poudre SPF 20 PA++ in ochre 20 (タンナチュレールプードルS オークル２０), which has impressive coverage, although I've come to realize that ochre 20 is a tad dark for me. The finish is rather matte so far. I'll see how the shine control fares over the course of this week. The coverage is quite nice - it covers up redness and some large cystic pimples without looking powdery or unnatural. It doesn't sink into pores much at all. There's some itchiness, but this might be the Elizabeth Arden face lotion I am using.
I did like Guerlain's pearly white powder foundation, which brightens the face and covers redness nicely, but the Cle de Peau may have better coverage, as one would expect, considering their target audience. It makes me wonder how the regular Shiseido powder foundation is; if it is almost as good as Cle de Peau, it may be a nice compromise in terms of price and functionality.
If I'm lucky, Coffret D'Or or Primavista will be almost as effective, as they are the least expensive options I am considering.
A Touch of Blusher also has reviews of Coffret D'Or and Primavista's winter offerings.
As a side note, I found Fresh Minerals' mineral foundation rather itchy, but I like the loose powder quite a bit. Nice, functional packaging too.
Beware, below lies only ramblings on cosmetics.
After giving up for a while, I'm again seeking a good powder foundation. Over the winter I tried samples of Lunasol Skin Modelling Foundation and Primavista's winter foundation, but nothing stood out.
Color-wise Lunasol was quite nice, but in the end the coverage was only average and oil-control was only average. As a fall-back, it would be quite acceptable, but if I'm going to spend $40 or more on a foundation, I'd like something a little better.
Primavista's winter foundation was pretty poor on coverage and average on oil-control, so I forgot it immediately. The sample was a print on paper, so perhaps the sample formulation had issues to begin with.
However, I've heard good things about Coffret D'Or and Primavista's spring/summer foundations in terms of both coverage and oil-control so I'm looking forward to trying them.
I recently received a sample of Cle de Peau's powder foundation teint naturel poudre SPF 20 PA++ in ochre 20 (タンナチュレールプードルS オークル２０), which has impressive coverage, although I've come to realize that ochre 20 is a tad dark for me. The finish is rather matte so far. I'll see how the shine control fares over the course of this week. The coverage is quite nice - it covers up redness and some large cystic pimples without looking powdery or unnatural. It doesn't sink into pores much at all. There's some itchiness, but this might be the Elizabeth Arden face lotion I am using.
I did like Guerlain's pearly white powder foundation, which brightens the face and covers redness nicely, but the Cle de Peau may have better coverage, as one would expect, considering their target audience. It makes me wonder how the regular Shiseido powder foundation is; if it is almost as good as Cle de Peau, it may be a nice compromise in terms of price and functionality.
If I'm lucky, Coffret D'Or or Primavista will be almost as effective, as they are the least expensive options I am considering.
A Touch of Blusher also has reviews of Coffret D'Or and Primavista's winter offerings.
As a side note, I found Fresh Minerals' mineral foundation rather itchy, but I like the loose powder quite a bit. Nice, functional packaging too.
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
josh bell
I've been listening to Josh Bell's performance at a Washington, D.C. metro stop a lot lately. It's lovely but not too intrusive.
screen shot tool
By the way, zapgrab2 is an easy-to-use screen capture tool.
Very convenient for adding screenshots to documents and email.
Very convenient for adding screenshots to documents and email.
velcro in Japanese
Do you know what velcro is called in Japanese?
Magic tape! Quite appropriate, I believe.
Magic tape! Quite appropriate, I believe.
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
did you know there's a yakisoba express?
I thought my friend was joking when he mentioned it, but there really is one! I wonder if they serve yakisoba...
http://www.fujikyu.co.jp/shizuokabus/highway/highway_yakisoba.html (Japanese language link)
http://www.fujikyu.co.jp/shizuokabus/highway/highway_yakisoba.html (Japanese language link)
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