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GOODBYE AMERICA..HELLO JAPAN!
THURSDAY, AUGUST 27TH, 2009 
It's finally here! After so many months of talking and talking and talking about Japan, I am finally leaving tonight! I will be back on December 22, 2009!
If I am not able to blog on this domain, please check:
http://www.hannahjapana.tumblr.com/
wish me luck! <33
LAST MINUTE PURCHASES
FRIDAY, AUGUST 21ST, 2009
Hello! I know I'm posting only once per week, but I've been so busy these last couple of weeks trying to get everything ready! My departure for Japan is next THURSDAY!!!! My flight leaves at 1:15AM...isn't that brutal?! haha, but that's okay..At least my friend will be with me!
So I've been having a small dilemma...should i buy clothes HERE or THERE? I know clothes there are super expensive and often come in only ONE SIZE. And girls there are TINY!! So I've kind of been buying clothes here because I know the prices and I can't resist. :D
I bought a black high waisted skirt from American Apparel
! This was my first
purchase from that store. It's super overpriced too. I'm not sure if I will buy
from there as much as my friends do. My friend also gave me a $5 dollar off
coupon ,which I gladly used!
I purchased this blouse/dress from F21 yesterday. I love the neckline! It's so
feminine and airy. They also had it in black. I'm not too fond of the cinched
belt, but at least it's removable. I would rather wear a small braided leather
belt with it or maybe a thin gold belt.
I also bought this blouse! They had different colours and my sister bought the
magenta pink version. It's kind of hard to take a picture of this shirt.
Here's a close up!
Yesterday I made a spontaneous trip to Target and browsed the dollar section to
find a bunch of Hello Kitty stuff! I picked up these cute eco bags because my
old hello kitty eco bags from Christmas season are pretty much torn up. These
will definitely come in handy.
I also got hand wipes! They're BUBBLE GUM scented!!! The smell isn't too
overpowering either.
Clockwise LEFT TO RIGHT: Garnier Fructis Hairspray, Banana Republic perfume in
Alabaster, No7 mousse foundation in Suede 40, Cover Girl Outlast retractable
eyeliner, and Maybelline Volume Express Colossal mascara waterproof edition.
Beauty Reviews
Garnier Fructis Hairspray: The hairspray works REALLY WELL. It's extra strong and it really does keep my hair the way I want it. The smell is also really nice too! I'm so happy I found this because it's also Anti-humidity, which is AMAZING! Osaka is super humid, so I'll be putting this hairpsray to the test!!
I know this picture looks lame, HAHA but this picture was taken at the END
of the day after using the hairspray! My hair was still styled!
Banana Republic perfume in Alabaster: The perfume smells wonderful too...it's so light and airy with hints of floral. I got the travel-sized edition too, which is perfect to carry on the plane.
No7 mousse foundation: The mousse foundation is also really good. This is the best foundation I have ever used. It's better than MAC, Lorac, Benefit, TooFaced and even Nars (in my opinion). It's a little on the pricey side for being sold at Target, but it lasts a LONG time. I've had mine for about 5 months now, but it's almost gone. I know that's longer than I should keep it, but it hasn't gone bad or anything.
Cover Girl Outlast retractable eyeliner: My friends introduced me to this eyeliner. The price is very reasonable. It doesn't smudge AT ALL and it stays on literally the whole day until you take it off. I dislike retractable eyeliners because you can't sharpen them, but this eyeliner is thin enough that you don't need to worry about that.
Maybelline Volume Express Colossal mascara: the mascara also works wonders!! It smells faintly of lavender too. I didn't know my eyelashes could look like that before this mascara haha. Usually I curl my eyelashes before applying mascara and this technique seems to work with many people!
HOW TO MAKE PURIN CUSTARD PUDDING
SATURDAY, AUGUST 15TH, 2009
Yesterday I decided to purchase a custard mix at the Japanese market. The purin flavor is a very distinct flavor, kind of like how Ramune has it's own distinct flavor. I've been eyeing the mixes for quite a while and wanted to make it before I left so that I know HOW to make it! It's EXTREMELY easy! anyone can make it!
I'll show you how to make it in
NINE EASY
STEPS!
(me failing to be Betty Crocker)
This is the mix I bought:
The directions are in Japanese, but I managed to figure it out.
If you can read Japanese and have bought this beore,
PLEASE DO correct me if I made any mistakes!
FIRST: get 4 small dessert bowls or molds. I happened to use small Japanese rice bowls, but they proved to be too big. I would recommend using deep, small bowls so that the pudding has some depth!
Those are the bowls I used and those are the contents of the box!
SECOND: Combine the mix with 400ML of milk into a small saucepan or pot. [ In case you don't have a Milliliters measuring cup, it's approximately 1.69 cups. ]
THIRD: Bring the mixture to a boil. When it starts boiling, then let it simmer for ONE minute.
FOURTH (optional): I added food coloring to make it look cute and colorful, but the color scared my sisters away from eating it. T___T I made it a pink color.
FIFTH: After simmering for one minute, you are ready to pour the mixture into your four cups!
SIX: Let the cups stand for 10 minutes
SEVEN: After the ten minutes, place the cups in the refrigerator for 1 hour, or until ready to serve.
EIGHT: The second packet is the caramel sauce, which is also optional. The box says to mix it with 1 cup of water, but I thought it would be too watery. Instead, I mixed it with about 2 Tablespoons of water.
NINE: Sprinkle the
caramel sauce over the purin and enjoy!
NOTES:
I thought it was SUPER YUMMY. It's a quick and easy
dessert to make if you're having last minute guests or whatever! Next time I'm
going to put yellow food colouring so that it looks more like pudding haha. Also, use small
deep bowls!!
CAM
HAPPY
SATURDAY, AUGUST 8TH, 2009
Hello! I GOT MY VISA !! ahh, I am SO HAPPY. Now I can actually ENTER Japan! In case you are confused, the visa I am talking about isn't the credit card visa! haha, it's like an official document/sticker thing they stamp into your passport, which tells the country you're going to that it's okay for you to be there. You really only need a visa if you're staying longer than 90 days in a country! :D :D
Yesterday my friend gave me a camera keychain from Urban Outfitters! This is the same friend who bought me my Nikon D40 dslr camera (it's the camera I use to take all of my pictures). It's super cute, and it flashes REALLY bright and makes the shutter sound! I attached it to my mobile phone!
So remember in my last post I showed a picture of the new plaid flannel I bought? Well!! I wore it yesterday! The weather was UNUSUALLY cool, and I thought it the perfect weather to wear it!
I also bought a new pair of black skinny jeans from F21, and OMGSH! they fit so well and at such a good price ($13.50) ! They are of a thin material, so it's not bulky and unflattering. They're also Stretch material so it's good for all body types! You all should get a pair!
excuse my dry hands -___-" ... and that's the new Badtz Maru ring I bought last week!
Hello! Sorry for my temporary week-long hiatus! This last week has been ridiculously busy...but I'm glad! My part-time job has FINALLLLLLY given me more hours. The ironic thing is, WHY NOW!? ESPECIALLY WHEN I'M LEAVING IN 3 WEEKS!!!, but I can't complain. I actually like working and I love my co-workers.
ANYWAYS!! I want to share what I bought in the last couple of weeks...!
First off, I snagged a couple of old Japanese magazine issues because there
was a 65% off sale!
I really don't read Gisele or Pichi Lemon, but I just wanted the free gift that
comes with it!
I love this Royal Parade make-up bag! (It came with the Pichi Lemon magazine)
It's super gaudy, but I love it anyway.
These Cher panties came with the Gisele magazine.
I would never have thought that my first Cher item would be underwear hahah
So last Saturday was my Going-Away party with a bunch of people from my church and my super closest friends. I put this on my Twitter, but in case you didn't see...
AHH! i love Hello Kitty so much! It's so childish, but I can't help it.
Speaking of Hello Kitty, my friend helped me purchase this sweater:
I have little red flats that would match perfectly! I love how it's long
because it's super comfy and I see a lot of this style of outfit in the Japanese
magazines. I can't wait for the Autumn
season to arrive.
On Monday,
I visited the Daiso and came out with a couple items!
My friend has the pink/brown little drawer thing and I wanted one for myself!
It's going to be handy when I go to Japan. The little two-tower brown drawer
thing will also be handy! I'm planning on covering it with cute stickers or
"upholstering" it with cute wrapping paper or something.
They finally restocked on these notebooks! I love the feel of the pages and the
cover, and I can also decorate them with stickers!
I bought a new body sponge since my other panda one was kind of turning
brown.... gross huh?
And these key rings I bought for my friend!
This last Tuesday I drove up to Los Angeles to go to the Japan Consulate so
that I could get my student visa! Of course, there had to be something wrong.
Seriously, there is always something wrong whenever I need to get something,
like renewing my driver's license or SOMETHING annoying like that. Needless to
say, I didn't get my visa :( :(
I made a couple mistakes on the application and now I have to pay
the price for it :( cross your fingers....I hope I get it before August 28!
Since I was up there, I went to this AMAZING mall called Irvine Spectrum and came out with...
..This cute flannel!! I'm buying clothes that I can't wear until Autumn :( I
purchased it from F21. I like it because it's girly and cinched at the waist.
The other boyfriend version flannels aren't as flattering [on me]. And I can wear this
with jeans or leggings!
LASTLY [ I know this is such a long post], I bought a
ラムネ
snack! It's my
favorite Japanese flavor!
They come in little plastic bottles and I decided to freeze them since it's
jelly. I ate something like this as a little kid, where I used to buy those
little jelly things that come in little cups and then freeze them. Turns out, I
don't think I was supposed to freeze them because it didn't taste like Ramune at
all! It was yummy, but not what I expected.
la fille
hannah, 20, gemini, mix of about every Asian nationality, southern California born & raised, 3rd year college student, exchange student in Japan, lover of all things cute, photography noob, web design nerd, bookworm..
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