San Diego Night Market Adventure

A couple weeks ago on Saturday (10/04) was the SD Night Market over in Kearny Mesa!

This is a yearly event in San Diego, CA,

basically a big culture/street fair of Asian food & performances.

Here's a link to their webpage for more info about this year's meetup,

as well as future info about next year's event.

http://www.sdnightmarket.com/

There's a good mix of different Asian street foods  - Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Vietnamese, Malaysian, and Korean, as well as other types of food - there was a waffle stand, and a sandwich stand as well.  Grilled squid is my favorite but the line was nearly halfway across the lot. :c

There are desserts and sweets EVERYWHERE - the shaved ice is highly popular, as well as

baked goods/sweets, soft serve yogurt, and different drinks including bubble tea/milk tea and coffee.

(Note: It CAN be a bit expensive depending on what you order.  I recommend coming

here to snack on different things or taste something unique, the plates aren't large so if you're

very hungry when you stop by you won't be full from just one order.  Unless you get pho like I did.)

Eggrolls with sweet & sour sauce!

Had to get these, classic tasty snackfood. <3

Cherry shaved ice/snowcone. (about ~$3 for a small, which was already big...

the large was HUGE and definitely more than I could've finished)

(I also had pho and shared a crepe, but I forgot to take photos of those.  So here's photos

of the booths & my friends instead!)

There was also a booth for UTOPIA (a discount gift certificate service) that gave away gift

certificates for local restaurants, and SD zoo daypasses (!!!!) for signing up for their website!

A lot of promotional booths showed up, as well as different local organizations.

Also plenty of minishops selling jewelry, music, dvds, anime figures, and clothing/accessories.

They also have quite a few performing acts, different musical acts as well as

dancing, bands, traditional performances, etc.

(My sister went earlier in the day and saw a maid cafe club dancing onstage.)

I went from about 9:30pm-midnight and it was still pretty full.

If you take the shuttle from the free parking lot, you can get in the express line!  That only took maybe 10 minutes, but I could see the non-express line stretching from the other gate, all the way around the corner of the block...

There's been a streak of 70-80 degree weather in San Diego recently, so at night it wasn't 

too chilly - I was still cold but I get cold pretty easily.  I def recommend having a light

sweater or jacket with you.  (It was also weirdly foggy that night, which didn't help me!)

This is definitely an event to go to with friends, so you can have fun standing in lines

(and not be very bored just standing around waiting).  Which you'll do a lot, but it works 

out because you'll be all done with your previous food by the time you get through the line, 

so you'll be ready to order and eat your next treat!

Also so you can share food with friends and get a chance to taste lots of different fare.

REVIEW: Fjallraven Kanken Classic in Graphite

This is a review for the Fjallraven Kanken pack in the Classic size, Graphite color.

++++

I've wanted one of these packs for over a year, after I found out about them while researching

a backpack that wouldn't make me feel like a turtle stretching my neck out (Jansport I love you

but I'm looking right at you).

Most students in the states have the good old Jansport backpack, I actually still have the one I used throughout high school.  They come w/ a nifty lifetime guarantee and they're weather resistant, etc. and they are VERY hardy - there's only one tiny hole at the bottom of my red JS, and that's

because I was a bit careless on a school trip & scraped it on various rocky surfaces 

(fyi we went to Death Valley so rocky surfaces were a given).

Overall a good backpack but personally I wanted something with a boxier, smaller appearance that would maintain its shape (Jansports tend to really bag and sag when you put something in them).

++++

The Fjallraven Kanken is like the Swedish version of the Jansport.

Little kids get them for school & they're designed to last forever - the cute little nametag on the inside

of mine says that some of the original Kanken from 1978 are STILL in use today!

They're made of a special material that makes the pack VERY lightweight - therefore avoiding any 

unnecessary extra weight, as well as being rain-proof (not that we need that in San Diego).

They're not very common in SD - at least the area I live in, but there are quite a lot of

bloggers/photographers/travelers who've written reviews online as well.

I was able to find it on AMAZON for 54.00 USD (pre-tax) for this specific color.

Different colors cost more or less on Ebay and Amazon as I've noticed.

(All colors cost the same on the Fjallraven site but they're often soldout of the more popular ones.)

GRAPHITE looks a lot darker and more grey in the photo from the website (see top of post).

In reality it's much more of a deep blue-grey, very attractive & universal.  I was looking for this one

specifically to avoid dirt showing up, and it goes well with my outfits/style.

The little fox circular label on the front doubles as a light reflector (probs for kids crossing streets).

This pack looks small but that's hardly the case!

I was able to cram a ton of things in there, and it STILL zipped up well and kept

a nice, boxlike shape (exactly what I wanted).

It also has a sitting pad - a thick square of foam padding that's in a pocket inside

the back of the bag.  That helps it keep shape, and I suppose it's also

good for picnics or if you want to sit somewhere that's not exactly the cleanest.

I was able to fit:  sunglasses, 1" width hair straightener, makeup pouch, pencil pouch, mac n' cheese cup, 14" laptop (had to take that out to make this post though), laptop cord, mouse, phone charger cord & wallplug, 3DS XL, headphones, wallet, sportsbra, Nook ebook, Moleskine blk notebook, Moleskin dayplanner, 2 bananas, breakfast bagel, grapes in a ziplock, my phone, and my Tervis cup.

....and there was STILL room left at the top.

Note though that a 14" laptop is probably the largest size laptop you can carry in this; it fit nearly exactly, with just enough wiggle room at the top that it wasn't hard to get my laptop out later.

Granted these things are quite heavy and in a totebag they do make my shoulder sore, but

I carried my pack around for 30 mins as a testrun (and a donut/snacks run).

The straps ARE thin and so I expected it might hurt (even though the pack's supposed to be 

designed to prevent that).... and it didn't hurt, like it said it wouldn't.

In my opinion it's on par with the Longchamp bag's handle design - I don't really understand how the Kanken's straps are less straining than the padded, thick Jansport straps but I'll go with it!

RATING: 4.5/5 STARS!

The only reason I took .5 off is because I wish these were made in leather, or with leather straps,

not necessarily for the sake of lasting long (the bag's already designed to do that!) but more

for the appearance/contrast of leather with the bag's main cloth.

REVIEW: As I Am Coconut Cleansing CoWash

As I Am Coconut Cleansing CoWash at As I Am Naturally

My hair tends to get very crispy at the ends, sadly.

I don't dye it or straighten anything other than my bangs, I use a cold-air blowdry setting/dry off with a fan, and maybe once a month (not in the last month though) I'll use a heat iron to "clamp" my curls and make them set - special occasion, twindrills-style.  

So it does confuse me about how dry and crispy it gets at the ends, and on some of the back layers.  Overall it's kind of rough, except for my bangs and the underlayer... (Maybe it's the hard water in SD?)

I got a haircut recently however, and I didn't want to waste my nice fresh new ends!

So I had asked friends for recommendations on moisturizing slightly curly, thin hair.

Among them were to not wash my hair as often, to wash only with water, wash with water and sun-dry, use hot coconut oil treatments, and to use "cowash".

Given that I've tried the water-only and every-other-day methods before, and I have heard about coconut oil making your hair fall out, I decided to test out cowash first.

(My scalp tends to get greasy and have that "hair" smell if I use water only, or if I wash every other day...which also gives me hairline zits.  Yikes.)

"CoWash" is a cleansing cream/conditioner, that's coconut based.

Often you can find this in an organic version - AsIAm is not, but there are options.

I picked this particular cowash because it was the best-smelling (AKA no oily sunscreen coconutty scent, which I don't like but which my mom and bf both actively hate).  AsIAm has a nice, rich, slightly tropical perfume-y smell, very exotic but clean.  It's also pretty thick and creamy-beige colored.
The instructions say to use conditioner after washing with the CoWash, but I find it's already really moisturizing - instead, I'll use it the same way I use shampoo.  I take a clump of it and massage my scalp & hair from top to ends, then I'll leave it in for about 5 minutes so it doubles as a conditioner.

REVIEW:

I've been using this for about 3 weeks, every day, coupled w/ my normal cold-blowdry and bangs straightening routine.

(+1)

It definitely does NOT make my hair greasy after washing (like it did when I tried using normal conditioner as a cowash).  I was pretty worried about this.  It's really crucial to rub it into your scalp like it was a normal shampoo, and comb through to the rest of your hair.

(+1)

It smells very pleasant but subtle after it's rinsed out.  The smell fades away completely after a few hours and leaves nothing but the scent of clean fresh hair!  I've not yet gotten a comment about a coconut-smell from anyone.  I don't mind fragrance that stays around for a while, but this is REALLY nice, especially recommending this for people w/ sensitive noses.  Very unisex as well, both the scent and the fact that it fades.

(+1)

The crown of my head & my bangs are lovely and glossy, and still maintain volume/fluffy factor!  There isn't a single bit of grease or residue up there, which I'm thankful for.  The clean feeling lasts through the day (and even after a workout!).

(-1)

However, I haven't noticed much of a change in the ends/back of my hair.  It might just need more time, or maybe is more damaged than I thought.  I haven't tried not blowdrying my hair, simply because I feel really uncomfy going out w/ wet or damp hair.... that may be the factor that helps the cowash succeed.

I did notice that the ends actually clump together more often than before, and if I don't braid my hair at bedtime I'll wake up with baby dreads at the tips.

(neutral 0)

I read a lot of reviews wishing this came in a pump, and I definitely agree.  It doesn't seem very sanitary to stick my damp hand into the tin every day, and leave traces of water in there...although I may use it up fast enough that it won't matter.  Anyway I don't think it's worth knocking off a point, I can just get a pump and put it in myself (I'm not THAT lazy).

____

After three weeks I definitely do see a change in  my hair!
It's not drastic but it's noticeable, it's much softer and I have less greasiness issues.
I can still usually go a day between washes, it's still a bit greasy but that's natural.
Ends have been well maintained since having my haircut (back in mid-September), it's
definitely a long cry from how choppy they were pre-cut.
(For reference my hair is darkbrown, but the ends had gone dirty/dark blonde from being dried.)

Note that this is a gentle cleanser - as in, a VERY gentle cleanser.
So if you use hairspray, gels, mousse, waxes etc....basically anything that likes to stick
around, it might be a good idea to shampoo before using CoWash.  Or you could
wash twice with CoWash which is usually what I do (I don't use sprays or gels as a rule, but
sometimes I have a little more buildup post-workout or after a couple warm days).
I also used shampoo & conditioner once a week (BODY SHOP's Banana shampoo and conditioner),
to clean out any buildup or grease when CoWash couldn't do it.