Trip to Mitsuwa Mkt in San Diego!

I went to Mitsuwa today for some errands and picked up a couple of extra things.

The "point pads" are actually little spot-treatment face masks!
They were pretty cheap (about $1.50 each) and they have collagen, vitamin E, and
hyaluronic acid - all stuff that helps rehydrate and plump up skin!

These ones have strawberry and cucumber extract.   

(They also have them in orange, kiwi, and lemon, which all have matching fruit extracts.
I personally really like strawberries, and cucumber is a classic.)

Aren't they cute?  I'll write a post when I've tried them.

My dad also got me a tiny little jar/bottle (?) of plum wine. I've never had it before,
it looks really pretty....I'm tempted not to open it and just keep it!
The little plum inside the bottle/jar rolls around, how cute.

The black pen is my favorite sort of pen, it's superfine and writes really tiny and smooth.
I have a little collection of mechanical pencils - I like to put stickers on the "body" of the pencil.
I got a pink one to replace the old pink one since it broke. ;c
(This pink & white one has a Kotori sticker on it now.)

☁QUEEN'S PRESENT Bath Powders

It's been a bit since I posted anything, I'm sorry! :'c
(I've had a bit of trouble catching up with classwork but now I'm fine)

I prefer bathpowders in individual packets - they stay fresh for a longer period,
and they're much more portable!  There's a lot of different kinds for sale
at the local asian markets.  They tend to do different things (the most common one
is "moisturizing" or something of the sort).

I found Queens Present bath powders at Marukai Living market here in San Diego.
They're pretty inexpensive compared to other brands - $1.95 per packet.
The market had Rose Droplets, Smooth + Silky Honey, and Creamy Milk in stock as one-use packets - wish I could've tried the Cherry Blossom Sake scent but they only had the large tin for that. :c  (Large tin would probably be cheaper in the long run, but another benefit to little packets is you can test out different
kinds to find what you like best, before putting down the money on a full tin!)
(The links are for an online shop that has them, they're a lot harder to find on the web - I kept getting results about British royalty and such :S)

Queen's Present Smooth + Silky Honey

I picked this one because the name sounded the most productive and the packet was plenty for my bathtub (which is a good amount of water).  It softened the water and had a nice light gold-yellow color.  Expected it to smell like honey, but it smelled more like nothing-in-particular, just general bathpowder-clean smell (nothing special but definitely not awful).  It's mostly just relaxing for the smell and color.

UCSD Matsuri Festival 2013 Photo Post!

JSA + NSU Matsuri 2013!

Every year at UCSD the Japanese student associations get together and 

plan a large Japanese food and culture fair on Library Walk, at the center of campus.

I think I've gone every year for the last 3 years (my sister's made it over to LJ at least once).

I promised my friends and Austin that I'd wear my yukata to MF, but I literally

found out about MF -the day of-, so I didn't exactly have it with me ready to go. :c

Either way, there were a lot more people wearing them this year - including some people

with really fancy ones (fancy for a street fair anyway).  A lot of people who brought their kids

dressed them up in yukata, and there were a few kids in small groups who might've been from

the nearby middle school/high school who dressed up as well.

("Matsuri" is the Japanese word for "festival"...so the title of the event

always seemed kind of funny to me - "Festival Festival!")

The MC girls were so cute & hilarious c: I think one of them was an MC last year too.

The big attraction here is always the food!

There's usually some new/different booths every year, but they 

always have yakisoba, shaved ice, and ramune soda.  Lucky for me those are

the things I like the best so I always get them - shaved ice is a must, they put condensed milk

in the middle so the strawberry syrup  makes it taste like strawberry milk.  

This year they added strawberry daifuki, oshiruko, and crepes.  

My boyfriend really wanted to eat a crepe (I was super surprised because they're so sweet).

They also had takoyaki - it's always the most popular booth, and the line gets crazy long.  

They had to open a second booth this year!  I don't like it, but it's my sister's favorite snack here. 

At night they turn on the lights behind the booth signs and the whole walk looks really cool.

The balloon scoop pool is really pretty - I didn't win one this time.  I didn't manage to 

get a goldfish this year either, boo.  (Tossing a ball into a cup is a lot harder than it looks.)

The best part though is the paper lantern field (with safe electric candles, but you can't tell).

If you're at UCSD you should go at least once - it's a lot of fun, and the money goes to support the orgs

and/or a charity for Japan (this year the profits went to help people and animals affected

by the recent earthquake).  

Also it's open to everyone, not just students!  

There were a lot of younger attendees from nearby 

high schools / middle schools, as well as people from the area.  

So check the website around March next year to find out the 2014 date.