5/28 Wishlist c:

My birthday's on May 28, this Tuesday!

I'm pretty excited c: this is the first year in a while when my birthday
falls on the actual day I was born on.

This is just my personal wishlist, more of a reference post.

I usually end up saving money on the side for a lot of them, and use my birthday money
for the rest heheh.  But I'm on a tight budget this year trying to save for the big move-out....
so they're in order of personal importance.  I want to go visit a lot of places
over the summer so I'm putting a slice of money aside for that too!

(PS: The images aren't mine, they're either off of Ebay/Google Img/store sites.)

Friday/Saturday 1-day pass to AnimeExpo 2013

I haven't gone to AX yet!  I was hoping to go to ComicCon this year

(I went to the 2008 event) but the tickets sold out crazy-quick, and I couldn't

get one in time.  AX is kind of far, but it might also be a good chance

to ride the train up to Los Angeles. c:

++++

Fujifilm Instax 8 Mini in Blue or Yellow + film

(I've always wanted a polaroid/instant photo camera, and I heard that these
produce BETTER looking photos than the actual Polaroid!
Plus they're much lighter and come in a lot of nice colors.  But Fujifilm
makes both Polaroids and its own Instax now, which is surprising - you'd think
they'd have the same quality photos.)

++++

Pokecenter: I Love Eievui Vaporeon Mascot 

(or really anything from I Love Eievui!)

++++

MLP Fluttershy Keychain 

MLP Fluttershy Sticker 

(pretty much anything of Fluttershy or Rainbow Dash, tbh)

++++

A sleep mask from the K-ON! Movie

++++

Disneyland tickets!
I haven't been in a couple of years. I was supposed to go on the
graduation trip but they ran out of bus seats, and when the waitlist opened
I found out my friend couldn't go because he wasn't in the same college (there's
six "colleges" in my uni). ;c  It's really expensive though, so this might
have to wait until I get a job and save a bit more.

++++

Mini CHOYA Umeshu .u.

They come in a really small single serve for about $2.

I've only ever had this once, but it's really sweet (it's kind of strong,

but ONE single-serve isn't enough to make you tipsy at all).

This is p much the best drink I've had, & the only one 

that doesn't make me want to chuck the bottle over a fence.

(The little plum floating around in it was kind of odd-tasting; my dad ended up eating it.)

++++

Moo Sticker Sheet
This company will print 90 mini stickers, of photos, as a
sticker book for you!  They're supposedly very longlasting and durable
vinyl stickers.  All the photos can be different too - so that's 90 different stickers!
It also comes in 52 rounds or 52 rectangles, which are bigger than the
ones in the stickerbook.  But they all cost $9.99, a ton cheaper than purikura booths!  

UCSD Sun God Festival 2013

Last Friday I went to Sun God Festival and it was crazy fun!  

Extra-long post coming up~

Every year UCSD has a giant music festival called "Sun God Festival".

It's named after the Sun God, which is this really big mosaic-bird statue on campus 

(there's a bunch of large art-monument type things around my school in random spots).

This is literally the biggest social event at my school! 

People are tbh pretty quiet year-round, but almost everyone goes crazy this one day.
The school also does a bunch of events/promotions leading up to the festival - one thing is
hiding a bunch of little paper "sun god babies" around the school, which you can find and
redeem for discount coupons on sgf merchandise.  

Professors even tend to cancel classes since students pre-game/ditch/etc. before the event. 

Every year there's also people in weird costumes/bodysuits, and people pulling pranks.  It's kind of a thing that somewhere on campus, someone streaks through a lecture. 

Tonnnssss of really great outfits!  Major hipstering this year tho - flower crowns, ripped shorts, ombre/chalked hair, and midriff tops everywhere.

I thought I should make a post of what I went to this year, and a runthrough of
how the whole thing works!  There's also a list of tips etc at the end of the post, for people planning to go. c:

If you're a student you get a free wristband - they hand out around 20,000 every year.

Students have to wait in line to get one on the day before the event, and the line is pretty insane.

I went at about 2pm to get mine - the line went from Marshall Field 

all the way to the Village housing.  (If you pay $65 for a band or pay membership to

Society 60, you're guaranteed a band - Society 60 members get theirs a day ahead of the distribution date.)

look at all the people dear god

On my 1st and 2nd years, I picked up a wristband on the second day.  (I missed it 3rd year ;-; )

But this year and last year they ran out on the FIRST day, 3 hours before 

the boxoffice was even supposed to close!

The wristbands are always really pretty, and they have a different theme each year.

I think it was a jungle theme for 2013 - the last few years were an ocean theme,

galaxy/universe theme (the one I missed out on, poooo), and last year's 30th anniv. theme.

They also give out little "survival bags", with a list of emergency/campus phone numbers in case

you or your friends get drunk or are in trouble - really helpful!

There's also a pamphlet of your student rights, a list of the festival rules, 

and a couple of condoms (hheheh condoms).

The major attractions are the bands - I didn't really know any of them that much. ;-;

This year we had Kendrick Lamar, Porter Robinson, and others - but we went earlier on to see

Andrew McMahon (my friend really likes him and I think I might check his music out now).

My personal fave thing at SGF is the light shows!  

(It was too dark for good pictures and I only had my iphone :c )

They have a lot of lights - lasers, screens, and really pretty and cool light effects!

Both stages (especially the EDM stage) have blacklights, so it's a popular thing to

wear blacklight clothing or face/body paint!

My boyfriend let me draw on his face with blacklight paint c:

Last of all is the food trucks and vendors - there's a long stretch of road where they set up.

They pretty much sell every kind of typical "festival" food you could want.  

Everything's really pricey though!  I got a funnel cake and it was $8, ok but kinda soggy. ;c

 

Besides food, there are a lot of stalls selling independent-brand clothes (shirts etc).

This year there was a stall selling rave clothing and equipment, like light gloves and such.

And there's always the student outfitters stand, which sells SGF-related merchandise.  

This year's the last year I can go free as an undergrad.  I'm really happy

I decided to go, it's really so much fun and a chance to loosen up.

I'm not on point about the performers, and tbh I had a pretty tame experience 

(my bf doesn't drink, & our group wasn't raging-drunk).

But it was great to go hang out with friends, listen to good music, 

and dance around & be silly and crazy! 

Here's some tips for people planning to go - whether incoming freshmen, or guests:

• MAKE SURE YOU READ THE RULES ON THE SGF SITE.  MAKE SURE YOU READ THE RULES ON THE SGF SITE.  MAKE SURE YOU READ THE RULES ON THE SGF SITE.  They are *extremely* strict about particular things like bags, water bottles, etc. and if there's any kind of problem, YOU HAVE A VERY GOOD CHANCE OF NOT BEING LET IN.

• For GUESTS: Tickets this year were $65 and sold out in 5 HOURS.  Get there early and be ready for a line!

• BRING A REUSABLE WATER BOTTLE.  Unless you want to buy one for about $5 at the water stall, you'll pay $1 per (nonreusable) water cup that you drink.  They'll ask you to dump out whatever you have in your bottle, but you can get unlimited water refills inside the festival.  You also can't even bring *SEALED* water bottles (think Aquafina) into the festival, they'll ask you to throw them away.  

• BRING A *VERY* SMALL BAG.  Like really small - think like those tiny cross-body mini-purses.  You really won't need anything besides a small camera (no pro cams), phone, water bottle, and wallet with some cash.  Don't bring anything you don't plan to use - they also don't allow pocketknives or anything that might qualify as a weapon.     
• I had a square bag that was less than 12"x12" (the limit for other dance events) and it was hard to get into SGF - I literally had to take everything out of my bag and show them I wasn't dangerous, before they let me through.  They turned away a girl ahead of me in line because she had a shoulder tote.       

• EXTREMELY DRUNK/HIGH PEOPLE in the crowd.  There will be a LOT of them, especially as it gets later and later.  If this offends you, I really strongly suggest you not attend, or attend for only the first 2-3 hours.  Most people who show up at opening are sober.  (Key word here is MOST.)  Keep in mind though that music entertainment doesn't start until late in the day; at opening, there's only a couple of DJs, the performance tent, the vendor street, and the bounce house. 
• If you plan on drinking or getting high, please be responsible and look out for yourself, or better yet go with someone who's sober who can look out for you.  A lot of people go home in an ambulance each year for things from passing out to alcohol poisoning; know your limits!     
• PEOPLE WILL SMOKE IN THE CROWD.  Cigarettes AND pot/other things.  Again, if this is something you really don't want to be around, stick to the early events.  

• BE AWARE of your surroundings!  The crowds are huge and not everyone is respectful - sober or not. I've heard that people have gotten pickpocketed.  Keep an eye on your things, and bring only the bare minimum of what you'll need.  There are security guards all over; if you feel threatened, harassed, or such please go for help! 

• BE RESPECTFUL OF OTHERS - one of our group rules was "If you're old enough to drink you're old enough to think!"  That being said, keep an eye out for your friends and ask them to do the same for you if you get tipsy etc.  (Please don't harass anyone.  Really. :c  Not cool.  There were a lot of girls groped/grabbed at this year, although guys weren't mentioned I will assume there's an equal chance for them too.)

• GETTING HELP: They usually hand out a list of emergency phone numbers, so have those handy or save them on your phone just in case.  If you go with a group of friends, it's a good idea to have a meetup place and have everyone's phone numbers, in case someone goes AWOL.

• HAVE CASH.  The food trucks and vendors may or may not be able to accept debit cards, tho the two I went to did.   

• FOOD CURFEW - if you're sticking to a budget, it's better to go for food at one of the nearby dining halls or student markets.  The Village Market, Cafe Ventanas, and Goody's Market are all within reasonable walking distance of RIMAC field.  All campus dining halls will close really early on SGF, usually around 8pm - at that point your best bet is the Price Center.  

• Next year UCSD is a SMOKE-FREE CAMPUS - don't bring cigarettes/etc because you may actually be kicked out!

• WEAR CLOSED TOE SHOES AND BRING A JACKET.  90% you'll get your feet stepped on, multiple times, if you go anywhere near the dancing stages.  It was really overcast both 2012 and 2013, but San Diego weather is notoriously unreliable.  It also tends to get really cold and misty as it gets dark, so you'll appreciate a jacket if you stay late.  

• If you miss out on buying a band, and they run out before you can get yours, you could probably buy one - there's a LOT of students who don't really care to go and sell their bands.  However it's all luck whether you can get it cheap or really pricey, or free if you find someone nice....or if you can get one at all!  

This was a pretty long post but I hope it helps!

SGF is the only music festival I've attended yet, I haven't had much time

to go to concerts because of school and work applications. ;c
You can check out this year's event's site here. 

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.)

What I've been doing recently!

Hello everyone c:

It's been a really busy past few weeks, as expected leading up to graduating!  

So here's a little post of just what I've been doing around San Diego lately. c:

.
This Sunday I visited MoPA at Balboa Park with my sister and family,
for a photography assignment.  I don't know why the statue guy had an Iron Man
mask of all things...
~

Sneak peek of some surprises for three of my favorite people <3
(The orange kitty on the right was for my bf - I already gave it to him.
BUT the other two ...the airmail envelope is a hint c; )
~

 My bio lab has fieldwork in some really pretty places.
This was for our ants lab - we went to the cliffs over near Del Mar.
There's a lot of dolphins off our coast now!

~

My bf & I went to the Bistro, which is an Asian/Asian-fusion

restaurant on campus! c:  I love their beef pho.  (The meat's good if 

you take it out of the soup after a minute, so it stays a lil' bit rare!)

~

I also went to Sun God Festival 2013 at UCSD, which is a huge music festival that my 

university has every year - I'll make a separate post of that! 

☁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.

1000 pageviews!

Thank you for your support everyone!

FOR THE FUTURE:

I would like to try and do a giveaway at 2000 views, if hopefully enough people will see it and enter.

It'll take a little time for me to get things together, which would be something
along the lines of what I review/write about on here.

I'd like to know what kinds of things you guys want to see in a giveaway box!
Please leave a comment if you're interested, and help me get started. C:

Summer: sun-safety and tips!

Hey guys!  It'll be summer in about a month, but here in SD it's

already starting to warm up (on the days when it's not April-showering).

We have really strange spring weather where sometimes it's grey and drizzly...but on the

days when the sun comes out it can get really intense.

I thought it'd be helpful to make a post on general tips to help as the weather warms up, 

and  how to beat the heat and protect yourself from the sun!

SUNSCREEN

This is super important.  Even if you don't use it on the rest of your body, you should

definitely use it on your face!  I know you've probably heard it hundreds of times, the sun

can do a lot of damage on your face - you may not see it now but in the long run, over-exposure

causes wrinkling, discoloration, spots, and possibly skin cancer (all bad things, especially cancer).

I would recommend using it on any exposed skin, even if you're just wearing shorts/skirt/tank top and

not just for going to the pool or beach - whenever you know you'll be in the sun for a while.

Remember to wait FIFTEEN minutes after applying sunscreen before you head out, 

that's how much time it takes for your skin to absorb enough to form a barrier against the sun!

I have Ocean Potion Kids 50SPF as a body sunscreen.  It smells AMAZING,

sweet & fruity - nothing of the usual medication/coconut smell that a lot of sunscreens have.

(my mom and boyfriend actually get *nauseous* from coconut scents, so we tend

to avoid using anything with that smell around them - this is perfect because they can use it too)

What I do is mix a bit of it with my normal body lotion and apply that.  

Mine's 50SPF, which is really great for full-on long-term sun exposure! But on a 

day to day basis did you know you don't need more than 15SPF?  So a little dollop of 50SPF

really goes a long way. c:  I was worried that the added lotion would make me burn FASTER

but it actually doesn't in my experience.  

This stuff is surprisingly light for a body sunscreen, but don't let it trick you.

I went on a trip to Death Valley and was out in the sun for 9-10 hours with this on, and 

I got the barest hint of a tan.  (I usually get very tanned from just a half-hour in the sun without

sunscreen, so it's a really effective 'screen in my experience!)

NOTE: I really wouldn't recommend this for your face - I think it's supposed to be noncomedogenic

but it did make me break out, as it's a bit oily (and it's not touted as a face-OK sunscreen to begin with).

~~

I use Coppertone oil-free Faces for my face.

You can also get this at Walmart or any similar store, it runs $6-9 but lasts forever 

since you only need a very little bit at a time. 

I've tried a lot of different brands of face sunscreen since I first had breakouts, and they all

made me break out horribly.  Some people like my cousin are fine using the same

sunscreen all over - which is great! c:  If you are one of those people count yourself lucky.

But if you've tried a lot of sunscreens this one is really great.  It's very light and not at all greasy,

and absorbs very quickly.  It's just as effective for daily use as for hardcore sun-time.

I usually put a tiny bit of this over moisturizer for day-to-day, and I'll just put a thicker layer 

of only this for when I go to the beach/out in the sun.    

I have combo skin so this is pretty great, it's not shiny & it doesn't have that feeling of a blanket

of oil on your skin.  I've also used this for my hands when I'm gardening/working in my ecology lab

and my hands are exposed to the sun (I have a hat and longsleeves haha).  

~~

Other tips for the upcoming sunny days:

• STAY HYDRATED.  I can't say this enough, especially in SD where the temperature can shoot up like nobody's business.  You only feel thirsty when you're already slightly dehydrated.  A water bottle is NOT "too heavy to carry" compared to the impact on your body of not drinking enough.  If weight is an issue, you can even get water-"bottles" that are bags, which you can roll up and store away when they're empty - these are pretty great and they're quite weightless.  (Though I'd stay away from putting anything besides water in them because they'd be a bit difficult to clean!)  They're very affordable, Target currently has them for $1 in their dollar section. 
• WEAR A HAT.  I usually do this because sometimes I don't want to wear sunscreen, or I'm lazy.  Until recently I wore a hat because if I put sunscreen, I'd get zits.  Not anymore, but a little extra protection never hurt anyone!  Snapback, floppy sun hat, whatever it is make it work. 
• WEAR SUNGLASSES!  UV radiation affects your eyes as well, and overexposure can hurt your vision.  Your eyes need protection too!  If you wear glasses, they make the kind that can clip on to your frames (they also sell wraparound ones that go OVER your glasses, those are kind of cool too and look like you're one of the X-MEN).  
• SPF LIPBALM.  I tend to have dry lips and it's really noticeable (my friends and parents point it out when I haven't even noticed because I'm used to it).  I switched to lipbalm that had SPF in it a couple of months ago and I was fine since then. I think it might've been that the combination of lipbalm "oil" and sunlight fried the top layers of my lips?  Whatever it was, SPF also keeps you from getting sunburn on your lips.  (doesn't that sound awful?)
• TRY NOT TO GET SUNBURNT.  Sunburns - and even tans - go through many layers of skin, affecting deep layers and leaving long term damage.  The degree of damage varies with how deep the tan/burn is.  You can still look sunkissed  and be safe - just keep in mind that you may not look tan today, but tans darken after the fact (follow the tanlines!).  
• FOR DRIVERS!  The left side of your face (in the US, it'd be the right side in some countries I suppose!) is frequently exposed to sun, as well as your arms & hands.  A lot of online sites sell "driving gloves" - they come in a lot of colors and designs so you can look and feel cool (in both senses of the word) while blocking the sun.  I also keep a thin hoodie or cardigan in the car, that I can pop on and have my arms protected without overheating myself.  I've seen some people wearing floppy hats as well while driving - I personally wouldn't because I'd worry about my span of vision, but it can work!  This would be a good time to break out the sunscreen.    
• DRINK TEA!  Tea - both black and green - is full of antioxidants and good things that will actually STRENGTHEN your skin's natural resistance to sun damage (along with other kinds of damage).  On the plus side, it can help with complexion. c:  

Tiny Farm

A couple of days ago I downloaded Tiny Farm for iPhone and

I started my game today - it's surprisingly addicting!

(I'm user seaprinprin by the way!)

 I've never actually played Farmville on Facebook, but some people have said

that Tiny Farm's a bit like it.

(Though Tiny Farm is REALLY cute - think Harvest Moon-style animals and buildings.)

So basically you start out with a few animals (first you have sheep, but you can

get chickens, pigs, and more, especially if you have a Ranger cabin to catch

rare animals for you).

You have to feed and give animals love (with love points) and eventually if you have 

two of the same kind of animal with full love points, you can have them breed and a baby

animal will be born!

Also when you complete a collection of a particular kind of animal, you get 

a special surprise reward.

You can get money in-game by having crops - this makes a TON of money relatively 

quickly.  Bells are a little harder to get, you can earn them in-game through friends and doing quests etc.

There's also ways to get free bells by signing up for apps/services/etc.  

Finally, you earn love points over time; whenever you level up you increase the 

total love points you can have AND you get a free refill.  

You can also get money, love points, and bells by buying them with actual money (it's pretty

pricey though so I really don't recommend it).

It gets a bit impatient waiting to refresh love points/for crops or animals to grow, but 

you can just click away and do something else, then come back

once everything's full up again.  

I would recommend trying it if you like Harvest Moon or farming/animal

raising type games (like Tamagotchi etc).  The best thing is it's a FREE app!  

(I'm not sure if it's available for computer/online/other phones besides iPhones.)

It's available for iPhone, iTouch, and Android as far as I've found out.
The game made my 4s heat up a little bit, fyi - just close it and remove it from
the background-running programs list for a while if that happens. c:

My farm - the black sheep & bighorn sheep are my favoritesss. c:

I'm seaprinprin on there so add me as a friend and I'll help you out with love points!

My current games & shows c:

Hello all! 

I've always been kind of sad that during school, I'm balancing

so many thingBlas - schoolwork, blog, tumblr, friends, and job-searching - that

I don't get to really watch anime/TV shows, play games, or read books etc.

Recently this quarter (of course I wouldn't think of this until the last quarter, sigh)

I've started putting aside a half-hour every weekday to play a game I was saving for break,

or watching one episode of a series I'd planned to watch.  

I've actually felt a lot less stressed!  And I don't end up marathon-ing through an

entire series (& ending with feeling sad that it was over so fast).

My boyfriend thought I should be accurate and just watch one episode per WEEK, so 

it'd be like actually keeping up with the show when it was currently running, but I'm not 

nearly patient enough for that!  

(FYI I mostly pick up shows that are already complete so 

I can get the whole torrent - if you want a copy of the torrent/link to it, leave a note

in the comments and I'll give it to you!  I can't post them on the blog because the post gets

flagged and taken down ...trust me it happened before. :c )

Current Shows!

Adventure Time (literally the only airing show I try to keep up with because tumblr spoils it otherwise)

Strike Witches Season 2

Black Rock Shooter (the plot's a bit confusing but the animated dream world is SO pretty)

Current Games!

Bayonetta (I already made a post about this, a sequel's coming out soon if you didn't know!)

PokeMMO (I downloaded it foreverago but finally got to playing it - now I can play

w/o bringing my ds AND laptop c: )
DoTA 2 (Dawn of the Ancients) (it's similar to League of Legends)

April 2013 Streetsnaps

Quick snaps of people I've seen around SD with interesting or cute outfits!

A lot of these are kids at UCSD. c: 

 ( Note: If you see yourself here and you would like your photo taken off,

just comment anonymously (I think you can do that) with the number of the photo. c:

I will take it down immediately! )

Suits always look pressed and classy.  (It's also still on the chilly side of spring, so hopefully

he was comfortable and not baking in that!)

(Peterson bus stop, UCSD)

Super cute outfit - perfect match with the mint skinny jeans + ballet pink combat boots, and

the little bunny face on the edge of her shirt.

(Peterson Hall, UCSD.)

Really pretty combination of a light skirt and the summer-tropical colors in her bag and hoodie.

(Peterson bus stop, UCSD)