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.

Cat Cafe San Diego in Downtown - opening soon! (Fall/October 2015!)

Cat Cafes are extremely popular overseas, particularly in Asia.

They originated in Taiwan and quickly spread, they're quite the popular trend in Japan right now!

Last time I was looking for one, the closest was up in San Francisco and LA (?).

But it looks like we're going to be getting one much closer to home pretty soon.

CAT CAFE SAN DIEGO

Cat Cafe SD homepage

(you can subscribe for email updates at the main site)

Cat Cafe SD Twitter (@CatCafeSanDiego) for updates!

(it also shows up on Wikipedia under "cat cafe")

Cat cafes are popular with folks who come to enjoy a cup of coffee, but mostly of course to enjoy the company of the cute cats that live there.  CatCafeSD has a great mission as well - it's aiming to promote its "cat employees" for adoption, and help them find loving homes!

It was slated to open on July 1 this year in time for Comic-Con season but the owner had to push back the date...  Now they have confirmed a space & the lease has been signed for the cafe, and the owner's currently working on getting the space ready for cats and people.

This article from August 21 says the cafe's soft opening is expected in late October 2014.

Here's a cat cafe that opened in Montreal just this month!

I'm looking forward to visiting CatCafeSD once it's open. c:  

I'll make a photo-post when it happens!

UPDATE:
As of NOVEMBER 6 the Cat Cafe didn't pass its occupancy permit, due to the building not passing certain codes... so unfortunately the cafe is still not open.  The owner plans to repair and meet the building codes etc. before the cafe is open to the public!  You can read more here.  

Hello again friends!

After a few months hiatus I've returned!

A lot of changes have happened - I was asked back to work at SeaWorld for a few months for their new summer season, and then I found a position w/ a company in Downtown SD.
So I've been working at my office for about 5 months (since May).

It's a small place but very relaxed, and the people I work with are mostly pretty interesting.

It's been really fun working here, I've gotten to go out and try LOTS of different food places in Downtown!
(My dept coworkers are big foodies.  The place across the street has really good chicken tortilla soup, which I'd never had before they introduced me to it. A little spicy but good!)

++++

My boyfriend has also graduated (congratulations love!) as of June, & currently he works Downtown as well.  It's been really nice getting to see each other every evening after work.  We've been playing new games, and recently we started a workout routine together since we both have desk jobs.
He gave me LoZ: A Link Between Worlds for my birthday and I've been playing it but getting horribly stuck....puzzle games are hard, and the wall aspect makes it harder, but FUN.
I'm looking forward to our 3rd anniversary this month!

+++

Recently I got a new laptop, the screen turns and becomes a drawing tablet.  It's been a big motivation to draw digitally.  It's quite nice to be able to draw on a tablet and not be struggling to coordinate my hand movements to what's on the monitor. 10/10 do recommend!  (I also gathered up a few traditional sketchbooks and art supplies a couple months back, so I could hopefully start using the fancy art markers and pens that Austin gave me last birthday.)

I'm thinking of whether to continue posting art on my art blogspot or just moving everything to one solid blog.

+++

I'll make a photo post of recent events soon.
I also have a small stack of new makeup, games, and other items to review.
It's been much too hot lately (peaking at 80-90 degrees midday, every day) so I haven't tried much new bath stuff.  Bubble baths just wouldn't feel that great, especially not my current favorite kind, hot pepper-germa baths.  Hopefully the cooler weather comes on so I can try some more relaxing baths.

PHOTOPOST: 9th Cherry Blossom Festival at Balboa Park

Here's the follow up to the previous UPCOMING EVENT post, about

the Cherry Blossom Festival at the San Diego Japanese Friendship Garden!

I wore a cherry blossom yukata I got at the Marukai Living store (Kearny Mesa)
here in San Diego!  They have quite a few pretty ladies' sets for around $60,
which goes for a cotton yukata + a pre-tied obi.  Pre-tied obis on their own
usually go for about $20, and yukatas for $60+, so it's a really good deal!
My sister dressed me & did my hair, I have the barest idea of how to put it on properly
but she's done a lot of research herself.



What I brought in my little bag:
(I'm not holding it in the picture, sadly.)

tissues * keys * small notebook * camera * instax camera 

* small pouch for cash & IDs * lipbalm

I also had a folded fan tucked in my sleeve, something else that was useful in the heat!

I had to park a long way away from the garden (again), even though we got there around 11am.
There was a really long line just to get tickets to go in, but it moved fast anyway.

As soon as we got in we hunted for a decent picnic spot!  I didn't have time on the way so
we brought a sub sandwich and some Caprisun in, as well as a can of royal milk tea.
(There was so much nice space on the grass but I forgot to bring a picnic blanket.)

[A was looking for what that "asian canned coffee/tea" flavor came from.]

We finally found a spot at the bottom of the garden to sit down.
There's a really long winding path from the entrance to the bottom, where they had
a few vendor booths with souvenirs & crafts.

It was really pretty outside, sunny with a nice breeze.
Actually it was pretty hot - definitely happy I brought sunscreen after all!
I wore geta and I usually don't wear open-toe shoes, and I felt my feet getting toasted.
I also brought an umbrella just in case, so glad that I had that as well!
There were a couple other girls my age in yukata, and there were a few ladies (visitors and
staff) in really beautiful kimono.  Unfortunately I didn't think to take photos!
(Kind of ironic, I had a couple people ask to take my photo... they should've
seen the ladies in kimono!)

They had a performance stage with different acts - we stopped to watch the preschool chorus,
they sang "It's a Small World" in Japanese (so cute).

The garden has an exhibit room where they were holding tea ceremony demonstrations!

There was also a small booth where two ladies were painting bookmarks - one of them

was doing sumi-e painting and the other was writing out names.

A & I each got one.

I also pressed a blossom in the notebook I brought - I couldn't find any fresh non-crushed

ones on the ground, and I really didn't want to pick a bunch of flowers from the trees, so I 

just picked one.  (Cherry blossoms are edible by the way, when fresh!)

I looked around for a nice photo spot for a while, and there was a tree in a less-busy

area so I asked someone to take our picture with my instax.  It came out really nice,

I was a little worried about the light setting because of reviews I'd read before. 

(NOTE: I'll write a review of the Instax Mini 8 as well, I've been using it since January in

a bunch of different lighting settings and I think I've figured out a method.)

If you went to the festival, leave a comment!
There were staff walking around and taking photos of visitors, I believe
they'll probably post those on the Japanese Friendship Garden's website.

UPCOMING EVENT - San Diego 9th Annual Cherry Blossom Festival

Last year the San Diego Japanese Friendship Garden (in Balboa Park) 

held its 8th Cherry Blossom Festival.  I was lucky enough to be able to attend, and

you can check out my post from last year's festival here!

This year the Japanese Garden is hosting the 

9th Cherry Blossom Festival

THIS SATURDAY (MARCH 8TH) from 10:00am - 4:00 pm.

You can read more about the event 

HERE (niwa.org)

& 

HERE

The event was supposed to be last Saturday, but we had really strange stormy weather 

and it had to be moved over a week.

I really recommend checking it out, the garden's beautiful with all the blooming trees!

Admission is $6 general, but $5 for students and seniors/military.
Anyone with a membership pass to the USS Midway Museum gets free admission
into the Japanese Friendship Garden.
They have quite a few traditional Japanese performances (music and dance among
other things), as well as a ton of festival food and craft booths.

Fortunately I can attend again this year - I have a yukata to wear & I'm 

going with my boyfriend - it's his first time!  (I wonder if people will be proposing this year, too?)

I'm planning to bring a little journal, to press a couple of

blossoms from this year as a memento and/or for crafts later!

Last year I collected some in a bottle but they just got wilted.  The bottle smells

really nice inside though, I wish I could make it into perfume.

Some tips:

*Dress comfortably!  There's not much seating other than a couple of benches, or the

seats around the performance stage - prepare to stand!  And it's still a bit chilly, so a sweater 

is a good idea.  (If you're wearing a yukata, bring a wrap along, or a haori if you're fancy!).

*GET THERE EARLY.  I had to park on the opposite end of the Park last time.
Unless you don't mind walking, I'd say show up around 9-9:30 for best parking.
You can stroll around and enjoy the rest of the park for an hour or so!

*Bring a tote or some kind of small bag, to hold your personal things (food, sweater, essentials) as well as any little souvenirs you pick up.  Try to pack lightly, & I recommend a bag
that zips or buttons shut securely to protect your things.

*Bring CASH.  I don't remember if the booths all take cards as well, but I believe the food
tickets were cash-only as well as some of the small souvenir booths.  Just to be safe!

*Camera!  Or your phone for pictures.  You definitely want to take photos

of the cherry blossoms, performances, and a selfie or two with the trees can't hurt.
There's also many lovely ladies and gents out in their best festival attire (yukata etc.),
not to mention quite a few people in cosplay.
Most are quite happy to let you photograph them if you ask permission nicely. c:
Some people bring really nice professional cameras (I did that last year, but it was
really bulky so this year I'm sticking with my old point-and-shoot + cellphone cam.)

*Snacks/some food!  It's a fair, with fair food pricing.  That said, I do recommend
trying the different standard festival treats.  There's a few can't-miss things, personally I love
the taiyaki and snowcones.  You can also get food like (legit) ramen and teriyaki bowls, from the Tea Pavilion restaurant at the front of the garden. They will also give water if you've brought a bottle with you.  Having a few extra treats to munch on will hold you over (& keep it frugal, I'm big on that)!
If you really want to go all-out you can even prep your own bento box!
(JSYK: The food also has notoriously long lines.)

*Water bottle!  STAY HYDRATED.  Really important!

*Small book/journal!  You'll want this to press flowers/hold anything that you'd like

to keep flat.  Last year they had a booth that would make bookmarks with

whatever you wanted, written on them.  I had to carry mine around all day to

keep it from wrinkling!  This will also keep you occupied in the long lines.

*A sunhat/folding fan - it can get hot in the sun!  (I know this contradicts bringing a sweater,
but San Diego does that a lot.)  Better yet, bring the SUNSCREEN. 

*Picnic blanket!  Remember the lack of seating?  There's plenty of green hilly areas to throw
down a blanket and relax in the sunlight.  Also makes for a nice picnic, with the snacks you've brought or bought at the fair.  ALSO makes for a nice blanket to snuggle up under/in, if it gets chilly.
(See how everything on this list links nicely together?  That was all on purpose.)
Maybe some blossoms will even float down on you while you're at it!



That's all I have for now!  I really hope you take some time and check it out, if you're
in San Diego and you're looking for something fun to do this Saturday.  It's
a great cute-date idea, friends/girls' day out (this past Monday was Girls' Day,
what a coincidence!), or even just a fun solo adventure.
Whatever your grouping, it's a really nice Japanese cultural experience.
I'll be making an adventure post with lots of photos after the event as well.
Hoping to see you there!

 Isa 

Coronado Island c:

Hi everyone!  I've been working a lot so I haven't updated with any reviews and such - sorry!!

But!  This Tuesday was my day-off so I spent the day at Coronado Island with A~ c:

 It was pretty grey in the morning around 11/12ish, then warmed up a bit.
There were WILD DOLPHINS right off the beach, two with
a baby - I love dolphins, I've never seen wild ones that close (they were literally
maybe 50 feet from me~).

 Then we walked around the island and went to a really cute old movie theater.
It's called the Coronado Vintage Village Theater (long name!), on Orange Avenue!
It used to be shut-down and boarded-up when I was in highschool here, but
a couple of years ago it was renovated and reopened.

 They have a couple new movies usually, and then I think
they show feature matinees (?) of old classic films.
Movies are kinda pricy for a little theater - 10.50 regular, but the first showings of
the day are 8.50 and they have senior/military discounts.
Imho it's a really fun and charming experience, pretty worth it. c:
(Anyway you can go to AMC any old time)

The Lone Ranger was quite funny, idk about the original sadly since I've
never seen the old TV series but I'd recommend it.  It gets a little
dark in some places, but it's pretty family-friendly.
(There were a lot of older folks watching it - I had a feeling they used to be
fans of the TV series way back then c: )

We were in a pretty tiny room (there's 3 rooms) with maybe 25 seats.
It's super oldschool inside though, with really nice paintings of places in San Diego
on the walls, & blacklights!  (Protip: the aircon is blasting so it's SO COLD,
bring a sweater or something if you're going to check it out c: )

So that was my Tuesday - it was a really nice break,
especially since I had to work at 6:30 this morning. :X

I'll be uploading a review later this week for the spot cucumber mask that I posted before,
as well as some cute, fun, and inexpensive ideas for outings in SD this summer. c:
(A and I are both pretty broke college/ex-college students so we're masters at fun on a budget!)

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! 

Balboa Park 2013 8th Annual Cherry Blossom Festival

    
This was almost a whole month ago, back in March, but I wanted to post photos from it!

The event happens every year at the Japanese Friendship Garden in Balboa Park, San Diego.  

This was the 8th annual festival they've had - I wasn't able to make it last year because I

had an exam the following Monday, but I swore I'd get to it this year.

It celebrates the first blooming of the cherry blossom trees - in Japan it's called sakuramatsuri.

There's always a lot of Japanese fair food, and vendors - this year they had the grand opening of the Garden's extension, with a cherry blossom lane. c:  It's always really crowded as well, I've heard,

but it wasn't too hard to find parking a bit farther away (get ready to walk a lot though, the garden

extension has a winding dirt path leading to the small meadow at the bottom).

It was a little early in the season so not all the trees were completely blooming, but it was still really pretty.  

Probably the one rare time I actually got to wear my yukata - there

was a Japanese festival at my uni this Thursday but I didn't know till the

day of, so I didn't have the chance to bring it with me :ccc

My sister wore hers too (autumn leaves).

 The long vendors' alley down at the bottom of the lane.  There was also

a snow cone vendor, kettle corn, and a whole children's activities corner!  The 

stage with performances was a little further down the lane.  

At the top of the Garden by the entrance gate is Tea Pavilion - we climbed the path

all the way back up to eat lunch there because the festival food lines were insane around midday.

(The teriyaki salmon plate's really good, and you get a nice big chunk of salmon

with rice and veggies.)

 The day started out pretty chilly and grey, but eventually the sun 

came out and everything looked really gorgeous.

 Taiyaki's my favorite Japanese sweet, it's so delicious when it's freshly made

(they only have it frozen at the asian market...still good but not quite the same)

The guy making taiyaki - we got in line as the event was ending, we were

the 3rd to last people to get taiyaki before the stand closed!

Here's the official website from this year. 

I think they'll have it on the Balboa Park events calendar

next year again, sometime around late February/early March!