Last Post of 2014~

Hi All~ It's been a while! I have been up north visiting family and friends. I am back in Southern CA now with my crazy cats lol. They really missed me; you never know how attached a pet is to a person until you leave them for a while. Anyway, it's time to reflect on 2014. The year itself was like any other year for the most part: school, work, making some new friends, losing some old, going to anime and comic book cons, playing new games. The main difference was having some family health scares, which put life into perspective for most. Especially when it's someone other than me for once. I am glad they are getting better and I hope 2015 is a better year for them. I am looking forward to the new year. New life changes, such as new school, making more new friends (I hope), finding love (I hope), getting a car, moving to a new city. Seeing old friends and family, who have stuck by me and continue to do so no matter where life takes us. I bravely anticipate whatever comes to me in 2015. I believe everything happens for a reason, so I will take it all with clarity and good reasoning. I wish that all of my friends, family, and readers have a happy and safe 2015 year, as well. Please keep each other close, hold each other tight, and keep the squabbles to a minimum. Life's too short to be lazy, remain sad, or be angry. Take each day one step at a time and think of at least one thing that makes you happy for that day. Instead of just 100 days of happiness, make it 364/5 days. Happiness is shown in many forms, just like many other emotions, use them all if you must. Just please be happy, please be kind, and please be healthy. I hope to interact with everyone more in 2015!

Till 2015 ;)

-Hachi

Merry Christmas :)

Hi all! Sorry for a slight delay of posts. I've been a bit busy with my research and winter house cleaning.  Right now, I am back in Northern California visiting family for a few days and then it's back to Southern California to await the start of graduate school.  So to keep this post short, I'll wish you all a nice and safe Christmas day and a happy holiday season :)

 Till Next Time!

 - Hachi

Stuffed Bell Peppers!

Hi All! So sorry that it's been a couple of weeks since I have blogged. Life gets in the way, as always. :/ I have a few upcoming blogs over the next week since I finally have free time, so stay tuned. :) Today's blog is a recipe I did last week of stuffed bell peppers with rice. As a kid, I was never that huge of a bell pepper fan, but now I like them. So I decided to make stuffed bell peppers, which was something I have not eaten in over 13 years. I was a bit apprehensive to how they might taste, but I must say they tasted ahmayzing (amazing)! So without further ado, here is my recipe. Partial credit goes to Betty Crocker as that is where I found the measurement amounts from. All of my adjustments are in purple font. :)

Stuffed Bell Peppers:

4       large bell peppers (any color)

1

lb lean ground beef (I use 93% lean ground beef for everything)

2

tablespoons chopped onion (brown onion)

1

cup cooked rice

1

teaspoon salt (or you can substitute for 1.5 teaspoons of taco seasoning)

1

clove garlic, finely chopped (or minced garlic)

1

can (15 oz) tomato sauce (any brand)

3/4

cup shredded mozzarella cheese (I used Cheddar Jack cheese and lots of it)

Step 1:
Wash and cut a thin slice from stem end of each bell pepper to remove top of pepper. Remove seeds and membranes; rinse peppers. If necessary, cut thin slice from bottom of each pepper so they stand up straight. Place them in a oven safe glass dish.

Step 2:
In 10-inch skillet, cook beef and onion over medium heat 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until beef is brown; drain. Stir in rice, salt (taco seasoning), garlic and 1 cup of the tomato sauce; cook until hot.

 Step 3:
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Stuff peppers with beef mixture. Stand peppers upright in ungreased 8-inch square glass baking dish. Pour remaining tomato sauce over peppers.

 

 

Step 4:
Cover tightly with foil. Bake 10 minutes. Uncover and bake about 15 minutes longer or until peppers are tender. Sprinkle with cheese.

  Step 5:
Remove from oven, and let cool a little bit before eating. Enjoy!



I hope you guys liked my recipe post. What is your favorite savory recipe? Let me know in the comments below!


Till Next Time!

-Hachi

Japanese Garden Clean-up (October)

Hi all! So sorry for the late blog! I have been so busy lately, that I basically get home from work and lounge around reading manga, but it's my usual 3-day weekend now, so I am here to write! Well in this blog, mostly show pictures. I'll write more in my next one and try to get back to biweekly. :)  A few weeks ago,  I helped the international relations council for the Tohoku, Japan area, I am a part of with the Japanese garden clean up. Here are some pictures of the garden. :)

Complete garden photo

Gazebo

 

Water Fountain

The opening gate - middle kanji means heart, but not quite sure what the first and last one are. I forgot them. :/

Clouds, palm trees, normal trees, and sun.

Maybe it's a mini pagoda?

Me in front of the gate, probably tanning.....

Lunch! Amazing salad, croissant sandwiches, and kettle chips

I was pruning the flowers.

Do any of you like to do community service projects? Or what kind of projects are you involved in? Let me know in the comments below.


Till next time!

-Hachi

Lipstick Paradise

Hi all! Another weekend is about to come to an end, and I hope you have all had a restful time! So today I decided to play around with the lipsticks I own. These lipsticks are on Mac NW45 skin with L'Oreal Nut Brown highlighting under base. Instead of spamming my post with a billion photos, I decided to Photo Grid the pictures based on each color and far view/close up. I hope you enjoy!

410 Blissful Berry - Maybelline (Favorite)

540 (Moisture Renew) Burgundy Lustre -Rimmel

900 Red Alert - Rimmel

Confession - Urban Decay

All Heart - Clinique (probably my least favorite because it's too shimmery)

If you have any lipstick recommendations for darker skinned individuals, please let me know in the comments below.




Till Next Time!

-Hachi

"Yes to." Product Review

Hi all!

Sorry it's been so long in between blogs, I have been rather busy this week with work, and an online class I am quite "over". Since I am due for another blog anyway, and I just tried out a product for the first time, I will give a product review on it.


So if you remember in my old blog about my Target Super Mini Haul, I purchased the Yes to. Cucumbers Soothing Hypoallergenic Facial Wipes. I haven't had a chance to test them out until today so I did and have a bit to say about them.

Stock Photo of Yes to. Cucumber Soothing Hypoallergenic Facial Wipes

Firstly, the moistness of the towels is really good. To reiterate, it didn't come out of the packet mostly dry after a while like some do when purchased.

You could also really smell the cucumber in it. Intensely. In fact, almost overpowering. For some, that might be pretty awesome, but for me, it was a little too much.

Finally, application of the towel in makeup removing. It removed make up quite well, but remember how I said this is supposed to be hypo-allergenic? The reason I bought it in the first place? Well unfortunately, I guess it wasn't hypo-allergenic enough for me because soon after I applied it to my face, my whole face started to burn and itch. Hopefully I don't get a rash, but I have Benadryl just in case. I was so disappointed with what happened, that I can't even use the other nine towels.

Rating: 1/10, point going for moistness. The smell and the itching/burning of my face made my rating go way down. I would like to try their other products, but now I am a bit worried the same thing will happen again. Hopefully not.


So I decided to check the product reviews on their actual website and I am not the only person who got mild skin irritation from this. Other reviews discuss redness, burning, itching, rawness. I hope if you have or will try this product that it does not happen to you as well. So far, thirty minutes have passed and my face still itches. Sigh.

Update: One full hour has went by and I have applied my anti-itch cream. It took some of the irritation away, mostly natural, as well. Maybe I'll do a review on it later.




Has this ever happened to you before? Where something hypo-allergenic caused minor, mild, or major skin irritation on you? Also, what hypoallergenic skin care products do you recommend? Let me know in the comments below.



Till Next Time!

Hachi

*Cough, Cough, I'm sick* Cold Remedies on the Cheap

Hi everyone! (Cough, cough, I'm sick.) Or at least, it seems like I might be getting sick. Tis the season though, and I do work at a community college after all. I don't typically take OTC medicine, but on occasion, as some happens to give me nightmares. So while I wait for a normal prescription to be filled, I am doing my typical remedies in the meantime. They do help lessen the blow, at least I have noticed. (I am not a doctor, nor do I claim to be so do not attempt some of these remedies without a doctor's approval. Especially if you are already taking medicine.) Most are natural remedies anyway, but I just wanted to put that out there that you should always get doctor approval when doing new health related things. Regardless of how simple they are.

Stock Photo of a woman sneezing

Humidifier!

Humidifiers come in two types: warm mist and cool mist.  It's basically just heated water in a machine that comes out as steam to clear the airways and allow for restful breathing. I happen to use a Children's cool mist humidifier, that I purchased at Target, a few years ago for about 30$. I also add to it what I will mention in the next category.

Essential Oils!

Essential oils can be bought at most health stores, for relatively cheap. You only need a couple of drops at the most for usage in your diffuser or humidifier. Never handle them on your skin directly. Some do come diluted in a base oil like almond, or jojoba, however, many are pure oils. I do advise to dilute them in the water without touching it. Less is more. Too much and it will be very over powering. Oils that are good for colds include : Lavender, Mints (Rosemary, Peppermint, etc), Eucalyptus, and Camphor.


Lemon and Honey!

This combination is awesome! Honey is a natural antioxidant. Some people use it in salves, I use it as an antibacterial cough soother. It also helps with sore throats. To make a very thick cough syrup out of it, mix equal parts lemon juice and honey into a table spoon and take it like that. Some people (like me) find that to be too sweet and prefer to add it to hot water as a sort of tea. (I sometimes add a shot or half a shot of Brandy and turn it into a Hot Toddy (folk remedy), but I am of age. If you are not of legal drinking age, just don't. Seriously. lol)

Salt Water!

This combination can be used as a warm soothing rinse to aid in a sore throat's healing process, or as a nasal irrigation rinse. In both cases, do not ingest the salt water. I also hate netipots, might I add. I do use saline to moisturize the nose, but nasal irrigation makes me feel weird.

Chest Rub!

Vicks Vaporub is quite nice too, but it is really expensive, unless you find it on sale. Store brand chest rub works just as well.

Warm Moist Towels/Hot Packs!

If you have sinus pain, a warm towel or a warm hot pack can help relieve the pain in your sinuses. The hot pack will stay warm a lot longer than the towel by the way. Test the temperature, and do not leave it on for long periods of time.

Vitamin C!

You can take some tablets, multivitamins, or just eat or drink your vitamin C if you are very anti-pills.



That's all for now! If you know of anymore useful and relatively safe/legal remedies, please feel free to comment below.


Till Next Time!

Hachi

Teriyaki Salmon Stir-fry with Noodles

Hi all! So as a follow up to my grocery haul blog, I have a mini recipe blog! This was actually made for dinner on Sunday, but I am posting it today to not overload everyone with blogs.

A bowl, spoon, water, chopped garlic, teriyaki marinade, sriracha sauce. and salmon

So in my bowl I mixed :

6 tablespoons teriyaki marinade

1/2 teaspoon sriracha sauce

1/4 tsp garlic

4 tablespoons water (you don't really need to add the water, but that marinade is so sodium filled that adding the water helps to dilute the heavy sodium taste)

1 salmon (with the skin on, it is better for you too)


I marinated the salmon for 1 hour, although 30 minutes is fine as well.

After marinating the salmon for 1 hour, I preheated my oven to 375 F (190 C, Gas Mark 5). I put my salmon on a pie pan wrapped in foil and baked for 45 minutes.

In the meantime, I took one of my frozen stir-fry with noodle packs and cooked it in a non-stick skillet adding some water and teriyaki sauce to keep it flavorful.

Then I took half of the salmon and added it with the stir-fry and there you have it! Dinner :)

Till Next Time!

Hachi

Sales, Savings, and Groceries! Oh My!

So you guys know I love a good sale. There were amazing sales for this week's ad at Ralphs (a Southern CA grocery chain owned by Kroger). Although I bought 15 items at 53$, which seems not so good until you realize what I got for that price. With further ado, here is this week's grocery haul. For the record, my kitchen counter is a bit small (with my Kruger machine and my microwave in the way), so I tend to take the pictures on my stove. Not pictured (1 pk of store made sushi for lunch, watermelon slices)

12 pk Natural Brown Eggs, 1 lbs of ground beef, 1 pk of salmon

8 pieces of chicken breast, 18 pieces of chicken drum sticks, 5 lbs of St. Louis style spareribs

Ignoring the chicken in the back, 1 large bottle of teriyaki marinade, 5 pks of frozen veggies, and 1 lbs of large shrimp.

When thinking about the price of each individual item, based off of the amount purchased and spent, each item was about 3.53$ each. I consider this a purchase well done since everything aside from the veggies individually cost over 5$ each. According to Ralphs, I saved about 25$ and I consider that a win in my books.

Do you guys love supermarket sales? and how do you save at the supermarkets? Let me know below and if you have any tips to save more. :)



Till Next Time!


Hachi

Sweater Weather Tag

Hi all!

So sorry for the delay in blogs, I have been so busy with work, traveling back and forth between Northern CA, and Southern CA. I am back though! So I will do something a bit different in this blog and do a tag. Also I will be tagging all of my readers, that are also bloggers to do this tag. :)


Sweater Weather Tag:



1. Favorite candle scent? 

I really like Vanilla Bean scents. They are usually subtle and considering most candle scents make me sneeze my head off, these are heavenly.


2. Coffee, tea, or hot chocolate?

I am not a big fan of chocolate, so that would be the lowest point on the totem. I would have to choose tea, hands down. I used to have fourteen different flavors of tea at one point, but drank most of them. Coffee is ok on occasion, but tea is still my love. Green tea, especially <3


3. What's the best fall memory you have?

I think my best fall memory was when I was a little kid in elementary school off on the countryside in my hometown in the Central Valley of Northern CA, and I would play with my friends on the playground. We would gather all the leaves up and jump and roll around in them. Good times, good times. I still jump in leaves, btw. I enjoy the crunching sound they make when I step on them.  :)




4. Which makeup trend do you prefer: dark lips or winged eyeliner? 


I would have to say winged eyeliner. Mostly because I don't wear lipstick all too often, and all my lipstick is rather dark.




5. Best fragrance for fall?




I don't like seasonal smells, it goes along with things always making me sneeze. I can tolerate some Victoria Secret sprays though. Sweet Daydream is my staple. 


6. Favorite Thanksgiving food? 

Ham, because I am not a fan of turkey, to be honest. I also love sweet potatoes and marshmallows. Cannot stand stuffing though.


7. What is autumn weather like where you live?

It is currently hotter than the blazes here in Southern CA. Today it was 103F degrees (39C). Normally it's windy, with mild weather in the 50s-70s, depending where you are in California. It can also rain, and we actually have four days of rain in this coming week's forecast. Everyone knows we need the rain here in California.


8. Most worn sweater? 

My Lucky Brand jacket with Japanese artwork and graffiti all over it with Osaka and Tokyo written on it. I have had it for years. It's always covered in holes that keep being sewn up, but it's cozy and nostalgic.

9. Must-have nail polish this fall? 

No go-to's but I do like blues and purples.


10. Football games or jumping in leaf piles?

I like both lol.


11. Skinny jeans or leggings?

Leggings, because I only like boot cut jeans.


12. Combat boots or Uggs? 

Not a fan of Uggs, my feet get hot enough in normal shoes. I don't need all that extra fur making me overheated. Cowgirl Boots would personally be preferable for me. Norcal countryside lady, I am.


13. Is pumpkin spice worth the hype? 

No, but it's ok on occasion. I had a tall PSF today with soy. Not bad, but annoyingly overpriced.




14. Favorite fall TV show? 

Downton Abbey (since it originally comes on in the fall, although January in the US -_-)




15. What songs really gets you into the fall spirit?

All of the Nujabes beats because I love primarily instrumental music, and his music makes me feel at peace like fall does. "Horizon" is one of them :)



Hope you enjoyed my tag, and like I said I tag all of you readers to do it as well. :)



Till Next Time!

Hachi

September Favorites!

Hi Everyone! Happy September! We are inching closer to the greatest season ever! Fall, or autumn as I typically call it ! :) So I decided to do something a little different and list my favorite things about September.




PSL (Pumpkin Spice Lattes) -

Yes, I'm one of those lol However, I kind of prefer making my own drinks, so I think this year I will bet making my own. I know there isn't real pumpkin in it, because it's pumpkin pie spice haha (I'm a baker)

stock photo of PSL

Pho -

Well...technically it still feels hot as the blazes here in California, but I associate the coming of the autumn season with pho.  I actually had some yesterday because I was sick. Rare Beef Pho, please!

stock photo of pho

3/4 sleeve shirts -

They're really good for when it's not too hot, but not freezing cold. That'll probably be more useful as we get closer to the latter end of September.

stock photo of 3/4 sleeved shirt

Cardigans -

They are awesome go to's for those days, when you might want to cover up, but don't want to over heat.

stock photo of a cardigan

The changes in the leaves -

I love when the leaves change and fall to the ground. The crunch, crunch, crunch you hear as you walk on them or jump in leaves. Yes, I might be 24, but jumping in leaves never gets old haha.

stock photo of changing leaves

So that's a few of my September/start of autumn favorites.  Do you have any September favorites? Let me know in the comments below :)



Till next time!

Hachi

Cars, Cars, and More Cars

Hi All! So sorry I have fell a bit out of the loop with my blogging. This week was my first week of work. I have been relying on bus travel for the past 5 years down here in Southern CA, and let me tell you, these bus systems are HORRIBLE. The drivers are pretty good, although you get a few sour apples in the bushel, but it's the timing, the excessive amount of stops, the lack of more express buses. Now, I have to do a bus commute in between two counties for work. Imagine how much more trouble that is, dealing with two different bus systems. I have done my "Google-sensei" lessons and have discovered, the distance between home and work by car is only 19 minutes away. Get this, 19 minutes. However, with my buses of doom route, it takes me 1 hour and 48 minutes at the least to get to work. This is by taking one of the few express buses in the system. So this brings me to my current, and far more necessary need than ever, wanting a car.

There are only two cars I have a real interest in because I want to do far more with it than just go from point A to point B. I also want to join a car club, because back home in my Northern CA town, car culture is rather huge. So I want to be able to do car meet ups with other enthusiasts. I do not want any Hondas or Toyotas. The cars are really nice looking, but my area makes them EASY targets so I do not want to exactly risk that. I want to also do street legal races at the tracks down here, and street legal mods. As much as I love those movies, no Fast and Furious-ness up in here. So below I will list stock photos of the cars, (not exactly the specific looks I want, and I am asking for pros and cons of each.) So please help me out with that. :) The two cars I am currently looking at, based on the best used cars list from Consumer Reports are: the Mazda 3 (aka MZ3) and the Subaru Impreza.

2008 MZ3

Subaru Impreza Wagon WRX

So here's my task for car enthusiasts. Can you guys give me some pros and cons about the two cars mentioned. For instance, which generation is best, keep in mind, I tend to not go for the newest crayon in the box lol Also, in the future (when I choose a car) mod tips will be welcome. Thank you all! Also please be respectful of each other's opinions. In the semi-distant future, I'd like some American muscle too. :)

Update, I'll probably end up with a Kia for grad school, but then trade up in a couple of years. We'll see. (1/13/15)

Till next time!

Hachi

Busy Week

Hi All! So this week was rather busy for me, which is why I only posted on Monday and today. I started my job as an ESL tutor, this week and have to do long communities between counties using public transport. I am slowly getting used to it though. I am enjoying meeting new people and all my coworkers are kind people. I like when I have good relationships with my coworkers, it makes going to work all the more enjoyable. Another side thing I have been doing is "summer cleaning" trying to get my apartment clean before the summer ends. I am also in the process of starting graduate school applications so I hope that works out for me. I'll keep this short, but I think after the first couple of weeks of work I will adjust to this new schedule and be able to post tri-weekly again. Please do bare with me. I'll be doing a what's in my workbag post soon! :)


Till next time!

Hachi

Thank You!

Wow, it's been two consecutive "work" weeks that I have blogged. So far so good. I even have received over 85 views in these two weeks. I know that doesn't sound like much, but it is a lot for me. The first time I started to blog was at the beginning of the year. I did it for literally the whole month, and only got 70 views. So I ended up burning out on blogging, and deleted the whole thing. Since it was the summer, I decided to start blogging again. This time, however, my new goal was two Monday through Friday weeks straight of blogging. If I ended up with at least 40 views, I would continue my blog. Since I actually went a little over double that in nine days, I decided to continue my blog. The only real change I will be making is that, since I am starting up a job and an online class soon, I will have to blog a tad bit less. So instead of Monday through Friday, I will be blogging on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday (or Monday and Friday, depending) to see if that is a good fit for me. I would like to thank everyone so much for reading my blog. My long term goal is to get at least 50 followers by New Years. Even if I don't make that amount, just having exponential reader growth is good enough for me. With that being said, thank you all once again so much for reading my blog and I hope you enjoy my future blogs to come! Also blog topic suggestions are always welcome, if they are in reason, so let me know in the comments below! :) 

Till Next Time!

Hachi

Travel Nostalgia

Wow, I look back at old photos of my time in Japan and realize it has been exactly eight years since I was last there. Kurume, Fukuoka was the city and prefecture. I was sixteen and a 2006 summer student ambassador for Sister Cities International as a representative of my hometown. We spent part of the time with our host families in Japan, and then our high school aged sibling would come spend time with us and our families in our American city. We'd go to various castles, and temples in Japan. We even got to participate in this awesome water festival in August where at the end of the festival, we got hosed down with water. It felt great given the intense humidity of Southern Japan. The food was AMAZING! My host mother made amazing Japanese curry and I think fueled my Japanese curry obsession, which during college I would make for my old friends. Also, we saw an apprentice geisha perform, which I had video taped and posted on Youtube. You can see that video by clicking the link. One of my favorite times in Japan was when my older sister (nee-chan) played the piano and my younger sister (imouto-chan) and I danced around. We all had a good time doing that. Even though it has been over eight years, it barely feels like five. I do still keep in contact with my host family on occasion and consider them a part of my family, and they do of me. Flash forward to 2014, I am currently on another sister city committee, this time for Sendai, Japan. I am working to connect high school students in both cities together to do high school exchanges, or at least a group skype conversation session with one another. I do hope this works out and that future high schoolers get the chance and experience that I did. In fact, I might get to visit Sendai in a couple of years. I am looking forward to it, and I am looking forward to meeting my host family again, and my friends/former conversation students in Japan again. Here is another picture from my time in Kurume. Sorry for the quality, other people took these pictures for me. :)

Have any of you traveled? If so where, and how long? Did you do an exchange, study abroad or for work?  Let me know in the comments below. I enjoy discussing travel. :)



Till next time!


Hachi

Grocery Haul!

Hi All! So I went to Ralph's today and grabbed a few things. Not everything is pictured though, got hungry and at it before I got home.lol So here it goes! :)

2x Kroger Brand Stir-fry vegetables with noodles and 3 pepper & onion blend

2x roma tomatos, 1 packed of teriyaki marinated chicken breast, 1 large package of Buttoni mixed cheese torellini

1 carton of Simple Truth Natural Cage Free brown eggs, 1 package of Banquet Chicken Breast Patties, 1 six pack of Crunch Bars, 1 package of Pepero "pocky" sticks

1 liter of Sprite, 1 small package of Kroger powdered donuts, 1 package of Kroger Swiss cheese, 1 package of sliced watermelon wedges

Overall, I purchased 22 items at $34.52, meaning that I essentially only spent $1.56 per item. :) A grocery shop job well done if I say so myself! How do you guys like to shop? I try to go for store brand items whenever I can to lower the price. For example, every package of frozen vegetables above was only 1$ each.


Till next time!

Hachi