tea noir

Nihon ni ikitai! [日本に行きたい!]

Posted by ilyana | Filed under Food & Nosh, Make-Up & Beauty

Yet again I’m put in a spot where I have to spontaneously declare my love for a country I’ve never been to but have heard/read about it so much (all this with a slight tinge of envy) that I have embraced its culture as though it were my own.

Everything about Japan fascinates me, it’s a nation obsessed with attaining perfection in a sense that everything they do is done with careful grace and everyone is well-groomed and dressed to the nines.

You can pick out plenty of fashion styles in Japan, some are so chic (it just stabs me in the heart to think I live in a country where flip-flops and shorts are the norm) while the others look like they were from an entirely different time/planet/dimension/the space between spaces which amazes me sometimes because all of them are so immaculately dressed despite their slightly warped kooky sense of fashion. Now that is just made of epic fashion win.

I have to keep reminding myself that this blog isn’t entirely about my terror-inducing beauty-related spending habits and my knack for playing pretend chef every once a while but also to document the many things I find intriguing from fashion (dude, I’ve not blogged about fashion in the longest time!) to design-related stuff. So today I bring you a couple of photos of Tokyo from one of my favourite photographers on Flickr, Chillhiro.

img credit: chillhiro@Flickr

There is a certain elegance and beauty to his photos which I love and it’s strange because his photo compositions are so simple yet he manages to capture the rare stillness of a fast-paced metropolitan city like Tokyo. If you like what you see, check out Chillhiro’s photostream here for more visual splendor ;D

*cough* k back to my ridiculous spending habits. (What? You can’t expect me to talk about artsy stuff 24/7, can you?) A colleague of mine, Jas, went to Japan over the Christmas holidays so I gave her a shopping list of stuff I was interested in and she came back with a bag full of yummy goodies for me YAY!

Milk tea is my fave drink in the world and Japanese milk tea is the absolute best!!

Chocolates! Meiji Matcha chocolate, Matcha Kit Kat and Royal Milk Tea Kit Kat (MILK TEA KIT KAT O.M.F.G!!!!!) Of course, you can’t leave Japan without buying some oddly-flavoured Kit Kats. They have different seasonal flavours each year, ranging from the brilliant (milk tea Kit Kat, MILK TEA KIT KAT /o/ /o/ /o/) to the downright bizarre lol (ginger ale Kit Kat anyone?) Honestly I won’t be surprised if they came up with a clam chowder flavoured Kit Kat lmao. Only in Japan guys, only in Japan.

BENTO GOODIES ♥ ♥ ♥ I have pretty technicolor soy sauce bottles to fulfill my wild bento fantasies! The flat plastic thingum you see on the far left is actually a sandwich box (no more soggy bread for me whee!) Jas actually got me a two-tier bento box too but er I kinda left it in the office so I couldn’t take a photo of it, sorry.

Bihada Ichizoku masks! I’ve heard so MUCH about these masks, I think the girly manga illustrations on the packaging’s amusing lol. I’ve not tried them yet but when I do, I’ll write a short review.

That’s all for my Japan haul! But I’m not done yet haha, I’ve got some past purchases I’ve not shown you yet so here they are:

VOV masks! I’ve tried almost all of them and I’m pretty happy with their quality. From L to R: Volcanic Ash Wash-off mask, Black Charcoal Peel-off mask and the Apple AHA Peeling Gel mask. I like the Black Charcoal mask the best so far, i think it’s comparable to the KOSE Seikisho Mask White, works the same way and costs a fraction of the price.

Did I mention I’m officially swamped in masks? Yep. I’m up to my neck in sheet mask nirvana. Here’s the queen of all masks, the SK-II facial treatment mask I bought on a whim at Sephora the other day. I’m just waiting for this little pimple on my chin to evacuate off my face before I try this one out; there is no way in heck I’m going to waste an SK-II mask on a stupid clogged pore.

The Body Shop’s Christmas LE Nutmeg & Vanilla body scrub! I got this during their post-Christmas sale when everything was at 40% off! Not that I need another body scrub but…

Doesn’t it look like a yummy smoothie? It’s got honey, nutmeg and ground walnut in it, I used this yesterday and came out of the shower potentially smelling like a French bakery. That. is. just. so. AWESOME. All my life I’ve wanted to smell like freshly-baked croissants and cream-filled crepes and the body scrub leads me one step closer to my dream. God bless Dame Anita Roddick, RIP. (Ok I’m kidding about the wanting to smell of croissants and crepes lol but the scrub really has a lovely scent!)

I think I shuld end this entry now before it gets any longer than it already is and people start throwing rocks at me lol. It’s TGIF! Have a great weekend and I’ll catch you soon ;D

Tags: bodycare: The Body Shop, food: chocolate, japan, skincare: bihada, skincare: SK-II, skincare: VOV

Permalink | January 8th, 2010

20 Responses to “Nihon ni ikitai! [日本に行きたい!]”

Xuping Says:
January 8th, 2010 at 9:08 pm
omg… i want those kitkatsssss!!!! and the way u describe the Nutmeg & Vanilla body scrub makes me wanna buy it…. haha.. have a good weekend to u too

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ilyana's reply:
January 8th, 2010 at 9:33 pm
@ xuping
I just ate the green tea kitkat today and it was so yummy! try the Japanese snack store, I’m sure they have Japanese kitkat XD
Nutmeg & Vanilla body scrub smells so so so good! I’m not sure if they still have in-store but you should get it while you can, it’s like only $19?

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Blair Says:
January 8th, 2010 at 10:21 pm
I looooooove Japanese Kit Kats!!! Illyana, are buying the Bihada masks much cheaper in JP?

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ilyana's reply:
January 8th, 2010 at 11:37 pm
@ Blair
I love them too, I’m such a japanese snack addict lol.
Yep they are cheaper! They’re about 450 yen in Japan if I’m not wrong! I’ll check the pricetags again and get back to you tmr.

@ Yumeh
I WISH LOL! My skin is far from perfect ): hope it’s not too cold in Fukuoka, stay warm! <3

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Yumeh Says:
January 8th, 2010 at 11:31 pm
Good lord your skin must be insane frm all the products you use lol

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nadz Says:
January 9th, 2010 at 1:54 am
ergh my phone web time out 3 times before I can comment on this! Anyways, I’m addicted to those masks. I’ve tried every single one of them and my fav is the charcoal, egg and berries (smells like awesome berries!!!). My poor silk whitia masks are being abandoned at the moment (tragic). I’m sure yours are too lol.

Pls do a review on those ridiculously expensive (8 bucks per sheet in SG) face masks with manga faces packaging. I might go get one and see what’s all the hype about.

This is probably the longest comment I’ve ever type. It’s 2am (jo kwonnn!!) and Im bored like fricking fishes in a pond.

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Candy Says:
January 9th, 2010 at 7:34 am
I’m big fan of Japan also!

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Catherine Says:
January 9th, 2010 at 9:06 am
LOL. I love you Ilyana. You are just so funny!!!! :D

Lovely things from Japan and great buys yourself! I really love the look of that TBS scrub but I’m so afraid of using commercial scrubs (ever since I got an allergic rash to a B&BW one… not a pretty sight ;_;). And DUDE - you gotta tell me how that SK-II face mask is!!!

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ilyana Says:
January 9th, 2010 at 9:46 am
@ nadz
Why are you up at 2am omg? Anyway yeah I’ll get back to you on the Bihada masks, I hope they are as epic as their price tag lmao.

VOV is awesome! Have you tried the 17 cereals one? I heard that one smells really good too.

@ Candy
Japan is an amazing country!

@ Catherine
LOL ty ty ty!

I’m trying not to finish that whole lot of chocolate at one go but it’s really hard x_x I ate the green tea kit kat yesterday and it was like chocolate matcha heaven!

Anyway, the scrub is pretty good imo but in terms of whether it would cause allergic reactions, I haven’t got a clue but if the B&BW gave you rash then eep! I don’t think you should risk it hun.

And dude I totally will write a review on that SK-II mask, I was sooo excited to use it yesterday until I noticed I had a mini break-out on my chin GAH!

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Bombchell - in Atlanta Says:
January 10th, 2010 at 2:40 am
WOW his photography is amazing!! Ill add him on flickr, I love urs too especially the goodies

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Jennifer Says:
January 10th, 2010 at 5:33 pm
the bottle of milk tea was very tasty!!!

Ah i almost forgot Angelfit has released primers too, there are 2 or 3 choices, which one did you try ?

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evie Says:
January 10th, 2010 at 5:34 pm
gosh!! Bihada ichizoku!! i have been trying to find them since eons ago..but i keep forgetting to step into sasa to see if they do bring in..shall have to check next time….

or i shall pray for some divine intervention to get them for me! haha..i’m having a mask galore too!! but that does not stop me to buy more! haha..but i have to cut back!…ooh did you try ice aloe? their vov sheet mask…their sheet masks are nice too!

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toothfairynotes Says:
January 11th, 2010 at 4:13 am
japan… I must/shall/will go there one day! must… and how is that green tea kitkat? it doesn’t look that yum?

loves

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Dee Says:
January 11th, 2010 at 4:21 am
The body scrub looks yummy to eat haha! I was at The Body Shop a few weeks back and I was a bit mad that they’re discontinuing the vitamin e facial bar soap. They had eight left and I bought like 4 of them, lol.

Chillhiro is definitely and amazing photographer. I love the first shot so much. And oh my goodness, you’re so lucky! I’ve been wanting those Kit Kats! Milk Tea looks so good! I wish we had those stocked here!

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yumeko Says:
January 11th, 2010 at 10:40 am
i am loving all your buys!!

i cant wait to go home hahahahah those photos make me miss home and i only been away less than 2 weeks XD

skII mask is awesome!

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kaysee Says:
January 11th, 2010 at 1:23 pm
nomnomnom kitkats! I rmb in GG s3X03, Blair shouted at one of the guys in her campus, telling him that sandals are not shoes. haha, out of the point. Anyways, did you lost like ALOT of weight? I know I didn’t really get to see you that often in school, but you look like you lost quite a bit of weight!!

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ilyana Says:
January 11th, 2010 at 3:26 pm
@ Bombchell
Hey! thanks for visiting! His photography skills are awesome!

@ Jennifer
I just drank it yesterday and it’s so yummy :3

I tried the Angelfit Pore Zero Base, it’s not bad!

@ evie
Hey evie! I knowww when my friend told me she was going to Japan, that was the first thing I told her to buy for me lol! I saw the pink Bihada mask at SaSa but it’s $8+ if I’m not wrong.

I’ve not tried their Ice Aloe masks, how do you find it? Is it good?

@ toothfairynotes
Yes! We must all go there someday because it’s truly like no other place in the world haha. Oh I’ve eaten the green tea kit kat and they taste really good actually!

@ Dee
Omg what vit e facial bar soap is going to be discontinued?? That’s so sad ;_; I’ll check if they still have it here and maybe I’ll post some to u when they run out?

Me too! I mean it’s just flowers on the floor and all but I like the quiet surreal quality it has…if that makes sense lol. I’m trying my best not to eat everything at one go tempting as it is, I’m keeping that milk tea one for a special day

@ yumeko
Thanks yumeko! Actually I bought the SK-II mask because you were talking about how great it was on your blog/twitter!!

Aww I’m just glad you’re settling in well in HK. Japan is about 2-3 hours away right?

@ kaysee
Yes kit kats! Lol I LOVE BLAIR! She’s so bitchy and omg her clothes <3 Anyway, yes I did! Er I’ve lost about 20kg so far…10kg in 2008 and 10kg in 2009 ;D

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evie Says:
January 13th, 2010 at 2:49 pm
i went sasa today but didn’t spot the bihada…$8 so ex!!!….

yup! not bad! i rather like it! i will do a review on them..haha have been slacking off in blogging i’m a lousy blogger..haha do you wan to try a couple of it?

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Makeupmorsels Says:
January 19th, 2010 at 2:54 pm
I love the last picture, it reminds me of the black and white film photographs one of my friends does (he’s amazing as well). MILK TEAAA. makes the world go round. end of story.

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tea noir » Blog Archive » green tea is the way to my ♥ Says:
January 21st, 2010 at 9:44 pm
[...] that rad bunch of Japanese chocolates I got the last time? I’ve been going through each pack of chocolate slowly like a little ant savouring each bite [...]