MUJI SF

The Muji San Francisco store opened November 30, and luckily there was no line due to the heavy rain! They have a beautiful 2 story space with the interior having a natural look. I especially loved the cash wrap area where kitchenware like pots and pan covered the backwall. They sold clothing for men and women, personal care, travel accessories and luggage, and upstairs housed kitchen and houseware.

They have a few kinks to work out such as price labels missing on the product, and not posted on the shelf. Also they lacked small sizes on some clothing. Come on Muji it's opening day!

I definitely enjoyed the refreshments provided for the Opening Day such as daifuku (mochi with sweet red bean), strawberry cookies, and tea. I bought a really cool clear briefcase made of plastic for work and face wash. They had a 30% off promotion on clothing, but am not sure how long it will last. Check it out!

Muji
540 9th St, San Francisco, CA 94103

UNIQLO SF

Konnichiwa! It's been a while, and wanted to share my experience at the new Uniqlo San Francisco store that opened in Union Square. I do not know how I managed to wait in line for 1.5 hours at 9am without any coffee! (For those who know me, they know I need coffee to start my body motor.) Got in and it was organized chaos. Whoever trained the team did a good job of having energetic and helpful salespeople. I also appreciated the "Japanese sales style", which involved 1 salesperson shouting their product promo to customers. Reminded me of these different boutiques and competing salespeople attracting people to their tiny clothing shops in Tokyo's Harajuku district.

I totally scored on colorful $9.90 denim, which they will alter for $5. Say what?! YES, $5! For denim over $20, the alteration is free! The price promo does not last long. I basically bought all colors, whether I liked the color or not because they could be gifted or whatever. They had $20 Merino wool v-neck sweaters, $40 fleece lined hoodies, and 6 pairs of colorful socks for $9.90. My bag was full and I walked home with a tote bag.

HOWEVER, do note when you plan on returning or exchanging go straight to the top floor, registers 13 and 14. Do not waste your time on the main floor only to be told by the register guide person that you need to go upstairs.

For alterations:

First, get your denim pinned in the fitting room. Upon checkout, ask the cashier to print you an alteration receipt, then keep an eagle's eye on the alteration drop off tables. One is on the right side of the main floor, which is basically a portable kitchen island type table, or on the top floor on the left side of the cash registers. They've quoted anywhere from 1-3 hours, which is really not bad for a store that just opened. I wore my new favorite, altered turquoise denim a few hours after purchase. Super happy!

So go shopping nowwwwwww!
http://www.yelp.com/biz/uniqlo-san-francisco

Japan and Brazil connection

I was web surfing on NHK's news site and found an inspiring article about Titi, a Japanese-Brazilian graffiti artist who is creating art throughout areas devastated by the tsunami, and how his art is lifting the people's spirit and encouraging interaction. This article definitely put things in perspective for me, and I am going to persevere and attain my goals too! Gambatte Japan!

(wochikochi.jp)

(Urbanartcore.eu)

(arrestedmotion.com)

MUJI COMING TO SF 2012!

My friend Jenny emailed me about a report that Muji plans on opening in Soma, a district in San Francisco known for industrial style buildings, EndUp (an after hours club), and now MUJI! I love this store because of their simple store design and products. Their focus is homeware. Plus, they like to use organic ingredients in their products. I use their olive lotion, which smells quite nice and a facial toner every morning.

Check out the story about Muji in SF!

(Image courtesy of Muji.com)

Prepare your skin for moisture with our lightweight toner and save 15% until 7/31.

TokyoFashion.com

My new favorite website for the latest and greatest in Japanese fashion. The island country is literally an incubator of far out, creative, eccentric fashion you cannot find elsewhere. Find me on Twitter too!

Asia 2012! アジア2012！

I am finally back and settled into life after a much needed vacation in Asia! Destinations- Philippines, Thailand and Hong Kong. There was so much food and amazing sights to see. Even though, I could not visit Japan, I did my best to seek out Japanese products. I went shopping at Muji at Mall of Asia in Manila. It is a huge, big, GIGANTIC (you get it?) mall. Muji is a lifestyle store selling houseware, clothing, personal care and snack foods based on minimal design and organic materials. Their store layout and products are layed out in a clean, orderly fashion. I enjoy the simple product packaging with neutral colors of olive green, light pink, white milk or granite gray. While in Bangkok at CentralWorld, a beautiful shopping complex near Chit Lom Skytrain station, I visited Uniqlo. I bought a pair of dark blue denim for about $50 USD, and they hemmed it for free! Can you get this kind of service in the States? Yeah, I didn't think so either... I am super excited to learn Uniqlo is opening in San Francisco Union Square this fall. Hopefully they do an opening party, which I would love to attend. Also in Bangkok, I ate at MOS Burger, a Japanese fast food restaurant, in Paragon Mall. I ordered a pork burger, but wished they sold melon soda as they do in Japan. The trip was a nice blur of eating, drinking, laying at the beach, and getting drenched at the Songkran festival, which celebrates the Buddhist New Year in Thailand. I had white mud caked on my face and ice cold water splashed on me by complete strangers. It was refreshing to walk around in the heat and seeing people at the train station or mall kind of drenched and happy about it. Last leg of the trip was in Hong Kong, which I left in 2005 from my study abroad program. Lots of good eats there too. I also visited the most affordable Michelin star restaurant called Ho Hung Kee in Causeway Bay.

All in all, it was a great trip and I will return to Asia in the near future... Check out the food pics below.. drooooolll...

 MOS BURGER!

EATS in Hong Kong

Japan Fashion Week 2012

Tokyo Mercedes Benz Fashion Week (日本ファッション·ウィーク 2012) has been going on the past week, and it's showcasing cutting edge fashion from upcoming Japanese designers.

It feels great to see more Asian faces in print ads and strutting on the catwalk. Fashion and beauty should be equally represented of all ethnicities. Thanks to YouTube, Vogue, and the growing economic power of China it is time to acknowledge the Asian consumer. My favorite new Japanese or mixed Japanese models are Tao Okamoto, Juliana Imai and Saki Asamiya. Tao and Juliana have been on the catwalk for several years while Saki is new to the scene.

TAO OKAMOTO

(courtesy of fashiontv on Youtube)

SAKI ASAMIYA

(courtesy of fashiontv on Youtube)

Not sure the reasoning behind the Backstreet Boys soundtrack, lol. Maybe to remind us 20 somethings about being teenagers in the 90s?

JULIANA IMAI

(courtesy of entrevista on Youtube)

I love this video because she keeps repeating "VOGEEE (Vogue)" over and over, and Portuguese coming from an Asian face is sexy!

Of course we cannot forget the importance of Japanese men's fashion either! Below are two examples of the wild variety of aesthetics from Japanese designers. Many people in fashion are familiar with Yohji Yamamoto's contribution to getting Japan on the world's fashion radar. In my view, his designs are provocative, historical, and universal. I can see where he incorporated bits of Japanese samurai hair styles, men's kimino style jacket, and Indian jodphur pants. To be honest, I LOVE creativity but I am not that brave.

YOHJI YAMAMOTO

(courtesy of ELLETVFASHION)

Then you have the more modern, Eurodisco and British rocker prep from DressCamp headed by designer Toshikazu Iwaya. I like some of the tight fits, and the boots. I enjoyed how the pants appeared like running water when walking down the runway.

(courtesy of senatusmag on Youtube)

Happy fashion watching!

Teresa Teng Party テレサ·テンパーティー 鄧麗君

I begin this post by offering prayers to those who passed away in last year's disaster in Japan. I also pray for the recovery of those severely affected, and wish for the speedy recovery to their normal lives. Please donate here Global Giving.

In the 1980s and 1990s, Teresa Teng was a megastar who ruled both the Japanese and Mandarin music scene. My mom would play all her music while she cooked, cleaned, or during karaoke nights when she and my Dad would invite friends for all night sing alongs.

I decided to host a Taiwan culture night featuring Teresa Teng this past weekend. She sums up the cultural fusion between Taiwan and Japan. Case in point, Taiwan was occupied by Japan for many years, and the locals were educated in Japanese language and culture. My Taiwanese grandparents probably spoke fluent Japanese. Due to my mixed parentage (Dad from Taiwan, Mom from Japan), I have an affinity for both cultures.

In my humble opinion, Teresa Teng has a female voice many Asians like which is soft, feminine, and smooth. From my Westernized ear, she sounds okay and maybe too soft, but she has good range and sang with passion. It is important to see and feel it from a singer. Below is a video of the Japanese version of "Toki No Nagare Ni Mi Wo Makase" (I Only Care About You) where Teresa begins to tear up after accepting a music award.



I also LOVED the fact that she was a diva in the fashion sense. Check out the dreads in this video. Her voice is much stronger and full of range. Also if you skip to 6:40:00 you will notice Teresa was CRAZY MULTILINGUAL. She spoke fluent Mandarin, Japanese, and Cantonese in a span of 2 minutes.



I wish she was able to continue to share her gift with the world. Ms. Teng passed away in Thailand of a severe asthma attack in 1995.

Horumonyaki ホルモン焼き

No, it is not a Pokemon character! Today I found a new side to Japanese cuisine I did not know existed. This thanks to one of my favorite shows 'Bizarre Foods' with Andrew Zimmern from Travel Channel.

Horumon was created by Korean immigrants to Japan who created tasty meals out of cuts of meat such as trachea, heart, and stomach that would otherwise be discarded. Apparently, they are super oishi (delicious). おいしい!




Videos courtesy of Travel Channel

I am going to add Andrew's recommendation for the Horumon restaurant featured in this video or find a hidden gem in San Francisco that would serve Horumon. Watching this entices make to want to go back badly!

Happy New Year! 明けましておめでとうございます

Shout out to Kain for reminding me to write!

I hope everyone has a good start to 2012 thus far. Although my plans to visit Japan has delayed until 2013, I am planning to be in Asia this April. I am very excited! I am determined to be back again soon accompanied by Mom and siblings.

Growing up in Los Angeles, I recall celebrating New Year by visiting Little Tokyo. My family and I would eat at a restaurant, shop, and then listen to singers performing various old school Japanese to modern English songs. I love the way Japanese people like to mix East and West, and turn it into something very unique, and still Japanese.

My post is courtesy of alex00slash from Youtube. The music video and other content or copyright was sourced from Billboard Japan.



In terms of music video imagery, I really liked #2 Konya wa Karasawagi by Tokyo Jihen. The artists costumes were a mix of old Japanese, British royal court, and Lolita sweetheart. If you are looking for bubblegum pop with bright visuals then check out #11 Darl:orz by Kitano Kii. #10 is a psychedelic trip sort of like Empire of the Sun style. #3 is a heartfelt song for you emo folk by Takahashi Yu.