byura gomu

When I came to Japan back in 2001, I learned that an eyelash curler was called a byura (be-you-rah) in Japanese

Apparently the guy that invented the Japanese model, named it so.

It supposedly meant bi-ura (behind the scene of beauty)

I was looking around for the gomu (rubber thingy) that needs to be changed every so often.

Not sure how long ago it was but I couldn't find the right size and was cutting the rubber thingy that I had bought to fit somewhat.

Recently I went to Hands (previously Tokyu Hands) and asked if they could order the right size for me, and was told that in order for them to do that, I would need to order 3 packages! I don't change the rubber thingy too often so I didn't want to have 9 of them around...

Then I looked at the maker's website, but they were gonna charge me more for the shipping than for the actual item.

Finally I found out that Yodobashi Camera could order it for me and they were even going to give me a discount! whoo!

Oh and nowadays no one uses the word byura because when I asked the person at Hands she started to bring me to the dental section...they just call it ailasshu ka-ra (eyelash curler)...ha!

things I'm liking

Some random items I'm liking these days...

The lip gloss from Tony Moly, a Korean brand. How cute are the caps?!

Peanut butter or peanut paste as it is called here by Chiba Mamenoka.

This one doesn't use sugar nor salt, just peanuts. I like that after I stirred it, it stayed stirred and the oil didn't separate from the peanut butter like some natural peanut butters do.

TWG's Singapore Breakfast.

This one has spices along with the black tea so with a splash of milk it is similar to chai.

Mencarelli's Lonza di Fico.

A "salami" made of figs, nuts and anise seed. There is also a little rum in there, so this is perfect with cheese and some wine.

When I was looking up more info on this, I came upon Rowena's post.

Sora mame (Fava beans) and Snap-endo (sugar snap peas).

They are in season now, and amazingly reasonably priced.

After cleaning the peas and favas, I put them into a pot of boiling water for 3 minutes then douse them in a cold water bath.

Then I drain them well and top with a vinaigrette marinade (which I've noted below).

Tita's Guguria, a cookie from Guam.

I like that these only use three ingrdients: flour, coconut milk and sugar. I'm not too sure if they are baked or fried but these are addictingly delicious.

They have a slight coconut flavor but overall these remind me of karinto.

Macrobiotic snack by UHA called "Happy Dates". Lately, I've been seeing dates more readily in the stores.

This is a fruit bar, figs, dates, some almonds...think inside of a fig newton. Delicious.

This gluten-free cookie by Palmisano, an Italian maker.

I thought it might be dry and crumbly, as some gluten-free items can be, but this was nice and crispy, a little flaky, and there was a lot of chocolate in there.

Spring onions. These are sweet, tender.

Here's the marinade I put thinly sliced onions in:

Vinaigrette marinade : adapted from "Futari Gohan"
1/2 spring onion, thinly sliced
2 teaspoons of whole grain mustard
juice of 1/2 a lemon
2 tablespoons of oil
1.5 teaspoons of white wine vinegar
some freshly ground pepper

Mix well then add onion.
Marinate for an hour or longer.
Use to top veggies, steak, whatever

NOTES: you could even put thinly sliced red bell peppers into this marinade. Simple and delicious.

What are you enjoying these days?

rosy

Hope your Christmas was a nice one. Satoshi had to work, so it was just another day for us. To date, we still have no flurries to speak of, though other parts of Japan have been getting blasted with snow....maybe I should jinx myself and talk about the sunny weather we've been having?!

Awhile back, Kathy wrote a post asking if being obsessed with rose tea blends was a girl thing?

Well...

I picked up this rose tisane by Julie Andrieu when I went to France in September.

I should have read the ingredients because rose was the last in the list. Cardamom overpowered the whole thing.

I was kinda disappointed with this one.

The Løv Organic Rose tea on the other hand was nice.

Make sure to brew it to the specifications on the back of the tea tag, or you will "kill" the very delicate rose fragrance.

MUJI's rose jasmine, is more jasmine tea than roses, but I liked how you could see the red specks of petals here and there.

Ladurée's rose nougat was heavenly, the flavor was nice. As soon as you took a bite, your whole mouth was filled with the rose aroma and it wasn't overly perfumy.

On the other hand, La Cure Gourmande's rose nougat had no rose flavor to it at all...boo!

The rose riz au lait (rice pudding) from Épicerie Lion have these candied roses and pearl sugars.

I made a batch and it was sweet, not much rose flavor to it though, still pretty though.

Fossier's Roses de Reims are biscuits, they are just "rose" colored, no rose flavor.

They are kind of hard and the box suggests you dip them in some champagne or wine while eating them.

They aren't too sweet even though they are dusted with powdered sugar.

Paul Smith's perfume "Rose" smells like a rose garden...love!

By the way, Santa (Satoshi) brought this for me for Christmas. (Thank you!)

The face mask and yogurt pack by Pure Smile (a Korean brand) smells really nice, it is a delicate rose fragrance.

Happy Bath Day Rose tablet, made in Japan, is so potent, I put this in our bath water and even after re-heating our bath water the next day, it still smelled like we had just put the tablet in.

The rose petal soap (far right) I bought in Honfleur was more of a clean soap scent than flowery. Not overly perfumy, guys won't feel girly using it.

I think whenever someone uses rose in their products it can be hit or miss. Hopefully I'll be able to find more "natural" rose smelling items because I think I'm hooked.

made in japan

Gofun (goh-foon) nail is something I came across while shopping in LOFT...1200 yen a bottle.

I had no idea that there were nail polishes made in Japan, Kyoto to be exact. The best part of this is that the product is natural, made of shells ground to a powder.

Apparently this form of paint has been used in Japanese artwork for hundreds of years.

This nail polish doesn't have that "stinkiness", like most all others do.

Because the product is natural, it doesn't last long on your nails, especially if you wash dishes by hand.

Good part is that you can use this product until the very last drop, they boast that it doesn't harden or separate in the bottle (we'll see).

It goes on very matte and dries quite quickly. I used a top coat that wasn't "natural", so that was the only part that smelled.

They had so many colors it was hard to choose from...the one on the left is Momohanairo (peach flower) and the one on the right is sango (coral).

Hopefully I can try more colors.

things I'm liking

Some things that I'm liking...the chocolate pistachio danish from Abientot.

This danish is filled with lots of pistachio cream and chocolate ganache...yummy!

The berry chai from Royal Copenhagen.

I received this from someone and it was delicious.

A blend of rhubarb, cinnamon and black tea.

A little tart but delicious. (Thank you, Y!)

The chai from Lupicia.

So far we've tried the Ginger Assam and it is delicious, but I am intrigued by the Cardamom Pepper, hope it is just as delicious.

The body lotion and lip gloss from Victoria's Secret.

In Hawaii, I never used body lotion because my skin never felt dried out.

But in Japan, with the cold weather, body lotion is definitely necessary.

This brand is good because it doesn't feel greasy just smooth and doesn't dry out your skin like some brands do when there are fragrances in them.

I like their lip gloss too, though I was a little concerned when the cashier told me that "these taste good". I would've thought she would say "I like these colors" or something like that...

Is there anything that you are liking?

odds & ends

Do you have a disposal? Consider yourself lucky if you do because in most homes in Japan we don't. Most of us have these buckets/baskets in the corner of our sinks. I buy these fine net bags from the 100 yen store to put into the bucket/basket so that it is easy to dispose of. I guess you could also use old pantyhose too. Every so often I scrub down the bucket/basket as well as the metal basket which catches all the other stuff in the sink's drain--there is a slimy black film that forms from the food, oils, and moisture...eww.

Actually this basket reminds me of the times when I visited my grandma & grandpa in Hilo, since they didn't have a disposal nor garbage pick up, we would take the raw garbage and throw it out back onto the plants/veggies and we would burn the burnable garbage. As kids, we weren't allowed to play with or touch matches, so it was a kind of "honor" to be "the one" to light the match to burn the garbage.

Do you have dry heels? Are they scratchy and rough? (I do)

Microplane it! I couldn't believe this product when I saw it on QVC or some television shopping channel.

I bought this at a local shop for 3360 yen (about US$33). This price, I found out is double the amount that Microplane is selling it for in the U.S.

It works. (too gross to show you what comes out of the microplane, though.)

Let's end this post on a happy note...The summer corn is so sweet! It was like eating sugar.