Category: Travel Blog

Japan Life | Trying ¥500 Sushi from the スーパー (Supermarket)

October 11, 2019

Dear Reader,

“What is she trash posting about today?” You may ask? Well, I’ve been here for exactly one week, and for some reason sushi is hella expensive here? I do live by the ocean, so why can’t I find a place that’s reasonable? Yeah, you right, I’m not looking in the right places. ANYWAY, now that you’ve roasted me, I thought I’d share a first impression for funsies.

BEFORE

I was at the super market for the first time (btw it was f-ing packed) and I walked by the pre-made food section and I saw some decent looking sushi. In America, or at least where I’m from, pre-made sushi is kind of everywhere? (Or as my younger sister calls them: gas station sushi). They’re at the grocery store (kroger, safeway), your local asian mart, or even in the college pre-made food kiosk. However, they’re usually just california or crunch rolls.

look at my cute shiba mat, i have matching silverware and glasses! #daiso

Not going to lie, I’ve been eating junk since I got here. Literally rice for most meals–it’s so easy. This sushi and kimchi was a nice change of pace, and not deep fried!

Side note, and this is not sponsored btw, I really love daiso! I got my chopsticks and plates from there. It’s helped a lot, especially with my student budget lol

AFTER

So, how was it? It was aight, what you’d expect for premade sushi in Japan, and LOADS better than the dried out rolls you get in the American stores (i’d probably rate it a 6.5? Maybe a 7 if I had bothered to break out the soy sauce).

My favorite were the fish sashimi, and the eel. The ebi was aight, and the tamago was slight on the sweet side. Overall, not bad.

attempting to watch anime on Japan netflix but they don’t have english subs, sad.

Now the kimchi? I’ve def had better, but tbh I’ll probably buy it again. I’m not going to lie the cabbage kimchi tasted slightly of wasabi? Which I’m meh about, but the cucumber and daikon kimchi was bomb, which is why I’ll buy it again lol.

To finish it off I had some already cut asian pears, which was delish for ¥130. I know some people feel some kind of way about presliced fruit/food, but I like it because I a) don’t have to slice it myself, and b) i only want a little bit anyway.

SO. Hope you enjoyed my little blog about supermarket foods! I think I’ll do a random series about japan life? I’m thinking I’ll also do a post about moving to japan as a new adult too, but you probs won’t see that one for a bit. If there are any makeup/foods you want me to try and review, DM me on instagram @insta_rinnn, and I’ll catch you later!

Love,

Rin

Musings | Airport Fashion + Skincare

October 4, 2019

Dear Reader,

So, airport fashion? I lowkey wanted to be cute like Lisa from Blackpink while I was traveling this time around. I spent hours looking at airport outfits from idols and instagram personalities, I had a cute outfit picked out and everything! However, when the crunch came down on me, I was in utter hell and I couldn’t give a ish about what I was wearing.

Sigh. I tried so hard. I had even bought some Tommy Hilfiger sweatpants, but the night before I left my mom bought me an Alaska hoodie, and they just didn’t match. I ended up wearing a oversized 907 Hoodie and black leggings with my Fila tennis shoes. Still cute, but when I pulled up to the airport and was getting checked in some chic asian girls were in front of me flexing (jk they looked just as dead as I felt) in their Tommy Hilfiger sweats. At least we were on the same page lol.

I was going to braid my hair before going to the airport, but as we know I am max procrastinator so I was packing up until the last minute, so I like slept for 2.5 hours before hoping onto the plane. I didn’t end up braiding my hair until I was on the plane which is On Brand(TM) lol. I wonder how beauty vloggers always look so flawless when they post travel vlogs or travel stories on their IGs. I mean, they also wear makeup and I’m currently looking like a pota(toe) sooooo.

  • #barefaced
  • this hoodie is giant

Do you guys have any skincare routines while traveling? Oddly enough my skin is hecka dry today, normally flying makes me super greasy. So I usually wash my face after a flight or two, I literally carry a whole skincare regiment. For my birthday last month sephora gave me a drunk elephant travel set, and it has a face wash and moisturizer, and I’m looking forward to trying it.

On long flights I use sheet masks, I literally don’t care if people give me weird looks, at least I don’t break out as much as I used to when I traveled

related: my travel essentials 2019

Maybe I should make a travel hacks blog? I feel like I travel so much I might have a few things up my sleeve, like no one ever talks about bringing immune systems boosters in their blog. I usually take zinc supplements when I travel, and I haven’t gotten sick on vacation in two years since I started doing that. #protip lol

i had a six hour layover and was bored lol

Anyway, this was fun writing! Thanks for reading guys, and feel free to DM me your airport hacks/stories on IG @insta_rinnn, or leave a comment down below! See you in my next post!

Love,

Rin

My Travel Essentials 2019

March 22, 2019

This post is NOT sponsored.

Dear Reader,

So, I’m finally back from the Philippines! I wanted to get this out before I left, but I got busy and it didn’t happen… However, it’s here now! This is a lifestyle blog, so I figured I would share my travel essentials, and travel blogs/vlogs are my fave to watch/read. 💖

Pictured above is the bag I brought on the plane, where I put most of my stuff. It was Christmas gift from my sister, and the thing I like most about it is that it’s theft proof, so the zipper is in the back instead of in the front. Link: Amazon.

Inside, I have my lotion, wet wipes, earphones, and passport in the front. I bring disinfecting wipes with me on the plane, and on vacation, because the tray tables are sooooo dirty. I have an extremely susceptible immune system, so I like to be on the safe side. I also like to keep my passport in a cover to keep it clean and dry. One time my dad ruined his when he put it in his backpack with a bottle of open water. Yikes. I really like this cover because I love Pusheen!

Then, I have my sunglasses (this is a brand new pair because I crushed my other ones l o l). I also have my makeup pouch and a coin purse. I’m not sure where the makeup pouch is from because I got it for Christmas from a friend. And my fave Sanrio character is currently Aggretsuko (Link: Sanrio Store)! She’s so cute, and relatable~ ⭐

Inside my makeup pouch, I have a mirror, eyebrow duo kit, my fave lipstick from ysl, a travel size bottle of my fave perfume, the Kiss Me Heroine Smooth Liquid Eyeliner in Brown, the Kiss Me Heroine Make Volume & Curl Mascara Advanced Film, and the I’M MEME I’m Tic Toc Lip Tint Cashmere. Which are my makeup basics! I usually use the Em Cosmetics felt tip eyeliner, but recently I’m been using the Kiss Me Heroine eyeliner and mascara because they sponsored Blackpink, and who am I, if it has Blackpink’s face, I’ll buy it. And honestly, I really like them!

And in a ziplock bag, I brought my skincare! I used the Chia Seed Hydrating Emulsion, Pyunkang Yul Essence Toner, and the Cosrx Ultimate Moisturizing Honey Overnight Mask, on the plane, because the air is soooooo drying. I know some people like to use sheet masks, but that only lasts for 20 minutes, and after a few hours your skin is dry again. I’m not a fan.

I also the brought my klairs vitamin c serum, and a limited edition of some Suncut UV Sunscreen (here’s the closest thing I could find of it), for when I got off the plane. Sunscreen is super important because it protects your face from damaging UV rays, so I brought some SPF 50!

And in the back, I have some playing cards, and a sleeping mask. I didn’t really watch movies on the plane, and I just wanted to sleep. I also forgot to include this in the pictures, but I brought a BB cushion with me. I used the Moonshot Face Perfection Balm Cushion, and my shade is in 201. I like taking BB cushions on trips because they have the foundation and puff in one case, so it’s super travel friendly.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this little blog post, I tried to provide links to everything I could, from the exact stores I bought them from. One more thing, none of these products were sponsored, I’m not a big enough blog for that 🙂

If you wanted to know more about a product I mentioned, feel free to DM me on instagram! Thanks for reading, and I’ll catch you later!

Love,

Rin

Vegas 2018 + I turned 21!

September 25, 2018

Dear Reader,

Long time no post. I apologize for my absence; first, I was busy with school, and then I was busy helping my parents with their business over the summer. Now, I’m applying for jobs and trying to save money for either a) graduate school, or b) language school. I’m thinking of moving to Japan to take language courses, and then possibly graduate school, but I haven’t really decided yet.

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Anyway, I went to Las Vegas during the middle of September, and I turned 21! I also caught something on the plane, so I was cranky for most of my birthday, but honestly IMG_E3442looking back I feel like I’m typically sick on my birthdays. When I turned 18 I had the flu, and same for 20. Last year I had a nasal infection, so that was great (off topic, sorry xD).

We were in Vegas for a week, and we spent most of it in the residential areas, because we were staying with my mom’s high school friends. Plus, I’m pretty sure this is my 4th or 5th trip, so I’ve seen the strip a lot and I wasn’t feeling the best, so I was happy with a chill visit.

I didn’t get a lot of pictures this time either, I mostly took food pictures. We had a Filipino party, because my mom and her friends are from the same Province in the Philippines, so as per usually they had to mark the occasion with food. I also drank a lot of cheap wine, and had a great time.

On my birthday, September 13th, my parents offered to take me to a bar, but we ended up going to Chowking and eating Halo Halo, because I’m so vanilla and didn’t want to go to a bar. Plus Alaska doesn’t have Chowking, and it’s like my favorite fast food restaurant!

I also shopped a lot. Which (honestly) was the main reason why I went to Vegas, to spend all my money on handbags! LOL

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We eventually made it to Fremont Street

And I actually really had fun, oh! And I was finally old enough to play in the casino. I had fun playing the slots, I didn’t win anything, but it was fun none-the-less!

Anyway, I made it home, slept for two days, and now I’m applying to all the jobs I can. I expected to experience more anxiety now that I’m 21, and not following my intial plan of leaving the states immediately after graduation, but I realized I need money to leave, so I’m going to work to pay off my debts, and then possibly leave next summer or fall~

So, to end, I shall share a song. IU’s 23! 23 is actually 21 (or 22 depending on the month you were born) international age (look up Korean ages if you’re confused lol).

I remember thinking that 21 was so far away when IU released the song, but now I’m here, and I really do relate to her lyrics.

She sings:

“I’m twenty three
I’m a riddle (Question)
Try to guess the answer”

and

“Cunning twenty three
Still long way to go, girl
If I pretend to be immature
Please be fooled roughly”

and

“I, yes, like now for sure
No, frankly speaking I wanna give up
Oh right I want to be in love
No I rather make money
Try to guess”

Ah, the confusing days of our youth. But, I think, I want to make money 😂

Thanks for reading guys! Be sure to check out my Manga IG @love_rinnn or my personal IG @insta_rinnn ❤ byeeeeee

Love,

Rin

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Travel Blog: Florida 2018 Highlights

February 18, 2018

Dear Reader,

So, it’s been a minute! I was planning on posting this much earlier in the year, but as soon as I got home, I got very ill (with strep throat, mono, and then bronchitis *sobs*). Anyway, here are my highlights from my Florida trip!

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On the night of Christmas Eve, my friend and I flew from Anchorage to Fort Myers. It was a super uncomfortable trip (remind me to never fly with American Airlines again), but we arrived on Christmas Day.

Her family brought us donuts, and they we drove from Fort Myers to their home about 30 minutes away. It was really nice to go from snowy Alaska, to sunny Florida! The condo they live in has a pool, so be basically went swimming everyday!

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Processed with VSCO with m5 preset

Over the next couple of days, we went just chilled out, and went to the beach a lot! We also went shopping, and the mall we went to had duck pond! Something you would never see in Alaska because our malls are mostly inside.

I had a really relaxing time in Florida, everyday was filled with good food and adventure. The beach was really fun, and I also got a slight tan. Although, I will say that the state was having a bit of a cold spell while we were visiting. Which was okay, because basically anything above 65 degrees F is warm in my book.

One day, it was in the 80s, and we went to the beach (pictured above). I thought it was great, so I dived right in, and my friend even went into the deeper water, but we were the only people swimming. Many people came to sun tan, but no one else was in the water. Which was chill with me, but we got a kick out of it anyway.

Sadly, New Years Eve was upon us. We went and got our nails done, ate pizza, and watched all the fireworks! It was really fun, but I was sad when 2018 came because my trip was halfway over.

I was NOT looking forward to going home. Even if my hair hated the humidity, I personally hate the cold.

Anyway.

After New Years, we went to the manatee park! We had gone the year before on a warm day, but sadly we didn’t see anything. This year we went on a cold day, and we saw a lot of cute sea cows! I would share a picture, but all I got were videos… Which I have no idea how to upload onto this site, but whatever.

After a few more days rolled around, we made plans to go to Orlando, where I was catching my flight back to Alaska. Wah, wah, wah.

But here is where the highlight of my trip takes place. WE WENT TO UNIVERSAL STUDIOS ORLANDO GUYS.

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Processed with VSCO with c1 preset

I went to Harry Potter World TT_TT It was beautiful. We waited in line for the Harry Potter ride for like an hour, and it was rough. It was the first ride we went on, and we got there when the gates opened. All of the rides had super long lines. I mean super.

But I’m pretty happy. I had a ton of fun, and I made lots of memories with my friend and her family who is also like my own. I was sad to leave.

Anyway, that was my Florida trip! I was in Florida from 12/24/17-1/6/18, and it went by wayyyy to fast. I’m sad, but also happy I went. Even if I did get sick for two months after I got home.

Well guys, thanks for reading! In you want real time updates, go follow my personal IG @insta_rinnn. I also have a mangagram account @love_rinnn. Until next time!

Love,

Rin

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Travel Blog: Fairbanks Days 2&3

October 1, 2017

fairbanks day 2and3

Dear Reader,

So, we didn’t do much on the second and third days. Mostly homework, and I ran around UAF a lot, but I didn’t take many pictures because there wasn’t much to see. I had fun though, so that’s all that counts!

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This is about to become a food blog post, because that’s most what I got pictures of, lol. On day two, I had coffee with my friend, and we studied in the coffee shop for a bit. To be completely honest, UAF’s coffee is way better than UAA’s coffee.

We get our coffee from Koladi Brothers, which is honestly really weak. Just the other day, I had a caramel macchiato at UAA, and they burnt my coffee. It was gross, and I didn’t finish it. Which ruined my day, so thanks UAA.

Anyway, I also had this pastry puff thing that was layered with nuts and honey, and it was really yummy! After that, I went off with a different friend (my childhood best friend), and I hung out in her room for awhile. I lived in the dorms at UAA when I was a freshman, and the walls at UAA were hella thin. So you heard everyone’s business. It was the same, if not worse at UAF. Her neighbors were getting it on really hard, and I commented on it. My friend is pretty innocent, and she was all like “maybe they’re roughhousing.” GIRL. They were definitely doing the do, the nasties.

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One thing that got me while visiting, was all the walking. Which wasn’t bad, but it was all uphill, which *wheezes* I am so not fit enough for. They had shuttles running on the week days, but you were on you own during the weekends. So that was an interesting experience. I lowkey wish they had told me head of time so I could have brought some better shoes. FullSizeRender (12)

I wore my black boot heels, I could have brought tennis shoes, but I thought it was going to be fine. I do most of my walking in heels, and I work in heels, so I’m used to walking on flat ground. But I had grown used to it by the time I went home, so I guess it wasn’t too terrible.

After spending some time with my friend, I went back to my other friend’s apartment. I ate dinner there, it was ham and beans soup, which was soooooo yummy. The best comfort food! We also had corn bread, which was subpar because she made it from the box, and she messed it up and it was too dry. Which made her sad, because she really loved cornbread. Then, after dinner, I watched as our other friend prepared her costume for a local anime convention, Senshi Con. She was beating holes into leather to make a pattern, so that was neat. Once that was over, my friend and I went back to her room, where I was spending the night. And that was the end of day two!

The next day, everyone had classes, so after we got coffee, I stayed in the library to work on homework (and blog). I actually got a lot of homework done, so that was nice! I had spent most of the Friday before getting homework done so I wouldn’t have to worry about it over the weekend, so I ended up working on stuff that’s due this weekend. FullSizeRender (13)

 

After that, I met my childhood best friend again for lunch, and the boxed sushi they had was actually pretty decent. I had a rainbow roll, and then some spring rolls. I

FullSizeRender (14).jpginstagramed a little, and then we finally took a shuttle back to her room. She had to work on getting her new cell phone set up, so we did that, and fought with AT&T for a bit.

However, at around 3pm, she had to go to class, so I said bye to her, and went back to my other friend’s dorm room. We were going to eat dinner in Fairbanks with other friends, so after she worked on her speech for a class, we left to go get Thai food.

thai

I had Pad Thai, and it had chicken and tofu in it, and it was probably the best pad thai I’ve ever had! It was honestly so good, and I would 10/10 recommend!

After that, we were supposed to go get crepes, but they closed at 7, and we weren’t watching the time, so we missed it… But that’s okay, the Thai food was really good!

After that, we went back to the dorms and hung out for a bit, but had to sleep early because I had a flight at 7:40am, and I needed to be up at six. I bought starbucks again at the airport, and they finally got my name right. The flight was pretty short and relaxing, and we had an awesome view of some mountains! Here’s a pic of that:FullSizeRender (19)

Overall, I had a lot of fun, and I would like to visit again! Although I don’t know if I’ll be able too, I’m glad I was able to make memories with my friends before my big move next July!

As soon as I landed, I had a 10am class, and even though I was a bit tired, I don’t regret being able to spend that extra night in Fairbanks. So, that’s a wrap! Thanks for reading everyone, and as always follow all my social media @love_rinnn, and I’ll see you in my next post!

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Love,

Rin

 

Travel Blog: Fairbanks Day One

September 25, 2017

fairbanks trip templete

9.23.2017

Dear Reader,

I went to Fairbanks to visit my friends going to the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF)! I haven’t seen them for awhile, and most of my hometown friends attend school there, so it made sense that I would go visit them instead of them visiting me. I only have school twice a week, so I finally had time to do this! I’ve been saying I would make this trip since we finished high school, so, finally after three years– I made it!

PicMonkey Collage

I currently live in Anchorage, which is about 300 and some miles away from Anchorage, however, because I didn’t feel like making a eight hour drive, I flew. It was probably the shortest flight of my life at 40 minutes. I was also functioning on 3 and a half hours of sleep, because I have terrible insomnia and that wasn’t the best night for me.

After my sister fumbled with her contacts for twenty minutes, and we were thoroughly

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late, we finally made it to the airport at a decent time. This was my first flight checking-in using the Alaska Airlines app, and also using a digital boarding pass. In the past I was against it because I liked to keep my old boarding passes as a souvenir, but I was lazy and didn’t feel like printing it out. On top of that, the check-in stations were a crazy mess,  thatI didn’t feel like wading through.

Then I had to deal with TSA, which was an utter pain in my ass. Literally, we inched through the line, and they opened several people’s bag, including mine to look at some candy I had as my snack. The Ted Steven’s Interational Airport is pretty small, so usually TSA is a breeze, but not this trip. It was so painful.

After that, I stopped to get coffee at Starbucks. Normally I go by my legal name when I order coffee, but it’s a long name and I didn’t have that much time, so when they asked for a name to write on the cup, I said “Rin” and I even spelled it out. However, what name did I get on my cup? RAIN. I was flabbergasted. How do you mess up the name “Rin!?” I mean, they weren’t even that busy, but whatever.40c8b35fe6a96308e2f3666316870d21b7beff7d_hqSo, then I got on the plane, and read “My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness” by Nagata Kabi, and I listened to some j-rock and k-pop (which I’ll have a travel music playlist out soon). Twenty minutes later, they announced our decent into Fairbanks. Which really surprised me because I was just getting comfortable. I’m from Alaska, so in order to get anywhere our flights are usually six hours long for West Coast trips, and more for anywhere else.

We were twenty minutes early, so I had to wait for my friends to pick me up. Luckily, the weather was super nice so it wasn’t bad! Afterwards, my friend drove us to her apartment where we all chilled for awhile. She recently got a new dog, so we took him (Akela, what a cute name!) for a walk and got coffee.fairbanks campusAfter that we hung out for a little more, and then I went to meet my childhood best friend for dinner. Dorm food is nasty, and UAF was no better, I had mushy macaroni and cheese, and I also had a salad, which had baby corn, and that was pretty good. After that, I took a nap while my friend played on her new phone (our foster grandma bought her a new phone, and I flew it up). After that, at 8pm, we went to a party. Okay, it was a FullSizeRender (10).jpgUniversity event, and she had to volunteer at her church booth, and I met up with my friends from earlier.

It was a huge bond fire event, and we watched them burn several student made mounds of wood. Several of them were Game of Thrones themes, and I do admit I wouldn’t have been surprised if the mother of dragons had walked out of the ashes. We stayed for about two hours, but my friend and I were standing in the stoner pit, so I consumed a lot of secondhand smoke, and was feeling pretty lightheaded. A feeling I usually didn’t feel unless I was walking through the Vegas Strip, but you know.burn

 

So after that, I went to my friend’s dorm, and we talked until 1 am, gossiping about life and catching up.

So yeah, that was the first day of my Fairbanks trip! Hopefully you enjoyed this post, and if you want me to review My Lesbian Experience, let me know! Also, follow me on all my social media @love_rinnn and I’ll see you later!

Love,

Rin

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