Soft cup bras: H&M

I've been trying to find soft cup bras for more than a month, with no luck. Everything has padding!

When I stopped in the new H&M store in Kyoto, I found them! Bra at 1499 yen, matching underwear for 999 yen. Also available in white and orange. Just like everything at H&M, I had to go up a size...

Attending Japanese wedding ceremonies, receptions, and nijikai

I was graciously invited to my first Japanese wedding ceremony, reception, and nijikai!

I asked a lot of questions about what to wear and how to behave, so I thought I would pass it along, as well as tell you, post-attendance, what I did right, wrong, and what I wish I had done. I was given these lovely overviews of the flow of events: http://expatsguide.jp/8302 and http://expatsguide.jp/8331

But, we have to prepare!

First, the dress. It's more like going to prom or New Years in the States. Or you can wear kimono. I opted for western dress because it would be a long day and I didn't want to worry about how I would feel in kimono. The dress should reflect your age and marital status (same as kimono). You can buy a dress (and accessories, more on that below), or you can rent them from a company.

I was lucky to be able to buy all my goods during the New Year sales. The dress was 27500 yen (ASP). New shoes, 11500 yen. Hose (and back up hose, in purse) 1000 yen a pop. I opted to buy over rent so that now I always have a wedding outfit (I chose a dress I would also wear in the States) and a NY outfit. I also wanted a pair of blue patent leather shoes to wear with my jeans this spring, and since I chose a blue dress, the shoes were a double-purpose purchase. (I also hate cheap, uncomfortable shoes.)

You will also need some sort of shawl, hairpiece, necklace, earrings, and a purse big enough to fit your essentials plus the money envelope you will give as a gift. Examples are on the website above. I found that ordering accessories on Amazon was FAR cheaper than buying them at the store. I got the hair accessories (usually a flower clip, but I went with a lacquer and rhinestone barrette, 1000 yen) and jewelry (pearl earrings and necklace are where it's at for this type of event, combined, 4000 yen) at After the Boom, locations in both the Cube (under Kyoto station) and on Shijo. I bought the Shawl for 1899 yen and purse 1600 (both, amazon). Again, I chose to buy my accessories to wear again (probably only in Japan or at NY, since they are too prom-like to wear in the States) and, I have young nieces who will love to play dress up with them.

I was given this website as a guide for gifting money and selecting the correct envelope. In brief, singles give 30000 in an envelope with a golden bow. This is handed over at the registration table. The nijikai has a fee for attendance, this is also given at the registration table (no envelope is necessary).

There you have it!

Touka Ebisu and Dezomeshiki: Fun matsuri no one tells the foreigners about

On the 10th I had enough of staying indoors because of the cold, and I dragged a friend out to Yasaka shrine to see the sights and walk through the park, searching for signs of spring. Along the way, he asked if I knew about Touka Ebisu. I asked if it was 10 days of beer. He laughed, and said he would show me.

We went to Ebisu shrine in Higashiyama, along with just about every other person in the universe. It was bright, happy, and made me forget about the cold!

Ebisu is patron deity of merchants and one of the Seven Luck Gods. People go to this shrine on the 10th (actually, from the 9-12) to pray for a prosperous year. At the shrine you can buy all sorts of amulets and sasa for prosperity, and they are priced to match their power! So expensive!

The other matsuri is the annual firefighter event. It's held on different days every year, but always in the beginning of January. The video link here is for the 2014 event, but when a 2015 video appears on YouTube I will switch it out.

It's a cold but fun morning. It is held from 10-12 along the length of Heian jingu, and there are lots of seats available. The first half hour or so is just speeches, followed by a small parade of firefighters from each ward. (You can find out who your firefighters are on the Kyoto city fire department web page, in Japanese.) Then there is a demonstration of what firefighters do: trucks, extending hoses, saving people from burning buildings, helicopter flyovers and rescues, extending ladders to amazing heights and spraying hoses.

Note that while you can watch the parade from the south side of the street, you will be cleared out for the training demonstration, so it's best to find a good seat on the north side (the shrine side).

Adventures in Hair cuts: Nary

My bangs were looking haggard and my ends needed a shape up, so I made an appointment for a head spa and cut at Nary. Cutting to chase: go for the head spa, leave before the hair cut.

The salon is gorgeous. Breathtakingly beautiful.

The head spa was great. You could choose from different aromas. The heated head and neck massage was awesome and was nice and strong.

The haircut went well at first. We had a consultation. We confirmed only trimming the damaged ends, and used our fingers to confirm how much would be cut off. I described the bangs I wanted. She found a picture in a magazine to confirm she understood (she did). She cut the ends, perfect.

Then we got to the bangs. She suggested I change my part. I said no. She did something weird with my part, making it rather "S" like, and started cutting. I stopped her, corrected the part with my hands, and reconfirmed the type of bang we were going for, and that the length should be at my eyebrow (she repeated, "eyebrow").

How I got the world's shortest, bluntest bangs is beyond me. I stopped her. I fiddled with what was left of my hair. She made a suggestion. I said no, they were too short, they were an inch above my eyebrow, and "shall we finish"? She kept saying sorry. I paid and left.

I have a feeling the bangs will be great in a month...

Facials and Massages: Beauty Face

My favorite super sento closed, so I am looking for a new place to get decent spa care. I thought I would give the Beauty Face chain a try!

I made an appointment online through Hot Pepper (Japanese only) for a 3400 yen pore reduction facial. Most people come to Beauty Face for facial shaving, but, since that creeps me out a little bit, I went for a facial only.

The experience is Japanese only, but my facialist said that many foreigners come to the shop (I went to the one in the Aeon Kyoto mall). The site is more hospital than spa - definitely no frills.

The facial itself, while bare bones, was good. There was a cleansing, a lot of steam, some sort of lotion that helps pull the gunk out of your pores, a vacuum suction, clay mask, and final cleansing. There was a (too) brief head massage at the end. I left with very red and blotchy skin, which the facialist felt bad about, but I'm pretty sure it was because of the suction and the clay mask. The redness went away in a few hours.

My facialist did not try to sell me anything (which I like), but offered up all of the usual things to encourage a repeat appointment. She gave me an overall assessment of my skin (too dry - use more lotions and essences!) and saw me on my way!

For 3400 yen, this is something I think I will treat myself to more often!

Hot Tab Sparkling Bath tablets

I received a set of 5 Hot Tab Sparkling tablets in my cosme lucky New Year bag and tried them out tonight. They are supposed to cleanse your skin without any soap and leave your skin moist and soft.

You use 5 tablets in one bath. A pack of 10 goes for 1000 yen.

The in-bath experience wasn't much, and my skin feels a little sticky and a bit dry post-bath. I'll stick with my youmeisen.

Shampoo and Conditioner: Ahalo Butter

I'm rethinking my addiction to the Beauty Pride's APPS+E(TPNa) shampoo and conditioner. First, as I mentioned before, the cost. Oh my, the cost. Second, my hair doesn't seem to be reacting as well to the product as it did in the past. Perhaps it is time to rotate out?

So I purchased this Ahalo Butter Repair Shampoo and Conditioner set for about 1900 yen on Cosme. It did a great job! Love it! And much cheaper than the Beauty Pride!

Workouts for a cold, snowy, Japanese winter: Tracy Anderson and online Vinyasa

When it is too snowy and icy to run, and when my yoga studio is closed for holiday, I have been looking for at-home workouts. I recalled a number of years ago attempting the Tracy Anderson 30 day Bootcamp, and, while not turning into Gwyneth Paltrow, having some success. Recently, Tracy has put her previously only available on DVD workouts online on her website. I've also found the complete 45 minute dance cardio video from the old Bootcamp DVDs on YouTube.

It gives me even more of a cardio workout than running 5K, but I find it a bit boring. Also, it's a bit difficult to do in a Japanese apartment, unless you live on the first floor, since there is SO MUCH JUMPING. Finally, I've found it's pretty essential to wear sneakers while doing the workout, so unless you have a plan for that...

I find the mat workout totally killer, but easy to do in a typical Japanese apartment. I found most of the Bootcamp ab workout online. Note that you are supposed to do 40-60 reps of each exercise, even though there are not as many demonstrated.

I tried the arm workout (with weights) for the first time today. It was ok.

I also did this Intermediate Vinyasa video by Leslie Fightmaster. It gave me a nice glow, but some of the poses were way too advanced for me and I don't recommend trying them without the assistance of a teacher! However, it did fit the bill of getting up a sweat and keeping active, without noise, in a Japanese apartment in the winter.

Manicure: Marie Nails

A Marie Nails opened up in my neighborhood, so I decided to give it a try. It was rather American in style - a row of manicurists and chatty customers. I got a french gel manicure for a little over 5000 yen. There was no massage and the entire process was clinical rather than spa-like. There was no English spoken (but the Japanese language gossip was worth it!).

About one week after my manicure I've started to chip. I'm not sure if this is because I was rather hard on my hands (I did do Osoji...) or if it is the quality of the manicure.

A menu, coupons, and reservations are available online (in Japanese).

Home-style Japanese Cooking (Tonyu nabe, Takikomi Gohan, Butajiro, Kitsune Udon, Dashi)

Now that it is too cold and snowy to want to go anywhere, here are some of the "staple" recipes in my house:

Tonyu nabe
Ingredients:
1 package of Goma Tonyu base
1 small container of soy milk
chopped hakusai, shiitake (do yourself a favor, and don't wash them), carrot, daikon, abura age
chicken or pork
diced scallion as a topping

Method:
bring base and soy milk to a boil. Add other ingredients. Wait till cooked. Serve with rice and tsukemono


Takikomi Gohan

A general recipe can be found here: http://www.japanesecooking101.com/takikomi-gohan/

Butajiro

This is also delicious without the meat. A general recipe can be found here: http://japanese-kitchen.net/butajiru-tonjiru-recipe/

Kitsune Udon

Here is a good general recipe: http://www.justonecookbook.com/recipes/kitsune-udon/

Homemade dashi

Ingredients:
1 cup dried Iriko (also called niboshi)
5 cups water
1/2 cup mirin
1/2 cup utsukuchi shoyu (light soy sauce)
splash of regular shoyu

Method:
soak iriko in water for at least a half hour
put soaked water and iriko in a pot, bring to a boil for 10 minutes
strain out iriko
add mirin, utsukuchi shoyu, and simmer for 10 minutes
add regular shoyu

Combating dry winter skin: Nivea creme and the Raydrop Ultrasonic Aroma Humidifier

I picked up a tin of Nivea creme at the drug store for under 500 yen. It is consistently listed as one of the best moisturizers and seems to only make an appearance in Japanese drugstores in the winter months.

The creme itself does wonders for dry skin. There is no itching or scaling. I do wish that it was not in "tub" form (I have smaller 200 yen tubes for my purse and over the kitchen sink). I also personally like the application feeling from oils better than creme (this can't even really be called a lotion - it is between lotion and wax consistency), but the results (and price point) have me hooked for the winter!

I've never been one to use the humidifier, even though they are very popular here in Japan, especially in winter. I'm always battling humidity and mold - why introduce moisture? My friend says it helps prevent colds. It is true that colds are more prevalent in drier weather, so I'll buy it.  4300 yen on amazon.