Hada Labo: One drop locks an ocean

I'm the kind of person who, if left alone in a beauty shop, can get lost in there for hours and hours bagging up all the amazing products out there! I'm especially a sucker for moisturizing products cause beautiful skin is not dry!  Well, Japanese people have amazing skin and recently I've been wondering why that is. Of course it must have a lot to do with their climate and the food they eat and all, but I wondered if they had some special secret product that we don't know about! Well, turns out there is!!! It's called Hada Labo. 

Watch this Japanese Hada Labo commercial!

                      

Hada Labo is a Japanese skin care product that got INSANELY popular (You'll get what I'm saying in a bit) due to it's hydrating and anti-aging properties. Some recent statistics claim (Here it is!!) that one bottle is sold EVERY 4 SECONDS! (HUH?!! Someone must've gotten filthy rich XD) The rest of Asia is apparently catching on to the craze as well. Women swear by it and say that it's probably the best thing out there.

I haven't used Hada Labo, unfortunately, cause it's not sold here in my country, but if I ever go to Japan (FINGERS TIGHTLY CROSSED!!) I'll definitely buy it and try it myself!

One of the amazing bloggers I follow has personally used Hada Labo and has done a very detailed review :D

Check it out here! 

XiaXue

Note: She looks like she has amazing skin <333

Have you ever tried Hada Labo? Do you want to try it or not? Tell me what you think in the comments section!! ^.^

Learning Japanese: Lesson 1 (Hirigana)

So, I always day dream about going to Japan nowadays. You know... with the whole idea of a potential Summer trip idling in my head all the time. I imagine myself getting out of that plane,entering the Nagoya airport and after a moment of utter glee, I'll actually start comprehending my
surroundings...except that there wont be a lot of comprehending going on. What if there's a big ad that says "CONCERT TONIGHT!" or "SALES" (I'm a girl who can't help, but shop :D) and I miss it because of a stupid language barrier?
It's a fact. You can't enjoy a country to the fullest if you can't comprehend a fair bit of their language. Last May, before my trip to Barcelona,Spain with my father and brother, I got to learn a bit of Spanish. I thought it might prove to be useful and BOY was it useful! I was the one who did all the talking in situations where English did not do any good. We walk into a restaurant and I'm the one translating the menu and doing all the ordering. After a nice visit to a shop, I can ask how much is something and actually understand when the clerk responds with a number in Spanish. A little bit of comprehension can go a long way into making a trip easier and more enjoyable! Thus, I have arrived to a definite conclusion. I must learn a bit of Japanese. However, learning Spanish wasn't a big deal, cause after all, they do use the same set of alphabets. Learning Japanese on the other hand will be a feat. I will need to become familiar with the Japanese Hirigana, Katakana (Although that might not be as important) and Kanji to comprehend some written signs or ads.
Along with that, I'll have to learn some phrases and sentences in Japanese. It'll be tedious, but fun!
So, I've decided to give myself a crash course in Japanese. I'll be dividing the first 46 Hirigana syllables onto two weeks. Of course, I'll only be able to start by next week when my finals for this term are over. So next week, I'll be memorizing the first 23 syllables!
If anyone wants to join, notify me in the comments section and we can start cheering for each other!!
Here is the first Hirigana chart! Ganbatte Kudasai!
                

Forest of Death

This is gonna be one spooky ghost story and I'm sure all of you pretty much guessed that from this post's title. Forest of Death is what everyone has nicknamed the incredible forest of Aokigahara that lays at the bottom of Mt. Fuji. Although the forest's captivating beauty would normally inspire visitors to enjoy life and nature, it actually gained its notoriety for doing the exact opposite. Most people go to Aokigahara to commit suicide!!!! WHAT?! Yes, SUICIDE! Don't ask me why, but I think it's pretty damn spooky. Suicide rates in the forest have increased so much over the years, that signs have been erected all over the forest, urging people to reconsider and to call the police before they decide to end their lives.
Here are some scary statistics!

"In 2002, 78 bodies were found within it, replacing the previous record of 73 in 1998. By May of 2006, at least 16 new suicides had already been found. No one knows how many bodies go undiscovered." - SeekJapan.com

The forest is so dense and thick that, just from a few km inside, no sounds can be heard other than those produced by the forest itself. Legends surround the place, for instance, there are said to be massive underground iron deposits that screw with compasses, trapping innocents along with the purposely suicidal within the forest. Not to mention ghosts!! XD or as the Japanese call'em Yurei.  (So awesome if you ask me! hahaaa)
OK. So all the pointers say "Don't go to Aokigahara if you value dear life!!" then why the hell do I find this SO interesting?!!! I wanna pack up my camping bag, go spend the night there with some friends and exchange scary stories and spook the hell out of ourselves for the entire night!! Or perhaps I would take a trip there on Halloween next year and increase the readings on my SPOOK-temometer! XD
Something must be definitely wrong with me! I better lay off those horror movies that I keep watching repeatedly. XD
What do you guys think about Aokigahara?? Wanna visit or are the scary stories too much to handle? :P:D

Draw like a Pro! Part 1: The origins of Manga

I'm sure that a lot of you guys out there want to learn how to draw like professional mangakas. I wanna learn too! I'll dedicate an entire series of posts to amazing techniques, tools, LOTS  of pictures and some input from amazing established manga authors/artists that will help us all with our learning process!
But first of all, have you ever wondered who was the GENIUS to ever first hold a pencil and start sketching those really cool, shiny eyed characters?
I'm sure that it would be so cool going back in time just to high five the dude! :D

"Originally, the word manga is composed of two Chinese characters—the first meaning "in spite of oneself"  and the second meaning "picture"—and has been used to describe various comical images for at least two centuries."

There are a lot of arguments as to who actually started it all and whether or not the late 19th century European/American comic strips were the major influence on today's modern manga, but let's not get into all that. It was Osamu Tezuka, Japan's first established manga artist, also known as "God of manga", who was the first to create a manga based on cinematic story board production instead of the old 2D based comics. Remember, Mighty Atom? (or perhaps the American name "Astro Boy" might ring a bell with ya) Well, Tezuka was the artist! :D 

However, whether or not Tezuka is REALLY the first, we'll never know. After reading through a lot of articles, I found that there were a lot of artists before Tezuka, some even more skilled than him, who used the same "cinematic techniques", but were unfortunately constrained by the publishers who thought that manga should be educational for children and not too "stimulating". I guess Tezuka was just in the right place at the right time. (Lucky bastard! :D) So we can't pinpoint who it really is for sure who got the modern manga thing going. :(

Well, manga history turned out to be a complicated deal. (I wonder if they study manga history in schools in Japan? :D) 

If you wanna know more about the origins of manga, check out the source article.  

This is pretty much it for this post. I'll try to start our manga drawing lessons as soon as possible! I've already started compiling the materials for lesson one so get ready!! Although I do hope more followers would come my way before then...(Pwetty please? :D:D)

Until then, here's a cute chibi for ya!!! ^.^

    What did you think of this post? Good amount of info or would you have perferred less, or perhaps more? Tell me all about it in the comment section!

                                                 

First post/Trip to Japan!!!

A friend of mine has been telling me that she writes in a blog whenever she feels like exploding into utter glee and I thought that now would be the best time to start my own blog cause, at any second now, I ACTUALLY MIGHT EXPLODE INTO UTTER GLEE! XD
I'm sure you're all curious as to why that is. Well, let's just say that my beloved university is planning a summer trip this year to....*drum roll* JAPAN!! As soon as I found out, I felt like I was in a state of dream. I accidentally found out that on that same day, you can sign up for the trip! As soon as I rushed to the stand in the main building and signed my four letter name on that list, I called one of my best friends, who happens to be another die hard Japan fanatic, and asked to immediately inform me of her campus whereabouts cause I had news that needed to be delivered in person.
As I had already anticipated, as soon as the words parted my mouth, she dragged me, running back to that booth to sign up herself.
Now, it all sounds so perfect, but there's a catch. ONLY 12 STUDENTS CAN GO!
Turns out that there's a list of criteria that all applicants must have in order to qualify for the trip. My friend and I frantically glared at the list as we both checked if we met the criteria.

1) Must be a Sophomore or Junior student. 
(Hell yeah!! I have permanent stress issues to account for every course that has led me to become a freakin Sophomore!)

2) Must have a GPA higher than 3 
(At that point, I was so relieved that I was the nerd/dork that I've always been. With a a GPA of 3.55, I can comfortably fit within their range.)

3) Must present a CV along with a transcript of your grades. Note that only active university students will be taken into consideration. 
(I was all about being active!! I have certificates upon certificates of competitions, events and clubs that I have taken part in ever since I enrolled here in PSU. All I had to do was to write an impressive CV, present it along with a transcript of my grades and anxiously wait for the results to be announced on the 18th of February!)

Thankfully both my friend and I fit the criteria and we suggested the trip to a lot of other friends who applied as well! If we all went together as a group, it would be EPIC!

On the 18th of Feb, they will be announcing only 24 names. Those 24 students will then have an interview with a committee that will then pick 12 students who will be a part of the trip. I'm so psyched!!! I know that I might have a shot at this, but whenever I think about all those other students applying and thinking they have a shot too, I get a little scared.

I'm so excited about this! I'm actually so excited I totally forgot about introducing myself. XD
Hi everyone! My name is Lama. I know it's not a typical name and that's because I'm Egyptian (Hell it's not even a typical name in Egypt!!! My parents must really hate me hahaha :D)
 I'm a 19 year old college student, currently studying Interior Architectural Design. My hobbies include drawing (especially drawing portraits of people), reading, listening to music and attempting to play the piano. :D
I'm interested in learning about a lot of different countries and cultures, especially, my personal favorite, Japan! <3 I would like to draw manga, professionally, on the side....as soon as I learn how to :D

How did I come to like Japan so much and why Japan in particular? Well, that's something you'll have to wait to find out. I'll try to update this blog as much as I can. (Considering that I have finals nowadays. I mean seriously, who starts a blog during their final exams?!! XD)

So tell me what do you think of my first post? Energetic? Too energetic?! :D Tell me everything in your comments!! :D