Embassy Suites Denver Downtown Convention Center, Denver

While in Denver for the conference, hubby and I stayed at the Embassy Suites Denver, at the Downtown Convention Center location (where every other conference-goer was staying...). Overall it was a good stay, although with a hiccup at the beginning.

Here's the view from the entrance door. Somehow we lucked out with a 2-room suite with a seating area that has a queen sleeper sofa. It was an apartment-sized hotel suite and we honestly didn't know what to do with all the space we had!

Colorado Convention Center, Denver

After-hour one day, hubby snuck me into the Colorado Convention Center where the conference was. Even though no one was there, we were stopped multiple times and hubby had to produce his badge :X

Afternoon Tea at the Brown Palace Hotel, Denver

Back in July, hubby attended a week-long conference in Denver. Since I was going to start school the week after, we booked a hotel room and treated it as a mini vacation. The first day while he was in his workshops, my sister and I met up at the Brown Palace Hotel for afternoon tea ^.^

Toshiba Science Museum, Kawasaki, Kanagawa

For a Sunday afternoon, we met up with a friend who's a semi-conducting engineer for Toshiba. Her name is H. and she's sort of my personal hero. Why? Think about how hard it is for a woman engineer in the US of A, let alone Japan. Despite being a first world society, with all the technological advances Japan still has a very conservative culture that encourages women to quit their job in favor of child-bearing and rearing, or at least in favor of their husband's career. I'm generalizing here, of course, and there are many folks in Japan who are open-minded and are forward-thinking.

Still, to be an engineer for a multi-national corporation with a household name, H's career is a huge achievement. I attribute a lot of this success to H. herself: she's the sort of gal who would travel by herself to see the world, language and culture barriers be damned! Last year she lived it up in Macedonia. Next month she's going to Belgrade, Serbia. You go, girlfriend!

On Sunday afternoon H. took us to Toshiba Science Museum, which is free and open to the public all 7 days of the week. The place was crawling with kids but it was actually quite fun and fascinating for all of us.

Click for bigger pictures!

Astalift Essence Destiny

This Astalift Essence Destiny is the newer incarnation of the Essence, and I have 2 tiny 5mL bottle with dropper cap, each from the Hari Skin Trial Kit and Jelly Aquarysta Gift Set, for a total of 10mL. Yes, that also make them 2 years old and I'm finally getting to them now. Sigh.

Hari Skin Trial Kit

SunCut UV Protect Gel SPF50+ PA++++

We ran out of body sunscreen on our second day in Tokyo, which, as you know, is a happy occasion for me because it means I can go browse the drugstore (again, despite the crazy music and harsh lighting). Hubby and I loved loved loved Nivea Sun Protect Water Gel Super SPF50 PA+++ (will review next), but after many a bottles I wanted something new I haven't tried before. A quick walk around the block and we came home with this 100g bottle of SunCut UV Protect Gel SPF50+ PA++++, courtesy of Cosmeport, a sub-brand of Kose.

Neighborhood Obon Festival 2015

Not *my* neighborhood, but hubby's colleague W. and her husband M. invited us out to Roppongi Bon Odori Saturday afternoon, so why not? We actually got off the train at Azabu then walked from there to Roppongi. There was a gigantic festival in Azabu that went on for at least a dozen blocks right up to Roppongi, where Bon Odori was held.

Oh man, we had no idea what we were walking into until we got there. There are 13 millions people in the Tokyo metro area and I swear they were all there at the festival! My photos just don't do the crowds any justice at all. Actually, I couldn't take pictures of the crowd because, well, we were pressed back to back and inched along heel-to-heel. Add in heat and humidity and it was a disaster. We were all drenched in sweat and could take pictures only after having escaped to a smaller alley, and thus it looks like hardly anyone was there when it couldn't be farther from the truth.

More desserts at Denny's Part VII

Update Sunday, August 23, 2015.

Hubby was in a meeting so I camped out at a nearby Denny's for lunch and dessert. Ordered the Korean cold noodles lunch set and the seasonal dessert specialty. Mission accomplished ^.^ It was sooooooo good...

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Original post Sunday, August 16, 2015.

For nostalgia's sake, hubby and I went and found ourselves a Denny's and ordered our old favorites, just for the hell of it. Well, actually, it's because it's mid August and pretty much the whole country's on vacation. Everywhere we went, restaurants and shops are closed until Monday, August 16. And I was dying to have that fruits parfait again so hubby obliged xD

He ordered his favorite hamburg and I ordered my omurice. They were just as yummy as we remember T.T

Astalift Lotion Part II

Finally finally got around to using the "newer" Astalift Lotion and the quotation marks is for the fact that I bought these trial kits in 2013, so technically they're not "new" but are in fact 2 years old :( 

I have 3 of these trial sizes in 20mL bottles for a total of 60mL, versus the older 30mL bottles with orange twist-caps. I got them from 3 separate sets: the Hari Skin Trial Kit, the Moisture Trial Kit, and the Jelly Aquarysta Gift Set. Each bottle lasts me 2+ weeks with nightly and occasional day use, depending on need.

Hari Skin Trial Kit

Bifesta Cleansing Lotion

After our second day in Tokyo, I realized I had forgotten to pack an eye makeup remover, which in my case has been a steady supply of Lancome Bi-Facil or Effacil in 30mL GWP bottles. This is great news, because it means time to go study some drugstore selections.

Well, I totally forgot how dizzying Japanese drugstores can get with the jam-packed shelves, the super fast music with high-pitched helium chipmunk singing nonsensical things, the harsh white light. So I came in thinking I'll pick out the next best thing and left as quickly as possible grabbing the first thing that caught my eyes, which was this 300mL pump bottle of Bifesta Cleansing Lotion.