Happy Pi Day!

The 27th annual Pi Day was held at the Exploratorium today. The celebration of the 3.14159… and also Einstein's Birthday. Not to mention that admission was absolutely free, sponsor by Uniqlo. Big shout-out for the entry-free event, volunteers even served lemonades for everyone that was waiting in line for admission.

Exploratorium

Waiting in line to get in

Giant Fog Machine

The schedule of events was packed from 1:00pm to 2:30pm, filled with activities and procession of Pi, ending the day off with pie serving and pizza tossing.

It took about an hour wait in long before I got my admission-free ticket. After that, I had a great time nerding out and exploring all the educational activities that the Exploratorium had to offer. A wonderful place for people of all ages.

The tourist-filled Pier 39 was just around the corner. This is also a must-visit if you're ever around the Embarcadero side of San Francisco. There's a lot of small shops, restaurants, and yes...sea lions that makes the experience worth it.

Fisherman's Wharf

Pier 39

The famous original sourdough bakery, Boudin, is also something tourists enjoy. I had one of their clam chowder on sour dough bread. If you ask me, I had better clam chowder but their sour dough bread was delicious.

Clam Chowder Strip

Boudin Bakery

Clam Chowder Bowl

New Orleans Style Coffee

With the ever-growing growing love of coffee, many variations have emerged. There's the pumpkin spice latte, caramel macchiato, and flat white to name a few. But Blue Bottle company opened up their shop to recreate the love of pure roasted coffee. They focus on taste and aroma of high quality coffee beans. 

If you have not tried Blue Bottle Coffee, you will definitely need to take a visit. Blue Bottle emerged from the Bay Area in Oakland and is now seen in parts of San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, and even one cafe in Tokyo, Japan.

Blue Bottle Logo

Take it home with you

A first-timers must-try is the New Orleans iced coffee. You will thank me for recommending this to you.You may ask for soy milk as alternative if you choose.

They also have their brew coffees and lattes if you want a hot drink instead. If you're a busy person and need one on the go, they also sell coffee in a carton.

New Orleans Iced Coffee

Wall Decor

Ramen Madness

This is a follow-up to the Ramen Fest that I talked about a two months ago. Check it out if you have not already.

To sum it up in a few words about this event: Chaotic Madness for a Bowl of Ramen.
More extreme ratings of the festival: Yelp reviews
If you're not sure what I'm talking about, here's a few pictures.

Jpop Summit Festival

You know you're at Japan Town
when you see that tower

Volunteers helping out at the festival

Chef flipping those ramen burger

The banner that started it all...

And the chaos begins

Way too many people

Had to grab a snack before waiting in line

More people

I made it after 3 hours of wait!!

I'm a little skeptic about how I feel about the ramen. My taste buds are saying the ramen was really good, especially the broth. The thing about a good bowl of ramen is essentially how good the stock is and this was really good. On the other hand, my stomach is telling me that I was just deprived of food for 3 hours and I was just hungry at that moment.

Tonkotsu Ramen

The seats

For the experience, it was probably only good for a one-timer. I will definitely not try this again. I have heard a lot of backers, meaning backing out of the line after seeing it, complained and decided to eat at a decent restaurant. This may have boosted the amount of customers entering nearby ramen or even other types of restaurants. And not to mentioned that every popular ramen restaurants in San Francisco/San Mateo had loads of lines and waiting. I guess people really wanted that ramen.

If you still feel the need to venture out and experience this firsthand for the next festival, one important tip is to arrive early (really early, I cannot stress this enough). You will be able to avoid the afternoon crowd and long lines. You will also be able to avoid all the crazy commute, speaking for both taking bart and driving.

Next Ramen Fest Event Schedule:
October 3 - 5 --------- San Jose
October 10 -12 ------- San Jose
October 17 -19 ------- Las Angeles Ponoma

Not a ramen fan, there are plenty of vendors that set-up their booths to sell merchandises.

Ramen Street in SF

If you're a big ramen fan, you have to go to this upcoming event located in Japantown at San Francisco. Admission to event is free and ramen is $8/bowl featuring six delicious vendors.

Vendors coming from:

LA: Tatsunoya, Fujin Ramen, and Mattou Seimen

Las Vegas: Monta Ramen

SF: Men Oh

Japan: Horaiya

Event will take place on July 19th (Sat.) and July 20th (Sun.) from 11:00am to 6:00pm.

Check out my post at Ramen Street.

Lunch at the Bistro

This is the aftermath of the trend show. A lot of free bags and a lot of purchased bags.

Shopaholics we are!

After the end of the event, my group started getting a little hungry. We choose the nearest eatery.

Off we strove to Nordstrom’s Café Bistro.

Cafe Bistro at Nordstroms

We started off the meal with the crab bisque bowl ($5.95) served with a piece of toasted crostini. The soup was creamy and thick with small chunks of crab soaked in it. The crostini crunchy texture compliments the
soup fairly well.

Crab Bisque with toasted crostini

It was my first time trying out the cilantro lime shrimp salad ($13.95). I was a bit skeptical since it was a salad and I’m really not a big fan of greens and leafy things. But, to my surprise it was delicious. It was served with organic baby greens and romaine lettuce. It had some seared shrimp, tomato, corn, roasted sweet peppers, topped with Monterey jack cheese, tortilla crisps, and cilantro lime vinaigrette.

Cilantro Lime Salad --- Ou La La

Next came the rustic vegetable and three cheese pizza ($10.75). The pizza toppings included roasted artichokes, sautéed organic baby spinach, wild mushrooms, oven-roasted tomatoes, and fresh basil. The three cheeses that they used were mozzarella, aged provolone, and parmesan. The vegetarian-like pizza was good even for a meat-lover like me. It was also a great dish for sampling and sharing.

Rustic Vegetable and Three Cheese Pizza

The main entrée was the sautéed chicken and angel hair pasta ($15.95) consisting of chicken breast, angel hair pasta (of course), roasted garlic tomato sauce, organic baby spinach, oyster mushrooms, and rosemary butter sauce. This was an okay dish to me, not too special.

Sautéed Chicken and Angel Hair Pasta

To satisfy my sweet tooth, I ordered the crème brulee ($5.25) with the vanilla custard and caramelized sugar topping.Yums!

Crème Brulee

 They even offered a mint chocolate stick after the bill came. Thumbs up to that!

Makers Mint Chocolate

2013 Nordstrom Beauty Trend Show: SF Edition Pt. 2

As mentioned in my previous post, I will share my collection of free goodies! I love freebies especially when they are in travel sizes.

Green Tote Bag

• A very stylish mint green tote bag. Its relatively sturdy and can hold plenty. The tote really brings a brightness to an outfit.

Nordstrom Mint Tote 

Nordstrom Tag 

Nordstrom Mint Tot

Free goodies inside the tote bag.
*Review provided later on~

• Estee Lauder Fragrance: Pleasures
• Laura Mercier: Face Polish
• Living Proof: Full Thickening Cream
• Estee Laudee: Night Repair Serum
• Clinique: High Impact Mascara
• Trish McEvoy Fragrance: Mandarin & Ginger Lily
• Estee Lauder: Intensive Lifting Creme 

Goodies came in Ziplock Bag

Voila: Estee Lauder fragrance, Laura mercier face polish, Living Proof  full thickening cream,
Estee Lauder Night Repair Serum,
Clinique high impact mascara, Trish McEvoy fragrance!

Nice! Estee Lauder Intensive Lifting Creme

Goodies from booth walking and appointments!

*Review provided later on~

• Bobbi Brown: Concealer
• Hanae Mori Fragrance
• Giorgio Armani: Luminous Silk Foundation

Bobbi Brown, Hanae Mori, Estee Lauder Goodies

Goodies!

Gift with purchases.
Bought a Philosophy Microdelivery Peel for a discounted price and got bountiful gifts!

Philosophy gifts include:
*Review provided later on~

• Kiss me color lip gloss
• Hands of Hope: Hand and Cuticle Cream
• Full of Promise: Dual-action Restoring Cream
• Purity: 3-in-1 Cleanser
• Grace: Firming Body Emulsion
• Grace: Shampoo, Bath & Shower
• Philosophy Tote and Makeup Bag

Philosophy Microdelivery Peel

Gifts from purchase

Philosophy Tote Bag 

Philosophy Make-up Bag

After looking at my free collections, have you decided to attend an event yourself. Here's how you can participate and tips on what to expect!

Don't forget to check what we ate afterwards.

2013 Nordstrom Beauty Trend Show: SF Edition Pt.1

Today's talk is all about beauty. There are many beauty gurus out there looking for the latest and trendiest products to try and review. As for me I'm not so much into testing new products; I like to stick to what I know will work. For all the major beauty gurus as well as folks similar to me out there, you cannot miss the Nordstrom Beauty Trend Show. I believe it happens every year in various locations and San Francisco is usually the last location of the season. As fortunate to attend my first trend show, I advise many of my readers to participate in one. Not only is it free, you get a chance to hear about the latest hit products from top notch brands. What most of you will enjoy the most is the free giveaways throughout the show. The show starts in the morning at 8am, which is a bummer considering it is on a weekend, but trust me, it is worth it.

To keep things short, I'll briefly mention my experiences and steps to attend a show yourself.

1. Before you wait for the day of the trend show, remember to call your local event representative to reserve your spot in an one-on-one consultation in skin, hair, or makeup at various booths (Estee Lauder, Armani, Dior...)
•  Book as many appointments as you like, keeping in mind of the conflicting times you have between booths.
2. Booking your tickets to the show. 
• Despite my purchase of the tickets, nobody checked it. You can redeem your full refund if you did not purchase anything by the end of the show. It cost $20 per person.
3. Arriving at the show.
•  This year I received a green tote bag with a bag of goodies. Staff members pass the bags out upon your arrival at the show. Light refreshments are served including coffee, donuts, and fruit platter.
4. The show
• Each top brands will have their own representative coming out on stage to talk about a few products that is featured for the season. Dazzling models are accompanied with the speaker. Through out the show, there are raffle winners consisting of must-have prizes. One lucky winner got a free clarisonic set. 
5. After show
• Time to attend your appointments or checking out products to buy. Many booths have discounts on specific products and many have gift with purchases. There are also demos on certain products.

Rather than a very long post, I decided to review products on the next post. See all my lovely gifts here.

Brochure of the Nordstrom Beauty Trend Show 2013