Hey guys welcome to Vlogmas day
19. I really wanted to do a daily vlog for you today, and I started it off
But honestly I'm just not having a good day
I only like to make vlogs when I'm in a good mood because I feel like you can totally tell when I have to fake
It and I don't like being upset in videos either
I try to be positive as much as I can, so that those of you watching my videos
Feel a little cheered up afterwards if you're having a bad day
I don't want to pass on any negative vibes to you guys.
So what we're gonna do today
Which will hopefully improve my day
Is I want to share my favorite things of 2017
with you guys. So, a few of my favorite experiences, my favorite memories, some of my favorite snacks and teas and
Some of my favorite products, and hopefully this will give you guys some ideas for things you can try yourself
And hopefully will put me in a better mood
Let's start off by appreciating how cute Maro looks in the background there
Tucked himself under the blanket
oh my god
Oops, I woke him up, sorry.
Alright, let's start off with my favorite memories of 2017
I figured this would be a good way to
Kind of catch up some of my new
Subscribers on what I've been up to this past year. If you're new here, welcome to my channel. I'm Sharla
I've been living in Japan for about 12 years now. And this past year I tried to do as much
traveling as possible, so I got to see lots of Japan in 2017 and I'm so happy because that was one of my
new year's resolutions- was to
travel more and see more of Japan.
Some of my best memories are
definitely Kyoto with my sister, my sister came to visit me in the
Summer- the end of spring start of summer, and it was the first time I had a family member come visit me in Japan
After being here for so long, so that was really cool to be able to share
Where I live with her, what my daily life is like and I got to take her to some cool spots in Kyoto
And I think she had a really great time
I had a great time with her, and I really hope that she'll come visit me in Korea as well
I would have so much fun showing her around Korea.
We went to Fushimi Inari shrine, which is one of the places
I've always wanted to go to, so it was really cool to be able to experience it for the first time with my sister and
My husband, and it was so cool you guys, it was really neat. I know that Kyoto is like your typical
Japan tourist spot and some people are like "I've heard too much about Kyoto, I want something more off the beaten path.", but
Fushimi inari is super cool
And I think there's a reason that it's- I think it's the top
Spot to go in Japan, so if you're in the Kyoto area, if you're traveling to Japan and you'll be in Kyoto
Please check it out. It's such a cool hike going through all the tori gates, and it was just- it was beautiful
It was really impressive, and I've seen a lot of shrines
But that was the only one so far that I can say I thought was really really
Amazing and I would love to go back
And about three months ago, I got the chance to go to Kumamoto Prefecture
which was great because I've never been there, and I've always wanted to see it and
I got to experience
the area that was
Devastated by an earthquake firsthand, and that was the first time
I've been able to do that and that was really eye-opening
And I really really respect all the people that I met down there that are trying their best to get back on their feet
Everyone was so positive and cheerful and friendly and welcoming, it was just such such a great experience
I really love Kumamoto, and I didn't spend enough time there. So in the future, I would love to travel down there again
I'll definitely be visiting Micaela in the future because I still haven't been to Fukuoka for some reason and
Since I'm moving to Korea
It's actually gonna be easier for me to travel over there to visit her than it is from where I am now
So that's really exciting
another really fun day that I had was the
treetop obstacle course that I went to with Woojong and Gavin
That was such a fun day
And I think it was such a memorable experience for me because I'm so scared of heights and that was freaking terrifying
But Woojong was so nice, I think he was cheering me on
And he really gave me the courage to do some of those crazy high zip lines
Which is something I don't think I would have done, even him and Gavin weren't there cheering me on. Oh my god
It was so scary you guys, but it was so much fun
And I'm really glad that I did it and I kind of want to do it again
but this time I want to go on a day where it's not raining because
The planks were wet and it just- it felt very dangerous. I really recommend going on a very dry summer day
So that it's a little safer, but that place was super cool
And I know they have lots of locations throughout Japan so if you're interested in doing something like that
Just look up "treetop obstacle course", and I think you'll be able to find several different places around Japan
Oh, I went to Tokyo DisneySea for the first time in
2017 with my husband and
that day was kind of important to me because it totally changed my
View on Disneyland. I had been to Disneyland once before and it was one of the worst day trips of my life
And I thought that I never wanted to step foot in another Disney park for the rest of my life
It was just such a bad experience. It was so crowded. It was so cold
I was in the lineup for over four hours
Waiting for each ride and I was there from the morning until the night
and I think I got to go on a total of three rides and
They weren't that impressive
I was just so done and I never wanted to go back and I really didn't see the appeal of
Disneyland after that, I was just really shocked.
I guess I had heard so many good things about it, and then I had that experience and I was like
It's really not fun at all, what the hell, but then
We went to Tokyo DisneySea this year, and I really liked it. There were barely any people there
Well there were still lotsa people there
But compared to the first time I went, it was lots of fun, the rides were lots of fun
we saw a great show at the end with fireworks and singing and
Yeah, I really enjoyed it. I don't know if that's because DisneySea is better than Disneyland, but I had a great time
So I'm glad that I kind of changed my view on Disneyland, and I actually want to go back now
I'd love to go back with my friends. That would be a lot of fun I think, taking a group of friends there
I've never done that before so maybe 2018
We'll see.
So yeah. I think that's a good summary of my best new
experiences in
2017. New things that I tried or things that I fell in love with that I hated before
Those are the ones that come to mind so if you haven't seen those videos
I'll try and find them all and link them down below if you'd like to watch
All of those experiences, I'm pretty sure I have a video for each of those days.
Okay moving on to food
I feel like this video is gonna be really long
I got lots of stuff to talk about, hopefully you guys are in for a long chatty video
I actually have a new favorite tea. This was sent to me recently, you guys might have seen me open it, but this is
Assam tea which is really freakin good
I think I've never had it before, I think this is the first time I've tried it
I like to steep it for a long time
I'd say about a good four, five minutes, and then I like to put vanilla soymilk in it
And it just makes the best tea ever and there's a lot of caffeine in it I think, so it's great in the morning
Honestly, I drink it all day long. I probably shouldn't.
If you've never tried an Assam tea
They describe it as a bold and multi tea
And it just really reminds me of the kind of tea that you would use in a milk tea
Like a bottled milk tea that you'd find in Japan
And I really love that flavor so if you're looking for a good tea to make some milk tea with.
Okay, a couple types of noodles made it into my
2017 faves. These are both from iHerb, ooh iHerb has a sale on right now
you can get 10% off- if you use my code you get five percent off and then they have a
special winter sale code for an additional five percent off
So I will link my code and their sale code down below if you're interested in ordering anything
But I order these off iHerb frequently, I eat them all the time.
The first one is Annie Chun's Pad Thai rice noodles
I don't use them for Pad Thai,
I tried making that once and I just couldn't get it right and the noodles were all stuck together
And I just made a big mess, but I do like to use this in kind of like a Pho-like soup
I make like a
vegetable broth
And I put lots of veggies and tofu in it
And then I put the noodles in it, so it's like a noodle soup instead of the Pad Thai style, love it
It's so good
And then these quinoa macaroni, actually Taylor got me addicted to these
These are also gluten free if you're looking for gluten free pasta, but I prefer these to any kind of pasta
I don't specifically eat gluten free or anything, but there's- these are just so good. They're so good. There's something about those
It's really really delicious
So we eat these all the time with tomato sauce that I make and they would probably be
Really good with like an alfredo type sauce as well
Honestly, they're good with anything. They're so good. They would probably make a really good macaroni salad too.
It wouldn't be
2017 without the creepy vending machine
Vegan crackers. These deserve a mention because they're freakin delicious, and I'm so glad that I got another box with them the other day
They're just like Ritz
There are a great replacement to Ritz and I love them.
And my nutritional yeast flakes
I still love these, I really do not crave powdered cheese anymore
and I just
Look forward to having this on my pasta or my lasagna or anywhere else you would use like a parmesan style cheese
I love these things. They're so good and they add like a really cheesy flavor
Do you want to make a vegan cheese sauce or something they're great for that, there's tons of different vitamins
in these you guys. In two heaping tablespoons it gives you like
600 percent B2 for the day, 560 percent B6, 400 percent B12
folic acid, niacin
thiamine, like all the B vitamins
Lots of protein as well, two tablespoons of this is nine grams of protein, so it's really yummy and
Really healthy and a great alternative to powdered cheese if you're trying to cut out dairy
Another thing that I get from iHerb
Thank god for iHerb because I feel like it'd be really hard to find this in Japan, if it's possible at all
Alright moving on
This is just like something really random
But I felt that it needed to be mentioned because I lived in these tights this year. These are the
Lululemon Align Pant II
I think they're supposed to be cropped, but I guess I'm so short that they're full-length on me
These are so comfortable, it honestly feels like you're naked
So much to the point that I would be outside and be like, did I forget to put pants on before leaving
You just have that
like one
Split-second fear run through your body. They're so comfortable you guys, I wear these all the time like probably
70% of the time I have a few pairs of them
and I love them they're super comfy. They do peel a bit which is disappointing because
They're so freakin expensive that you would hope they wouldn't do that
but because they're so comfy I-
I don't- I still buy them because I love them so much, but I'm a little disappointed in the peeling
But if you're looking for a really really really comfortable pair of tights
Then these are the ones.
Okay moving on to beauty stuff. Okay. We just started using this a couple days ago
I shouldn't even be using it because it was Keyboard-san's birthday present
*whispers* but it's so good
And every time you get a shower with it, the shower room would smell so nice, and I just got really curious
And I used it and now I use it every time. It's okay. I'll buy him more if it runs out, but this Santa's Christmas
cola-scented shower cream is
My new all-time favorite product from Lush, and I'm so sad that this isn't a year-round thing. It isn't right
I'm pretty sure it's just a Christmas product
It's so good, you guys. It's totally worth the really expensive price. I think it was
$25 or something for this little bottle, but it smells so good
and it just makes your
Entire shower experience so much better, that it's worth the amount of money that they sell it for. If you are
Living near Lush, or if you can order it online
Please order this, I feel like anybody would love this scent.
While we're talking about Lush
My one- my one other fave Lush product
I've mentioned it several times
But it deserves another mention because it's wonderful
"Let the good times roll" facial scrub. It looks like this
It smells like caramel corn, and it makes your skin feel super smooth and moisturized
I like to use it about three or four times a week to gently exfoliate my skin, okay
I've had the opportunity to try out so many
skincare products because of working with Wishtrend this past year and
I really loved everything that I've tried, but these are probably
My 3 faves if I had to choose 3 products, and I could only only ever use those 3 products
I'd probably choose these.
The green tea and enzyme powder wash
This was part of my last Wishrend box that we sold and it's really cool
It's the first powder wash I've ever tried. You dump a little powder
(It's powder) you dump a little powder into your hand, mix it with a tiny bit of water
And it becomes foamy and if you don't mix it too much
You can leave some of the granules there, so you get a gentle exfoliation
It smells like a matcha latte
It doesn't taste like one though, but it smells like one and that's good enough, and it leaves your skin feeling
Really soft and not dry at all which is what I love so much about it
Next step would be the Galactomyces alcohol-free toner from COSRX
They have a couple toners, and they're very similar, but something about this one just makes my skin look brighter
I don't know if it has
Something in it that just calms your skin down or something, but I feel like my skin looks
More evenly toned and just brighter when I use it
So I really like it. When I stop using this, I start to miss it and always go back to it
So I think this is gonna be a product that I use for a long time. I hope they never
Discontinue it.
And you're probably sick of hearing about this moisturising cream
But it deserves to be talked about. I love this so much
Klairs rich moist soothing cream
A very simple facial moisturizer that doesn't leave your skin
Greasy, or shiny, is great under makeup
It just makes your skin feel really moisturized, but not too moisturized
I just- I don't have anything bad to say about it. I really really love this
This is probably my fifth or sixth tube now
I got Keyboard-san addicted to it so now they run out faster
This was almost gone, gonna have to order some more. If you're looking for a good simple moisturizer try this one
I think you'll really really like it.
Alright you guys
I feel like I'm probably missing so many things, but hopefully you enjoyed this video
It kind of did put me in a better mood, so yay
I hope it cheered you up a bit or like gave you some good ideas for stuff to try. Ooh
I want each of you in the comments to tell me one thing that I should try in 2018. Whether it be
Some kind of experience I should try, or some product I should try, some food some tea
Let's make 2018 the year of trying new stuff. Moving to a new country, learning a new language
Let's just do it all. Let me know your suggestions. Alright guys, thank you so much for watching
I hope you're having a good day, and I will see you tomorrow, bye!
Oh before I go, my friend Norm just released a video that we filmed together over on his channel
I'll link it down below. So go check that out guys