Friday, March 19, 2010

Memories of the past few month

Posted by Jen Ko at 11:22 AM 0 comments
"Pictures are worth 1000 words"

I just had a bit of a meltdown at work, I'm really bad at handeling stress. The past few months have been somewhat of a roller coaster ride but because of my friends... I made it through. I have to thank all of them for listening to me whine all day. Throughout this time, I learned a lot about myself... I lost a few friends and also gained a few. What's most amazing is how life plays out, there's never going to be a day where everything's "ok," and I'm finally okay with that. I've stopped trying to figure everything out and I'm learning how to concentrate on the things that are most important in life.

I have some more amazing news coming up in the near future. :)





TC friends


trying hard to be cute.






take 1


Take 2 ... eventually we gave up.




Palos Verdes - people that live there are so lucky.


Probably one of the better pictures I've ever taken of someone.





life is like this road don't you think?


Disneyland






He's such a fierce cat. :) and very photogenic





another great picture




Camwhoring


do you understand what's on that monitor? I learned quiet a lot from this friend who's a developer.... I still have no clue, it's like speaking in another language


this is what a motorcycle can do to your leg. :(


Momo got the ugliest hair cut everrr.


sunrise - I didn't take this one but I thought it was so beautiful.


love the shadows


he's so awesome.


duckies!!!


I forgot... cat's aren't dogs.


curious


hahah i wanted to note how my family uses newspaper. Easy clean up.


fresh uni. Jealous?

This is so awesome. You can make sushi out of candy. Bought it at Mitsuwa for about $5 and made it with my friend. We didn't do such a great job because I messed up.





















First time I dyed a guys hair. I'm persuasive when I want to be so he let me dye it.


lazy mornings are always fun





this reminded me of a corn field


I love clouds.






I haven't updated for awhile so I'm doing a huge picture heavy post of the past few months of my life. I love photography, partly because it grasps memories that I sometimes freely throw away. Perhaps it's my horrible memory, but hopefully I'll at least have 2 posts a week from now on. I know my words never count. :)

Hope no one got fooled too bad since todays April Fools. The google - Topeka thing was very funny

Friday, March 12, 2010

Wakasaya - Little Tokyo

Posted by Jen Ko at 4:54 PM 0 comments
Awhile ago I went to China town to pierce my ears and sight see because I haven't been to China town for a few years now but nothing in Chinatown appealed to my tummy so we ventured out to Little Tokyo, like always.

We were debating on Curry House, Orochon, or Shabu Shabu when we passed by Wakasaya. I saw all the pictures of their bowls and I wanted to dart right in. I did in the end always get my way so we ended up eating here. :)

Wakasaya serves seafood donburis which you can either custom make or pick one that is listed on the menu. While I was in the restroom I saw that Wakasaya is actually a restaurant chain in Tokyo so I was super excited to try because I have yet to seen a donburi restaurant!!

I have never seen a menu with so much writing in it. If you flip to the next page they have tons and tons of options.

Like Orochon they have a contest to see if you can finish their SUPER big donburi. I believe if you finish the meal is on them.

I was taking a test photo and I posted this photo for a reason.
I'm a girl that looks at a guys hands. If men are reading this, please remember to trim your fingernails like this. Guys should NOT have long fingernails. hahaha
Toro salmon don - This was actually really good. I liked it.


I custom made mine with uni, negi toro, and amaebi. The negi toro was really REALLY bad. I took a bite of it and it wasn't very fresh. As for the amaebi, it was frozen and the uni was pretty good. No complaints about the uni! For the price it was "alright," but the negi toro could have been better!

Not expensive at all, but to be quiet honest I would rather pay more for better quality. I am still willing to go again though!!



Wakasaya
335 E 2nd St
Japanese Village Plaza mall
Los Angeles CA
213-621-2121

Thursday, March 4, 2010

indifferent

Posted by Jen Ko at 11:34 AM 0 comments
Hi,
I've yet to update my blog for quiet some time. I want to design my own layout and make this blog a bit better with frequent updates.

A lot of people ask me where I learned nail art and I was self taught. I bought tons of Nail Max/nail up/nail venus magazines a few years ago and I slowly learned how by looking at pictures and doing research. Throughout my life, I've never been this serious about a hobby and when I finally mastered a full set without lifting... I felt so accomplished and happy because I could bring what I love most to other girls and make them happy. Nail art is a form of "art" to me and nails are my canvas.

In my perspective there is ALWAYS room for improvement, I was taught growing up by my family to be humble with what we have and what we know. I take everyones comments into consideration, even customers who have no idea what they are talking about because everyone's comments matter and if I'm so quickly to decide what I want to listen to I will never improve.

Yet, with my ideals... I still step into a world I don't exactly like. That's why I haven't been doing nails lately, I haven't updated my blog. I have in line... like 4 nail pictures I haven't ps. I guess I came into this business with my naive and simple ideas of just wanting to make people happy. I never wanted to compare myself with other nail techs, I never thought that I'm doing this to solely make money. I just feel disappointed in the people I trust, only to realize that they didn't trust me. To have a finger pointed towards me and being accused of things I didn't do hurts a lot because if people knew my passion and my naive personality they would know... I could never pull it off.

and for people to constantly want to watch me fall makes me back off from nails. It makes me feel like, it's a business... everyone is only watching for themselves. I don't blame them but I never wanted to be apart of it. I just enjoy my customers company and enjoy making nails pretty. How could my simple ideals be misinterpreted.

I treat everyone equally, I trust everyone I know because I believe in everyone. I believe that people are good, that somewhere down there... maybe they were betrayed so these people are constantly watching behind their backs but that doesn't make them a "bad" person. They just need to understand that there are people like me that have no intentions AT ALL. The only intention I really have is hopefully in the near future I can have my own salon. Even if it fails, I will be happy that I had the opportunity to have one.

Maybe I'm too naive, maybe I believe in all the wrong things... but, if people want to see me fall... I will work harder because I'm tired of being stepped on. I know who I am, I know I do my job pretty well so I'm done feeling like I "deserve" it because I'm so passive.

Everything in life is a learning experience.
live.love.learn.

I don't hate, it's too strong of a word... no matter how many times someone burns me, I will feel no hate towards them. I don't feel like I'm better but I do feel like I want to prove to them that I'm not out to burn them. I treat people with respect and I only wish I got it back at times.

Many view my ideals weak, but because I'm weak I need to work harder.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Anna Sui Inspiration nail set

Posted by Jen Ko at 5:58 PM 68 comments
I didn't have my d60 that day I did this set but as of right now, I am very proud of this set. I LOVE IT!!

Purple/silver glitter + lace inlays with gorgeous flowers and rhinestones.



The flowers took a long time. Pedal by pedal.
but, the outcome is gorgeous.