(This could've been in casual, trendy or I could've started a hair journal.  Please feel free to remove/move this).

...is not even something a hairdresser can promise they can do without perming it and that's not even a guarantee but since we're here to grow our hair long, most of us aren't going to perm our hair anyway to either curl or straighten it, so I'll leave that out of it.  

After rolling up my hair on the largest velcro rollers she could find and setting me under a turbo blasting bonnet dryer at highest heat setting for an hour, my hair was still moist and I was somewhat relieved. ;D  I could tell from her expression that she was disappointed in her results with my hair and she sheepishly asked me if that's what I wanted.  I just asked her not to spray on any styling products because it was too early to say and I wanted to see how it naturally erh...adjusted itself!  

So for all of her efforts, it's hanging nearly poker straight now.  Two hours later I'll say it's "bouncy" straight.  I suppose the same result could've been achieved with gentler tools and less heat if One feels One must go down that route.  I've also just sprayed 8 spritzes of leave-in conditioner all over my hair!

I get better results with smaller rollers placed in dry hair with just a bit of styling product and leaving it for 30-60 mins. for volume and a bit of wave, longer for actual curls.  

Sorry, I can't give any curling iron experience because I won't recommend something I think is bad for any hair type.  I think a curling iron, a bag of hair pins and a can of hairspray was used for my wedding to get a lasting result.  I did no wild dancing however.  That sort of says it all, for me anyway.

If you have better experience with curling straight Mongolid type hair than I have, I'm very keen to learn from your experience.  Oooh, that sounded so formal.

I'm half Japanese, so my hair resists curling pretty well. My mother (who is white and didn't have a ton of experience with Asian hair) tried to curl my hair for prom. It turned kind of wavy, and drooped throughout the evening. :( I'll try your curling techniques some time. :)