♡ Hyper Japan Weekend w/ Waifu ♡

みなさん、こんにちは!

Around the same time every year, Hyper Japan holds its annual summer shindig of kawaii cuteness (yes I know they are the exact same words in different languages but shhh they go together) that is Hyper Japan. There is food to tantalise your taste buds, a gaming section to bring out your competitive streak, performances from artists that appeal to all and lots of yummy, scrummy stalls that sell a variety of things from tasty sweets, the latest fashion and a hoi palloi of music, movies and so much more!

It's not unusual now for myself and Saph to make plans for HJ every year now (even though I've decided not to go to the Christmas one this year unless it really, really, really appeals to me) and this time around we added Roxy to our little fold ♡ We all met up on the Friday, made our way to our hotel in Stratford, freshened up and then headed out to eat some delicious food. I /w a s/ intending on taking the others to Eat Tokyo (fffiiinnnaaallllllyyy) but when we arrived... the queue was around a mile long *inserts gross sobbing here* and so we had bubble tea in Chatime first and then headed into Taro's for dinner instead. Again, like usual, we ordered way too much (even though it was amazeballs) and had to roll back to the hotel... dangit.

**I see you creeping there Roxy... dammit!**

On the Saturday, we all had to get up super early as Saph was going to perform in the fashion show during the event and could only do the rehearsal that particular day.... at 8am. Roxy and I went into Costa to have breakfast and a major caffeine boast to help us out and of course, we couldn't resist taking some snaps! This one was my favourite of them all;

After breakfast and queuing for... about 30 minutes - which is quick - we got our wristbands and on our way in! Now, the 02 arena is effin' massive, I swear it took about 15 minutes before we actually reached the HJ area! Seriously, it was massive altogether and I just... whew so much walking was done over the weekend!! The area was packed with an array of stalls, entertainers and other things but it wasn't so tightly packed together so it actually felt nice to be able to move around freely and not feel claustrophobic.

I did have a super proud best friend moment watching Saph walk in the runway like omg best moment ever! She looked like that she had fun and it was super fun watching her! There were so many awesome outfits during the runway show but here are a few that don't look so blurry and they are just group shots really so yeah;

The main reason I wanted to go to Hyper Japan was because my absolute favourite band had travelled across from Japan to perform! I have adored LOST ASH since the day they debuted and when I heard that they were coming to the UK... I honestly thought that I was having a heart attack, I was so shocked but happy at the same time! I was lucky when I saw that they were having a meet&greet and that I hadn't missed it, so off I queued (and shook nervously) and just wow, they were so kind and easy to talk to! And I managed to get a picture with them... twice! One at the meet&greet on the Saturday and one at the meet&greet on the Sunday - and yes, I went to both of them like a loser and they recognised me because of my hair! Score!

Watching them perform live... just ugh and wow! I honestly cannot describe in the right words how I felt watching them perform both times during the weekend. It was electrifying and so surreal, I still pinch myself to the day  wondering if it was real, if the whole experience was real and that I didn't dream it all! On the Saturday, I was in front of Sai (bassist) and on the Sunday, I managed to get in front of Show (guitarist) and it was so awesome to see from different perspectives! I did get some pictures, but you know when you shake so much, most of them come out blurry?! Well... here are a few of the decent ones;

 

It was super fun and I would love to see them live again... if they weren't disbanding now *ugly sobbing* but I look forward to their future projects!!

I didn't actually eat a lot during the event, just bits here and there from different places dotted around the 02, but we did all get shaved ice as a treat and omg it was feckin' delicious I tell you! I had the strawberry flavour and they put a tiny bit of condensed milk onto it and it honestly brought the whole thing together... 10/10 would eat again!

Pretty much the entire weekend was walking around, gawping at pretty items on stalls, purchasing quite a few items, seeing lots of live performances, catching up with friends and watching Saph work the runway on the Saturday and Sunday... that was it. It doesn't sounds very interesting but it honestly was jammed packed from the moment we arrived. And I loved it. I, hands down, adore this convention more than MCM because of how friendly everyone is, how warm and inviting the atmosphere is and just for having some really good stuff all in one place.

Oh and before I forget... here is what I purchased! It's nothing compared to what Saph got! She couldn't get everything in one picture nor would it really fit on the bed jfc woman, what am I to do with her seriously?! As you can see I put it into two piles - the goodies and the LOST ASH merchandise;

I loved hanging out with my two potato queens, and I loved seeing everybody all over again! There is nothing I would change about the weekend whatsoever and I am grateful to be able to experience it with the most important people in my life. I'm still holding out for a Diamond Lash stall again though! A girl can dream!

Thanks for reading

xoxo

♡ Weekend Trip Away w/ Waifu ♡

みなさん、こんにちは!

It is, officially, six weeks today until I am in Sweden to visit Christina!! I haven't been this excited since Seoul way back in 2011 because in all honesty, this is my first out of the country holiday since then... oops!

So I decided to take a small break in between the mundane existence of work, work, a few personal things and oh... more work and since I have not seen Sapphire since my birthday slash Hyper Japan last November, I realised that I wouldn't see her again until Hyper Japan all the way in July... we both agreed that we needed a quick trip fix with each other and as I have not been up to hers for a while now, I went up north to visit her!

Grrr even re-thinking about the journey up makes me all angry about what had happened. Basically, I had purchased a ticket for a seat with specific requirements - near luggage rack, at a table etc but when I had arrived at Euston and went to board my train, I found out that the train had been cut down from 10 coaches to just 5 with no prior warning whatsoever. I honestly tripled checked my ticket and my heart, literally, sank when I realised that my seat and coach didn't even exist so I had to fight my way in an already packed coach to get one, searching amongst the little electronic dashboards to find which ones were available and which ones weren't. After finally finding a seat near a window... I thought I was in luck when we started moving and no one came to sit next to me until about 10 minutes into the journey when, what I presumed my bad, to be a nice elderly lady came to sit next to me and then proceeded to squish me up against the window for the next two and half hour journey... cries. I have never, ever, EVER had a bad experience with Virgin trains before until that journey and the blatant nonchalant-ness of the train people at the station saying "yeah we don't know why either, just find a seat" still makes me rage a couple of weeks down the line. TBH, next time I will just endure a coach for four hours instead...

After what felt like an eternity, I did arrive at Telford Central in one piece and met Sapphire with love and lots of cuddles ;A; we headed over to her mum's house where we literally stuck the kettle and the heating on like a couple of old grannies - no offence to old grannies ofc. We then headed to the shop for some snacking supplies and then went back to order Chinese food, get into our pyjama's and snuggled up to watch movies... that's how we roll. Oh, I did manage to finally give Saph her birthday slash Christmas present after always forgetting about it, with a mixture of not trusting our postal system to lose it. If you want to see what I got her, go check out her blog post about our trip for yourselves :)

On the Saturday, we took our time to get ready before heading out to Birmingham for the day. The weather was cold and really cloudy/overcast but it didn't dampen our spirits! Saph took me to this really cute tea shop called Char Wallah first, I had seen her go previously from an instagram post so I kind of, may have, hinted about going and I'm so glad that she took me! I had a gorgeous fruit tea called 'Old Love' which had delectable things like blackberries, rosehip, rose petals and strawberries in it! Honestly, it was super tasty that I just had to purchase a bag to take home with me as well as another flavour called 'Grandma's Garden'.

After Char Wallah, we headed into the Bull Ring towards Selfridges as we wanted something to eat at this point and I had spotted the cosmetic section so we had a browse around there before doing so. So many brands, so little money! But one brand did draw both myself and Saph towards it and that was Illamasqua. We had heard so many good things about a particular item that we wanted to check it out in person before deciding whether to purchase or not... let's just say I definitely left with a lighter bank balance after getting the translucent loose powder and a foundation that actually matched my skin tone - worth it. We went all the way down to the bottom level and headed to Yo! Sushi for a round of food there before hopping over to Krispy Kreme for dessert. Super full at the end of it but it was all delicious~

We walked around the Bull Ring a good few times as there were shops on all levels that we wanted to check out - Superdrug, Forever 21 and even HMV! It was actually rather nice to just wander around even through all the weekend crowds. After being out for a good percentage of the day, we were both really tired at the end so we headed back home for re-heated Chinese food and more movies. I feel a little bad for forcing Saph to watch something I wanted... but hey she did offer?! Bestest friend ever in all honesty.

On the Sunday, I didn't have to travel back until 4ish so we spent the morning watching a bit of Jeremy Kyle (guilty pleasure oops) before we did each others make-up. I was a little worried about Saph doing mine because my eyes were stinging a bit before she even started and I do have really sensitive eyes so I wanted to see if I could endure it and.... nope. My eyes started to water really badly once she put eyeliner on and I had to take it all off ;AAA; sorry bb! But, I was rather surprised at how well mine turned out on her... again check her blog post if you want to see the outcome! And the style / colours suited her really well.... dammit.

All in all, I had the perfect weekend with my best friend, what else can I ask for? I do hate how far away my best friend is sometimes but it does make the time we spend together even more special and amazing. And I was lucky enough to actually have my designated seat on the way back home to Euston... suck it Virgin I'm still angry at you assholes.

Thanks for reading!
xoxo

♡ Hyper Japan ♡

みなさん、こんにちは!

It's rare for Sapphire and I to see each other so close together after a visit from whichever person but as we both wanted to go to Hyper Japan this year, how could we both pass up such an opportunity? We only went on the Saturday with a dual pass ticket (as the day was split into two sessions) but honestly, it was the best decision to go then!

The difference between Hyper Japan and MCM Expo (personal experience here) is that I find HJ less crowded than Expo... even on a Saturday and the fact it's now the beginning of summer holidays here. Even though there are many similarities and differences between the two events... Hyper Japan is just more my thing. Yes; it's nice at Expo to get the variety of movies, games and more cosplayers where as at HJ you just get a small handful of cosplayers, no real movie promotions and a small selection of recent games to check out... it's the cultural side of things that draws me towards HJ. You get to find out about studying in Japan, learning the language, the food, travelling, what is popular and what is traditional etc etc. All in all, the experience at HJ as just made me want to go again and indeed I shall. Luckily they have a Christmas version in November so I have officially decided to skip October Expo this year and just go to Hyper Japan for the weekend in November. Sorted.

The only problem I had with Hyper Japan was the heat... recently in the UK the weather has been absolutely dreadful with high humidty and scorching sunny days with no signs of rain anywhere. Saturday was no different, and it was just so horrible travelling through London on the tube because of the crappy air-con. Plus there seemed to be no air-con at Earls Court either, except for a couple of cool spots, but other than that... I was using a programme to fan myself most of the day!

Despite the heat, I loved looking around all the different stalls at HJ. There were different section dedicated to special genres of what HJ is trying to promote - so there was a section for food, for languages/studies and a section for "kawaii" stuff such as fashion, make-up, deco etc. The 'Fringe Market' was also extremely interesting to look around, as it's an area dedicated to small, independent shops/stalls selling whatever they do in their trade - so there were manga artists, wig sellers and jewellery sellers in that area.

Gosh there were so many highlights of the whole day. One being seeing friends whom I haven't seen (for what feels like) years! Finding an actually Diamond Lash stall in the 'Hyper Kawaii' section and talking to the stall owner for like 20 odd minutes about eyelashes and make-up (yes I get happy over that) The fashion show towards the end of the day that showcased Ayumi Seto's new fashion line;

Don't all the clothes look so freakin' adorable?! I honestly cannot decide which is my favourite piece... oh and all of the models are so cute and friendly just GAH! I'm so glad that I stayed to watch this show! Also seeing NEEKO was an amazing highlight as well!

Another major highlight of the day for me was seeing ONE NOT'E! After being told about them from my penpal and that they would be at HJ... how could I resist going? Also, the last official gig I went to was wwwaaayyy back in 2012!! Listening to them perform, it made me realise how much I do miss going to gigs and if there are any happening between now and before I leave for China, well I'm definitely going to make the effort! Also about ONE NOT'E, someone commented to me about the guitarist, Takato, looking extremely familiar and he really did but at that point I couldn't quite put my finger on it to where I had seen him before until I got home and googled the band... he's ex.VIRGIL! Don't you just hate it when you recognise someone but you just never remember until the moment has passed?! That was me...

Honestly, they were sooooo good performing live that I wished I had snapped out of my daydreaming and recorded some footage of them performing ahhh! I really hope in the future they'll do some more overseas gigs... if not I'm sure a quick trip to Japan won't hurt! Oh, what is a day out without food involved? My life would be incomplete without food, even though it felt like that all I had done was consume liquid most of the day because of the heat wwwaaahhh.

Oh and must not forgot about what I purchased throughout the day. You'll be able to see how truly happy I was about the Diamond Lash stall in the end! I think I picked up some amazing bargains though as well as finding out about some new shops that are worth checking out again in the future!

All in all, the day was fabulous and I'm glad that I went. I will definitely stick to my plan of going for the full weekend at Christmas time for a bit of fun (and as it's on my birthday weekend... a birthday treat!) All the above picture kind of sum everything up on how it all went on as I have nothing else really interesting left to say except for that the company was amazing, the atmosphere was brilliant and already I wish it wasn't over even though I still ache. As that is really it now, I'll just finish this post off with a couple of face pictures;

Thanks for reading!

xoxo