#the sunnies are from daiso

[matchawhippedcreamlatte]

things i carry 💭🫀🌺🍄🍬☁️🎀🧸🪡🫧

tagging @candlesoul @mhtyr @diospyros @breadgrl @lovergirl @sadspicychilli (only if you want)

[sunnythegyarufreak]

How to incorporate gyaru into your daily life!

Hi hi! It's Sunny back at it again :D Here's the post I promised you guys!

I think every baby gal has asked themselves atleast once "How do i incorporate gyaru into my daily life? or I have atleast LOL. So here are some ideas/tips on how to slowly incorporate gyaru into your lifestyle!

I found that perfecting my makeup helped me do it more often! This sounds confusing but I find that knowing how long my makeup takes helps me make time to do my makeup. And it allows me to do gyaru makeup more often because I have a set makeup tutorial that I always follow!

This sounds weird but it was recommended to me by my friend. Buy cute underwear or socks! I find that wearing cure undergarments like that really help me channel that gyaru energy and it just helps add to my confidence. I kinda look at it like the phrase "If you look good you feel good". Just having cute things like that help me feel cute and confident enough to do gyaru.

Decorate some items in your room! Buy some cute sticky gems from Joannes or Daiso and stick them on anything you can find! Like makeup brushes, jewelry containers, hair brushes, mirrors, and even phone cases! You can never have too much glittery and sparkly things :D

Buy things with animal prints! Zebra and cheetah print items give off gyaru vibes and they make your room look adorbs! For example I have a hello kitty jewelry stand with hot pink and zebra print and it's one of my prized possessions. If you look at gyaru room inspos on Pinterest there are tons of inspo photos, most of which include zebra and leopard print things.

Here's a few ways that are more on the social side :) Talk with other gals! There are many discord servers for gyarus (cough Tiara Gyarusa discord server cough) In these servers you can connect and chat with other gals and even get tips to be a better gal :D Blogging is another thing that can help! That is actually why I started to blog, I wanted to be able to help other gals that struggle with fitting in and starting gyaru.

Some visual things you can do to your apperance to incorporate gyaru into your lifestyle is tan (not necessary), do para para or just listen to the music! That would include Eurobeat, trance, techno, rap, and jpop! (This is an amazing gyaru playlist for y'all! https://open.spotify.com/playlist/00p6NMfQL1tIlnXRkuUWa4?si=0675d5d3766c4203)

I don't wanna make this post too long so this is where I'll end it! I hope you guys like these tips and remember that even if you don't do these things you're still as gyaru as every other gal ;) Have a good day gals! This is Sunny signing off for the evening ✌🏽

[doll-ble-espresso]

Sunny time! Ironic that I'm posting this on a very rainy and windy day.

I was attempting to do the Sunny pigtails on this doll (it's winter break Sunny btw) and I think it came out pretty well! The dress and the ribbon in Sunny's right bun are from Daiso. Again.

(please ignore the many anime posters behind Sunny)

Also, I needle-felted the hedgehog in the last image. I really want to needle felt a lot more things in the upcoming months. Like a Shiba Inu and Oatchi from Pikmin 4!

[sohmariku]

RIKU’S RANDOM LIFE: NATURAL HAMSTER (PART 2)

As COVID-19 keeps spreading, the precautionary steps are taken and rules tighten. Though I’m still not in a total lockdown... thankfully... I still feel a little locked up. I mean, the pressure to stay inside as much as possible, makes me feel bad for wanting to go out for a walk. (It’s so sunny!)

I’m frankly not too scared of getting infected. From what I understand, the risk of infection is low if I keep my distance from other people and regularly wash my hands. (Especially after going outside) So far, I show no signs of illness. So, I guess it’s working?

(What I am scared of, is unknowingly infecting other people though!)

Anyway, in the last week I’ve come to realize I like to hoard more than just toilet paper. For example, 

Socks. I already have more socks than I need, yet anytime I come across a cute pair, I’ll buy them. I wouldn’t be surprised I own more than 100 pairs by now. Lots and lots of pairs where bought at Daiso in Japan. 

Dishwasher tablets. Every time I come across a good discount, I need to remind myself I don’t need them yet. At this moment I still have about 40 tablets in stock. We run the dishwasher 1-2 times a week. So, I still have enough for about 25 weeks. That’s half a year!

Toilet rim blocks. Found a good discount, bought 10 for €10. Forgot I only used like 3-4. Found a good discount, bought 10 for €10. Now I have enough to last me a year?

Laundry detergent. Recently I felt like I was running out, because the bottle of liquid color detergent was almost empty. Never mind I still have 3 containers with 12 pods each. Since I’d only use about 1 per week, that’s enough for about half a year, if not more! Yet I found myself buying two large bottles of liquid color detergent when a discount came around... Now I have enough laundry detergent to last me a year! It’s the same story for the white and dark detergent. And even fabric softener.

Deodorant. Currently I have 6 in stock. Not sure how long that’ll last. Half a year? Maybe longer? I actually thought I had more. I usually buy a bunch when the brand I use goes on sale for €1 a piece and I’m nearly out of stock.

Tea bags. The funny thing. I don’t drink tea all that often, but whenever there’s a discount and I see interesting flavors, I’ll buy. I have a lot of tea bags now, despite rarely drinking tea. Yes, I added two new flavors last week.

Conclusion, I’m a hamster! ...and a discount hunter?

[grandprincessfun]

My New Stuff!...The last of the plastic-rimmed heart-shaped sunnies from Daiso - at least for now - here are the pink ones!

[siodium]

I’M BAAAACK!! i was mentally prepared to come back to an Extra Hot and Sunny country but?? it’s been raining a lot hmm

gonna start with a haul post!! let’s gooo

first up are my gacha prizes ↓

if you thought i had good luck you are wrong bc only one of them was RNG’d (the ditto mareep set which i got last minute from narita airport) the others were loose gacha prizes sold in shops

well i guess getting tonkatsu could be counted as "lucky”?? i was trying my luck with a gacha machine in a family restaurant but the machine jammed and nothing came out so the staff opened the machine and let me pick whatever i wanted from it~

it’s a pen btw!!

NEXT UP IS ONE OF MY BEST FINDS FROM SOME RANDO SHOP IN AKIHABARA: THE GBF FURYU PRIZE FIGURES

so... cute... i couldn’t resist... i opened up the boxes immediately after getting back to the hotel

even though they were bubble wrapped very nicely i was worried about transporting them back to sg via check-in luggage but i’m glad they came home safely

askjdlasj i just realised belial and sandy are swapped pls ignore the mistake

got some souvenir cookies from a shop near the mount fuji viewing area

i actually haven’t tried any of the food i got from japan bc i’m sick atm weh i think they’ll taste alright though

did very little shopping during the first two days when i was in osaka and kyoto bc i wanted to “save up” for the other days

bad idea tbh

tokyo didn’t have all the derpy cute takoyaki and fugu merch... good thing i bought the pouches the first time i saw them

also got a pair of pretty konpeito earrings!!! ♡♡♡ they were kinda expensive (990 yen) so i hesitated a bit

got some stuffs from daiso!! i’m so glad i could find the tape dispenser!! it was the one thing i wanted the most from japan daiso ever since i saw it in a video

unfortunately my clear tapes are too fat to go in it :/ clear tapes from muji can fit though so i guess i’ll be getting my tapes from muji from now on

i know my daiso haul looks kinda pathetic but i didn’t want to make impulsive purchases ;;

oh oh i got other stuff from the same shop as the gbf figures bc there was a sale going on?? the first floor had sumikko gurashi stuff!!! managed to snag an ebi fry and a travel bag pouch!! wanted to get the fried fish too but the only one left looked a bit dirty sooo

smol fried friend for tonkatsuuu

why did i buy a big pancake for 200 yen?? it’s beautiful that’s why

can’t wait to get akechi nendo so i can feed this to him

LAST BUT NOT LEAST!! POKECEN GETS ↓

i’m kinda surprised that we only spent around 8000 yen at the pokecen when i expected to blow at least 10,000 yen

but i guess it was bc i couldn’t find a lot of the stuff i wanted?? where are all the rowlet merchhhh

the wooloo and rowlet plushes are for me and my bro to share but tbh i just want to keep them for myself

what should i use the pouch for hmMM

kinda a pity that i didn’t manage to find the nendoroid doll bodies i wanted :// i guess the search will go on

overall i think i’ve got a pretty good haul~

[marysunshine23]

My week

I don’t remember Monday very well. I remember being stressed and wanting to cry but refusing to because I just had eyelash extensions put in and I was within the three days that they can’t get wet. I remember that my wanting to cry turned into wanting to scream, wanting to hit and wanting to kick because real life people aren’t as easy to work with as those in a video game or in a role play. I remember coming home and my parents asking how my day was and me telling them my troubles.

Tuesday is more vibrant in my memory. I remember how I woke up feeling okay; not great, but well enough to go to work. I remember walking to Denny’s and singing songs from my phone and self-talking through a potential roleplay. I had biscuits and gravy with sunny-side up eggs and hashbrowns. As I went to pay, I heard someone call my name and saw it was my sister and mom. I went to sit buy them, and something led our conversation to my work and how Monday, then yesterday, was hard and how my mom and sister started to tell me how to fix it. I remember logically understanding that they meant no ill will and that they were trying to help, but my emotions told me that they were disregarding what I had done and what I had achieved and were just picking at the fact that I’m tapped out emotionally.

I went to work trying not to cry because I didn’t want to disappoint anyone. That’s one of my biggest fears, disappointing the people I care about. It’s why I push myself to do things even when every fiber of my being tells me not to, tells me that it’s not good for me, tells me that I’m too hurt to keep moving. But I don’t want to disappoint my parents, my siblings, my boss, my coworkers, my friends, anyone. I remember when my coworker asked me what was wrong, I cried as I told her that I was just emotionally tapped out, that I don’t want to disappoint her or my boss, that I don’t want to disappoint my mom, but that being at work was draining me, that I was mad that I kept crying because I didn’t want to ruin these lashes that took five hours to put on. My coworker comforted me for a while before getting my boss. She suggested I go on sub-status and just text her in the morning to let her know if I’m emotionally stable enough to come in. I agreed, and she sent me home.

Another coworker drove me home during her lunch, not wanting me to cry on the bus and worried that I’d get hurt. I told her she didn’t have to, I didn’t want her to waste precious free time on me, but she wanted to. She said she was willing to talk to my parents and explain what had happened, but I knew I had to go do it alone. No one was home when I got there, and I went to take a nap and play my video games so I’d be more calm and prepared. When I came down from my room, my dad was startled to see me there. He asked me why I was home early, and I tried to lie; I tried to say that they had enough people that they sent me home. My work is understaffed, so that’s obviously not true. He accused me of being too wrapped up in my video games to want to go to work, and that I wasn’t on top of my medications, that I was feeding into my depression by being lazy, and I started to cry for the second time that day.

After I finished talking to him, and he tried to comfort me, I horded myself in my bathroom, wanting to hide from my shame. The shame that I had disappointed my parents again. I remember hearing my mom come into my room, and asking if I was safe. I said that I just wanted to hide because i had disappointed her and dad. She told me to come out and suggested that we have me do an IOP (intensive outpatient program). I agreed, because I knew I needed it. I had known I needed it for a month, but after my mom refused me the first time, I dropped it. I spent the rest of the day alone, trying to rest.

Wednesday I slept for the majority, only waking up to eat. I officially woke up to go to my therapy appointment, which I had scheduled after Monday’s difficulties. My dad wanted me to record a concert for his schools for him, so I dressed up nice. I remember during my session with my mother sitting beside me, trying to explain why this wasn’t something I could help, that in video game terms, I was just trying to defeat mini bosses but having no time to heal. I remember my therapist stopping me to say that the atmosphere of the room made her feel anxious. I felt guilty even after she said it wasn’t my fault. I never want people to feel how I feel, because it hurts; and I don’t want people to experience my pain. We finished, but I didn’t feel satisfied like I usually do. I went to the concert and recorded despite a child pulling on the tripod of the camera.

Thursday I had lunch with my grandmother and helped her with her phone. I remember her criticizing my purse, saying it was gaudy, and after looking at my food judging that I wasn’t on a diet. She said I was chubby, and I said I liked how I look. She continued to say I was chubby, and I continued to say that I liked the way I looked. The only reason she stopped was because something about her own food distracted her. Many people there complimented my purse, and my grandmother raved about how smart I was. We spent a few hours checking the numbers on her phone, and then I went home to rest.

Friday startled me, because I didn’t think it was Friday. I thought it was Thursday. Somehow in my mind, Monday was last week’s Friday, and all the other days were one day behind. Tuesday had been Monday, Wednesday had been Tuesday, Thursday had been Wednesday, but I realized that I was disoriented. I only got paid every other Friday, not Thursday. So I put $200 into savings and went to get my nails done. I tried a new sushi restaurant, which wasn’t terrible, I went to Daiso and got myself a new backpack for when I started my IOP, and as I walked home, I realized how much I had been self-talking lately. Talking like I’m giving a TED talk. I know that wasn’t something I usually do; most of my self-talk is roleplay related, not about the things bothering me, and it wasn’t this often anymore. I used to do it a lot before... but before when? When did it decrease? And was it a good thing, or bad? I went home and did nothing special. I remember being on my swing and overhearing my mom talk to someone on the phone about a fire on the other side of the freeway from us, and I wondered if we needed to evacuate. Mom said we were fine, so I watched some stuff before going to bed.

Today is Saturday, and I woke up maybe an hour and a half ago. I haven’t eaten yet, and my cat is kneading my back. I’m realizing how anxious I’ve been lately, how depressed I’ve been. How I’m not sure where to go from here, whether I want to stay a teacher or do data input, where me being introverted stops and me being depressed is, where sleeping to rest ends and sleeping to escape begins, and why I can’t seem to keep going in any direction I take. I feel weaker that everyone else, I feel like a failure most of the time, I feel like the times I enjoy being with people is less and less often, and that I just want to be alone all the time. Is it because I’m an aspie and I want to have more control, that I feel like I have none? Is it because I feel defeated by my disabilities? Is it because I’m just not meant to be a teacher? After all, I did this so I work with a group of people I feel similarities to; and I don’t mean other teachers. I know that being around people is good for me when it comes to depression, but even after nearly four days of minimal interaction with people, I still feel taxed. I’m not sure what to do or even if there’s anything I can do. It’s even hard to breathe. My stomach pleads for me to eat, but I find the will to even pour myself a bowl of cereal to be minimal. As my cat licks my fingers affectionately, I know that not all is bad; yet I can’t stop these tears from running down my cheeks. I can’t help feeling like a failure.

I’m not writing this for a pity party or for attention. In fact, I’m honestly just writing this here so I can read it to my therapist when I go see her later today, and it’s easier to type than it is to text on my phone. I suppose I could email it to myself or whatever, but... maybe I do what someone else to read it? Maybe I want someone who understands what I’m feeling to read it and to know they’re not alone? Maybe I want them to read it and understand what I’m feelings so I know I’m not alone? I know that tons of people have chronic depression like me, but so often I feel like all my disabilities combined make me feel like even in the disability community, I am alone. I’m sorry if I made you feel sad, I’m sorry if you think lowly of me, and I feel bad that there’s part of me that doesn’t care; simply because I don’t know you, and I feel badly that I don’t care. Does that mean I do care? I’m not sure... I should probably eat.

[angeltriestoblog]

HK Cultural Centre, Victoria Peak and Mongkok: Hong Kong 2018, Part 1

Hello friends, and welcome to my first of two posts about my recent trip to Hong Kong! I’ve been excited about this for quite a long time, because our family apparently frequented the territory when I was much younger: in fact, my first trip was when I was still in my mother’s womb. We’d go back a couple of times after that, once or a twice a year until the SARS virus eventually broke out in February of 2003. Since I was a toddler at the time, I don’t remember anything about my previous trips and was definitely not involved in planning out the itinerary. I’d simply rely on the stories my parents would share fondly over meals, or pictures hidden in our family albums or plastered on souvenir plates.

This time around, we spent three days in the area, and kickstarted our vacation by waking up ridiculously early on Saturday, December 22nd to make it to the airport three hours before our 6:30 flight. I didn’t even have time to sleep, because we only had two hours until we reached our destination so I kept myself busy with Cathay Pacific’s quality music selection. Props to them for including most of Wanna One’s discography, as well as Harry Styles’ self-titled and After Laughter, my favorite Western albums.

Upon our arrival, we caught the airport bus, took a one hour trip before getting off at Middle Road station then walked down Nathan Road to find the place that we had booked for the trip. I had mapped out the entire day ahead of us and was excited to get to it, the first order of business fortunately being located at the end of the street we were staying on. The Hong Kong Cultural Centre is known as a multipurpose performance facility, complete with auditoriums, a gallery and several rehearsal and practice rooms for all the concerts, theatre and musical productions, exhibitions, screenings and conventions being held there.

As you can see from the pictures, the architecture is also to die for, as one pink-tiled column after another leads to a majestic view of Victoria Harbour: the perfect balance of the serene blue sea and the busy city skyline. It was incredibly sunny that day, and festive too, as there was a concert happening in the plaza area.

But, it might be known to most of you (assuming that you are my age) because it has served as a shooting location for K-Pop music videos, including You Are by GOT7. This one member named Bambam, who just so happens to be my bias, had his solo parts shot in this particular area, so I had to do my duties and have pictures taken in the exact same place. And yes, I’m aware I’m facing the opposite side, but this is my angle and we just have to deal with it.

Once we had wrapped things up, we headed to Central Station and took Exit K to meet up with the guys from Klook, who were going to help us get to our next stop. I think it’s safe to say that no visit to Hong Kong would be complete without experiencing Victoria Peak: besides boasting an incredible bird’s eye view of the city below, it also houses premiere shopping and dining destinations, and tourist attractions like the Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum and their own play on Trick Eye Museum, but with free entrance. Getting there was no easy feat, though: even with the fast passes that we had purchased online, the line for the tram took about two hours because it was not just holiday season, but also peak hours since most people would argue that the view from the top is best enjoyed from the late afternoon onwards. When it was finally our turn to get on, it was fully packed and seats ran out pretty quickly, which meant we had to stand for the entire ride up… which was 1.4km (about seven to eight minutes) long, and quite steep. Kind of felt like my soul was being sucked out of my body with a heavy-duty vacuum cleaner.

But, of course, the ordeal we had to go through to get there was well worth it. We had a great meal at this restaurant called Wildfire, and feasted our eyes on the one-of-a-kind view of the city: I don’t know how long I spent on the terrace, just admiring the sight before me, even if the temperature made me feel like a slab of meat stored in a freezer.

The next day, we set out to explore the shopping center just within walking distance: iSQUARE. Standing at 31 floors tall, the entertainment and shopping complex is home to a seemingly endless collection of fashion and lifestyle brands as well as both fine and casual dining restaurants. As expected of me, I was most excited about going to HMV, which sold albums as far as the eye could see. But, I had no idea I had missed it by just a couple of days and was met with a liquidation notice stuck to the glass doors. I also went to Logon, which was like your local Daiso but with a wider variety of more aesthetically pleasing items to choose from. Unfortunately, they were on the more pricey side: I was initially planning on buying Christmas gifts for friends here, but I realized that if I did that, I’d end up blowing all my pocket money in one go. (I took more mirror selfies than pictures of the products being sold, I know. But, my outfit was cute ok)

We then took the MTR to Mongkok with the intention of paying Sneakers Street a visit, because I was determined to find black high-cut Vans (or just any pair of black rubber shoes) at a cheaper price. But, we kept getting sidetracked by several stores around the area, turning left when we were supposed to be going right, and we eventually did not find it. Although, we did stumble upon T.O.P Shopping Centre, which had several Korean, Japanese and local lifestyle brands that catered both to the youth and young-at-heart.

I also found this other store with brands like Stylenanda, 3CE, AAPE, Nike, Adidas, Vans and Reebok but I didn’t get to take note of the name. All I have are videos of me walking around the place like I’m in a YouTube video set at 1.5x speed. In fairness to me, people in Hong Kong really do like walking fast.

Since my try at HMV was a failure, I gave my blockmate Bea’s advice a shot and looked for Sino Centre. I mistook it for another building because I’m admittedly not the best with directions, and the guard was kind enough to leave his post for a few minutes and point out the place I was looking for. Although it is more well known by the Internet for being a haven for anime and manga lovers, the second floor was practically a treasure trove of stores selling K-Pop albums and official merchandise. I went for the first one I saw though, because I honestly wasn’t in the mood to wade through a sea of people and compare prices at every single store. I ended up buying Nothing Without You for myself instead of Power of Destiny (because my album is still in transit and about to be shipped to my best friend, Solf’s place), and something else for a friend which I can’t disclose at the moment because I haven’t given it to her. In case any fellow Wannables are interested, I got a Baejin mini standee and a Woojin lenticular photo card, by the way. Also, I hope you are all coping well with disbandment.

Tune in (wow) to my next post, where I’ll be rambling about our last day in the city and giving some tips in case you’re planning on dropping by as well. Wishing you nothing but love and light!

Angel

[tonin-terets]

Gogoro - What can you do with a little energy? from Finger and Toe on Vimeo.

The green ball represents smart energy. It’s exciting to see what kind of possibility sparks, when it collides with different ideas, and lead us toward the future full of unbounded potential.

In collaboration with 3D team at NullsDesign, Finger and Toe created the animation for Gogoro’s latest scooter launch!

綠色的能源球表示著聰明的電力，當這個小綠球遇到不同的想法時會激發出怎麼樣的火花，它會帶領著我們朝向多不可限量的未來。

這次跟很carry的3D動畫團隊空集一起合作了Gogoro今年2/23新車發表會的片頭動畫 Check out the full video here : facebook.com/GogoroTaiwan/videos/774609590075421/

Client | Gogoro Creative | Gogoro Production Company | LUCKYSPARKS Animation Studio | Finger and Toe Executive Producer | 高郁傑 Otis Kao Director | 林筱敏 HsiaoMin Lin Post Production Producer | 吳珮瑜 Sunny Wu Producer Assistant | 王芃勻 Daiso Wang Storyboard | 張超傑 SuperDog Editor | 吳珮瑜 Sunny Wu / 王芃勻 Daiso Wang

2D Designer | 林筱敏 HsiaoMin Lin 2D Animator | 莊凱開 Kyle jhuang / 林孟學 Meng-Hsueh Lin

3D Motion Production | 空集設計 Nulls Design 3D Styleframe & Motion Design | 徐光�� Sylvia Hsu、劉承杰 Jie Liou 3D Compositing | 徐光慧 Sylvia Hsu、劉承杰 Jie Liou 3D Producer | 董建潁 Jhin Dong

Voice over | Brandon VO Recording | 大河音樂工作室 Sound Design | HYPERLUNG Studio Sound Mixer | HYPERLUNG Studio / 大河音樂工作室 Stock Footage Provided By Gogoro / NotReal

[anwo-prinz]

OC Coastcon artist alley report!

I tabled at OC CoastCon on Saturday (April 7 '18). It's just a one-day con at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, CA. The con is run by the anime club at OCC (Anime Academia) and it is free admission & free parking. It's from 12pm til 8pm. I heard about it when one of the organizers approached my table at ALA, and since I'm local to the area I decided to give it a shot.

Including a few pictures from my table and then a panoramic shot of the quad area.

Read the report below the cut. 

If you have any questions feel free to send an ask or you can @ me on twitter (anwoprinz). 

Pre-Process:

I signed up in February and it was a juried process to apply. I sent in my portfolio site and said what items I wanted to sell. 

Table cost was $25, really cheap. Done through universe.com so very simple to get the ticket/sign up.

Staff communication:

Pretty good on giving us updates for the con and letting us know the schedule and sending us table assignments. 

They even acknowledged the weather report, early the week before it was saying there was a chance of rain so they let us know that we might be moved inside but that ended up not happening since the weather cleared up. 

Staff volunteers were very nice, I had 2 people stop by my table and ask if I needed anything so I got water.

Check-In & Setup:

Very straightforward. I walked around the area to find the con ops room and the staff helped lead me to my table. 

Just FYI all the stuff on my table is my own that I brought (wire set up and etc). The only thing that is provided to you is the 6ft table and 2 chairs and a canopy tent. I bring stuff like table clamps, pvc pipes, the wire cube + connector kit, posters, binder clips, safety pins, table cloth, bookstands, etc. I get most of my stuff from Daiso, Home Depot, Walmart, Michaels, and Amazon. 

Only 1 little weird thing about parking, vendors were directed to park in the staff parking lot then there was an announcement saying we couldn't have our cars there so I had to ask my friend to move my car for me otherwise I'd get cited..

Selling at con:

Foot traffic was pretty good so my sales were better than expected. Lot of the same people from ALA (well, it is SoCal so it's pretty expected). I brought stuff that was basically leftover stock from ALA/pre orders so I didn’t have to spend extra money on stocking things and be unsure if they’d sell. Overall, I made a good profit & the overhead for cost of table was very low.

Lots of cosplayers actually, so I was surprised. The attendance seemed good. It felt like a cosplay gathering with artist alley/vendors hall, so I think it really helped that attendance was free, people had nothing to lose by checking it out and they could go to just hang out with friends. I’d say the attendee age range was pretty mixed. 

I actually preferred being outside than the exhibitor's hall which was inside the student center. The tents for artist alley were visible in the quad area (a central point of campus) and we got to hear music playing and lots of people would just hang out and walk around because it wasn't crowded outside. I stopped inside the student center exhibitor's hall briefly to go to the restroom and it was pretty packed in there and hot because of all the bodies, so in retrospect it was a blessing to be outside in a nice breeze.

Weather conditions throughout the day were about average. It was cloudy in the morning but cleared up to be sunny in the afternoon. Then it got cold towards the end. Also since it was outside we had to deal with a pretty windy day (not awful but still a little nerve-wracking). 

Left early because it was cold as heck around 6pm after the sun went down... But the staff said it was cool to pack up early anyway (actually they suggested it haha).

Table notes:

I was selling t-shirts, tote bags, coasters, and keychains. Fandoms were granblue fantasy and fate/grand order and like 2 idolm@ster items. Surprisingly the granblue stuff sold pretty well and I got to talk to some people about the game so that was fun. A few im@s P's came by as well.

I changed up my set up from the previous con I tabled at (Anime Los Angeles). You can read the report here. I used the wire cubes set up instead because I needed something sturdy for being outdoors. I got them from Bed Bath & Beyond with a 20% coupon so it’s the same price as amazon and they’re useful around the house so it’s a good investment. Flexible with the way you can set it up too, lots of cool combinations I’ve seen the way people utilize it. 

Last thoughts:

Would totally do this con again even if they raised the prices a little bit for vendors, as long as they keep the cost for attending free if possible (helps that it’s on a college campus so they probably don’t pay to rent the space?). Staff was nice too so props to them for running a good show. Single-day cons are great and not as tiring. Also, I actually had a friend be my table helper this time so it was so much easier than trying to do everything by myself haha.

Photos from around my table:

Panoramic shot from the quad area:

[monicasnewcloset]

My New Stuff!...The first item from a recent Daiso Store shopping haul - pink heart-shaped sunnies! These will be featured in my Shopping Stories #38 video!

[studyaroundthetokki]

Downsizing the Curated Collection of Stationary Part I... and advice for some folks about what to take & what not to take/get while teaching overseas since apparently I can’t stay on fucking topic

FFS i have way too much stationary. I’m using this as an opportunity to give away/re purpose/get rid of some of the ones I haven’t used. I figure a lot of people have trouble giving this kind of stuff up so I thought I’d post about it today while taking a break. note:  this is a really long post and there’s a lot of cussing once I start talking about living in South Korea lol.

I cleaned up a moleskine that I’d used like 3 pages out of and stuck it on my brother’s desk with a nice pen & fountain pen I don’t write very well with but is really nice. I’m filling up a good A4 size zip pouch full of school supplies/journaling stuff for my niece. Anything that looks businessy is going to my mom for her office. I love stationary & pens & studying and all that but this has gone overboard for way too long. I also realized that I need to pair down to what I actually am going to take with me if I’m planning on moving overseas again for a good couple of years (which is the plan). What good do dip pen samples do me in a box? It’s now out where I will use it. 

I have numerous boxes but for my birthday I finally settled on getting a few things (it’s not til April but some stuff was almost out of stock on a site that doesn’t get stuff in stock often):

1) One small sturdy travel container for my smaller stationary items (ink cartridges, washi tape, ect). I found a beautiful wood one that would be perfect. I have this weird fascination with small boxes anyway. The one I’m in love with but haven’t ordered is just slightly larger than my instax photos, which is also a reason to grab it. *cough*

2) Limiting notebooks to 1 per subject/project + planner + journal. The rest have got to go. Luckily I have a niece who’s just getting in middle school this year. I can let her mom know to come by and pick up a crapload of stuff (including my well worn Kanken mini.. hopefully she doesn’t mind pink. She’s going through a phase of saying she’s girlie but not *too* girlie with an extra emphasis on this.. though she squeals in delight over baby clothes and my pink stuff so I’m a little inclined to believe this is more to do with her friends than her own tastes). 

3) If I haven’t used it in 2 years, it needs to go. With the exception of some of my ink bottles. I have some lovely shades but didn’t have an ink converter until recently again. I actually need to get a 2nd one...This includes old textbooks that are getting moved into sturdy containers instead of keeping them and any books that I don’t *really* love are eventually going to get donated/given away/given to the library (they don’t always take them).

4) Do I *really* use it? I have some pens that I don’t use often. Like my TWSBI Diamond 580AL. It’s a beautiful pen but I don’t use it a lot. However, I’m not giving it up. My Lamy has now been stuck in my younger brother’s room. I used it frequently but I’m not in love with it. I use it because I feel obligated to. I recently gave away one of my favorite fountain pens to my cousin because she has the same issues with pain while writing that I do (we have the same chronic illness). I replaced it with a pen that is on the way. I used that sucker all the time. It was a cheap fountain pen but it wrote better than my 60$ pen. :| I have empty notebooks I”ve been holding onto for years and.. while paper that has aged is really pretty.. if I can’t think of a use for it, it’s going to my niece. 

5) Junk notebooks: I think it’s good to have some cheap paper just to doodle or write quick notes or practice sentences or write fuck on 5000 times on a bad day. However, I do not need more than one of these books at a time. *stares at stack of blank cheapo books* Sigh. 

6) If you really love it, keep it. There’s a difference between hoarding and keeping something because you genuinely adore it. I have one notebook that is for a *very* specific project. It’s still blank... because I haven’t started the damn project. I have photobooks that I haven’t gotten to. I will probably get rid of the album and instead get a new one since it was just a cheap dollar store book and it doesn’t reflect my personality. I also want a smaller one for my instax pictures which mean a lot to me since they’re one of a kind. This kind of momento stuff is important. My one book is expensive and has beautiful paper. I plan on making it my first “real” translation project for one of my favorite stories (Kiki’s delivery service). 

On Packing to Move Overseas: A few personal notes

Back to the topic of sorting with a mind of moving with only two suitcases and a backpack. This is part of why the downsizing is happening. These are more like additional notes rather than guidelines. Just as a reminder to myself in about 12-18 months.  Things I need:

1. ONE small pouch of pens/ink/tape/scissors/ect.

2. One book of personal grammar notes. I don’t need the textbooks, but I do need my grammar notes. 

3. Whatever textbook I’m currently working on and one notebook to go with it. No more. I do not need the old editions nor 5000 vocab cards. That’s what anki is for.

4. One set of nice stationary. I like to write home. I also like to visit stationary stores. I only need one freaking set to go with me when I move to write people. I didn’t have internet or a phone with rates that I could afford until about 3 months in last time. My mom is not so good with skype (somehow). 

5. A tablet. My brand new expensive gaming laptop I got for work & play burned itself out in two months. A good tablet will be fine for just about everything until I can get a PC/phone. Having something portable but with enough functionality that you can use it as more than an mp3 player is important. Google maps saved my ass many times in South Korea, and all the city subway lines had free wifi.. so yeah it was important when I got there to have this sort of thing. 

6. A sturdy case for my consoles. I mainly game on a switch and my 3DS. These things are pretty damn portable. Might have to get a new dock at some point but mostly I can just get a wall USB adapter to charge both. This is why I like these consoles, I already have a USB adapter for my 3DS, so I just need the wall plug now that I think about it lol these kinds of things are going to be on sale in most department stores maybe even Daiso I’d think.

7. Sturdy file folder that is non-descript to store copies of all important documents. Leaving this shit lying around your apartment while overseas just randomly.. which I totally did. Is dumb. Important documents includes both emergency and general contacts. Your phone might get stolen so unless you have Nana’s phone # memorized, you might want to get that shit down on paper. Same thing with next of kin, addresses, banking info.. it’s really important to have these and to store them well. 

(this post is getting ridiculously long, oh well, that’s why I use “read more” instead of just posting a fucking wall of text like a lot of people do).

8. While we’re at it: clothing items. Deodorant & toothpaste/toothbrush/ect are important enough that you want a month supply but you’re going to find big brands available in large cities. Like they had secret & dove in Korea. It was no big deal (though I think the anti-antiperspirant was weaker). You can find socks. Underwear/bras in western sizes are an issue. Shipping can be a pain in the ass, though someone noted to me that wal-mart ships internationally which is good to know. The climate may sound reasonable but it’s best to prepare for the worst. I heard rainy season and assumed they just meant heavy storms. I grew up in an area with a lot of flooding but I wasn’t worried. Three days in: We took a field trip, I had no umbrella, the water was fucking ankle deep in the street. I had no way of properly drying out for hours. Jeans were not the best choice. The day had started off sunny. I just was not prepared. The humidity is comparable to Mississippi in August. You have been warned. Winter: It wasn’t cold by my normal terms. Hoever, after living there for 5 months by this point, my body was like FK UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU. Layer-able clothing is a must. Gloves. Hats. Scarves. A decent jacket. GOOD SHOES. Don’t like hose and your work calls for it? Opaque leggins and socks in the same colour will work wonders for you. Fat as my 260lb ass? Leggings, oversized shirts, a-line skirts, stretch jeans, light t-shirts, camisole tanks under garmets to catch the sweat of simply living in the humidity that you just do not understandholyfuckitslike98%humidityiguessthedevilvacationsinasiaandturnsuptheheat.

*note: if your ass is moving overseas, please make sure to look into the cultural norms for “revealing” clothing. Shout out to busty girls like me, camisol tank tops under everything help with that “i turn anything into a peep show” cleavage problem. Hike that crap up, sew up the elastic bands. they also provide extra support when you’re running up and down those stairs, and help absorb the sweat. you do not understand how bad it is. i am a cleanly person but i’d come home looking like i just got out of a sauna in full snow gear. it’s BAD. Jesus christ this post is getting ridiculous. oh well. 

So yeah. Clothing. It’s important. You don’t want to bring 2 years worth of stuff, but just bring some extra variety. I made do off of just a few things. I did not *ever* wear the fancy evening dress I got “just in case” (it was cheap ok?) but I did wear the simple A-line dress I’d got to some formal diners.

GOOD SHOES. 

Anyway.. uh.. back to other things besides clothes. lol

WTF # was i on? sec. scrolling up.

9. A decent camera. I’m not talking about for youtubing. The biggest complaint I got from the fam & friend fam was that I didn’t post enough pictures (I posted like 200+ in a year so pfft).. but honestly I wish instead of investing in that computer I’d gotten a better camera. I have a good one now, it’s a nice little point & shoot. I’m not saying you need something that is worth 900$ or more. Just get a legit camera. I also have a HD video camera that I never fucking use. I thought I would, I may in the future (though it’s a little outdated by now I guess? shit records in 1080p so that’s good enough for me, fuck youtube & it’s 4K shit). Anyway, it’s important to document some of it. You’ll want to.

10. A good journal. I don’t even normally keep one, but having a planner and a journal as two separate books is a good thing. Even if you just write down “today sucked Eunji is a racist asshole” (that’s a whole other story) or “broke my leg. i now have 3 months off--that’s better than nothing because having a time frame of when this shit happened is important a few years down the road when your memory starts getting shitty. You don’t have to include what color the flowers were and what type they were in the gift that you got from the guy who’s face you won’t even remember.. but writing down the name of that cafe that had the amazing cake & espresso will bring the taste back in your mouth years later b/c fuckboys be bs but food is life. Taste & Scent & sound memory are real. You won’t regret it if you record that kind of stuff.

11. Last one for now cuz I got shit to do. Invest in good luggage. One good bag that you can actually lug around because you very well may end up pulling that sucker behind you when you’ve got 22 minutes to get cross town and get on that fucking train or you’re going to miss the god damn flight and it’s non refundable. Sobbing in the middle of a train station because you missed your train and you do NOT speak the language very well is uncomfortable for you and everyone around you. Jesus that day sucked. 

I strongly suggest something that doesn’t go past mid thigh. + 1 carry on that you can actually lift and a small shoulder bag that fits in the carry on until you are at the airport. If you can’t carry all of it yourself for at least a mile without dying, then you’ve over packed, it’s too big and you’re going to fuck yourself over. Leave enough room in it with the idea that you might be bringing some extra shit back actually that’s another bullet for this list

BONUS: DO NOT GET BUNCHES OF SHIT UNLESS YOUR ASS IS STAYING IN THE COUNTRY LONG TERM. I HAD TO LEAVE SO MUCH SHIT BEHIND AND ENDED UP FORGETTING THE SOUVINERES THAT I WANTED TO KEEP IN THE 24HR GET YOUR ASS OUT NOTICE I GOT FROM MY EMPLOYER WHEN MY CONTRACT WAS UP. 

Granted, my dumb ass thought I’d have gotten let go sooner than 5:30 on the last day since every other fucking teacher did. Nope Eunji the Assji decided that I would work from 7-5:30 down to the last fucking minute without so much as a “do you need help getting to the station”. -_-; That was on me. I should have known and prepared better. It didn’t matter that my colleagues got released with time to leave with some dignity and not lugging a 80lb set of luggage 1/2 across Busan. 

DO NOT DO THIS TO YOURSELF. Ship stuff home if you have to, even if it costs a lot. Consider how hard it will be to take this stuff to the post office. Do not lug yourself down with a bunch of trinkets. Take photos, write journal entries. Remember that the stuff is just stuff and memories are way more important than stuff. One small box you can fit in your suitcase. Don’t take more than that. Really. 

[mindfulvenus]

Tysvm for the tag @beanst0ck !! I’ve been a little occupied with running this blog and life in general but I’m finally getting some time!!

10 things that make me so happy <3

1. Naturally waking up at 5:00am.

2. Going on road trips and just watching the scenery.

3. Seeing family/friends that make me super happy.

4. Roller skating on a sunny day with cool weather.

5. Writing very cute stories with friends.

6. Eating freshly baked chocolate chip pancakes.

7. Going to a Daiso and buying some cute stationery.

8. Fantasizing about Hawks from bnha (lol it’s true!).

9. Finishing a video game and feeling super accomplished.

10. Dressing up in pretty clothes and wearing cute makeup.

Tagging: @akaashi-bby @vemuabhi @kei7ime @tender-rosiey @kentoangel

this is a trend on tiktok right now but i wanted to participate so here are my top ten favorite things <3 :

1. waking up at dawn to grey skies and the sound of rain

2. finishing a really good book in two days

3. the haunting of hill house

4. long road trip car rides at night (esp when it rains sometimes)

5. folklore by taylor swift

6. fly high, baby! by @steepgan (love u bae imy)

7. waking up to a phone full of notifications <3

8. receiving playlists full of songs that you reminded someone of

9. our holiday house

10. getting stopped in public just to be told you’re pretty

i thought this trend was cute and fun and a reminder of all the nice things in life so why not lol, u can do this too if u want !!

tagging: @secondhand-trash @mallang @luvoratomi @sunasbabie @inakou @kei7ime @novvabeam @hajimine @gayerthanthee @steepgan @coophi & anyone else who’d like to do it too <3

[https-qing]

15-17 March

📍 Lloyd's Inn

Staycay this weekend to celebrate yj's birthday! Wanted to hide this plan from him but end up I excited and egged him on to guess where we going 🤦‍♀

Then end up he keep asking me where we go, then I felt bad so I gave hints, THEN END UP HE KINDA FIGURED OUT WHERE WE GOING 🙄

The place was vvvv close to town but then because it was among the landed estate, it was not convenient to walk in at all... omg regretz. Esp in the afternoon when it's super sunny plus walking up the hill *ded*. We also unknowingly passed by LKY's house which we only found out when brudder told us after the staycay hahahahah

1st day. Checked in but didn't film a room tour because it's exactly as shown on the website! I think we both were a lil underwhelmed tbh. But the tub did not disappoint! We immediately went for a soak 😂 Nua-ed till it was dinner time before heading to Plaza Sing and stumbled upon this korean place with decent fried chicken and army stew! Bought soju home to slowly drink and soak in the tub with our $2 daiso bath ball WHICH WAS SO DISAPPOINTING HAHAHAHAH

2nd day: Breakkie @ ABC! The almond croissant is 👍👍👍 after that yj went for morning appt and left me all alone 😪 had my time to watch Netflix, slowly do my makeup and go poop all HEHEHHHE. Made yj guess which place we going for lunch hahahah then I purposely walk to the wrong store to see see, only to walk away again 😂 Idk is it we order wrong or what but Bedrock was quite meh leh. Like, the most impressive thing (to him) was the free bread LOL HOW CAN THIS BE?! Watched The Invisible Man afterwards @ student price kekeke. The show quite okay lah. Nice but won't rewatch~ Bought more soju to finish up our tonic water and yakult!! AND YES TO SOAK IN TUB AGAIN. We saw Lush by chance so we got a bath bomb "Twilight" but also disappointing leh?? Visually lah. The smell and soapiness (?) still there. I remember the store assistant was so excited to share with me the flavors after yj told her I wanted to buy to video 😑

3rd day: Checked out after some morning exercise and one last soak in the tub! We also got to spin the wheel and we got a free full-sized umbrella hahahah. ABC for breakfast again (I miss the almond croissant mmhmm) before we got a ride home by momma and brudderrrrrr. Had fish soup (+ bean sauce), Netflix and yj for lunch 💜

[twatkcox]

[The Keihancarl Diaries: January 11, 2020]

A Happy New Year to you all, and a brand new decade as well. So, where should I go next?

Yup, it's time to visit the North Avenue malls for a little mall-hopping, as well as a little shopping. Anyway, I'm wearing mostly black clothing, with a splash of red, maroon, and dark blue. And it's time to head out.

Traffic is mostly light along the way, considering that I left home later than usual and traffic isn't really that heavy during the afternoon. And with nice, sunny weather, I'll definitely be enjoying this.

I reached Trinoma around 3:30 PM. I checked a few shops first, mainly a couple of bookstores. I also took a moment to check the Landmark Department Store as well.

I tried checking for manga books in a Chapters and Pages' branch near the MRT-3 entrance, but I only managed to find one (Kingdom Hearts).

I then head to Vertis North Mall. Between the two malls, there's a terminal for buses going north. Going further, there’s a bazaar next to the Vertis Tent.

Inside the mall area, I checked a few more shops. I was actually searching for some mesh laundry bags at Daiso and other shops, hoping that I'll get to buy some good ones.

A portion of the K-Town area where Ilahui and Starfinder Optical are located is closed to make way for the mall's chapel. I've yet to find these shops' new locations in the mall area.

A Hallo-Hallo Alliance fashion shop (Tokyo Girls Collection) will open soon at the Japan Town. On the tarp is MNL 48 (sorry, no pic).

Heading back to Trinoma, I checked the smaller Chapters and Pages' branch at the cinema level. I found a manga book (Forbidden Dance), though I didn't find it particularly interesting like the first one I found.

Outside, in the garden area, there's a tunnel of lights at the third and fourth levels. They're not going to be lighted, though, as it is already past the holiday season. The one at the fourth level is already being packed up.

I then had dinner at the new Landmark Foodcourt, at Teppanyaki Brothers. I had a beef teriyaki bowl, with miso soup and veggies. I’m getting better at using chopsticks, by the way.

I get to see the orange sunset from the new Landmark expansion.

And finally, SM City North EDSA. I check the North Towers area first.

I noticed a new set of artworks along the bridge way to the North Towers. One of them featured the four beauty queens who won Miss Universe title, from Miss Universe 1969 winner Gloria Diaz to Miss Universe 2018 winner Catriona Gray. Sadly, the awesome space-themed artwork is already gone, replaced with another one.

This one is really awesome. A Japanese-themed artwork, with an interesting challenge. You just need to find all the cats in there.

In the annex buildings, the glass railings are in the process of being replaced by taller ones. They've already done this in their other malls.

I checked a few shops and bought a manga book (Nura: Rise Of The Yokai Clan). I decided to skip the interior zone and the main mall's third level for now due to time constraints.

I managed to get a UV Express to SM Fairview and took a shortcut, but I still have to endure heavy traffic in North Fairview. Travel time is a little faster, though.

I still have some time to shop. So far, the second-hand manga is the only thing I've bought at the North...

This trip is solely for the purpose of shopping for certain items, but I ended up buying nothing... save for the awesome manga book I found at Booksale (SM North EDSA). That's okay, at least I get to visit these malls after quite some time.

Looking forward to the Makati-Binondo trip and the dragon dance as well. Until next time!

All pics (except for the manga book) are uploaded to my private Instagram account, @kcox105. The pic featuring the manga book is uploaded to my official Instagram account, @kcox_105.

[grandprincessfun]

My New Stuff!...Another pair of those supercute plastic-rim heart-shaped sunnies from Daiso - this time in red!