My Current Favourite Songs 9

Its the end of the month again, and technically the last day of the year. So wish you guys a new year and welcome to this month's selection of my current favourite songs.

This month's selection is slower paced with 2 of them being new age songs because I just came down with a bout of stomach flu, so I'm been doing nothing but sleeping and vomitting for the past 2 days. So I've dug up and dusted my collection of new age songs to calm me down and relax to at least get some sleep. I've forgotten just how much I loved them...



Re_birthday (Kagamine Len) : The final song to the Daughter of Evil series. Someone really ought to make an anime series of it instead of the total failure of the incredibly confusing Black Rock Shooter series. Royalty? Check. Deception? Check. Love story? Check! So please can an anime studio make this a series already?


Calendula Requiem (Kanon Wakeshima X Kanon of An Cafe) : A nice departure of Kanon Wakeshima from the predictable and somewhat boring, saccharine sweet lolita look of hers. She still looks sweet but in a different way and the music is still in her usual style. So hopefully, there'll be other music videos that will take her to different directions instead of sticking her in the same path.



Turning (Suzanne Ciani & Yu Chiyi) : I bought her CD some years back and after listening to it a number of times, I stuffed it into the back of my cupboard and totally forgot about it. But after listening to this track again, I'm falling in love with it all over again. Her music soothes me and makes me think of afternoon teas in a sunny garden with a good book...



May It Be (Enya): The theme song for Lord of The Rings. I love all the movies in the series and I really hope it'll be considered as a great a classic like Star Wars and Star Trek. I rememember having a friend once who was so into LOTR that she taught herself the Elfish language to the point she could not only speak it, but read and write it too!


Kanon D-Dur (Evangelion Death & Rebirth, Shinji: Cello, Asuka : Violin, Rei: Viola, Kaoru: Second Violin): Its really nice to see the four children all playing this piece together, and for once you get a sense of peace from them despite the constant bickering and death all around them. Evangelion definitely helps one to appreciate classical music in a different light, such as Beethoven's 9th Symphony that is often used in the battle scenes

Okay, I feel my stomach acting up again so wish my dear readers a happy new year once again! And hopefully have a better start then I do...

Merry Christmas!!

Dear readers, I'm sorry for the late post, but wish you guys a Merry Christmas and may your day be filled with love, light and cheer!!!

xoxo

Hotaru

Personal Outfit 48 (Cosplay Photoshoot)

Went out to assist in a cosplay photoshoot last Sunday but because we ended up shooting in a open roof carpark, 3/4 of the time, Esther and I were just sitting around battling the soaring heat and awful insects.

Outfit consisted of :

Inner long shirt: Uniqlo

Plaid outer shirt: bought in Australia

Tights: Bought in Hong Kong

Engineer Boots: Bought in Macau

Spectacle frames: Random shop in Far East Plaza

Becuase I knew my hair would end up irritating me during the shoot, I ended up tying it into 2 little balls on my head. Its pretty simple, just twist like a mini bun and secure with a pin.

Esther and I also ended up playing with her camera and taking pictures of each other to pass the time.

The photoshoot was a somewhat failure as we ended up getting chased out of the premises because they claimed we hadn't received permission to do photography there. I found it to be tter rubbish because a friend and I had done previous photoshoots there with no such problems before not to mention, they only told us and kicked us out of the premises after we were wrapping up and deciding to move to another location. It was so (O____O)"

I left when the rest of the gang decided to head to another location because of heat exhaustion and my tights had torn so I felt kindda exposed.

But it was pretty fun and I learnt some new things about light exposure and such in photography whilst fiddling with a camera. Useful stuff to know so that I can get myself a betetr location next time when I do my own photoshoots haha!

I'll update soon about my Christmas celebration, but considering I don't have the usual family gathering this year, its kindda boring.

EOY 2010

* Sorry for the pic spam, but I just love the look of this costume so much despite the difficulties of moving around in it.

Firstly, this is how the costume is supposed to look like. The character is Ciel Phantomhive from the series Kuroshitsuji and he crossdressed in an attempt to avoid detection and get closer to the enemy

An up close picture of my costume. love the details!

And a almost full length picture of the costume. The dress had 3 parts to it, a hoop skirt to pouff up the whole thing, an underskirt (that's the white parts you can see) and the pink dress on top.

I love this pic alot and will probably be using it for my next batch of coscards

An up close pic of my face and this is another picture that I plan to use for my next batch of coscards

I loved this costume alot despite dying of heat, mostly which was caused by my long gloves. So I ended up taking it off whenever I was just standing around and I had to ask photographers to wait whenever they wanted to take a picture because I had to quickly shove them on.

Not the best event day because I overslept and ended up having to put my makeup on at the location itself inside the smelly, dirty toilets. Also, Esther was waiting for our friend to bring her wig and the friend ended up coming only at the later part of the day. So Esther was moody most of the day, not a very good person to hang out with. But I had no choice since I wasn't as close to the other cosplayers and it was bit redundant to walk around the place all alone. So I ended up missing abit of photo-taking opportunities because I was mostly sitting at the shop stall trying to cheer her up.

Not to mention, there were 3 other cosplayers who wore the exact same outfit as me and unlike me, they had at least one friend who was cosplaying the same series as them, so they had a person to pose with. And I so need to rant this out, there was this total cosf*ck of a person who I was so pissed at. She wore the exact same outfit as me except hers was so obviously made of some crappy cheap satin with a really tiny hat that was so small and tall that it almost looked like a miniature tophat. The hat wasn't worn to the side as shown by the character, hers was right ontop of her head and had the front brim pushed upwards. Not to mention, she didn't wear a hoop skirt so her dress was like completely flat and worse thing was, she had wavy brown hair and tried to scrimp on money and didn't wear a wig. She didn't even bloody bother to tie her hair into 2 ponytails and just walked around in that crap of an outfit she had on.

Worse thing was, because her friend's stall was directly opposite Esther's, she kept hanging out there and eyeballing me. Come on, like seriously? Your outfit is so crappy that what reason do you have to eyeball me for? Jealous much?

And I'm sniggling to myself now because after sifting through the photographs that have been uploaded at the forums, it seems no photographer took any pictures of her (except one where she totally photobombed a fellow cosplayer). That shows you how crappy your costume is, so stick your eyeballs back in your brain and try harder. Okay rant over!

Anyway, I'm trying to convince Mini to do a photoshoot with me for this costume since she's already done Sebastian for a few other people, so I need to bugger her and a photographer soon.

Steph's Indefinite Break & Blog Award

Hey everybody, I know some of you have been kindda wondering what my friend and fellow blogger, Steph of Cosmic Love blog been up to lately. Well, she's been pretty much bogged down by her work lately, so even when her urges to blog does strike, she's often left too tired and brain-dead to actually gather up the energy to write up a post.

So just be patient, because I'm pretty sure when she's back at posting, her posts will definitely be worth the wait!

On a side note, Truc of sstardesire.blospot.com, recently awarded me the "Lovely Blog Award". Its amazing that I actually got a blog award since it was like the furthest thing from my mind when I actually started this blog and I'm glad that readers enjoy my posts and blog. So of course, I'd like to give this blog to some other bloggers:

Truc of sstardesire.blogspot.com

Steph of xcosmic-lovex.blogspot.com

Jenny of sushi-cat.net

Mitsu of universal-doll.com

Tori of cherristory.blogspot.com

Bloomzy of bloomzy.blogspot.com

These are the gals that I love and constantly read their posts. I may not always leave a comment (sorry!) but I love them nonetheless. So go forth and spread the love!

P.S. I'll be updating my other cosplay soon, I have the majority of my pictures at hand, so I just need to arrange and edit some stuffs first, so be patient kays? Thanks!

STGCC Day 2

Ah, finally tracked down most of my pictures for STGCC (Singapore Toys, Games, & Comics Convention) day 2 cosplay. I chose not to go for the event on the first day as not only did I not have a costume, but I knew that I'd be dead tired after 2 days of cosplay and three straight days was really too much for me to take.

So for STGCC, I ended up cosplaying as Rin Kagamine, neko (cat) version. Technically, there's no such version for the Kagamine twins as only Miku has ever been shown wearing this particular outfit. But Esther and Minichaos and I decided to do it as a team as it'll be more fun that way.

So pictures from the event:

From left: Esther as Len Kagamine (my "brother"), Minichaos as Hatsune Miku and I as Kagamine Rin

Unfortubately, Mini kept disappearing to meet friends so it was mostly Esther and I walking around by ourselves.

A picture of our full outfits, we even had cat tails attached to our belts to keep up with the neko look. Hahahah

One of my favourite pictures from the event. My mom says I don't look like I put on much makeup, but I swear I put on waay heavier then my usual daily makeup! "0(>.<)o"

I was pretty shocked when I found out that there were a few pictures our cosplay up on the xinmsn.com website when there had been an article about the STGCC event. So I guess I'll take it as a compliment?

Despite having the event at the exact same place as AFA, this event was managed so much better. For one, all the cosplayers weren't yelled at to move our belongings when we were trying to find a location to settle down and finish putting on our costumes or makeup. We were asked in a pretty nice manner to move and even offered a location unlike AFA where we were chased from location to location before the management finally got the hint to open up a space for us to settle down.

The place wasn't as crowded too so there was more room for us to walk about and meet friends, not to mention, my costume was so much more comfortable and easier to move about in so I could run around and whatnot all day without getting too tired. Plus kids of all sorts loved us, so we had alot of little kids (girls especially!) running up to us trying to hug us and their parents asking us to pose with their kids. So it was pretty fun.

I'm still waiting for my EOY (End of Year) event pictures, but its not looking good since there were 3 other girls, excluding me, who were all wearing the same costume and I didn't get to walk around as muhc because I was pretty busy trying to cheer Esther up. So I probably have to wait for my "official" photographer to pass me his batch of pictures.

Personal Outfit 47 (Rushing Ahead)

Ah, been rushing alot of things lately, so many things to get done but so little time. Lets see, I have two cosplay events for the weekend, then there's handling my school's administrative stuffs, and then Chirstmas followed by the staycation I'm having with the Bf. And oh, I have to squeeze in sometime to get my hair dyed and clean my room before my new school term starts.

I'm so glad that the next cosplay event has been pushed back to April so at least I can take a breather to save some money and get back to being just gyaru again for awhile. Plus I can get settled down to my new school and hopefully have more fun as compared to my sucky life in Polytechnic. I swear I was slowly counting down everyday I had to come to class and then just zoning out if I actually went to class.

But sad things aside, here's today's outfit (okay technically yesterday, I just noticed the time):

Military dress with pouffy skirt & belt: Taobao (the whole outfit is a onepiece)

Scarf: borrowed from mom

Nude pumps (not shown): Can't remember (the sole is spoling gah! Gotta hunt around for a new pair I guess)

Anyway, today was spent with Francine, just chatting with her and catching up. I also helped her in finding the right clothes she needed for her Lady Gaga inspired outfit that she needed for her company's Dinner & Dance. We struck gold with an awesome massive black sun hat that had wires in the edges to manipulate its shape, it looked somewhat like what she needed plus, it was only $7.90 after discount!!!

She was so happy about it and kept telling me about how she spent only a total of around $15 for her whole outfit, hahahah. Lucky her!

Ugh shucks, its really late, I need to get my beauty rest to be able to last for tomorrow's (technically, today's) cosplay event. I'll be dressed as Rin Kagamine with cats ears and paws and for Sunday I'll be wearing Kuroshitsuji's Ceil ballroom version gown. So if you recognise me, don't be afraid to say hi! I'm friendly and won't bite, mostly... hahah and just so you know, my cosplay name is Rahzel and I'll gladly give you my coscard if you want!

Personal Outfit 46 (& Recent Gets)

I've been pretty busy this past week in a rush to try and get my stuffs done for the upcoming cosplay events. I can't believe its gonna be this weekend already, considering it was like juz a few weeks ago that I finished AFA. Oh well, at least if the next event is postponed, I'll get some time to save abit and finish up my costume and get some new ones. I still haven't been able to confirm anything yet for next year, but I've already decided on a few solo cosplays so I may just tag along with my friend again.

On a side note, I had a haircut done just recently. Steph introduced me to her hairstylist but there was some miscommunication between the hairdresser and I (my mandarin skills are of mediocre level) so I'm left with a too short fringe, heavy blunt layers at my jawline that remind me of Maikos (Japanese Shinto priestesses for those who don't know) and still unable to curl my hair like before. Haiz... I'm bordering on the line of kidnapping my ex-hairdresser and smuggling him back to Singapore very soon.....

Wore this outfit for the haircut & shopping with Esther after it

Spectacle frames: random shop in Far East Plaza

Black top: given by a friend

Denim skirt: Victoria Beckham for Rock & Republic

Leopard print tights: Can't remember

Black pumps(not shown): borrowed from mom

(sorry for the tired expression, this was taken after the long day of running around with Esther)

Been buying alot of things recently so here's just some of my recent gets:

Black and red striped legwarmers: For cosplay & a total steal for only $2!

Topshop tights: They have a really adorable heart print on them that reminds me of Tsubasa's S-leg brand. Though I havent come up wiht any outfit with them so far... Hmm...

Candy Sugar PVC school bag: A bag for my school term starting next year. It'll be alot easier if I have one bag just for school purposes

Cat ears & tail: For my upcoming cosplay event. I'll be adding bells to the ears and tail and I'm waiting for my cat paws to be done. Nya!

Fashion tape: An essential for cosplay events where anything can go wrong. These help to fix nearly everything!

Flower wreath: Yess!!! I finally found one for my cosplay photoshoot after searching high and low for it. Its bit pricey at $15 but I'm desperate for it. I'll be adding pink flowers to make it look thicker.

Sunglasses: This is a Chloe inspired design and the biggest glasses I have in my collection. Got it for a steal at $9.90!

I still have so much to prepare for my upcoming events and hopefully, Esther will be able to get my coscard format done in time. That way I'll have a coscard to pass out to people at the events yay!

Christmas is coming up soon so I gotta get ready presents for my loved ones, and after that it'll be the little staycation that the Bf and I will be having to celebrate our anniversary. Anyone wanna guess how long we;ve been together? Hee.....

Background Change

Hi guys, if you've been a reader of my blog for awhile now, you will probably notice some changes I just did to my blog. I had to change the background because of some bandwidth thingy and because I had to change the background, I hate to redo my entire template.

Why? Because that's how Blogger works... damn it! Anyway after struggling with it for the past half hour or so, my initial plans to write up a post has kindda been zapped away by tiredness after fiddling with all the stupid applications I had to go through to get my desired outcome and redoing it after Blogger refused to accept any changes I had initially made.

I know the whole blog is now rather pink, but please bear with it for awhile, at least till I can get a better background image or someone kindly helps me out with it, anyone?

*bats eyelids*

My Current Favourite Songs 8

It's the end of yet another month, and I'm really quite surprised at how the year has gone flying by. Soon, I'll be busy rushing around making last minute preparations for my 2 upcoming cosplay events, then preparing for my family's annual Christmas celebration and then unwinding with a short staycation that the Bf and I will be having to celebrate our anniversary.

But until then, lets unwind with some songs that's currently on a loop in my Mp3 list:

Paradise of Light & Shadow~Synchronicity (Vocaloids, Kagamine Rin & Len): A beatiful song by the Vocaloids again. It's pretty interesting how many stories that have been created with songs revolving aorund them. This one's no different and I love how they emphasised the paralell oppsites between Rin & Len. I'm still impatiently waiting for the third part of this series (This is the second part, there is a prequel to this video)

1000 no Kotoba (Koda Kumi): The song for Final Fantasy X-2 and probably one of the last few better games in the Final Fantasy franchise. It's a really emotional song which is sung beautifully by Koda Kumi, I'm not a real fan of her work, but I do admire both of her song contributions to the series.

Rain (SID): One of the opening songs for Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood. Love the anime to bits and I'm left with an empty hole now, while waiting for a decent anime to take its place. It's pretty interesting how the lead singer wears a yukata as a jacket to his otherwise boring outfit. It'll be so nice if other traditional costumes could be worn just as fashionably on normal days (do observe carefully how he matched his eyeshadow to his yukata's lining!).

To the Moon & Back (Savage Garden): An oldie but a goodie, this song is always on my list no matter the situation or mood. Somehow, whnever I listen to this song I always envision a girl in some post-apocalyptic world that's under some kindda totalitarian-like control (Think the government in V for Vendetta? Gotta love that movie!). But there she is looking to the moon and skies, wishing for love to be free from this dreary and dark world....

Beautiful World (Utada Hikaru): The closing theme used in the Evangelion movie, You Are [Not] Alone 2.0. This is truly my favourite anime of all time, and no other anime has been able to skillfully capture the twisted complexities and beauty of the human psyche into a show. You love and yet you loathe the characters all at once with their never-ending battle within themselves and the intersting yet eerily similar way of how close to reality these characters are. The song caught the thoughts that were racing through my mind at the end of the movie without being too dark so it's a rwally refreshing balance. I can't wait for the latest Evangelion movie to come out, You Will [Not] Understand/ Quickening.

Ugh gotta meet a buyer for my Imitation Black costume. I'm so glad to be able to be rid of it, since it's just taking up space in my room at the time-being so its a real chance for me to try and recoup some money for new costumes...

Article on supposed "Japanese Fashion Flops"

Recently, whilst randomly browsing the net, I chanced upon an interesting article that was attempting to list down some supposed flops of Japanese fashion. I know there's the whole freedom of speech thing and well to each his own and all that, however, unsurprisingly, the writer was a westerner with a western perspective on these 10 listed flops.

So this is just my two cents worth of opinion to counter-balance and perhaps explain abit on the flops that had been listed out:

1. The "host' Look

Yes, I do agree that at times the whole polyester suit with the gaudy necklace does look like a throwback to the hey-day of the Seventies. However, lets face it. It's a fashion thing, and no one complains about the whole metrosexual thing going on in the western world, who flick their well-groomed hair out of their eyes with a wave of their well-moisturised hand, or that legions of teenage boys seem to have the uber-ugly mop and near patented headflick of Justin Beiber.

It's a look, just like Manba and Ganguro.... deal with it.

2. Shoes Beyond Repair

In defence of the writer, I do agree that wobbling around in wonky high heels is not a pretty sight, however, from what I know, Japanese streets aren't exactly friendly on heels either and not many women know how to walk properly in heels be it on the streets of Tokyo or Milan or New York.

So don't just rag on Japanese girls because they wobble round in worn down heels. Not many people can afford to jump in and out of taxis all day, and since Japanese people walk ALOT, if they walk around in flats, next thing I know, another article would arise about how 'unfashionable' the Japanese girls on the streets are. So either way, there's no winning is there?

3. Ringed Colour Contacts

Honestly, most girls wear them and it has been scientifically proven that showing dilated pupils is a sign of interest (in terms of a relationship) and good health of a person. Plus, you know why some girls look so doe-eyed in pictures? Face it, its the contacts at work. Plus you don't look 'like a creepy doll' if you apply the right-sized ones for your eye, I wear them and I have yet had people say my eyes look creepy...

4. Tare-me (droopy eyes)

Yes, some girls do line their eyes and apply lower falsies so far down their eyes that they look like a sad panda. However, if you've ever wondered why Japanese girls have such large expressive eyes, its the way they apply eyeliner and lower lashes further below their natural lash line to give the illusion of larger eyes.

I do admit some people do take it too far and no one's immune to mistakes in makeup now and then, but I don't see anyone complaining about how coral lipstick looks disastrous on most people if they fail to get the right shade.

5. Glamour Nails

Right... if such nails are so horrible, why do I notice a trend in nails salons popping up all over America and Britain, with a number of them offering such nail services? Plus, head down to New Jersey, I have seen a number of them with nails to rival their Japanese counterparts.

6. Flat Tires

okay, this I wholeheartedly agree with the writer. When I see people who don't bother putting on their shoes properly and just flatten down the back of their shoes, a few things come to my mind.
First, are the shoes that painful to walk in that you have to shuffle your way around in them? Second, maybe you're just too lazy to bother putting them on properly, so in that case, please don't bother buying nice shoes, I'd hate to see you destroy a pair of Jimmy Choos because of sheer laziness.

7. Engrish Shirts

yes, it does irk me at times when I see terrible Engrish on clothes, but lets face it, don't you get amused by the crazy slogans at times? Plus how often do we check proper grammar or even its meaning when we buy clothes with foreign words on them? I've seen girls wearing "Voulez vous coucher avec moi ce soir" on their t-shirts (google if you don't know what it means), so i don't see what the big deal is...

8. Furoku Bag

Hmm, yeah, some furoku bags are of such shoddy quality that it would probably disintegrate if I do attempt to throw it into a washing machine. However, I have seen some of such good quality that people are hawking them on sites such as Ebay. I have seen some being sold for up to USD30 online, so just because some suck, doesn't mean all suck...

9. Mori Girl

Again, this is a street style. You may not get it, but that doesn't stop people from loving it and attempting to emulate its style, and yes I do get your point of it bordering on looking like a crazy cat lady, but no ones complaining about how bubble skirts make anyone with an ounce of fat on their legs turn their legs into walking pig trotters. So give it a rest...

10. Skirting with faux-pas

Again, it was a trend for guys to wear skirts and lets give them credit for having the balls to do so and be in a culture where they aren't automatically jeered at or have derogatory remarks thrown at them. Plus if its such an awful thing for guys to wear, why wasn't there an outcry when men's leggings was introduced? I think seeing guys wearing skin-tight leggings that show every nook and cranny of their legs and ass is far more frightening then a guy wearing a skirt.

I know some of the comments does seem bit like I'm being petty and argumentative, however, it's not fair for a person to write such things about things that they haven't had full understanding of and simply push it as a weird thing.

No matter what, circle lens are still being sold everywhere online (Lady Gaga wears them!), more and more girls are asking for gel and acrylic nail extensions that look reminiscent to the ones that Japanese girls have on their hands, and furoku bags are being sold and ordered worldwide.

Plus, people are still searching up what the people of Japan are wearing on the streets and using their unique style as inspiration and influence on new trends. So don't just pigeon-hole something that's different from the norm, who knows... you might just see people doing them in your country next!

See the actual article at http://www.cnngo.com/tokyo/life/10-japanese-fashion-faux-pas-563524?page=0,0

(All pictures and their titles have been taken from the article)

Personal Outfit 45 (Harry Potter!)

I finally got the chance to catch Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows last night! But to be honest, it's been so long since I last read any of the Potter books that I've clean forgotten the majority of the things that went on.

Honestly, after the first 4-5 books, I read the rest of the books only once when they had just been released as I simply borrowed from my friends the books after they were done with them and hence, it was more of a quick skim through the books then actually sitting down and absorbing the whole thing.

Onto outfit first:

Outfit:

White collared shirt: can't remember

Victoria Beckham for True Religion Denim Skirt: Discount store (serious!!!)

Foxtail: Taobao

Lace-up boots: Taobao

LV monogrammed bag: Borrowed from mom

So anyway, half the time in the movie, my mind was going '???', but it was enjoyable nontheless though I was left wanting more and going 'huh? That's it?'. The movie had to skim through alot of things in order to pack in as much of the book as it possible could so I'm still wondering how did they pack the rest of the book into the second part considering how much is still left. I'm sure I'm gonna cry when the Weasleys' house gets burned down I was so hurt and horrified when I read it in the book, I can't imagine watching it in the cinema...

Anyway, the movie went through more or less a somewhat rhythm like this: Bamg! Wham! Quiet moment. Sudden revelation at something. Blam! Okay, end... wait six more months for the next part (-______-)"

AFA Day 2 (Vocaloids, Imitation Black, Kagamine Len)

Yay! I'm posting as promised! Hahhaahha.... okay lame, I know....

Back to the story, basically the second day of AFA, I was cosplaying solo, and tagging along 2 other friends who were cosplaying together as a duo. It was a pretty effective system as we had a buddy to pass our belongings to when the other was busy taking pictures or something. and we could look out for each other too, though it was pretty funny when people saw us walking together and decided to snap a picture of all 3 of us despite telling them we're from totally different series.

On to pictures:

My character is the blonde one in the middle. The character is Kagamine Len in the music video Imitation black and yes, he is wearing a dress. Kindda following those typical Visual Kei and J-rocker style I guess....

My resulting cosplay. The black lipstick was a nightmare, it keep getting outside my lips and onto my teeth and it doesnt help that I have a habit of showing my upper front teeth when I'm just zoning out or something. So I have alot of nasty pictures of me showing my teeth between the black lipstick floating around online.

My dress was pretty poofy so I had to hoist it up when I was walking through crowded places, but it still didn't stop people from stepping on the hem of my dress and causing me to yelp in shock from the sudden pull.

However, I did enjoy this cosplay more then the previous one and that's becasue I wasn't running aorund like a mad woman in an attempt to finish everyone's makeup. I woke up later that day, had a slow breakfast and slowly applied my makeup whilst chatting with my friend in my room before making our way to the event and just enjoying the event for itself. We could also move about more easily as compared to our previously stuffy costumes and there was additional space that had ample sunlight streaming in that we were allowed access to and hence not only did we get a nice location for great photographs, we had more photographers and better photographs in the end.

Since anything related to AFA is now offcially over for me, I guess it's time to finish up any loose ends for my next 2 upcoming events. I'll be taking part in the upcoming STGCC (Singapore Toys, Games & Comics Convention) and EOY (End-Of-Year) events that are just nicely, a day apart.

I'll be cosplaying as a Neko (cat) version of Kagamine Rin with a friend for STGCC, so look out for a pair of twins runnning around with cat ears and paws. For EOY, I'll be taking a break from Vocaloids and doing Kuroshitsuji instead, so look out for a Ceil Phantomhive cross-dressing in the frilly pink ballroom gown, that might just be me...

AFA Day 1 (Vocaloids, Sandplay of Dragon, Kagamine Rin)

Sorry guys for the long time it has taken me to update my blog. I took awhile to recuperate from all the craziness of AFA (Anime Festival Asia) and after that... well, I was lazyI guess (so shoot me... =___=)

Anyway, it also took awhile for the various photographers to upload their pictures as they did some editing, and then after I had claimed my own pictures I had to seek permission from them and then edit them some more on my own.

I won't say this is one of my better cosplays as I was really shagged from doing the makeup of 5 other people before rushing to change and do my own makeup. Plus, it didn't help that we were vying for attention amongst 6 other Sandplay groups and another member of our team evetually disappearedwith her friends into the massive crowd. So alot of things went on..

So to pictures I guess

A picture from a photography session I did with a photographer there. I managed to coax and threaten him to upload my pictures abit faster as my photo was among the actually among the last ones in his album

A picture of me and my "brother", Kagamine Len (aka Mika). Yes, "he" is actually a "she" and alot of people commented that we suited each other as siblings. So we're actually talking about doing another version fo the Kagamine siblings for another event.

A bonus picture of my team (well, most of it that is.. our last member had disappeared by then).

And the actual picture of the characters we were cosplaying. This picture doesn't include some other characters as the others were added in at a later stage. Unfortunately, I can't actually find a proper group photo.

We'll be having a photoshoot probably early next year, when everybody is able to set aside some time and we've already scouted out a fantastic studio with regal-looking wallpaper and amazing baroque-style furniture. Totally perfect for our costumes and theme so look forward to that next time!

I'll be updating about day 2 soon, maybe tomorrow (if I'm not lazy that is...)... hahaah

(Credits to the various photogs for the photos used. Thnaks guys!)

After the Chaos...

Am now lying in bed with sore arms and legs after hours upon hours of walking around in high heels and dragging my heavy costume and luggage to and fro the event site.

Though I am tired beyond compare, I am but still happy at the successful 2 cosplays that I have managed to pull off in the last 2 days.

The flashing lightbulbs, the noises from the crowd, people recognising you under all the heavy makeu and costume or simply calling you by your cosplay name, all these send a tingle down my spine and give me an excitement that I relish. That's the reason for my countless sleepless nights fretting over my costumes, the blood and sweat (literally!) poured into making them as perfect as possible, examining each and every frame of the character to get the makeup and look just right, studying signature poses and practising them...

At the end of the day... this is what cosplay is like for me... and I'll probably do it as long as I possibly can...

*sorry for the nonsensical rambling, I am currently in a mood that's a mixture of excitement and happiness over the completed cosplays and fatigue from all the physical work on the days itself, is this what they call "tired but happy"? All I know is that I have to stop myself from constantly checking the message boards for my pictures and be patient, so I'll upload them with greater detail over what happened over the coursof the last 2 days in due time, so bear with me till then...

Personal Outfit 44 (New Makeup Case!)

Went out today to buy my moisturizer that had ran out and a makeup case. I wanted a large case more because I'll be on makeup artist duty for my upcoming AFA cosplay event, and it doesn't help that most of the girls in my team can't put on proper makeup to save their life (one did a trail run of her potential makeup and ended up looking like a blowup sex doll no thanks to the huge amount of shimmer she had put on her eyes and poor applied lower lashes). So besides doing my own makeup, I'll be helping around nearly 10 people that day.... damn shit...

So I was thinking of ways to make my life easier on that day when I realised that I didn't even have a proper makeup case! My makup more or less are stashed in various pouches that I just pour out onto my bed and stash each one back after I'm done with it. This would cause alot of trouble if I did the same thing at the event location itself, so I needed a large case to fit everything bad!

I managed to find one that's not only so awesome-ly huge, but it looks just as awesome as it is useful but first, onto the outfit I had worn:

Outfit consisted of:

Spectacle frames: random shop in Far East Plaza (can you tell how much I love them? Hahah)

Inner white tank top: borrowed from Mom

Blue plaid shirt: Uniqlo

Denim skirt: Victoria Beckham for Rock & Republic

Boots: bought in Macau

Wool Bag: Stussy

Foxtail: Taobao

Necklace: Vivienne Westwood

My beautiful new case! The Bf helped me pay partially for it, as I am pretty broke now. But I am real glad I had gotten it, I was looking at a softer pouch initially but it had like multiple pouches inside in varying sizes which I really didn't need so the Bf convinced me to get this one!

It's made of real sturdy leather so it's gonna last for quite awhile, and with it's really cute vintage kindda design, the more it wears out, the better it'll look! Now I just wish I had a matching luggage set! Plus the case has a lock so it'll be perfect for events because I'll know that my stuff would be safe, unless a theif decided to take the whole damn case which would be pretty stupid.

After I had thrown in all my normal makeup stuffs and the extra stuffs that I use solely for cosplay such as shimmery eyeliner and such, there was still ample room for me to actually stuff in 2 full packets of makeup wipes and a box of fake lashes. I'm so loving it!

Oh yea, I was checking out the box when I noticed that it actually had the label SK-II imprinted on it, so I don't know if it's a genuine product or a fake, but who cares, it's functional and cute looking and that's all I need!

Ugh, there's still so many last minute prepaerations for the event this saturday. I need to sew the ribbons on my headpiece so that'll it'll look curly and paint my nails black for my character on the second day and I need to stuff my costume and wig and accessories into my luggage so that I can just wheel the whole thing there!

Haiz... and don't get me started on planning the makeup for the other girls especially when there's one girl pissing me off big time because she can't be bothered to learn how to apply basic makeup like foundation and just expect me to do the whole she-bang for her and keep whining when I told her that I don't care but she had better apply her basic makeup first... I am so gonna die...

*looks at makeup case and is filled with shiny new hope and happiness*

Purikura With Jo

Oh noooo..... I just realised that I had totally forgotten to upload the purikura pics I had taken with Jo the last time!!! So sorry Jo!!!

Anyway here they are, well at least better late then never rt? (T_T)

Failed attempt at a =3= face

I kindda like this pic, though I feel I looks bit spastic.... doesn't help when I have the "feelers" on

I like this picture of me though, bit mysterious... hmm....

I notice I have aboslute zero control of how I pose when I am happy, I can never smile right and just end up giving a big toothy grin because I am too happy to not smile as wide as I possibly can. It's not really a good thing if your face bulges out bit weirdly cause of the excessive smiling that causes weird lumps and bumps along my jawline, so I mus learn how to control...

Hence back to self-whoring in front of the mirror and camwhoring myself...

Hey! I'm just practising...

Personal Outfit 43 (Lazy School Day)

Had a really lazy school day yesterday because all I had to do was watch a documentary and do a presentation of my team's work. So I just threw on this easy outfit:

Outfit consist of:

Spectacle frames (I popped out the lenses): random shop in Far East Plaza

OP shirt: Borrowed from Mom

Gray zip-up hoodie: Uniqlo

Boho skirt: Flea market find

Red plaid sneakers: Bought in Macau

Bag: Cher

Pardon the super messy hair, it refused to do what I wanted depsite me punishing it repeatedly with a curling iron, so I gave up and tied the longer ends into 2 plaist instead and left the rest as a messy bob.

I feel like a runaway from the cast of Honey & Clover with my messy, Fruits kindda style of an outfit....

Ugh damn upset with a team member, is it so hard to move ur fat lazy ass to do your part of the project properly? I've been editing your shitty work non-stop, not that it's even that fantastic and hard and you were so adamant on doing your parts in the first place, at leats do a decent job of it!

Personal Outfit 42 (Alone Time...)

Lately, I've really begun to enjoy the idea of just browsing through stores and shopping all alone. I used to wonder how people did it, and actually considered it a waste of time to bother dressing up and traipsing around town by myself since I won't have anybody appreciating the effort I had put into my makeup and dressing.

But it could be that I've matured alot since then (or just plain becoming older, and a step closer to being senile) and now I do love the idea of dressing up and looking pretty just to please oneself. After all, if you don't love yourself first, it'll be much other for others to love you.

So this is what I wore, whilst doing alittle shopping by myself before making my way to school for a lesson in the evening:

Outfit consists of:

Inner black tank top: Miss Selfridge

Gray Leopard Cardigan: Lip Service

Black Skinny Jeans: Red2

Lace-up boots: Taobao

Poccilini Black leather bag: Borrowed from Mom

Gray & White Foxtail: Taobao

My lecturer was thoroughly amused by the foxtail hanging off my bag! Hahahah...

On a side note, next Saturday would be AFA (Anime Festival Asia)! Lets hope I'll do a good job at justifying the Vocaloid, Rin from Sandplay of Dragon. I'll be with a team on the first day and doing another Vocaloid, Len from Imitation Black but as a solo cosplayer on the second day. I'm really looking forward to all my hard work and effort finally being put on show after a gruelling 3-4 months getting everything ready, so wish me luck that I'll do a good job!

Candydoll's New Mascara & Eyeshadow Line

Tsubasa Masuwaka, the ever-savvy model/ businesswoman has expanded her makeup empire again. This time with 2 different type of mascaras and various eveshadow palettes. At this rate, what else could she offer next? Perhaps some concealer, foundation or even a whole skincare line? Who knows what else she might just add into her ever-growing makeup empire...

There are 2 types of mascara that will be available, the lengthening and the volumnizing. Smart move to cover both bases, but I think I'll skip this product since I wear falsies most of the time...

According to Koji, there'll be four different palettes of four-colour eyeshadows. My guess is that it'll be in a palette like Boujour and Kate with varying colours of the same palette. There' is also some mention of "cream eyeshadow" and "champagne" somewhere around in the website, I don't really get it, perhaps a creameyeshadow in the colour of champagne?

Working hard at looking pretty for her new promotional campaign! Don't we all wish we could be paid to look just as pretty?

Inspecting the photos, I've heard that Tsubasa is pretty hands-on in her brand and in the previous nail polish collection, she wasn't happy with the samples given to her and mixed up her own colours with the samples given! Goes to show how hardworking and dedicated she is!

I'm not sure if I'll be falling over myself to try and get my hands on her eyeshadow palettes, especially when I'm pretty happy with my current Dior and Kate ones. However, if the price is right, as in not alot more expensive then my Kate palettes, I might just give it a shot. After all, it's always nice to pull out something pretty and unique whilst touching up one's makeup in public right?

But I'll still wait for public opinion about her how good her eyeshadow is. Up to now, I still refuse to buy her candydoll blush because I've heard really negative things about the application, so I'll see how I guess!

Pictures and information from http://www.koji-honpo.co.jp/tsubasa/report

Personal Outfit 41 (Crazy Cat Lady)

I had actually planned to meet Steph last weekend for Halloween and finally put some use to my old goth punk and lolita clothes. However, she ended up bailing on me (grr..... ) so I turned it into a date night instead.

Outfit consisted of:

Black ribbon barette: Salvation Army

Leopard Dress: Pepperplus

Belt: Taobao (came with my military dress! Awesome 2 for 1!)

Black Stockings: This Fashion

Black Oxfords: DMK

Red Moschino Bag: Borrowed from Mom

Luckily I wore a leopard print dress that day, because whilst shopping through this mega 3 storey store that sells positively everything that a girl could ever want or need, the Bf found these awesome cat gloves/cushions tucked in a corner:

There's the wider and shorter cat's paws... these have more cushion in the front, so they're better for punching others...hehehehehe

These ones are longer and they extended down all the way to my elbows, and have less padding on the top. So these are better to slap people with or to use in pillow fights cuz of their length.

Whilst taking these pictures, a shophand popped by and I was actually kindda concerned that he would stop us from taking the pictures or worse yet, kick us out of the shop or something. However, he just threw us a quizzical look before packing the other cushions neatly. I guess I must have appeared like a crazy cat lady with the matching outfit! Hahahahha....