Belated Birthday Post

My 21st birthday was exactly a week ago (on pancake day!), but it was a bit of an odd one this year. I ended up opening all my presents on the Saturday when my whole family was over, opened one small present on my actual birthday and got a few afterwards (at Hyper Japan =3)! I'm still waiting for one, apparently it still hasn't arrived =[

Also, a lot of my presents from my parents I bought myself! Remember the Primark stuff I posted? That got paid for, as did these cute pastel granny cardigans.


Here's what my parents gave me:



Glass bird candle holders, blingy headband, bird pencil case (I actually got one last year too, but now I have one for make-up!), teal cardigan, owl bracelet, Simon's Cat book, tassel necklace, eyeliner set, Hello Kitty bag charm (her bow is missing =[ I'll have to make one!), humming bird ring, mint chocolates.

This stuff was from my grandparents and aunt:



BIIIIIIG bar of Galaxy, mini elephant-shaped candles, cute shorts, snowflake-shaped bath bomb, teal nail varnish (I actually got one for Christmas too...sadly it's really bright and stained my nails green!), reversible necklace, owl bag charm, owl earrings.

Got this cute little box from Rob:



...are you sensing a theme? So much bird and owl stuff!!

Also he gave me a My Little Pony card!

I ended up getting £130 and a £20 Next voucher too, so I had spending money for Hyper Japan. I have no idea what I'll use the Next voucher on, their stuff is always expensive and not my style at all!

I ended up spending some of my money in Claire's too.



I couldn't resist!

I'm a little disappointed I didn't get to do more for my birthday, but I still got to have a Chinese takeaway with my family and sushi with Rob! I put back on the 2lbs I'd lost though...but I looooove food so I don't mind so much =P

Hyper Japan, 2012

Yes, I went to Hyper Japan again! This time just for the one day.


I had to get up at 5.30am to give myself enough time to get ready and walk to town for my 7.13am train! Thankfully I got to the station in plenty of time, there were no delays and I didn't get lost when trying to figure out the tube!

I ended up arriving at the venue at around 9, where I accidentally waltzed into the venue when only staff and exhibitors were supposed to be in there! I casually used the toilet there and then left to join the actual queue which was the other side of the building, opposite Earl's Court tube station as opposed to West Brompton (the station the website said to use...booooooo!). They didn't let us in until around 9.45am.


I scooted around quickly to get my bearings, dropped off my Milky Planet replica at the bring and buy, and watched the sake awards while waiting for the others to arrive! When they did, we started to look around. The bring and buy didn't open for aaaaaaaaaaaaages so we kept hanging around there so we could snatch up the things we wanted! Unfortunately all the items I wanted were really overpriced, or were bought before I had the chance to get them =[ my dress sold though!


We made sure to be at the stage for the fashion show, although it was soooo busy that we were stuck right at the back where we could barely see! And then my camera ran out =| so all my photos were blurry and it became too slow to catch people when they were posing!


Afterwards we wandered again, and took photos! I was glad that we were able to go outside for fresh air every now and then, which also gave me a rest from my bags (they were soooo heavy, the day after I was barely able to move my arms!). The day was so sunny and warm!


Monika, myself, Amy, Bexy, Ziggi.


And again, but with a panda =P


We each got our bows tied by the cute lady on the Baby, the Stars Shine Bright stall! There were some gorgeous things for sale, but their prices had been bumped up by around 40%! There was an Alice and the Pirates brocade JSK I fell in love with, but I can't afford a £300 dress right now =[

When I went to collect my money from the bring and buy, I saw these cute two-way clips made of foam! I really wanted the swan one but couldn't justify the spend...but I really want to make some foam things myself now =3


In the end, we left at around 3.30pm. I got a lift back with Lloyd, Bexy, and Amy. I was sooooo grateful - my train wasn't until 9.30pm as I thought everyone would stay until the end of the event! We'd already exhausted our browsing possibilities, wallets, and ourselves though. We had Burger King on the way back =P

Here are the things I picked up throughout the day!


Flyers!


Magazines. I was hoping the main stall would have Keras, but it didn't...so I had to splash out on a GLB! I couldn't resist the Popteen either (oops, backwards in this pic). I bought them as soon as I arrived, which was just as well since they both sold out, but they were so heavy and it meant I blew £30 as soon as I entered! The Keras were from the bring and buy. I wanted more, but there was no way I could have carried any more than I did! I also bought a glow-in-the-dark blind bag Pinkie Pie from the My Little Pony stall. I don't get why there was one as MLP isn't Japanese...but not as weird as the punk in the fashion show (he wasn't even wearing Japanese brands, so he couldn't have been more British!).


Totally cute Wonder Story rings made by Kyra! Eeek they were so expensive though...I assumed they were £5 as that label was much closer to them than the £10 label =| I managed to snap the little bunny off on my bag when I was wearing it, so I have to buy some decent glue so I wear the cute little guy again!


I also got some gifts from my friends ♥

When I got back home I was so exhausted, but got excited when I saw a big pile of packages outside my door! I thought I'd share the cute things here since they tie in to the Japan-themed day. I also had some velvet leggings and a velvet skirt.



Book of Clow! I've wanted one since I was a child. My dad tried to buy me one once, but they would go for ridiculous prices on eBay! I lucked out and found this one for a mere £14 =D


Creamy Mami tee from RetroMagicStore. The print is odd as she looks like she has cuts all over her, but you only notice it close-up.

I had a really good day, although I'm still recovering from it now! Did anyone else go too?

Fairy-Kei Day 24 ~ Motif

☆ Day twenty-four: Your favourite motif.

There are a lot of motifs I like, though at the moment I'm loving the whole bats and bones thing. I was going to buy some tights and a bow of this motif from KawaiiGoods, but they both disappeared while I was waiting for my question about preorders to be answered *sigh* So as it stands, I don't have anything with bats on at the moment.



Outside of fairy-kei my favourtie motif is birds!

Fairy-Kei Day 23 ~ FOOD

☆ Day twenty-three: 10 of your favourite foods.

Blahhh I love a lot of food, so this will be tricky! Damn, I'm getting hungry already and I haven't even listed anything yet!

In no particular order...

• Spaghetti bolognese - my mum makes a really good one which I've made in the past too. Can't beat a good Quorn bolognese with generous helpings of cheese!
  
  


• Cheese on toast - I used to eat it for breakfast every day but am trying to cut down because it was making me put on weight! So delicious though. My favourite is Milk Roll break with Monterey Jack cheese on as it goes so crunchy and omnomnom.
  
  


• Jelly Tots - one of my favourites from when I was a kid, although I only ever have them around Christmas when they are available in big tubes.
  
  


• Onion rings - since places used to be bad for veggie food, I often found myself having onion rings and fries wherever I ate out...at least they're delicious!
  
  


• Bourbon Creams - the best biscuits for dunking into cups of tea.
  
  


• Skittles - I was addicted these for a while, but I had to stop eating them since they put my calorie intake up to 3000 a day haha.
  
  


• Cabbage - a lot of people hate it, but that just means more for me! I only like the white kind though.
  
  


• Raspberries - berries are the tastiest fruits, raspberries are especially sweet and delicious.
  
  


• Chocolate - Cadbury's is probably the best, especially Easter eggs! I love white chocolate too though.
  
  


• Thai Sweet Chili Sensations - I love crisps, and these are the best-tasting ones!
  
  

Phew, time for lunch now!

Fairy-Kei Day 22 ~ Most Expensive

☆ Day twenty-two: The most expensive thing you’ve ever bought.


Must be my Sugary Carnival JSK! I won't even say how much it was ^_^'

Fairy-Kei Day 21 ~ Anime

☆ Day twenty-one: 5 of your favourite cartoons.

I'm just going to list anime here as there aren't really any cartoons I watch (although I'll always love Fairly Odd Parents!).

No particular order.

• Cardcaptor Sakura - this will ALWAYS be my favourite anime. It was the first anime I watched subbed as I wanted to rewatch Cardcaptors (I used to get up at 7am to watch it originally...which speaks volumes) and the dub wasn't available. If it weren't for this anime, I'd have never had any interest in Japan. I loved Pokémon and Digimon before it, but I was more into the games than the animes. So for me, Cardcaptor Sakura is the one that started it all! It's also kidna responsible for me discovering lolita and other Japanese fashions, because the battle costumes are sooooo cute!
  
  


• Sailor Moon - I'm actually only half way through watching this as subbed episodes disappeared! I only have a couple hours left on the download though so I can carry on. It's not the best anime, but it's a biggie. And I just love magical girl shows ^_^'
  
  


• Creamy Mami - I only watched a few episodes starting this week, but I love it already! And it's like 30 years old which I find really cool. Although I hope she uses her magic more in later episodes!
  
  


• Yu-Gi-Oh! - I love all the series that I've watched so far, and don't think I can pick a favourite. This show completely passed me by when I was a kid as Pegasus's freaky Millennium eye scared me too much so I couldn't watch it! I'm yet to watch 5Ds or ZeXal yet.
  
  


• Love*Com - Full name Lovely Complex. It's sweet and funny and makes you cry like a baby in places!
  
  

Pretty hard to choose just 5 to talk about, as I realise that I've missed out Death Note, Eden of the East, Mermaid Melody, Nana, etc. But I though of those 5 first so I'm sticking with it =P if you like anime, you should check them all out though! Except maybe Yu-Gi-Oh. I think that may be an acquired taste!

Fairy-Kei Day 20 ~ Future

☆ Day twenty: What do you see in Fairy-Kei in general in the next 5 years?

Hmm I don't really know. I suspect creepy-cute styles will continue to rise, but I guess they could die off instead ^_^'

Hopefully it will continue to evolve though, unlike lolita which is too constrained by ~the rules~.