こんにちは！ 👋 This coming April 30, 2016, @kawaii_ph will be having their very first Kawaii Market–a market purely for original arts and crafts! (Support local!)
I’ll be selling my original artworks, limited edition signed art prints, some nifty mystic/dreamy/magical watercolor stickers + etc. for the very first time!
Entrance is only 50 PHP! Hope you guys can come to support! 💗💖
I cannot remember the exact moment when I started to fall in love with dream pop music. Perhaps, it was also during the time my love for Japan and the kawaii culture began to develop even more than it already has. I believe these are the things that slowly made me realize that these influences have greatly affected me into becoming who I am today—someone who feels even freer to express her creativity, along with the growing drive to share that creativity with others.
Last October 11, 2014, I was pleased to have the opportunity to find out about the album launch of a good friend of the Kawaii PH Community, Zeon Gomez (AKA Ulzzang Pistol). In all honesty, I did not know much about Ulzzang Pistol, up until maybe two weeks ago (although, I did start hearing about him during Kawaii in Manila 2’s promotional days) through a new-found inspiring friend named Kaila Ocampo, who is also one of the founders behind the Kawaii PH community.
Having been able to attend Kawaii in Manila 2: The FirstPhilippine Kawaii Convention felt like such a dream. I still can’t believe I was finally able to experience such an event! Even prior to the launch of the KIM2 convention, having discovered about Kawaii PH and its advocacy really made me feel like I truly ‘belonged.’
It really is an event of great sentimental value to me, and I am very thankful for the passionate and hardworking team behind Kawaii PH to have made such a wonderful event possible. I continue to look forward to how Kawaii PH will progress in spearheading the kawaii culture in the Philippines!
It was very apparent that the attendees had a strong inclination to the kawaii culture. You could tell that everyone had their personal taste and preference in Japanese-influenced fashion–from gyaru, lolita, fairy kei, mori kei, wa, decora, and many more! Personally, I have a strong inclination to gyaru, and Japanese street fashion (more on the fairy kei approach), so I went to the event with that style in mind.
Apart from the fashion, the event also had a lot of other kawaii factors to offer, such as art exhibits, workshops, clothing stores, makeup stores, and the like.
NOTE: (I would like to apologize for the quality of the photos as I was only able to use my cellphone to snap photos during the event.)
The kawaii art exhibit had such diverse styles to offer, so I found it a pleasant experience to go through the exhibited artworks. I wasn’t able to take photos of all the works, but here are a handful of them:
Apart from the art exhibit, I also enjoyed shopping through the stalls that were present during the event. One of which that I was pleased to see was the Lucypop Japan brand, wherein they allowed the attendees to try on their seifukus (uniforms). What I actually really like about Lucypop Japan is their Japanese school bags. Unfortunately, they weren’t selling any of their products, but I was glad to have been able to see their products in actual.
Apart from featuring a Japanese brand such as Lucypop Japan, there was also a fashion show wherein Japanese Harajuku brands were featured. Brands included were: FUNKTIQUE, PUNK CAKE, etc. I actually missed the fashion show, but I was able to see some photos of it online. So, if you’re interested on how the fashion show went, I am sorry to say that I was not able to cover it. But, I’m sure there are a lot of other photos of it somewhere on Instagram. Just use their hashtag: #kawaiiinmanila2 !
In relation to clothing stores, I was able to take photos of some of the other stores that were present during the convention. Here are some of them:
I really love Dolly Wink‘s products! I was able to buy a new eyeliner, and an eyebrow mascara from them. ♥
Mimiclaire Sweets was also present during the convention. I absolutely adore their decora phone cases! ♥
The newly-launched Rainbowholic Cafe was also present during the event! I find the cafe concept very charming, and I hope it will further develop to its entire intended vision! ♥
I missed out on most of the activities and workshop, but the tarpaulin below pretty much manifests the groups/parties that have participated in order to have made the other activities possible:
I actually arrived almost close to the end of the event, but even in that short amount of time, I had a great fill of the kawaiii experience! I managed to snap a photo of the adorable stage set-up after the program ended:
Although I would have wanted to have experienced the event longer than I actually did, I am still truly happy that I was able to partake in such an event. It really is such a dream! ♥
Again, I am so very grateful to the Kawaii PH team for making this event possible. It truly was a huge success. I can also say that this has posed as a milestone for them for future events. I am very sure that a bright future is ahead of them for their future plans for their projects, events, and activities. In line with that, I do hope that they will plan a Kawaii in Manila 3 in the near future! hahaha!
Cheers to Kawaii PH and Kawaii in Manila 2!
It’s difficult for me to contain my excitement about this since I’ve been waiting practically my entire life for an event such as this to occur! I am used to hearing about cosplay conventions, comic conventions, and toy conventions, but their event lineups, exhibits, and other gimmicks never quite fit exactly where all my interests related to Japanese culture lie. Fortunately, all thanks to the hard work of the team from Kawaii PH, the dream of finally being able to attend an event where all my interests in Japanese culture, especially those related to fashion, art, pop culture, and the like, can finally converge into a single spectacular event that is Kawaii in Manila 2: The First Philippine Kawaii Convention!
Cosplay conventions have been highly popularized in the Philippines for quite some time now. Japan’s influence on our country has also long been apparent from the multitude of animes that have been featured on our television channels within the past several years (or even decades, maybe). I remember the first ever cosplay convention I have ever attended was at around year 2008 or so, but up until now, Japanese culture still continues fascinate me and still remains as a strong influence on my art and fashion.
The Otaku Magazine Festival (a.k.a. Ozine Fest) is one of the biggest cosplay conventions that has been held in the Philippines for quite some time now. For this particular event, it was scheduled to run from April 25 until April 27, 2014 at SMX Convention Center in Pasay City. I attended it with my sister on the last day, which was on April 27.
One factor my sister and I overlooked on the day itself was that cosplay conventions were no longer the same as before (say, about seven to eight years ago) where it was not as difficult to get a ticket. So, on the day itself, we were faced with one of the longest lines we have ever seen! The line stretched to almost halfway around the building! We decided to take a stroll around the mall first, since the Mall of Asia was adjacent to the convention center anyway. Well, we didn’t want to end up lining up for tickets under the scorching sun! Especially because it has been particularly hot this summer in the Philippines.