events lifestyle

Ulzzang Pistol’s GIRLFRIEND Album Launch at Heima Brixton

October 13, 2014

 

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.

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korea seoul travel

Seoul, Korea (June, 2014) – Day One: Hongdae

October 6, 2014

We decided to cap off the day by having our dinner in a good old Korean BBQ restaurant in Hongdae (which is also an abbreviation for Hongik University). Since it’s in the vicinity of the school, you’ll be sure to see much of the youth around the area. Apart from that, Hongdae has also become the ‘go-to’ place for young street performers who aspire to be discovered and become professional artists of their own specialty one day.

(P.S. Please forgive me for the photo quality, since I was only able to use my mobile phone to snap photos during the part of the trip!) Continue Reading

events kawaii ph lifestyle

Kawaii in Manila 2: The First Philippine Kawaii Convention (Event Proper)

September 11, 2014

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!

korea seoul travel

Seoul, Korea (June, 2014) – Day One: Cheonggyecheon Stream + Myeongdong

September 7, 2014

After the quiet and peaceful stroll along the traditional streets of Insa-dong, we decided it was time to take a glimpse of what the hustling and bustling city life of Korea was all about. We had Myeong-dong, the famous shopping strip, listed as our next destination in our itinerary. And as we were still adjusting to the lifestyle of Koreans in relation to public transportation, it was another tiring walk for us from our current spot to the nearest subway station. We still had much of the day ahead of us! Continue Reading

events kawaii ph lifestyle

Kawaii in Manila 2: The First Philippine Kawaii Convention (Pre-Event)

September 4, 2014

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! Continue Reading

seoul travel

Seoul, Korea (June, 2014) – Day One: Arrival + Insa-dong

July 4, 2014

I noticed that I haven’t posted anything in a while. It has honestly been quite busy the past few weeks since a lot of preparations were going on for our trip to Korea. Now recently back from the trip, I am glad to say that I have a ton of things to share with you guys about it!

(By the way, since this will definitely end up being a photo-heavy post, I’ve decided to break down my blog posts by making separate blog posts regarding highlighting events/locations of the trip per day. I’ll eventually be including links to other related blog entries once I’ve completed all of them.)

Our trip was scheduled for five days and four nights on the month of June, which is within the summer season of Korea. We did our research beforehand, and were pleased to find out that the expected climate was very much in our favor, since it was around 23°C (similar to Tagaytay in the Philippines) during most of the days of our stay, as compared to the typical scorching 29°-31°C here during the summer in the Philippines. It was also indicated that it was mostly going to be cloudy, with barely any intense heat from the sun.

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events lifestyle

Otaku Magazine (Ozine) Festival April 2014

April 29, 2014

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. Continue Reading

singapore travel

Singapore-Cambodia Field Trip 2011

December 30, 2011

I realized I haven’t posted about this yet, so I thought I better share this with you now, before I forget the details!

Before anything else, I’d just like to apologize for the quality of the photos, since my zoom lens was under repair during the trip, so I had to make do with a prime lens. I had a lot of difficulty capturing things as is, since I had to move forward and backwards on my own. These photos are unedited as well, so again, I apologize for the quality of some photos. But at any rate, please do enjoy!

Our school gives us the privilege to attend international field trips every year. This year, for our subject called History of Architecture (HOA), we were offered the opportunity to visit the ancient ruins of Cambodia, and the urban areas of Singapore (as a side trip). We only spent one day in Singapore. Since it was just a side trip, we spent it mostly for rushed shopping and opportunities to try their different dishes.

Schoolmates at Changi Airport, Singapore

Our happy bus, with our very friendly tour guide!

It was unfortunately a dark and rainy day, so it was not such a good opportunity for us to take photos of famous buildings while riding the tour bus.

We were given a chance to go along the famous shopping district, Orchard Road, to do some shopping of our own!

Along Orchard Road, there was this famous local ice cream that our professor suggested for us to try. It was this ice cream sandwich that comes in unique flavors, such as green tea, choco mint, red bean, choco chip, etc. Since we were all rushing for shopping during that time, we decided to just eat the ice cream sandwiches for lunch! And I tell you, it was worth it! The ice cream in between the wafers is so solid, that it takes it so long before it actually melts. It made us so much easier for us to eat while walking towards H&M during our limited shopping time! (Sorry if I don’t have a photo of the ice cream!)

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