Magnology 2017 - Sunday

On Sunday was the Tea Party. We had to get up reeeally early because the event already started at 10 am D: However the staff of AP arrived only at 11 am because they wanted to sleep longer xD

When entering, everyone got a pink tote bag with a button, AP postcards and some flyers from indie brands (picture on the bottom). After a short welcoming we had brunch with a very delicious buffet! The brunch was great idea because I surely didn't had time to eat breakfast.

Afterwards we had some free time so I watched the Taiko group. I would love to play Taiko as well haha.

My outfit (this picture was also featured in the newest Kawaii.i episode, watch it here: https://www.instagram.com/p/BWP9xWxHvmT/?taken-by=ivypanduh)

Then we headed to the bus to drive to a ship. We took a cruise with a historical ship. It was really nice because I didn't had time at all to do sightseeing in Hamburg, so at least I could do something during the Tea Party haha. The staff was very nice and loved our outfits. We also got cake and coffee, tea and soft drinks as much as we wanted. There was also a lot of time and opportunities to talk to the AP staff... if you could speak japanese haha. The cruise was 3 hours but after 1,5 hours it already got a little boring and I wished I had a card game with me (I even brought one to play at the train but of course I left it at the hotel >_<).

Maki and Asuka wrote in the guest book of Court of Fables (picture by ncvs2b)

My outfit at the ship (sorry for bad shoes and bad hair, we had to wear flat shoes and it was very windy)

After the cruise we drove back to the venue and we had the raffle and best dressed competition. They had nice prizes but not as many as at the Tea Parties in Paris. Everyone who didn't won something (like me) still got a present which was a small towel and a postcard. Actually I needed a new towel to put in my handbag so it's really nice that I have one from AP now :D
For the outfit competition Maki and Asuka chosed their favorite 2 outfits.
Then the Tea Party was over and we left very soon as we didn't had a lot of time to catch our train back home.

Items from the tote bag, raffle prize etc.

The event was so lovely and amazing, I'm sad that it is over *sniff* I hope next year they have another Lolita event but I don't think so (because it is mainly an Anime, Manga & Gaming convention) ^^'

Thank you for reading,
Miuko~ <3

MaGnology 2017 - Friday & Saturday

Around 3 weeks ago I visited the MaGnology convention in Hamburg, Germany. The reason was Angelic Pretty ♥ They had a 3-day event there and it was amazing! We could spend 3 days with AP including Maki, Asuka, Ms. Honda and Aya (Shinjuku store manager). The event had a relaxed atmosphere, no competition-feeling you sometimes have at big events. And also a lot of time to meet new people!

~*~ Friday ~*~
On Friday we arrived quite early in Hamburg and also around 1 hour before opening time at the venue because we wanted to be one of the first people at the AP booth :D. However a friend already sneaked into the venue and told us that AP only had dresses with them because one package was still in german customs... I was a little bummed because I didn't really wanted to buy any dresses, I wanted to buy tons of accessories :(.
Then the convention also started too late; guests with Lolita VIP tickets were supposed to have 30min early access, but in the end we had to wait more than 30min for the opening. However we were let in earlier into the "Lolita tent". Yes there was a special Lolita tent where only people with a Lolita ticket had access to, and it was really nice because everyone could sit down at a table and we had a buffet with cookies, fruits, vegetables and drinks all day long!
When we were finally allowed to visit the Angelic Pretty booth, people literally started to run to the booth to get the best stuff. But since we already knew they didn't had any acessories, we didn't run and instead took advantage of the buffet :D

After eating a little we visited the AP booth and as expected we didn't bought anything. (However they had 3 Lucky Packs which also didn't arrived, but in the evening I found out that we could reserve them. I reserved 2 or them, but since the package still didn't arrived Saturday evening, we had the possibility to gave the money back, which I did).
Then we visited all the other booths at the convention and had for example a nice conversation with a guy who sells japanese stamps, because my friend wanted to buy one. He gave us a mini-lecture about Kanji (japanese signs) and loved our Lolita outfits.

There weren't many visitors that day (probably because most people had to work) so we could take a look at all booths very comfortably. I think we spend the whole day looking at booths, talking and also waiting in the tent for the storm to be over D: (there was a little storm that took around 1 hour and it was super windy and rainy). Because of the bad weather, a program point with Angelic Pretty was moved to the next day.

booth from Court of Fables (german Lolita club)

My outfit - sorry for bad photoshop xD

~*~ Saturday ~*~
On Saturday we wanted to sleep longer but the Q&A and Meet&Greet with Maki and Asuka was moved to the next morning, so we had to arrive quite early again. The Q&A started and first the organizers asked some interesting questions they prepared beforehand. Afterwards the audience could ask some questions and I asked 2 hehe. I tried to write down the answers in my phone so here is some information:

- How long does it take to create a dress from the first idea to the final version? 
=> 1 year

- What are your favorite print themes? 
=> Maki: prints with Ponys (she loves Sugary Carnival)
=> Asuka: prints with strawberries

- What do you think was the most popular dress / print among your costumers that you have ever released? 
=> Misty Sky

- What do you like as a designer of AP the most?
=> Maki: going to events and see how everyone is coordinating the items
=> Asuka: going to events and see new creative outfits

- If you wouldn't have become a designer (of AP), what would you have done instead?
=> Maki: would have become an artist
=> Asuka: would have become a desinger for a different clothing style

- What do you like about Lolita the most? 
=> Maki: that you can be what you want
=> Asuka: that you can be a princess and that you can wear everything the way you like

- How do you think Lolita changed over the years?
=> Maki: Lolita became more mature
=> Asuka: nowdays you can create more different Lolita styles

- What is the difference between japanese and western Lolitas? 
=> western Lolitas create more invidual outfits with own ideas and self-made accessories

our amazing translator Mimi from the JStore Hamburg who helped out the whole weekend

Afterwards we could take pictures with Maki and Asuka.

I would have liked it better if we could take pictures while standing, here we sit so far away from them haha but this way is probably more comfortable for them if they have to take pictures with tons of people

Then there was a Taiko (japanese drum) workshop which I wanted to attend. It had already started during the Q&A, but luckily they had a free spot so I could join half-way haha. It was really fun (but too easy for me haha).

Of course we also checked out the Angelic Pretty stall. One staff member from the Paris store came all the way to Hamburg that day and brought a lot of accessories with her. Before the convention I told myself I'm not going to buy stuff if it is from the Paris store because it is so expensive, but guess what, I directly bought 4 items for waaay too much money haha.

I also bought the postcards from Magnology as a memory

In the afternoon there was a little performance with a Shamisen x Piano. It was really interesting because I never heard a Shamisen irl before. After the performance the player also took the Shamisen apart. She told that even in Japan it is very rare that people can see this, so it was a very exclusive view (so exclusive I forgot to take a picture of it haha).

Afterwards there were 2 Angelic Pretty fashion shows. The first one was at the main stage, and the second one in the Lolita tent. The second one was supposed to have 2 dresses that nobody have seen before (but I don't know which ones, I feel I have seen all of them before haha).

That's it for the first 2 days of the MaGnology. In the next post I will write about the AP Tea Party :)

Not all pictures were taken by me. All photographers that wanted to be credited:
https://www.facebook.com/Design.LSH/

Thank you for reading,
Miuko~ <3

Bring & Buy event

Last weekend I visited a Bring & Buy event which was organized by some local Lolitas. Unfortunately I totally forgot to take any pictures during the event, but the reason is because I just had so much fun and was constantly talking to people or looking through the items! So the only picture you get is one of my purchases ^^'''

I just want to describe the event. There were around 30-40 people and we had sooo much stuff for sale. I felt like in Closed Child haha. If I didn't wanted to save up money for some Lolita events next year, I surely would have bought a lot. But at the end of the event there was still a lot of stuff available. I think more people came to sell rather than to buy. But for me it was a success, I could sell 2 dresses and 1 pair of pants which just didn't fit me well.

Besides shopping, we also had cupcakes, cakes, tea and coffee, and there were tables where you could sit down and have a good talk to people.

I liked that the event pulled many Lolitas who either don't go to meet-ups often or who live far away. So it was really nice for me too meet old friends or new girls from my own city.

Of course I have to show you my purchases now: a bunny headbow from AP, a Gosurori and a GLB Boudoir.

Thank you for reading,
Miuko~ <3

Berlin - Urban Fairytale event

Hello dears!

Last weekend I travelled to Berlin for the Urban Fairytale event. I decided it quite spontaneously after the event in Amsterdam, because I was a little sad that I didn't had any other Lolita events I could look forward to (back then the AP Tea Party wasn't announced yet). But I only wanted to go if it would be cheap, and I saw a girl selling her sunday ticket cheaper than the original price, so I only visited the sunday event and not both days.


SATURDAY
On Saturday I travelled together with Mabu and we needed 5 hours by train. We arrived around 2pm and after dropping my luggage at the hotel, we met with some other Lolitas (who also wanted to only visit the sunday event) and went to the J-Store. The shop is quite small, but it has a good selection of Lolita magazines (of course overpriced but still 2€ cheaper than the shops in Düsseldorf xD) and it even sells a few Lolita items from Innocent World and Angelic Pretty, and J-fashion items from Milklim and Ragtag (overpriced as well). But it has a very awesome thing which is a Purikura machine!!! Mabu and I decided to use it, and as visitors from the Urban Fairytale event, we even got 2€ discount. So we paid a total of 6€, which I think is a very good price. I also bought an Angelic Pretty magazine there and a small towel (in Japan you can buy them everywhere, however I didn't found any cute ones for such a cheap price).

In the store we also met Quini, with who I shared my hotel room. Then we continued our way to Uniqlo. My friend really wanted to see it because it is a japanese brand, however it is not what you would expect (most people hope it's like Liz Lisa, but it's more like H&M, even less fancy). Since we were hungry, we visited a japanese restaurant. Then we wanted to get refreshed and went back to the hotel. In the evening, Quini, Mabu and me met again to drink some cocktails. In the bar was a Martini promoter, so we got a Martini drink for free hehe.

SUNDAY
On Sunday it was finally time for the event. Since we had to check out from the hotel quite early, we had time to kill and decided to already go to the location of the event and take some pictures. We also met some other Lolitas there who had to check out early, so we spend almost the whole time taking pictures. Then I got a little hungry and decided to quickly grab an icecream before the event.

Finally the event started and we were allowed to enter. Everyone got a goodie bag, even non-VIP ticket holders, so I got a cute Btssb necklace! My first stop was the dealers room and after greeting my friends who also sold there, I directly went to Moon Bunny for their incredible cute items! I had a hard time to decide what NOT to buy, since I wanted to buy everything! But I only want to buy things I can use for outfits I already own, so I bought a mermaid bunny bag-chain, and later I went back to the stall and bought cookie bunny earrings and a necklace.

The dealers' room, there were more stalls behind me

Then I went to the Btssb stall to admire all the items. I expected they would only bring left-overs and sell it for really high prices like in the Paris shop, but actually they brought a nice selection of dresses and sold most of the stuff for really good prices (e.g. Kumya-chan JSK 28000 Yen costed 214€, which is even better than the current exchange rate! In Paris it costs 322€). Otherwise they didn't brought that much stuff, a lot of flower-veil headpieces, some socks and a little jewellery. To my surprise they even brought several Usakumya bags, and I was so happy, because I looove Usakumya!!! It was the only item which didn't had such a good price, but still cheaper than in Paris, and I really wanted one. But I only brought a little amount of money with me, because I spent enough money the last weeks and I'm bad at handling it. BUT later during the event, I came back to the stall and asked if I can only pay with cash, and then they told me I can also pay with Paypal!!! I was sooo happy that I could add another Usakumya to my family *o*

I bought the small one on the right *o*

The first program point was the Btssb fashion show. It was nice to see and I think they also showed some dresses which are not released yet. After this the indie brand fashion show started. I already knew some of the outfits from the Amsterdam fashion show, but this time the chairs were really close to the stage and the light was really good, so I could see more details of the outfits and admire the quality even more!

Then it was time for the Bring&Buy, the most important program point xD. It was very well organized, they only let in a few people at a time, and they had enough hangers for all the dresses. Since I didn't wanted to make any big purchases I mostly looked at the accessories, but there weren't many of them. However I brought two items for sale myself and I was happy that I could sell both of them! I saw many girls leaving the Bring&Buy happily, so I think it was a great success.

The Bring & Buy

Since I got a little hungry again, I decided to get two of the tiny cupcakes and a drink. Everyone got a coupon for 1 free drink, but non-VIP ticket holders had to pay for the food. However it was quite cheap, 1€ for a piece of cake, 0.70€ for a tiny cupcake, and 0.80€ for additional drinks.

Then I was just wandering around the rooms, when I saw that you could take pictures with the Btssb guests. Quickly afterwards the autograph session with the Btssb guests started. I found it sooooo cute that the Btssb model drew a Usakumya with her autograph *o*

Some items from the goodie bag + the autograph

Then I kinda missed some of the program, I just forgot to pay attention to it xD. I missed the outfit competition, most of the Printalicious game and almost the group picture haha. And then the event was already over!

My purchases from Btssb and Moon Bunny - yes I love bunnies *o*

All in all the event was very well organized and really great! I think many people were a little sceptical, but now that I visited the event, I regret a little that I only went for one day! There were many stalls to shop from, good prices at the Btssb stall, a well organized Bring&Buy, affordable food, funny games, a good oportunity to take pictures with the guests and get autographs from them, and there was even a photo corner and several photographers to get a nice outfit shot. And the rooms were cool even though it was super hot outside, this was actually my biggest fear.
However there were not that many visitors, I expected around 300 people like in Amsterdam, but it were like 120. And 90% were german, I guess this is why there weren't so many people, because barely any foreingers came.

Btw Sana was also a special guest at the event, but he didn't really had a part in the sunday event, despite being a model in the Btssb fashion show (he is a visual kei music artist).

Thank you for reading,
Miuko~ <3

Paris 2016 - Day 2 - AP Tea Party

I woke up quite early to get ready for the Tea Party. I wanted to wear the dress I bought the day before at the Angelic Pretty store. Many people asked me if I planned to buy my Tea Party outfit at the store or if I decided it spontaneously: I actually planned to find a new dress for the Tea Party, I had another outfit with me but I have worn that dress already last year, so I hoped for something new. And since you can combine nearly every AP dress with pink, I really just swapped the dress of my outfit, everything else stayed the same :D

After I got ready I had two hours left until the Tea Party, I didn't knew what to do so I just went to the AP store to see if I could meet some people I know. And luckily there were some people, so I could talk a little and take outfit pictures. Then I decided to pick up some Macarons from Ladurée because I really wanted to eat some.

Then it was already time to go to the location and after waiting a little we could enter the Tea Party room! The Tea Party started at 13:00h and we were welcomed by the translator and new shop manager of AP Paris. Then we should wait for the fashion show and could use the time to take pictures of the room, outfits etc.

The Tea Party room

Each place with a paper for the outfit competition

A special Pullip which wasn't released yet, but already displayed there

The fashion show should start at 13:30h but it started around 14:00h, so we had to wait very long without doing anything :(. The fashion show was very nice, it was the first time ever we had a big fashion show with many outfits in Paris, however I have to say after a while it got boring, the show was at least 30 minutes? But I liked that it wasn't allowed to take pictures during the show, I find all the mobile phones quite distracting. There were several (professional) photographers who took pictures of everything (not only the fashion show), which I really liked, however I think they will need some weeks to upload any pictures :(. However at the end of the show, we were allowed to take a picture of all models, and we had 30 seconds time for it xD.

Then it was time for food and they brought in a huge cake to celebrate the opening of the store. The cake was completely fake and they didn't even took much effort to make it look somewhat awesome. It looked like they use this fake cake very often xD. Then we got served our piece of cake and some petit fours. Like last year it wasn't that much food and I was lucky that my neightbour didn't liked cake so I could eat hers :D

After this we should all go around and choose our favorite outfit for the best dressed competition.

Then it was already time for the raffle. In the announcement of the Tea Party they wrote "Raffle with presents for everyone", but this was a mistranslation I guess, because they were not prizes for everyone... I also didn't won anything, but at least you still get a small gift, this year it was a postcard.

Then they announced that there is another opportunity to win something. They wanted to play the game "scissors, store, paper" and 5 people could win something. First we should play the game within our table, and the winner then can play against the star guests to win a prize. However nobody understood how you should play that game with 10 people (at least our table didn't). So in the end we just decided that one of us who didn't won anything during the raffle could go.

Some of the raffle prizes (the other ones were tights and small Dolly Cat pouches)

One of the two super special raffle prizes

After this the winners of the outfit competition were announced. I'm not a fan of outfit competitions because everyone puts in a lot of effort, but otherwise it is a pleasure to see how happy the winners are :)

The prizes for the 3 outfit winners

Then the Tea Party was almost over, we took a group picture and everyone got a present. This year we got a special Paris totebag as well as a button and a postcard.

The top 3 items are the presents everyone got; the strawberry postcard was the not-raffle prize xD, the other cards were the Tea Party ticket and outfit competition number

Since I had to catch my train, I had to leave directly and couldn't stay any extra minute, so I couldn't take a picture with Maki and Asuka :(((

On my way home I ate some of my Macarons (nothing special to eat cookies worth 21€ at the train xD).

~*~ Honestly I have to say, I was quite disappointed with the Tea Party this year :( First there wasn't ANY opportunity to take pictures with the special guests. They brought 3 guests (Rinrin Doll, Risa Nakamura, Chikage), but they were only part of the fashion show. Also, there was no opportunity to take pictures with Maki and Asuka. After the Tea Party they came outside but mainly wanted to meet some japanese guys who were also invited to the Tea Party (business partners or something??), but some girls asked them if they could take a picture with them, and they said yes but didn't really smiled in the pictures and looked like they don't really want to take pictures. Also the food was again not a lot (I wonder how 2 years ago they could have sandwhiches, 2 huge real cakes, and tons of petit fours), and the raffle prizes were way worse (even if I didn't won anything I have to say the selection was not that awesome). I'm sure the 85€ was needed for the big room, big stage and big catering for the models, but I expected something really awesome since the Tea Party was advertised as being more special than the years before because of the shop opening, but in reality it just wasn't. Of course I will stay an Angelic Pretty fan, but I hope they can improve again. ~*~

P.S. I don't have a lot of pictures of the Tea Party because I'm waiting for the official pictures, so I will make another post with more pictures.

Under the Sea - Day 3 - Tea Party

On sunday was the Tea Party, which was at the very luxurious Amstel Hotel. I always like to visit such fancy places for the Tea Parties, and I like to watch the reactions of the staff and other guests when they see us xD.

The Tea Party started with a game, where everyone had a card with one half of a print name, and you should search for the matching other half. However the game was over within 20 seconds, because I guess some people had matching cards at their table. The first winners of the game were actually at my table, because the matching cards were right next to each other. They won some japanese and dutch candy.

After this, the hotel staff started to bring the Tea Party food and tea.

After we finished the food, we had a lot of free time, because the Tea Party didn't had a program. Vicky and I decided to get a picture with every special guest. Some people wanted to take a picture with Akira, and suddenly there was a huge line of people waiting to get a Kabedon-like picture with Akira! Haha it was really funny to watch because all girls got embarassed by the poses of Akira, and you constantly heard screaming and laughter xD. I'm not such a fangirl of Akira, but actually I also got embarassed when I took a picture with her, because she came really close to my face, like REALLY close xD. And the best part were the JetJ designers, who were screaming the whole time too and took a picture of literally everyone doing Kabedon with Akira xD.

Generally the atmosphere was really relaxed and I was amazed how relaxed and talkative the special guests were. Often it happens that the guests at such events are reserved and distant because of the language barrier or just because of their character, but the guests really tried to interact with everyone and tried to say something in english! This was what made the Tea Party special, even if it got a little boring inbetween because there was not much program.

The special guests and all the organizers

Some of the special guests - they were so lovely!

When the Tea Party came closer to the end, it was time for the outfit competition and raffle. Every special guest should choose an outfit, and you could really see that some of the guests already thought about before which outfit they want to choose. Others did it more spontaneously, but it was also ok ^^ Of course the most exciting moment was when Akira should choose her favorite outfit, because the special price was Kabedon, and then she went straight to a guy in Kodona, who was quite old, and it was really funny when she did Kabedon with him. Of course the whole room was screaming and laughing when she did it!

There was also a raffle at the Tea Party, and again they had great prizes and also a lot of them. You had at least a 50% chance to win something, but I didn't won anything again. The last action was the group picture, and this time I went to the back, which ended up that I wasn't in the group picture at all haha xD.

After the Tea Party, Vicky and me changed back to our normal clothes, and it was quite funny when some of the guests saw us and said that we look so different, but still kawaii xD. And they even said goodbye to us because we were one of the last people leaving the venue.

Since we had time until our train came, we went to an indonese restaurant to have a traditional Rijsttafel. The staff in the restaurant was really nice and they were wearing the traditional indoese clothes. It was so much food that we left around 1/3 of it, the waiter even had fear that it didn't tasted good for us, but it was just a really big portion, and I don't like to stuff myself.

Then we went to the central station through the shopping disctrict, which was closed because it was sunday, but I have to say Amsterdam really has some amazing stores, if I would knew it before I would have planned a day for shopping xD. I will definitly come back one day for shopping xD. They even had a store with jewellery which is often featured in the GLB!

The Michal Negrin store

When we arrived at the central station, we were waiting in front of the information board for our train to show up, when a staff member came to us and asked us which train we want to take, and then told us that our train was cancelled and the last train to Germany left 1 hour ago. Somehow I really stayed calm, I guess because of the nice event I was still full of positive feelings, and luckily we soon found out that we didn't had to sleep at the central station, just wait until 10 pm for a bus. I was nervous the whole time if the bus will really come (everyone who knows Deutsche Bahn knows how reliable they are), but they actually managed to arrange a bus for us in time, and even a really modern one. The staff told us, that they wrote an e-mail about the cancellation to all passengers a few days before, but I checked my e-mail and I really didn't got one. But in total we were only 12 people in the bus, considering that the train usually carries a few hundred people, we really were the few unlucky ones >_< (However many other Germans had a lot of problems with their trains and hotels too, so there really was a curse over Amsterdam this weekend D: )

I was a little sad that this situation put a negatice ending to our wonderful trip, but when I came home, I found a letter with my tax refund, and I was really happy again :D

Thank you for reading,
Miuko~ <3