Harajuku Fashion Walk #22

Passion for Fashion!

The 22nd Harajuku Fashion walk got moved to the 22nd of February (2nd month in Japanese), so we (and you) had the rare pleasure of having two fashion walks in two consecutive months. Usually only every other month, Junyan decided to move the 22nd Fashion walk to the 22nd of February. The date explains why really. I was glad I had the chance to join again, without having to wait two months.

I arrived early and prepared for the day with cake and cards

This time there was so much fun and colourful footage, I decided to make a really generous directors cut, and pretty much all scenes in and some of them in full length. You can now see how much stricter I usually am, because this video is double the length of my usual videos.

Watch the funky colourful fashion video here:


What you might have spotted during the video:
1)Junyan
2)Haruka Kurebayashi
3)Great Weather

What you might not know:
1) This meet was on a Saturday, even though they are usually on Sundays
2) Haruka Kurebayashi is a model, designer and artist, often appearing in KERA magazine
3) The tv crew at the beginning was from a French TV programme

I have to mention again how incredibly kind Junnyan and Haruka Kurebayashi are. Haruka Kurebayashi kept playing with the kids that came to the fashion walk, Junyan took his time for all of us and they supported the filming a lot. Junyan himself approached me about the message for Mexico, which again shows how kind he is. I hope the Harajuku Fashion Walk in Mexico will be a full success!

I actually have caught a pretty bad flu this week (4 days of high fever) and was really glad that I was just about able to go and take part at the fashion walk. Hopefully I will be back to my 100% soon!
Until then, I gotta wrap up and keep warm. And so should you by the way! Winter is not quite over yet!

This is the less-decora version of the outfit, on arrival back home

I had many error messages with Sony Vegas again today, so I might have to start using a new programme soon if this keeps happening. It also made the quality of the video suffer a lot. Thanks to that I am editing since 5 pm and it's now 2:13 am - past a sick person's bed time! And I just realised I wrote Junnyan's name in the video with only one N ... oh no (T-T) I hope he will forgive me. I really need to catch up on lost sleep now.
So off to sleep now!

Have a great start into the new week guys!

x
Cat

50 Ways to say I love you and more

Valentine's day 2014 just rushed past, and I thought a lot what kind of Valentine's special I could do for my channel to make my lovely challenger subbies happy.

I had planned a totally different video to be honest, but the newly arrived snow chaos this weekend made it impossible to go outside.
Remember how I said last week that snow was rare? It's become quite a state now, cars are stuck, people are injured and the train times are all over the place. So a trip to Tokyo was out of the question.

I still want to make a Valentine video though, to tell my subbies that I love them!.... Wait! I got the idea! Let's tell them I love them!

So that's how the video got created! To get the full love from me to you, click on the link below:



What you might have seen in the video:
There are 5 different personalities
Google Plus makes a short guest appereance
Lots of different styles

What you might not know:
There are actually more than 50 ways in the video
Some rather famous movie lines in there, can you spot them?
I love you more than cake is a large compliment from a Lolita.

Actually confessing my love to the camera was a lot harder than I thought it would be. I kind of got a little flustered and took my time to get into it. I hope the result will be fun to watch nevertheless.

Google Plus was actually not supposed to pop up in the first place, but my camera ran out of space and the end of the Asuka (red hair) take was cut off. So I had to make do with something new, made more space on my SD card and said the same lines again as Google Plus Girl.

Unfortunately one part got cut out too: "Tell people you love them in German! It scares the hell out of them!!" I have seen that as a meme, and thought it really funny. I had to giggle every time I said it in German, it kind of tickles to say it.

 

 

Moe Moe Kyun!

Hope you had a nice Valentine's day! If you have someone you care about, I hope you could see that person that day, or at least write a message. If you don't have a special someone, I hope you still had a great day, with lots of sweets. Love youself, love the things you do, do the things you love!

x
Cat

Alice in Wonderland themed Bakery Antique

When I imagine a Bakery, I imagine a large display counter with bread and cake, and maybe a fridge in the corner for some fresh milk.
The Bakery "Antique" however felt like a cafe and a family restaurant all into one.
Why?
Well, first of all, it was located next to a main street, with a large parking space like all restaurants do.

But something about the melting chocolate over the entrance enticed my cute cafe lover's heart and so I stepped closer to get a better look at the said "bakery".

Doughnuts doorknobs!

 Upon approaching the door, the design of the shop was so much Alice in Wonderland, that I wondered if this was just a themed cafe

The white rabbit was a re-occurring symbol

Once inside however, I was greeted by the open display of bakery goods and some trays and tongs. You pick your own tray and tongs, walk around and then select the sweet baked goodies you like. It's like a self-service bakery type, or one of those "bakery supermarkets" that are recently popular in Europe. The baked goods however looked absolutely sweet and tasty:

There was a secret entrance and exit for kids to go through behind the goods

The glass case was empty but still decorated nicely

Who would like a cute worm bread?

Special of the month: Green tea and rice cake bread-doughnuts with chocolate. The most tasteful combi EVER!

 At the counter you can order some hot drinks with your baked goods, which made it seem more than ever like a cafe to me. Just like a self-service cafe. I selected a hot chocolate and went to find my seat. But guess what, the seats had doughnut pillows and there were heart and card patterns on the tables!

So cozy!

My daily food haul. The rabbit card is a membership stamp card.

Coffee and Tea is on refill, all other drinks are just one-serving only. Customers however do not receive their baked goods on plates, but in little cute bread baskets, which is a charming twist to the whole bakery idea.
The green tea bread was so delicious, I am still dreaming about it sometimes. Unfortunately it was a limited edition for January, so I think it has been changed to something new by now.

Card-chandelier and doughnut chairs!

 The interior was quite spacious and left room for quite a lot of guests to visit.

☆REVIEW of Antique☆

☆☆PLUS☆

☆Alice themed interior

☆Interesting choices of bread

☆drinks on re-fill

☆secret tunnel

☆lots of space  

★★MINUS★★

★self-service

★mostly normal design on the baked goods, so cute faces etc are rare

★near a busy road

★★OVERALL SUMMARY★★

 Can I go there every day please?

Prices are good, you will always find a seat and the quality of the bakery was really good.

I like how it combines cafe and bakery and even adds a bit of a theme touch to it.

I vote for the staff to wear Alice in wonderland dresses. But then again, that would probably make the prices go up again. Possibly good for large Lolita meets, but maybe not comfy enough for smaller ones, because there is nothing close by and once you finished eating that's kind of it. I wish there was an Antique branch my way to work, I would love to have a coffee there before going to hunt the white rabbit.

Thanks for reading

x

Cat 

Lolita Snowman

Why make a Lolita Snowman?

The weekend an unusual phenomena hit Japan: Snow.
While snow is generally seen in Northern areas such as Hokkaido, the Kanto region including Tokyo, has not seen this much snow in 15-40 years.
People were urged to stay inside their houses. Why?
Most areas do not have the snow clearing system that countries of colder temperatures have, because it was simply not necessary to have one.
So the streets and the passageways remained uncleared while the snow kept falling.

The snow fell pretty heavily all of a sudden, and the weight of the snow tore down the whole sunroof of the nearest bakery. Furthermore, some electric lines took damage and some people had to sit in the rooms without electricity. That would not be as bad if you have central heating: but think twice! There is no central heating in most houses because it usually never gets that cold. Most people heat with electricity and some with gas. Which means the people that head with electricity, like one of my friends, had to live without light, heat and internet for up to 20 hours.

The next day, it was simply beautiful outside. The sun came out and it got relatively warm and I layered up my loli layers and ventured outside. After all, I don't think the chance to make a snowman in Japan will come around that quickly again.

The video of my Lolita snowman is here:

Fashion:
Fashion wise, I am wearing Baby the Stars Shine Bright Gothic lolita JSK together with a AP Kodona jacket (the trousers were so small, they won't even fit my youngest cousin, so at least the top gets some use out of it). The hat I bought at Disney Land Tokyo a while back but I was glad for the warmth it gave me. The wind got stronger during filming, so my hair was a bit of a mess.

What you might have seen in the video:
I am taking this video in a park
I forgot to bring eyes
It's practically not a snowman but a snowlady

What did not make the final cut:
As you would guess, even in Japan, a Lolita will draw attention to herself, making a snowman all by herself. So pretty quickly I had the attention of a group of boys in the park who were making their own igloo. They were actually the ones who shouted encouragement.

 There was a rather large part where I had to explain them why I am filming and the name of my channel. Reminded me how long my channel name is, I guess it's hard to remember.

But why make a snowman? Because life, that's why. It's short, it's cold but you can make something fun and pretty out of it. Some people call it Yolo, I say Carpe Diem.
Make the most of the moment, you never know when it will come back round. If you want to make a snowman now, it's either melted or ice. Sometimes you have to take a chance as it offers itself to you.
I am glad I made a snowman! Hope you all never forget your inner child!

See you next year Lolita Snowman! If there is enough snow that is...

Love what you do - Do what you love!!!

x
Cat

Subway Cafe Amanti: chocolate delight!

Right in the buzzing subway of Ikebukuro station you can find a piece of Europe. Cafe Amanti, located in the maze of subway hallways, gives you the chance to flee the rush and have a quick moment of rest and the illusion of time.

Once walking through the wooden door you are greeted by European inspired interior. A bar with a waiter polishing a glass with a towel makes you feel like you are watching a movie. Sitting down, the smart looking waiter comes over and presents you with the menu.
On the door a sign that had praised their hot chocolates has caught your attention and so the choice will be their special hot chocolate.
Even the wet towel and the coasters carry the logo of the cafe. Attention to detail that i appreciate.

Once the hot chocolate arrives you take a moment to marvel at the thick and dark brown colour, decorated with a white cream swirl. The colour of the drink already tells you that there is a higher cocoa content compared to the average hot chocolate. One sip and your tastebuds pick up rich and strong chocolate flavour. Where some hot chocolates taste milky, Amanti's tastes of dark chocolate.
But that is not the only thing trained cafe lovers will pay attwntion to. Looking around you, the person next to you has another delicate teacup with yet another design, different to yours. Even the bill has been customised for amanti customers.

**Quick review of Cafe Amanti**
PLUS
+Nice interior, you will even forget you are in the subway area of Ikebukuro station
+gorgeous and rich hot chocolate
+ lovely attention to detail in their branding
MINUS
-It seems a little small, so before going there with larger groups you might want to check for seats
- It seems quite posh, so going there in fancy fashion or lolita fashion might earn you some strange looks
A quick stop, a quick moment in a movie europe, is what amanti offers its customers. Classy and a little bit posh, amanti is worth a visit if you want to forget the busy day for a moment.

Have a great Setsubun!

Ehomaki are sushi rolls that you eat on February 3rd in Japan. You have to eat them while facing this years "lucky direction", preferrably in silence. I wanted to include them in yesterdays Setsubun video, but in my area they only get sold on the day itself. So here is a picture of it.
Happy Setsubun guys!

Bean showers! 豆まき! Tomorrow is "Setsubun 2014" in Japan

You might want to watch your head tomorrow, while walking through Japan, it's SETSUBUN 「節分」!  Setsubun is a tradition that happens on February the third in Japan.

Here is my interpretation/explanation of the event:



You might have noticed 3 things in this video:

1) There is a Korilakkuma (yellow coloured bear friend of Rilakkuma) in the video
2) I am wearing Angelic Pretty's Candy Sprinkle from my Candy Sprinkle unboxing video
3) I am throwing the beans ... possibly by myself. lol. Not looking to clever there, haha.

You will win extra amazing brownie points if you have realised:

1) I am wearing a new wig. It melts pink and blonde

AP Candy Sprinkle selfie

2) I am wearing a pink macaroon on my bow

Oh no it's an oniiiii!

3) Psst, behind me there was a white dress and it's my buy of the week. (I might do a thrift shopping video for you soon=)

Pssst! Secret!

Other things to say about Setsubun that didn't make the director Cat cut:

☆ There is a sushi roll that gets eaten silently while being turned into the "lucky direction" of the year. I have never seen anyone do it, but I have eaten the roll before.

☆ Certain shrines hold special ceremonies, where the beans get thrown at a crowd.

☆ While the red mask symbolises the "oni" = devil, the white mask is usually for lady luck.

That's it for today! I sometimes threw beans on Setsubun in the UK, just for fun, on Setsubun. No harm to try for more luck in the new year, right?! If you wanna try it, make sure you don't hit bypassers!
Happy Setsubun everyone!

Love
x
Cat