San Francisco Japan Town Anime Festival (in all actuality it was a J-Town trip) + Life Updates

More like a J-Town trip actually considering how compact and crowded this event was. I debated making a post on it but I kind of wanted to do for the sake of having something to talk about on this blog. Plus I was with good company and had a couple of good finds/likes during this trip.

I ended up going with my friend Katie and her friend Michelle, who I have met previously on a different adventure a couple of years. We left pretty early and the weather was pretty overcast/cloudy in the Bay Area. I was actually super worried about us being cold but it ended up being fine weather throughout the day.

First off for my look for the festival, I decided to abuse the shit out of the d.i.a dress again. Because of it was a cosplay oriented event, I picked the most costumey outfit I had. Unfortunately you guys have really seen me utilize my d.i.a dress and I'll probably put it away for awhile after this adventure. It was too hard to resist going all crazy. I was told by a fellow gal who follows my instagram that she saw me at the event and I didn't know if I was truly doing rokku gyaru or it was a cosplay. I'm kind of glad that people considered it an in between because that was kind of the point. Nobody ever believes that get-up is d.i.a until I had to lift my skirt up and show the damn tag on the inside. It's a really out there costume-y outfit. It had to be a Halloween item or something. I liked it because I hadn't ever saw anyone wear it and it was purple. I wish I had more accessories or had a cute bra to add to it so I could add a crisscross pattern at the chest or something? I don't know, I've just really liked wearing these past couple of times. It's like the vamp gyaru version of Ghost Town Merrymaking for me. And we know how much I've abused that coordinate. Most likely this might be the last time I wear it in awhile unless I really take advantage of Halloween.... 

For hair and make up I really went all out. I did a couple of things I hadn't done in years in attempt to revive kind of the older style I used to wear. Make up wise this was the first time in two years I wore three sets of top lashes. Ageha 115s, Diamond Lash 'Angel Eye' , and Diamond Lash 'Dolly Eye' all on top. On the bottom was a simple Daiso top lash cut in half and placed backwards. It's a technique I haven't done in a really long while. A lot of people have liked my newer lighter look and I can't deny the magazines and models have influenced my lighter hand. This was really a throw back with lashes, a good Kat Von D foundation watered down with some Mac Fix+ and Nars Illuminator in Super Orgasm mixed together. This look was very close to the one I did in my 'Kera' tutorial save for my decked out lashes, Mac Glitter Pigment in Grey, and a vamp red lip which was Mac's 'Diva'.

Hair wise, I really pulled out everything I had to get this shit to work. I haven't done big teased hair in a really long time. Mainly because my hair is such a mess and I cut it myself so I'm not sure exactly wth to do with it. Teasing it can really get difficult and I gave a really horrible attempt at some sujimori-inspired hair. Clearly it wasn't parted right and the top looked really messy but basically I parted my hair to the side and pulled the back to the front for extra body and started to tease and part. When you have really long thick hair such as mine, it can really really difficult figuring out what goes where and holding multiple bits in place but it worked.

TLDR; I realized why I don't do this crazy of hair and make up anymore. It's uncomfortable borderline painful as hell. It's super difficult to keep it all up especially by the end of the day. I was almost envious of Katie and Michelle because they looked so comfy. -will always over dress- 

Onward with the trip, we first picked up some breakfast where places were open. I have never actually properly gotten to take any of my friends to Benkyodo. Usually it's because they're closed during the event or people wake up much too late for us to pick up anything. I was super happy that Katie and Michelle were getting to try it fresh. I've talked to the blog plenty about my feelings on Benkyodo. I've went to this place since high school and it's a go to spot for special occasions for me. It's a really hidden shop at the end of the street on the other side of J-Town. If you didn't know what it was you wouldn't even know it was there. We also went to May's Cafe to get breakfast. They're known for having Taiyaki which is kind of a huge deal for a lot of people.

For those of you who don't know what Taiyaki is, think of a chocolate banana filled (or red bean filled) waffle and that's basically what Taiyaki is. It's delicious warm and highly recommended if you want a cheap sweet treat.

Wendell (who ended up MCing the event later on and for those of you who go to Fanime, he does lots of stuff for Stage Zero) ended up finding me and joining us for breakfast. We always have long talks about music stuff, con stuff, and recently teaching since I'm pursuing to be a school teacher in a couple of years. It's always incredibly pleasant talking to him the few times that we do get to see each other.

Katie, Michelle, and I ended up walking around afterwards and really bumming out in the hotel to shoot around. The biggest issue about the event was how compact and crowded it got. I'm not exactly sure how photographers shot considering you'd usually get a lot of stuff in the background. Sometimes crowds can totally be worked into a shoot environment but most of the time it loses focus of the subject. J-Town is also known for shoddy lighting inside the mall area (horrible selfies to prove this) so the hotel was Katie's best friend. She forgot a bit of stuff and was such a sport for figuring out how to improvise and work with what she had. There were surprisingly not as many cosplayers at the hotel and I was almost iffy about going into certain areas noting how back when AOD was a thing of the past, people were constantly told off for stepping into certain areas of the rock garden/certain things being closed off for a reason and people going into anyway. Basically as cosplay friendly as J-Town can be there are certain things I always keep in mind over past experience wondering if we're over stepping boundaries as photographers and cosplayers. The garden is also a wind hole a good portion of the time so you get either amazing shots or your model is destroyed because thank you wind rape. Basically, I'm very sure it was hard to get shots unless you really lured your subject away from the crowds, combated the bad lighting, and didn't want to piss hotel staff off.

A lot of the time we also raided the lobby for outlets considering everyone phones died all day. -must get a portable charger- More like we freaked out when they hit 30 percent but considering how often people message people/take pictures/try to meet up ect. cell phones are necessary. 

Afterwards we walked around J-Town and good god, the mall finally after years of me bitching about it, has a make up shop. It's a decent one too called CandyDollBeauty. We went bat shit. Well more like I did and I was easily excited over everything but that's me on the daily about a lot of things. This store was really great. It was slightly pricey but you're basically paying for shipping and a mark up so they can get a slight profit. They had a good array of both Japanese and Korean products. Skin care was such a huge thing for this store as well as hair care. There were shelves of it. I also flipped out because they had Sailor Moon eyeliner which was a bit pricey (like more than Dollywink pricey) but if you do want it, it IS there. They have the newest Dollywink line so no worries about getting old product and it being jacked up for as much as the new packaging. Katie ended up getting the 'Point Lame Eyeshadow' in Silver 01 that I've raved about on the blog before. It's a tear eye shadow meant to bring light into the inner corners of your eye. It's really pigmented and glittered. I'm hoping that Katie is enjoying it because it's for sure been a go to for me in the past year.

All of their Dollywink stock is the newly packaged series. They also have the more natural and newer orange label Diamond Lash series which wouldn't work for me I don't think (yay high eyelids) but could work for some people.

What sold me was finding decently priced PeriPera. I ended up finally getting the Water Tint because I've really wanted to try the gradient lip trend for the longest time. Plus I could rock a red lip without the consequences. I'll do a full review of the PeriPera water tint in a separate post so you guys can read how I feel about it and maybe learn how to get a couple different lip looks by using this product.

Michelle ended up getting the carbonated mask I think? It's been really trendy lately online because it literally bubbles up on your face. She seemed to be really into skin care so I hope she is enjoying it as well.

Later on, we went over to PikaPika where they've been promoting the fact that they have new machines. And not just any new machines but machines that are pretty hip and recent over in Japan Town. I'm so glad to have these machines over here finally. First off the lighting in the new machines is amazing. Plus what really sold me was OUTFIT PICTURES. For years now I've seen tons of Japanese lolitas and gals really get their outfit of the day on with the PuriKura machines and wondered how the hell they were doing that. In the end it made complete sense with these new machines. We tried out the Alisa Ueno machine assuming that would be the best one because she's promoting it as a model. The machine was really fun and could make you look tinier/modify your make up. the other machine we tried was the 'Rumor' machine I think. This is the one you want to try for your outfit shots. It's still pretty cramped up but you'll for sure get some good pictures if you situate yourselves properly. The only down sides about the new machines is how fast you have to make your decisions and the lack of sparkles in the decorations. I'm so used to the older style machines where bling is everything and a lot of the stamps are more basic and less 3D so it's going to take me awhile to honestly figure out how to be clever and decorate my pictures now. We ended up going for a round two with more friends later and added the 'Lumi3' to our list of PuriKura raided. It fit a good portion of people in perfectly. And finally had my god damn sparkles so I could clever enough to add things that are typical for PuriKura.

Afterwards we had waited long enough after breakfast to get lunch and I took the girls out for some seriously decked out okonomiyaki at another high school favorite of mine, Mifune Don. This used to be kind of a hidden restaurant back in the the era of my high school years. I used to hide away there with some okonomiyaki or udon and gyoza. Now it's a bit more popular, especially during events. But if you like a good thick okonomiyaki with a variety of toppings and lots of bonito flakes this is the place to go. They also have a pretty decent lunch special where I used to get my udon and gyoza combo from. Hopefully the girls enjoyed it.

I had to run some family errands for some stuff. It was hell trying to find little Apollo chocolates and by the end of our lunch it was so crowded it was suffocating. I don't think I've ever encountered the feeling of not breathing/wanting to throw up until that event. I'm not sure if it's because I'm not getting out as frequently or if it's because I'm getting older. Either way I felt so bad because I wanted to walk around more and see the actual event. The crowds were so killer though. We spent about ten minutes in Kinokuniya and I had to get out because it felt so hot.

In all though I ran in a couple of lovelies finally after hitting the pagoda which was really nice. I was glad I got to introduce both Michelle (who doesn't get a taste of con life too often I think) and Katie to some other friends and really sweet acquaintances of mine.  I was so happy to see each and every one of them and it felt refreshing to be around people who aren't exactly part of the regular group of people I was hanging out with. Funny part of the day was how Momo and I joked about how we had switched places. She's usually dark and badass and I'm typically the frilly pink one. Pffffttt... And Sayori made a lovely Hinata. Props to her for wearing those crazy white contacts. I bet and only can imagine she felt so relieved to get comfortable later on. Regardless it was nice being silly with those two. :3 

We escaped into TanTan for tea because it was literally the only place that wasn't hot and crowded. There went the tradition of getting crepes....(I broke the tradition ages ago though due to some stuff) There is almost nobody ever in there and I never mind. We were still kind of full but honestly, it was just nice to be not bumping into people and be near AC. For it to have been over cast for the beginning of the day it certainly heated up quick. Due to me not being hungry I ended up just indulging in a matcha float because matcha sounded nice. The other girls got some sweets and tea. Michelle made me realize THIS PLACE HAS CAKKKKKKEEE!! I never realized it did. I must be so blind! The girls kept throwing food at me to finish off throughout the day and the cake was one of them. ahahaha... I've always tried white peach flavored things but I've never tried an actual white peach before. It was so heavenly. Thank you for the amazing discovery Michelle! I would have never known. I think Katie got a parfait? I'm not much for those but they always look really pretty.

Miguel joined up later on just to hang out. We hung out shortly but it was nice seeing him.

Later we met up with some other people, did our PuriKura round 2, hung around more...and somehow made room for dinner because no trip for these ladies would be complete without Yamadaya. I had to take them because they have really delicious ramen and takoyaki. This is my favorite ramen spot hands down. I'm a broth whore so rich broth is good. I really don't know how I made room for all of it. I clearly was just trying to fit all my cravings into one trip so I wouldn't want them for awhile while also taking Katie and Michelle to places they hadn't gotten to try on their trips here before. CLEARLY this turned into a food trip. Which I don't mind at all. I really hope they enjoyed the ramen because I love that place so much. Matter of fact I hope they enjoyed all the food places they got to try because I know sometimes they miss out on the stuff that goes on later at night/in the day. 

Basically dinner was the end of their trip and we trekked back to the valley from there. I really hope everyone had fun and enjoyed. Next time I want to properly show people around downtown in the day time and actually have the right shoes to trek around to some other districts that are really fun. San Francisco is my home away from home and while J-Town always holds a special place in my heart and is my go to stop because there's really good food I can't always get, downtown is just as amazing and there's so much I want to share with people. It's just a matter of people not having an event/agenda. Maybe one day. :) 

It was refreshing getting out for a bit with familiar faces as usual. I really don't know if it's just me growing out of it or what, but the con scene or the events and I haven't been meshing as well as before. A lot of times I find myself cafe hopping or shortly saying hello to people. But I really haven't been getting the adrenaline rush or the happiness I felt like before as personal as this might sound on here. I'm really trying hard to attend things again and try to find a love for it again but I always find myself feeling smothered and wanting to hide somewhere. A shout out to some of you all who said on my instagram or other sms that you saw me but were afraid to say hi or knew I was there and didn't know where to find me; I'm SO sorry. <3 <3 I'm so blind first off without glasses and I don't get my circle lenses in a power (I'm crazy I know) and if you're in cosplay then it's already hard to recognize you.  xD so sometimes it's best to be in my face. Also I've been hiding away a lot and I haven't really been planning or announcing where I will be at. Usually because I usually don't know until last minute lately. And sometimes I just don't want to throw expectations upon myself or promise others things when I know how disoriented I get at cons in terms of time and attention. So if anything hit me up or ask me if I am going or are there the day of, and I'll come find you or you can come and find me. 

 For those of us who haven't met before and clearly we creep on each other, we are probably unsure if it's us or not. I am painfully shy and I don't want to mistake someone for someone else. I'm sure it's the same on my end. >.< One day we will meet and properly. <3 

In other news of my life right now, August is here I'm about to start school in a couple of weeks again. I'm really looking forward to it but at the same time I am incredibly nervous because math is my worst subject and that's what I am taking and doing for the first time in five years this semester. -anxious- In a way though I really love having somewhere to go and working on a long term goal. It makes me feel accomplished. Also I really love getting to enjoy dressing how I want for school and enjoying a fit of a fashion life even if it is for school. It makes me feel together and makes me look forward to my day a lot more. 

I can't believe I'll be 24 in a little more than a month. It's a bit scary how fast I am aging a bit. I'm so glad that I've really found what I am supposed to be doing with my life and have found a schedule that works for me. I've been so unsure for the past couple of years whether or not to continue on with academics especially when other people said working would be better because of the paycheck (which didn't make me happy) or going to art school. Academics just seemed like the right choice and I'm really excited to become an English major and either work in some type of writing or teaching. It just feels right and I feel a lot more sure of myself than I did at 18 going into this.  I've learnt from looking at other people's struggles and not that I won't have my own, but I'm bracing myself for obstacles and hopefully being older helps me make a lot more clear decisions. I'm still scared about growing up and I'm about at that middle mark for my twenties...LOL ahhhhh!!! Hopefully I'll be okay. I really want to regain happiness in other aspects of my life. I am for sure not there yet but this part of my life...it's the one thing I've felt like so far that I've taken the first step in doing something right....

Anyway, I don't know how often I'll be updating considering I'll be in school in a couple of weeks from now. I for sure, am going to one more event in a weekend or so, just for a day and because I always go. Hopefully I can blog about it as well. I really want to get a make up tutorial or two up as well. I feel like I've doing fuck tons of darker looks and I want to try a lighter one for the channel. I feel like I went with the heavier and darker ones because I feel like a lot of the other blogger babes have you peeps covered in terms of the cuter and lighter looks. I feel like the dark and heavy stuff suits me so much but I want to be well rounded in my YouTube channel as much as my blog is, so we shall see!!