Japan 2015 Lolita Day

Hello everyone, how are you doing?

As only some of you know, I have been quite sick. I have been in and out of doctor's offices and taking a ton of tests to try and feel well again. 

I was in Japan for three weeks recently, we arrived last weekend to Portugal. I was unwell for the most part of the trip and even went to see a doctor there as well. Still I managed to have a handful of nice days out of this trip and one of them was the day in which I got to see my friend liemzie again.

My husband took some outfit photos before we got to the meeting point and I really like them, they remind me of Momoko living in the japanese countryside haha. I am almost 100% sure there's not even a single lolita in that small town. 

The pieces I am wearing were all gotten during the trip because I did not take anything lolita with me. Fortunately this dress does not need a petticoat! I did feel the lack of accessories but it wasn't too terrible wearing this outfit, it was sort of light and fresh.

We had to change trains in Tennoji station and there's a Axes femme store there where i got something i will need for a future outfit. The shop girl was super nice, we always made jokes when we went there.

We also had a lovely lunch there, it was like going to an upscale posh restaurant, the food was incredible and it was like 10 euros a person. It was cheap. I love eating in Japan, high quality for affordable prices. I have never had a terrible meal in Japan.

After that we went to Osaka station to meet my friend. I was a bit early but so was she! Great timing.
Since I have no clue on what to do when i'm in Japan, she, again, decided on what we could do.
We visited a limited store with really nice handmade things. It was a lot of fun and i wanted it all.

It was in this lovely mall with a ton of exhibits and activities. There was a train exibition too and I got a little something there too.

Me and the lovely Liemzie with... flamingos. :P

Picking out our favorites, look how focused we are! 

I liked this store a lot, i considered buying the straw hat with the black ribbon and bows....

When we got to this stall we got stopped by a bunch of older ladies who started complimenting our looks and asking us questions. It was really funny at first. They wanted to take photos with us and the artesan showed me a book she published...

... but then it came to a point where they wouldn't let us go and we got a bit bored. I even got something from the lady's stall in the end haha. look how unconfortable we both look!

After checking the pop up store out we left the mall and went to our next stop.

The Osaka (limited time only) Gudetama Coffee. How cute (and silly) is that?

Better photos on one of liemzie's fabulous blog posts.

The entrance for this café. 

my husband got the matcha pudding, it looked so sad!

Liemzie still had not had lunch so she had something more nourishing.

Our table! I misbehaved and had matcha latte.

 Fun facts about this place. There were only about 8 things one could pick so the choices were limited. Although Gudetama is an egg there are no egg related recipies which seems strange. The waiter did not place my cup on the individual paper in front of me. I thought it was odd but them Liemzie told me its because some people want to take them as souveniers. It sounded lovely but also silly because that means they serve no purpose.
Other than food there's merchandise on display and even statues of Gudetama around the place. The coffee will move to Tokyo next so that means all of this will be gone soon.

Hep Five has the most amazing Purikura area I had ever seen. There's a couple machines near the normal game and UFO machines but then there's a top floor that is actually exclusive to girls and or couples! So a boy cannot walk around there alone, ever!
They have costumes for rent and girls apparently come over with bags with clothes and then change clothes for purikura and then back to their normal clothes. There is an area with mirrors and beauty appliances (like hair curlers and dryers etc, not kidding!) for people to freely use to make sure they look their best.
Then there's a ridiculous amount of purikura machines of all styles! Unbelievable.

One of the purikura machine corridors.

We look so happy and silly, this is one of my favorite photos!

This machine was hilarious... it was about... being manly? I did not even understand but we ended up making a video punching a non-existant boxing bag. How silly is that?

And these were some of the costumes one could rent. They claim that one could dress in maid and lolita... so those maid outfits are both? So japanese people are confused on what lolita is too. XD

We then visited a bunch of nice stores! Most of them I never went to before!
Axes Femme, again! Liz Lisa, BABY, the stars shine bright, Ank Rouge... and some more. I saw a lot of things I wanted... shopping in Japan is so easy....

We also visited a Rilakkuma pop up store thing. You can read about it on liemzie's blog. 

She got the cutest Rilakkuma ever!

 And we took another silly photo, this time we couldn't do it together.

After this we finally said goodbye to Liemzie because it was getting quite late. It was so nice to see her again. It will be the last time we will be able to meet in Osaka too because she is moving back home. I am going to miss having a friend in Osaka but i'm sure we will see each other again in Europe.

When she left we went to a couple character stores where I spent more money. I mean common, look at how much fun these stores look! Look at the colors!

We finally sat down and had dinner. My husband wanted chinese and I ended up having a really yummy meal. I felt better these days, i thought i was better so I took some risks.

After that we went home, I was super tired but very happy. It was a great day, probably the best day of all the trip.

Thank you my friend!

Jo

[Paris] Angelic Pretty Tea Party 2015

Despite being sick for a long time and only being allowed by the doctor to go back to work 3 days before the event date, I decided to still go ahead and travel to Paris for the Tea Party. This could not have happened if it wasn't for the goodness of my friend Aliki and my new friend Melodie since I did not want to book a room without knowing for sure if I would be able to travel and they just let me stay with them at Melodie's. I will never forget what they did for me.

FRIDAY
Anyway I went to work as scheduled on friday and took my trolley so I could go straight to the airport after that. Its not that I like travelling light but Ryanair only lets people take a carry-on trolley and a smaller handbag.

I arrived and got some wine to give to Melodie as a thank you gift (and because Vinho Verde is my favorite and uncommon outside Portugal) and then got in the plane. I used to love flying but now I feel very uneasy to fly on my own. I have a new irrational fear of flying and always think "what if the plane crashes". It really sucks and I know it makes no sense though.
Anyway fortunately it all went well and soon I was in the ryanair bus and then the metro. I am an idiot and I ignored Aliki's address instructions and decided to go with my gmaps documents and therefore ended up getting lost and having to pay a fortune for a cab ride but that was ok, I was super happy and excited to hang out with Aliki (at that point i did not know i'd fall in love with Melodie too).

When I finally got to Melodie's place we chatted for a bit and then went to bed. Boy was it hot in Paris, as soon as I got off the plane I felt as if I was already in Japan for the summer.
Melodie was apparently very worried because I "got lost" at midnight somewhere in Paris which made me feel a bit guilty for making her worry like that, Aliki was right about her, she is such a nice person. Indoors it was super hot too and I felt sweaty and gross haha. We might end up sleeping a bit more and ditching our first plan which was to go to the Rin Rin princess crepe signing session, its too hot and we do not want to arrive at the tea party with running mascara and reeking of sweat.

SATURDAY
Aliki was already complaining about the weather at 9am which is adorable. I understand though, I'm not a fan of heat either but was still super excited to be in Paris.

We got dressed quite fast but still had to get on a cab to get to the popup store to pick up out tea party tickets.

Unfortunately when we got there the lovely shop girl told us we should go to the hotel directly and did not need to make that stop which was a bit waste of money and time (we wish we knew in advance but that's not what we read). We then got back in the cab and the driver after taking a photo of us haha finally left us at the hotel gate. I actually knew that hotel already, i had been in front of it once when i was visiting the eiffel tower with Vania a couple years before. I had no idea what it looked like inside though.
We got the vip treatment from the start with fancy dressed people opening the door for us and greating us at the gate, that's always fun since its not normal for me to be in such places.
There were already some girls inside and we decided to go to the bathroom to check our makeup. In there we saw a lot of girls getting ready. Apparently a lot of lolitas (maybe because of the heat? Not sure why) get dressed in the hotels for these events. I was a bit surprised but it was nice, like being in a huge dress up party. Rosalynn was there and I was super happy to see her.

Aliki, the perfect tea party partner. <3

This sheet was later used to cast the votes for best coordinate. 

Delicious french pastries.

We eventually saw all the girls we knew that were there, I was thrilled to see everyone again and to meet the girls I had in my facebook friends lists but never had met before. <3

During the event we saw Ap new releases in a fashion show (See all the outfits here), took photos with Maki, Asuka and Rin Rin, chatted with a bunch of amazing attendees, got photographed by the talented Marie, ate and drank amazing stuff, voted for best dressed who got amazing gifts, got lucky in the raffle for the first time! and even got super cute freebies from Angelic Pretty. It was a bit short though, I wish it had lasted longer!

Fashion show outfits, aren't they all lovely?

Marie's lovely photo of me in the photo corner. 

Taking photos and seeing friends. ^_^; 

Ada and Rosalynn, I love them and I love this photo <3 <3

Photos with Angelic Pretty designers, Maki and Asuka. How perfect are they?

The table with all the prizes, so amazing! I was dreaming of owning that brown choco bag.

Out of the raffle prizes there was this one chocolate bag that someone really wanted...  

And DAMN I ACTUALLY WON IT! 

Rin Rin was adorable, super nice. I remember her back from when she posted outfits like the rest of us and told her that, she was quite happy to hear that it seemed. <3

The three special guests saying goodbye.

Group Photo for the Angelic Pretty tea party 2015

We said goodbye briefly and went to the pop up store so we could finally see what was available. Got there and we did not want anything so we left and returned to the house.

Still bummed about losing my sunglasses somewhere in Paris.

We told Melodie about the Tea Party, took a shower and ordered chinese food. We also opened one of the wine bottles which was super cool and therefore tasted heavenly. We chatted a lot and eventually went to bed. It was a fantastic day, and I think it was the most fun I have ever had in a lolita tea party of this size.


SUNDAY
When I woke up it was late, for some reason I did not remember to set my alarm the night before and Aliki did not want to wake me up so we ended up getting ready a bit on the late side. We finally got ready and we realized we might not make it when the bus did not come to the stop on time and we had to wait 20min for the next one to arrive. Aliki freaked out and she wanted to get on a cab and the cab driver just left us at some reason place we could get to ourselves by metro (and maybe faster too). So we went to the gardens and to the only fountain I could find and we were 10min after the fashion walk start time so of course we did not see anyone. We walked there for a bit and then just gave up.
I was a bit sad but it was ok, I had such luck the day before I knew I shouldn't push it, it had been enough luck to last for a while. I never get that lucky so I should just take it!
So we took a couple photos around the area, had a cup of coffee at starbucks, took photos with a million tourists (all of which were super nice) and made plans for lunch. I had limited time because of my flight and because i still needed to pack.

I am in love with this bag and feel like wearing choco themed everything now.

Melodie told us the restaurants around the pop up store were good and not too pricey so we went back to the Ap pop up store which was close. When we got there Maki, Asuka, other lolitas (I got to say goodbye to Ada <3) were there. All items had a 20% discount too but i still did not buy anything. i behaved very well this time! We got to hang out and chat a bit but then left because of the time.

We looked for a restaurant for a bit and decided to eat at a sort of supermarket/fast food/bento place and the food was glorious. I got to miss japanese food a bit less which is great, all of that for 10 euros. Parisians are so lucky, i cannot believe how easy it is for people to eat/ stock on japanese stuff there. I have to ask people to mail things to eat certain things.

We got to the house pretty fast and I got ready very fast too. I think I lost my sunglasses in Paris though which sucks but i suppose I can just buy a new pair.
Aliki and Melodie and I parted ways and it was quite sad.
The ride back to Port Maillot was so easy that it made me feel really stupid about missing the way when I had arrived. haha

At the airport I got some small gifts for my daughter and husband as I always do. <3

And had something to eat. Love smoked salmon.

The flight was ok, portuguese people, the way we behave on planes is really awkward and funny so that makes any trip lighter. I was more relaxed. I also wanted to hug my familly really bad, boy had I missed them. I had fun but i couldn't wait to see my daughter and kiss my husband.

When I saw them it was really nice although I knew Mari was sick. We had to take her to the emergency later that night, that was terrible.

If you'd like to see what it felt like to be in the TP, this video is a great example. It is all french but just watch for the nice outfits and lovely venue. Also can you spot me from time to time? :P

 

This is now my final week at work but I tried my best to post this as soon as possible. We have some small meetings coming up in the Portuguese community too which is exciting. If this keeps up I might regain my 100% level of love for lolita which I had slightly lost recently due to my community being so inactive and me being so busy and stressed.

Ah and I almost forgot, this is my haul from this trip:

1.Melty Ribbon Chocolate boston bag (brown) - raffle prize

2. 3 clear file folders from Angelic Pretty - attendee gift

3. Big Angelic Pretty Paris 2015 badge - attendee gift

4. flyers, cards, number pin, thank you card, etc - Paris TP/shop freebies 

5. Angelic Pretty Crystal Dream Carnival Pin (pink) - purchase

6. Angelic Pretty Crystal Dream Carnival Necklace (pink) - purchase

7. Angelic pretty stripe ribbon wrist cuffs (brown) - purchase

8. Angelic Pretty princess victoria wrist cuffs (sax) - purchase

9. Guerlain miniature gift bag - a lovely gift from Melodie <3

I hope you liked reading this post, again this is just how I view things and I am very honest when I write. After all this is my diary. <3

Thank you everyone who contributed for this amazing weekend. I owe you one <3

Love,
Jo