Goodbye, 2013!

It’s the last day of the year, and this is also the last post of the year. Time for some looking back on the past twelve months as usual! It isn’t New Year’s Eve without some reflection, after all. I can’t sum up 2013 in one blog post, but there are some things that I can think of off the top of my head.

So! There was school, which takes up most of my mental capacity at any given time. Simply put, it’s the base of everything I do (as it should be for students in general, I guess). Kind of like the biscuit base of a cheesecake

In April I started my second year with new modules! The biggest were probably the radio and TV ones. Lots of production, lots of equipment—makes for cool pictures but almost impossible to cope with. Or at least it was tough for meThere was a lot more pressure and rushing about so I got fed up a lot more as well (occasional fit of rage included). But towards the end of the year I started to get a grip on things and I’m happy to say I don’t weep on my bed quite as often now.

Even though I’ve said all that, I do actually like these modulesIt’s not that I can’t make up my mind. I’m still bad with juggling the intense work, but I have some fun learning about the media industry. I don’t think I’ll ever be a radio DJ, but at least I get to try it in school. When I’m in school I don’t need to worry about getting fired for all my mistakes(just bad grades, really.)

My blog has a lot of outfit pictures. There seems to be even more than before. In my last year-end post I said I’d started to get interested in fashion, but this year I’ve been finding out more about the styles that I like.

A collage of some of my favourite coordinatesPutting clothes together is always fun. The clothes I wear are a representation of my own tastesAnd my taste is in Japanese casual fashion so that’s where my coordinates’ style has been going all the time. I can’t say if I’m fashionable because I don’t know what others think, but I like what I wear.

This constantly appears in almost every blog post. So. Many. Food pictures. I’ve fallen in love with themIt’s hard to explain, but there’s satisfaction in getting a good picture of the things I eat. Usually we eat things and then forget about them, but pictures leave a nice memory.

It wasn’t just about the shots I took everyday with my phone, but all the times I went with my friends or family to eat. Ju Eun and I in particular had a lot of food adventures this yearWe went to food fairs and far-off cafes—and there was the time she had a huge restaurant voucher and we a lot with it. Times like that were the most fun. Food is something that I want to appreciate! It doesn’t have to be anything expensive or fancy. I’m happy with things like the steamed bun at school that I can get for less than a dollarSimple pleasures haha.

Something else that I became more serious about! I began to do a lot of work as a school photographer, and I brought my camera out with me in my own free time too.

Another lesson of the year: to do what that you loveThere were plenty of things that I didn’t enjoy doing (i.e. projects), but photography gave me a break from all those burdens from time to time. I love taking photos, and I want to be able to take nicer ones from here on tooI’m glad that I had a lot of photography opportunities and events throughout the months too, so I got to try shooting different subjects and settings.

And that’s what I thought of for 2013. That’s hardly all, but I can’t stuff everything into one blog post. (That’s where archives come in, anyway) There were pretty bad times, but even without counting I’m certain there were more good timesIt was an entire year of experiences, after all. I got to go to Tokyo, performed for the J-Melo TV programme and other Japanese culture events, went to Hokkaido and met a few of my favourite dancers for the first time. And a lot more.

And then there’s still all the times I spent with friends—ones that I got to know and ones that I got even closer to! I’m an incredibly shy person so they’re precious to me.

I’m really blessed after all

For the coming new year I have my own resolutions, but I’ll think about that later. The last day of 2013 will be a playback on all that happened!

For reading my blog!

Christmas ☆

How’s everyone’s day? This is probably my favourite day of the year, when there’s that festive mood and goodwill all around. And everyone’s starting to get all deep and reflective because the year is ending.

Also I get to use all the Christmas emojis today

This is today’s coordinate

Anyway, a few days ago I uploaded a new cover for the holiday season It’s been 3 months since I last did one!

This time it’s Juice=Juice’s Hajimete wo Keiken Chuu

It ended up becoming a sort of Christmas special, party poppers and all. I was in the mood for doing something different (silly, really). I only had one of those poppers so I had to make sure it worked properly when I filmed it…was what I said but the first time I tried it didn’t pop at all so I had to do it all over again. But it was fun.

Since I covered Juice=Juice I tried to wear something similar to their outfits. That kind of cosy, casual styleThough it was seriously warm filming outdoors and that certainly wasn’t cosy. At any rate, it’s a good thing I finally posted something new!

Sorry, today’s just a short updateLots of places to go these days! And I’ve been on a bit of a card making spree lately because of the holiday season, and also because there’re a lot of friends having birthdays in December. My table is piled high with scraps and stickers and ribbons and the like.

Once again, Merry Christmas to everyone! I hope you have a wonderful time, whatever you’re doing or who you’re with. God bless

I’m trying hard not to eat too much this holiday because Chinese New Year is in a month’s time and that’s when things start to get really serious.

EOY ☆ 2013

It’s been a while again! The previous week was full of so many things I didn’t have the time to blog. There were the stressful bits as always, but I had fun too. Last weekend there was EOY! It’s an annual Japanese culture event, and this year there was a lot of excitement.

Firstly, Wata was invited down as the guest artisteShe’s one of my favourite dancers on Nico Nico Douga, and I’ve been watching her videos for a really long time. I never thought I’d ever get to meet her but I actually did.

This is her Twitter! → @wata0w0

She was too kindI went to the airport to meet her, and it was so fun meeting her for the first time in real life. I think she was surprised by how many people came to fetch her too. She had dinner with the event organisers and some of the fans, but I couldn’t join them because I had to meet my parents for dinner. Ju Eun joined me

The next day was the actual event. This year I performed again, so I had to put on makeup and bring along my costume to change into. It was like this ↓

It was extremely hot that day. The white sailor blazer absolutely fried meIt might have been a mistake to change and put on makeup early because by the time it was my performance I was a sweaty mess.

But the performance was still the most fun bitIt was all thanks to Wata.

I’d chosen Gakuen Invisible to dance, and it was choreographed by a NND dance group that Wata is in. That was way before it was announced that she was coming, so it was the perfect coincidenceI asked her if she would watch my performance and she very kindly promised to do so.

The best part though, was after I got on stage—and noticed that she’d come all the way down to the audience to cheer for me

I was touched…

There’s a video of her cheering ♡ (←though I’m yet to find a video that actually shows me)

It makes me really happy to watch her and the audience cheering. When I was on stage it was all a bit of a blur because everything went by so fast.

2-shot in the dressing room with Yushan and Momo who performed too

In the evening there was a flashmob for Gravity=Reality together with Wata! She’d just finished her second set of dances, so a big group of us went to the back of stage to join her for that last song. I was able to be next to her

(The videos above were taken by Resonate Visuals)

I got kind of shy dancing so close to her, but I loved every second of it. Dancing together with so many people (including one of my most admired dancers!) had a different kind of enjoyment from being a solo act.

It was a great weekend

Weekly Slice

Last week it rained a lot—almost everyday. The good part of course, is the cold weather! But it also means getting wet when I’m outside. Staying home sounds like a nice idea most of the time.

My tests ended yesterdayI’m off school from now until the end of the year, though there’ll still be assignments to do (and I actually have class on New Year’s Eve). Even so, I’m set on having my free time while it’s given to me.

By the way, watching cooking videos are one of my guilty pleasuresI especially love the ones by ochikeron and runnyrunny999.

Anyway.

Yesterday’s outfit was more dressy than usual! Literally, with a dress. I went for a test at a company, so I tried to wear something more mature. But I don’t know, do check dresses make me look more grown up or like Dorothy of Oz? I tried

On one of the mornings my dad and I ate breakfastHis office is near my school, so we dropped by the canteen to eat before going for class and work. We had kaya toast, and coffee and soft boiled eggs for my dad. He likes old school breakfasts (because he is old school himself). And so do I! I still don’t like coffee, but I love kaya toast to bits yum. My dad and I never eat together as just the two of us, so it was fun talking with him in the early morning

More cheap local nom nomsThis time it’s a box of kueh tutu I shared with my mom. It seems like there are more kinds of fillings nowadays, but I always like coconut the best.

Continuing my One Bite series after so long haha. Mr. Bean’s soya pancake!

And then later in the week, an exotic cake appearsMy brother brought my family out to eat and this was the dessert. A (very molten) lava cake with chocolate on the inside waiting to ooze out. All four of us shared it so by the time I was done taking pictures it was already a big chocolatey mess. But it was delicious

Enough food, here’s an irrelevant collageThe stamps are all from the Japanese illustrator Ricco’s photo editing app! I had a lot of fun with them.

That’s all for today’s post, thank you for reading

Coordinates ☆

Welcome, December!

I love this month and the sentiments that come with the end of the year. It gives me the image of sipping toasty hot chocolate with lots of snow falling outside (even though it’s really just all rain here). This month I have a two week break at Christmas so I’m looking forward to it lots!

Anyway, today’s post is just about my recent coordinatesSince most of my classes are in the cold studio at school I tend to wear thicker clothes than usual. It’s my beloved sweater weather everyday in school—and sometimes sweaters aren’t even enough! Which is a bit of a problem because it’s hot outside and freezing inside.

Leggings to battle the cold! I’m a shorts kind of person, but some days I give in and wear leggings underneath as a compromise. These are the ones I got in Hokkaido with the cute owl on it.

Cardigans are comfort

It’s Minnie on my t-shirtThis made me look really bright I think, thanks to the hoodie. It was practically illuminated. Also, I got this at a really good sale! Uniqlo was selling this at really high price a long time ago, but during the sales it was cut down to about ten dollars.

Finally got to wore the skirt I bought in Harajuku! It’s inspired from INGNI, which is another one of my favourite brands. They were a bit of a trend when I was there so almost every shop in Takeshita-dori were selling this skirt.

Those black shoes have appeared three times in a row…they’re just really good for wearing with anything.

My heavy rotation

Apart from my shoes I try to be as creative as I can, reallyAnd I’m looking around for more sweaters this holiday because I figure I should take advantage of my studio’s cold climate while I can.

Well then—time to get back to my work