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twatkcox · 11 months

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[#TheFourWeekendPlan: 2023]

Drip’n Cafe + The Fairview Malls (May 13)

#TheFourWeekendPlan begins with a tall caramel frappe and a bowl of pasta Amatriciana. It sure was a great day to go out and enjoy the weekend. I feel like re-reading some of the drafts, mostly the ones for an upcoming literary special, and probably writing some new ones, the latter of which didn’t happen because I was too distracted to write anything.

After the coffee frappe and pasta, I then went on to SM Fairview and head straight to Owndays so I can check which of these frames would suit me better. I was actually hoping to get a new pair of glasses, as I’ve been wearing my old pair of glasses for nearly fifteen years and I had trouble seeing things clearly with it. I managed to get a new pair a couple of days later.

I did the usual thing of checking some of the shops, and nothing else. I only bought a box of Nescafe Cafe Creations, the strawberry latte flavor which is only available on select supermarkets (mainly Robinsons Supermarket). Well, nothing much, except that I took a glimpse of the venue, where the upcoming Pinoy Otaku Festival 2023: Shizen will be held. I was pretty excited and nervous at the same time.

That’s how it all went, nothing special. I was actually hoping for this entire Four Weekend Plan to proceed as planned, even though nothing is set in stone yet, given the uncertainties.

Pinoy Otaku Festival: Shizen (May 19-21)

I’ve documented the entire POF event in a separate post (The Keihancarl Diaries: May 19-21, 2023), so I’ll just feature a short summary here.

Finally, for the first time since the pandemic, the Pinoy Otaku Festival is making a comeback, held at the same venue as the last time (Robinsons Novaliches). As usual, the socially awkward self managed to attend all three days of the event, though I missed most of the performances (including the Aidoru concerts), competitions, and games. I did catch Anime Feud, Cosplay Championship League, and Lolita And J-Fashion Competition, plus I get to see HIBANA Wotagei’s performance. Anyway, I bought some souvenirs (mostly anime pins and a couple of stuffed plushies) and had selfies with some of the awesome cosplayers. It was a fun weekend.

Cafe Luca + The Fairview Malls (And Some Shopping) (May 27)

That day was supposed to be a mall-hopping day, but the impending typhoon (affecting the eastern parts of the country) made me shift to just spending an entire afternoon at a cafe and visiting the three Fairview malls. Not only did I enjoy the ice blended coffee caramel and the custardy cinnamon roll, but I also enjoy the cafe’s ambiance as well. This is the perfect place to write a story, while sitting by the large windows. Of course I could do this at the other cafes, such as Drip’n Coffee, but the place is kind of relaxing and peaceful, not to mention that the garden alfresco area adds to the relaxing atmosphere of the area. While dining, I noticed that some of the staff are communicating in sign language, and upon seeing the sign that lists down some of the most common phrases in sign language, they actually had hearing-impaired staff working at the cafe. It was really heartwarming.

Later that day, I decided to replace my selfie stick as the wire that’s connected to the shutter button had been frayed, though it is still useable. Luckily, I was able to buy one at a Mi pop-up store in Fairview Terraces, and in my favorite color too, which is black. I wasn’t particularly successful in finding some plain black shirts, though, as well as white and gray ones. Probably on my upcoming mall-hopping trip, perhaps?

The Mall Hopping Trip In Manila, Plus Stopovers In Valenzuela And Caloocan (June 2)

I’ve covered this in a TKD post (The Keihancarl Diaries: June 2, 2023).

Originally planned for Saturday, I decided to go a day earlier. Believe me, it is really weird for me to go out on a weekday, and for a mall-hopping trip. I wouldn’t have this issue if I lived all by myself. Anyway, proceeding with my plan, I have to deal with traffic going to my first stop, which is SM City Valenzuela. I also get to visit SM City Grand Central for the first time since its opening more than a year ago. And yes, I finally get a new Beep card since my old one expired during the first few months of the pandemic.

I bought a comic book and a couple of anime shirts, as well as visiting and taking pictures of some malls, interesting places, and tourist attractions in Manila. Everything went well, save for the traffic part. That also concludes #TheFourWeekendPlan, which is kind of unplanned (except for the planned visit to the POF event).

And Then A Bonus Weekend, At Daily Ground Coffee (June 10)

Well, I could always use another weekend at a cafe so I can finally begin rewriting some of the stories for the upcoming Literary Special. I decided on Daily Ground Coffee. And this time, I’m gonna stay longer than usual.

Wearing the newly-bought beige Naruto shirt from the previous week, as well as the olive green belt that I bought the night before, I set off to my intended destination. I decided on a blueberry cheesecake and dark cocoa coffee frappuccino. I took some selfies and photos, which I immediately uploaded to my Instagram accounts. Unfortunately, my mobile internet connection is incredibly slow so it took longer than expected for the photos to be uploaded. I decided to work on a couple of stories, yet I ended up writing a few paragraphs and lines for two new stories. Not exactly productive, I say, but I’ve got lots of ideas in mind.

I took a moment to visit the three malls in the area, visiting a few shops for some possible reads or additions to my wardrobe. So far, I bought nothing. I wasn’t able to buy a box of Nescafe Cafe Creations strawberry latte either, as I didn’t any see any on the shelves (the remaining ones are already bundled with big packs of powdered pure coffee), therefore there’s a possibility of it completely disappearing from the shelves. I hoped not, as it is my favorite, with caramel and double latte as runner-ups.

I decided to have a bowl of ramen at Kyu Kyu 99 Ramen, and proceeded to check the clothing shops for some plain colored shirts. Well, like I said earlier, I never bought anything in the end, save for a bottle of Pocari Sweat to rehydrate myself.

Later on, it rained so hard that I find it impossible to continue my writing at the rooftop garden of Fairview Terraces. Instead, I ended up writing a few more paragraphs at one of the benches at the third level, near the wellness shops.

I suppose this bonus weekend ended with the quick check at Puregold Fairview Terraces and HMR Trading. It was a typical weekend, a somewhat boring one compared to the pre-pandemic days. The coffee shops in Lagro surely helped me enjoy my weekends once again.

Postscript

So far, this year’s #FourWeekendPlan is pretty satisfactory, considering that it was a last-minute plan, except for the otaku event, which I’ve been preparing for months since the announcement. Next year feels kind of uncertain, as it will depend on the [current] situation.

I suppose this is where I’ll conclude (finally) this year’s #TheFourWeekendPlan. Well, let’s hope that things will go back to normal before the next one. Until next time!

All pics are from my Instagram accounts, @kcox105 and @kcox_105.

#TheFourWeekendPlan #Drip'n Cafe #Pinoy Otaku Festival #POF 2023: Shizen #Cafe Luca #mall-hopping trip #manila #sightseeing #shopping #Daily Ground Coffee #Lagro #weekend #otaku event #going places

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fastwiemagie · 7 years

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HalloWien - the people make teaparties special ♥ (Part I/english)

Every two year my local lolita community hosts a big teaparty. This year was one of those years!

HalloWien - a spooky gothic lolita event next to the cemetery! was this year’s name and the first time that our teaparties had a kind of theme. Of course it was up to everyone to come as they like, but you could expect much more gothic lolitas than usually. After Metamorphose and Innocent World as guest in previous years, 2017 special guest was Korean designer Haenuli. She showed some of her famous dresses, as well as some new ones in the fashion show!

Beware, a long, rambling & very excited retelling of the HalloWien-teaparty follows after the cut! ♥

Foto by greencat & dress A Full Moon Night byHaenuli (FB, Storenvy)

For example A Full Moon Night ♥ I hope I will loose some weight eventually and get my hands on the JSK-Version. At the moment I just don’t fit into the largest size offered :/ Otherwise it’s an absolute dream dress for me! I’ve been dreaming for years about a moon cycle print and Haenuli seems to have listened to my dreams! ;) ♥ ♥ ♥ Thank you Haenuli!

Besides Haenuli’s beautiful dresses you could also admire a lot of other fancy dresses at the teaparty of course. Everyone dressed to the nines!

I know talented Selene was rocking a handmade outfit she made just in time for the event, but she was far from the only one to let their creativity shine! A German lolita (I believe her name was Lydia and we also talked on Sunday at the bring & buy event - if it’s you say hello!) was wearing a simple yet elegant black velvet dress and told me about another dress made from tulle, which unfortunately drove her crazy & thus couldn’t get finished in time for HalloWien.

Isa, from the local community, made an extravagant halo headpiece that could even light up! She wasn’t only a vision in white but a true enlightenment! :3

All the talking to be had with nice people at the teaparty was truly my highlight of the day! It’s always awe inspiring and fascinating to admire all the beautiful outfits, how everyone cooordinates in their own way or what they have made themselves to go with it - but without the people within all those fancy dresses would be just empty shells. That would be pretty boring! You need the people within to bring the outfits to life and let them shine! ♥ Everyone has a story to tell!

Already while going ot the event I was pretty much enclosed within my lolita bubble. I was writing back and forth with my friend Sarah from Saki’s Forestglade Jewelry . We were both just so excited for it! Like two years ago already at the Meta teaparty I was helping her selling her beautiful handmade jewelry at the stand.

Of course, like a good shop assistant-chan should, I was showcasing some of her jewerlry: a necklace with an anatomical heart, similar to this one. I just had to buy it at last year’s Pop up Lace & Teaparty and it was just the right centerpiece for my Queen of Bats-ensemble.

Quote of someone at the teaparty “It’s pretty dangerous to wear one’s heart around their neck.”

My comeback: “Who says it’s my heart?” ^_~

On the way to Concordia Schlössl - the absolutely fitting location for this year’s event, Sarah and I could already help some lost people, who clearly were also trying to get to the HalloWien event. Inside the tram we also met another lolita and we concluded how nice it is that you can always tell who’s going to a lolita meet-up, even if you have never met those people before! It’s like a secret code and no bystander is ever the wiser that you weren’t already friends before! :3

One of the great things about the big teaparties is that you always get to know new nice people and you can meet up again with old acquaintances and your friends too! ♥ Though it isn’t always that easy to actually recognise your friends, as it’s pretty common to wear wigs in lolitas. It can also be disorientating to see a usually always sweet wearing person in head to toe gothic lolita.

I want to repeart some of the nice conversations I had, who ultimately helped making HalloWien the amazing day it was! Like I said, for me the magic comes from the people! :3

Photo by Thomas Windisch Photography

Me: With your fairy wings you look like you flew here from Sweden! So beautiful!

Her: I did fly here! Literally! But with the help of a plane :D

Katrin always manages to create magical outfits, she’s got a very special lolita style. That’s the reason she has been (and is!) a big inspiration for me. It was great to see her again, live and in colour (just look at her hair!). ♥

Photo by Thomas Windisch Photography

The stunning Daga was really impressed by my dress and couldn’t believe that I transformed my blouse (okay, it was really a cutsew) from a plain oversized t-shirt.

Daga: I’d have to hate you, if you weren’t such a nice person!

And the same to you Daga ♥ She’s unbelievably talented in her own ways and you just wouldn't ’t be able to stand that with an asshole person. Sarah commented on our verbal duelling with “disch!”, “disch!” noises. (It's German onomatopoeia for something hitting something else). Daga wasn’t the only one to compliment me for my dress, it felt like half of everyone there told me they loved it! ♥ ♥ ♥ Thank you so much!! Even Haenuli commented on my dress and told me she liked it and we had a brief chat about how special it is to be able to design and make your own dresses! :3

Photo by Thomas Windisch Photography

Another funny story regarding my dress came up with Federica. I told her how happy I was that finally a pattern worked for me and that everything now fits like it should. I’ve modified a pattern I bought and finally everying worked like I imagined it to! Previous tries were unfortunately not as satisfying.

Federica and I joked how it was eerily like someone took my exact mesaurements and made a dress for me with them. Very weird..! ^_~

photo by Sarah :3 - Off with their heads!

I also got a lot of compliments for my make up look (there will be another post only about my look & outfit, what I made for it, etc), which made me really happy! My eye make up doesn’t show up that well on camera, but I know it was amazing & enough other people told me so too! I was so happy to get compliments for that, as I’m a big make up noob and had been training especially in preparation for the teaparty! (Thank you to my friend Kimi who helped me with that :3) I especially remember the positive comment by the girls from Lady Sloth, as the both had beautiful make up too. And obviously the comment by Jassi: “Amy, you look absolutely unsubtle today!” And she liked that. Jassi, together with Dani, is something like the mother of our local lolita community and also the head of our lolita club. Her approval felt like I made my parents proud and I was just super happy about that! ♥ ♥ ♥

Photo byThomas Windisch Photography

Another funny situation happened with Margit - the day of the teaparty was her birthday! So, we were basically organizing the whole thing just for her! ^_~ Facebook remembered me about her birthday in the morning, but for once I remembered the date on my own as I had previously talked with Margit about the lucky cooincidence. I didn’t congratulate her on facebook on purpose, as we would see each other on that day anyway and I’ve decided it was way nicer to congratulate her in person! And what happened? the first two times I saw her I completly forgot about her birthday! Then I finally remembered & was laying in wait for her. While we were taking the group picture my time had finally come and I could jump & hug her and tell her happy birthday! ^_^

Working at a stall obviously entails talking with your stall neighbours - for example with the very nice Miss Danger to our left, who’s already been our neighbour (to the right) at the Meta teaparty. Or with the nice folk from Li Paro vis-a-vis. Carmen’s partner was sporting a shirt with the quote “we are the weirdos mister” on it. It’s a quote from the cult movie “The Craft”. A very cool shirt und of course I also told him so - I didn’t only compliment all the lolitas! ^_~

On sunday, at the bring & buy market, Li Paro had their stall right next to Saki’s Forestglade Jewelry and we had the opportunity to talk some more. Those two were very nice, I hope to see them again at another teaparty! :)

Even more time to talk was to be had at Tuesday, after the teaparty. The Russian delegation and a couple of us from the local community went to the Ronacher theatre to see “Tanz der Vampire/Dance of the Vampires”. The love for vampires knows no bounds nor borders!

After the musical we went to cafe Mozart and talked a lot - obviously at theatre you’re supposed to be quiet. There I told them about my visit to Tanz der Vampire in the year 2009, where I saw two people in the audience who’s make-up look and dress was just like the actors one’s! Even better almost, very grandious! :O After the performance they wanted to take a picutre in front of the big teeth and they asked *me* to take a picture of them. Maressa and I simulteanously shouted out “Senpai noticed me!” and that was a very funny moment! ^_^

The Russian lolitas were so nice, I wish I could afford to attend their big teaparty in Russia. They told us about their program and it just sounded sooo good!

Photo by Thomas Windisch Photography, crappy edits by me!

Finally, all the lolita fun came to an end this friday. I met up with Mimic to visith the “mothership” of Textil Müller - the headquarter in Kritzendorf. Mimic had heard so many tales about Müller, that she just had to see it with her own eyes. Seeing is believing, as she was still amazed how cheaply you can find fabric & lace there!

“3€/m for this lace”?? “Nope, 3€ for the whole thing!” ^_^ Obviously I talked to many more people, who each helped make the teaparty the best day ever or well really the best weekend! Even if they haven’t been mentioned here, every single talk was special and meaningful in it’s own way. I will fondly look back to this beautiful event and gain motivation and inspiration from it! ♥ ♥ ♥

#egl community #glahallowien #lolita fashion #gothic lolita austria #haenuli #teaparty #egl fashion

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