~ Otakon 2016 ~

Hi hi!!!

This past weekend I went to Otakon!!!


Otakon is actually the first anime convention I ever attended back in 2011.

I had an amazing time, went to my first dance meet up (with Dansu to Pantsu) and was completely surrounded by everything I loved at one of the biggest conventions on the East Coast for the first time!

This time I experienced the con from a different angle. I worked in the dealers room all weekend in exchange for a more affordable con. While I was extremely grateful for the opportunity to experience Otakon without crushing my bank account, the hours felt long and I didn't get to experience as much of the rest of the convention as I thought I might. I mainly went to Otakon to attend dance meet ups and see friends but had I wished to attend any of the concerts, signings or panels I would have been pretty upset.

The employees I worked with were really fun people so it helped the long hours go by and I'm grateful for them!


The travel to Otakon was long because somehow Natsuki and I ended up on the wrong bus!!!
We had each other's company and I had snacks so 12 hours of struggling to make it to Baltimore when it should have been a three and a half hour trip ended up not being so bad, haha.

(I finally wore my signed magical ban bang t-shirt!!)

On Friday after work hours I attended the DMU showcase!!!

Dance Masters United is an association of mostly English speaking, individual odorite and dance groups. They hold dance showacses/ meetups several times a year. I'm good friends with one of the head organizers Pom and through this association Ari and I were able to perform at Tekko con this year!

It was so great to reunite with my friends from awesome dance groups like Full Spectrum Kai, Abracadabra, JumpShip! , Munite, DTP and meet new groups like Ember and Haru Dance!

I was afraid that because I didn't have enough time to learn anything new for this showcase, that I wouldn't be able to dance anything, but there was plenty of room for requests! I even got to do some of my favorite dances like 4 walls, (along side Pom and Abracadabra ahhhhh) My Copycat (with fellow KuroPOP member Natsuki) and Marine Dreamin'!

(Friday outfit)

Saturday I went to DTP's meet. I think dance meet ups are becoming more request friendly,  This time both Crissy Yuki and Natsuki were with me so we got to request and dance to songs we did during out SaKURO tour like, Someone Like U by Dal Shabet and Catch Me If You Can by SNSD.

(The Pomster wearing my hat better than I do)

(Saturday outfit before I changed for DTP. No pictures of my second outfit tho...)

I don't think I've ever been so sweaty at a dance meet up before!! I kind of went all out haha.

During my breaks from the dealer's room instead of braving the heat wave outside I wondered around the dealer's room and artist alley. I restricted myself from spending as much as I usually do, but I just HAD to buy from one of my favorite artists, P-Curly!!!

I adore her fan art and original works and I can't seem to stop buying her InuYasha pieces in particular, haha.

(this is the second sticker pack I've bought since my cat chewed half of them up last time and the THIRD time I've bought the InuYasha set because I can't stop!!!!

I also saw some of my other favorite artists who also create apparel like Fangrrlz and Punimelt but I resisted!!! Maybe next time....

In the end, I'd just like to thank everyone who made this con possible for me. Thank you to  Natsuki for making it possible for me to attend, thank you to DTP and DMU for holding the dance meetups! Thank you to every person who said they enjoy watching me dance online and in person, it really meant a lot!!!

  If I can make it to Otakon next year I'd like to experience everything in full ~ The cosplay, musical guests and autographs!!

Maybe next year won't be as BLISTERING HOT either!!!!

That's all for now!

Coffee ~

Today was a surprise day off ~


I went into work this morning only to find out that I actually wasn't scheduled to go in today.


My manager was so confused to see me. "Didn't you read your schedule?"


I did! Just not...that closely???


I actually make this mistake pretty often....


With no plans for the rest of the day I went to a Japanese coffee shop by day/sake bar by night called Hi-Collar.

This is Mamuto AA


It's a medium roast coffee that's supposed to have a taste of plum and black grape in it.


Just the right amount of bitterness for me! I wanted to know what it would  taste like with milk and sugar. The milk made it more sour and I don't think I added enough sugar for the taste to change. I think I enjoyed the taste much more without adding anything to it.


I didn't take proper pictures of the inside but the atmosphere was so nice! Imagine a bar but instead of alcohol behind the counter there are different kinds of coffees, teas, china, and french presses. Every time a new pot of coffee was made the entire place was filled with vanilla or berry or chocolate notes,  and there are also things like fluffy Japanese style pancakes, parfaits and omelet rice on the menu so I ended up staying longer just for the scents!


Jazz music played in the background and the decor of this place is pretty enchanting making it one of the most comfortable cafes I've ever been to.


Prior to coffee I'd stuffed myself with curry so by the time I left the cafe I was pretty sleepy...


(Coffee should wake you up. Not for a cofeeholic like me!!!)


So lastly, I'll share a sleepy song I've been into recently.




Ciao!

April ~ !!!!!

(note: this should have been posted a few days ago but i mistakenly left this post in drafts ;;)


Hi hi!!!

Ki here!!!


It's been a while (as usual)


I'm here to talk about the shenanigans ensued over the past month!

First up, Tekko!

Ari and I had the privilege of being invited back to Tekko this year by Jump Ship! , to dance at the DMU (Dance Masters United) dance showcase again!

This time we shared the stage with Jump Ship!, and Nova Drop.

From Thursday to Saturday it felt like I dance non-stop, I was so freaking happy!!

Friday, Ari and I danced to Marine Dreamin' on the main stage as special guests at the dance competition!

Saturday, we danced to Burning alongside Pom, leader of Jump Ship! and a very good friend of mine!

Ari and I also danced our new choreography for the first time at the showcase and it felt great!  We'll unfortunately only be able to upload it to Nico Nico Douga for the time being so we're working on another dance to make up for it....

Mr. Music with Jump Ship!!!

Tekko's stage is pretty big and the tech staff was super skilled! It was such an amazing experience to be able to dance on the main stage with proper lighting and a huge crowd!

I really hope that more conventions will begin to open up their stages to dancing acts! The audience was super responsive and we even got personal feedback later on how enjoyable the showcase was!


So far Tekko has been my most enjoyable con to date and I hope that they'll continue to invite us back next year!

The week after I traveled to D.C. with KuroPOP for Sakura Matsuri D.C. and Nipponcon!!

This year we really challenged ourselves with a few more difficult dances! My favorite from our set list was probably "LOVE TROOPER" by Prizmmy


Sakura Matsuri was a lot of fun. The weather was amazing and this year we stayed at a hotel closer to the venue so we actually got to walk around the festival after our stage!

This year we also sold merchandise!!

Thank you so much to anyone who bought something from us or even just stopped by to say hello! It's meant a lot!


This Sakura Matsuri was also 2une's first experience on the D.C. stage an I felt so proud to watch them from the crowd!

They were so cute and I loved their outfits!!! The crowd really loved their performance and I'm really looking forward to seeing again soon! ☆

I was able to get a polaroid shot with them after their stage ~ ☆

I keep it in my purse ~ ☆

Both Sakura D.C. and Nipponcon were stops on KuroPOP's SaKURO tour!!! We have one more stop at Sakura Matsuri Brooklyn Botanical Gardens this weekend ~!  Our stages are Saturday at 11:15 am and Sunday 12:30pm!!!

Also!

Ari and I will be appearing as guests at Chibicon this Saturday! Our stage time is tba but if you'll be attending any of these events please let me know ~ ☆


Today I wrote this entry to "Run With You" by Fairies and "Just Right" by Got7. Check 'em out!!

Ciao!

Mii ~ ♡

Yahho!!!

Long time no see ☆

I've rekindled this blog for documentation purposes!

This is a short update, but I wanted to share that after two years Ari and I were able to meet Mii again!!!

Dancing Dolls members Misaki and Mii were in New York last week for vocal and dance lessons!

We were fortunate enough able to meet up with them the day they returned to Japan!

They signed Ari's CDs!!!

We only hung out for about two hours but it felt MUCH shorter!

This was also our first time meeting Misaki...she has a really cool image!!! I can see why she's Dancing Dolls' leader!

We talked about the difference between Japanese and New York's subway system. (Japan's subway system won) We also talked about what they did besides lessons. Mii shopped at store brands that you can only find online in Japan like Bath and Body Works, (Misaki mentioned that Mii likes to shop a lot, haha) They went to the Apollo Theater! Mii mentioned that there were a lot of stores open so she felt safe enough but Harlem is a little scary at night and Ari and I agreed. They saw the Broadway musical Chicago and Mii said that she was able to understand about 40% of what they were saying but she enjoyed the music.

And they said that they'd like to come back to New York but when it's warmer. They'd somehow manage to come here when it was the coldest week we've had this entire winter so that's understandable!

When it was finally time for the two of them to go Mii just kept waving and saying "bye bye! ... bye bye!" and it made it really heartbreaking to leave...

I hope we get to see each other again soon!

Somehow...

That's all for now!