.Amani
Showing posts with label events. Show all posts
Showing posts with label events. Show all posts
Saturday, May 24, 2014
Japan Day NYC 2014 -- JERO
Finally doing an actual update (with pictures! Ahhhh!)
This year has been really trying for me, mentally, emotionally.. and May is proving itself to be one of the WORST months so far.
But~ that didn't mean I didn't have at least ONE good day where I managed to go out and enjoy myself for once!
Japan Day NYC is an annual event that happens every May/June, right at the end of cherry blossom season. It's a pretty huge event, drawing thousands of people from all across that wants a bit of Japanese culture. From kimono/yukata dressing, to kabuki facepaint, to Hello Kitty, and then of course all of the Japanese street food stands.
I usually never go to Japan Day because of the crowds and because how early everything ends compared to other festivals. BUT the one thing that did draw me was the fact that the special performance for this year was going to be Jero. If you don't know him, he is from Pittsburgh PA, and is the first black Enka (Japanese blues) singer in Japanese music history. He is very handsome, and is known for bringing a more 'contemporary, worldly' look to enka music, which is usually old-fashionded down to the stage outfits. For some reason or another it's a bit difficult to really pull up his activity online, so that is the main reason why I wanted to go this year.
So as always, I pulled out my yukata, put my face on, got my hair together, and went out. I met up with one of the local gals Hannah who was donning her new yukata oiran-style like I was.
I didn't get too many pictures asides from a few of us that I have reserved for later, and then the performance photos, but enjoy them anyways!
Jero prepping to go on stage.
Brief introduction
Jero prepping to go on stage.
Brief introduction
I also uploaded some clips from Jero's performance onto my Youtube channel~
I'm not too keen on Japanese music (it's the way a lot of people sing, especially with their pop genres), enka is definitely for people with an acquired taste! But the slightly contemporary feel of Jero's music helps me warm up to it a bit more.
(I also like Jero's outfit of choice--- is it weird to mention that? xD The pinkish color with the blue? It's kind of like a cobalt blue, it was a pretty combination. Keeping that color scheme in mind for later~)
Once he was done with his own songs, he quickly got changed for the NY bon odori (which the song made for Japan Day was pretty corny, but heh). The group that was singing with him were the Japanese club/class from LaGuardia High School.. when they mentioned that, I had painful flashbacks from my time there, aha x ___x
The beginning of the dance. I have -some- video but not a lot. We were in the middle of the sun and the heat started to become a little unbearable!
Unfortunately we couldn't get a picture with him, which would've been so cool! But of course he was tired (and all that sun beaming down while he was performing), plus a crowd was kind of forming so if he took a picture with us, then he would have to do take a picture with everyone. But he was super sweet in person! And he had such good skin = w= the best of both worlds I bet~ so handsome
After the festival was pretty much over, I brought Hannah and her boyfriend to Village Yokocho in St. Mark's for some grilled and fried goodness. As usual, I got my pumpkin and onion kushiage, along with a spicy tuna bowl. Then I also split some okonomiyaki with Hannah and her boyfriend. Needless to say we could barely eat it all..
All that goodness..
At the end of all that walking, standing, and eating pretty much killed us but Hannah got this nice photo of us at the end, which came out pretty nice!
Hoping for a super cool summer!
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Janelle Monae x Target "Electric Pirate Radio" Event 9/9/13
The last two or three weeks might have been nothing but depression for me, but I was fortunate enough to get tickets into a private Janelle Monae event in promotion of her new album "The Electric Lady". If you've been following me for a while, you'd know how I feel about Janelle's music and her artistic spirit. When I got this opportunity my mood instantly lifted up.
First off-- let me talk about her album. She let VH1 embed a stream of her whole album a week before it's release on their website, and when I tell you everyone and their mother was on it? My whole facebook friendslist was enchanted by every song. I liked the ArchAndroid and Metropolis as well, but there was something about this album that just made it the best so far. Every song flowed into the next... and it makes me nostaglic of all the old school tunes from back in the day. The entire album was just fluid and your ears would just melt into the next song. It's very hard to even choose favorites because it all seems like one (hour and change-long) track. Seriously. But the ones I keep replaying over and over again would be "It's Code" (very Jackson 5), "Ghetto Woman" (a song for her mother), Dorothy Dandridge Eyes, Can't Live Without Your Love, and Primetime.
...You already see I practically listed more than half the album. Yyyyeahhhhh. Yeah.
Event photos and story under the cut!
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Saturday, June 1, 2013
Hanami 3
The last of my photos, from when I ended up going to Sakura Matsuri on Saturday.
It was over all hot and stressful, way too many people as usual, but I managed to enjoy myself by sticking only with my bby Laura, my church sister Krystle and later on with a couple of the local gals.
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Kyary Pamyu Pamyu Concert
Forgot to show another birthday present to myself!
Guess who I'll be seeing April 14th ~
♥
Monday, February 4, 2013
Lolita Day Tea Party! 12/01/2012
International Lolita Day proved to be another stressful, yet successful event. There's something about the whole "running around like a headless chicken" feeling of planning parties that I love so much. This time may have been the biggest party I've hosted to date (I forget how many came back in 2009~)
This time was at Lady Mendl's, one of the most reputable places for tea in New York City. Also one of the most expensive~ but with the classic atmosphere, the awesome service and food, it was definitely worth the experience.
The staff at Lady Mendl's were probably all sorta of confused-- because there wasn't just one lolita party here, but TWO. My friends Dalin and Crystal had their own little private one in another area~
Mine was in their Mendl parlour, which we took up both rooms for~
Shots before the party started.....
My outfit for that night~ my favorite Rose Princess Doll OP for the occasion~ and my hair full with roses lol
Some of the magical winter decor. This is what I love about venues like Lady Mendl's~ their prices may seem crazy for some, but they really do a wonderful job decorating their space. You never pay only for food, but the overall atmosphere and service~
This time was at Lady Mendl's, one of the most reputable places for tea in New York City. Also one of the most expensive~ but with the classic atmosphere, the awesome service and food, it was definitely worth the experience.
The staff at Lady Mendl's were probably all sorta of confused-- because there wasn't just one lolita party here, but TWO. My friends Dalin and Crystal had their own little private one in another area~
Mine was in their Mendl parlour, which we took up both rooms for~
Shots before the party started.....
My outfit for that night~ my favorite Rose Princess Doll OP for the occasion~ and my hair full with roses lol
Some of the magical winter decor. This is what I love about venues like Lady Mendl's~ their prices may seem crazy for some, but they really do a wonderful job decorating their space. You never pay only for food, but the overall atmosphere and service~
The other half of the parlor~
The other fireplace~ I couldn't choose which one was better!
As people started gathering in the lobby for coat check...
Lady Mendl's Christmas tree was so classic and pretty-- some of their ornaments were actual teacups from over the years!
Now for the food~
Thursday, November 1, 2012
I forgot if I mentioned this butttt
Um, eff yes?
So glad I met both my milestones earlier last week~ obviously not much to some but I really appreciate it ; w;
I want to do a giveaway like I promised, but because of post-Sandy, plus my Guyana preparations and other things, I might not have it open until December...
I have a couple of things I wish to give away though~ makeup stuffs I've never touched, Ageha stuff, keychains and stuff that's been sitting around that I know I'll never touch, even if I love them a lot ; w; Also lashes and things like that! It also might be two prizes, rather than one big prize. But we'll see~ it all depends on my job situation and other issues and kinks that'll need to get worked out and clarified before I officially open it.~
In other news I'm super excited for my Lolita Day Tea Party officially only being A MONTH away. I'm only about 4 people away from reaching the minimum number for that room, so I'm not being as panicky as usual. I've been reaching out to try and get a few sponsorships as far as giveaways are concerned, and so far I have Mintymix and Apatico sponsoring a giftie for the party. Still trying to hear back from other acquaintances, but I'm very hopeful overall. I'm also reaching out for a bit of media attention as well~ we'll see how successful I am with that >:3
Um, eff yes?
So glad I met both my milestones earlier last week~ obviously not much to some but I really appreciate it ; w;
I want to do a giveaway like I promised, but because of post-Sandy, plus my Guyana preparations and other things, I might not have it open until December...
I have a couple of things I wish to give away though~ makeup stuffs I've never touched, Ageha stuff, keychains and stuff that's been sitting around that I know I'll never touch, even if I love them a lot ; w; Also lashes and things like that! It also might be two prizes, rather than one big prize. But we'll see~ it all depends on my job situation and other issues and kinks that'll need to get worked out and clarified before I officially open it.~
In other news I'm super excited for my Lolita Day Tea Party officially only being A MONTH away. I'm only about 4 people away from reaching the minimum number for that room, so I'm not being as panicky as usual. I've been reaching out to try and get a few sponsorships as far as giveaways are concerned, and so far I have Mintymix and Apatico sponsoring a giftie for the party. Still trying to hear back from other acquaintances, but I'm very hopeful overall. I'm also reaching out for a bit of media attention as well~ we'll see how successful I am with that >:3
Friday, October 5, 2012
NYC Lolita Day Tea Party~
Hey guys! So I'm hosting another tea party this winter for International Lolita Day, here in New York City.
If you're a lolita and you're in the area, visit the EGL page for more information~
Monday, September 3, 2012
Afropunk Festival 2012
A week ago I attended the Afropunk Festival for the first time with my friend Black Witch.
I... did not expect it to be as huge as it was. This weekend event was huge, like, supposedly 20k-people-each-day kind of huge. When I hear 20k, I think of anime conventions and stuff. The walking-traffic was ridiculous, half the time the entrance was nothing but a serious case of bottlenecking-- and when it was organized, it was a line going around the corner and DOWN the side of the park by the BQE. Crazy.
Overall, I don't know what much to say about AP Fest.. music-wise I felt it was good, but the whole vendor area was so disconnected from everything else.. when I mean vendors I mean the small independent businesses selling t-shirts and clothing and jewelry and stuff. Tumblr-famous people like Coco && Breezy and Black Fashion by Javii were stationed near the stages. I honestly didn't really get the use of having vendors when they seemed so separated from the rest of the festival. I feel like it could've been done better.
Crowd-wise, there was barely anyone who caught my eye. Very little good examples of good western punks. It just seemed like a mass of black and white hipsters from Tumblr, afrocentric hipsters, and the like. People were staring me down like no tomorrow... which honestly I'm not surprised from wearing lolita, since obviously a lot of these cats would never really recognize it for the Japanese punk/counter-culture style it is, but even with my wig, I just felt so inadequate. It was pretty disappointing because it wasn't like I felt uncomfortable because of too many people looking awesome around me, it was because most of these people looked lame or generic but felt that they somehow had the nerve to think they were somehow superior.
This basically shows how everyone looked. Just multiply by 2 or 3 times when it came near time for Erykah or Janelle to get on stage in the evening. Yeah.It's whatever. I just wish the crowd was more colorful in terms of style. Made me kind of happy I dressed kind of sloppy in lolita than to the nines.
I felt the music made it worthwhile though, and hanging out with Olivia and seeing old people from High School and whatnot! Totally crazy. Especially with random people like Pharrell and Solange Knowles and people popping up at the festival.
Anyways, onto the picture spam~ Friday outfit:
Met Ryan Hall who host Stereotypes on I Am Other. One of the only regrets of dressing sloppier/wearing my glasses. blarghhh brb blindingmyeyeswithcirclelensforever
Got snapped by Rolling Stone. You can click to find the page here. I really need to stop giving people my government name... and start using my online alias. = A=
My outfit for Saturday--
It was pretty much the first time I've ever really, seriously tried to do a gothic style and was satisfied with it. I borrowed Nancy's dress since it was light and perfect for the summer weather. I loveddd this outfit. It makes me want to get more darker stuff xD
Pharrell backstage, after popping up out of nowhere to introduce Janelle Monae xD
Janelle Monae during her performance. She was like, within arm's length of me in this picture
x 3x I was the happiest chick ever. You don't even know
Near the end when she was all wired. Hair loose, clothes disheveled... she was just going in.
At the end of the weekend I was very glad I went, though I'm honestly not sure if I'd do it again next year. Depends on their lineup and stuff, and I'm most definitely never going by myself.
Monday, May 14, 2012
PBS Sherlock Event with Benedict Cumberbatch!
So recently I got into the PBS Series "Sherlock", which is basically a modern take on Sherlock Holmes, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman as Sherlock Holmes and John Watson, respectively. Personally, I have never read the books by Arthur Conan Doyle, but thanks to my bb Laura I am completely hooked onto this show. And attached to Benedict Cumberbatch >w> It'ssogoodomg
It was hilarious how it happened, and Laura's reaction to me winning was priceless. We had promised each other that whoever won would invite the other one as their +1, so when I told Laura I won she had a fit. She was hysterical. Best IM ever? "Wait my phone is dead but I'm gonna charge it so you can hear my real tears". Every time I read that over I start cracking up.
Anyways, May 2nd comes along and we dress all nice for it. Our friend Nikki came along and managed to squeeze herself in via the "waiting line" so we were all sorts of excited. They had a reception area for snack foods and wine and whatnot, then we were guided to the screening room, where, after the preview of the episode was shown, the projector screen went up and out comes the PBS people, Steven Moffat and Benedict Cumberbatch for a Q&A session.
I love Benedict's character. Despite his growing popularity, he's actually pretty humble and doesn't understand why people like him so much LOL. He seems to be pretty chill and silly at times and definitely not stuck-up. I'm sure he was a bit shocked at all the love and the hype he was getting from his fans.
After the Q&A was the autograph signing, and the line for Benedict was -LONG-. Ridiculously long. So long that it kind of went around the inside of the building, up the stairs, and right out the door.
Laura, me and Nikki waiting outside at the time. Laura had bought her hats to wear and made the "I -heart- Sherlock" pins from the show lol
We almost didn't make it for the autograph though... we were on the line for two hours, and my knee was acting up at the time, had my brace on and everything and at some point they decided to close -off- the autograph line -right- in front of us. I was beyond pissed because of the stress I was putting on my leg from standing on line and waiting that long. Me and Laura obviously weren't going to give up just like that. There weren't any real security, just the PBS people trying to bar the end of the line. Didn't really want to act cunty but I ended up being really pissed off and cussing and all this.. LOL
I don't know how, but somehow we made it from right in front of them to -behind- them without them letting us through. I guess at that point they gave up when it came to us? In any case... xD we got our autographs lol
Unfortunately with the time we had, I never got a chance to shake his hand or hug him to take an actual non-candid shot with him but at least I was able to talk to him for a minute or so. ♥
I had asked him "Would you mind taking a group picture with us?" and though the PBS people were like 'sorry, no more photos, etc' he said "well, let's see how things turn out after I'm done signing". Of course after that there was no time (they were ready to shut the place down) but he at least wanted to try. After he was done with the last of the autographs, him and his people dipped to the elevator close by to avoid the rest of the crowd that remained, we had followed them since it was near the exit anyways. As they were in the elevator we shouted goodnight and farewell, which he returned with a lively "goodbye!" and he waved his hand at me just as the door closed. I was able to get this last shot:
Just as the doors closed. Mad skills. (Just a bit irritated because the original photo without the watermark got stolen and put on tumblr by some random chicks.. thanks Laura for pasting the original from my facebook = w=)
The end of an awesome night.The moment I got home I put up the autograph on my wall.
You can see he was making sure he didn't go over the photo... I should've told him to do it though. I was going to put the white spaces out but what's done is done! His print was so small despite having all this huge space... it says "Amber / Thank you". We had blown up the images and printed it out on actual photo paper, it looks so nice ; w;. Benedict really liked Laura's, where he said "Holy-- my mother would love this photo!" and Laura was like PFFFT she has so many photos of you plz D: This is for me lol. I guess he doesn't like a lot of his photos but the ones we chose looked really nice xD He looks kind of dorky in some of his other photos.
SO glad I had the opportunity to meet him. ♥ I love living in New York, haha
Friday, May 4, 2012
BT's Women's Ministry Annual Retreat 2012
Two weeks ago I spent the best 3 days with the women from my church, up in the middle-of-nowhere, New York.
As sarcastic as that may sound, there are really no words to describe everything that went on during this trip. It was mind-blowing, every moment of it, and me being the hugest dummy, I forgot my camera. So barely any pictures. I took the -one- photo above off my phone and it doesn't do any justice.
Friday morning at 5:30a I woke up... 5:30a was the time I was supposed to be at the church (but guess who was on the internet all night?). My phone was blown up with texts and voicemails. I return the call and all I get from Lady M was "uh you better get a cab and get over here before we leave you!" We actually didn't leave until like, 7 or so but I still scrambled my butt together, called a cab. The operator said the guy would be there in -3 minutes- and those three minutes, I literally pulled out my suitcase, threw a bunch of clothes and crap in there, face stuff, hair stuff, toothbrush, etc., and nearly broke my neck down the stairs when the cab came beeping. Of course halfway to the church I realized I forgot something important for the display and stuff and I had to go back home and get it.
It was a 5 hour ride from New York City to Speculator, pretty uneventful until we passed Schenectady and Amsterdam. Right after Amsterdam it was an hour's worth of a scenic route.
So beautiful.
Suddenly streams, brooks and completely green woods were popping up along both sides of the bus.. riding along the mountain we all suddenly lost reception (the majority of us were left without phones for the weekend, too) but the scenery made up for it perfectly. Mountains ahead of us, behind us, beside us, old fashioned homes and shacks popped up occasionally, railroad tracks and what have you. There was this one river that was just so gorgeous and wide, everyone was watching the fresh water crash against the rocks... it was refreshing just to look at it! We were all awestuck.
After 45 minutes or so we made it to Speculator. I'm not sure if it's an actual TOWN and we never got to saw because our destination was the first turn after the 'Welcome' sign.
This Christian retreat camp was pretty huge, I personally only got to go through maybe half the area, but it was so nice. The lounge smelled of fresh wood and all the staff were kind. The rooms were nice and simple, no TVs or telephones. Free Wifi which was useless to me, and then it was $5/hr to use the internet on their own computers. Needless to say I was suffering.
The lack of technology led me to explore, though. Once we were settled in it was time for lunch, where we were served BBQ pulled pork + cole slaw wraps, sweet potato waffle fries, etc buffet-style. We got acquainted with the hostess of the dining hall and she was so accommodating, after Lady M requested certain things for her tea they made sure to cut some up and sit it in her usual spot for the rest of the mealtimes over the weekend...
After lunch me and Zoe (who was assigned official babysitter for the trip) went to walk around with the little kids, found the playground, found the gym center which was HUGE and had two or three floors, and we went to the lake afterwards.
The lake was so beautiful. The cell photo I have does no justice whatsoever. Saturday morning we had an early morning prayer by it, and it was just spectacular. It was emotional to look at as we prayed and saw what was only an -example- of God's masterpiece. Clear, calm waters, with woods and mountains in the distance... there was an island in the center that was also filled with trees... ducks and geese flying and swimming in the water... and at first it was sunny and you saw the warmth of the sun doing something to that scene. As we continued to pray clouds rolled in and at some point half the lake was covered in sun, and the other half was covered in clouds and it was such a sight to see. Once we were done with prayer the clouds took over, leaving the scene covered in a blanket of a misty blue.
It was seriously the most spiritually edifying event I've been at so far, and once we left on Sunday I left feeling much more wholesome. I can go on and on about this trip... but I think I'll put it into more detail because every day, and heck every workshop that went on deserves it's own post.
To be continued....
Saturday, April 28, 2012
(Pre-) Sakura Matsuri
2 weeks ago I went with a bunch of lolitas to the Brooklyn Botanical Garden to see the cherry blossoms. I was determined to go -before- Sakura Matsuri (which is today), because I really wanted to avoid the crowds and the cosplayers.
Sakura Matsuri used to be enjoyable but now there's always pressure or someone interrupting your moment trying to get you into their little 'lolita' activities... which is usually nothing more than a zoo attraction. Very disappointing. Not to mention that now all the cherry trees are done for the season, so the blooms are pretty much gone and the few that remain are being plucked off by inconsiderate people...
But when we went, everything was perfect! The trees in BBG's Cherry Esplanade were in bloom, the weather was perfect and sunny (and in the 70's!). We got there in the morning since regular Saturday mornings they let people in for free before noon. The crowd wasn't that bad, we got to walk around and take pictures without too much interruption~
DreamV outfit from that day~
Monday, February 20, 2012
Bishop's 40th Pastoral Anniversary Dinner
Two weeks left to hand this event planning stuff in, and I only got 1 assignment down... and 24 left to go (for just one class). After today people will probably never hear of me again until then. e__e I might even try and get help from friends or something hahahaha. It's really getting to that point.
I think after going through so much back in public school... I just have a mental block when it comes to doing assignments. Seriously, I could sit on my bed with only my textbook and notebook in front of me for 3 hours and not get anything done. LOL
Anyways, before I completely disappear for a bit, I just wanted to share this weekend.
Saturday was the 40th pastorial anniversary dinner for the bishop of my church, at Russo's on the Bay. It was a very pretty venue, serving mainly Italian food and whatnot. I actually was only able to get a shot of the desserts, because no one at my table was able to really touch it after all the food we ate... they basically served us a 5-course meal! It was ridiculous! I've never eaten so much food at an event before.
The area where the smorgasbord took place-- there was so much food, and I was only on -one- side of the area... I didn't even get a chance to see the food on the other side lol. The waiting area was also really pretty, nice and dim and romantic with outside light flowing through the glass doors.
As soon as we were let into the dining hall, the youth did a bit of praise-singing.
Diamond and Zoe~
Jona, Crystal and Scott!
While we were waiting for food to be served, me and Avian went back out to take outfit shots and whatnot.
I really need to stop looking at Greek/Roman art. I really do.
There was an area for the professional photos that were being shot and printed on the spot~ I kind of wanted one, but they didn't have the little card cube thing, and me being me, I didn't carry extra cash. ah well. Some of the other youth people took some that came out really nice.
Here is my pastor, as MC for the event, with his wife next to him. I should've thought to take outfit shots before everything started :c
The main courses was so good. First place was a fruit platter, with slices of peach, strawberry, pears, raisins, and other fruits and figs. My God, I couldn't get enough of the figs. After that was ziti with some kind of sauce.. I forget. That was good as well. For the main course, I chose this plate of chicken, shrimp, croquette and I think rice. the chicken and shrimp were covered and cooked with what reminded me of tempura batter, it was sooo good. And for dessert (that we barely touched) was a plate of cake with I think was raspberry filling, vanilla gelato in a chocolate cup, and then tiers of assorted sweets like macaron, cannolis, eclairs, chocolate covered cashews and just so much. So much stuff. I wish I had more room for the sweets, it was such a waste to not eat them ; w;
Never to be touched, ahblooblooThe music was good, the presentations, and of course seeing Bishop for the first time in a long while. He was extremely weak for the past two months, haven't been to church like that, apparently barely ate or walked without help... seeing him that day gave all of us joy, for him to be doing so much better and well enough to attend the event.
Here was my outfit for the day~
I got the dress from one of the wholesale shops near 34th street, for about 100 dollars. I really wanted a quality dress and a specific pleated design similar to this one that Satomin wore for Sugar/Jewels. I didn't bother getting new shoes, just got an old pair of black t-strap shoes that gave me height without making my feet uncomfortable, and then got a black shawl from H&M.
A very good look I think, I lot of people gave me compliments on everything, from the dress to my makeup. My hair was alright but it sort of died a little since it was supposed to rain and everything that day. At least my makeup was on point xD
Hopefully by my next post or so, I'll be done with my assignments and my courses~ Wish me luck!
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