Japan Day 25.08.14

 Japan Society North West's "Japan Day" is held in the Midlands hotel (right opposite manchester central where Manchester comic con is), it is free entry and  featured displays and demonstrations of Japanese crafts and activities including Ikebana, Ningyo (Japanese dolls), embroidery, Koto and Shamisen playing, Taiko drumming, the lovely “Awa Odori” dance, Shodo (the art of Japanese calligraphy) and also, for the first time at Japan Day, two authentic performances of the art of Tea Ceremony. For something more active they had martial arts displays from a number of different groups, and people could also have the chance to dress up in a kimono with their kimono-dressers. And, for the first time in Manchester, they had a cosplay competition. They also had a large number of stalls featuring the amazing variety of Japanese-culture societies in north west England.

 (Awa Odori dance)

(Kimono dressing)

Here's a recording of the Awa Odori dance she did (one out of two).

We managed to get inside from the early hours of it opening for this event as we always like to.Their wasn't many stalls but the entertainment was good,  that it didn't really matter. I particularly liked the awa odori dance and the finishing act Taiko drumming which they were all so enthusiastic. It took us some time to find the third room; trafford suite and when we got there it was way too crowded around the stage to see the martial acts properly so we never really ventured into it. The Japanese food room smelled so delicious, the aroma filling the room was simply mouth watering and hearing the Japanese greetings made it even more awesome.

 (Japanese food stalls)

(Taiko drumming)

The hotel was stunning and very big, easy to get around eventually aswell. Which I made sure to check afterwards what the star rating for it was a 4 star. Very fitting. Plus the fact it was opposite Manchester central had us all pulling some gags about being late/too early for MCM.

 Sadly every photographer/camera person was having a issue with the camera because of the lighting in the hotel. And the fact my camera is slow didn't help, by the end it did sort itself out and get a few cosplay photos but this is the reason why not much. We missed the cosplay competition as we took a wrong turn, ended up slightly lost then went for food but oh well! My favourite artist was there which I ended up buying alot of her as usual and got some things from afflecks in Manchester

 (Jellie Bee stall)

 (Studio Ghibli and playstation merch from Jellie Bee)

(Afflecks patches and badges)

Really awesome vibe, met up with many of my friends and it was a really great experience as you had japanese terms thrown at you at stalls and food stalls. It's not back till 2016 but I reccomend to everyone for a day out to enjoy Japanese culture. Now for some cosplay photography I took on the day!

 (Shaunie, my companion for the day)

 (Kiki, Kiki's Delivery Service)

 (Furries!)

 (Princess Hatsune Miku, Vocaloid)

 (Totoro, My Neighbor Totoro)

 Midland Hotel was well served by public transport (St Peters Square tram stop is two minutes walk away, Oxford Road railway station 10 minutes, and there are frequent buses running past or near to the hotel). There are also several large car parks nearby as well as a range of small ones.I got there by 83 (which had several other buses stop in the same place) which stops near piccadilly gardens and then it's a few minutes walk straight down to the place.

Manchester cosplay day out (Mancster Con) 9/8/14

First of I really didn't want to make my blog post start this way but I have to be honest. Mancstercon is a three day event but I only went on the Saturday. The early bird tickets (for all 3 days) are just £3, otherwise on the day they are £3 or £1 if cosplaying. Also cosplayers get cake. Well this is what it said on the site but what happened on the day was very different. I already knew the area wasn't pretty but then I was expecting the inside to be a bit more tidy than it was, not to mention the fact that we was then charged the normal price (instead of £1 for cosplayers) plus no cake (which when you say these things you do expect it, it's not good to lie to people). The cake was a lie!!  (Apparently I've been informed we should of mentioned we was cosplayers at the door... Which is well, I don't even know what to say to that if you look below and see what we was wearing. Yup. Not cosplay looking it seems.)

I attended this with my two friends, one of which cosplaying Helena (Orphan Black), myself (female!Merlin) along with a non cosplaying friend. We ended up not staying long, only about 10 minutes before spending the day in Manchester (luckily for us the weather was great and we didn't let it damper our spirits), returning to the con near leaving to have a final look and see if it has picked up a bit. I bought a art print and badge from chocolate-revel and then a print from mew-ville.

Mewa Chu and Chocolate-Revel's stall

 Chocolate-Revel

 Mew-Ville

Went to a chippy I cannot name because of the following reason as we got a extra chips with batter servings delivered to us by the worker there whilst eating. We did a few more photoshoots in Sackville Gardens and around China town. As said we did return to the con and looked around, even at the screenings next door but there wasn't much going on at the time. We then left and sat on the pavement laughing and chatting, taking selfies and weird videos for a good hour before parting our ways.

Personally this convention wasn't my cup of tea.