November Favourites ’22

Holy shit guys, we are overdue a blog post, let alone another favourites! I’m wary now that I’ve been M.I.A. for almost a month and I do have my reasons why. I thought I’d write my favourites from November, whilst I also share where I went.

November was a mad month, especially towards the end of it, with some highs and lows to finish it off. First of all, I had Covid. Right at the end of November I tested positive and it sucked. I’m negative now, but I still have a cough (and sometimes head cold symptoms) that I’m just waiting to clear out of my system. Hopefully in time for Christmas…

It was my first time with Covid and I hope the last realistically. Self-isolating was the worst for me as it meant I was trapped in one room (two if you include occasional bathroom trips) relying on Dane to look after me and a crappy airbed for comfort of an evening. I didn’t enjoy it and it really did start to give me really bad mental health issues towards the end. The sickness itself was meh. I had a really bad temperature and all around just didn’t feel great, I just wanted to lie on the sofa or in bed all day, which I mostly did the weekend I found out I had it.

As I’ve been sick both at the end of October and the end of November, I really hope December doesn’t decide to join in too. In 2021 I was really sick at the end of December/start of January and that was vile, a lot worse than Covid, so I’m praying not to be sick like that again ever. 😛

Anyhoo, enough of the bad and onto the highs! As we all know, Pokemon came out mid November and since it released I’ve been playing it on and off, and thoroughly enjoying it, may I add! I’ll speak more about this later in the post. I also went to see Electric Callboy in Nottingham, which was amazing! Again, I’ll speak more about this later on in the post!

With no time like the present, let me get onto all my favourite from November, even with sodding Covid towards the end. 😛

Beauty – Lime Crime Wet Cherry Lip Gloss in Black Cherry.

With my lipstick journey I’ve gone from wearing lipsticks, liquid lipsticks, tints, and of late glosses. This has gone around full circle ever since I was old enough to be gifted make up as a young teenager, and lip gloss has made a come back for me! I find if I just want a bit of colour, lip glosses are great for that, alongside lip tints! I watched a beauty account on Instagram showing off some gorgeous black cherry glosses, so I decided to get myself one! I own one of the Lime Crime wet cherry lip glosses, which I love, so I thought I’d get the black cherry one. Prior to getting sick with Covid I was wearing this on a daily basis, as I just loved how light you could wear the colour, as well as how buildable it can be. I highly recommend the Lime Crime lip glosses if you want a gloss with some good colour, smells yummy and isn’t sticky!

Movie – Rascal Does Not Dream of a Dreaming Girl.

Technically this film classes as December, but I thought I’d mention it for November, because why not! We have been waiting YEARS to watch this movie, and finally we were able to yesterday. We’re big fans of the anime Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai, so back in 2019/2020 when we heard about there being a film made of a sequel to the anime, we wanted to watch it. However, it’s only seemingly become available to us in the UK more so recently, and even then it’s only through someone uploading the movie onto YouTube. We watched it and it was such a beautiful film. If you’ve watched the anime and would love to know what happens next, make sure to go and watch the movie too. If you search for it on YouTube, you should find it straight away. I don’t want to link on my blog as realistically it being on YouTube isn’t the best.

Music – Electric Callboy.

So, as I mentioned at the start of the post, towards the end of November me and Dane went to see Electric Callboy in Nottingham. It was by far one of the best gigs I’ve been to in my life to date. I originally said it was in my top 5, but now it’s in my top 3!!! The whole vibe of the show was incredible, everyone was clearly there for a good time and everyone did just that. Each track they played from old and newer stuff got everyone going mad, including us of course! We both had a sore throats after attending the gig as we were both screaming the lyrics, and our bodies ached from dashing and moshing as much as we could. We got decent places to stand too as we started queuing quite early, so we were on the balcony, right at the front, which we loved! We’ve already said we want to go and see them again, as we had such a blast! I’d love to book to go and see them in Europe somewhere, or even London at some point next year, but we’ll see! Another cool thing is you can kind of see us on the photo that they took at the end of the gig! We’re on the left of the photo and I’m holding my bright yellow rain coat… 😛

Game – Pokemon Scarlet and Violet.

As I mentioned at the start of the post, we got our copies of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet and whilst we haven’t been binge playing them, I have really been enjoying playing Violet! Sword and Shield are both games I’ve enjoyed, but found you could complete the story in a day. However, Scarlet and Violet is, to me, a little overwhelming in the sense there is so much more to do! You have the gyms, titans and star challenges, as well as the usual filling up the Pokedex from catching and breeding, as well as battling with people. There’s A LOT to do in Scarlet and Violet and due to that, I really love it! I’m enjoying playing it as and when I want as well, instead of feeling like I need to pick it up to play most evenings. I wanted to show off the cute pictures I got of me and Fidough on my first day of playing. Fidough is for sure my favourite Pokemon to come out of Scarlet and Violet and I can’t wait to get some Fidough merch from the Pokemon Center due to this!

Just a few of my favourite things…

Lumichee 100% Cotton Batbat Hoodie

Lumichee “Monochrome” Mini Batbat Plush Series 4

Adorabubblesshop Ditto Cookie Candy Wrapper Loop Strap Charm

Adorabubblesshop Ice-Cream Pom Candy Wrapper Loop Strap Charm

Tomodachi Monster Cereal Vol.4 Pins

Black Friday

Did I go spend happy over Black Friday? Yep, I certainly did! If I’m honest I didn’t just shop for me either, I did save quite a lot of money on Dane’s Christmas presents, which was incredibly handy as it meant I could spoil him (and me) more. 😛 Black Friday happened when I was really sick with Covid, and not only did I go spend happy for Dane, but I definitely did for me too as I was feeling sorry for myself. As you can see, I bought quite a few bits and pieces from various places! I decided to get some more goods from Lumichee, Adorabubbleshop, as well as Tomodachi! They all had vouchers for Black Friday, which I just couldn’t pass up! I’ll be looking to write a blog post all about Lumichee in January, as well as showing you guys the volume 4 pins from Tomodachi, as I spoke about them at the start of the year!

Wales trip

I’ve been so excited to talk about our trip to Wales, but due to being so quiet on here this is the first chance I’ve had to really talk about it! At the start of November we went to Wales for a weekend to a shepherds hut on a farm in North Wales. The hut itself was absolutely gorgeous and everything we wanted! We made sure to book it in the autumnal months too so we could make the most of some of the features of the hut, which included underfloor heating, a log fire indoor, a firepit outside, as well as a hot tub! We definitely made the most out of all these features of the hut, even though the weather was raining and vile! We managed to dodge the rain every time we wanted to use the hot tub! Whilst we were in North Wales, we ventured to have a go at clay throwing, where we made a pot and a mug each! We are yet to receive these in the post, but as soon as we do, I’ll make sure to show them you guys!

I really can’t wait to venture on a holiday or short trip with Dane again, I really loved our weekend in Wales.

We made a Christmas advent calendar!

Finally I wanted to quickly show you guys the advent calendar we made this year! This project was ongoing for about a month, and even came with us on our trip to Wales, as we had planned to carry on with it there, but never got around to it. We finally finished it on Saturday and we both love what we have done with it! We kinda wanted it to be like a gingerbread house, but it’s not really become that. It’s definitely become our own unique thing and we love it to death! We’ve hidden some of the images of the doors as these are inspired by rooms in our home, so we’d like to try and keep this private. I also added some stickers from Pikarar as they just look so cute and it seemed the right time to use them! We picked our calendar up from Hobbycraft to decorate and it was so much fun for us to do together. If anything, we’ve said how we want to do more crafting together!

So there we have it! A long overdue blog post from me after almost a month and I think it falling around favourites time has worked out quite nicely.

I’d say sorry for being absent but, I’m not going to. This isn’t my job at the end of the day, it’s my hobby and one that just had to take a break whilst I was busy and sick. I do wonder if in the New Year how often I’ll write, in the sense of if I’m too busy, I’m not going to force anything, a choice I’m sure you guys won’t mind. 🙂

So, with that being said – how have you guys been the past month? Have you started your Christmas shopping? Bought any goodies during Black Friday sales? Make sure to let me know in the comments down below!

Until next time all, take care and I hope you’ve all been keeping well. 🙂

May Wish List ’22

We are already into the second week of May already and the weather has been really questionable to be honest. I was hoping for some nicer weather after bank holiday to do work on the garden and then it pissed it down for a week! Boo. 😛

Anyhoo, as I mentioned last week in my April favourites post, I’m semi excited for this month, as I have My Chemical Romance in less than two weeks now, YAY! I’m a little nervous for that gig too due to Covid and other things, but I know we’ll have an amazing time. I’ve been eyeing up the merchandise on the US website as I’m hopeful that merchandise will be on sale (and more) at the show. I’m semi after one of the Danger Days character hoodies! Frank Iero is my favourite member of MCR, so I’d love his Fun Ghoul hoodie, but I really love Gerard Leto’s Party Poison hoodie too! So, I may end up getting both? 😛 We shall see!

I mentioned last month how May is the month of cute AF content, so I’m really excited to bring you those this month! Alongside that I have semi struggled with my wish list this month, but at the same time I didn’t? A lot of the items on my list this month are from America or Japan. I want to have a mini vent now, but the shipping costs from America at the moment are fucking awful! Like, half the time the price of the shipping is more than the cost of the item itself, it sucks. 😦

Anyhoo, on with the wish list!

• Fluffnest Ricky the Raccoon Plush – (link)

Recently Fluffnest released a Kickstarter for their new game PuffPals: Island Skies and I decided to back it last week. It reminds me of Animal Crossing a little, so I knew I had to get it! That being said, it reminded me that at the start of the year Fluffnest released a raccoon plushie called Ricky, which I still want to get! If you’re in the UK you can’t pre-order from their website but you can order in stock items, which doesn’t make sense to me… :S I know it’s due to the constant price changes for shipping, but there are ways around this, I feel. I’m hoping to source Ricky through a seller in America, or just wait until his pre-order is up so I can order him. Either way I’ll be getting him! I need all the raccoon plushies!

• The Creme Shop Cinnamoroll and Pompompurin Macaron Lip Balm – (link), and (link)

I’ve always wanted to get some of The Creme Shop’s macaron lip balms, but unfortunately these aren’t available in the UK, which breaks my heart a little. Lip balm alongside my hand cream is my main beauty product I use all day, everyday. So much so I have to make sure I keep lip balms in most rooms of the house, as well as two in my backpack in case I ever misplace/lose one. As you guys know I love Cinnamoroll and Pompompurin and as I now have them both in Loungefly backpack form, I’d kind like the lip balms to match. Cinnamoroll is cinnamon bun flavoured, with Pompompurin being pudding flavoured. I wouldn’t throw either of these lip balm cases away when used up, I’d just pop Vaseline in there! I’m hoping to source these through a seller in America.

• Sol de Janeiro Coco Cabana Cream, Perfume Mist, and Shower Gel – (link), (link), and (link)

In my March favourites post I mentioned how I loved Sol de Janeiro’s Coco Cabana range and my plans of buying the full sizes in the future. Well, the time is looming now for me to be buying full sizes and I’ll probably look to pick them up at the end of the month when I’m paid. I would have bought them by now, but when I was paid at the end of April I decided to stock up on the full size Bum Bum products I needed (cream, perfume mist, and shower gel) and I have been using them a lot since then. I’m really trying to get through my body creams at the moment so I can just solely use the Sol de Janeiro products. They’re really helping my skin lately and I love them so much due to that.

• Good Smile Company Hatsune Miku Date Outfit Ver. Nendoroid Doll – (link)

This is a Nendoroid Doll that was announced a while ago by Good Smile Company and since then I’ve really wanted it! I don’t own any Nendoroid Doll figures and I only own two Hatsune Miku Nendoroid figures too. This is ADORABLE and the clothing she’s wearing just reminds me of all the styles I wanted to wear when I was younger. I’d really love to pick up this Nendoroid Doll to keep somewhere in the office. I’m planning to pre-order her through Gamersheek in the near future as when you pre-order outside of PayPal, you don’t need to pay for the item until it’s due to ship to you!

• Lumichee Metal Mousemouth Hoodie – (link)

Finally I want to show off this hoodie… Again. I know I’ve shown it on my blog before, but I wanted to show it again because I need a mini vent about it! I REALLY want this hoodie, but I’m not willing to spend £82 on it due to the overall cost of buying it through Etsy. This is one of the vents I was having at the start of the blog post about shipping being more than the item. The hoodie has finally come back into my size and I just wish I could justify spending so much money on one item, it kind of stings in a way. 😦 I’m going to try and source it through an American shopper to get it a little cheaper.

So, there we have it guys, my monthly wish list for May! 😀

Some exciting news I forgot to share at the beginning of the post, but next month me and Dane will be venturing to Manchester for gaming fun and shopping! I’m already so excited to share with you all what we do, and where we go. 😀

What items are on your wish lists this month? Make sure to let me know in the comments.

Until next time, take care all and have a lovely weekend!

Shop Small UK Guide – Christmas 2021

We are officially less than two weeks away from Christmas now and DAMN it’s starting to feel real! I’m just about finished now with most of my Christmas presents in the run up to the big day, but in some cases I’ve been and still am in need of some inspiration. I don’t know about anyone else, but I’ve really struggling this year to find the perfect gifts for Dane, my friends and especially my mom! My dad has been the easiest person to buy for this year, which makes a change. 😛

Alongside my Christmas present woes, I always enjoy writing and sharing gift guides with you all and this year is no exception. Last year I wrote about independent businesses in the UK that you should buy from and I wanted to do that again this year. The past twenty-one months has been hard for everyone, especially independent businesses, whether or not they existed before or after COVID began. This doesn’t just apply to the UK, but I’ve seen a lot of small businesses struggle lately, and in worse cases close down due to not being able to make enough sales to keep going.

I really want to continue to do my bit in helping these businesses as much as I can. Not only do I hope it helps you gain some new gift ideas, but I also hope it introduces you to some businesses you may not have heard of before and decide to shop with going into the New Year!

I still love a lot of the small businesses I mentioned last year, so I will link that post here! I won’t be mentioning businesses again that I spoke of last year, just so it’s fair on other businesses mentioned here.

Anyhoo, I hope you enjoy this blog post today! I’ll be mentioning stores last dates to order for Christmas too.

Image taken from SplashJaguarCo

SplashJaguarCo – Kawaii home and stationary items inspired by Animal Crossing. Rugs handmade in West Midlands, UK.

Last date to order for Christmas – 2nd Class 18th December and 1st Class 21st December. However, as Royal Mail are struggling at this time of year due to Christmas AND the new COVID variant, please bear in mind delays may occur. If you want to guarantee item(s) to arrive for Christmas order as soon as possible.

If there is one thing people have been really loving towards the end of the year, it’s been Animal Crossing! With the new update and Happy Home Paradise launching at the start of November, Animal Crossing fans have gone mad even more than ever. If you know someone who loves Animal Crossing, as well as stationary you should definitely check out SplashJaguarCo! Not going to lie the Cookie washi tape pictured above is on my Christmas list and I really hope I get it this year. I plan to use it to decorate my diary for 2022 and more. There are various characters to choose from to have on washi tape including Maple, Marshal, Tangy, Roald, Stitches and more! A roll or two of these cute little washi tapes would make perfect gifts for any Animal Crossing fan of any age or gender, whether it be for Secret Santa, a stocking filler and more.

Image taken from BeaconCandlesUK

BeaconCandlesUK – Scented candles for Gamers, Readers and Film Fanatics handmade in Manchester, UK.

Last date to order for Christmas – The store will be closing on Sunday 19th December. However, as Royal Mail are struggling at this time of year due to Christmas AND the new COVID variant, please bear in mind delays may occur. If you want to guarantee item(s) to arrive for Christmas order as soon as possible.

BeaconCandlesUK is a brand I’ve known about for as long as I can remember now and have always wanted to order from. I can’t remember how but I discovered them through their Lavender Town candle that is clearly inspired by the town in Pokemon. Not only does it sound amazing, but it looks really cool with the Cubone skull and bone on the top of the candle too. Alongside Pokemon candles you can also get some inspired by Final Fantasy, Animal Crossing, Lord of the Rings and more! The scents sound delicious and I’m sure these would make great gifts for any candle lovers out there! I’m contemplating buying some of these for friends this year for Christmas. I feel like candles make amazing gifts for people and it’s one of those where even if you aren’t sure what smells someone will like, if you bought a Pokemon fan one of the Pokemon candles, they would be so thankful!

Image taken from PokieMinx

PokieMinx – Terrariums and vanity desk gifts inspired by Pokémon & The Moomins. Handmade in South Yorkshire, UK.

Last date to order for Christmas – Unfortunately orders for Christmas have now ended. This being said the store IS still open with items being sent 1st Class tracked and signed so they arrived within 1-2 business day. However, as Royal Mail are struggling at this time of year due to Christmas AND the new COVID variant, please bear in mind delays may occur. If you want to guarantee item(s) to arrive for Christmas order as soon as possible.

I couldn’t not share PokieMinx and her adorable creations! These would make perfect gifts for any Pokemon or The Moomins fan out there, especially if they’re like myself and have started to work from home part time. A terrarium with their favourite Pokemon inside sitting on their desk could really brighten their day. Or maybe a mirror? The Cubone one shown about is gorgeous and I can’t stop looking at it whenever I venture over to PokieMinx’s website whenever I take a look at it. Anything from PokieMinx’s store would make amazing and personal gifts for any Pokemon or The Moomins fans, especially as everything is handmade by Kimmy! There are also enamel pin/earring stands too so if you know someone who has started to get into collecting pins or earrings, these would make amazing gifts too.

Image taken from ARTBOX

ARTBOX – Cute character goods from Japan and Korea. Based in Covent Garden London, UK.

Last date to order for Christmas – Not known at the time of writing this blog post. If you’re based in or around London, the Covent Garden store will be open on Christmas Eve from 11am until 4pm. However, as Royal Mail are struggling at this time of year due to Christmas AND the new COVID variant, please bear in mind delays may occur. If you want to guarantee item(s) to arrive for Christmas order as soon as possible.

I wanted to mention ARTBOX here as whilst it isn’t as independent as some Etsy sellers and independent stores might be online, it’s a great place to buy Japan and Korea based items, whether it be online or from their store in London. I’m yet to come to the day where I actually order something from them, which might be later today! 😛 ARTBOX would be a great place to get items for your friends and family who love Sanrio, Pusheen, Rilakkuma and BT21. There are all sorts of different items to buy from and at all price ranges so it’s perfect for anything and everything. Personally I’m toying with treating myself to the PomPomPurin plush shown above, which you can pose and dress up! How cute is that?!

Image taken from Stitchtothepast

Stitchtothepast -Video Games Cross Stitch, Patterns & Kits! Based in the UK.

Last date to order for Christmas – Not known at the time of writing this blog post. However, as Royal Mail are struggling at this time of year due to Christmas AND the new COVID variant, please bear in mind delays may occur. If you want to guarantee item(s) to arrive for Christmas order as soon as possible.

The final store I wanted to mention on today’s post is about Stitchtothepast, which is a store I discovered in the summer. If you’re a newbie to cross stitch, or a “pro” like me there is loads of choose from. Personally for gifts the cross stitch kits from their store would make great gifts for anyone, especially if they’re into Nintendo video games series such as Pokemon, Animal Crossing, Zelda, Kirby and more. I personally really love the look of the Animal Crossing Celeste cross stitch kit where she’s stargazing. It’s such a gorgeous design and one I would love to do and display in my house in the future. The kits are really good and come with a cross stitch guide, a wooden hoop, thread and a thread organiser, pattern, a needle and more. If you know someone who would like to get into cross stitch in 2022, one of the kits might make a great gift for them!

So, there we have it, my 2021 guide to small shops you should buy your Christmas gifts from this year! All UK based of course. 🙂

What do you guys think? I didn’t cover off as many stores and themes as I did last year, but I felt like last years post was so detailed, I couldn’t really improve on it as good this year. Please do check out last years guide too, those stores are still around and amazing to boot!

Honestly guys, I hope you enjoyed this post today as much as I enjoyed writing it. I watched Christmas movies whilst writing, as well as chilling with Dane in our office. It’s made a lovely change sitting at my desk to do blog work.

Are there any small shops in the UK that you feel I should know about? Make sure to let me know and I’ll take a look for next time and promote on my Instagram page before the big day. 🙂

Until next time, take care all and I hope you had a lovely weekend. 😀

July Wish List ‘21

I can’t believe we’re already over a week into July! I also can’t believe Halloween is just around the corner too, as well as Christmas. Not going to lie, I love summer but damn am I excited for autumn in September! I have so many plans this year. 😛

I feel like July on my blog is turning into a strange month for posts. Nothing has really come out in the pattern/order I wanted it to and this is just purely because June felt like a long month for me and a tiring month at that. A lot of stuff was happening and although I had a week off work, I don’t at all feel rested.

My Twitch streams are keeping me busy too and I have so many ideas swirling around for the future of Twitch and more… I want to “announce” it here (if you will…) and say that I’m hoping to do YouTube in the future. I don’t know when, but I have so many ideas going around my head after a friend of mine planted the seed.

That aside, I’m really excited for this months wish list! Some items are pre-ordered and some I’m really hoping to order… More below of course. 😛

I hope you guys are having a lovely weekend and if you’re watching the football (I’m not :P) I hope you get the results you hope for. 🙂

• Pikachu Tonal Chain Wallet by Loungefly – (link)

If there is one thing I kind of lack in, it’s shoulder bags. I only really have one (my fake Samantha Vega Sailor Moon shoulder bag) which is my go to, as well as one of my favourite bags as Dane bought it for me back in 2015 when we went to Hyper Japan. The fact it’s still lasted six years later is great! However, I would like something else to use alongside this and this Pikachu Loungefly bag looks to be the one for me! It’s available from the Pokemon Center USA website, but I’m going to source elsewhere me thinks. It’ll be one to use if I’m just popping round to friends, or going out for food/drinks. Think I might treat myself to it at the end if the month!

• Animal Crossing: New Horizons 2022 Day-to-Day Calendar – (link)

I found out about this through Twitter and pre-ordered is straight away! As many of you know, I LOVE Animal Crossing (I stream it twice a week on Twitch too :P) so when I saw they were bringing out a little day-to-day desk calendar I was tempted. However, when I found out it have villagers birthdays featured on the day in question, I kind of knew I had to get it for my desk! It’s out at the end of the month and you can pre-order one yourself from Amazon now. 😀

• Smoko Pearl Boba Tea Beauty Fridge – (link)

As regular readers will know, I LOVE Smoko and the items they have out, especially the Asian food and potato characters. I’ve been eyeing up the fridge on their website for what feels like years now, so now it’s come to Urban Outfitters in the UK I would really like to pick it up! I very much doubt I will though, but I wanted to show it off to you guys in case you want to get it! 😀

• Pokemon Plamo Collection Mew Plastic Model – (link)

This is something that has been on my wish list for quite some time now and I’d still really love it! I think it would be so much fun to get, make a video of me putting together/stream me putting it together. I’ve not seen anyone in the UK selling this, but I have found it on From Japan, as well as Amazon Japan (linked above) so I think as and when I want to make an order from either in the future, I’m going to pick this up. I want to keep this little cutie on my desk next to my Sylveon capchara (can see and read about it here). I think there’s loads of these you can choose from too including Pikachu, Eevee, Gengar, Mewtwo, etc. If you search for “Pokemon Plamo Collection” on Amazon Japan you’ll see them all. 🙂

• PomPomPurin Bell Charm Netsuke Strap – (link)

This is something I’ve been after for a while and actually found it through a seller on Etsy, but wasn’t 100% sure so left. Now that ARTBOX has it in stock I may order it when payday comes at the end of the month! I’d pop this bell charm on my Loungefly PomPomPurin backpack! I’m planning to show that off on my blog in the future, which will be so cute! 😀 I do really love ARTBOX, but I’ve never actually made an order with them!

• The Sad Ghost Club Sad Ghost Plush – (link)

Finally we have a pre-order item that I ordered last week after it released. The owner of SGC decided to bring out a plush of the Sad Ghost and I couldn’t resist! For those who may never have heard, SGC “We’re a small creative project making comic books, apparel and merchandise to spread positive awareness of mental health.” which I adore. It makes me feel less lonely and understood when their posts relate to how I’m doing that day with my anxiety and depression. So, when I saw that they’d brought out a plush of the little cutie, I had to order! This little guy will sit with my plushies in my plush cabinet! If you’re really interested in getting your own Sad Ghost, please make sure to snap him up now because it’s only a limited edition item with one run!

Anyhoo guys, those are my wish list items for July! I’m on a spending ban this month in all honesty due to buying my new car, but I’m going to start spending less now, because I need to. I think I’ll have a few treats a month and then that’s it! 🙂

What items are on your wish lists? Do you like what’s on mine? Let me know your thoughts in the comments down below!

Until next time guys, I hope you’re having a lovely weekend and take care. 🙂

June Wish List ‘21

I am officially off work for a week! HORRAY! This has been much needed as I can’t actually remember the last time I was on holiday for more than a few days or over a long weekend. Work has been busy lately so it’s much needed! I’m excited to spend time with Dane, as well as some much needed catch up time with friends.

I do have some amazing and exciting news to share with you all for this month wish list post… I made affiliate on Twitch on Tuesday! I always said I wanted to aim for gaining affiliate at the end of May, but I got it on the first day of June instead, which is close enough. 😛

It’s also mine and Dane’s eight year anniversary on Tuesday. The years have flown by! It’ll be nice just to spend the day together. We’re planning to have a chilled day and have a picnic style dinner with drinks and yummy snack foods. 😀

I have decided in June that I’m actually going to be on a spending ban due to being a little bit too spend happy in May. I have zero regrets for a lot of the items I purchased and pre-ordered but yeah, I’ve been a bit silly. 😛

This month there are a few items on the list that are pre-orders and one that is a HUGE wish list item… Pretty sure you’ll already see which one that is, huh? 😛

• Smoko Astro Tayto Night Light – (link)

As regular readers may know and remember, I LOVE Smoko and their cute AF original characters and homeware items. It all started off with Elodie the Unicorn and has slowly moved over to Asian food related items and Tayto. A cute coach potato with big goals in life. Recently he’s been sent off into space, ASTRO TAYTO!  As Smoko is located in America, I always keep eyes peeled on Firebox’s website for any new Smoko releases. Last week Astro Tayto was added to the website and I had to fight the urge to order him there and then. I’d love to get him for my desk, at least in our bedroom to be with the other Smoko night lights I own!

• Studio Ghibli Kiki’s Delivery Service Jiji & Soft Toy Jiji Clock – (link)

I’ve had this item bookmarked in my “wish list” folder for quite some time now, but due to the price I’ve just not made the plunge to order it. I would like a clock in our office as we don’t actually have one and a Ghibli themed one would be to die for! This one is of Jiji and toy Jiji together, which I think is such a cute idea personally! Kiki’s Delivery Service has fast turned into one of my favourite Ghibli movies over the years and it was only from being in Japan in January 2020 that made me realise how much I love it. 🙂

• Sanrio PomPomPurin x Miki Takei Mini Letter Set – (link)

I decided in 2020 with everything that went on with lockdown that I would really love to write letters to some of my friends as a reminder of how much I love them, how proud I am of them and sometimes share some old and funny memories too! I bought a wax seal stamp set last year/early 2021 too so I’d love to seal letters with that! As many regular readers will know, I LOVE Pompompurin, the cute little pudding dog created by Sanrio. This letter set is so fucking cute and I definitely want a couple of packs in my life so I can write to my friends.

• JeanaDraws Lakko the Otter Apparel, Bag & Pins Kickstarter – (link)

This is a Kickstarter that I backed at the end of May and also one that doesn’t begin to fulfil until the end of the year in December. I wanted to mention it on this months wish list though because I wish I could have the cardigan I’ve backed for NOW! There are various items to back for, including knitwear, a plushie bag and enamel pins. As shown in the image I’m backing for he brown cardigan. I do love snuggling in cardigans in the colder months and I think this one is perfect for me with both working from home and out and about. I’d also really love to back for the Lakko bag too, but this isn’t my style, sadly.

• Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid Tohru and Kanna Plushies.

These are pre-order items from YY Kawaii back in January and I cannot wait for them to arrive this month. Regular readers will know that Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid is one of my favourite anime and manga series. When I saw these two cuties available for pre order I wanted to snag them to keep in our bookshelf with all my copies of the manga. I think they’re due around the end of June so I’ll soon be showing them off on Instagram when they’ve arrived.

• Hot Topic Studio Ghibli Kiki’s Delivery Service Oversized Cardigan.

Another Kiki’s Delivery Service AND cardigan item! I saw this for sale on Hot Topic a while ago and fell in love with it, however I didn’t like how much it might cost me to get it to the UK, so I left it. I recently discovered it for sale on a website based in the UK, so in the future I might buy it from them, if not a personal shopper I use in America. It’s a cute and simple cardigan, I like the fact it’s cream as I don’t own anything like that. Most of my cardigans are rainbow colours. It would be nice to have a neutral one for the summer months.

• Maybe a new car…?

Finally… I MIGHT be getting myself a new car this month. I spontaneously starting looking at cars online and I’ve discussed with Dane. I wouldn’t get a brand new one by the way, but I’d definitely opt for a car with a good age against it. My current car is amazing and gets me from A to B, but I think it’s starting to show it’s age of late. I want a car me and Dane can share so if he doesn’t want to use his, we can always use mine in confidence. Plus, it would have something nice like that! I said when I returned from Japan I would get myself a new car, but then COVID happened and messed up my plans. We shall see… I’ve seen one I like which we might go with. You never know. 🙂

So, there we have it! My wish list for June! I’m really excited for June to be honest with you, the weather is already gorgeous and we’re already getting plans organised with people who we’ve missed during lockdown and COVID.

Not only am I interested in what you guys have on your wish lists this month, but do you have plans with loved ones and friends this month? Make sure to let me know in the comments.

Until next time guys, take are and I’ll see you next time!

From Japan Haul and Review

Hello guys! It’s been a few weeks now since I last posted something and I do apologise for this. Life sort of got in the way last week, hence no post.

BUT I’M BACK and I’m excited to share a new “store” with you today. I know a few people have asked me to share and talk about this website/store and alongside show you guys what goodies I bought too!

From Japan was introduced to me from my friend Emily (meimi132) a while ago now and it’s been a blessing in disguise but also a bit of a curse for my wallet. 😛

From Japan is an auction and shopping proxy service, as the name suggest, for Japanese goods. It’s really easy to create an account and even easier to search for items, which I’ll go through in more detail.

I’ve used From Japan mostly for buying Pokemon Center goodies, but I do have some Pompompurin, Persona 5 and Nendoroid related goodies saved in my favourites/wish list too!

Not only did I want to show off what goodies I’ve had arrive from my second order (first is still on route!) but I wanted to share my experiences of using the website too a I’ve had a few people ask me.

I haven’t been asked to write this post about From Japan. I wanted to share this amazing Japanese proxy service as I know I talk about Japan and kawaii goodies a lot on my blog. So, some of you may benefit from finding out about From Japan if you never had before, and if you HAVE heard about From Japan but don’t know anyone who has… Hello! Here I am! 😀

Image taken from Pokemon Center website

My first order is still on route and I regretfully went with surface mail, which can take between one to three months to arrive! It’s already been a month and still no sign so… Pray for me. 😛 Aside from the wait on shipping, this order was straight forward to do so I’m just annoyed at myself looking back at picking surface mail considering how long it’s taking. This is for the Pokemon TCG playmat from the Eevee Sweet Choices collection. It’s so cute and it’s actually from me ordering this that I decided to get my own desk in our front room/office. I don’t regret it, but I just want it to arrive now. 😛

My second order arrived on Monday and I was so damn happy with everything and how it was packaged! I went for airmail after Emily’s advise and it arrived a week after me paying for shipping, which wasn’t cheap… I’ll get into that little more.

First things first – searching for items on From Japan is really simple! What I tend to do is search for the item in both English, as well as Japanese. This is where something like Google translate can come in handy.

For example – on my third order I was searching for some of the Pokemon dolls. In Japanese this translates roughly to “Pokemon ningyō” or “ポケモン人形”. I always end up searching for the latter as it tends to find more results.

I more than often always search with Japanese now, but I do tend to have a look with English just to be safe! It was from searching “Eevee Sweet Choices” that I found the playmat I ordered, so it’s always worth using both if you’re after a certain item, especially if it’s rarer.

Something else to note is the stores that you could be potentially buying your goods from. There are three in total that I’ve purchased from so far – Yahoo! Japan Auctions, Rakuten and Surugaya. They’re all great places to buy from and I’ve not faced any issues… However, I’ve found with Yahoo! Japan Auctions and Surugaya that I’ve had a “hefty” (well, in my eyes!) charge for the privilege of someone either bidding on the items or wrapping items up in store to send to From Japan. Sometimes these charges are fair and it’s just one of them things. You do get fair warning prior of these charges, but as I bought so much stuff these charges added up. Please bear this in mind… I was semi gutted at the time but now my items have arrived, I’m not bothered.

When searching for items the search bar will usually cover for all of the shops that are purchasable through the service. If you were only looking to shop through Yahoo! Japan Auctions then you need to make sure to select this store and then search.

Some of the Yahoo! Japan Auctions are buy now, which is really good if you’re anxious about missing out on an item! I find items in the auctions are stupidly cheap and probably the best option to go mostly, but again it depends on what you’re buying, how many and if you’re happy with the charges that come after.

From experience, Rakuten is my favourite! I find their charges aren’t high and that’s always a bonus to me if I’m after a bargain.

When you’re happy with an item you’ve found you want, add it to your cart and then process with the payment. Make sure to read anything that comes up in red, as these could be charges you may be asked to pay and more. Some listings state that they won’t sell to overseas, so make sure to keep your eyes peeled for this too as you could be wasting time trying to buy an item.

You’ll be asked to pay “charge 1” – which is simple. Then once this is done, your item will be purchased by From Japan and then the seller will send to From Japan’s warehouse. You can keep a box of goodies for up to 45 days and fill this with as many goodies as you want! I did this with my second order to make the shipping worth it.

When you’re ready for your goodies to be sent to you, you can make you “charge 2” payment. This is where you pay any charges, as well as shipping. You’ll be able to pick and choose which items you’d like to have shipped too and such like that.

Be wary too by the way that some items you may guy may end getting cancelled for various reasons. I’ve had this happen a few times now and it’s a little heart-breaking, but I always have back up items in my wish list if I can in case this happens.

Then you wait for your items to arrive! I didn’t receive any customs charges with my parcel that arrived, but that’s because I asked From Japan to make my parcel as a gift, which was really handy!

I honestly cannot wait to show you guys all of the goodies I bought. These have been some items I’ve been after since 2016, with some of these items being from back in 2013/2014!

First thing I want to quickly cover here is that the Japanese are very careful when it comes to items people buy and take a great amount of care and detail to make sure your items are packaged safely for their trip. There was LOTS of bubble wrap and nothing arrived damaged. Even the box has “fragile” stickers on it.

This is something me and Dane noticed when we were in Japan. It’s amazing, it’s just a shame people in the UK don’t do this too… 😛

The first items I want to talk about are Eeveelution capchara figures. YY Kawaii gifted me some to share on my blog and Instagram page almost a year ago (you can read the post about them here) and whilst I was happy with just the Vaporeon and Jolteon she sent me, a part of me still wanted to get a couple more. Recently my friend Sarah (Raiin Monkey) had some extras, so I bought Flareon and Umbreon from here. I decided from there that I needed the rest and went on a bit of a hunt.

This is what sort of… Fuelled me to make a second order with From Japan. I had searched the UK for the remaining Eeveelutions I needed and although I found most of them, they weren’t cheap. I found someone selling a set of five (including Pikachu) for the price of one here.

I found Espeon on a single listing for a great price and Eevee, Leafeon, Glaceon and Sylveon on one listing and ordered them! When they arrived they were all brand new in their cellophane wrap and ready to be put together. I really enjoyed myself after work putting them all together and popping them in the office cabinet with mine and Dane’s Nendoroid figures. Sylveon however sits on my work desk for now. It’s such a precious figure that I just had to! May I just add, this Sylveon capchara goes for a LOT of money, so I was glad to snag it for such a bargain price.

The Pikachu that I had in the set I bought is now sitting on Dane’s desk. I thought about selling/giving it, but after looking at it, I thought it would be cute to give him something to have on his desk too. 🙂

The second items I decided to look for and pick up are some plates from the 2018 Pokemon Collection ichiban kuji. I’d wanted these at the time of their release but they were hard to find, especially for a good price so I had to sort of… Grin and bear the fact it didn’t look like I was going to get them. I loved the designs on each plate in all honesty, especially Jolteon and Sylveon.

Whilst I was in Japan last year I found three of the plates! Vaporeon, Espeon and Leafeon. I snatched them up so fast and popped them in my basket. I searched for the rest during the remainder of the trip but I had zero luck, I was gutted. I went to eBay when I came back to the UK but was sad to see people selling the plates for a lot of money… I kept them on my watch list.

Thankfully with a lot of hunting I found the remaining Eeveelutions I was after on From Japan and got them ordered! Umbreon and Glaceon appeared to be the rarer ones of the plates I was after. I’d only seen one Umbreon on the website, which I bought and a couple of Glaceon’s. The prices ranged for these, but personally they were still really good in my eyes, especially when I’d seen how much they were going for on eBay, both in the UK and US.

The plates I picked up were Eevee, Jolteon, Flareon, Umbreon, Glaceon and Sylveon. I finally had my hands not only on all of the Eeveelution plates, but Jolteon and Sylveon – the two designs I really wanted! I don’t think these are

The designs on these plates are all café desserts and cakes themed and I love them! They also have three colour variants of pink, blue and white. I already have the three plates I bought from Japan on display in a living room cabinet on little stands, which I plan to do for the rest of the plates too. I’m not 100% sure where they’re going yet however… Dane suggested above my new desk, which may be an option for sure!

Finally we have the items I was SUPER happy about snagging as I’ve been after them for years. From writing this post, I didn’t actually realise how old and technically speaking, rare these items are.

Back when I first bought the house with Dane five years ago is when I really started shopping with YY Kawaii for my cute goodies and it was through her I purchased a Flareon and Vaporeon figure. I loved them both so much and wanted more, sadly she didn’t have anymore and wasn’t able to get hold of any. I didn’t realise at the time it may have been due to how old they were.

The kyun-chara figures came out between 2013 and 2014 for the Eeveelutions, whereas I thought they may have been from around 2015-2016. I’ve been on the hunt for the remaining Eeveelutions for years, but never been able to find them and when I have they’re SHOCKING prices. Now I semi get why.

I found them on From Japan for great prices, not cheap, but great nonetheless for what they are.

These figures have big heads and little bodies and the quality of them is amazing! I snagged Eevee and Jolteon separately and Espeon, Umbreon, Leafeon and Glaceon. At the time Sylveon didn’t exist – hence why it isn’t part of the collection.

I was shocked to discover that ALL of these figures were brand new in their boxes, still in their plastic wrap and ready to be taken out, heads stuck to bodies and arranged. I haven’t yet opened the plastic wrap as I’m not 100% where I want to put them… Again I’m thinking above my desk next to the plates, but not sure at the moment.

I’ve literally snagged these items that I wanted because I just wanted to. I saw them and had the money to treat myself, so why not?!

So, that was everything I received from my second order From Japan! I have started to order some goodies to make into a third order… Of course they’re Eeveelution related. 😛

I remember back in 2017 the Pokemon Center decided to remake their Pokemon Dolls and I’m glad they did, because they’re cuter now than the ones from years previous. I bought Flareon at the time as it was the cutest design, Espeon and Umbreon whilst YY Kawaii was in Japan and then Vaporeon second hand from a Facebook group. Now I’ve ordered Eevee, Leafeon, Glaceon and Sylveon. I’m yet to find Jolteon at all, or for a good price.

Once I have them all, they’re going to be rearranged in my plushie cabinet in our bedroom! I’m so excited to just finally get them all. I wish I’d ordered them all back in the day… But I was still quite new to collecting Pokemon plushies then and was a bit anxious and probably skint. 😛

So, what do you guys think of From Japan? Do you think you’ll give it a go for ordering some Japanese goodies you’re after? Whether they be Pokemon related or something else?

I highly recommend them and can honestly see myself going back over and over again whenever I’m after harder to find items. The prices are amazing, the shipping is great if you go with air mail and to be honest, it’s a nice little way of window shopping when you’re bored. 😛

Let me know if you’ll be checking out From Japan in the future, as well as who your favourite Eeveelution is and why!

Until next time guys, take care and have an amazing weekend!

April Wish List ‘21

Happy Easter everyone! I hope you’re having a lovely bank holiday so far. At the time of writing this, I’m really excited for my Easter roast that I’m cooking with Dane as well as our chocolate eggs. I’m also planning to cook some mini egg brownies or cupcakes and send half over to my parents and keep half ourselves. I’m not sure which to bake yet, but brownies are looking to be the choice at the moment. I’d buy some cream too to pour over the top, or maybe some custard? OOFT!

Anyhoo… Enough of yummy food. This months wish list pretty much contains items I’ve bought/pre-ordered or hoping to pre-order VERY soon. I’m still looking to be on a spending ban in April because I’m finding it really handy to keep track of what I’ve bought and when, as well as WHY I’ve bought something.

An example of this being March. At the start of the new spending ban month, Black Milk Clothing had brought out their second Pokemon collection and I know I wanted to pick up a few pieces from it. They’re both limited and wouldn’t be brought back, so I bought them. I think items that are limited edition, or rare items found on eBay are acceptable within reason.

Another example, I found one of my holy grail Loungefly bags and it wasn’t cheap. It was a reasonable price considering, but not cheap. I’d seen a piece from Black Milk Clothing’s latest collection (The Thirteenth Tarot) that I wanted to buy, as well as a piece from the first Pokemon collection in the sale. I haven’t bought these pieces due to buying the bag. Granted, I didn’t need any of these things but… I wanted the bag.

Anyway, I digress! I’m really excited to talk about the items on my wish list this month. I hope you enjoy reading as much as I enjoyed writing this months wish list post! 😀

• Oyasai Fairy and Manabu Vegetable Knowledge Book by PonkichiM (link)

This is something I didn’t think I’d ever own, even though I really wanted it. PonkichiM is a Japanese artist I discovered well over a year ago now thanks to Twitter and now I’m able to own their art book which is full of their cute vegetable animal hybrids that the artist calls faeries. I told my friend Emily (who I met through Instagram) about PonkichiM a while ago and she fell in love with the artists designs too, which did not surprise me! So, when Emily told me she was going to order the knowledge/art book from Amazon Japan and wondered if I wanted one. I jumped on it and when it arrived at hers I paid her for it. 🙂 Her boyfriend was kind enough to bring it over and post through the letter box and it’s GORGEOUS! I’ll be showing this off in my April favourites later this month for sure. 🙂

• Loungefly x Sanrio Pompompurin Mini Backpack and Purse

I decided to merge these two items together as I have a STORY to tell in regards! So, I’d pre-ordered both of these items through Geekcore and they were both due to come out in April. However earlier this week I received an email saying that this and a few other designs had been cancelled in the UK due to failing quality control… Which sucked. I’d not exactly had the best day so to hear this news was devastating to me… 😦 I’ve had a full refund and I’ve pre-ordered through an America seller I’ve bought from before. I don’t 100% know when these will be out, but I hope sooner rather than later as I cannot wait for these to arrive. They’re gorgeous fluffy bags and of course feature my favourite Sanrio character, Pompompurin. I do feel I’ve paid far too much now to get him into my life, but I guess it’s… Kind of worth it… :’)

• Kaymiibo Animal Crossing Sanrio Homemade/Custom Amiibo (link)

I do feel bad buying fake amiibo cards, but at the same time I don’t when Nintendo is pissing their UK fans about. There. I said it. We were all told by Nintendo UK the end of March, but the worldwide release was the 26th March, which we assumed would be the same here. I waited all day to order a pack of cards, as did others, but nothing dropped. I started to come to a realisation that IF the cards had of come out that day, I probably wouldn’t have gotten any anyway, due to the fact SO many people want to get a packet of these cards, as well as scalpers trying to snag them too. So, I decided to buy some of the custom made ones and when the real cards released, I’d get those too. You know what? Nintendo UK decided to release the cards on the last day of March, without much warning and they sold out quickly, with some cancellations and refunds given to people by Nintendo due to overselling. I know they also released some more packs on the 1st April. I missed both drops and was gutted. I have some big plans for my Sanrio cards and items, which I’m so excited about!

• Pokemon Center Nickit Plush

If there was one Pokemon from Sword and Shield that I fell in love with and called my favourite from that gen, it’s Nickit. The cute little fox Pokemon that specialises in dark moves. I just fell in love and caught one as soon as I could in the game. Sadly it didn’t follow me all the way to the end, but for the start of my journey in Shield, it did me good. I’d waited patiently for a Nickit plush to come to the Pokemon Center and FINALLY it is time! I’ve pre-ordered my plush through YY Kawaii (Instagram – yykawaiimerch1) which I’m excited to have arrive in the upcoming months! Make sure to use code “YYCOFFEE10” to snag 10% off of the website!

• Nintendo Switch New Pokemon Snap (link)

Finally we have a game I’m SUPER excited to see come out at the end of the month and that is the New Pokemon Snap game coming to Switch! I never got to play the original Pokemon Snap on Nintendo 64 as I never owned one and neither did any of my friends. I always have a fond memory of going to Dixons with my dad and running to the back of the shop to play on the N64 that was set up at the back of the shop with Pokemon Snap inside that you could play. I never got the chance to play it every time I ran to the back of the shop, because there was always a kid, or at least a group of siblings stood there hogging it. So, this coming out will be like a part of my childhood I missed out on. 🙂 Eventually I’ll snag the Pikachu N64 AND Pokemon Snap so I can play it myself, at home, without the worry of some selfish kids preventing me. 😛

So there we have it guys, that is my wish list for April and I feel like I’m already skint. 😛

I’m so excited for April, Easter break so far has been amazing, I’m looking forward to my roast and Easter eggs, as well as Dane’s birthday in a couple of weeks time. 🙂

What do you guys have on your wish lists for April? As well as if plans you may have for April too? Let me know in the comments. 🙂

Until next time all, take care and HAPPY EASTER! 😀

Japan Trip – Pompompurin Cafe Harajuku

With all this isolation that we are currently experiencing in the UK, I am remembering daily our amazing Japan trip from January. With this, I am always thinking too about the places we ventured to and how much I love and miss them. The Pompompurin Cafe in Harajuku is one of them.

This was one of my favourite places that me and Dane ventured to, especially for food. I knew for months that I wanted to visit the Pompompurin Cafe as I have been a huge fan of the cute pudding dog since I was 11, so almost 20 years now… WOW!

The cafe is located in Cute Cube Harakuju, which is on the famous Takeshita Street. It was pretty easily to find with signs telling you where to go. You walk up some stairs to get to the cafe and you’re greeted with yellow and brown colours, an adorable entrance to the cafe itself and of course, images and figures of Pompompurin and his little animal friends.

I have to be honest and say the day we spent in Harajuku was… Strange, which is nothing to do with Harajuku. We arrived in Harajuku and I was so damn excited! However, not long after we arrived I suddenly felt light headed and nautious. Shortly after we bought a crepe I was sick and it sucked. This went on around Takeshita street for about an hour. After plenty of walking, sipping on water and visited some cute animals around Harajuku, I was ready to go and get food from the Pompompurin Cafe.

Unlike some themed cafes in Japan, you didn’t need to book a place to get a seat in the Pompompurin Cafe. You just walked in. I would image that if the cafe was busy you may put your name down on a sheet and wait, but we didn’t have a problem as the cafe was quiet. Like any eating/drinking establishment, you go in, tell the staff how many people will be seated and you’re taken to a seat in the establishment. Simple!

Inside the cafe is everything I imaged and more! I had of course read/seen reviews online about the cafe, but being there in the flesh is just so much better to be honest with you. It’s cream yellow and brown, just like Pompompurin himself, with adorable Pompompurin sofas, artwork on the walls, statues and even cute as fuck music playing. The music that was played (all of 2 tracks on a loop may I add!) was so cute and I managed to find one of them on YouTube, which I have linked above. 😀 The music made me so happy and I think Dane rather enjoyed it too. It was really catchy and we for the remainder of the trip in Japan, we caught ourselves humming the tunes. Even 3 months later, I still find myself humming the songs. 😛

The cafe itself was quiet when we got in there and for the duration of our time. There were two women sitting eating when we arrived and when we left there was a couple sat near to us, so it was very quiet… I expected it to be super busy, but as we went to Harajuku on a Monday (which is said to be the quietest day of the week), this may be why. We didn’t mind either way, it meant we got a decent table, a chance to have a good look around the cafe during our time there and take photos.

One thing I regret is not asking the staff is we could sit on one of the adorable Pompompurin sofas that was in the cafe. The couple who came in not long before we left did this. It would have made for a kawaii photo opportunity!

At the time that we visited the cafe there was actually a collaboration event going on. Hello Mandy (a Sanrio character based off of Mandy Sekiguchi) was collaborating, so we got some special place mats, as well as coasters. There were also some special menu items too, but we weren’t too interested in those choices.

The menu choices were really varied and perfect, however, when you look on the website it states which drinks/dishes are exclusive to any of the three cafes – Harajuku, Umeda or Yokohama.

I had previously taken a look on the website before we flew to Japan so I had a vague idea of what I wanted, however when we sat down and were given the menus I was a bit stuck… I ummed for ages about what to choose and thankfully in the end Dane helped me pick what I went for in the end.

We both went for desserts, as the savoury mains just weren’t for us. Whilst I was in Japan I ate a lot of sweet foods, which isn’t like me at all! I have zero regrets of what I chose to eat and I would happily choose it again.

Alongside our desserts we also ordered some drinks. For about a year the Pompompurin Cafe has brought a separate menu in for bubble tea and as we both love drinking bubble tea, we couldn’t really resist not ordering it to drink.

I went for the matcha milk and Dane went for the strawberry milk. These tasted so damn yummy and on top they have cream, which had hundreds and thousands on (sprinkles to anyone outside the UK) as well a kawaii Pompompurin biscuit! The boba was lovely and soft, I enjoyed it so much.

Also a fun Japan fact, whilst bubble tea has been around for years and has been a hit in the UK for almost 10 years now, it’s something that Japan have only recently started to serve there. There were bubble tea stores everywhere, as well as restaurants and cafes serving it in stores too.

As I mentioned before, we ordered desserts for our food as we both had sweet teeth. Dane went for the Pancake Tower and I went for the Glittery Dream Parfait.

With the Pancake Tower Dane chose he could pay an extra 300 yen to get his own little Pompompurin mug, which he decided to do. We got to see what our mug would look like, as one came with his dessert. The Pancake Tower is a stack of pancakes with fruit on the side, some squirty cream and syrup on the Pompompurin mug. Dane said when it comes down to what the dessert was like he said it was really nice, but it was a tad overwhelming due to all of the pancakes having different fillings and flavours. There was also a “tanginess” that he remembers tasting, but he still doesn’t know where it came from. This was something he didn’t like. As I said however, he did really enjoy it but did comment saying he wouldn’t have it again if we ever ventured back to the cafe.

I still cannot believe I chose the Glittery Dream Parfait. Even back home this isn’t something I would gravitate towards… Parfaits aren’t really my thing and if they are, I would usually share it with Dane or a friend. Spoiler – I didn’t finish it! 😛 The parfait was crazy and I don’t think there wasn’t anything NOT sweet in there. I love the mason jar it came in and just wish this was something you could have had the option to buy. I would have totally used it to drink out of now. Inside the parfait there were different layers, I’ll start from the bottom and go up! At the bottom was a strawberry mousse, next a middle layer mixture of cornflakes, strawberries and blueberries, on top of that there was blue yogurt (from memory I think it was vanilla) which tasted amazing and on top of all that there was some amazing fresh cream, sweeties (marshallow, shorbread biscuits, jelly beans and strawberry Pocky. The final touch was the cream and rainbow coloured sugar which was around the rim of the glass. This was such a gorgeous dessert and I’m glad I chose it for that reason alone. This dessert is actually exclusive to the Harajuku cafe, which is why Dane was so encouraging of me to go for it. This parfait was really yummy and I enjoyed it, however, I did get really full halfway through the middle layer of cornflakes and fruit and had to pass onto Dane to try and finish… Which he didn’t as he was so full from his own dessert.

 

We really did take our time whilst at the cafe, not that we ever felt like we needed to rush anyway. At some cafes you only get a certain amount of time, however, that wasn’t the case here which I loved. We made sure to take everything in, relax after a busy day around Harajuku and spend the time we had planning our last week in Japan.

I have to be honest here and say, not just me but Dane too, we both took photos of the bathroom. It was gorgeous. It looked more like a bathroom in someone’s home, rather than in a themed cafe. Even the soap dispenser was Pompompurin, which I now want for my own bathroom haha. Also, I know the focus is bad on the second image, but I couldn’t not include it.

When we were done we made sure to take advantage of how quiet it was and took some photos around the cafe, as well as with the cute statue and HUGE plushie of Pompompurin.

I took so many photos with the plushie and the statue, considering it was quiet and I had the chance to!

Of course, we also took advantage of the gift shop and bought some goodies. I was a little disappointed how “little” the gift shop seemed to be. I didn’t expect it to be huge, don’t get me wrong, but the previous three themed cafes we visited seemed to have a lot more.

Even so, we picked up some cute goodies and even managed to grab some exclusive things too, which I’ll show towards the end of this post.

I paid for our food and goodies, as this was my treat and we ventured home.

So, onto the goodies I picked up for us from the gift shop!

Pompompurin Cafe Plush Keychain – I knew I had to have this little plush keychain… Purely because I wanted an exclusive plush for the cafe, but also because I had already bought two like this from the Pokemon Cafe (which you can read all about here). Pompompurin now sits with my Pikachu and Eevee plush keychains from the Pokemon Cafe, because, why not?

Pompompurin Coin Purse – I saw this cute little purse and knew I had to have it. I know for a fact if I hadn’t picked it up, I would have regretted it. I have this in my backpack and use it for wires/headphones but I do want to change that and use it for other things. I don’t think I want to use it as a coin purse, as I won’t want it to get dirty. We’ll see!

Pompompurin Keychains (Pancakes and Heart) – I picked these up so me and Dane had matching keychains. We don’t use them for that purpose as they’re too nice, but we know when we look at them in our cabinet that they resemble our day together in Harajuku and eating at the Pompompurin Cafe. Dane picked up the one of Pompompurin holding the pancake stack ad I picked the one of him holding a heart. Very cute and also very us.

Pompompurin Cafe Mug – This of course is the mug we paid the extra 300 yen for with Dane’s pancake dessert. We don’t use it, but we keep it in our cabinet with our Pokemon Cafe goods so it’s safe. I don’t think I will ever have the heart to use it, but it makes me so happy to see in the cabinet. I honestly love Pompompurin and have done so for long.

Overall, I fell in love with the Pompompurin Cafe. It was by far one of my favourite things about Harajuku, as to be perfectly honest I was disappointed by what Takeshita Street had to offer. It’s known for it’s quirky fashion, but to me it just looked like stuff you could pick up from eBay or Wish… Hence my disappointment. This is just Takeshita Street though… When you venture away from here and to the rest of Harajuku, you discover some amazing places!

As and when me and Dane venture to Japan again, I already know we will revisit the Pompompurin Cafe, whether it be the Harajuku one, or the other two in Umeda or Yokohama.

What did you guys think of the Pompompurin Cafe in Harajuku? Would you venture there yourself for some yummy food and drinks, as well as kawaii custard puppy goodness? Make sure to let me know in the comments!

Until next time, stay safe, take care and HAPPY EASTER! 🙂

April Wish List ’20

I can’t believe we are already into April… This past year has gone by so bloody quick, it’s just a shame that coronavirus is around at the moment really. 😦 As I’m writing this I am nearing the first week of isolation and working from home. It’s been nice to be honest… I like staying in sometimes to have time for me and Dane but I also miss friends who I am meant to see. 😦

I’ve found that during isolation I’ve been online shopping a little… I can’t help it, I’m bored and want lovely things if I can’t go out for meals, coffee dates and shopping trips with friends! 😛

I feel like this months wish list is boring, but this is all I could think of to be honest with you all… As I said, anything I am seeing and liking the look of, I’ve been ordering/buying!

I hope you guys enjoy this months wish list!

• Tarte Cosmetics Sugar Rush™ Star Factor Cleansing Face Brush (link)

I noticed someone on Instagram using this face brush over and over again and it looks really good! I’ve used different face brushes in the past and whilst some were good and some where bad, I would like to try something again. Good ol’ fashioned hands is always great, but brush may help! This isn’t cheap at over £15 and especially the postage over £6! I was planning to buy it too but MONEY! This is an item I’m going to keep my eye on as I would definitely love to pick it up in the future.

• Insert Coin Persona 5 Futaba Is AFK Coat (link)

I cannot express enough how much I WANT THIS COAT! As many of my readers will know by now, I love Persona 5 and have so much merchandise (inc clothing from Insert Coin) since it came out in 2017. I do have a parka, just like this one but I hardly wear it anymore as I just… Don’t? This Futaba coat looks really good and would be perfect to throw on throughout all the seasons! At the same time… I do wonder if it’s me. The one thing that really puts me off ordering it however, is the price. £99.99 is expensive for a coat in my opinion. I’ll wait for this to go down in price…

• Artbox PomPomPurin Café Sweets Ballpoint Pen with Spoon Clip (link)

I have just written a blog post about the stationary items I picked up from Japan (which you can read about here) and here I am, wanting more! I saw this cute PomPomPurin pen from Artbox and it’s adorable! PomPomPurin is a little custard pudding, which I love to eat when I can get one! I don’t need anymore pens, but this is honestly adorable. I would love to pick up some more kawaii stationary soon.

• Appleminte Isabelle Pin (link)

I’ve actually pre-ordered this pin now, but I just needed to. It wasn’t cheap to be honest due to the shipping from America, but I don’t care. In May I should be receiving an Animal Crossing itabag I ordered, so I want to make sure to fill it with adorable Animal Crossing related pins! Isabelle is sat down in her New Horizons attire, whilst holding a glass of vacation juice. SO CUTE! Definitely needed a pin of Isabelle in her new uniform, she’s the best girl!

• Nintendo Switch Good Job! (link)

This game was recently announced during the Nintendo Direct Mini last week and since watching it I have wanted Good Job! on the Switch to play when I’m not playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Your dad owns the company and you need to work your way up the ladder to be next to him, it just looks so quirky and fun! I will pop the YouTube video above so you can watch the trailer. 🙂

• Lime Crime Lip Pops in Retrograde (link)

I was pretty excited for this new launch from Lime Crime. I love my lip products/colours and I also rather like Lime Crime (especially after they were sold to better people…) so I do try and keep up with what they have out. The new Lip Pops that they have brought out are satin finish lipsticks that you click to get more product to pop up and click to pop the product away. Probably makes ZERO SENSE the way I am describing it. 😛 There are a couple of shades I like the look of, but Retrograde is one I am gravitating towards the most. It’s a sheer purple/blue shade which you can apply sheer, or build up for more colour. I haven’t seen these available in the UK yet, but I’ll be keeping eyes peeled for the future. With the lock down going on at the moment, there isn’t much point in getting any new lippies anytime soon.

• Lisa Angel House of Disaster ‘Secret Garden’ Fox Jar (link)

Finally, we have a cute fox item on my wish list that I recently discovered through Instagram. I remember falling in love with Lisa Angel back in 2016 when I bought my house, fast forward almost 4 years later and I have found myself looking on their website again at the cute goods they have to offer! I really love this fox jar, it’s so kawaii and kitsch/vintage looking. I don’t know what I could keep in it though to be honest if I picked it up…

So, that is my wish list for April! I cannot believe we’re already into the fourth month of the year and we’re probably going to be stuck in the house for most of it…

What do you guys have on your wish lists this month? Make sure to let me know in the comments down below, as well as what you’re up to during lock down.

Until next time all, take care and stay safe. 🙂

Japan Haul #2 – Stationary

When you think of Japan, I’m sure the last thing you think of is stationary, right? I know some of you might, whilst others think of sushi, Geisha’s and sumo wrestlers.

Japan is CRAZY about stationary and for all the kawaii characters that you can find there, I’m not surprised why they are so mad about it. I know I had to take advantage of picking up some cute stationary whilst I was in Japan and I left with more than I intended to, to be honest with you! I’ve already spoken about the Pokemon related items on my Pokemon Haul (which you can read all about here), but I will be mentioning them here again, because why not. 🙂

A part of me wishes I’d picked up more stationary items, especially from the Sanrio store, but hey ho. 😛 I thought it would be nice to show you all my stationary items anyhoo, as I know a lot of my followers love stationary!

Washi Tape

I picked up quite a lot of wash tape on my trip, which took me by surprise considering I’d never bought washi tape until I ventured to Japan. I ended up picking up four different ones, which I will talking about below.

Tanuku & Kitsune Mounttain Theater Washi Tape – The washi tape that kick started off my mini addiction is this one from Tanuki & Kitsune and this tape is from the Mountain Theater collection. This was from a pop up shop in Character Street (Tokyo Station) which I regret not buying more items from to be honest before it left. The design on the tape matches what the image on the front shows, which is so adorable. You have Tanuki wearing a green cap, a dark brown cape and falling to sleep whilst it reads a script, whilst Kitsune is also reading a script as it wears a red cape. They’re adorable and clearly getting ready to act in their roles!

Studio Ghibli Kiki’s Delivery Duo Pack Washi Tape – After I went and picked up the Tanuki & Kitsune washi tape I decided to pick up this adorable washi tape double pack from the Studio Ghibli shop in Character Street (Tokyo Station). This is my favourite washi tape out of the four I’ve picked up as Jiji is absolutely adorable on both of the designs I got. There’s a pale blue design with daisies and blue flowers on, alongside Jiji sitting down and standing up. There’s also a dark blue design with Jiji’s face over daisy flowers. Honestly cannot wait to use these washi tape designs in my scrapbook!

Mofu Mofu Eevee Washi Tape – As I had already bought two washi tape designs anyway, I decided as I’m working on a scrapbook soon about our trip to Japan and wanted to pick up more kawaii patterned washi tape to make the scrapbook look pretty inside. Of course I couldn’t not pick up this cute mofu mofu Eevee design, which is just loads of cute Eevee’s running along the tape. I haven’t opened this yet and don’t plan to until it comes to me using it.

Nintendo Tokyo Animal Crossing Washi Tape – This is the final roll of washi tape I picked up on my trip to Japan. From memory there was this design and another one with the fruits on (Apples, Oranges, Peaches, Cherries and Pears). This washi tape design isn’t anything special and is pretty basic with the Animal Crossing design we all know and love! As well as the symbols we all know from Animal Crossing, there is also images of Isabelle and Digby too, which is what sold me to pick up the washi tape in the first place.

Mechanical Pencils, Pencil Lead and Pens

Ghibli Museum Mechanical Pencil – As I had bought my Eevee mechanical pencil by this point I didn’t actually need to buy another mechanical pencil… But considering it was from the Ghibli Museum, it was a souvenir I really wanted to pick up on my trip. This pencil is gorgeous and very minimal in comparison to some stationary you can buy in Japan. The pencil is a white design with silver metal, blue accent colours and of course an image of Totoro with his umbrella, raindrops and “Ghibi Museum Mitaka” underneath him. I really love this pencil and I currently use it for my D&D sessions.

Mofu Mofu Eevee Mechanical Pencil and Pen – The blue design is the pen, the red is the pencil. There were four designs/colours in total including the blue and red ones I own, as well as a brown (pencil) and green (pen I think). I didn’t really want anymore mechanical pencils as I have a pink one I really love (well… loved until I bought my new ones in Japan :P) to use so I didn’t need another mechanical pencil. I picked up the pen, which is black ink and was happy. When I went back to the Pokemon Center, I ended up picking the pencil up too and I don’t regret it! The pencil writes really well and I much prefer it to my pink mechanical pencil to be honest with you! The designs on them both are gorgeous with the fluffy, happy Eevee designs all over.

Studio Ghibli Kiki’s Delivery Service Frixion Pen – This was actually the first bit of stationary I picked up and I have ZERO REGRETS! This is a red pen, with gold images of Jiji and his girlfiend Lily. The way you get the pen nib to retract is by the clear part on the pen. I love a nice pen to write with, especially when I want to jot down blog notes and sometimes for D&D too (although I used to use a pencil previous to buying all my Japan stationary). I used to use Frixion pens when I was an undergrad at university 10 years ago (God I feel old saying that) as well as in my old job so these rub out pens aren’t anything new for me to use. However, the pen itself is amazing and this is by far one of my favourite items on this list that I picked up. This pen actually comes with red ink, but I bought some black Frixion refills whilst I was in Japan for this so I can use black instead of just red. I don’t know about you guys but I was brought up to not write in red ink (unless for myself) as it’s seen as rude.

Nintendo Tokyo Animal Crossing Isabelle Pen – I’d had my eye on this pen since before I went to Japan for my trip, as I’d seen most of the Animal Crossing merchandise that was for sale in the Nintendo Tokyo store. I didn’t know if I was going to pick it up or not but to be honest, some of the Animal Crossing merchandise I wanted was sold out, which sucks (although I have it now, yay!) so I made up for it with stationary… 😛 I picked up the Isabelle pen, as I love Isabelle and you can’t have enough pens, right?! This is a white pen with cream yellow accents, as well as some images of tulips along the grip area of the pen. At the top of the pen on one side is an image of Isabelle with some yellow tulips and on the other side it reads “Dōbutsu No mori” which is Animal Crossing in Japanese, as well as an image of Isabelle’s face and some yellow ears, which you also use to retract the black and red pens.

Sanrio Pompompurin Pen – This is the last piece of stationary I picked up on our trip. I bought it a few days before we left Japan and I actually regret not getting the Cinnamoroll version as well. This pen writes so smoothly, I love it! It’s definitely up there with my Kiki’s Delivery Service pen. This is a simple pen really, with mustard yellow colours and a Pompompurin mascot at the top of the pen (which is removable), as well as his cute little hamster friends all around the pen. I find myself using this pen a lot lately when I’m in my D&D sessions, as it’s such a smooth pen to write with.

Pikachu Mechanical Pencil Lead – Due to now owning a total of four mechanical pencils (aside from the two I bought in Japan I already have two back home that I use on and off), it’s always good to make sure to have plenty of pencil lead for these! I couldn’t get a mofu mofu Eevee design (they didn’t make one…) so instead I picked up a cute Pikachu design instead, which is kind of similar to the mofu mofu design. This came with quite a lot of 0.5 size led inside already, but as I owned some already from my first mechanical pencil, I decided to add them into this holder. I’ll never run out of led now!

Notebook and Pencil Case

Mofu Mofu Eevee Notebook – I have too many notebooks… I needed this one though. It’s adorable! I don’t quite know what I’m going to use it for as of yet… Maybe blog related stuff whilst I’m out and about? Dungeons & Dragons in the future? I don’t know… 😛 I just needed it! The designs on the front are adorable, with all the Eevee’s doing different things such as sleeping on books, holding quills in their mouths and sitting in teacups. Cute! There’s designs in the book too, with the Eevee holding the quill in it’s mouth again.

Mofu Mofu Eevee Pen Case – I didn’t need a pen case… But due to how much stationary I bought whilst I was on my holiday, I kind of had to! That and the pencil case I use currently for all my stationary items is from when I was studying my GCSE’s at school… Which was 15 years ago now! That pencil case is great, but I wanted something smaller and more refreshing! This one is a perfect signs for everything I bought on the trip, and I really enjoy taking it out with me. It’s so cute to bring out of my bag when I want something to write with. The image of the Eevee’s cuddling together on he one side is so kawaii!

Clear Files

Mofu Mofu Clear File – I bought quite a few clear files whilst I was in Japan, but this is my favourite one by far! I actually bought this to keep my files in for Dungeons & Dragons, but as of yet I haven’t had the chance to use it. The image on the front of the two Eevee’s is so adorable, I’d still like to frame it to be honest! 😛

Nintendo Tokyo Animal Crossing Clear Files – I can’t remember if I knew about these or not before I went to Japan, but I am so glad I picked them up, especially now Animal Crossing: New Horizons is out! You get two clear files in this set, one of which is a scene on both sides of the file of your town/island with various of the villagers homes and buildings such as Nook Cranny, the museum, town hall, Able Sisters, plenty of trees (including apple) and of course various villagers! The other file is simpler with it’s beige colour and on one side the same various villagers that are on the other file and on the other side the “Dōbutsu No mori” and Animal Crossing names.

Pokemon Cafe Clear Files – Me and my boyfriend knew we wanted to get some files for our trip in Japan, as a lot of places we ventured to (aka cafes) have the place mats that you fold/roll up and take home, so we wanted some files that we could do that with. We ordered these when we booked out seats at the Pokemon Cafe and we never actually got around to using them, or any of the other files that we bought for this purpose. Even so these files will be handy for D&D BUT, I have started to wonder if you could frame these and hang them up like prints! These would especially look great around the house and in the kitchen. I have to add, the first file is by far my favourite with the kawaii Pokemon Cafe mascots, although I am baffled about why Eevee isn’t there?! The other clear file in this double pack is meant to be a party style scene but with lots of different Pokemon eating and drinking items from the Pokemon Cafe menu, as well as the cute Pokemon Cafe staff. By the way, you can read all about the Pokemon Cafe here.

Fullmetal Alchemist Clear Files – These are actually some clear files that my boyfriend Dane picked up from the Fullmetal Alchemist Cafe that we visited during our trip (I plan to talk about it in the future!) and I’m really glad he picked them up as they’re so pretty. One of the files has an image of Edward and Alphonse Elric fighting together, this is definitely my favourite file of the two he bought. The metal arm and leg of Edward’s really do shine in the light, which was what appealed to me the most. The second clear file has the “good guys” on of Fullmetal Alchemist, which Dane had to have! I will honestly be surprised if we don’t end up framing these in the future and sticking them up in our office. 🙂

So, that is all of the stationary that I picked up from Japan! I thought this would be a nice little haul to share with you this week, especially as we went into lock down here in the UK this week too (well, Monday). I’ve been working from home and on my breaks and after work I have still been doing my writing.

Although we are in lock down here, my blog stuff will not change, I will continue to get my blog posts up every week. 🙂

So, which piece(s) of stationary that I picked up in Japan did you like? Also, what are you doing for the next couple of weeks during the lock down? Make sure to let me know in the comments!

Until next time all, take care, stay safe and I hope you’re having a lovely weekend. 🙂