2020 – bring it on. 2019 was rough but it made me a (hopefully) tougher person, and I’m ready to smash my goals and be more aligned with my dream self. I know it’s a cliche to say “new year, new me” but it’s a cliche for a damn good reason – because there’s nothing fresher than a fresh new year. And yes, I might be a *little* late in posting these seeing as we’re always halfway through January, but it’s still January so that counts, right? Anyway, here are my goals for 2020!
A couple of weekends ago was our first gal meet since Gyaru Jubilee, this time based in Central London! It felt so long ago since I’ve seen everyone so when Saturday arrived I eagerly crawled out of my warm bed and into the cold drizzle outside. But that’s when things started to go downhill for me…
First, my train was cancelled. Public transport seems to go into a frenzy at the smallest drop of rain so I wasn’t completely surprised. Luckily, though, there was an alternative train so I wasn’t too much behind schedule. As soon as my train rolled into London I hopped off onto the tube, and traveled nearly 1 and a half hours to Stratford Westfield (as there were some closures on the lines). It wasn’t until I walked up to the security staff to ask for directions to the Pokemon Centre that I realised that I was at the wrong Westfield! Eeek! It took me another hour to get to the right one and I felt like crying at my own stupidity. So I rocked up nearly two hours late to the meet – but thankfully everyone was really understanding and I got a massive hug from Chewiee (as well as a bag of chocolate) that instantly made me feel a lot better haha.
Despite spending most of my wasted travel time sitting down, I was relieved to be sat down slurping up some tempura ramen and stuffing my gob with chicken gyoza from Ichiba, which is located downstairs of Westfield London near Shepherds Bush. It was so good to eat real Japanese food again (as unfortunately we only really have a Wagamama where I live which isn’t really authentic Japanese food)! It gave me time to catch up with everyone as well as talk to some new faces! I love how there’s always a new face at every gyaru meet – the community is really growing in the UK!
The queue curved around one side of Westfield by the time we got to the Pokemon Centre, and out of curiosity I asked the security guard how long the waiting time was. He said 7-8 hours! Gosh. Imagine waiting that long only to get inside and find the thing you wanted was out of stock… So I’m really glad we didn’t queue up in the end! I was a bit disappointed though because I really wanted one of the Detective Pikachu plushies but I didn’t really fancy hanging around that long. Instead we grabbed some bubble tea and walked around some of the shops there before some of us headed back home. Myself, Chewiee, Karen and Alice hung around and had some delicious food from Pho.
Unfortunately this was the closest I got to the Pokemon Centre! Maybe one day…
Alice finding a rather dazzling Christmas necklace (gosh isn’t it awfully tacky but so good at the same time)
Group pic!
My QueenE gals Danielle & Rachel
I can’t wait for the New Year as I have promised myself to organise some more gyaru meets in future! Unfortunately I don’t think I will be able to go to one before Christmas as life is kinda’ hectic, so this is the last one of this year for me. But next time I will definitely double check a) train journeys and b) where the meet actually is. Oops.
Have you got any plans with your friends before the Christmas season?
Love, Lizzie xx
P.S Thanks so much to my girl Chewiee for the pics (and for the pick-me-up chocolate <3)
Gosh, I love himekaji. I was actually thankful that it wasn’t as sunny as it had been because then I was able to wear my new Liz Lisa jumpsuit for my birthday (which I actually bought secondhand – but still “new” in my eyes). I had no idea where my hubby was taking me but he did hint that my jumpsuit would be perfect for it, and it was! We spent the whole day in the sunshine (and some rain) strolling through the countryside and eating afternoon tea in beautiful English manors, and I felt like such a princess. I was definitely treated like one in any case!
The last time I did a ‘Get the Look’ post was back in 2012. Yep, 2012. That’s a really long time ago (especially in the blogger world) and I remember just how encouraging it was to be able to mimic a gyaru brand outfit with items from the UK (or, in worst case scenarios, eBay). So I was overjoyed to read that you really wanted to see something like this again on my blog and this – along with my ‘one item five ways‘ – is going to be another series that I’m bringing back. After all, my main purpose on this blog is to help fellow gaijin gyaru out in their gyaru journey!
Today we’re looking at this ane agejo outfit modelled by Tomomi, a MA*RS shop staff gal (gosh I can’t actually remember how long she’s been working there…) and she is the perfect example for Ane Agejo – for looking sexy but also classy! This outfit is ideal for those at work, so let’s dive right in.
To say that gyaru has changed in the last few years is an understatement; nowadays it’s totally unrecognisable, but hints of the old scene still lurks within the makeup. I’ve been watching this all happen and I used to get so riled up about how it isn’t what it once was but now I’ve learnt that it’ll never be like that again, and what we’ve got to do is just adapt with the times and see how it goes.
There are still a few things that I miss, though, and at the last gyaru meet Wib and I were chatting about everything that we missed about it. Thus I’ve compiled a little list of the top five things that I miss!
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