REVIEW: Crystal Lens from Gwyshop!

Remember my old post about the two pairs of contact lenses that I bought this month? Well, I tried on the Opal Violet for my Gakupo Matryoshka cosplay last week.

I bought the two pairs of contact lenses (the other one is Pearl Gray) from Gwyshop. They are from a new line of contact lenses, Crystal Series with an ongoing promo: two pairs for 499PHP, free shipping if you order via their Multiply account. Good deal, right? 

I love the packaging. Effort counts, you know. :)

The package arrived earlier than expected (YAY). The packaging, as you can see above, was nicely done. The vials were wrapped with bubble wrap and purple craft paper and tied with a long ribbon. Pretty much like a present to friend. Everything was placed inside a personalized paper bag. 

The lenses came with a pocket size solution for free! This saved my day because I was out of solution and I forgot to buy a bottle for these new lenses.

Lens Details:

Origin: South Korea

Diameter: 14.8mm

Base Curve: 8.6

Water: 42%

Power: Plano

Life Span: 1 year

What I love about the design of the lens is that its simplicity. I am not really a big fan of design prints that are not very realistic. I will be using this pair for cosplay so I needed a pair to help me achieve realistic purple eyes.

I love the color of the lens when I put it on my eyes. This is my first purple lens and I am happy on how natural it looked on me.

The lenses enlarged my eyes which is a big YES when cosplaying because we all know that anime characters have large eyes. Although Vocaloid is not an anime, the characters that represent the voices are anime characters and they do have large eyes in most videos and artworks. 

Indoor light, no flash

With flash

Outdoor light, no flash

I love how easy it was to wear it. I did not feel any discomfort the first time I put it on even after how many weeks of not wearing any contact lens. Yaay for these new line of contacts! 

Will I buy from the shop in the future? 

Definitely! Especially if there will be another awesome promo like this in the future. :3

Cee cosplaying Gakupo Matryoshka Version

Moon River Guitar Cover by awfguitar (A Birthday Gift)

This is a guitar cover of Moon river by YouTube user afwguitar. I sent a message to him one day asking if he can play Moon River for me, as a present for my birthday and he actually did it! He even watched the movie with her sister, according to the video description.

Thank you, afwguitar for this! I may not know you personally but still, you gave me the best present ever. God bless you, dear!

MagTV De Aton Este Interview

We were invited yesterday (Aug 25, 2012) for a guest appearance in one segment of a local magazine show, MagTV De Aton Este, on ABS-CBN. The theme for this week's episode is Women Empowerment and we were requested to choose a favorite hero character to cosplay for the taping. I chose one of my favorite heroes, Hermione Granger, from the Harry Potter movie series.

We were informed about this four days before the scheduled taping! (O gosh, so little time to prep!) I googled for Hermione's photos and I found out that there are actually two types of female uniforms in the Harry Potter movie series. One is gray skirt and long-sleeved shirt set, with an equal-sized maroon-and-gold stripes on the necktie. The other is a black skirt and white shirt set and maroon necktie designed with golden yellow stripes in different sizes. I chose the gray skirt version with the maroon necktie from the second set (I wanted to blend the two types of uniform for my cosplay). I dyed my hair light brown (well, it did not really show on the photo but it was brown on the TV, I swear. :P) to achieve that Emma Watson hairstyle.

Speaking of Gryffindor neckties, I customized my own from an old maroon necktie and golden yellow ribbons. Used glue gun to stick the ribbons. It was a messy work but the necktie came out good. :)

During the taping...

From L-R: Cee, Nana, Yoru, PJ and Theresa

Normal mode. We were instructed not to change into our costumes yet because they intended to make a before and after scene of our cosplay.

Awesome Nana before the camera!

This was taken during the actual taping. Each of us posed before the camera, acting normal and then dressed up in cosplay. 

Donning in our costumes. I was the first to finish preparing so here I am doing crazy things with the camera. :DD

Okay forgive the duck face. LOL.

And Blossom saved the day by assisting the cameraman! :D 

Taken during the start of the actual interview. The host of the show, Kikay, was introducing cosplay on this scene. 

We were actually seated during the whole interview. But nobody was there to take photos of us. Kuya Mark arrived a little later and took these lovely photos during the last part of the taping. 

During the interview, we introduced our characters first. I delivered my favorite Hermione line which was "It's Leviosa, not leviosar."

We were asked about the history of our group ZANEC, when and why do we cosplay and other frequently asked questions about cosplaying. Everebody took turns in answering, which was awesome since we were a bit nervous during the whole interview. 

Kikay and the staff of ABS-CBN were very nice to us during the whole interview. They helped us compose ourselves in front of the camera.

From L-R: Punisher, Hermione, Ate Kikay, Mami Tomoe, Raven and Blossom

Overall, it was a nice experience. This was my second cosplay interview on TV and I can definitely say that this one was so much different than the other because I answered most of the questions well, without stuttering, messing up and the like. LOL

The scene below depicts our "cosplay activity" or things we do during cosplaying. We were instructed to act like we're in a convention or cosplay event.

I don't know why we were laughing in on these photos. Our faces look fishy here. :D

Aaaand, that's a wrap! We would like to thank MagTV and Ate Kikay for inviting us to the interview and helping us promote cosplay to Zamboanga. I hope this episode will help spread the news that cosplaying exists in Asia's Latin City. 

Go Zamboanga Cosplay!

Photo Gallery:

Busy busy weekend X Gakupo Matryoshka Teaser

OMG! Been missing a few days of blogging.

I will be very busy this weekend. Very busy that I think I might not have enough time to sleep! >_<

Hospital duties and requirements, a contest during the Nursing Mini-Olympics, completion of a cosplay for a TV guesting appearance, photography class session and creating accessories for blog giveaways (Watch out for that soon!)

Hope I can make it through this weekend alive. Anyway, watch out for these exciting posts after this hectic weekend:

• Cosplay at WMSU College of Nursing Convocation
• My newest cosplay for this Saturday! Guess what character! (Clue: movie character)
• and more!

OH YEAH, I cosplayed Gakupo just a few hours ago during the opening of the Western Mindanao College of Nursing Mini-Olympics! It was for the promotion of the Japanese enthusiasts club I belong, the Nihon Fure Ai Kai. 

Check out this teaser photo:

So what do you guys think? Did I give justice to Gakupo of Vocaloid? This version of Gakupo is from the video 'Matryoshka'.

My Hatah Hatah! Shopping Experience

Hey there!
A few months back, I ordered a couple of cute hats from an online store on facebook. Hatah Hatah! makes anime and cosplay hats at affordable prices. Hatah Hatah! also accepts hat requests from customers, either a modification from one of their hats in their portfolio or a creation of a new hat based from the client's reference photo.

My orders were: Kon of Bleach hat (requested hat) and a Mokona of Magic Knight Rayearth hat (from their portfolio). Transaction went smoothly, with constant updates thru text messages and facebook conversations from the owner. I was also asking a lot of questions that time and the owner, Miss Jayne Ong, patiently answered it without fail. The hats were finished two weeks after paying the downpayment (production of hats will take five to fifteen days, according to the owner). The hats were shipped after I paid the remaining balance and I received the hats 3 days after. I was happy that the transaction went according to the timetable the owner gave.

So here are close-up photos of each of the hats.

Kon of Bleach - requested hat.
This hat was requested by yours truly. It's not included in the Hatah Hatah! portfolio.

The Hatah Hatah! tag on the hat! The fabric is smooth and soft to the skin. It was made of stretchable fabric that fits to most adult head sizes. I did not have to give my head circumference upon ordering. The hat fitted perfectly when I tried it on for the first time! 

The hat is very detailed and looks exactly like Kon! The color of the hat is the same as the color of Kon from the anime series. The stitching was made to last long.

I love the squishy ears of the hat. It was stuffed which made it extra cute!

Overall, the hat was accurately made. You won't mistake it for any other character. :)

Mokona Modoki of Magic Knight Rayearth
This one is from the Hatah Hatah! catalog/portfolio. What I love about this hat is Mokona's loong ears!

Hatah Hatah! tag on the hat. This hat is also made of the same fabric as Kon's.

See how long the ears are? I love the hat's expression. As accurate as Mokona's expression from the anime.

My favorite detail of the hat is Mokona's plastic gem. The owner chose to use a craft gem instead of using fabric or felt. Thumbs up for making it a bit realistic!

What you see is what you get. I am a happy customer of Hatah Hatah!

Check out their FACEBOOK account for photos of their other hats and for your orders.

To Hatah Hatah! A big thanks from Cee and Mokona!