Live: Dolly [Iris in Wonderland]

Hey Darlings!

Last Tuesday, I went to a live in Sakae with a friend from school. It was a one-man live for Dolly; if you're into lolita, you may know them for their collaborations with Black Peace Now.

The venue was just a five minute walk from Oosu Kanon temple, in e.l.l.'s FITS ALL live house.  It's a three story venue with different lives on each floor. 

One of the more interesting sounding lives that night was a band called "BLOOD AND CHAIN": the "LIVE DAMN YOU, LIVE!" tour. Since there were a lot of older people lined up outside at the same time, all I could think was "They're DEFINITELY here for Blood and Chain." Haha~

Anyway, back to Dolly, which was held on the third floor. The hall was probably the smallest I've been in, it couldn't have been holding more than a hundred people. There were a few people in Visual Kei or lolita, but mostly the crowd was dressed in typical Nagoya fare of cookie-cutter department store outfits. Still stylish, but like the name of the club, "fits all". 

There were tiny vendor tables selling photo sets, dvds and albums, but actual merch was dispensed through a 500 yen gachapon machine. The picture in the container you won was the merchandise you got. Some prizes were towels, buttons, shirts and tote bags to name a few. 

You could also buy glow sticks stamped with the band name. At first I didn't give it much thought, since it's usual for bands to sell flashlights and such. But later in the live, the fans were all doing coordinated dances with them. It made me wonder, how do they all know such things? 

The live was so much fun. They played a good mix of fast and slow songs, and took a long time to talk to the fans during the interlude. They're all so sweet and their distinct personalities show on stage. Masa, my bias in Dolly, often moves like a mechanical doll. Mitsu, the vocalist, is very talented but surprisingly shy!

The live was long too, with not one, but two encores. I left in total visual kei bliss, loving the band even more.

Unfortunately, I heard that this is Dolly's last tour before they go on hiatus. I hope it's not true, considering they just released a new single, and from the looks of it, have a Promo event at La Foret's Black Peace Now store in June. 

They've grown in talent and personality since I first heard of them; they've cultivated their own flavour for their songs, something that takes a lot of experience, creativity and team work. On top of all this, the close relationship with their fans made the atmosphere of that hall so bright and friendly; not many bands take such a personal interest. I felt like every member was looking at every smiling face individually, and smiling back. 

In other news, I announced in my last post that I wanted to do something special to celebrate having 100 followers. I decided to have a give away, and I haven't quite decided the means, but I've all ready gotten the prize. 

Here's a hint!

 Till next time,

Cherie

All Bears. All the time.

Before coming to Japan, I heard that you could find a themed cafe for anything... and it seems true! I am always discovering unique businesses I've never seen before.

A few weeks ago, I was invited to Kuma Cafe, a three-story restaurant in Sakae filled with bears. My friend and I wore our matching Honey Cake sets from Angelic Pretty, lounging among bear strewn couches beneath a chandelier of teddy bear key chains. 

The menu had lunch sets, dessert sets, and beverages from espresso to mixed drinks. I ordered a Cappuccino and two Ku-macarons.

Raspberry was the first to go. His expression was too perfect.

Shortly followed by his brother, Pistachio.

As if I didn't get my fill of sweets that day, my landlord stopped by when I came home to give me these:

Gorgeous (and from the looks of it, expensive!) cakes from a local pastry shoppe! When I came home from the states, I brought her chocolates as omiyage. She returned the favour with these lovely sweets! That can't possibly be an equal exchange! ; o ; I was so surprised and thankful.

I put them in my fridge, but didn't eat them. One of my good friends in my apartment building had to cancel her stay in Japan because of personal problems, so I gave her the cakes instead, thinking she could use a cheering up. (Don't worry, I didn't take credit! I told her they were from my sweet land lady. ^o^) 

If you're in the Nagoya or Sakae area and want to stop by Kuma Cafe, I found their link on the handy dandy Tabelog. (Includes a menu, phone number and map.) It's about a 10 minute walk from either Oosu's Akamon Doori or Sakae station. 

Till next time,

Cherie

Oh My Oosu: A Quest

Today started with a simple game plan: Head to Sakae, check out the Novelty Fairs on the Lolita floor, come home in time for Fireworks at Nisshin's Yume Matsuri. Well one of my friends from my apartment building joined me too, and our plan became more and more intricate. Our day trip turned into an excursion into Nagoya's Ohsu district.

I will say this to start- I should have gone to Ohsu a long time ago. This was one of the best days I've had so far.

We arrived at Sakae around 11, finding an abundance of girls in head-to-toe AP and a lack of arousing deals. You couldn't even get to the accessories table at AP since ladies were crowded around it- not that I could blame them, there were new Wonder Cookie goodies up for grabs.

The deal at AP was, spend just shy of 16,000 yen and you score a free Tokimeki ribbon necklace in either pink or red. I browsed, caroused, and really tried to find something I wanted, but nothing was enough to bait me.

Though I fell hard for the Petit Patisserie Jsk in mint, once I saw it person...

... it was significantly more than I set out to spend today. Slightly disappointed, we left the Nova building- but not without checking out AATP's new Witch, Cat and Apple print. They had the OP on display with those gorgeous gold boots.

Read on after the cut for the rest of my quest!