listening: haruomi hosono - pacific
watching: csi vegas japanese dub
it's been quite a while since i wrote a diary entry! i think utilizing my figures page and creating the flowers one has kinda rendered the diary irrelevant, since i mostly blog about thrifting for figures, building model kits, and seeing flowers on my walk lol. it's been just over a week since i got back from taiwan, and to be honest, i don't feel like i've done anything interesting that i didn't already post about on my figures page (building this custom megami device kit) or my lolita coordinates page (going out in AP soap bubbles jsk for international lolita day). other than that, i've been working on some boring visa paperwork, trying to beat the heat, and tidying/rearranging the house some more.
some gardening activity that i really can't post to my flowers page, is that two of my three hydrangeas (nayuta and mangekyou) are doing terribly. since summer weather is coming in, they got badly sunscorched while i was away in taiwan. i moved them off of the greenhouse balcony entirely and into the shady gap between our house and the neighbor in front of us. they're both doing better than they were, but still look like sad bedraggled ass. 
i had to snip a lot of the nayuta off, but what's left seems to be healthy.
the 'aurorange' sp is doing great on the balcony stillif u ignore where my cat ketchup chewed off two leaves and an entire budding flower head. he's fine, don't worry.
the hibiscus and plumeria seem to be doing nicely, and i posted some hibiscus blooms over to the flower gallery. still far too early for the plumerias to do anything but grow leaves. i got a plumeria seedling off of mercari recently from a hobby gardener, and it turned out to have black tip fungus
it's still pretty okay for the most part; i have it quarantined from the others and i'm blasting all the plants on the balcony with fungicide regularly. they're getting plenty of air circulation and i'm watering as sparingly as possible.
i had to snip a lot of the nayuta off, but what's left seems to be healthy.the 'aurorange' sp is doing great on the balcony still
the hibiscus and plumeria seem to be doing nicely, and i posted some hibiscus blooms over to the flower gallery. still far too early for the plumerias to do anything but grow leaves. i got a plumeria seedling off of mercari recently from a hobby gardener, and it turned out to have black tip fungus
it's still pretty okay for the most part; i have it quarantined from the others and i'm blasting all the plants on the balcony with fungicide regularly. they're getting plenty of air circulation and i'm watering as sparingly as possible.
a day after getting back from taiwan, my husband and i went to two bookoffs, including one in suburban kawasaki that's rapidly becoming one of my favorites. they have a 'retro anime corner' where i've been able to find all kinds of nostalgic 2000s figures. i got the rei ayanami here for only 900 yen (around $6-7 USD). they also had beavis and butthead the animation, with the OVA, and higurashi figures with biblically accurate hands.
i got too much shit on this bookoff trip, but it's ok. when i was in taiwan, my bank locked up my account completely after the first time i used my debit, which sucked bc i was mostly not able to buy myself food or anything else for almost 2 days. the upside is, i had plenty of fun money left in the budget when i got back. cope cope cope i'm fine i definitely wasn't stressed out and miserable that whole time hehehehhgh
christmas cammy was a gift for my husband 
i got too much shit on this bookoff trip, but it's ok. when i was in taiwan, my bank locked up my account completely after the first time i used my debit, which sucked bc i was mostly not able to buy myself food or anything else for almost 2 days. the upside is, i had plenty of fun money left in the budget when i got back. cope cope cope i'm fine i definitely wasn't stressed out and miserable that whole time hehehehhgh
we had lunch at kura and went to another bookoff the following day. kura currently has this 'hydrangea jelly' dessert that looked super cute. i got the blue one, but unfortunately it just tasted like sugar and ramune flavoring, pretty gross tbh. i at least like the little fake leaf that came with it lol.
this other bookoff is another fave; the store itself is huge and never really picked over because it's out of the way. i got this lolita sheryl nome figure. i have a soft spot for the kinda frumpy 'lolita' style figures from the early 00s, in an "aww ur trying" kind of way lol. also i enjoyed the movie where sheryl borrowed this outfit from her boyfriend. funnily enough, the baby the stars shine bright collab version of this outfit was posted to closet child just this week. no interest in buying it; it's not my style and frankly not in my budget. i also found ikaros from sora no otoshimono, which i was super happy about! ikaros is precious, and i absolutely adore the angelic robotic companion type of story (see also dears and chobits). i feel like figures from this series are also very difficult to find, especially 'in the wild' at the thrift. i will unbox her at some point, but she's fine there for now.
this other bookoff is another fave; the store itself is huge and never really picked over because it's out of the way. i got this lolita sheryl nome figure. i have a soft spot for the kinda frumpy 'lolita' style figures from the early 00s, in an "aww ur trying" kind of way lol. also i enjoyed the movie where sheryl borrowed this outfit from her boyfriend. funnily enough, the baby the stars shine bright collab version of this outfit was posted to closet child just this week. no interest in buying it; it's not my style and frankly not in my budget. i also found ikaros from sora no otoshimono, which i was super happy about! ikaros is precious, and i absolutely adore the angelic robotic companion type of story (see also dears and chobits). i feel like figures from this series are also very difficult to find, especially 'in the wild' at the thrift. i will unbox her at some point, but she's fine there for now.
my husband has been really itching to go to some airsoft stores in akihabara lately. we haven't visited that area since moving here, but we went a couple times on previous trips as tourists. honestly i hate going there because it's full of some of the most annoying types of tourists (gross weebs). but it's not too bad on weekday mornings, when those people are still waking up from their pocky and beer comas.
my "tax" for accompanying him to akihabara and doing my translation duties, was a side quest to visit an incredible specialty girpla shop. i'm still hesitant whether i want to share the name, or continue gatekeeping them from the english speaking community lol. i've been there once before; the staff are very friendly and welcoming, and great fun to chat with. the store specializes in doujin artist goods for this scale and type of model kit-- everything from custom clothes, to body parts, to enhanced stands and frames. they also carry a selection of boxed kits, secondhand leftover parts, and appropriately scaled commercially scaled accessories like rement. i brought along two of my plamo girliepops to show to the staff!
i picked up some supplies to customize my puni mofu girls, as well as parts to start customizing the asra kits i got at the bookoff above. my husband bought the puni mofu mao faceplate set for me after a brief discussion, to which the staff guys laughed and kinda good naturedly roasted me. when my husband was giving me the money for the face plates, he had turned to the staff, gave a thumbs up like ദ്ദി(｡•̀ ᗜ<), and said something i didn't quite catch... he later told me that he had said "ムチムチ妻/thicc wife", so now i know why they were laughing so hard. i was also really surprised because the entire rest of the japanese he knows is "yes," "hello," "pardon me," and "thanks."
when i came back after lunch and airsoft shopping for the faceplate set for puni mofu tou, i told the staff guys "this is my own money this time," which made them crack up laughing even more.
next week, there's going to be a big semi-annual girlpla event called ak garden. i'm incredibly excited to go! a lot of the artists i follow in this hobby vend there, and it's something i've had FOMO on for years. i already bought tickets for both me and my husband, and made a list of vendors i want to visit. he doesn't build girpla, but he does build some mecha kits and likes to support me on my hobbies, so i think he'll have fun attending too!
while we were out in akihabara, we also ran across this store BEEP that i had just recently learned about in the past couple of months. they're a combination used retro gaming store, and indie/doujin publisher + distributor. their satellite shop where they buy used items and run the online store is actually down the street from my house. i've considered applying to work there once i have my longterm residence card.
my "tax" for accompanying him to akihabara and doing my translation duties, was a side quest to visit an incredible specialty girpla shop. i'm still hesitant whether i want to share the name, or continue gatekeeping them from the english speaking community lol. i've been there once before; the staff are very friendly and welcoming, and great fun to chat with. the store specializes in doujin artist goods for this scale and type of model kit-- everything from custom clothes, to body parts, to enhanced stands and frames. they also carry a selection of boxed kits, secondhand leftover parts, and appropriately scaled commercially scaled accessories like rement. i brought along two of my plamo girliepops to show to the staff!
i picked up some supplies to customize my puni mofu girls, as well as parts to start customizing the asra kits i got at the bookoff above. my husband bought the puni mofu mao faceplate set for me after a brief discussion, to which the staff guys laughed and kinda good naturedly roasted me. when my husband was giving me the money for the face plates, he had turned to the staff, gave a thumbs up like ദ്ദി(｡•̀ ᗜ<), and said something i didn't quite catch... he later told me that he had said "ムチムチ妻/thicc wife", so now i know why they were laughing so hard. i was also really surprised because the entire rest of the japanese he knows is "yes," "hello," "pardon me," and "thanks."
when i came back after lunch and airsoft shopping for the faceplate set for puni mofu tou, i told the staff guys "this is my own money this time," which made them crack up laughing even more.
next week, there's going to be a big semi-annual girlpla event called ak garden. i'm incredibly excited to go! a lot of the artists i follow in this hobby vend there, and it's something i've had FOMO on for years. i already bought tickets for both me and my husband, and made a list of vendors i want to visit. he doesn't build girpla, but he does build some mecha kits and likes to support me on my hobbies, so i think he'll have fun attending too!
while we were out in akihabara, we also ran across this store BEEP that i had just recently learned about in the past couple of months. they're a combination used retro gaming store, and indie/doujin publisher + distributor. their satellite shop where they buy used items and run the online store is actually down the street from my house. i've considered applying to work there once i have my longterm residence card.
i went out for ILD the day before yesterday; i don't really enjoy brand tea parties/events, and community meetups aren't a thing here, so whenever i'm wearing lolita, it's just to mess around in town haha. this time i went to seria for some model kit support items, and to taito station. i didn't end up messing with the UFO catchers, my usual arcade fave, because nothing they had in there really appealed to me. they had way too much chiikawa this time, yuck.
i did write up my coord over on my coordinates page. as of publishing this, it's the most recent coord at the top of the page; if you are reading later, it's the one with AP soap bubbles on 2025 june 07.
i am realizing that i often start these entries by saying "i didn't do anything lately" and then yap about doing a ton of recent activity for several paragraphs lol. i'm very high energy and easily bored, so i never feel like i'm actually doing enough to stay occupied. today i'm working on building the muscuto kit i got at the shop above, i may need to run out for some epoxy glue. i want to complete it before ak garden because the artist who created it will be there!
i also need to do some tedious stuff like make copies and go to the city tax office (more visa stuff). i'm almost done gathering all the documents for the visa application; the big holdup was my FBI background check, which was finally completed the morning i left taiwan. looking forward to doing more fun stuff and maybe some temp work when that's all done! but for now, i'm just looking forward to ak garden. the girlpa autism is at its height right now, and all i want to do is browse cool customs and chat with my fellow hobbyists.
i did write up my coord over on my coordinates page. as of publishing this, it's the most recent coord at the top of the page; if you are reading later, it's the one with AP soap bubbles on 2025 june 07.
i am realizing that i often start these entries by saying "i didn't do anything lately" and then yap about doing a ton of recent activity for several paragraphs lol. i'm very high energy and easily bored, so i never feel like i'm actually doing enough to stay occupied. today i'm working on building the muscuto kit i got at the shop above, i may need to run out for some epoxy glue. i want to complete it before ak garden because the artist who created it will be there!
i also need to do some tedious stuff like make copies and go to the city tax office (more visa stuff). i'm almost done gathering all the documents for the visa application; the big holdup was my FBI background check, which was finally completed the morning i left taiwan. looking forward to doing more fun stuff and maybe some temp work when that's all done! but for now, i'm just looking forward to ak garden. the girlpa autism is at its height right now, and all i want to do is browse cool customs and chat with my fellow hobbyists.