Halloween in Hong Kong

One of the major buzz in the cosplay scence right now is the photo contest by Animax Asia. Animax Asia is giving 3 lucky cosplayers from across South East Asia the chance to fly to Hong Kong and be part of it's Halloween festivities together with Cosplay Queen Alodia and famous otaku blogger Danny Choo. Gah! would've loved to join but judging from the entries... *phew* I'll just be content to vote for my friends and hope you guys could show support for them as well. Why not check out and see if you've any favourites in the entries so far. So many good ones to choose from.

So anyway these are the mechanics (as taken from Animax's page):

Wanna meet Ani-Mate Alodia and blogger extraordinaire Danny Choo in Hong Kong? Send in your best cosplay photo to win!

Instructions: 

• Simply submit a snazzy photo of yourself cosplaying and you might find yourself on your way to Hong Kong* to attend the Hong Kong Halloween Treats party on Oct 17 with Danny & Alodia.* Terms and conditions apply. Includes airfare and accomodation. A total of 3 winners will be chosen
• Submission of photos ends 24th September
• Viewers' voting starts from 25th September - 6 October

CONTEST DETAILS can be found at: http://animax-asia.com/ugc/image/hktb-halloween-treats/

Halloween in Hong Kong made me reminisce my first Hong Kong experience.

It was with my sisters in 2007. It was our first trip together and that in itself was one of the best deals we could get out of the trip. What we didn't realize was that we left for Hong Kong in time for Halloween - which is only one of my favourite festive holiday. The moment we landed in Hong Kong we were already so giddy and excited. Nevermind that we may have lacked some sleep. It was an adventure trying to get from the airport to our hotel. Good thing the commuting system in Hong Kong is so efficient we got to where we should be going in no time and hassle-free. Finding somewhere to eat our first dinner in the area near our hotel wasn't hard either. We just followed the golden arches ;-)

Visiting the sights and sound of Hong Kong was incredibly fascinating. Every corner had something of interest to see and check out. 

I especially loved the shopping experience - I never shy away from shopping. Not when you have so many options and bargains to look out for. Hong Kong did not disappoint. There were so much things to go crazy over, like a store full of Panda-things ??? I was floored!!! 

And since it was Halloween there was an abundance of  the small  and big oddities that I have a penchant for.

There was an alley where we kept going back to because it had so many cool stuffs on display. Mostly costumes and props, the typical things one would find and use for a Halloween and costume party. Back then I wasn't into the cosplay scene yet. But I loved costumes and dressing up. Going around the alley shops I chanced upon something I have been dying to get for myself for awhile now. Black Wings! I never really knew for what real purpose did I want them for - but I didn't need a lot of persuasion since I've already convinced myself long ago that owning a pair of black wings would just be awesome. So after another short visit to the alley shops, I went home proud owner of a pair of black wings.

That was in 2007. I never got to use the wings since I bought it until... 2009. Yes, after two years of a somewhat impulse shopping in Hong Kong I finally had the perfect time to use the wings. In my first cosplay version of one of my most fave comic book characters of all time. Death of the endless. It was the perfect time and occasion. This cosplay would always be one of my favourite.

One of the fun stories to tell to people when they ask me about my black wings, is that I bought it on impulse in Hong Kong and it took 2 years before I can actually use it. And that when I did, it was for one of my personal favourite cosplays.

I wouldn't mind going back, who knows what other interesting finds I may take home with me.

Seifuku Done!

Enma Ai's Seifuku Outfit - One of my October projects done and made it's first appearance last Saturday (october 24, 2009) at ARCHON 2009, Ayala Center Cebu!

Had I worked on the costume non-stop I probably would've finished it in 3 days, accessories included. But since I had to break it down around my schedule, I finished the entire ensemble in a little over a week.

The sailor collar was the very first piece I made, because at that time I thought that if I will never get the entire seifuku tailored somewhere, I could just attach it to any of my long sleeved black tops and assemble something to look like a seifuku. When I got so engrossed sewing the thing (by hand mind you) the thought of "What if... I sew the entire seifuku myself". I thought I could pull it off and I love sewing, so why not indeed. (Bapan approves)

I had to recall my high school Home Economics class, use my common sense in dressmaking and construction to come up with patterns and the final cut. Of course, this was not without mistakes and needle punctured fingers!! 

For my skirt, I used one I already had and just adjusted the design by changing the shearings into pleats - hurrah for less work!

I was looking for material for my straw doll when I stumbled upon this in a arts & craft shop, I was sold. It had my name on it (though with an extra F):

then:

AND VOILA! Finished product: (I grabbed this photo from Maik Logarta on FB ^_^) with fellow cosplayers Al and Milezy + Frenchi. I'm Happy ^_^

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I just recently breathed life into this account again and uploaded some stuffs instead of just lurking around DA :)