Kpop music updates! Lee Hyori's new MV is NOT Gaga, 2PM updates and more~

Hey guys, I just thought i'd dedicate this post exclusively to kpop updates, since we all love kpop (right guys, right?).

FIRST THINGS FIRST. I just have to say this, because the whole thing is pissing me the hell off. Hyori Lee's new MV, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, is NOTNOTNOT Lady Gaga style!!

I mean, I'm sorry but, suddenly, after this blonde-wigged-half-naked-lady whose now the talk of the world, ALL the time, steps on stage, does it mean that everyone who acquires a blonde wig, OR even HAS a natural blonde bob, is Lady Gaga? Hm? Uh, no, I don't think so, I mean, blonde wigs, and bobs have been around since the 60s!

I don't have a problem with Lady Gaga, she's obviously clever enough to have marketed herself so that she's now a millionairess-singer-world-wide-phenomenon.

But seriously guys, are you saying that people like Egg's Romihi are copying Lady Gaga's hair?

Nope! It's not 'Lady Gaga' style, it's 2010 style! Well, so I think, because short hair and bobs are DEFINITELY coming back into fashion, and not necessarily because of Lady Gaga.

Okay, rant over >_>.

Anyway, check out Hyori's new MV, it's really cool, and the song is really catchy!

And, I love her new album cover, it has really nice graphics, especially on the front cover:

So cool!!

Also, here's the MV, it's pretty cool, and reminds me of a cross between transformers and Britney's video where she was an alien, I can't remember which one it was, but it was good XD.

Gotta say, that's a pretty stylish UFO she's got going on there! I want one!

There's so much good news that's been circulating recently, especially the news that Jae Beom IS RETURNING TO KOREA THIS JUNE and could be starring in the upcoming movie 'Hype Nation'! Exciting stuff guys, finally all those angry Jae Beom fans who've been pestering 2PM about Jae Beom's leave can finally have something to feed on and leave those poor guys alone! Stuff that 7 - 1 = 0 bollocks!

Also, if you haven't already, check out his PERSONAL youtube account, he's uploaded a few song covers and a cute dance video!

Here's one of his cover of 'Can't take my eyes off you' by Lauryn Hill:

Really cute, no?

Relating to this, another thing that should make 2PM fans happy is that, JYP has announced their comeback for this summer!

They've been leaving us loads of teasers these past few days, such as these teaser photos, suggesting a makeover for the 2PM boys?!

Nichkhun has changed his hair colour to what people described as blonde, but really it looks more ginger than anything else XD.

And, my beloved Junho has also changed his hair colour... to.. BLONDE?! It certainly looks that way!

These photos are from of allkpop.com's article on the matter.

And finally, they have released an OFFICIAL comeback photo, it's hooooot!

It's looking good so far guys! I can't wait for their new album to be released, it's sure to be awesome. The photo suggests that the new album COULD be called 'Don't stop, Can't stop'. I can't wait! I'm so going to try and save up to buy it (as well as a Bi-Rain album, he's so sexy!).

In other news (Haha, I sound like a news presenter XD), you may know of the complicated situation with TVXQ; their stopping of group activities in Japan and the focusing of solo careers instead.

HOWEVER, Avex TV just made a huge announcement today that they will be working with the three runaway band members; Junsu, Yoochun and Jaejoong, and that the three will be working as one unit to perform a series of celebratory live shows in Japan in June, entitled 'Thanksgiving Live in Dome'.

The dates are as following:

June 5th-6th - Osaka Kyocera Dome

June 12th-13th - Tokyo Dome

~

That sounds pretty exciting no? I mean, when the band seemed like it was going to break up completely, at least now there's a wee bit of hope for the fans out there now that these three lovelies have stepped up to do some lives!

I wish I could go ;____;

Well, that's all for today folks! Keep a look out for the new 2PM CD, the MV or album could be released any day!

My thanks to sites such as allkpop for being so informative!

And now, I leave you with this nice macroo:

Right back at you Lady Gaga!

The adventures of a frazzled Briton in Japantown~

When I was in San Francisco last summer, we were staying near Japan town (luckily!). Unlike the Asian 'towns' we're used to in the UK, such as Chinatown; a few streets strung with all you can eat buffets and a couple of buildings where our gyarusa go for purikura, the Japantowns and Chinatowns of the US are completely off the scale.

Gotta put this picture of a pork bun here, because they're the tastiest things in the goddamn world:

If you've visited London's Chinatown, you might think that it's pretty big, but if you put it in perspective against the Japantown and Chinatown of San Francisco, it's like a small pork bun stand (oh god I love those so much) against an industrial pork bun factory (mmm... lots of pork buns in one building~~).

Japantown isn't a couple of streets filled with Japanese restaurants, it's actually a town built to resemble a town in Japan, i.e: it has Japanese shopping centres, Japanese shops, Japanese super markets, Japanese bookstores, HUGE purikura rooms, a massive outside plaza with a stage, really nice Japanese restaurants, Japanese shops with LOADS of GAL stuff in them - no joke, I was standing there gawping at it all for a good 10 minutes. They have the lot; hoards of Japanese branded fake eyelashes, hair dye, makeup, clothes and other gal-must-haves. There's even a huge Sanrio store full of hello kitty goods, and somehow I managed to win a prize in there, so I got some hello kitty stuff for free and some cute stickers too~

On the upper floor in one of the shopping centres, they have a MASSIVE bookstore called 'Kinokuniya Bookstore'. It's awesome. The gal magazine section is the biggest i've ever seen, they have maybe 4 to 5 times more books there than the Japan Center in London do, and not ONLY do they have books and comics, they have a whole section dedicated to music and music DVDs, so if you're looking to buy Koda Kumi, Gackt other Japanese, Korean and Chinese musicians or even Parapara DVDs, that's the place to be, I tell you!

I was so tempted to pick up a massive Koda Kumi box set, but it was $60, and I didn't want to spend all my money on just that TT___TT.

What they also have, something that perhaps the UK lacks in slightly - a HUGE population of youths who follow Japanese fashion trends; Lolita, Visual Kei, Decora and even Gal!

Possibly the best place in Japantown is the NEW PEOPLE building. On the first floor it has an art and book shop with some really nice Japanese art and books and other cool things for sale. There's also a cinema, for Asian films ONLY (it's awesome!). However, the best part of this glass building, is the second floor. OH MY GOD GHUGRIEHGERHE. I wanted to spend all my money there, I had to restrain myself like a madman XD.

Okay, prepare yourselves, IT HAS: A 6%Dokidoki store, A Baby, the Stars Shine Bright store, with Alice and the Pirates branded clothes being sold there too, and Black Peace Now.

*NOSEBLEED*... Amazing stuff, seriously.

Here are some pictures~

From left to right: the three shop assistants/dances from 6%Dokidoki store in Japan, the DESIGNER and founder of 6%Dokidoki, Masuda Sebastian, the famous Lolita model Misako Aoki, who modeled at the fashion show that day (I have some videos that I took that i'll post up in a minute) and the DESIGNER and founder of Baby, the Stars Shine Bright, Uehara Kumiko.

I got to meet the 6%Dokidoki dancers, and they were all really sweet, and I got right up to the front at the Baby, the Stars Shine Bright fashion show, including an interview with Uehara Kumiko, i'll post those videos at the end of this post ;D!

Black Peace Now:

Baby, the Stars Shine Bright:

Here are some pictures of the things I brought from these shops. They're pretty small, but you can probably imagine how expensive everything was there; dresses at Baby, the Stars Shine Bright were minimum of $200.00!

On that note, we'll start with Baby, the Stars Shine Bright, since it was so expensive, I could only afford to buy one thing, AND, omg, it was so fucking ridiculous; there was NO air conditioning in the whole building. Picture this; San Francisco, in the middle of summer, on a cloudless day, in a building with no air conditioning, waiting in a queue to buy ONE thing for an HOUR. I died; literally. I had to get my sister to buy the item for me in the end, because I felt so sick, it was awful. I goddamn hope they've installed some air con now!

A little lolita-y, but I thought it was so cute, and it was basically the only thing I could afford, at a whopping $48.00... Just for that (Q__Q)

The next lot are all from 6%dokidoki, since they had so many adorable little trinkets, I couldn't help myself and just HAD to buy a few cute things~~

6%dokidoki top, I can't remember how much it was, but it was so cute, I just had to get it!

This necklace is one of my favourites, it's shaped like a wee dummy, and I just LOVE it, it even has a wee bow!

Even though this was an earring, it was still pretty expensive, so I could only afford to buy one hahahaha, nonetheless, i'm still happy with just one, look at it, it's in the shape of a sweet, bawwww!

This is the best ring I have ever bought ever; not only is it heart shaped, it's MASSIVE, and it's so sparkly, and I am the biggest sucker for sparkly things, let me tell you.


One of the shop assistants was wearing this in her hair, and I loved it! I think it's really quite Kaoru Watanabe style; bold, but stylish and cute! I also love the little pearl strands and smaller stars draping from the main clip, I think it deliberately resembles that of a traditional hair accessory worn with kimonos?

Right, here comes the fun part, THE FASHION SHOW. I got to the front row, but got stuck behind this really annoying woman photographer, who was all like 'OMG, I NEED TO BE IN FRONT OF YOU BECAUSE I HAVE A CAMERA, SO STEP BACK, YOU GET ME?', in a really southern-American accent, she was kind of rude T__T, but I waited until she took her shoots and went somewhere else, and then regained my place, ho ho ho!

Bah to her..

Anyway,

Here're the videos of the Baby, the Stars Shine Bright x Alice and the Pirates fashion show (please ignore my crappy video editing, it was nearing midnight when I put them on youtube XD):

Part one:

Most of the western models featured in the fashion show were amateurs I think, so a lot of people thought they were very stiff, I think it was probably because they were very nervous. However, all/most of the Japanese models there were professionals, like Misako Aoki, She's SO cute!

Here's part 2:

I bet if I even tried to wear that dress with a train, I'd just fall over and knock over everything ever, and everything would go BOOM. The end.

After the fashion show, the BTSSB (the name is soooo long!) designer, Uehara Kumiko got interviewed on stage, and I managed to video it - until my phone ran out of battery at the last second :'(!

Can I just say, I love the presenter at the show, he's so camp and funny, he reminds me of those really enthusiastic wildlife presenters who're always jumping around, even in the desert, LIKE STEVE IRWIN. I love Steve Irwin XD

Okay, i'm going to go into grieving if I talk about Steve anymore ;____;

MY FILMING IS SO BAD IN THIS. I put my finger over half the camera at one point, so please ignore, and pretend it's something cute and fluffy... Or something.

Part one:

Kumiko is adorable! I think it's so sweet that she's following her dreams~ I'd love to have her job any day haha!

Part 2:



Damn phone for dying on me!! How upsetting ;_____;

So, yeah, if you ever get a chance to go to San Francisco, GO TO JAPANTOWN, it's amazing, and a place of worship for Western gyaru.
And now, my eyes are closing, so to end this post, have this nice, nice picture of Minho looking like a duck:


Oh Minho, you duck, you :')

Spring, floral, straw and cowboy

Last weekend, when I was in London (which i'll soon blog about), Emmie, Unni and I quickly popped into Oxford Street for some quick shopping (I should have brought more money with me (v_v);. It was then that I realized how quickly the gal spring fashion is seeping into UK high street fashion, or at least how similar it is - which, in a sense, is good for us Western gals because sometimes its hard to access Japanese clothes, or gal-style clothes on the internet.
So, some of the trends that are coming in this spring are~

♥ Floral and white/pale dresses

This dress are from the magazine JJ:
(click the images to enlarge them)



I love how light this dress is, and the fold details at the bottom are really cute~

These spring dresses are from Vivi:



Again, really pale, pastel colours are really in this season, and small floral details - like small roses and flower pattern are too.



I've never worn a maxi dress before, and I'm not sure whether I really like them or not, but again, they're in this season, and I've seen quite a few around, in stores like River Island and New Look.

I'm not sure the magazine this scan is from, but I ADORE these spring dresses:



I REALLY need to save up for some more spring dresses V__V, and some belts too, I love the brown belts in these pictures, and they're fairly easy to find, I swear they're everywhere in cheap vintage shops nowadays~

♥ Straw trilby hats, head scarfs and florally decorated accessories.

These scans are from JJ:

If you're looking for easy-to-get straw trilbies by the dozen, i'd recommend looking in Topshop even if the hats there are a wee bit expensive, they have a nice range of these hats out this spring.




Again, straw hats, flowers and spring imagery. It's easy to mix and match with these accessories since they suit most colours, even brighter colours, like the bold pink top worn in the top left photo of this picture

These accessories are from Vivi:


Again, pastel colours as well as gold are really popular for spring accessories and jewelery. I love the nature-inspired gold hair accessories coming out, although the ones that you put over your hair (like the leafy one in the scan) don't really suit me because it makes my head look really small!

This really good site called ASOS sells those sorts of hair accessories (and cute clothes and shoes), and they're only about £4.00!

Lots and lots of cute bags are in this season~~
Again, floral prints and pastel colours, also, satchels and vintage style bags (I suggest going to places like Urban Outfitters for stuff like that)

♥ Denim shorts and jackets, floral print, checkered, cream and frilly tops~

These clothes are from Vivi:

I love, love, love the cowboy look going on this spring, checkered tops are so cute. To be honest, in a shop sale, there were some men's pajamas (top) for £3.00, so I brought it because it was long and checkered.. and so cheap *__*!

High waisted denim shorts and skirts are adorable... I really need to go shopping (-_-);;


Big floppy hats! Maybe I should just borrow my Mum's...


Skin coloured things are everywhere nowadays... I know there's another name for the colour, but it's completely escaped me at the moment D;

STILL, skin coloured heels are so cute, and brogues too!

*comes back to edit* IT'S CALLED NUDE, I REMEMBER NOW!


Baggy, baggy, baggy things are always good for the summer and spring, they're also pretty good for lazy days indoors, although I prefer to just stay in my pajamas the whole day XD!

There are also a lot of pinstripes and dots floating around nowadays, especially long pinstriped shirts, which are cute, but lets be honest, they're everywhere nowadays!

JJ scan:

I really like zip up clothes with zips right at the front of them; simple but hottt!

♥ Makeup; light, natural, pinks and organic colours

Natural, glowing kind of look here, matching the sort of 'soft' floral looks this spring. I like this sort of makeup because it takes less time to put on in the mornings (and i'm a lazy, lazy person XD)

Nishino Kana is so pretty~

I really need to invest in some nude lipstick, I think Mac has quite a few nice colours going, but none of the stores near me sell Mac products (;__;), cursesss!

Here's a really simple makeup tutorial I found, its for people like me who miss 3 alarms in the morning and don't have time to do too much makeup in the week. Besides, I think this looks really natural and airy :)

♥ Shoes; cowboy boots, brogues, dolly shoes, wedges, and heels~

I'm usually not such a big fan of dolly shoes, they get wrecked too easily *in my case anyway*, but I reaaalllyyy like some of the ones I saw in River Island when I went shopping with Emmie and Unni, the shoes there are so cute, especially the pastel ones - although I dared not look at the prices *__*.

These shoes and heels are in really simple creams and natural colours but go with so many different clothes. I don't really wear heels because i'm already nearing on 6 feet tall.. so I wouldn't see much point in me wearing any, unless I wanted to become a giant!

COWBOY BOOTS. I love them so much, mine are broken though. By broken I mean they have massive holes through their soles so big I bet someone could fit their head through them XD. Need to invest in some new ones. Come to think of it, mine probably broke because they were only £12.00, hahaha!

I'm going to work and save up money, especially after looking at all the pretty clothes, bags, shoes and accessories in all these pictures ;___;!

I know that this sort of airy, spring style isn't for all the gals out there, and personally, I like to hop around between gyaru styles, since everything is just so incredibly pretty!

I'd like to see what everyone else is hoping on buying this spring, and if there's anything else anyone wants to share!

Credit for scans goes to this wonderful tumblr blog thank you for all your awesome scans!

Happy shopping everyone!