Shamanic workshop

After a fun packed day at work it was off to Giselle's tonight for the next instalment of our shamanic workshop. As the weather has been good we did our session outside which was lovely. We lit a fire and then did some drumming before making some prayer ties. We had to make seven each, charge them with thanks or wishes and then commit to Great Spirit by throwing them into the fire one by one. After this we did some more drumming and headed into dreamtime for some dream manifestation.

It was a lovely evening and great to be outside with nature and fire and just getting connected. It's a shame we only have two more sessions left but we do have the promise of a monthly drum circle to look forward to!

Bento time

In a very uncharacteristic move I hit the kitchen last night with Zoe to so that we could make ourselves lunch for today. We both now have some lovely bento boxes so the mission was to prepare some bento.....

Onigiri which is nishiki rice and nori (seaweed sheets)

Some simple chopped vegetables

Nishiki rice beautifully cooked so it's very sticky

Tamagoyaki which is an egg omelette with soy sauce and sugar. 

A view of the top layer of the box

I have to say it was wonderful. Although it didn't look like much it was actually very filling. This is going to be a regular thing :)

Star Wars Funko Pop (again)

Yup, you guess it, more Star Wars Funko Pop figures arrived. This time it was two more from their The Force Awakens selection.

Kylo Ren

Rey (with goggles)

They are things of beauty and a great addition to the collection!

Chilling with Sam

Sam and I got to spend some time together today as Toni headed of the moot and I stayed behind to keep an eye on Pam so that Sam didn't have to do it again (as he watches her quite a lot).

We started off with a good two player session on Samurai Warriors 4 on the PS4. This was a random purchase that I had made after the game showed up on a search on Amazon relating to something else. Have to say I was quite impressed. It's a silly over the top game with great graphics that is fun to play (especially in co-op mode). It's not the sort of game that I would ordinarily play but I'm certainly glad I picked it up.

We then took a break to indulge in a horror film. Having watch The Collector the other day we settled for the sequel, The Collection. Both of them are good films (in the Saw style). Lovely twist at the end left us hoping that someone will green light the third film which is tentatively titled The Collected.

So, we set a new record today for bailing out on a bad film. We got less than three minutes into Rumpelstiltskin before we both dived for the off button. Just to add insult to unjury we then picked a film at random which was Vanishing On 7th Street only to be confronted with the horror of Hayden "effing" Christiansen being in it. I don't mind him myself but Sam can't stand him LOL. I am pleased to report that the acting wasn't really much better than his Star Wars efforts but there at least long periods where he didn't speak! We didn't actually get to watch it all as Jamie turned up and we ended up talking instead.

It was a good day spending time together and I think he needed it this weekend :)

A day at Avery Hill

Well today we did a few things differently. First up we didn't actually get up until gone midday. Despite her having an early night Pam didn't actually wake up herself until 12:40 so we were happy for the extra snuggle time. We got up and took Pam round to Richard's for a big breakfast and then we went out, actually real world out. We spent a lovely couple of hours wandering around Avebury Hill and in the Winter Garden there.

You can see all the pictures here:
https://plus.google.com/photos/114488708332382539692/albums/6198879973229236113

The weather was gorgeous and we had a really nice time. Made a pleasant change from being indoors all day :)

More Star Wars Funko Pop, Ender's Game and an early night

I am pleased to announce the arrival of two more Star Wars Funko Pop figures. Joining the collection are Han Solo and R2-D2.

Whilst I am not going to get every single one of these gorgeous characters in the Star Wars Funko Pop range I still have a fair few more to come LOL

We watch Ender's Game with a rather delicious home made curry. It's a good film, with an interesting plot line. Apparently the end was good too although sadly I managed to sleep through the last part LOL.

We even ended up having a really novel early night as Pam had decided that she want to go to bed around 10:30. That doesn't happen very often I can tell you! 

Star Wars Mystery Box

After a great day at work I came home to find that Bay 57 had shipped my Star Wars Mystery Box. This was kind of like a Loot Crate box only it was purely Star Wars based.

Darth Vader coaster

Han & Leia mini mugs

Stormtroper and Darth Vader egg cups

Empire Strikes Back mug

Han Solo apron

Oh the delight of random Star Wars goodies!

Hello Kitty meets KISS

Sometimes it's the little thing in life that amuse me! I am now the proud owner of two sets of the ultimate mash up. Hello Kitty and KISS combined into one glorious thing! These are phone charms but I have collected them together to hang off of my Totoro bag.

Off sick and Star Wars Funko Pop

I was off sick today which was not the best way to spend a Tuesday! I did feel a bit better though when my Star Wars Funko Pop Imperial Guard arrived. The collection is growing very nicely now :)

Rocky Horror Picture Show Funko Pop

Alongside the growing Star Wars collection of Funko Pop figures we have now started adding Rocky Horror Picture Show ones. Today we received:

Frank

Columbia

Brad

Janet

Just Riff Raff and Magenta to come now :)

Chilling with good friends

Mel and Pinkie came and stayed for the weekend and it was great to spend the day chilling with them today. Sometimes a slow pace is spot on and today we weren't rushing about or doing stuff. Just chatting, enjoying each other's company and generally unwinding from the hectic whirlwind that is life.

It was a shame that they both had to leave early-ish in the evening as we could have quite happily spent longer with them. Still, I'm sure it won't be long before we have them both over again! Happy times!

Japan Matsuri 2015

Very reluctantly Zoe and I got up early and headed into London for an event called Japan Matsuri in Trafalgar Square.

A regular fixture now in the London calendar, this annual festival brings people together to enjoy Japanese food, music, dance, and activities for all the family. And it’s FREE! This year they were celebrating a special anniversary of 150 years of friendship between London and Japan and the story of the Satsuma Students from Kagoshima.

Proceedings kicked off with some drumming by Thames Taiko.

Next up was Naomi Suzuki in the first of many segments involving her Japan Matsuri theme song IBUKI.

Which led us nicely into the opening ceremony.

Former Japanese Prime Minister Yoshirō Mori took to the podium for an opening speach

Unfortunately we also had to suffer Jeremy Hunt and Victoria Borwick but I guess you can't have everything LOL.

We were then treated to kagami-biraki where the lids of sake barrels are broken open with wooden happens as part of a ceremony to represent harmony and good fortune.

It was then time for a spot of breakfast.

Takoyaki for me (essentially battered octopus balls)

Yakisoba for Zoe (noodles with some beansprouts)

After that there was lots going on throughout the day. There was cosplay:

There were Pikachu fans desperate to have their photo taken with Zoe:

Satsuma Kenshi Hayato, a samuari from Kagoshima, took to the main stage with his fox spirit Yassembo:

What does Pikachu need? A Pikachu balloon of course!

Everyone likes drums right? Izaku Taiko Odori entertained us with their interesting costumes and drumming:

Well I can deny it as much as I want but the truth seems to come back every time, we really do love Domo!

How cute are this little lot? It's great to see kids involved in an event like this and having fun!

 J-Factor karaoke competition came next which was quite entertaining although the piece de resistance was a crowd sing a long of Ode To Joy in a combination of Japanese, English and humming. 

Sadly I was too busy belting our Edelweiss to record that one!

After another round of IBUKI it was time for the graceful moves of the Hiroko Tanaka Japanese Dancers.

We took a mooch on over to the Manga Wall to see what creativity had been going on during the day. I think Zoe should have had a go but she said she didn't know what to draw relating to the theme of travel. Looks like some other people didn't stick to that either LOL.

Kagoshima has it's very own mascot who I think is super kawaii. This is Guribu and his son:

Apologies in advance for the ear worm (I am currently banned from playing this in the house) but here is a snippet the Guribu song...

The Izaku Taiko Odori made a return only this time in the crowd rather than on the stage:

Okinawa Sanshin-kai entertained us with some traditional Japanese music, dance and drumming:

Taking a stroll around Zoe bumped into Guribu:

One hit wonders Frank Chickens were next up with their brand of zany electronic music. We have been called a national disgrace announced singer Kazuko Hohki but now we have a non-Japanese member we have become an international disgrace! They kicked off with their 80s 'smash' We Are Ninja (thanks to BambooTwo on Youtube for capturing this):

Absolutely mental but highly entertaining!

Things were turned down a notch with the Hibiki Ensemble playing some very relaxing and chilled koto and flute music. It was beautiful.

JSD Crew hit the stage next to show us their street dance moves:

Reijiro Tsumara, Noh actor and Japanese intangible cultural asset, was up next with a performance piece including piano and ballet called Journey To The Speed Of Sound.

Guribu hit the stage for one lats song and dance much to our delight!

Here's the full Guribu song (almost, apart from the technical glitch but they didn't stop dancing)

As the say slowly drew to a close the Izaku Taiko Odori hit the main stage once again:

Naomi Suzuki came out for one last round of IBUKI and to plug the associated CD release

Final performance of the day was Joji Hirota and London Taiko Drummers. What a way to finish things! Amazing performance, great rhythms and co-ordination.

Some farewell speeches rounded things off........

............ and then it was time to go home!

Japan Matsuri 2015 was an absolutely brilliant event. Although it was stupidly busy it was far less frantic than your usual Comic Con type events. It was just nice to be able to emerse myself in traditional Japanese culture and soak it all up. Neither of us wanted the day to end and we'll definitely be back again next year!