Nilisketch

Korra

2012-01-26T06:33:00.001-08:00

Drew this out of excitement after seeing some clips from the new series. I can't wait!!

Ideas

2012-01-06T15:54:00.000-08:00

A sketch I made as a possible idea for my upcoming animation short. (Which I'm probably not going to use) I know both characters don't look very original, but I thought it would be fun to animate a weird looking creature =)

Style experiment

2011-12-23T15:46:00.000-08:00

Style experiment I did for school, figured I could throw it up here!

Things

2011-12-10T13:20:00.000-08:00

Just some random stuff I did lately =)

Me and friends as Pokemon trainers in Adventure Time style, the story behind it goes way back. It's also way too much fun to draw in this style :D

Hipster Rarity! I love the look of heels, but I suck at drawing (and wearing) them.

I hope to post (more) serious stuff next time!! Have some tunes while you wait.

Phantogram - Don´t Move by homoheadphonico

Outasight - Figure 8 (Discotech Remix) by iamoutasight

What time is it?

2011-11-15T13:34:00.000-08:00

Time to update my blog! I can't believe it's been two months since I last updated.. Sorry for slacking off!

I'll try to post some sketches soon, meanwhile enjoy this Fiona and Cake thing I whipped up before going to bed last night! At least fanart is better then no art ..RIGHT?!

TVpaint

2011-09-10T11:38:00.000-07:00

Some stuff I made for Tvpaint, as an excuse to update! We had to animate spinning heads, one design of your own and one design (the second) from a classmate.

School only just started and it's already so busy! We have to make a 50 seconds animation for a Dutch tv-quiz, and we only have 2 weeks to finish it (one week allready passed)

The Jackson Pit by booyah1022

Redhead

2011-08-07T05:09:00.000-07:00

From now on I'l try to post more sketches. I have to cross my boundaries. I always tend to overthink things and thats why I can't ever get the results I want. Time to stop being afraid and start sketching! I also have to get more loose in my sketches.

Critics always welcome!

New York part 4

2011-07-22T09:36:00.000-07:00

Ugh I'm so behind updating. In fact, I've allready been home in rainy old Netherlands for over a week. I've caught a cold so I've been staying in sneezing and snottering away. I miss New York, at least I wish the weather would clear up a little.

Anyway I'll tell you about the last days of my great adventure! It will be a big picture dump since I'm too lazy to write. We still had to go to the observation desk on the Empire State building, because thats what true tourists do! We brought our tickets online so we could skip a bit of the line. Before we decided to go on the top we went to Macy's, because my mom needed some new shoes. After thousands of hours she finally found a pair on sale. We went on top of the empire state building in the evening so I could take pictures in day and nighttime! But I always prefer nighttime pictures, even though my camera is such a bitch about taking pictures at night.

After that we went back to Little Korea for a great hot pot meal! Love how much food you get for only 10 dollars <3 And it was delicious too! We walked through Times Square on our way back. I had no idea Daniel Radcliffe was playing in a musical on Broadway!

The day after we walked around in Soho to buy some last minute things and souvenirs. We found a nice place to have lunch, called City Bakery. They had lots of sweets and chocolate goods. Me and my mom both took these enormous muffins! Seriously these things where huge!

In the evening we went to Bryant park for a movie screening. We arrived an hour early but the place was allready packed! Can't believe how many people attend these things but the atmosphere was great. Watching classics in the middle of New York between the skyscrapers with a hunderd fellow New Yorkers.

This evening they showed "Gentlemen prefer Blondes" starring Marilyn Monroe. Before the movie started they showed a short cartoon just like in the old days of cinema.

When the movie started everyone stood up and clapped. It was a great audience, clapping and laughing at just the right times. The adience had a great spirit which made this such a memorable evening =) I actually never saw the movie and it was really enjoyable!

The next morning we had a few hours before we had to go to the airport, so we used that time to do some serious shopping! I went to forever21 and brought a few dresses, shirts and shoes. Also some lingerie at Victoria's secret since there was a great sale! And we had our last meal in New York.. (Actually we had a huge Ben & Jerry's icecream on the airport)

I'll use the rest of my vacation to work out, I promise!

When we went on the plane that evening we could clearly see New York out of the window, such a pretty sight! I'm really gonna miss it.

New York part 3

2011-07-10T08:28:00.001-07:00

So we went to see Wicked last wensday and it was phenomenal! We took the train to the Gershwin theatre to see the show. We had some trouble with buying the tickets since the cheap one where all sold out till August, so we had to buy the really expensive seats. But it was worth it since we where all the way in the front, on the 7th row near the orchestra. The show itself was fantastic! I loved all the sets, costumes, music and acting. The leading ladies where incredible! And the story was really fun and clever.

Afterwards we where on our way home. And we ran into Katie Rose Clarke, she played Glenda during the show. I couldn't resist asking for her authograph. She looked so different without her big poofy fairy dress I hardly recognized her!

The day after we went to East Village and there where hipsters everywhere! But I kinda liked it, very relaxed and laid back. Also a lot of strange stores and Japanese sushi restaurants, so we didn't need to think long about what we where having for dinner that night. We found a great place where all sushi was 50% off! So we had a great and cheap meal.

Afterwards we walked around in the park and we found out there was a movie screening. I didn't know what movie it was, but it had Eddy Murphy in it and everyone was laughing and clapping hysterically. So much fun to watch!

The day after we went to the MoMa because every friday afternoon you could enter the museum for free. We had to wait in the line to get the tickets, but everything went pretty quickly and it wasn't as horribly crowded as I expected. We saw art from Van Gogh, Monet, Andy warholl and many more.

On saturday we went to The Metropolitan Museum of Arts, for the complete cultural weekend. There was an exhibition from Alexander McQueen, so we decided to check that out first. There was a huge line for it, so we waited patiently to get in. After 1,5 hour we could enter but we weren't allowed to take any pictures. The exhibition itself was amazing! They had a pretty big selection of works from various collections. Every room was decorated in style of the pieces and supported by fitting music. There where also screens showing video's from bizzare fashion shows and dress portrayals. The mannequins where styled form top to toe with fitting shoes and accessoires and many hats by Philip Treacy. It was really crowded so it took quite a while to pass through all the small rooms.

The rest of the museum was huge! I've never seen such a big collection of art, we spend the entire day there. By the time we realised it it was allready 9 P.M. I was soo hungry! We took a walk through Central Park afterwards and there where fireflies everywhere! It felt so magical <3 This is one of the first times I've seen fireflies! It felt like a scene from a movie.

New York part 2

2011-07-06T14:11:00.000-07:00

I've been in New York a little bit over week now, and it is soo hot over here! Almost everyday it's been over 30+ degrees. I'm glad every store and restaurant has airconditioning, because I'm melting. Especially at the subway stations.

We've done so many things past few days that it all kinda blurred together in my mind. I'll try to remember it as best as I can! We planned our own little Sex and the City tour, since we didn't want to pay 50 bucks. Luckily Google maps is always there when you need it. We visited Magnolia Bakery, the cutest little bakery where you can get any fill of sweetness. The store was a little too small for all the sugar addicts, but the cupcakes made up for it! I must say these where the most delicious/cutest cupcakes I've ever had!

Afterwards we went to see Carrie's house, which was really nearby! (Perry street 66) We weren't the only ones who wanted to take a picture at her front door. Imagine how frustrating it must be for the people who live there to have people taking pictures of their house all day long!

On the 4th of July we went to Central park and there where so many festive things going on! Music and rollerblade disco. Central Park is a really great place to escape the city for a while and enjoy the company of the cutest squirrels. I wish there was a park like this near my home! People where jogging, riding bikes, sleeping and enjoying picknicks. The heat was so intense I couldn't imagine to go jogging! Also, Central park is HUGE and you get lost pretty easily. We spend almost the entire day there.

Afterwards we went to the Hudson river to enjoy the 4th of July fireworks. Since the police where blocking some roads it was very crowded. But nobody was pushing and the atmosphere was great! When the show started everyone began to cheer. The fireworks where so gorgeous! Thousand of sparkling lights filling the sky. Even with figure fireworks, I never quite understood how they do that.

Like all tourist visiting New York we have our Broadway tickets ready for tonight! We have pretty amazing seats (and expensive) for Wicked, I can hardly wait. Have some more pictures in the meanwhile.

New York!

2011-07-01T19:38:00.000-07:00

I'm a little late with updating, too busy/lazy. I've been in New York for a couple of days now, and it has been most exciting. The people are super friendly, and it has so many great restaurants and stores! Wouldn't mind living here. We left Schiphol tuesday morning, so we had to be at the airport really early. The flight went by pretty quickly, I just slept and watched some movies.

After a 8 hour flight we finally arrived at Newark airport, New Jersey. We had to take the Airtrain to Pennstation, and then the subway to Soho. Our hotel is very nice, a big room with great beds. Also the breakfast is amazing! Fresh waffles, muffins, bagels you name it! And the location is great, somewhere near Chinatown and Little Italy.

When we arrived we wandered around Chinatown and grabbed something to eat. Afterwards we hopped on the subway to get on a ferry to long island. Since the weather was so hot, it was nice to have a sea breeze. On the ferry you had a great view of Manhattan and the Brooklyn bridge. Brooklyn was very nice! I loved the cute houses with the little stairs, and they have a great view over Manhattan.

The next couple of days we did a lot of sightseeing and touristy stuff. We've been to Wall's street, Freedom tower, Times Square, Brooklyn Bride. Times Square was so impressive! It has a giant Forever 21 where I'm dying to shop, but since it was allready midnight we decided to come back later this week.

Yesterday we went to midtown, Where Macy's is located. A huge department store where you can get everything from brand clothes to bedsheets. I don't really care for labels, but luckily there was a big sale. I saw a cute dress, which got discounted 50%, so now the price would be $20. And on top of that we got a 10% discount for having a visitors pass!

After Macy's we walked around to see the Empire state building, which we couldn't get a good look at since it was so high. We also saw the Chryslier building and the Grand central Terminal, a huge station with a lovely design. Afterward we went to the Public Library where they held an exposition with pictures and old books. It's a really nice place!

We walked down 5th avenue, a street with all the really expensive designer labels. The stores where humongus! We went to Tifanny's and a few other stores where I felt really out of place. After our elite adventure we took the subway to Little Korea and had a lovely meal! I love the restaurants here in New york, so many choices.

Well there's still a lot to see and do, monday is the 4th of July so there'll be fireworks! Next time I'll post some more pictures.

(My current addiction is making cheesy panorama's!)

Short animation

2011-06-23T14:46:00.001-07:00

Finally vacation has started! Today I finished up the last bits for school. I'm so relieved to finally have everything done. I also uploaded my animation, so here it is!

Vimeo kinda ruined the quality, which it never does! On my computer everything looks fine. Oh well I'm tired of looking at it anyway.

I also got a new layout for this blog, still needs a little fixing. Next week I'll be in a plane to New York! I can't believe everything is going so fast, I'm getting excited!

Oh and some songs, sorry it's Pogo again. I love his latest remix!

End year assesment

2011-06-14T10:37:00.000-07:00

Today was my end year assessment, I was nervous as hell! I've been working my ass off past weeks, my animation was finally finished but I still had to do a lot of other projecs. I didn't succeed in finishing all of them, but to my suprise most of them where done. The presentation itself went allright. I did get some critique that I have to work on, but I got green light so that means I passed this year =) Next week I have to resit some subjects to get enough studycredits. But I'm relieved I survived this year! Sure was a lot of stress and sleepless nights near the end but it was worth it!
Can't wait for Summer vacation! I'll post my animation soon, still want to change some little things =) Keep an eye out!

I've been in a Pogo haze this entire week! Really helped me to concentrate on my work.

LOVE this song! So addicting, It's been on repeat nonstop.

Go Out And Love Someone by robbiewu

HundredAcreFlurry - Pogomix by Freethink3r

Work in process

2011-06-01T16:16:00.000-07:00

Still very busy with animating and coloring! I really hope to finish later this week (I have to otherwise I'll never have enough time to finish other assignments) I'm getting a little stressed out and I'm sick of looking at the same frames day after day!

Also loving this song!

TVpaint animation

2011-05-29T03:12:00.000-07:00

I feel like blogging lately! Maybe I feel like doing anything that keeps me from doing homework. Well anyway, I have some big news =) I'll be going to New York on the 28th of June, and come back on the 14th of july. I can hardy wait! It's hard to concentrate on my work.

Well to make this post worthwhile I'll post the TVPaint assignment we had to make this semester.

And some songs I love at the moment:

The Weepies - All This Beauty by nettwerkmusicgroup

Houdini by Foster The People

Elkini

2011-05-25T10:15:00.000-07:00

Sorry I've been neglecting my blog and pretty much everything else in my life! School has been so busy this last semester. We had to produce an animation of roughly 1 minute, which gave me tons of work! I really wanted to put all my skills into this. I tried my hardest to make believeable backgrounds (which gave me a really hard time, payback for never bother to include backgrounds in my drawings) as well as the characters expressions. I really need to focus on studying these things more.

Well I still haven't finished with my animation yet (the deadline allready passed though) I have 2 weeks to complete it, allong with many many other things. I really hope I'll make it! maybe I had too high expectations of myself.

Oh also please check out Elkini! It's this small t-shirt company me and friends set up. You can buy our shirts over here: Elkini We'll try to make some new designs soon so keep an eye out!
Also remember to check out our Facebookpage and like it!

anyway enjoy these awesome tunes and next time I hope to post some of the animations I made these last months =)

This video is AMAZING! so many geeky references <3

Pose to pose animation

2011-04-03T02:37:00.001-07:00

Last semester we had to make a pose to pose animation. It really looks simple, but we had to pay close attention to all the animation principles involved. Anticipation, follow through ect. I had to adjust her movements a few times.

Spring

2011-04-02T03:05:00.001-07:00

Spring is here! My favorite season, the weather is soo nice <3 Last semester of school just started, we have to produce 1 minute of free work animation. It will be a lot of work, but I'm also kind of excited! Rapunzel came out on DVD this week, and my mom brought it for me since she got discount. I loved the movie, rapunzel is such a cheerful character. So I did a little fanart of the movie =)

Check it out on deviantart.

I wish I could work faster in Photoshop. I'm gonna try to make lots of quick sketches to level up my workingspeed! I also need to practice backgrounds a lot more.

Well thats it for today, I'll upload some more animations soon!

Youtube account

2011-03-11T05:14:00.000-08:00

I uploaded some schoolwork on a new youtube account you can find here: Nilitv

Also, my heart goes out to the people in Japan after the tragedy that happened today, stay strong!

Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective

2011-03-09T07:37:00.000-08:00

I don't actually have a lot to talk about, except for this game I've been playing! It's called Ghost trick for the Nintendo DS and its AWESOME! I've been playing it for the past days, and already finished it (I'm playing through it for the second time)

It's a game brought to you by the creators of the Ace Attorney series, so it has a few similarities. It's a point and click game where the main character dies at the very beginning. You'll turn into a spirit who has the power to possess inanimate objects. You can also communicate with the spirits of corpses and travel back in time to save them.
The animation of the characters look great! The characters are unique and fun in their own ways, and the music really helps setting the mood. The storyline is also well done, I never knew what was going to happen next and it has many plot twists!

I would be sad if this game didn't get a sequel! (Maybe with a different cast of characters) The only downside is that it's a little on the short side, but maybe thats because I couldn't put my DS down.

enjoy the trailer!

Later this month it's time for Okamiden! <3

Morph animation

2011-01-25T05:12:00.000-08:00

Hey guys! My Midyear Assessment went really well! They wanted me to keep going the way I am now. Their only point of critique they had was that my sketches and work looked a little too smooth. They would like to see me loosen up and make it more sketchy.

Overall I'm happy that it went well. Now it's time to relax for a little while.

Sound effects

2011-01-23T00:43:00.000-08:00

Made for an assignment at the HKU. A short animation with sound effects.

Lipsync & TVpaint animation

2011-01-09T14:27:00.001-08:00

I'll post some animations that kept me from having a social life!

First a lipsync which was a pain in the ass! I'll never do a lipsync on paper again.

And second an assignment that included a black cube for tvpaint!

Paper craft

2011-01-09T14:13:00.000-08:00

Happy new year y'all!
I'm not going to promise I'll blog more often this year cause I know I won't! (maybe I will)

Maybe old news but I tried google-ing paper art as inspiration, and found these lovely creations! I thought it was a pretty neat, but I'm sure I'm not crafty enough to pull this off. Would be a cool idea for an animation though!

Which also reminded me of this:

Going West from Jo . on Vimeo.

School

2010-11-23T13:47:00.000-08:00

Ahh it's been such a long time since I posted something, I've been busy with school. So far I really enjoy it! I did good on the first semester, but things will get tougher from here on!

This time we have to make a lipsync, which is really harder then it looks! I'm having a hard time working on it. I made a sketchblog to show my proces on school and sketching, I'll post an URL soon (I can't get the comment section to work :V)

Rome!

2010-09-18T16:47:00.000-07:00

A late update on my trip to Rome. The city was gorgeous, I've never seen so much art and history together at one place. Very inspiring! I'll hope to come back in the future.

We visited the many tourist spots like the Colloseum, Pantheon, Roman forum, Trevi fontain and many many churches. We where there at the right time cause it was sale everywhere! Rome had gorgeous stores, expensive and cheap ones. Also the food was delicious! Gotta love Italy. Most meals where very cheap too, under 10 euros. But you had to watch out with what you had for drinks (some places charged 6 euro for a cappuccino). I also had as much icecream as I could eat, best icecream ever!!!

Well I'll let some pictures tell the story, enjoy!

Mmmhhh =)

Morning coffee

2010-08-09T06:50:00.000-07:00

A test to practice lighting. The background is pretty bad, I really need to practice environments.

Close up because I love freckles!

I'll make an update about my trip to Rome soon!

Inspiring

2010-07-20T03:07:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to share this. Don't know if it's the epic music, but this mans words really got me inspired and thinking!

Oh I'll be going to Rome for a week, just to get out there. I'm very excited to get to see such a beautiful city. I'll post some stories and pictures about it!

Accepted!

2010-06-28T03:31:00.000-07:00

I just got an email with the news that I got accepted to the HKU!!! Finally after 3 weeks of waiting hell. I'm soo happy!! Well meanwhile I'm still going to school in Genk, it will be weird to quit there. And I really loved my room, it was close to school and very big! I don't think I'll get that lucky again. I should be looking for a place near Utrecht now, but first I'll enjoy just being home.

In other news, I brought a Macbook pro last week. I know what you're thinking! I can't believe it myself either. It was 200 euro cheaper then normally. Originally I wanted to buy a laptop, because it was waaaay cheaper. But I finally decided to give Mac a try and see if it's as great as everyone claims it to be. Also It's way more compact so It'll will be easier to bring it to school.
I haven't done a lot on it yet, just installed Adobe cs5. I'm still a little bit scared to break it haha. And I have to get used to the operating system.

Oh by the way, went and saw Toy story 3 in Imax the other day. I have to tell you, it was AWESOME!! It was the perfect ending for the triology. The movie was tense and emotional! I got teary eyed at the ending. Guess because I grew up with these characters. Way to go Pixar, making me cry over toys!

So to make this post a little bit less boring, here's a new song by Pogo. Gotta love that guy!

Character design

2010-06-12T08:20:00.001-07:00

Soooo a week ago I had my entrance exam for HKU animation (yes again, not giving up that easily!) It was really nervewrecking, I was sick to my stomach. Before the big day I haven't been sleeping at all, trying to finish the assignments. Which where luckily finished. I had a lot more to show then last year.

The day itself wasn't all that bad, luckily there where a bunch of people I knew, so we could be nervous together. I stalled my stuff out in the classroom and saw people with good portfolios around me, so it got me doubting about mine. We gamed until judgement time, it went exactly as last year. But this year I made it through the first round! I was so happy, a little too tired to express my happyness but still!

I had a conversation with the judges which went pretty well in my opinion. It was a very casual chat, and I could show them some videos. I hope I made a good impression. I'm getting my results within 2 weeks (which is a few days from now)

Anyway, I wanted to show some of the things I made as an excuse to update my blog! For the character assignment I designed an Indian circus girl who travels around the world. I tried to do it with a Disney influenced style, which was new for me! Here's what came out.

Deco-den

2010-04-06T08:18:00.000-07:00

Was bored during easther, so finally decided to make my phone more unique (everyone seems to have the same phone). Didn't want to randomly put crap on it, so I did something simple. I think it's pretty =) Need to buy pretty straps!

Raining feathers

2010-04-05T02:35:00.000-07:00

Saturday there was a pillowfight planned in cities all over the world, including Amsterdam. So Kiet, Elke and me decided to check it out!

The weather was really bad, we killed some time walking around and shopping. Brought aqua-blue pumps, I totally love them! Can't wait for summer to come.

Rain continued to fall, almost the entire day =( We where afraid the pillowfight would be cancelled, but we decided to take a look anyway. We saw a few people carrying around pillows, so we brought 2 pillows at the Blokker for a cheap price 8D

When we came back The Dam was full of people with pillows! So we joined them and waited for it to start. It was fun! Slapping random people with pillows.

People where really into it and after 15 minutes the fight was still going on with no end in sight. We planned to go to the cinema that evening so we abandoned the battleground and continued our journey to the Tuschinski!
Tuschinski is a cinema in Amsterdam where most premieres take place, the inside looks very fancy. We always dreamed of visiting the big hall.

That evening How to train your dragon was showing. We brought our tickets and enjoyed the movie. The movie was much better then I expected! And the hall was gorgeous <3

Samsung ☆

2010-01-17T08:25:00.000-08:00

Quick update!
First week of exams is finished, only one more week to go! I'm guessing I did well on some test, while other tests where quite tricky. Upcoming exams will be the hardest, so much dates and names I need to remember! I hope I'll do fine but there's still much to do.. I'm glad when this is over.

This week my cellphone contract ended do I had to upgrade it. With a new phone! The Samsung star. I love the phone! The touchscreen cooperates really quick and smooth. The flat back is great for decorating! I'm dying to start deco-ing, but first I have one more week of hard working to go.

Wish me luck!

(without the pink ribbon)

Happy new year!

2010-01-02T03:30:00.000-08:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!

sorry for the lack of updating, December has been one hectic month. First christmas with my parents separated, which was kind of strange. I had lots of dvd's for christmas! And a printer/scanner, which I really needed for school stuff. My dad gave me an MP4 player, a creative zen x-fi2! For the first time I can hear how great the quality of my headphones actually are! Videos are really sharp too. <3

We've been to a 70's/80's/90's party on christmas eve, which was really fun! On christmas I've been such a lazy bum, just watching movies, drinking tea and playing on my DS (new zelda = great!) <3

This year we celebrated New year's in Oss! With the same people as last year + some new people =D A great evening playing cards, jenga, rummikub and Wii! We went to our beds around 5 A.M.

Now I have a week off from school to study for exams, which are really stressing me out. I'm so bad at studying and remembering important dates and names. I hope everything will turn out to be allright =(

I'll try to update more often this year! (I do say that every year)

Great things that happened in 2009:

- Graduated from school!
- Been to Japan.
- Started a new education.
- Living on my own.
- Kicked 2008 far behind me!

2010 is gonna be great =D

Kick ass kicks!

2009-10-22T09:16:00.000-07:00

Currently having my autumn break! So no excuses for the lack of updating D=

A few weeks ago I went to Amsterdam to shop for winter clothing. I brought a great classy coat at H&M, a book for school, white boots and!! Awesome Tokidoki x Onitsuka shoes. We went to the 9 streets and I allready saw them in the shopping window. I loved them so much so I decided to spoil myself.

This break has been lazy, I brought some new things for my place. (Ikea rocks) And also a book festival was this week, brought some cheap books! Love this time of the year =)

Next time more exciting things!

New life

2009-09-27T07:11:00.000-07:00

I survived the first week of school! It was a good start, but pretty exhausting. We had to make long days (08:30 - 17:30) and listen to a lot of information at once. Most of the classes are 4 hours long, I noticed myself dozing off a few times. 4 Hours information is just too much for me D= I hope to get used to it fast!

Well last time I posted I didn't had a room yet and had to travel for 6 hours a day, but this time it's different! Tuesday I got a message about a lady who still rents rooms in Genk. So I called her and made an appointment for later that day. After school I visited the place. She had a nice house and the room itself was pretty big! The neighborhood also had very expensive looking houses D= I immediatly agreed to take the room. It's only 5 minutes away from school! So no more getting up at 5 A.M.

Some while ago I ordered extensions in my own hair color, and this week they finally arrived! They're 24 inch long dark brown extensions. I didn't want to dye my hair because it's allready damaged! Thats why I ordered dark brown. I love them! Still have to figure out how to make nice loose curls.

Tokyo gameshow!

2009-09-27T05:33:00.000-07:00

I'm happy to be a owner of a nintendo DS! I saw some Tokyo gameshow news and there are so many games on the DS I'm looking foward to!
Ofcourse there's Zelda: Spirit tracks, Golden Sun, Kingdom hearts (whichs releases on 29 september in the US!), and the rest of the Professor Layton series. But also Ninokuni and a new Okami game for the DS! I'm very impressed by the graphics.

Ninokuni: The Another World

Okamiden

Oh and I'm busy playing Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box (2nd game)and I allready love it even more then the first game! Very (many!) lovely cutscenes and fun puzzles.

Klik!

2009-09-20T10:23:00.001-07:00

Yesterday Kiet and me went to Amsterdam to attend the animation festival called: Klik! It's a happening where you can watch animations from all over the world made by students, proffesionals and small studio's. The event was at 3 places all over Amsterdam, not very close to eachother.

First we went to cafe Kriketon where we brought our tickets. But there wasn't much going on there, apparently we needed to be at het Leidse Plein. After about a 15 minutes walk we arrived at De balie where it was held. On our way we saw some guys on a scooter trying to rob someone's bag, that was really scary because we walked only 2 meters behind him. Luckily he wasn't able to steal the bag, but the poor guy fell on the ground leaving a big scratch. A lady from the hotel came out to help him. I never actually saw that happening in Amsterdam so it was a bit shocking!

At De Balie we reserved seats for the movies we wanted to see. We had American pancakes to eat, but it wasn't like the pancake tower you see in the movies D= But still delicous!

We watched a few movies, 2 stopmotion projects and a sort of stick-figure movie with a comedy/emotional touch. I like all three, some where really crazy XD I don't get how people come up with stuff like that.

After about half an hour a presentation for the movie: Brendan and the secret of Kells would start. The director of the movie held the presentation and showed many sketched/concept art of the movie. It was amazing and inspiring to see all the work that went into the movie. They started with the idea of making this movie in 1999. After the presentation I got all excited and couldn't wait to see this movie!

45 minutes after the presentation the movie Brendan and the secret of Kells would be displayed. We headed outside and it seemed like there was going to be a concert that night. There was music and crazy people dancing!
After a while we headed back, the movie was about to start. To describe the movie: it was stunning! I loved the animation, very stylish and fluid. Allthough the artstyle looks clean and simple there's a lot of eye for details and lovely patterns! A real lust for the eye. The story, voices and music where well done too.

So go see it! It's worth every second of your time! Enjoy the trailer while you're at it.

Back 2 school

2009-09-20T07:43:00.001-07:00

Reviving Blog! It's been a month, after a few attemps to write anything down I'm finally picking up my life.

After almost 4 months of vacation tomorrow I'll be finally going to school! I'm glad to step out of this lazy lifestyle I've been having past months. On the other hand there's still have many loose ends and I'm still unprepared for school. I haven't found a room yet, and traveling takes up so much time! (6 hours a day) When class start at 8:30 I can't make them in time. So maybe I was too quick to decide. It woud have been better if I had my driving license, a labtop and a nice room near school. But I guess these pieces will fall into place eventually.

I found a room in a very small town somewhere around Genk. I'm planning to stay there until I find something better. So this week there's still lots of stuff to take care off. I'm not sure what happens next, it's all pretty exciting for me.

The school itself seems really nice, there's even a cinema in front of it! The classes are interesting and I can't wait to pick up my sketchbook and start practicing.

I'll keep you informed!

You are beautiful!

2009-08-11T17:14:00.000-07:00

Ok back to random messages to brighten up my lazy days. I'm totally doing nothing but gaming, watching movies and just lying down past days. I also downloaded Left 4 dead so I'm playing that often, allthough playing it before bed give me zombie nightmares D= Time to get active! I gotta try that DDR weightloss experiment..

Today I stumbled uppon a feel good blog and I couldn't stop smiling! I love the message behind it, and that so many people are doing it!

I'm off writing something insanely positive on my mirror! Spread the love, see you next time.

Pictures

2009-08-04T01:29:00.001-07:00

It's been a while since I last updated! I've uploaded the pictures I made in Japan on Pacasa, which was much faster then Photobucket. Check them out! I'm totally missing Japan, being back to my ordinary life is so boring =')

Right now I'm looking for a room in Maastricht because I'm gonna study in Genk next year. Still loads of things to take care of!

I also promised to take a picture of some of the things I brought in Japan, so here's a few.

Day twenty two: Last day

2009-07-24T00:02:00.000-07:00

Today was going to be our last day in Tokyo, so we went to akihabara to get some last minute things. But we couldn't find them anymore! Too bad.
Afterwards we went to Harajuku and got some small stuff. I'm really gonna miss Harajuku. Everything they had there was so awesome, and cheap. Now I'll have to hunt down internet to order something D: We had our favorite icecream crepes for the last time.

I also wanted to have a final search for the Bape store, but we couldn't find that either! (SUCKS xD) No matter I couldn't afford shoes anyway.

We ate sushi that night, It was delicious <3

We got back at our hotel early so we could pack our suitcases.

The day after we had to get to Narita airport, everything went well with the train. I can't believe what easy and stong system they have! The flight was okay, just watched movies, played on my DS, and slept for a bit.

Now I'm home again being bored! I'm certainly gonna miss Japan.. but I'm gonna keep myself busy these months! :D

Day twenty one: Disneyland!

2009-07-23T07:49:00.000-07:00

Today we went to Disneyland Tokyo! Soo exciting!! We took our train and suddenly two ladies started talking to us. Apperantly they came from the philippines. One lady kept on making pictures of me, which was kinda ackward. Then she asked me to take a picture with her, afterwards her mother. I think their entire family was in the train haha. We got out at the same station, looked like they where going to Disney Sea. I was a bit relieved that they didn't go to Disneyland.

The entrance of the park was awesome! It's the same as in California I think. We went inside and all Disney characters where standing there. But crazy long rows with kids and adults who wanted to take a picture with their favorite characters. Japanese people are so patient, we've seen rows in front of donut stores, icecreamstores you name it! Cinderella's castle was a bit more of a realistic version, but dead gorgeous!

We went into a few atractions you could just walk in, the waiting time for the Space Mountain wasn't so long either. I still wanted to go in a new atraction from Monster INC, but the waiting time was 2 hours and 10 minutes D: So we wanted to come back later.

We saw a show with disney characters dancing and singing, it was performed really well! The actresses where really awesome. I really enjoyed the show.

Afterwards it started raining a bit so we went inside the Splash Mountain (I don't get that logic.) We had to wait a long time, but at least we didn't get wet of the rain. The attraction was really fun! The dolls they have here in the attractions look really well made and move pretty realistic.
We also went to Its a small world, ofcourse! I don't know if the dolls playbacked in Paris but here they did. But yes, I could see the ceiling and wires XD.

We had a safari trip with a boat which was cool! The guide was so enthusiastic and funny, people really enjoyed it. Meanwhile it was getting dark. There was going to be a Monster INC. show in front of the castle so we watched it from a distance. It was friggin awesome! With water and fire and great performers! And oh my god Disney Eurobeat!!

When the show was finished it would last an half hour until the parade would begin. Many people where allready camping with picknick cloths and food. We found a tiny spot somewhere and waited until the parade started. While the parade started everyone remained seated on their picknick cloth, which was great because you could see everything really well! The parade was beautifull! Many many gorgeous lights and awesome carts, totally different from Paris. It was impossible to take pictures with my camera.

Afterwards we hurried back to the Monster INC. attraction, but many people where still standing there. But we waited in line anyways, for about 1,5 hours. The wait was so boring, but the ride was incredibly cute!!

Day twenty: Ghibli museum

2009-07-22T18:51:00.000-07:00

We visited the Ghibli museum today, we where lucky enough to get the tickets. We took our train to Mitaka. Nice typo guys! =D

We hopped on the Ghibli bus and arrived at the museum. We where one hour early so we walked around in the park. At 11.30 we where allowed to go in, greeted by a big Totoro!

We recieved a little filmstrip as a ticket and went inside. The inside looked gorgeous! I wasn't allowed to take pictures so I can't really describe it. There was stained glass with characters from Ghibli movies on them, very pretty! When you looked up you could see the other floors, connected by stairs (a bit Harry potter like). First we walked with tiny stairs all the way to the top. On the top floor there was a big fluffy Catbus where childeren could play on. Too bad it was kids only ; -;.
We went to the roofgarden with the big robot from Laputa. The entire terrace was build in the style of Laputa, the big stone with text was also there.

The museum was full of easther eggs. We went inside where they had an exposition of the new movie Ponyo on the Cliff by the sea. They had a thousands of sketches displayed, really impressive to see! You could quickly flip through the sketches which would make an animation. They also showed all the paperwork they used on the movie, which where 2000.000. There where big Ponyo statues standing there. It was all very inspiring! I really want to see that movie when I come back XD.

Afterwards you could have a peek in Miyazaki's mind. They had a few rooms modelled after his own room I think. Many books and research material, on the walls they displayed concept artwork and many rough sketches. It was awesome and inspiring! I really should work harder!!

We also saw a little adorable movie they showed only in the museum. It was only in Japanese but simple enough to understand. I brought a cute Totoro at the souvenir shop and got a cute Ponyo in a bubble from my mom as a gift.

We walked back to the station, on our way we brought some strawberry pie we could eat back in our hotel. Back home we watched some crappy horror movie while eating pie. (nice combo!) It tasted so good D:

Day nineteen: Yokohama

2009-07-21T08:11:00.000-07:00

We planned to visit Yokohama, but rain was pouring out! So when we arrived we brought a umbrella for a few bucks, we really needed it this day! Yokohama is a place with a more European and American buildings, so the city felt a little ackward. There was an amusement park in the middle of the harbor.

Afterwards we saw the red warehouses. They build little shops inside of it, but the interior of the walls and ceiling where still the same.

We also visited chinatown, said to be the biggest one in Japan. It was the nicest chinatown I've seen so far, it was filled with shrines, shops and restaurants. We walked through the streets in the rain, which gave it even more of a China feeling haha. Every street had their own big port.

We went back to the harbor and looked through the departmentstore over there. They had nice little shops inside, upstairs there was a big cinema. There was also a floor with restaurants so we wanted to have dinner there. We found a mexican place with a gorgeous view, so the choice was quickly made. I had a pizza with shrimps and mayonaise (wtf! XD) The ferriswheel lighted up beautifully at night, I think we've seen it from Tokyo Tower. Crappy picture go!

Day eightteen: Shinjuku

2009-07-20T08:08:00.000-07:00

Today we went to look into Shinjuku again, because we didn't really spend much time there O: We visited the Southern Terrace, with much expensive warehouses. My mother wanted to look inside, so we did. I didn't really felt at place there haha, the prices where scaring me.

After that we went to Isitan, another expensive warehouse D: They had many floors, and one floor with food! The dishes you could buy looked delicious, this pie looks to pretty to eat ; -; it has friggin pearls! I'd eat it anyway because I'm pretty hungry right now.

We went to visit the art galleries, they had exhibitions of two artists. One made really cool statues, they looked adorable! One was a landscape painter, with European cities. I couldn't take pictures inside.

After that we went to a store with a bit more affordable items. The OIOI, a big shop with many other labels stores inside. And they had sale! I found a cute shirt for half the price. On the upper floors they had many Lolita brands, the interior of some stores looked friggin awesome!

We had a sallad with rice and shrimps for dinner. Afterwards we enjoyed Shinjuku's nightview and walked toward home.

Day seventeen: Sunday

2009-07-19T17:31:00.000-07:00

Today it's sunday again, so we visited Yoyogi for the last time. First we went to the Meji shrine. When we got there it seemed like a traditional wedding was going on!

After that we walked to Yoyogi park, the Rockabillies where dancing their hearts out once again. I wonder what they do during the weekdays. They might be decent office men!
We saw a fleemarket on the other side of the street so we wanted to check it out. There was also a DJ playing tracks. I took a quick look around, but there wasn't really anything I could use.

Afterwards we walked to Shibuya. We visited Parco, a fancy warehouse with too many expensive labels. One day I'm totally buying Vivienne westwood jewellery!
Afterwards we took a quick peek at the pretty disney store. They had so much goods, statues from Disney movies where decorating the store. We brought 2 tickets for Disneyland as well, so exciting!! We'll be going on coming thursday.

We walked to the crossing and drank some Starbucks there. We still wanted to see Hachi so we asked some kids over there. Their teacher told us which way we should go. (Huh their teacher treats them on Starbucks?!)
We walked to the direction he pointed out and we finally found the dog! He's small, even smaller then I thought XD (and I think we walked past him about 10 times).
There was also this guy with tamborine singing and dancing, geez just look at his awesome socks!

Afterwards we went to Mandarake, a whatever-your-heart-desires store. They had all kinds of stuff, and pretty cheap as well! I brought two artbooks for a great price and a gift. I could spend all day in that shop. We went to eat Spagetthi afterwards, as there are many italian restaurants in Tokyo. As a dessert we went to eat the delicious crepes at Harajuku.

Day sixteen: Hanabi

2009-07-18T18:39:00.000-07:00

Today we didn't do much, we had to go back to Tokyo with the Shinkansen. We packed our suitcases and left the hotel. During the ride I just had a wonderful nap.

In the evening we planned to visit a fireworks show in Tokyo. We found out how to get there by train and grabbed something to eat in Shinjuku. The trainride was much longer then I expected so we arrived a little late. ; -;

In a hurry we walked to Tamagawa river, already seeing fireworks lighting the sky. We arrived at the river and watched. It was soooo beautiful! I can't describe what I saw. Thousands of beautiful sparkles filled over the sky. People sat down on the ground and enjoyed the great spectacle. It was one of the prettiest things I ever saw! If you're going to Japan be sure to visit one!

Day fifteen: Matsuri

2009-07-17T08:29:00.000-07:00

We went up early to see the Matsuri parade. They just started when we arrived so we found a place to watch. The entire thing was pretty impressive to see! Every round there was a person giving a token to the same important guy, after that people walked and pulled the big carts. The ceremony took 1,5 hours to take place.

Afterwards we walked to Gion, a place where many Geisha's can be found. We took our route through the foodmarket, a very busy street where you can taste all kinds of stuff.

Gion was a really lovely district! The small streets where very inspiring, too bad we didn't spot a Geisha. The hunt itself was fun, kinda like searching for rare Pokemon.

After that I went to the barber to get a haircut, I recieved a folder for 50% off. She cutted it really nice! Too bad it only lasted for 5 minutes because when I came outside it rained ; -;

We had the most delicious dinner ever, for the most cheap price ever! (It was soo good, and so much! <3) Afterwards we went back to Gion for the Geisha's, still no luck! But the streets where nice and crowded in the evening. We walked by the riverbank where many people just sitting, relaxing and having a good time.

We walked back, some of the festival was still going on, so we had trouble to cross the street. We came by this friggin awesome motorbikes! I love the lights.

Day fourteen: Birthday

2009-07-16T07:35:00.000-07:00

Today I turned 20!!! Bohoo I'm an adult now T__T It sucks!
We didn't really planned to do anything special today. We still wanted to walk the Torii path in Inari, so we did that today because we're allready leaving Kyoto soon. The path was 4 km long, we did the entire route!

The path was beautiful, there was a great forest around it. Everything felt peaceful and zen! Between the Torri paths where shrines with many fox statues, symbolizing the messenger for the god Inari. After we arrived halfway up we took a little break. The atmosphere was so nice, I could just sit there all day napping.

After a while an old man started to talk to us, we had a long conversation about his company and his grandchilderen haha =D (it was pretty random). We gave us his buisness card, and we where just lame that we didn't have one.

He took another way and wished us goodye. So we went back to our plan to climb the top. But after a while it started raining so we took shelter for a while. And suddenly the old man passed again haha. So we walked with him to the top where he treated us to a drink. We talked about random crap, as it was fate that we met that day! He also teached us something about the temple. We started to climb down again. We met this cute gato on the way, so a picture for Elwin =D

Downstairs he wanted to take pictures with us on his mobile cellphone haha XD So we did the man a favor and said goodbye. We went back to town where we would choose a place to eat. We choosed a restaurant from the lonely Planet but we couldn't find it, and the streets where so crowded with people and foodstands. So instead we just walked in a random restaurant. The atmosphere was really nice, and the food was good!

Day thirteen: Last teen night

2009-07-15T06:58:00.000-07:00

I've been out there for a few days, have to keep up! Today we planned to take it easy. We walked to the Imperial Palace of Kyoto, passing a group of girls dressed up nicely in Yukata's for the Matsuri festival.

We walked down the road and noticed a plaza with a podium, bands where rehearsing there. The artist performing sounded pretty awesome! Apparently there was going to be a liveshow that evening, so we added that to our program.

We watched the band performing for a while and went on with our trip to the palace. The palace was a bit of a dissapointment, you had to recieve permission beforehand to enter the palace. The gardens around weren't really that interesting. There was a sportpark where people played tennis and honkball.

After a big walk around the palace we went back to the town. We had some lunch and went back to where the concert was taking place. There where allready people, but we managed to get 2 seats on a nice place. After a while the performances started, the names of the bands didn't ring a bell but they where all pretty good! A girl who performed just had het major debut, and now I hear her song everywhere =D Another band that rocked was Chicago Poodle! They where the last band to perform and the crowd went wild! There where a lot of girls screaming and singing. They where really good =) Sorry for crappy filming, I wasn't sure if it was allowed. You can see the PV for this song here.

I really loved this song!

After the concert we wanted to check out the centrum, because the Matsuri festival had actually started! There where girls in Yukata everywhere you could see. On the streets where thousands of foodstands with all kinds of delicious snacks. We snacked together our dinner for that evening and experienced delicious Japanese snacks! The atmosphere was really nice, so many people on the streets! The road was blocked for the main trafic. It was a perfect night to close my teen years =D

Day twelve: Nara.

2009-07-14T08:00:00.000-07:00

Today we went to Nara, a very nice place near Kyoto. It was the capital of Japan before Kyoto. We went with the train and it took about 45 minutes. The train was a bit delayed, which was for the first time since I arrived in Japan!

We ate something at Mr Donuts, a very well known place to grab ur snacks! We took 2 donuts and a cold coffee, since everyone was drinking it over here. We figured out what route we should walk and passed through a shopping street. The street slowly turned into a nice park. We saw our first deer standing next to the road. Nara is well known for deer walking into the wild. There are 1160 of them in Nara. They're very good friends with us humans so they'll come close and follow you around. But don't be fooled by those cute Bambi eyes, or they'll snatch that sandwich you've been keeping in your pocket!

The deer are sacred here, so they're taken very good care of by the people of Nara. Everywhere next to the road are warnings for passing deers, and when there's one on the road, cars just wait or drive around him.

So cute!!

We continued our route and passed by a red-looking shrine. You had to pay to enter it, so we skipped it. There where so many lanterns around it, must be a beautiful sight when they're lit. We where practicly walking through the woods, there was no sign of the city anywhere.

We took so many breaks because it was so hot, I felt like I could faint any time. Lucky for us you can buy drinks everywhere. While we sat down this cute deer joined us and relaxed in the shadows. He also walked in the souvenir store behind to get petted by the owner.

Afterwards we saw a few more shrines and temples. We where just in time to visit the Todaiji, a temple with a huge Buddha inside! We rushed through the temple taking pictures, we where the last visitors so they closed the doors when we left. Taking pictures inside was a pain in the ass.

Afterwards we walked back to the station, being distracted by many deers! They're so much fun, I couldn't get enough of them =D We had our dinner at Mosburger, it doesn't sound delicious at all haha. Its some kind of Japanese Mcdonalds, our first fastfood since we arrived! It tasted pretty good.

Day eleven: Kyoto sightseeing

2009-07-13T08:16:00.000-07:00

Today we planned to sightsee around Kyoto, so we walked down the street with the cute lanterns again. They where allready making preperations for the Matsuri festival parade (I think it will be on the 17th).

We first came by the Chion temple, where some high school kids asked us some questions again. I had to write my thoughts about Japan on some paper and leave my address so they would send us a postcard haha. Their teacher took a picture with us together. After that we went upstairs to see the temple. The sun was burning hot today as well. We took of our shoes and went inside the temple. The inside was gorgeous! (too bad I couldn't make pictures).

After that we walked though some very nice streets, with traditional houses. Kyoto has a very peaceful feel about it, much different from Tokyo. It has much mountains and the roads go up and down, which leaves to awesome looking alley's.

We went to see some more shrines, Kyoto has tons of them. I don't even remember all the names of the ones I saw, but they where gorgeous haha. After the big temple we walked to some nice streets called Sannen Zaka, wooden houses with many souvenirs. We took a break at a nice restaurant with very nice classic music playing, it also had a beautiful view. I enjoyed my ice cold cola and we continued our climb up. I also noticed these tanuki statues with huge balls around Kyoto, some where kinda cute but most of them where very ugly fellows XD

We arrived upstairs where we passed through a red gate. There where much shrines and temples there. One was the Kiyomizu dera, a big temple with a wooden terrace. You had a great view of a little part of the town and much forest. They also said you could see a waterfall, but it appeared to be just a small pipe with water falling out! D:

Behind the temple where the love stones. If someone with their eyes closed could walk from one stone to the other their wish would be granted. There was a girl who wandered of the wrong way for about 4 times, but she kept trying! (I don't know if that counts haha). Ofcourse we tried as well! I took big steps, but after a while I was scared to trip over the stone XD So I carefully moved forward (I must have looked like an idiot!) But I touched it, without tripping! My mom touched it as well haha.

Downstairs we drank some water to ensure ourselfs a healthy life. Much positive things today!

We walked our way back to the hotel, because big thunder clouds where showing up. We had a drink at the hotel and ate some rice with chicken. Much culture today! Kyoto is awesome.

Day ten: Welcome to Kyoto!

2009-07-12T08:12:00.000-07:00

Today we had to get up early to check out, so we put our last things in our suitcase, and I watched random Japanese tv (commercials are hilarious!). My suitcase was too full so it couldn't close D: I had to move a few items in my hand bag XD

We walked through Shinjuku with our suitcases and arrived at the station where our Shinkansen would soon depart. The train was very comfortable and you had a lot of legspace. During the ride I just watched outside and slept a little. Within 2,5 hours we arrived at Kyoto station. It seemed much hotter there then in Tokyo, but that might be just me. We strolled with our suitcases to our hotel, which took about 20 minutes (it seemed much longer in that burning heat!)

The hotel is nice, more luxery but less space then our last hotel. We just took a little break watching tv and drinking tea. After that we went to look around in the area. There was a street with this cute laterns and lots of shops. I looked around for a drugstore because my skin has been really fucked up since I arrived here (itchy and full of red spots, I think it's because of the heat). We couldn't really find one.

Suddenly two girls asked us if they could interview us for their homework. They asked a few questions and then asked if they could take a picture with us. (wtf XD) So we did their favor, and after that we asked if they knew there was a drugstore around. They discussed and thought for a while, after that they said they would lead us the way. (I don't know what it is with people and walking with us to our destination haha, not that I'm complaining). We went inside the store and the girls translated our request to the shop assistant. She called another assistant who sort of looked like he knew what he was talking about XD The girls explained the situation and the good man gave some kind of medication. I just put it on and it's allready working! It looks less red and the itching is gone =D

We thanked the girls for their help and went to see the rest of the street. It was full of all kinds of stores, expensive label brands and cute little stores. But damn the street just wouldn't end! We walked there for quite a while so we went to another part of the area to have something to eat. We found a nice restaurant where we ate rice with beef. OMG best beef I've ever had!! It was sooo good! And the cook was so friendly haha.

We got back at our hotel and watched another Harry Potter movie, this time with japanese dub XD Kyoto was nice! It's not what I expected it to be, but I didn't see anything yet. And their cabs are awesome looking.

Day nine: Ueno

2009-07-11T07:54:00.000-07:00

Today we planned to visit Ueno, a relaxing place with Art galleries, a park with some shrines and a zoo. First I wanted to get tickets for the Ghibli museum, I looked on internet and I allready gave up. It looked almost impossible to get the tickets as a foreigner D: So we went to the tourist information centre to ask if they could help us. The kind lady explained everything to us, we should buy the tickets at a departmentstore.

So we went to the departmentstore with our instructions, but the machine to get the tickets didn't look anything like it was explained to us XD. The conveniencestore lady saw us being confused so she helped us getting the tickets, her English was great! We where able to get the tickets, I was so happy! The tickets where only 1000 yen.

Afterwards we went to Ueno, a completely different part of tokyo. Its very green and peaceful, there was also a lot going on. Alltough it was very nice this part of Tokyo has the most homeless people, so you saw them everywhere. But it's not a big deal because they do nothing but sleep, they don't bother anyone.

We watched some guys practicing baseball while eating Melon bread, so good! It's so nice to sit down and watch these daily fun things. When we where finished I wanted to look how much a ticket for the zoo was, I heared they had a panda so I was all pumped up! The ticket was only 600 yen, so we might wanted to go. I saw a lady from the zoo's staff and asked if they still had the panda. "Noo he died last year!" she said while she took her hands to her eyes and pretended she was crying. "Oh noo thats so sad!!" I said, almost feeling sorry for the lady because she really seemed down about it.

So no panda, but they still had panda's as trademark and merchandise haha. We decided not to go to the zoo and take a look through the park. It was nice, there was a lot to see! Performancers who did magic shows for kids, and this cool balloon guy! He was so amusing, I wanted to stand watching his show for the entire day.

We visited a few pretty shrines and did our prayers. We walked down the road and there was a girl about to perform with her guitar. I stayed to watch her sing, she was pretty good! A girl suddenly spoke to me and gave me a flyer. She introduced herself to me and told me that she was friends with the singing girl since junior high. We talked for a while, which was fun XD She asked me if I liked music, and what kind of. She was seemed so happy that I knew Ayumi Hamasaki XD. (Apparently she was a big fan!) I watched the performance for a bit and said goodbye after a while, when I walked off and looked behind she was still waving at me, so sweet haha.

We walked on a little road with foodstands. At the end was a podium with 3 japanese moms preparing for their performance. We went to see the pond, with turtles and big fishes! It was a pretty sight =D

In the evening we went to Akiba because I wanted to buy a few souvenirs. I succeeded and we went back to Shinjuku where we ate sushi again! XD

Tomorrow we'll be leaving to Kyoto with the Shinkansen Hikari!! I'm so excited and curious what the Shinkansen is like. I hope we'll be able to see Mt. Fuji on our way. I just packed my bags, everything fitted inside ;D See you from Kyoto tomorrow!

Oh and my brother mailed me to say I got accepted for Willem the Kooning in Rotterdam, good news! Now I have to choose between Genk or Rotterdam. But thats something to do for when I get back home.

Day eight: Up and down

2009-07-10T07:16:00.000-07:00

Today was a calm day, my mom wanted to see the rest of Omotesando street. We saw the gorgeous Prada shop, it was so stylish! The inside looked really expensive, a man was standing at the entrance handing out a glass of water to customers.

We walked the rest of the street where I brought a few more souvenirs. We got back to drink something at a cafe. We also browsed through the rest of Harajuku area. We walked so far we almost arrived at Shibuya haha. So we turned around to go back.

I hopped in at Laforet to buy the headphones anyway. (I'm so weak!) I hope they will survive in my luggage D: Oh and if you're wondering, I should indeed watch the weight of my luggage! I wasn't noticing I brought so many crap, until I was packing my suitcase this evening haha. Luckily most stuff isn't that heavy, but magazines are D: Beter take that as hand luggage! (Another 10 kilo <3) Anyway, I'm pretty much done with shopping now! I think! Only a few more souvenirs.

We went back to Shinjuku to get us some dinner, bad plan!! Shinjuku is a busy Buisnessman district, and it was around 7. It was crazy crowded! Every restaurant was full with people. We walked around in circles for a while, finally found an okay place that still had some places. So tonight it was a big bowl of Ramen! They where good too. Nothing better then people sitting next to eachother slurping.

At night we passed by this girl performing, I loved it! Gave me goosebumps.

We got back to the hotel and watched the first Harry Potter movie that was showing on tv, in English ofcourse!

Day seven: Imperial palace & Tokyo tower

2009-07-09T18:26:00.000-07:00

We decided to dig up some culture next to all the shopping. So we decided to visit the Imperial Palace gardens. We got out at the front of Tokyo central station. The guidebook said the station was inspired by Amsterdams station, but I didn't see the resembles.

We walked to the gardens and on our way we saw a cute little park with fontains. It was a great sight between all those huge buildings. We had a little break there and ate our lunch. After sitting down for a while and making pictures we continued our way to the gardens.

The gardens where huge, most of the garden was restored to its original state because it got destroyed in the war. Every thing was really spacey so we walked a lot and sat down every now and then.

After our visit at the gardens we went to go see the Tokyo Internetional Forum, a place where concerts and events take place. When we arrived there was some kind of boring convention thing going on. The architecture of the building was pretty interesting though. We drank some coffee at the restaurant there and decided what to do next. We found out Tokyo Tower (aka Eiffel tower rip off =D) was pretty close so I wanted to visit that.

We had a really long walk to the tower (about 3 miles, everything on maps look so close!) But I didn't mind, there was so much to see on our way. That part of the city was pretty interesting. We came past a Takarazuka theater on our way, a theater where women play all the lead rolls. (they dress up like men, with much make up!) It looked like a show was about to start because there where a bunch of women in front of the building. The Phoenix Wright poster made me smile!

We saw the tower becoming bigger and bigger! The books say its 9 meters bigger then the Eiffel tower, but I wasn't so sure about that. (afterwards it might be true haha) There was a big park and a temple nearby, so we took a quick look over there.

We went to Tokyo tower and brought a ticket for the first floor (150 meters). We took the elavator which was a nice experience, the music got me pumped up! When we arrived there where a lot of little kids running and screaming. But the view was beyond gorgeous! It was almost sunset and we wanted to see the view at night. We wanted to go up to the highest floor, which was another 600 yen, so we grabbed together our last bit of money to buy a ticket (we where totally broke after that, couldn't even afford a train ticket XD)

The elevator went up again, and you could watch the outside view. It just went higher and higher, SO HIGH!! I was getting a little nervous. When we arrived on the top I was happy that we stood behind glass. But the view was even MORE gorgeous up there!! (I recommend the top for everyone XD) I took hunderds of pictures, but most didn't turn out that good D: It was so magical up there, all these tiny little lights, huge buildings. We had a clear view on Rainbow bridge, behind it was a ferris while that was all light up. We also saw planes flying over, everything was so futuristic haha. We staying up for a pretty long time.

After a while we went downstairs, there was a lot to do. We made our wishes on a Tokyo tower shaped Tanabata tree. There was a band about to play, so we stayed a while and watched. After that we went to the ground and I was taking some more pictures while my mother had a chat with some Indian guy. When we left he said something like "Bless you for a thousand years!".

We walked our way back to the nearest station, we had to buy a ticket to another station because we didn't had enough money on us. (I had 5 yen left XD) We got out at Shibuya and found a bank. We didn't had dinner yet so we decided to go back to the place we went before.

Back at our hotel I watched the Korean Project Runway, I never saw something that random XD They had some crazy assignment, and the outfits they made where so funny (someone made a shark costume). I also saw Tokyo Magnitude 8.0. It looked really epic! I'm sure to watch that serie at home =D

Day six: Shinjuku & Tokyo station

2009-07-08T06:49:00.000-07:00

Today we woke up pretty late, I was still soo tired ; -; But on with it. We weren't sure what we should be doing today, we originally wanted to visit Tokyo tower, but the weather was pretty bad. So we checked out Shinjuku first. There where a lot of electronic and fashion stores. We heared there should be a Hello Kitty store around there, so we asked a young girl. She smiled and said she would show us the way because she wanted to go there herself. While we where walking she asked us where we came from. "Holland...Holland..." she was thinking for quite a while, "Tulips?" she suddenly said. "Yes thats right!".

The shop was pretty gorgeous, very pink! They had a huge kitty standing in front of the store. Inside they had all sorts of goods, but most where pretty expensive. I brought a cute shiney strap for my cellphone.

After that we wanted to go to the main station of Tokyo, I still wanted to buy a birthday present for Tare and I knew the perfect place where to get it! We took our train to tokyo, I had a quick nap which was pretty nice haha. Almost everyone in the train is either sleeping or playing with their cellphones/PSP/DS, a few are reading.

We arrived at Tokyo station, it was so huge! We went outside to search for the store, but we couldn't find it. We saw a Starbucks and decided to take a break there. We asked a boy sitting there if he knew where the shop was, he said it was in the station itself. I was suprised that he knew of such a girly store XD.

We walked through the station and they had many stores of famous TV stations/characters. Many Doreamon, Domokun, Ultraman and stuff! Pretty awesome to see haha. A little bit further was our destination: The Rilakkuma store! They had soo many amazing goods!! I found the perfect present voor Tare <3 (I allready spoiled half of the suprise D: )

I brought a few things for myself too. When we where done in the store it was allready pretty late, so we wanted to drop our bags at home and eat something in Shinjuku. We found a nice joint to eat, I had a salad and rice with crab <33

At our way back we passed by this pretty Tanabata tree, make a wish!

Day Five: Laforet & Omotesando

2009-07-07T07:56:00.000-07:00

Today we wanted to visit the expensive shopping district near Harajuku. So we got out at Harajuku station. I visited some shops in Takeshitadori where I still wanted to buy some stuff (so I wasted a lot of time on shopping again T__T) At the end of the street there was a stand who sold Crepes. I saw them several times before and they looked so delicious!! So we decided to take one with icecream, strawberry's and whipped cream. They where just at delicious as they looked!!

After that we went to chec out a store that was called Forever21. There was a big row in front of it, and you know what curious people do when there's a crowd. People could go inside one by one. And everyone who came out of the stores had a bag with clothes haha. Inside the store it was chaos, too many people! I saw some nice things, but wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible.

After that we went to Laforet, another shopping mall with 10 floors. In the basement they had all sorts of cute Lolita stores, Emily temple, Baby, Alice and the Pirates, Swimmer, every one you can think of. I saw some cute headphones from swimmer, and they weren't so expensive. So I might come back to buy them if I have some money left haha. The other floors had all kinds of stores, much variety. Every store was really nice! I also brought a polkadot dress in a adorable little shop.

After wasting a lot of time again we started visiting Omotesando, a street with all expensive designers brands. First shop we went in was Kiddy land, I was so excited to see it!! They have all kinds of toys and gadgets and totally cute crap! 5 Floors filled with awesomeness! I can't describe everything I saw, they had a lot of action/anime figure toys on one floor. Lots of San-x/Hello kitty cuteness on another floor, also a floor filled with Snoopy and half a floor filled with gorgeous ghibli goods! At the first floor they had all kinds of weird Japanese gadgets which where awesome haha. I brought a presents there, not sure who to give it to yet.

After kiddy heaven we walked down to see the rest of the streets, all kinds of label bands I'm not that interested in haha. But when we came by the Louis Vuitton store there turned a smile on my face. It was filled with Takashi Murakami designs, so colorful and stylish! Inside there was that panda from the promotional video sitting, with a sweet little panda next to it (it was huge! and so fluffy). I took a picture from outside the store because I didn't know if it was allowed to. We had a look inside, downstairs they had a big round statue with the happy flowers! It was really awesome =D

Ofcourse we only looked, the bags where insanely expensive haha. We saw the rest of the street. It allready was turning dark so we decided to get something to eat. We eat sushi at a busy cosy restaurant. It was packed with people so that would mean it has to be good! After a nice fun dinner we decided to go home early this day.

Day four: Shibuya

2009-07-06T07:27:00.000-07:00

I've uploaded a few foto's (still busy) and video's. You can watch the foto's here, and the video's here.

Today we planned to go to Shibuya, we woke up a little bit late but no matter. We got ready and took the train. We arrived at Shibuya station and got at the scramble, which was so busy! We wanted to get some money from the bank first, so we had a little stroll through the streets to find a public bank. After that we wanted to drink Starbucks with a view on the scramble crossing. It was so awesome =D

We drank up our coffee and walked down the street hitting Shibuya 109. We entered and noticed pretty soon there was some crazy sale going on, and with crazy I mean something like you've NEVER seen before!! Soo many girls buying everything they can get there hands on, the shop assistants screaming discount prices, also every 20 seconds they screamed "Irrashaimase". (see the videos on photobucket)

We checked out every store, on every 10 floors. It was fun but soo tiring. I saw so may gyaru-styled girls and schoolgirls, they looked so fashionable. I was at the JGS store and saw the cutest bag ever, so I wanted to buy it. I stood at the cashier and the shop assistant said: "Wait just a moment" while holding up a sign saying "TIME SALE". All the assistants where counting back, I had no clue what was going on XD
After the counting it seemed like every item has 1000 yen discount. Lucky for me!!

I brought the bag and was a happy girl. I was getting in the mood, so I brought a watch for 500 yen and another cute frilly bag. The shops where amazing, sooo many shoes, decorated items, dresses and clothes, bags, accessories, everything your heart desires! (If you're a girl ofcourse XD)

After spending hours in 109 we walked down the street to get something to eat. We ate at a noodlebar, very good food for a low price! (around 4 euro for food). We walked around a bit in Shibuya and saw cool things. There was a Hello kitty store with lots of goods for Kitty's 35th anniversary. Many bling!! Also very expensive.

At the end of the street there was a band playing, they sounded so cool!! We sat down and listened to them for a while. After that we went back to the station to find the statue Hachi-ko. But we couldn't find the damn dog! D:

Day three: Yoyogi and Harajuku

2009-07-05T18:44:00.000-07:00

Today is Sunday so wanted to visit Yoyogi park, it was a half hour walk from our hotel. We decided to walk through Meiji park, a huge park with a shrine connected to Yoyogi. It was so peaceful over there. I couldn't see the big building anywhere, only gorgeous trees.

We arrived at Yoyogi and allready saw some cosplay youth, but we first wanted to watch the bands playing music. Near Yoyogi park there was a huge market, so we wanted to check that out. There was a big podium where a singer and a man with trompet was playing. They where pretty good! In front of the podium there where children playing and people dancing. The entire market had such a flower power feel! You could buy food and many hippie-items and recycled t-shirts. Every corner there where people making music. There also where nature/economy activists. One girl asked us to sign a paper for Greenpeace against the build of an factory near a turtle breeding spot, so we signed the papers. She asked us where we came from and how to say "thank you" in our language. When we walked away she said "DANKJEWEL!".

We saw the rest of the market, there also was a group playing with weird instruments like tin cans and pots/pans. We where watching and a girl suddenly gave me an instrument too. It was a really weird instrument but the sound was pretty cool =D She explained they where a group of musicians who traveled through the country and gave a concert next week.

We walked back to Yoyogi park. There was a group of rockabillys going crazy on 50's rock music. Also girls where dancing on rock & roll. They where quite populair with the crowd haha.

We walked through the park and it was so much fun. People where picknicking, playing honkball, practicing dances, doing gymnastics and just hanging out. There was so much going on! People could just do their thing.

After that we went to Yoyogi bridge. We saw young people in cosplay and with extreme make up. They where just hanging out together on the ground. People where taking pictures of them.

We went straight to Harajuku after that. We saw a cool inside shopping centre so we checked that out. It was like I just died and entered heaven!!! They had everything I've ever wanted. Crazy bags, clothes, jewelery and decoden gear!! I just strolled to everyshop making notes in my brain what I wanted to have. BUT IT WAS TOO MUCH!!!

I'm sure to come back there, with a wallet full of money! For the time being I allready did a lot of shopping. I brought a panda hip-bag. (they had so much panda-goods haha.) I also brought 3 necklaces at Pariskids, a super cute jewelery store!! There where so many girls inside, like everything in there was free. It was really hard to browse through the stuff they had.

I seriously went into almost every shop they had! There was so much that I loved. They had Gyaru, decora and Lolita stores everywhere. There was also a crazy sale going on at the Borderline lolita store. Gorgeous dresses where priced down 80% and they where only 20 euro now. Too bad I don't need a lolita dress, but every lolita was going crazy in there haha. I also visited the BtssB store, they had gorgeous dresses! But way expencive ofcourse.

I also found really awesome Nike shoes, they where priced down a lot. (they where around 40 euro now, so cheap!!) So I brought a pair, my mother also brought a pair of Nike shoes because here shoes where good for the trashcan. Furthermore I brought a cool vest and Earrings. (I'm sorry for my shoppping rant, It was just so good T__T)

We where only half through the street and it was allready around 8. We decided to call it a day and go eat somewhere. We ate at a pizzaplace, which had paper-thin pizza's. But they where really good!

After that we walked home and jumped into our beds because we where SO tired haha. Tomorow is Shibuya!

Day two: Akihabara.

2009-07-04T06:14:00.000-07:00

Today we planned to visit Akihabara, Electric town and geek heaven! We walked to Shinjuku station and passed by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. We heard it’s a must to go on top of it, so we did. We could enter for free, took the elevator to the 49th floor. My ears where starting to pop. When we arrived at the floor had an impressive view over Tokyo! It was a little foggy so we couldn’t see Mt. Fuji. There also was a little store and a restaurant on the floor.

We walked further to the station, when we saw a little market. Young people where stalling out their stuff on blankets. We walked around and I saw a cute little pouch. So I brought it for only 100 yen =D

After that we arrived at Shinjuku. We where looking at the metro map and suddenly a man started talking to us. He asked if he could help us, so we showed him the map and said we wanted to go to Akihabara. He explained something to us, but it was hard to understand haha. So he said: “I’ll walk with you! Sorry for my English.” So he showed us where we needed to go and where to buy a ticket. When we made a mistake and got the wrong ticket he even managed to get our money back XD This guy seriously was too kind! He should win a price. (I was thinking he wanted some money for his advice, but he didn’t XD) When we went to our train he shook our hands and walked off.

We arrived at Akiba station and it was so impressive! I saw so many shops and crazy signs everywhere. And so many people! We walked trough the streets and saw all kinds of chaotic little shops with many electronic parts. Also a lot of arcade halls. I played a game of Taiko there. Every arcade hall was stuffed with so many people! And of course all where insane good at the games they played XD

I brought a mouse for our labtop and a mp3 player. Both where crazy cheap! The mp3 player was only around 700 yen and has such a stylish design! Also a great item for decoden.

We saw so many cool gadgets and anime merchandise, it was a crazy! Stores all had 5 floors filled with figures, books, costumes and crap. And every shop was packed with people.

I also found a hair curler/straigtner for a good price, so that’s a problem solved! When we looked for something to eat we heard some singing. A man invited us in saying: FUREE CONCERTO!! So we walked inside and we saw 3 girls singing cute songs. The room was filled with geeky men XD Between the songs they did some talking, it was really fun to see! When we went outside it was all dark outside! Which made the city even more impressive. It was such a great experience!

We ate rice, fish and shrimps at some shop and went back to the station. When we arrived at Shinjuku we went on top of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building once more. At night the view was even more beautiful!! I tried to make pictures but they sucked thanks to the reflection. At the restaurant there was a lady playing piano just beautifully. Together with the view it was such a perfect moment! I really want to have a drink there this week.

Now I’m ready to crash in my bed, tomorrow it’s Sunday so of course that means we’ll be going to Yoyogi park, watching crazy cosplayed people and live bands on the streets. I can’t wait!!

I'm uploading my pictures to Photobucket which takes ages, I'll post the url soon! Please wait some more.

Day one: Arrival

2009-07-03T05:58:00.000-07:00

First of all I want to congratulate my beloved TARE!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY GIRL!!! Omg 18 ; -; Such a beautiful age!! =D I'm sorry I can't be at your birthday, but I'll make it up to you <3

Today I arrived at Tokyo after a 12th hour flight. The flight went allright, I just slept and watched movies so it went pretty quick. We arrived at Narita airport and had to take our train to Shinjuku. Luckily the people at the station where helpfull and English speaking.

We had to sit in the train for quite a while (1,5 hours I think). It stopped at every station Tokyo has. I can't believe how big this city is!! Watching out of the train window was fun, the view was amazing. Cute little houses at the first half hour slowly turning into big building with crazy advertisement. I was soo tired I almost fell asleep in the train, like almost everyone in the train. It was fun to see a whole bench in people falling asleep :D

We arrived at Shinjuku and searched for our hotel, which took a while. Shinjuku was soo exciting, so many people and faces! 100 different fashion styles in one street. We asked some people for directions but most of them didn't speak English, so they where all panicking XD But we met one lady who spook english really well. She told us the way, and after that it was pretty easy to find!

The hotel was really nice, everything is compact and small, but just big enough! And we have a gorgeous view on the 12th floor. After I took a shower we went downstreet to grab a bite because we where starving! We ate at Cocoo's (I just asumed it was some kind of KFC, but it was much nicer! And pretty cheap =D)

I'm loving Japan so far!! Everything is so clean, and people are very polite! It's almost scary sometimes. The only thing that sucks is that my hairstyler doesn't work D: (because its 240 volt). So we might go to Akihabara tomorrow so I can buy a new one over there, hope they're cheap!! (No I can't live without one =D)

I didn't took much pictures today because I had to carry my luggage most of the time! I'll make up to you tomorrow, making tons of pictures!! I'm so tired now, off to bed =)

One night away

2009-07-01T14:20:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow I'll be going to Japan!! I made this blog to have a fresh start, maybe I'll transfer the messages I love to most over to this blog. But you'll still be able to see my old blog here.

I'm allready packing my bags, not really aware that I'm going to have this big trip. I don't feel te excitement yet, it just doesn't seem real haha. We brought a mini-labtop so I can upload stories and pictures directly from out hotel! So will update everyday (I try at least!). I hope you will enjoy reading about my adventure =).

The last two days I still had to take care of a lot of arrands. Monday I had to go to Rotterdam for the entrance exam for animation. It went pretty well! They said they liked my style and I'm allready pretty good at the software. The conversation still had some painful and ackward moments, but thats usual haha. I will get the results in 2/3 weeks.

And the day after I went to another exam in Genk, also for animation. I had to make a test and do some sketching and fill in question forms. After that I was invited for showing my portfolio. They said they liked my sketches and animations I showed, but they though the theory would be hard for me to keep up. But they told me I still passed because of my sketches. I'm really happy =D Genk seems like a nice place too!

Well I can travel with some peace in my heart. My plane leaves tomorrow on 07.00 PM. So wish me luck!! 12 hours flight, I hope I'll manage haha. Need to charge my DS!

See you soon from Japan. Look foward to it!! (I do =D)

Deco-den DS

2009-07-01T12:00:00.000-07:00

On a lazy sunday I decided to decorate my ds case that has been lying in my closet for quite a few months now! It was fun to do, maybe I should make a job out of this. Too bad my back hurts after a day. This is made with a lot of tiny (1,5 mm) rhinestones and some pearl crap! And ofcourse Mymelody <3

Pretty cute huh? <3

Princess phone

2009-06-30T11:59:00.000-07:00

I just pimped my phone and I'm so in love with it <3 It's so sparkly, girly and gorgeous!! I had the goods in house for quite a while now, but I was too lazy to pimp my phone. But seeing Tare busy pimping inspired me <3 AND NOW I CAN'T STOP! MUST BLING EVERYTHING <333 *glares @ DS*