Yumetenbo Order

Hey everyone!
おさしぶりね！

Sorry it's been so long. I've been working sooo hard at uni that i have had nothing interesting to blog about. I might blog about my time at the Harry Potter Studio Tour that i went to on my birthday the other week but not right now.

Today is a blog post about my Yumetenbo order!

I placed my order through the DreamV Rakuten sight. I bought 2 items of around 1200yen each with postage of 1500yen or so.

The order was placed on the 24th May and (i guess, i can't read the email they sent me) shipped out on the 28th May and arrived on my doorstep yesterday (the 31st May). Considering i was told that it would take around 20 days minumum to get my package i was very pleased and surprised to get it!

The items i bought were these:


In Cream/Yellow

and


in Pink.


The quality of the items is much nicer than I was expecting! i had heard somewhere that yumetenbo items, because they were relatively unexpensive, the fabrics were cheap and thin. However they were infact very thick fabrics! The fabric is along the same lines of a Jersey. Stretchy and soft, but it's think enough that it doesn't all go out of shape when gravity hits it. XD
The lace, although not the best is soft and the right colour and all the details are sewn on firmly.

The items arrived in a medium sized box, individually wrapped in plastic envelopes, much like Bodyline do. They were folded in the box but not badly and not to the extend that it creased them. It was a well sealed box and i was happy with it.


The sizes i bought were a bit strange, the dress i bought in the 3L size as it stated the bust was 90cm (i am around 100cm) but i thought it didn't matter much as it is not an enclosed dress. and the waist is 78cm (i am 77cm). The back of the dress is shirred which means it fits great! and it fits my bust absolutely fine. The hips didnt matter as it is a flared skirt. The length of the dress is actually pretty alright, i was expecting it to be much shorter as i am taller than the japanese average.

The Pawprint skirt is the item that really surprised me as i bought it in LL and the waist measurment stated 72cm (4cm smaller than my waist) I bought it however with the intentions of losing wait anyway and it would be a treat to myself when i lost it. however when it turned up and i tried it on it fit fine with room to spare! I'd say it is actually more like a 78 waist again. So i'm very happy with these two purchases!

The shipping was quite expensive and the only thing about DreamV that i didn't like. They offered a more expensive faster shipping option however considering how quickley they arrived i don't believe it would be neccessary.

Price: 8/10
Quality: 8/10
Service: 9/10
Shipping Price: 5/10
Shipping Speed: 9/10
Worth the Money: 9/10

Because it's been FOREVER since I posted anything (sorry!) I though i'd do this cute little list i found on Tumblr today. i don't know the source though sorry! ><

I do have a shapping/haul post in the works and some other stuff so yeah.... i just have no time what with uni becoming horribly work intensive.... but yeah.



1: make me laugh, support my obsessions, play video games, be hygenic and tidy (im really messy so someone has to be tidy. XD), buy me presents.

2: I feel strongly about always reading a franchises books. Whether before or after, it doesnt really matter (but before gets you brownie points). Things such as Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, Twilight etc.... all those films become much clearer and understandable once you have read the books. Any film that was originally a book is like this. you understand and see and hear sooo much more if you have already read the story they came from.

3: oh my. so so so many. Memoirs of a Geisha is maybe my favourite though.

4: - wake up stupidly early because of my mysterious pain in my side.
- say goodbye to boyfriend as he leaves for work
- play Draw Something for an hour while lolling around in bed
- leave to go home (getting in at 9.00am)
- Do uni work
- go to drs appointment
- get food and snacks at the korean food store
- pick up prescription
- go home and do more uni work
-sit on Tumblr for 2 hours
_ write blog post.

that's it so far. XD

5: "i regret meeting you with everyt cell in my body. I am so so happy you are out of my life. go stalk someone else you total creep." enuf said

6: Some of it is good, some of it is awful and makes no sense to me. I'm obviously getting old.

7: people spelling your and you're wrong (same goes for there, they're and their.), people not taking care of their DVDs properly and then i borrow them and they dont work because they are scratched, My boyfriend not having good pillows, people using or borrowing my stuff without asking or returning them in a worse condition than when i lent it to them. people asking me to do things i was gonna do anyways.

is that 5?

8: oh my. for breakfast i had toast with peanut butter and apricot jam on and a yoghurt. For lunch because i was feeling so rubbish i treated myself to a croissant and a doughnut and i have just eaten an entire pot of yummy korean snacks. not the healthiest of days. i usuall eat better than this. :/

9: Very (see pet peeve number 1). However i don't think something as high as a uni/college education is particularly essential. unless you are becoming a Dr... or something like that. I'd like my doctors to be uni and med schooled please. lol

10:
1- Army of Me (Sucker Punch remix) - Sucker Punch soundtrack
2- Early Bird - Buono!
3- Circle the Drain - Katy Perry
4 - It's Getting Boring by the Sea - Blood Red Shoes
5- Healing Incantation - Mandy Moore, Tangled Soundtrack
6- SEXY BOY - Morning Musume
7- Anyone Else But You - Michael Cera and Ellen Page version, Juno Soundtrack
8- Bird - YaoYao
9- Somewhere Only We Know - Glee Cast (about time a glee song came up)
10- Deadman's Gun - Ashtar Command, Red Dead Redemption Soundtrack

11: What about my family? I have a mum and dad, still together, and a little brother..... well he's taller than me so not exactly little anymore.... and he turns 20 this year so..... waaah i'm so old.

12: YAY!
1- Darren Chriss
2- Daniel Radcliffe
3- My boyfriend (obvs)
4- Jim Parsons
5- Peeta Mellark (not Josh Hutchison. The book character. he's so lovely. and even though he ends up a but.... mentally challenged at the end i'm happy Katniss ends up with him. He loves/loved her so much. :3)
BONUS 6 - Kyo Sohms (while we are on the streak of fictional characters, let's chuck Kyon in there too. :3)

13: My body isn't horrible. i mean it's not a size 10 like i'd like it to be but i'm not always disgusted by it. My tummy is a bit big for my liking, i want it flatter and my thighs could do with a could cms off but other than that i'm not that uncomfortables with my body. i mean i dont show my midriff ever but thats tacky anyways.

14: I am currently wearing mint green tights, yellow shorts with pastel pink and purple drips around the bottom (which i painted on myself. :3) a H&M top with cupcakes on that says "Cutest of cupcakes" (i heart cupcakes) and a navy blue cardigan.

15: Taurus - it's actually pretty close. I'm stubborn etc. i try to ignore the "does not play well with others and is self centred" part though. XD

16: "What if Voldemort got his hands on muggle WMDs?"

17: uh..... my costume i am currently making. and how much harder it is than anything i have done previously.

18: forgetting everything.

19:
1- Angelic Pretty Decoration Dream necklace in Lavender
2- some kind of pretty Deco-den case for my phone
3- size D cup boobs (4 cups smaller than mine atm)
4- the Japanese disney store (yes the whole thing)
5- a beautifully decorated bedroom

20: people being sick, the dark, glass floors, being buried alive

21: I hope to be a costume maker for large productions or films, possibly maybe work for a museum restoring a replicating costumes. Or i'd like to open a Cupcakery. My more immediate future i'd like to teach English in Japan for a year.

22: what academics? I'm doing a costume course. there are no academics.

23: My Guinea Pig. she was the love of my life and had to get put down. i loved her so so so much.

24: "Bazinga"
voldemort going "AVADA KEDAVRA" in DHpt2. how he says it is so funny.
Hermione telling ron he has the emotional range of a teaspoon.
Also ron saying "I'd love to know what the ministry'd do to me if i blew up an aunt. mind you they'd have to dig me up first because mum would've killed me" in Prisoner of Azkaban.
this stupid little "herr-herr" laugh me and my housemates do sometimes. lol

25: Whether i'll get this costume done on time. PANIC PANIC PANIC

26: there's nothing in particular that i like about myself but then, there isnt much that i particularly dislike either. :/

27: "Have faith in how far you will go and be proud of where you have been" or something to that effect. i cant remember exactly lol. also "the people who matter don't care and the people who care don't matter"

28: Is this a trick question? I think Japan is obvious..... I'd love to visit Venic again.... Also America. I lived there as a child but i'd like to see the things we saw with adult eyes. Also somewhere suuuuper pretty like the caribbean or something.

29: Custard, Kyary Pamyu Pamyu (she's weird. XD), Tuna straight out of the can (i'm told thats weird), tidying my room (it gets super messy super fast so i guess this is good, my special diet (it's a special diet not to loe weight but to aid my digestion etc and i actually quite like being on it. i dont really miss the things i cant eat anymore. :))

30: HUNGER GAMES!!!!! YAAAAYYY!!!!! ONLY 2 DAAAYYYSSS!!!

My ECC Interview

First off, I apologise for the massive absense of updates. I have been addicted to Tumblr so you can find me over there almost everyday. username: KawaiiProject.

OK so this is a post about the ECC Japan Interview I had the other weekend. I didnt get the job but i believe that was purely down to my mental blank half way through my teach demo. ANYWAY! There isnt too much information out there about the ECC interviews so this is for anyone thinking of applying or preparing for the interview.

So the day started off super early for me as i had to get the train to london. The session, although it said would start at half 9, actually didnt start until 10. So i got there an hour early. This gave me time to find the room and meet my co-interviewees. everyone was very nice but very posh and i felt like a bit of an idiot student next to all these people-in-the-real-world. XD

Anyways, we took our seats in the classroom and the first part of the interview began. They introduced us to themselves and the company, showed us the text books and told us about things like the types of students we would have, the kind of timetables we could expect to be on and things like pay, dress code and things like that. It took 2 hours but it was really interesting. We also had the opportunity to ask questions at this point.

Next. Was the ENGLISH TEST! The ENGLISH TEST was just that. It was the hardest thing i have ever had to do. ever. hands down. it was hard. if you are applying to ECC, don't be put off by it, but just be prepared that it was really hard. We all said so afterwards.

The ENGLISH TEST consists of 100 multiple choice questions, the answers to which you write down on a seperate sheet. You need to achieve 70% minimum to pass onto the next phase of the interview. So you can get 30 questions wrong. which doesnt sound like much but it is a decent amount. Also, at the top of your test paper you will have written a letter. This is how they announce if you are through.

The majority of the test is made up of questions asking you to identify words in sentences that are incorrect and need replacing etc. some of those are more simple than others. The things i would reccommend studying for that part is general sentence structure, grammar and things like "words that make this sentence redundant" (yeah i dont think i got that question right).

The next part is about spelling. These are multiple choice again and all you have to do is pick the correctly spelled word out of the 2 choices. for example: concious and contious. just do your research about spelling dificult words. As i have read somewhere else "if you have to think about how to spell it, it will probably be on the test" thankfully there are only maybe 20 questions on these.

Next is definitions. Basically a load of words I have never and will never use. The questions just ask you to identify to correct definition out of a, b, or c. I think, common sense is needed for that part. words like "revile" popped up and it was using common sense to rule out the answers that were definitely not right.

Then comes the passage..... oh the passage.... Basically a short paragraph of writing in which you need to identify the different types of words. such as - adverbs, simple past tense etc etc. look these up cause that was what really threw me.

The last part doesnt really have anything to do with english but basically you have to match up the word with the definition again however this time it is about teaching and it's a bit different. that part is pretty simple though and i found it quite fun.

Then you are done! and it's time for lunch! I was sooo nervous!
When you get back after lunch, they will have written all the letters of the people who didnt get through on the board. This is so you can gather your things and leave with dignity. You can talk to the interviewers after to see where you went wrong. If you letter isn't on the board, prepare for the teaching demo!!

Now this isn't really something I can tell you how to do as it's different for everyone. You get split up into groups and each group is given a group of cards with a lesson objective on and flash cards. You then have some time to prepare the "lesson" and then you present this to the other groups pretending they are the children. The interviewers sit to one side and observe. Be enthusiastic and make sure you get the point of the lesson and the correct vocabulary across. Don't be afraid to over act everything, chances are you might not see these people again and it may just get you the job. Don't be embarassed!!

After that you are sent away and called in one at a time for the individual interviews. These are pretty easy and it's more like clarifying things from your application form. the others in my session said they didnt get asked things like "why japan?" "why ECC?" but i did. Just "why ECC?" which i just answered honestly.

Over all it was a pretty interesting day and although I didnt get in, i have a feeling that i know what i messed up on and if i have the opportunity to go for another ECC day i know what to change.

I hope this post will help any others who are applying for ECC! Best of luck!!

Learning Japanese: Genki Review

Today's post will be a review of Genki. The Japanese language textbooks and workbooks.

As my plans for moving to Japan are now for definite i have been teaching myself japanese using these books. I do a chapter or so of the textbook then do a few pages of workbook a day. it seems to be helping as already my Hiragana knowledge has shot way up.

The way the book teaches you is very good as it gives you a text or paragraph in hiragana with romaji underneath and then gives the translation of it in english below. This way i can look at the text, read the romaji and figure out what it says then study the hiragana. The other day i could understand a whole conversation (romaji only)!! It then gives you nice list of the vocabulary at the end of the lesson in Hiragana, romaji and english translation along with notes on the grammar and fun little facts on the language. Then it goes on to re-enforce the lesson, teaching you how the sentence structure works, how to use words (like doko, soko, asoko, dore, sore, are etc) and where they belong in the sentences and how to successfully use conjunctions etc.

One niggle i did have with the book however is how little the "alphabets" (yes i know they arent really alphabets) are introduced and how they work at the beginning of the book. especially as after lesson 2 it kinda launches straight into only hiragana. You will need your hiragana chart handy for the workbook too.

Overall however it has so far been a challenge (and i'm not even onto lesson 3 yet!!)but nevertheless one that has stuck and i seem to find myself knowing more when i study than i did the day before. which is... you know nice. But i have always had an affinity at learninf and "getting" new languages.

One thing that has been reccommended to me is the audio CDs that go with the books that supposedly help with pronunciation etc. My pronunciation has always been commented on at how good it is by my japanese friends however so i think i will save these for when i know more japanese itself and need to start listening to the faster flow of it better. but whatelse is anime for right? XD

I've reccommend these books. they have been pretty good so far!! :)

Harry Potter 30 Day Challenge Day 6 - 7

Day 6 - Favourite Professor

Professor Moody. I thought he was hilarious. XD He really made me laugh with his "teaching" methods etc. XD

Day 7 - Least Favorite Professor
Horace Slughorn. I think he was stupid and lazy and annoying. that is all. XD

Harry Potter 30 Day Challenge Day 5

Day 5 - Saddest Moment

When Lupin and Tonks die. When you see them lieing together after the battle. Both the film and the book made me weep like a baby!!! :'( the thing is, in the film you dont know about teddy. Itd be way sadder if you knew about lupin's struggle and teddy in the film.....

Harry Potter 30 Day Challenge Day 3 - 4

Day 3 - Favorite Character

Ron. I think the stuff he says is frickin hilarious. Best quote from prisoner of askaban 'id love to know what the ministry would do to me if i blew up an aunt. Mind you theyd have to dig me up first because mum would have killed me' hahaha

Day 4 - Favorite Villain

Hmm... In the movies its definitley Voldemort or Lucius Malfoy but in the books i think....... Maybe Bellatrix or that Umbridge woman. Even though she makes my skin crawl i think she is a well written and disgusting character and everything a villain should be. :)