of art markets and manicures

nyaho, it's hiki 

i was going to post something last week but i lost a game of fortnite against god and got cursed with the Sickness for 4 days since thursday so that's. yeah. i guess instead of one coherent blogpost i'll just word vomit what i meant to write when i was healthy.

10/05: i did my nails!

on saturday, i made the trek to the north side of town to get my nails done! 

ta-da!! isn't it absolutely kawaii and over the top?

yes, the charms catch on EVERYTHING. do not recommend. unless you're insane like me. then proceed ig live ur best live pretty girl!!!

oh, but long time readers will know it wasn't that simple, however. hehe. 

that's right!! this whole affair started in 2020, during the beginning of the pandemic when i was looking for a new hobby to hyperfixate on. that new hobby ended up being nail art. and i got pretty dang proficient at it! the only limitation i think is time, and of course, the cost of good gel polishes. don't believe me? look it up yourself lmao. this hobby was an investment, and between buying keyboards and shopping for jiraikei, i did not have the budget for another expensive hobby! 

and as good as i was 4 years later, i knew -- i was ready for the real deal. it was time to have my nails done professionally.

so 30000 inspo pics later, i found this one by arisacheu. 

my nail artist did amazing agh... the only thing i forgot was to tip them. which i promptly did afterwards via bank transfer haha. love modern technology.

overall, the session took about 3.5 hours. with lunch after and the commute, in total i was out for about 8 hours that day. if you were wondering why i didn't do the incentive stream that day, here's your answer. 

10/06: artjakarta & kira kira art market

every year, my parents like to go to this fancy art show called artjakarta - it's the biggest one in the city, but since i'm not too big into art i usually sit it out. 

well, it's not that i'm not big on art, but... art is subjective, and mom usually looks down on my taste... you probably understand why i don't want to accompany her in an art gallery where the point is to commentate on the art. 

so why did i end up going this year, you ask? well, simply put - my parents weren't coming along, and they asked me to go in their stead. it was a little out of the way for me, but it was near another event i was really looking forward to going to for the past month, so why not! might as well. the me of a few years ago would have insisted to stay at home, but the older i get, the more i feel the need to touch grass. plus, i told myself i'd order some rose toppokki as a treat when i got home (which ended up inflaming my system even more but. meh. whatever.)

it was surprisingly great. the event was well organised, and aside from the very pricey food options (union group + %arabica coffee),  i would recommend you go just to broaden your horizons a little. the curators made sure to include a variety of art collections: yes they hosted a variety of complicated and tortured pieces you expect to see in an art show, but also very delightful pieces like the one you see here. i loved the simpler pieces, the sculptures with commentary on society, the typical art student self portraits; it was truly a feast for the eyes and the noggin. maybe a little too stimulating in more ways than one. bring a friend if you do decide to come along, lest the pondering of existential meaning disturbs you a little too much.

after circling the grounds for an hour, i... got bored, so i left haha. needed to get home by 4pm or else i would get sick (clever foreshadowing). next stop? kira kira art market! which wasn't too far away. 

if there's one thing i'll miss about this country once i leave, it's the local art scene. i absolutely love the creativity and the aesthetics that brew in this hot, hot, country. it has a lot of character, and i can always count on ONE vendor to sell kingdom hearts fan merch. and guess what? THERE WAS A WHOLE BOOTH SELLING KH AND FFXIV ENAMEL PINS... 

ahem. back on topic - what i thought would be a small and crowded artist-alley style corner was a very well-organised, well-ventilated (!!!) and lovely indie event! the selection of vendors were very coherent and none of them felt very out of place. a plethora of original stickers, prints, charms, acrylic products, and muuuch much more were meticulously placed on thoughtfully designed stalls and booths. like an idiot, i bought the first things that caught my eye and ended up spending waaaay more than i budgeted for the day. but i don't regret it. and so did everyone else i pass, you know, judging on the looks on their faces. 

somewhere along the way, indonesian merch designers found really good manufacturers for their goods, and the quality of the merch i bought is on par, if not better, than what i used to get in america during convention artist alleys. everyone was friendly, and every other person asked about my phone and played around with it haha. it was overall a very good time, with the added bonus of GETTING RECOGNISED???? O_o

hUHHH??? 

ok small flex but i usually never get recognised, especially since i was wearing normal girl clothes (i had to dress appropriately for artjakarta), so this came as a HUGE shock. she was so nice though... she gave me freebies and asked for a photo... i think both our brains were frozen though because it was hard for both of us to get words out and we just ended up waving at each other.. 

when i got home it was a little before 5pm, and the food i scheduled to arrive at 4.30pm had just started to go cold.... but it was a good day!! albeit a tiring one!!

^^ my haul ^^

ok i'm still sick and should be sleeping but tl;dr my weekend was great, being sick sucks , and i'll have another blogpost when my head isn't as fuzzy GOODNIGHT HIKI OUT