Ga Chun's Blog

This was the first London Comic Con, where there was a recent announcement that ReedPOP will join the MCM family to bring bigger and brighter events to future conventions. I found out that ReedPOP actually manages huge conventions around the world including New York Comic Con, PAX Australia, Twitch Con, Pax East, Pax South, Shanghai Comic Convention and many others. So hopefully great things are to come from future Comic Cons!

I think personally, the next convention I will be attending won’t be until the next MCM London Comic Con in May, as I can’t make every convention, even though that would be nice it’s not ideal in reality. Conventions are fun and all, but they require a lot of organising and they get quite tiring too. I have some other things and events to focus on right now, but I will share my photos when they are finally edited.

Click here to see the rest of my photos.

I had only tried haggis one time ago and this was my second ever time having it. I actually quite liked it. It reminds me of eating stuffing as it has similar texture.

The first place we visited was the Edinburgh Castle. It was quite a busy place, with loads of history to learn of how the castle was used back in day, going all the way back to the 1600’s. It was quite interesting to learn about how things have progressed over the years since the war. It is a beautiful castle on the hill and so many parts of the castle to explore.

During our time in Edinburgh we had also visited the Museum of Scotland. It was such a huge museum where we did not have to pay an admission fee to get in. The museum was divided into seven parts and even getting only half way round, we were pretty tired. There is so much to see, to the extent that it is probably one of the biggest museums I have ever visited.

The following day we visited the Edinburgh Zoo, it was a bit of a underwhelming visit as we were there during the autumn season, we didn’t see the pandas, lions or tigers however this isn’t the fault of the zoo. They still had a fair amount of animals to see, who all seems quite active and happy in their environment.

On the fourth day we visited the HMY Britannia, it was bit more of a trek to get there, however it was a lovely visit. It is known as the Royal yacht Britannia and it was the former yacht of the British monarch – Queen Elizabeth II. This yacht was in service from 1954 to 1997. A big part of the royal family’s history. It was such a beautiful and wonderful ship to see both inside and out which had such lovely decor and interior design.

Overall, it was a nice visit to Edinburgh. Not my favourite of places to visit however part of the issue was visiting at the wrong time of year. Whenever the next time will be, I hope I can visit again to see the other attractions that the city has to offer. I’ve always wanted to experience the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in the summer which I hear is such a delight.

I took so many photos on both my camera (1,000 +) & on my smartphone too (probably over 500 easily). Too many photos to go through however I did manage to edit a small batch of them to share with the world. I mostly edited in Lightroom this time round and some minor ones in Photoshop.

I think one of the first things we noticed, no matter where we went, everywhere was so clean. It was spotless, even in the outskirts of the city, it was so nice. We went there for a week and wish we could of stayed there for a longer period of time. It was way more affordable to stay there for a week compared to staying in London. No doubts there.

Each day that we spent there, we tried to do something different or visit somewhere new at least. We went to a wide range of art exhibitions, museums and shops.

When we visited the beautiful city of Bruges, we had to travel around an hour on the train to get there. We spent most of our time at The Markt and within the surrounding areas. All the architecture and history behind Bruges was all very interesting. There were a wide range of restaurants, shops and museums to visit. During our day visit, we managed to visit the Salvador Dali Exhibition and Historium Brugge. Both were quite good experiences. Quite different from your traditional type of English museum that’s for sure. There was one main thing which took us forever to find, but my fiancé really wanted to see the horse and carriage, which eventually we did find and managed to go on a 30 minute tour for 50 Euros and it was worth the price.

During our visit to central Brussels, we managed to see the Grand Place, the Museum of Natural Sciences, Mont des Arts and we also visited Maison Dandoy, where we had such sweet waffles and hot beverages for lunch. They have been around since 1829 and it is an absolute delight to visit for their lovely drinks and snacks, but it’s not something you would have every meal to be honest, as you will understand once you taste the amount of sweetness that are used on top of the waffles. Chocolate lovers definitely need to visit Maison Dandoy though. It’s such a lovely tea room, where you can take away or sit in.

When we went up north to visit the city of Antwerp, we thoroughly enjoyed visiting the Antwerp Zoo, which is literally located next to the Antwerpen-Centraal railway station. This park is actually the oldest animal park in Belgium which has been around since 1843. We definitely spent over 4 -5 hours at the park as there was so much to see. We had such a fab time there. Probably the best zoo and aquarium experience that I’ve ever had.

We had so much fun at Belgium’s number 1 water park which is called Océade, where we spent a reasonable three hours there. They had a swimming pool, various slides, Jacuzzi, saunas too. Afterwards we visiting Mini-Europe which was quite a spectacle for a miniature park of the EU (self explanatory).

There are so many highlights from our experiences of Belgium but hopefully the photos that I will share with you, will give you a glimpse of our adventures whilst staying and visiting the wonderful country of Belgium.

It’s definitely recommended if you want somewhere to go on holiday that’s within the EU and not too far away from the United Kingdom.

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On Saturday 15th July 2017, we visited the Hyper Japan Festival and this time it was held at Tobacco Dock which is near Shadwell Overground in London, UK.  This was the first time that we visited Tobacco Dock and our first impressions were that it was quite warm and busy inside. All the stalls, and live shows were mostly separated by various individual rooms within the venue. It was definitely…

Edited by Amelia Evans.

Edited by Amelia Evans.

Edited by Amelia Evans.

Another recent interview I had recently is with Nigel, who is one of the co-founders of the clothing brand: Mayamada! I have known him for a couple of years now where I have shown my support at the various conventions he has been exhibiting at, as well as on social media too.

How long has it been running for?

Mayamada has been running since 2011. That’s when we first came up with the concept of a television network universe with an anthropomorphic cast of characters.

Our first manga didn’t come until 2013 though, it took us a while to get going! But we’ve released at least one manga every year since then.

How did it start?

We actually started the brand after a failed attempt to create a different brand with some friends. It had the same name, but nothing else was the same as it is today.

There was a lot of enthusiasm at the start, but after 18 months or so it wasn’t really working so we stopped doing it. After that, the initial group of five became just two: myself and Lao.

We took a step back and thought about a real brand concept which is the manga universe we have now. Once we had that, we went on the search for an illustrator to work with and the rest is history!

What are the aims for the future?

We want to continue telling stories and get better at writing them. We have a whole universe of characters and stories, but only three books out so there’s a long way to go! Our aim to grow the brand so we have a bigger positive impact and inspire creativity in others, particularly young people.

We’ve also put more focus into our social gaming event GamePad. Our aim there is to make gaming more inclusive and fun for everyone. We’ve made a good start in building a diverse community of gamers and we want to keep growing the event and getting more people involved in playing games together in the real world.

What products do you sell?

Our main products are our manga books and right now we have three available Samurai Chef, Hot Lunch: The Outer Circle, and Serious Volume 1. Each one is a separate story that exists in the mayamada universe.

Alongside the manga, we sell t-shirts, jumpers, kid clothing, hats, and accessories all featuring our characters.

What’s the plan for the Kickstarter and future GamePad events?

The idea behind the Kickstarter is to get more people involved in social gaming and hit our goal to allow us to move to a bigger venue for the summer event.

We think gaming should be more inclusive and over the campaign we’re excited to get people in London and internationally to join to discussion and share their favourite gaming memories.

In future we want to keep growing GamePad, run it three times a year and have a real impact on the gaming industry. Gaming today is often seen as a disconnected activity done by individuals online but we want that perception to change!

You can discover the variety of products that they have on sale via their online store. They can also be found via their Facebook page and on Twitter too.

How long has it been running for?

Fuzzballs has been running as a comic for nearly four years now!

How did it start?

Fuzzballs first started in mid-2013 as a tumblr comic I started for fun. The first animation of a bouncing bunny got a few likes so I made another, and another and gradually kept adding new characters and comics as it grew in popularity.

At the end of 2015 due to the popularity and much fan requests we launched our first range of Fuzzballs products including shirts, prints, necklaces and more. Since then it’s grown massively thanks to the support of new and old fans who just can’t get enough of our cuteness overload.

 What are the aims for the future?

To keep giving what our fans want, that means more new comics and more new products. Theres dreams of games and cartoons but until that day happens long in the future we just hope to keep getting Fuzzballs noticed, getting bigger and better. We’ve already got a few stores stocking our products but the plan is to get them into many more. We recently launched a brand new range of kawaii note pads as well as mugs and travel passes but theres still many new products we want to make. The one we really want to make most is some kind of book, so keep an eye out for more details on that sometime in the future.

But if you know someone who’d like some cuteness in their lives or has a store that should totally stock Fuzzballs then let them know!

What products do you sell?

Lots! Theres over 130 different products at last count spread over 10 different ranges. Are you ready for the list? There’s T-Shirts, hoodies, necklaces, keyrings, stickers, prints, badges, tote bags, mugs, travel passes, Note pads, memo pads, greeting cards, plushies, phone cases and soon dresses and a few other surprises!

What’s the plan for future events?

We’re planning for Hyper Japan in the summer (come and say hi!) beyond that we are looking at the winter shows and of course next year. Just follow our Facebook or Twitter to see where we’ll be next and what new things we will have!

Cosplayers Upon The Horizon – Part 2

With great cosplay, comes great recognition. In this day and age that we live in, it’s usually word of mouth that seems to get the message out on almost anything. With a wide range of cosplayers out there, meeting up, hanging out, and getting to know one another, there are always people who are just starting out with making their own cosplay and do deserve more recognition than what they…

Cosplayers Upon The Horizon – Part 1

With the cosplay scene in the UK getting bigger and bigger by the year, I thought I would share some cosplayers who I personally think deserve more recognition for their craft, time and effort they put into their cosplays. At the end of the day, it’s nice and all to share these famous cosplayers who already have a huge fanbase and share and like their work as you are impressed with their…

MCM London Comic Con (May 2017) – Review

This was the 31st show and there were a total of 130,212 people who attended the convention. All in all I had great time there, and I genuinely felt safe, even with the higher threat level being raised due to Manchester’s unfortunate events on the Monday. Bags were searched at the beginning, before you queued for your wristband, and there were possible random spot checks during the day. It was a…

You can see all my other photos on my Facebook page.

You can see my other photos on my Facebook page.

In recent months, I have been taking a variety of photos that I have been eating which have all been homemade. I hope that you all enjoy my photography. 

My first impression of the place was that it was bigger than what I originally thought it would be. The interior had a variety of vibrant decor and different items dotted around the three part building.

The environment was quite atmospheric and ambient which was such a comfortable place to enjoy food and drink in. We enjoyed some falafel, chicken, chocolate cake, ginger beer and a cup of hot chocolate too which was all quite enjoyable.

The cafe’s core underling values are about the community, creative arts and wellbeing. I would definitely recommend going to this cafe if you are within the area of King’s Lynn. It is quite a good little cafe like no other that I have ever been to.

You can find the rest of my photos on my Facebook page.