UFDC Convention 2014: Part 1

The 2014 UFDC Convention was held in San Antonio, Texas, at the J.W. Marriott Hill Country Resort and Spa.

Licca traveled with me and decided that since we were heading for Texas, that she was going to wear her new outfit that had matching cowgirl boots, in red.

After 13 1/2 hours of flying, and many more hours in airports and buses, we arrived at the hotel and went straight to sleep.

The next day I relaxed at the spa and then went to the Riverwalk for the evening.

I had dinner at Cafe Ole.

The meal was OK, and the margarita was fantastic.

The next day was the start of Convention fun: The San Antonio Tours and the Ice Cream Social.

Hello, Kitty Licca

I've been saving this special Hello, Kitty Licca for a special day.

Her shoes are a little strange and don't stay on well, I will have to try them on with out stockings to see if they fit at all.

The reason I opened her up today, is so I can pose her with the new Re-Ment Hello, Kitty bento set I jut got.

The set includes a bento box and lid, 4 pieces of food, a thermos and lid, and chopsticks with their own carrying case. How cute is that?

Finally, Licca gets to sit down to her lunch. Yum.

Liv has a Hanbok

The first time I went to Korea, I bought a hanbok for my Barbie type dolls as a souvenir. I just remembered after this most recent trip that I had never tried it on my dolls.

So, I opened it up today. It was, yuck, stapled to the cardboard backing in 3 places. that made it a little difficult to remove it with out ripping. Luckily I managed it. Then I tried it on my 1980s Barbie. Poor Barbie, the hanbok is much to tight in the chest to fit her. Hayden tried it on, and it fits her pretty well.

Whoops, the dress only fastens over the back, Hayden has to be careful not to moon everyone.

Compared to Mimi's hanbok, this one looks pretty cheap. Still, Hayden is happy to have new clothing.

Mimi From Korea

The two dolls I bought in Toy Alley, Seoul, Korea, are Mimi and Little Mimi.

The Little Mimi was a great deal at 6,000 Won, the equivalent of $6.00. The one I chose is dressed as Alice in Wonderland and comes with a stuffed rabbit and a black plastic purse that opens and closes.

Here she is out of her box. What a cutie. She doesn't stand by herself, so I leaned her up against a screen.

The full-size Mimi I chose is wearing a traditional Korean Hanbok.

The back of the box shoes two versions of the Hanbok doll. Being anti-pink, I bought the red one.

Here she is out of the outer packaging.

In the box was a Mimi pamphlet. Yay!

It seems buying my Mimi in Toy Alley was a wise decision, the recommended selling price is 25,000 Won, I bought mine for 18,000 Won.

Out of the box, Mimi has a problem standing up straight. I had to lean her waaaaaay back for this photo. I'm pretty sure her stand is seriously off kilter.

Brief Trip to Seoul, Korea

I spent the past week on vacation in Seoul, Korea. I had a fun and educational time touring all over the city.

Our first day of touring, we took the "City Tour Bus", a hop on and off bus, to: 

N Tower,

Dongdaemun,

and Changdeok Palace.

The next day, we took a "Seoul City Tour" of the DMZ and the Infiltration Tunnel. The tunnel is at a steep slope and once you are down it, the ceilings are very low. Good thing hard hats were required. Even stooping down, I occasionally bumped my head.

The next day was Sunday, and we went to Changsin-Dong, Toy Alley. Due to it being Sunday, about 3/4 of the stores were closed, but I was still able to find some dolls to take home.

On Monday and Tuesday, I traveled and toured on my own, since Dave had to work. 

Monday I toured Gyeongbok Palace.

And on Tuesday I went to Myeongdong to visit Lotte's main branch and go souvenir shopping.

The Lotte was uninspiring, mostly high end clothing departments and 3 floors of high end duty free shops. Meh. On the other hand, the basement had a very nice grocery store and food court. I had lunch from a Thai restaurant - Pineapple fried rice, yum.

The next day we flew home to Tokyo. It was a fun trip, but I was worn out from running all over.

The Imperial Palace and Doll Hunting in Akihabara

We walked around downtown Tokyo a bit yesterday, since the weather was nice (overcast and occasional drizzle, but boy, was it humid). We walked a bit around the Imperial Palace outer garden and then went doll accessories hunting in Akihabara.

Tokyo Station.

Outer gate.

The moat.

A swan!

A glimpse of the inner palace.

Once we got to Akihabara, we headed across the pedestrian bridge to Dolks - a store that sels BJD clothes and accessories.

We found a pair of heels that fit our 60cm Angel of Dream doll and a pair of boxers for the 60cm boy doll. It was a nice store with a good selection from a variety of vendors.

Tanuki temple near Dolks.

We then headed back over the bridge and visited the Azone store. One of these days I will have a Picco Neemo doll, they are so cute.

I was dismayed to find the building that the Volk's Dollfie store was in to be gone. The new building is an all Volk's 3 story building. Unfortunately, the Dollfie section won't be open until October. Sigh...