Hello there
So November KDJ was a last minute get together because none of us knew where to go however a suggestion of Doki Doki was made and since I lived relatively close to Manchester I thought I might give this convention a try.
Doki Doki 2011 is a convention that celebrate both the traditional and modern side of Japanese culture so I hope there was going to be a good mixture of stalls and demonstrations.
I meetup with Mike in the queue (the one who suggested Doki Doki) and while we were wondering around, we then meet Bec Deacon who was a fellow kdj member which I hope to meet.
Now the convention itself, it was at the Sugden Sport Centre which meant the event was held in a nice spacious gym so it didn't get too hot and there was a reasonable number of stalls selling anime, lolita, manga and art.
There were also plenty of demonstrations being shown on time to keep people interested.
Here is Jill Clay doing her kimono demonstration.
And then there was some koto being played and some traditional dancing.
Doesn't the dancer have a pretty kimono!
However, at £14.00 on the day or £10.00 in advance, it is a little bit pricey in my opinion and although the demonstration were mainly cultural, there wasn't many stalls selling traditional items which was what I was hoping for.
Now time to apologise. My camera decided to die on me just as I started to stake pictures so I had to use photos taken by Mike.
The next meetup will be on 10 December at Birmingham to see and sample the delights of the Frankfurt Christmas Market. We will probably organise ourselves at Birmingham Train station just outside the ticket gate before moving off to the Market. I think we might be even be going to the Lace exhibit at Birmingham Museum because there is only so much food and drink one can consume at a market.
See you all there I hope!
