Competition Wins

I enter rather a lot of competitions on Twitter and thought I would do a post about some of the stuff I have won.

Ravensburger Puzzle

I won this Puzzle from Puzzle Club  for my daughter Sarah who loves doing Jigsaws. This one is actually one of her favorites now she is mad on puppy's and cats so she wants to do this puzzle every time she gets the chance. She also brings it out when she has family or friends round so she can show them that she can do it her self.

You can also find this on Amazon for about £7.99

Vibrant sexy hair

I won these products from Sexyhairuk. I always love winning products for my hair. I dye it way to much so it tends to dry out and this works so well my hair feels soft and fresh and it also smells nice! The products i have in the picture is the Shampoo, Conditioner, Color Guard and CC Hair Perfecter.

Now this is a new product so I cant actually find the price on there website but I shall put a link so you can check out some more of there awesome products!

www.sexyhair.co.uk

Kiko

I won these from RegentStreet and KikoMilanoUK

The Make-up case is called the Artist Pochette and is £9.90

The Color Click Lipstick is available in 6 different colors. I have the 01 Brilliant Pink now i dont wear much pink but it is a nice color to have and to wear every now and again. You can get this at £6.90

The Signature Eyemarker is £6.90 Im still not used to using this, I do love it though and will keep trying till I can am used to it.

I loved these product that much I thought I would go and check there store out in the trafford center and I picked my self some foundation up. It is now my favorite foundation to use.

www.kikocosmetics.com 

Musicals

I won this lovely set from TheGeekyMonkey for my grandma. She loves her musicals and I thought it would be perfect for her as a gift.

If you like Musicales you can buy this from Amazon for £29.99

Tg Green Tea

I won these yummy drinks from DrinkTg I have never had Green Tea before so I wasn't sure what I would think. And i would have to say i will be buying green tea again! The bottles were really nice and refreshing in the sun. I thought it would be over powering but it was really nice. I've not tried all the pouches yet as its been really nice weather and like something cold to drink. 

Bottles are £1.39

Pouches are £4.00

and you can buy them all from there website

www.drinktg.com

Grown Up Chocolate

I won these yummy chocolates from Grownupchocs.

My Favorite out of them all would be the Crunchy Praline Wonder Bar.
Im not a big fan of peanut butter  but the Super Salted Peanut Caramel was also really nice and i hardly could taste the peanuts.
Fruit and Nut Hunky Dory was also yummy Im not a big fan of nuts but I couldn't even notice that there were nuts in them, they were grounded and mixed into the chocolate. 

The Bars cost £1.99 each and if you wish to buy any or look at the different flavors go to there website.

www.thegrownupchocolatecompany.co.uk

Heartsease FarmI won these from HeartseaseFm and WarrensBakery
This is one of my newest wins that I got on Friday and is on of my favorite, I received a selection of drinks - Apple & Rhubarb, Elder-flower, Ginger beer, Raspberry lemonade and Traditional lemonade.
Also they sent me 3 little bottles of alcohol - Smirnoff, Captain Morgans and Dry Gin with a little menu of how to make cocktails.
My favorite flavor was the raspberry lemonade but the elder-flower and dry gin was also nice. These drinks were perfect with the sunny weather the we have been having.
If you would like to read more on there products click the link below =]
www.radnorhills.co.uk

If you have tried any of these products yourself why not leave me a comment and tell me what you thought?
Thank you for reading ;)

Tokyo Treat March 2016

(some of the information i use i got from this booklet)

March in Japan

Hinamatsuri (Doll Festival) is an occasion to pray for young girls growth and happiness. Hinamatsuri is celebrated each year on March 3rd, where most families with girls display dolls for the Doll Festival called Hina-ningyo. To celebrate this speacial day, people eat traditional dishes like scattered sushi (chirashi-sushi), clam soup, sweet white sake (shirozake), rice cake cubes (hina arare) and diamand- shaped rice cakes (hishimochi).

Punifua's it's Hard Not To Be Happy with Old-Grape Taste Gummies

These gummy snacks are the most adorable. Its a soft creamy texture of paw-print kitty shaped gummies that are paired with an old age flavor of grape. (i have no clue why the picture is a dog if its kitten shaped gummies XD)

Caramel Corn Peach-Flavored Hinamatsuri

In honor of the well known Japanese doll festival or Hinamatsuri. This is savory popped corn that you can see for sale during the time of this particular celebration in Japan. This caramel corn is combined with a peach flavor with a burst of fruit,

Caramel Corn is a treat made by Japanese snacks corportion Tohato, which has been popular and famous in Japan since the 1970s! These 2 colored peach flavor puffs are released specially for "Hinamatsuri" also known as "Girls Day" or "Dolls Day" that is celebrated annually in Japan on March 3rd,

Barbeque-Flavord Scones

These delicious savory slivers of bread pack a huge punch! Enjoy a bold and smokey barbeque taste paired with a crisp and crunchy bread stick for the ultimate salty treat. 

Hello Kitty Strawberry Biscuit Stick

Rich strawberry frosting topped upon crisp and delicate biscuit sticks in an adorable Hello Kitty package.

Strawberry Wheat Chocolate

Puffed and crispy wheat biscuit drop dipped in decadent strawberry, made with a subtle flavor so that it is not overwhelming on the taste buds.

Lucky Treats

These are some of the things subscribers could of won this month

Giant Sized Scorn Snacks

DIY Kit: Hamburger

My Neighbour Totoro Book

Big Totoro Cushion

Nendoroid: Miku Hatsune

DIY Kit: Taiyaki and Dumplings

Snow Totoro Piggy Bank

JIJI From KIKI's Delivery Service

Big Totoro Backpack

Giant Sized Baby Star Ramen

Giant Ppretz flavor of stir-fried shrimp in chili sauce

Giant Choco Ball Tokyo Limited Edition

JIJI From KIKI's Delivery Service Exhausted Plush

Cat-bus Rail Puzzle

Totoro Facial Towel

Totoro and May Jigsaw Puzzle

Giant Black Thunder

Cherry Blossoms (Sakura)

Spring time is definitely a favorite time in Japan! Early flowering plants and trees, such as plum trees, deliver the first signs of spring approaching. Spring time in Japan is more than amazing, as you can expect pleasant weather and blooming cherry blossoms all over the country. Cherry blossoms (or also known as Sakura) is iconic in Japan, due to its exquisite beauty and deep meaning. The significance of the cherry blossom tree in Japanese culture goes back hundreds of years, where they are considered more than just a beautiful tree. They are a symbolic flower of the spring, a time renewal, and the beauty of life. Its a reminder that life is almost overwhelmingly beautiful, but that it is also short. Cherry blossoms bloom for a short time each year to remind people of how precious life is.

The county's national flower captures the attention of visitors locally and overseas, as their beautiful pink colors blanket the country in soft and colorful splendor. There are countless of cherry blossom trees in Japan, where each year the Japanese people closely anticipate and follow the blossoming of the trees. This is called Hanami which means " watching blossoms".

When the trees are in bloom, people come in large groups with their families and friends to marvel at the beauty of the flowers while enjoying festivals with food, drink and music. At the end of the season, the wind carries thousands of blossoms in the air (know as " flower petal blizzard).

Anime Japan

Every year Anime Japan brings a mountain of guests, concerts, exclusive merchandise and lines as far as the eye can see. Formally known as Tokyo International Anime Fair, Anime Japan is a Japanese anime convention which is held annually at the Tokyo Big Sight exhibition center in Tokyo during March. It is the premier convention of the Japanese animation industry and one of the largest animation related events in the world, created from the merger of the Tokyo International Anime Fair with the Anime Contents Expo. Anime Japan is typically attended by several hundred Japanese and foreign TV and film production companies, as well as toy, game and software developers.

In the convention you will find yourself surrounded with booths, concert stages and cosplayers. From panels that are hosted by fans, celebrities and people working the industry, to screenings where major anime television shows and movies are screened, not forgetting great merchandise, Anime Japan has it all.

Anime Japan goes the extra mile for cosplayers by setting up an indoor studio complete with backdrops and sets.

The Heroic Tale of Momotaro

The story of Momotaro is a favorite bedtime story in Japan, which goes like this:

Once upon a time, in a small village, lived an old man and his wife.One day, the old women saw a very big peach coming down the river. She picked it up and took it home. When they cut the peach, a small boy came out of it. They named him Momotaro, and since they had no children, they raised him with love and care.

Momotaro grew up healthy and he became really strong. suddenly oni (devils) with thick red skin. powerful claws and sharp teeth started bothering the village, so Momotaro decided to fight them on the devils islandm, Momotaro's mom made special millet dumplings (kibi-dango) that would make those who eat them really strong to help him on his quest. On his way, Momotaro met a dog, a pheasant and a monkey who joined him on his journey. They all went to the island and ate the special kibi-dango, which made them stronger then ever. Together they beat all the oni. The oni promised that they were not going to do any bad things again. Momotaro (the peach boy) and his friends loaded the treasure and got back to the village.

Akihabara

Akihabara also called Akiba after a former local shrine, is Tokyo's anime and electronic district, located on the eastern side of the Central Chiyoda Ward. Akihabara has gained recognition as the center of Japan's otaku culture, and many shops and establishments devoted to anime and manga are now dispersed among the electronic stores in the district.

In the last decade, dozens of stores specializing in anime, manga, retro games, figurines, card games and other collectibles have filled the spaces between the electronics retailers. The character of Akihabara has constantly changed over the decades and is now known as the futuristic center for electronics and technology. It is also known as the center of Japanese otaku and anime culture.

Akiba was made known through Japanese dramas, anime series and various TV shows in the past decade, which makes it a famous tourist attraction. 

Thank you for reading =]

If you want to see what i rate the treats please Click Here

Tokyo Treat Feb 2016

(some of the information i have put in the blog was out of this book above)

February in Japan

'Setsubun' is a festival held on February 3, one day before the start of spring according to the Japanese luna calendar. The most commonly performed ritual is the following of roasted beans around ones house and temples. When throwing the beans, you are supposed to shout

 'Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi'
It means "Devils out, happiness in!" Afterwards people eat as many beans as their age.

 The treats i have tried are from the Small section at the top of this picture. I lost all my individual pictures of the treats so the pictures you will see below will be from the internet.

Nagewa Mentai Mayo Flavor

Mentaiko or marinated roe Pollock is often served with pasta in Japanese cuisine with mayonnaise or butter sauce. These crispy potato rings bring that very well-known Japanese mentai flavour to life! This is a limited edition mentai Neegewa mayonnaise-flaovoured version of the snack, which resembles the recognized Japanese dish that is surprisingly both sweet and savory.

Kik and Lala Strawberry Crunch

This is a puffed crunch bar that delivers a light bite and a sweet taste. The rice-puffed pieces that make up the bar are immersed with strawberry flavor to ensure each bite is extra sweet.

Grain Gummy

Flavor of apple, grape, muskat are sugar coated, much like a jelly bean, Both sweet and chewy.

Princess's Lost Treasure
Enjoy these retro double berry cookie crisps from us to you! The crunchy exterior pairs amazingly with will have you wanting more and more! The adorable packing reminds us of a time when Mario and Princess Peach first came to be!

Pocky Fleck Strawberry Heart Full
These heart-shape Pocky snacks are the ultimate Valentine's Day treat! Fleck of real strawberry mixed in with the strawberry icing-dipped biscuits with a crispy center for your enjoyment.

Collis Strange gum 2
The flavors of lemon, strawberry and blueberry then after a while the flavor changes to a grape.

Lucky Treats
Every Month Tokyo Treat subscribers are entered to win some pretty cool stuff this is just a list of things people could of won this month!
Umaibo Super Size
Yo-Kai Watch Large Size Plush: Jibanyan
Paw Shaped Cookie Imouto Girl Package

Pop-up Pirate Game
Kabuki Designed Eye Mask
One Piece Master Stars Piece: The Roronoa.Zoro
One Piece Pinched Key Holder:Luffy
One Piece Color Walk
Cherryblossom Gummy Super Size
Yo-Kai Watch Unbalanced Jenga Game
Danboard Mini Mode Kit
Kit Kat: Wasabi, Strawberry cheese cake and Rum Raisin Flavor
Tokyo Tower Nano Block
One Piece Master Star Piece:Revival Luffy

The Sapporo Snow Festival
The Sapporo Snow Festival (Sapporo Yuki-matsuri) started in 1950, when high school students built a number of snow statues in Odori Park, which has since turned into one of Japan's largest events. The event sees Sapporo a city located on the island of Hakkaido, transform into a winter wonderland dominated by crystal-like ice and snow sculptures that have been attracting over two million visitors from Japan and also across the world. Odori Park, Susukino and Tsudome are the main sites of the festival.

Kawaii Monster Cafe Harajuku
Popping up in the popular Tokyo district of Harajuku the "Kawaii Monster Cafe" explodes with bright colours and a large dose of Kawaii appeal.

Designed by Japanese visual artist Sebastian Masuda, the eye catching cafe is divided into four equally unique seating areas: the toadstool-themed Mushroom Disco, Bar Experiment, which features a black light-lit jellyfish, the Milk stand where baby bottles dangle from the ceiling and the Mel-Tea Room featuring giant melting ice cream cones. To match with its unique scene, the food served are just as mind blowing as the decorations.
(I so want to go this cafe!! if anyone has been or is going leave me a comment at the bottom and tell me your experience. its sounds so cool)

Thank you for reading =] 

if you would like to see what i rate the treats out of Tokyo Treat just click this link British girl tries Tokyo Treat

Japanese Candy Part 1

Ive always wanted to do a Vlog trying Japanese Candy, so me and Amy decided we would give it ago together. If you would like to see it just scroll to the bottom of the page to watch our reactions and don't forget to subscribe if you would like to see more =].

This post is just a bit of info of the sweets we tried. I typed it up after we tried them so nothing gave the flavor or surprises away.

The first one we tried was
Fun Christmas Caramel Powder Snow

I decided to try this one first because its so close to Christmas.

This is mellow flavors of condensed milk, paired with honey and salt in a puffed snack that gives off a vibe of a winter wonderland also, the special Christmas packaging will be sure to lighten your spirits! I really liked the flavor of these, i love sweet things but Amy is more of a savory type of girl so she didn't like them at all!

Meiji Cotton Soda Gum

This special cotton candy snack is the flavor of cola, Enjoy a small portion of cotton candy, without feeling bad afterwards! The light flavor will leave you feeling happy on the inside! With the packet we thought it might be bubble gum flavor but actually it turned into bubble gum. We both rather enjoyed this one.

Chocolate Animal Poo

This candy resembles animal droppings that pop from the box as if the animal was relieving themselves. In the Japanese tradition, you can see what luck you will have each day by the color in which the candies are released!
We had trouble opening this one, we didn't know we had to fill his tummy up for it to poo out XD. We enjoyed this one, was rather fun as well and we named him Fred.

Seven Stick Chocolate Cream

This is chocolate and cream surrounded by crunchy and sweet vanilla waver cookies for and ultimate chocolate-fix snack you can enjoy anywhere.
These were rather boring to be honest but they were nice.

Ponske Ponchi Fried Snack

These fried morsels will suit any occasion with their sweet and savory flavor mixed with a unique texture. Mini pieces that can be popped into your mouth until your willing to stop snacking!
We both enjoyed these as well it was like eating sweet and salted popcorn but as crisps.

Wasabi Pretzels

These biscuit sticks are both crispy and zesty with a powerful wasabi bang in each bite! A unique biscuit taste.
Now these ones i did not like at all but Amy loved them. The flavor was really strong and so was the taste.

Sato Petite Pack og Meiji Bamboo Shoots

These triangular pack of mini cookies are made in a special petite size portioned snacking, this chocolate dipped biscuits resembles a shoot of bamboo.

I thought these looked like a small Christmas tree, these also were a bit boring but they were cute to look at.

Umai-Bou

Umaibo is a small, puffed, cylindrical corn snack from Japan.Salty and crispy in texture.
This smelt like fish and it tasted of fish as well. We decided that it might be lobster flavored with the lobster on the front.

Now this one i won of a Twitter competition so im not sure of its name 

This is a hard sweet, that have a unique flavor to them. We think its a soap flavor because of the little picture of soap on it. We had trouble opening this one but it did have cool pictures on it!
And it did tasted of soap as well! It also turned into chewing gum.

Want to see are reactions and what we rated the sweets out of 10

Click here to see the Japanese Candy Vlog

Dont forget to check Amy's Blog out all about Make-up and Fashion

Art & Witchcraft

Twitter

@ShonaDuffy

@Amy_Katt

Death Note

"The Human whose name is written in this note shall die"

I watched Death Note years ago and thought it was a pretty good film. I re-watched it the other day with my boyfriend and noticed that the effects are not that good but i still enjoy the film a lot even if its slightly different to the anime and manga by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata.
Death Note is a series of two live-action Japanese films released in 2006 and a spin off called L:Changed the world in 2008.Its a Detective fiction, Psychological thriller and Supernatural film.And was directed by Shusuke Kaneko and produced by Nippon Television and distributed by Warner Bros. Picture Japan.

Two of the main actorsTatsuya Fujwara is a Japanese actor and plays the character Light Yagami. He is also known as Shuga Nanahara as the lead role in Battle Royal, Rikuhiko in the Incite Mill and Shishio Makoto in the Rurouni Kenshin films. The First film is about a university student who wants to rid the earth of evil by using a supernatural notebook that kills anyone whose name is written in it.
I love the character Ryuk and his obsession with Apples he decided to drop his Death Note on earth because he was bored and finds humans entertaining.

   Tatsuya Fujwara    and   Kenichi Matsuyama

Kenichi Matsuyama is also a Japanese actor and plays the character L. He also plays Toho from the film Norwegian Wood (also a book). He plays the role of  Kenichi Mouri from the Tv Drama Gokusen.

*SPOILERS*

Light Yagami is a first year law student who discovers a notebook, known as the "Death Note" dropped by the Shinigami Ryuk. I havnt read the Manga yet but i have watched the anime and thought Tatsuya character as Light was very convincing.

The Death Note instructions claim that if a persons name is written while picturing that persons face, that person will die. After Light experiments with the Death Note, he realize it is real. When Light meets the previous owner of the Death Note, a shinigami called Ryuk, Light wants to become "God of the new world" by passing judgment on those who are evil or get in his way. Light begins to use the Death Note to kill Criminals who didn't get punished by the Japanese justice system but turns into a serial killer known as "Kira"

You always see L eating sweet things like cake or drinking sweet coffee or tea. He also has a peculiar behavior, he sits in unusual potions, always wears the same outfit,holds things by their corners and is always barefoot. I thought Kenichi captured L's character perfectly with his odd behavior. 

As Kira continues to kill, some people in the Japan society come to see Kira as a righteous figure. The Interpol launches an investigation of the murders. The case attracts the attention of L a world famous detective. L confronts Kira through a television broadcast using a convict who is on death row to say he is L, by doing this he angers Kira by calling him immature and saying he is far worse then the criminals he has killed. L also finds out from the broadcast that kira can kill without lifting a finger and only by knowing the name and face of the victim.

L and Light then begin a game of cat and mouse to see who can out smart who first.

Takeshi Kage as Soichiro Lights Farther

As the investigation goes on L figures out the Kira is a college student and Light finds out that his farther Soichiro is in charge of the Kira case so this would give him an advantage by looking at the police database to see if L is getting closer to finding him out but this brings up suspicion with L that Kira is some how involved with someone on the investigation. L decides to have the family's of the people helping on the investigation followed and Light notices this and comes up with a plan to find out who it is.

Ryuk Voiced by Shidou Nakamura

Light writes in the Death Note "Kiichiro Osoreda, Car accident. On March 29th 2006 he gets on the 10:12 Kyonan bus. He carries a gun with 8 bullets ad tries to rob the bus but he sees a horrifying phantom and starts to fire at it. With no bullets left, he hurries off the bus.

By doing this the events on the bus came true Light finds out the The guy following him is an FBI agent called Raye Iwamatsu.

Shingeki Hosokawa as Raye Iwamatsu

Once Light found out his name he uses this as his advantage and gets the agent to wright the other names of the FBI agents following the other members of each family on some paper torn out of the Death Note so he doesn't look suspicious when he kills Raye Iwamatsu. To do this he wrights in the Note book saying , Heart attack. Clears his schedule, and rides the train from Akasakabashi. Gets on the 10:14 train from the last door of the forth car. He takes the manila envelope and dies three seconds after getting off."

 Asaka Sseto as Naomi Misora 

Naomi Misora is the fiance of Raye. She decided to follow Raye when he started to act suspicious and saw his death and starts to blame Kira. She decides to take part in the Kira case, and finds out who he was assigned to follow. While attempting to get in touch with L she meets Light and gives him a false name as she is suspicious of him but he was at an advantage because he had already seen her at the train station were her fiance died and she told Light that she was his fiance. Light knew for weddings you have to give your real name and that churches are open to the public so he found her real name there. Light feels that Naomi is getting close to figuring out who Kira really is so he wants to get rid of her and comes up with another plan using the Death Note.

Yuu Kashii as Shiori Akinoi Lights girlfriend.

Light wrote in the Note book "Naomi Misora, Suicide. Arranges to meet with her fiances killer. Takes his girlfriend hostage at the Omei Art Gallery. She makes the girlfriend call him on April 15th, 14:15. She then contacts a third party, the investigation team and tries to make the killer confess as they watch. At 14:55, she stops the hostage from running away but in the moment of madness, ends up shooting herself." He also wrote next to Naomi's page "Shiori Akino, Killed by third person. Gets kidnapped at the Omei Art Gallery. On April 15th 14:15, She is forced to phone her boyfriend. She gets away as the police break in. But at 14:55, a warning shot hits her and she dies trying to protect her boyfriend."

Lights plan was to kill Naomi and his girlfriend Shiori in front of his eyes so when he asked to join the investigation on capturing Kira every one will sympathies and believe that he can not be Kira.

When Light ask his farther to join the investigation L steps out of the shadows and introduces him self to Light and agrees for him to join the team.

At this point you see Light as something worse then a murder and start to think you want him to get caught.

At the end of this film you also see Mia picking up another death note to lead onto the second film so i will talk about that moment when i do the second one as a blog.

If you have seen Death note tell me what you thought of the film below in the comments :)