Taking Flight: Fantasy Quest 4

As much as the VIP day of Fantasy Quest 4 was exciting and eventful, so was the actual event. Even more cosplayers flocked to Fernwood Gardens to join the event and for a chance to catch a glimpse of attending guests from many different countries and to participate in this year's festivities.

As for me, my day didn't start out the way I planned it. I woke up a little later than I had planned, and a lot of things went awry when I was doing my makeup. It was frustrating because I couldn't find the original false eyelashes that I wanted, and I couldn't find the perfect lip color to go with my look. 
I cosplayed as Yazawa Nico, A White Valentine's Day version from Love Live.

(You can see from the photos that I had different lip colors. I thought that the first one I used was too pale and sort of washed me out too much, so I ditched that and went with the lip color on the second photo.)
Thankfully, I managed to find a pair of eyelashes that suited Nico in time, and I finally managed to fix my lip makeup. On a side note, looking back at my pictures, I think the lashes I wore that day suited Nico better than the ones I have used before. 【＾∀＾★】b

A lot of people were already there when I arrived (about 3pm). It was amazing to see everyone in photo-worthy cosplays, and I can really tell that everyone put their best foot forward that day. (Otsukare!)

Before my mom and dad left to go shopping, we took some photos by the church's doors which had a lot of gorgeous details that reminded me of Victorian era.

I wandered around the event initially to see my friends, to check who was present and to check out some shops. There weren't many shops that day, mostly were food stalls which really called out to me but I held myself back because my costume was a little tummy-showy.

Kanra! Who's an amazing Pearl from Steven Universe~

Her acting during the cosplay runway was A+

Cute Kotori!

Yoshino! This is Mely, she's the sister of my mom's officemate~
My mom keeps on teasing me that I influenced her to start cosplay.
Fufufu~

I met up with Erika and Asuka, two cool gals that I met the day before. We found out that we were going to cosplay the same version of Love Live, so we planned to have a group shoot. We shot inside the church, and even though it was pretty warm inside there, we had a fun time.

Having my solo shots taken~

Group photo! View the output of this BTS here.

Thank you for shooting with me, Erika and Asuka!

Erika and Asuka went to change into their second costume for the day, while my brother and I stuck around to wait for the ball near the stage area since I didn't have a second costume to change to.

While we waited near the stage, they announced that the cosplay runway will begin in a while and that interested cosplayers should line up. I was reluctant to join, but my friends and my brother kept on urging me to go and join.

I finally caved in and joined the cosplay runway, and I was super nervous to find out that I was the first! //internal screaming and panicking (⊃д⊂)
Thanks so much to Nix for volunteering to go first before me. I made some really good friends while waiting in line for the cosplay runway, it was nice to meet everyone!

It was very scary too because the red carpet looked like a dangerous, impromptu stunt waiting to happen. I tried my best to channel my inner angelic, playful, cute Nico as I walked and I do hope I did it some justice even though I was really nervous!

Of course, the attending guests were the last to join the runway and it made me super starstruck to see everyone in awesome cosplays and acting in character. Jun and Neru were stars of the show and they exited last, in amazing Gangsta cosplay.

Even though it was late, a lot of people stayed in the event.

Jun as Nicolas Brown
Neru as Worick Arcangelo

After the runway, Jun and Neru held their Q&A session and another meet and greet. Even more people were in line this time just to meet the two.

While everyone was busy with the meet and greet, my brother and I wandered around by ourselves again.

Shooting with BA Photography!
Oh look, tummy peek (⊃‿⊂)

With oh so sexy Eiri!

MOGU MOGU!

Reishi and Izanagi!
I haven't seen them in a long time, I really missed them so much!

Who knew Nico fancied Ukyo?

After wandering around, we went back to the stage to wait for the cosplay ball. What really surprised me is that suddenly there were a lot of people who just entered the event, and it was already around 6:30-7pm. It was a Sunday and most people were off from work and school, but for some reason a lot of people wanted to go into the event late.

Aire!

Kuya Roms gave a little speech of thank you to everyone and to the team behind Fantasy Quest, and it was really heart-warming. I could see a few tears form from a mile away. He also thanked Jun and Neru for their attendance, and he gave special mention to Lunaru, who was the head of the guest relations team.

And surprised her with a Fantasy Quest jacket!

I was really amazed when Lunaru shared her story of how she used to feel lonely when she first came to Japan, and eventually how she made lots of friends through cosplay and meeting new people in conventions. I thought it was really brave of her to face the elements of a new place all by herself.
Hopefully I will somehow have the same kind of change soon kekeke~

We were so near the stage so we managed to take really nice photos of Jun, Neru, Lunaru and Karin(?). But getting the shots were only as good as how steady our hands were, and we didn't have a tripod so my brother improvised...

...and used me as a human tripod. #ShortNicoProblems

As a thank you to everyone who stuck around until the end, Kuya Roms announced that they will be giving out free contact lenses from Geolica and asked us to line up. I got a really cute purple pair, and it was like destiny because I wanted to get a gray or purple one! I might make a review about it in the future.

After giving out the last of the contact lens, they opened the floor for the cosplay ball! It was really magical to see everyone in elaborate costumes as they danced the night away, and it was so sweet to see couples sway to the music. 、(￣▽￣)V 

Thank you so much to everyone whom I've danced with that night, and to everyone that I met that day which made my Fantasy Quest experience so memorable and unforgettable. This is most definitely one of the best events I have ever been in. This is the third time I've attended Fantasy Quest and my second time to enjoy being a VIP. It's one of the first conventions I have ever attended and I am so happy to watch it grow as the years passed by.

Also, surprise! Fantasy Quest 5 will be happening in Fernwood Gardens, Tagaytay and I am super excited about it. I love Tagaytay, I have been there a lot of times and it's one of my favorite places to travel to. I'm really looking forward to it.

A big, big thank you to everyone I've met and hung out with for those amazing two days - you all made my weekend so special! Also a big kudos to the amazing team behind Fantasy Quest for another successful event. We're all certainly looking forward to the next one.

- Aki

BONUS! I will soon blog about my experience in shooting with Moonstruck Creatives to create promotional content for Fantasy Quest. I received a lot of questions about it so I decided to blog about it instead. Please look forward to it~