Mini Adventures June and July

It feels like I’ve been on a few little trips recently.  The great thing about this time of year is there are always things to do.  I’ve written a roundup of some of the places I’ve been to.

Hyper Japan
I’ve been to this Japanese festival before and really wanted to go again so finally managed to get there this year.

There was quite a bit to see. I’ve always wanted someone to draw a manga version of me, so got myself rendered in chibi form.  We also really liked the candy stall selling Japanese sweets (green tea Kitkat anyone? ) I had to resist the impulse not to buy tonnes of rubbish and that my Mum didn’t need a wooden fan.

Hyper Japan is highly recommended for anyone who appreciates Japanese culture or just wants a quirky day out.

London Pride
18 months ago I was talking to my brother Paul about Gay Pride, which he had been to a few times. He said that he wanted us to go together and I promised that we would. I knew I wouldn’t be able to go last year as Glasto called, however I told him ‘we’ll go in 2015″. Paul and I never got to go to Pride together as he passed away a few weeks later. That is why I was determined to go this year. Even if we couldn’t go together, I still wanted to do it in his memory.

June 27th was a lovely sunny day, which was lucky really as the whole thing was outside. We had to queue for a short while to get in but it was a great atmosphere. Once inside, we spent some time wandering around the stalls and watched the live acts, including Britain’s Got Talent 2014 winners Collabro, on the stage. Blue also made an appearance as well.

I visited the stall for the Mildmay Hospital, which is a cause very close to my heart. There were also plenty of other charities there as well. It also happened to be that the US government had voted Yes on gay marriage the day before, so there was celebration was in the air.

Even though it was a sad day for me, London Pride was an excellent day out and a great celebration of diversity, whatever your sexual orientation.

That’s enough of round-up for now, expect part two very soon.