Finally, something to report to all my Hello Kitty and Sanrio fans out there! To be fair, this isn’t about the Sanrio Town or the Hello Kitty Online game. Second Life often has various events going around made by creators and brought in from people just like you and I. A new event that just recently started up is Astralia’s Hello Kitty 45th Anniversary event and Celebration. It’s posted throughout the Second Life Linden Labs blog and to be honest I’m a little late hopping on this event bandwagon. Reality has stolen me from my creativity, and I’ve been hustling like most of us nowadays in the workforce. I had no idea that Astralia was a licensed partner with Sanrio no wonder I loved their products. For those who don’t know a lot of my inventory is filled with items from Astralia, I feel I’ve put a lot of real-life money into Second Life just for their creations and now it finally makes sense. Being a huge Hello Kitty and Sanrio fan since I was a little kid, I had to take part in this glorious celebration, and I’ve decided to take all my readers with me on this fabulous adventure!
*Note: Ahead of time I apologize if there are more photos taken and placed in this post than some of my others. This is a huge interest of mine and I’m just super excited to share my adventures at the event with you. Also, if you’re a premium member now is the time to use your perk in being able to enter sims, events, and shopping centers before those who don’t have the premium membership. For those who didn’t know this is one of the best perks of premium so you’re not standing outside of a sim for hours waiting to get in. Use this to your advantage for future places and events you want to get into. *
To Begin… Words of Encouragement:
I encourage all of those who love to explore in Second Life to visit some of these events that pop up always of the year. You don’t even have to like exploring just to check out some new places and redirect from the usual of your virtual life. I’ve learned the hard way the past few days but trying new things helps you to grow emotionally, physically, and mentally no matter what age you are.
Upon Entering:
You’re welcomed by a welcome bot created for the event. Those who don’t know these welcome bots aren’t real people behind the avatar. They’re set to send you a greeting either privately through IM or local. At this point it will also ask you if you want to join the Astralia group which is $149l this is for their VIP group honestly, it depends on who you are but I only pay for groups if I’m consistently at the store all of the time and want to support the creator. So, for me, the group was worth it. It’s up to you whether it’s worth it to you.
To you’re right you will see a map of the entire two sims and to the left, you will see a board that talks about the racing area where you add on a HUD and how to use it. Right behind you when you first pop in is the racetrack and right in front of you is where you want to go for everything else. Being me and wanting to see everything and not just the race track I just kept going straight. There was a good amount of people to make it a joyful experience. Not too many to the point where I’m lagging out of control but just enough to the point where I could meet new people, chat and enjoy everything in the sim without feeling like I was alone. If you keep going straight upon entering there is the Astralia store and then a right and left path, it’s up to you which way you want to go upon entering the sim. There was so much to explore that it took me about two hours to fully enjoy, try, and explore everything in the event.
Souvenir Photos:
When you first enter from the welcome area and your past the bot to your right there is a photo area where you can snap yourself a souvenir photo. I did this because let’s be honest, events come and go, and I wanted to remember this one. This event hits home for me mainly because I’ve been a huge Sanrio and Hello Kitty fan since I was a kid and I’m still a huge fan. I never did grow out of it and I embrace it! But this was a lot of fun to do I’m glad they had a small area for this.
Shopping:
If you keep going straight after you first enter it leads you to the Astralia items for the event. You can buy pretty much everything that’s on the sim created by the Astralia. There is so much I’ll be honest; I’ll probably end up buying everything there’s so much that I want from the store all these items are created and licensed by both Astralia and Sanrio. These are going to be exclusive after the event so if there is something you want; I’d buy it before the event ends. Keep in mind a lot of the things will be a little pricey because it is Sanrio related items and they’re all part of an event, but this is something you should expect. It’s like going to Disney and expecting a water bottle to be $1 which we all know is never happening in a million years. I’d suggest checking out the store though it’s worth looking at.
Games and Interactive Things to do:
Where do I begin? There’s so much here to experience and do. From checking out a party area to the racecourse, outdoor bouncy maze, kids’ playground, Ferris wheel, boats to ride throughout the sim, and a small sitting dock. I loved the party area it did seem a little overwhelming at first, but I don’t expect anything less when it comes to Sanrio and Hello Kitty related anything. There is a large birthday cake which I grabbed a photo of and at the beginning of the event they held parties and DJ’d in that area. There is a VIP lounger for Astralia VIP members who bought the $149l group tag. There’s also, a Ferris wheel that works that your avatar can ride on and see one of the sims from up above which is always a fun time. You do lag a little when riding the Ferris wheel just a heads up on that I think it’s because of how much scripting went into the Ferris wheel itself to make it move… the racecourse almost takes up a whole other sim which is amazing and everything is Sanrio related it was so much fun to take a trip through my childhood in a race car. What I must say I enjoyed the most were the small little tube boats that you could take through both sims. The event is made up of two sims if I didn’t specify before and you’re able to explore everything from the comfort of your boat! It was a lot of fun and super exciting. If you’re also someone who enjoys playing Second Life as a child avatar (I do it sometimes for family RP’s) there is a small child’s area called the “child playground” here there is a bounce house, trampoline, and other interactive items you’re little avatar can interact with. Another thing I wanted to bring up was the gigantic board game looking area where I ended up sitting and taking a couple of photos and just relaxing out while I looked around. It was so relaxing, cartoony, and just environmentally pleasing. I loved it more than I probably should have! This is a Sanrio/Hello Kitty Heaven if you’re a huge fan you won’t know what to say and will probably spend a whole lot of time here.
To conclude, I am super speechless there was so much to explore, it kept my ADHD brain satisfied for hours. Which a lot of things don’t keep me entertained for long periods. I realized a lot of players in the area were new and a lot of them created avatars and entered Second Life specifically for the event. This event is bringing in new members into the virtual world community and entertaining our veteran players who have been around since Second Life has been around. Between the games, mazes, and interactive things to do on the sim there is a little something for everyone. Don’t forget about that souvenir photo I don’t want you to regret not taking one while you were there! I hope some of you will go and visit this event whether you’re bored and need something to do or just love Hello Kitty and Sanrio this is the perfect celebratory event for you.
Charming Ellie 