MINAMI-CON!!!
Ah here goes...
... firstly, if you haven't read Sharps version of this, then do so, as 95% of the time were were doing the same things, so I'm just going to add on to it (pretty much)
Apologies for the picture qualities, I had to reduce them to upload them, if anyone wants them msn me and I can transfer them over, in addition, I used ones that Sharp didn't from my photo pool :P
Friday - Arrival
After a early start to the morning, I met Tom at Selly Oak station for 9:30, we got the train direct to Southampton (and randomly watched Yu-Gi-Oh! Abridged on the way). Once we got there everyone else was waiting for us at the station, once everyone was together we checked in and headed over to Pizza Hut. All 14 of us. Luckily they had space for us!
After this we headed over to ASDA to stock up on Cider, meanwhile plotting to hijack the carts there and race them down the entrance way! XD
Then we went back to the hotel, I headed back to my room to get a chance to put together some more of my cosplay, with only having received a Minami place a month before, and purchased material a week before, I wasn't sure if I was going to finish or not (admittedly, I'd managed to get everything done but the skirt)
After this I met back up with the others for the opening ceremony, this included various competitions such as onigiri w/ wasabi eating... a version of Chinese whispers that involved drawing instead of whispering and ad-hoc cosplay dress up!
Following this we stayed up for most of the disco, having had a few pints by this point, I don't remember as much :P fortunately, I do remember meeting up with Josie, whom I hadn't seen in years back from RAS (Reading Animé Society)!!! Sadly she couldn't make the Saturday because one of her friends had arranged a hen party that day :(
Once we got back to the Ibis hotel, me and Sharp continued to stay up until 4 singing dubbed Sailor Moon songs - why? because we could! :D Tom meanwhile slept through it all...
Quote of the evening: "It's got breasts.... It's confusing" - Tom (talking about a guy cosplaying a female)
Saturday - Convention I
I got up, tried to round off a basic skirt so I would have something to wear, then I got a call from Tom who was in the dealers room buying his prize figurine! XD (which, by the way I did NOT break later on << >> )
Then we went down to the Animé quiz, which yes... we came second in :D With some interesting rounds... :P After this I met up with my mum who had come down, she then spent the rest of the weekend shopping!
Meanwhile I spent some time in the Dealers room buying stuff for people and taking pictures! XD Also got roped into the sake tasting room which we snuck a second round of (Sharp used his cunning disguise of taking off his glasses... he, it works in animé! and apparently at Minami too, since we had a successful second round of drinks :P)
This was about the time that B-Cat told Sharp he had a stalker from a previous con (clearly Shadow Jam) ;)
After this there was lots of drinking and Ouendan played, in addition to bizarre games such as Spiderman Operation O_o this continued until the masquerade began followed by quite an epic auction (various objects included Official-Disney-Merchandise HARDCORE Winnie the Pooh (guaranteed to ruin your childhood) and Animé Monopoly!! as well as various artwork)
Later on we all gathered in the lobby and had lots of fun chatting with each other, I met the current RAS president properly :D This was when a couple of the guys piled on top of Sharp whilst the RAS president and I decided to play a game of drunk imagenary fencing which ended up in me accidentally hitting her in the eye! Sorry! Lots of drunkness ftw!
In the evening, headed back up to the Ibis with Tom and Sharp (again!) Me and Sharp traded some animé while Tom fell to sleep, not long after this Sharp randomly said he was tired and fell to sleep, after waiting to see if he was actually asleep or not, I decided the best thing would be to pack up and head back to my room (it being around 5 by this point)
Quote of the evening: "I'm just a bit tired" - Sharp (before randomly and suddenly falling asleep)
Another Quote: "...and earlier today, during the quiz, one of the guys had a Death Note... looking inside, it contained his to-do list" - During the Masquerade
Sunday - Convention II
Upon waking, went shopping briefly with my mum. Got a few odd things and then headed back down to the convention. Down in the lobby, I noticed that a blister caused by one of the safety pins had swollen up, for some crazy reason this turned into a fun game for Sharp and I as to whether he could poke it or not before the day was out. This involved a lot of teasing and me falling off my chair in defence :P
Having not finished all the stuff me and Sharp were trading the day before (as Sharp randomly fell asleep!) I decided to stay on and not go back, this turned out to be really fun as we all went down to the local pub later on. They were really great, firstly got a roast for £5, Tom got a chicken roast and it came with half a chicken! O_O pretty good for £5! :P and then they stayed open for us too, so we left a rather large tip for being awesome :D
Headed back to Sharp and Toms (again!) where Sharp eventually won the challenge by catching me when I was stuck into step mania... X(
This was about where Sharp had a large combo of around 200 on Ouendan and I had a large combo (around 300) on SM, which then simultaneously broke... (this was CLEARLY Tom's fault!)
After more chatting, we staying up to watch Grave of the Fireflies (Live Action), Tom failing and falling asleep again! We ended up staying up all night meaning we were pretty awake in the morning (except Sharp who asked me several times to switch off his alarm whilst in the shower - not realising it was in the shower with him!) :P
Quote of the evening: "TOM!!" - Sharp and I simultaneously (several occurrences of this :P)
Monday - Departure
After a night of trying to drain my blister with a needle my thumb hurt a lot, so struggled my case over to the station at around 8 in the morning... had a tiring trip back, where I played more Ouendan. Got back to uni eventually... and Minami was officially over :(
Hopefully it will be just as fun next year, we're all preregistered for it! Although amecon coming up first (if I can still get a place) - maybe will cosplay there too, although this time will start earlier than a week before! XD
Lastly, After realising I didn't really have any pictures of myself, I took advantage of the mirror in my at the time - messy room :P
After I finish the skirt and do the arm band, I may well give it another shot at amecon... that said I also want to do another cosplay for then too. I just haven't worked out what!! XD
All in all a great weekend, met lots of cool people and re-met a lot of older friends, I can't wait until next year already! :D
... firstly, if you haven't read Sharps version of this, then do so, as 95% of the time were were doing the same things, so I'm just going to add on to it (pretty much)
Apologies for the picture qualities, I had to reduce them to upload them, if anyone wants them msn me and I can transfer them over, in addition, I used ones that Sharp didn't from my photo pool :P
Friday - Arrival
After a early start to the morning, I met Tom at Selly Oak station for 9:30, we got the train direct to Southampton (and randomly watched Yu-Gi-Oh! Abridged on the way). Once we got there everyone else was waiting for us at the station, once everyone was together we checked in and headed over to Pizza Hut. All 14 of us. Luckily they had space for us!
After this we headed over to ASDA to stock up on Cider, meanwhile plotting to hijack the carts there and race them down the entrance way! XD
Then we went back to the hotel, I headed back to my room to get a chance to put together some more of my cosplay, with only having received a Minami place a month before, and purchased material a week before, I wasn't sure if I was going to finish or not (admittedly, I'd managed to get everything done but the skirt)
After this I met back up with the others for the opening ceremony, this included various competitions such as onigiri w/ wasabi eating... a version of Chinese whispers that involved drawing instead of whispering and ad-hoc cosplay dress up!
Following this we stayed up for most of the disco, having had a few pints by this point, I don't remember as much :P fortunately, I do remember meeting up with Josie, whom I hadn't seen in years back from RAS (Reading Animé Society)!!! Sadly she couldn't make the Saturday because one of her friends had arranged a hen party that day :(
Once we got back to the Ibis hotel, me and Sharp continued to stay up until 4 singing dubbed Sailor Moon songs - why? because we could! :D Tom meanwhile slept through it all...
Quote of the evening: "It's got breasts.... It's confusing" - Tom (talking about a guy cosplaying a female)
Saturday - Convention I
I got up, tried to round off a basic skirt so I would have something to wear, then I got a call from Tom who was in the dealers room buying his prize figurine! XD (which, by the way I did NOT break later on << >> )
Then we went down to the Animé quiz, which yes... we came second in :D With some interesting rounds... :P After this I met up with my mum who had come down, she then spent the rest of the weekend shopping!
Meanwhile I spent some time in the Dealers room buying stuff for people and taking pictures! XD Also got roped into the sake tasting room which we snuck a second round of (Sharp used his cunning disguise of taking off his glasses... he, it works in animé! and apparently at Minami too, since we had a successful second round of drinks :P)
This was about the time that B-Cat told Sharp he had a stalker from a previous con (clearly Shadow Jam) ;)
After this there was lots of drinking and Ouendan played, in addition to bizarre games such as Spiderman Operation O_o this continued until the masquerade began followed by quite an epic auction (various objects included Official-Disney-Merchandise HARDCORE Winnie the Pooh (guaranteed to ruin your childhood) and Animé Monopoly!! as well as various artwork)
Later on we all gathered in the lobby and had lots of fun chatting with each other, I met the current RAS president properly :D This was when a couple of the guys piled on top of Sharp whilst the RAS president and I decided to play a game of drunk imagenary fencing which ended up in me accidentally hitting her in the eye! Sorry! Lots of drunkness ftw!
In the evening, headed back up to the Ibis with Tom and Sharp (again!) Me and Sharp traded some animé while Tom fell to sleep, not long after this Sharp randomly said he was tired and fell to sleep, after waiting to see if he was actually asleep or not, I decided the best thing would be to pack up and head back to my room (it being around 5 by this point)
Quote of the evening: "I'm just a bit tired" - Sharp (before randomly and suddenly falling asleep)
Another Quote: "...and earlier today, during the quiz, one of the guys had a Death Note... looking inside, it contained his to-do list" - During the Masquerade
Sunday - Convention II
Upon waking, went shopping briefly with my mum. Got a few odd things and then headed back down to the convention. Down in the lobby, I noticed that a blister caused by one of the safety pins had swollen up, for some crazy reason this turned into a fun game for Sharp and I as to whether he could poke it or not before the day was out. This involved a lot of teasing and me falling off my chair in defence :P
Having not finished all the stuff me and Sharp were trading the day before (as Sharp randomly fell asleep!) I decided to stay on and not go back, this turned out to be really fun as we all went down to the local pub later on. They were really great, firstly got a roast for £5, Tom got a chicken roast and it came with half a chicken! O_O pretty good for £5! :P and then they stayed open for us too, so we left a rather large tip for being awesome :D
Headed back to Sharp and Toms (again!) where Sharp eventually won the challenge by catching me when I was stuck into step mania... X(
This was about where Sharp had a large combo of around 200 on Ouendan and I had a large combo (around 300) on SM, which then simultaneously broke... (this was CLEARLY Tom's fault!)
After more chatting, we staying up to watch Grave of the Fireflies (Live Action), Tom failing and falling asleep again! We ended up staying up all night meaning we were pretty awake in the morning (except Sharp who asked me several times to switch off his alarm whilst in the shower - not realising it was in the shower with him!) :P
Quote of the evening: "TOM!!" - Sharp and I simultaneously (several occurrences of this :P)
Monday - Departure
After a night of trying to drain my blister with a needle my thumb hurt a lot, so struggled my case over to the station at around 8 in the morning... had a tiring trip back, where I played more Ouendan. Got back to uni eventually... and Minami was officially over :(
Hopefully it will be just as fun next year, we're all preregistered for it! Although amecon coming up first (if I can still get a place) - maybe will cosplay there too, although this time will start earlier than a week before! XD
Lastly, After realising I didn't really have any pictures of myself, I took advantage of the mirror in my at the time - messy room :P
After I finish the skirt and do the arm band, I may well give it another shot at amecon... that said I also want to do another cosplay for then too. I just haven't worked out what!! XD
All in all a great weekend, met lots of cool people and re-met a lot of older friends, I can't wait until next year already! :D