Japan trip report, day 6
September 1, 2007
Got up earlier today than yesterday. Today is costume day! Trowa is dressed as Neo and I am dressed as Princess Fiona. We are receiving a lot of attention, especially me, since I'm green. :) We spent some time in the exhibition hall, checking out the various tables and posing for pictures. I've been hearing lots of "Fiona-hime!" ("Princess Fiona!") and "Shreku!" Fun!
We got lunch at one of the convention center counters. I had tasty soba noodles in sauce with inari and Trowa had a rice bowl with eel and egg.
Next up -- a panel with Bob Eggleton and Yoshitaka Amano, famous fantasy artists. They talked for a while, which I didn't follow as much, but then they did some quick drawings of dragons and stuff, then had everyone stand up to play mass games of rock-paper-scissors to see who would win them. Trowa almost won the first one, but I did win the third one! Eeeee! I never win anything! And now I have an autographed sketch by Japan's most famous fantasy artist.
Now we're at a panel on alien sexuality. This is a fun panel. Some choice quotes:
Well, we cadged a bit more net time before the Hugo Awards. I checked email and made a quick update to the LJ, and noticed that ladykathryn had left a comment asking if we'd like to get together for dinner, so I gave her a quick buzz and arranged to meet in front of the main hall just before the awards started.
The ceremony took quite a while because of the translation issues, and also because things got off to a slow start, but the opening bit featuring Ultraman vs. kaiju was a hoot. I wasn't familiar with any of the print contenders except for Neil Gaiman, but I had seen several of the TV episodes and movies in the running. The ones I had been rooting for most didn't win, though.
Afterward we joined ladykathryn and her boyfriend, _nicolai_, on a quest for dinner. We ended up at a place in the lower levels of Landmark Tower shortly before last orders. I managed to order a small portion of vegetable tempura with soba noodles. Yum! The tempura included a whole shiso leaf -- very tasty.
Then it was back to the hotel to check out the party scene. Much like last night, the 6th floor was very hot and crowded. We visited two of the Japanese-hosted parties, which were crammed with people. The hosts of the second one plied us with good, cold sake and plum wine and played some odd spoof video on the TV. At both parties, every time a Hugo winner would enter the room. they would cheer, clap, and sing.
When we couldn't take the heat anymore, we hung out in the hallway. A gauntlet of drunken Japanese fans lined the hall, cheering, "Banzai! Banzai! Banzai!" as people walked past -- especially when gaijin walked past. :) Whoever said that Japanese were quiet and reserved obviously never saw them drunk and in party mode. :)
Finally overheated to the point of overwhelmedness, we left the hotel for our room, stopping for ice cream and cold drinks along the way. We took cool showers, relaxed, and fell asleep.
Got up earlier today than yesterday. Today is costume day! Trowa is dressed as Neo and I am dressed as Princess Fiona. We are receiving a lot of attention, especially me, since I'm green. :) We spent some time in the exhibition hall, checking out the various tables and posing for pictures. I've been hearing lots of "Fiona-hime!" ("Princess Fiona!") and "Shreku!" Fun!
We got lunch at one of the convention center counters. I had tasty soba noodles in sauce with inari and Trowa had a rice bowl with eel and egg.
Next up -- a panel with Bob Eggleton and Yoshitaka Amano, famous fantasy artists. They talked for a while, which I didn't follow as much, but then they did some quick drawings of dragons and stuff, then had everyone stand up to play mass games of rock-paper-scissors to see who would win them. Trowa almost won the first one, but I did win the third one! Eeeee! I never win anything! And now I have an autographed sketch by Japan's most famous fantasy artist.
Now we're at a panel on alien sexuality. This is a fun panel. Some choice quotes:
- "It's 2:00 a.m....do you know where your vagina is?"
- "I have had alien sex, and didn't know it at the time!"
- "Actually, in college I fathered a chicken."
- "It's sex, Jim, but not as we know it!"
Well, we cadged a bit more net time before the Hugo Awards. I checked email and made a quick update to the LJ, and noticed that ladykathryn had left a comment asking if we'd like to get together for dinner, so I gave her a quick buzz and arranged to meet in front of the main hall just before the awards started.
The ceremony took quite a while because of the translation issues, and also because things got off to a slow start, but the opening bit featuring Ultraman vs. kaiju was a hoot. I wasn't familiar with any of the print contenders except for Neil Gaiman, but I had seen several of the TV episodes and movies in the running. The ones I had been rooting for most didn't win, though.
Afterward we joined ladykathryn and her boyfriend, _nicolai_, on a quest for dinner. We ended up at a place in the lower levels of Landmark Tower shortly before last orders. I managed to order a small portion of vegetable tempura with soba noodles. Yum! The tempura included a whole shiso leaf -- very tasty.
Then it was back to the hotel to check out the party scene. Much like last night, the 6th floor was very hot and crowded. We visited two of the Japanese-hosted parties, which were crammed with people. The hosts of the second one plied us with good, cold sake and plum wine and played some odd spoof video on the TV. At both parties, every time a Hugo winner would enter the room. they would cheer, clap, and sing.
When we couldn't take the heat anymore, we hung out in the hallway. A gauntlet of drunken Japanese fans lined the hall, cheering, "Banzai! Banzai! Banzai!" as people walked past -- especially when gaijin walked past. :) Whoever said that Japanese were quiet and reserved obviously never saw them drunk and in party mode. :)
Finally overheated to the point of overwhelmedness, we left the hotel for our room, stopping for ice cream and cold drinks along the way. We took cool showers, relaxed, and fell asleep.