Sakura-con
Well, just recently got back from Sakura-con. Wow, I was tired. First, all the last-minute preparations on the costume, followed by the 3-day party that was the convention, plus also working on the costume during the convention. @_@ In the end, I didn't get it finished, but got it finished enough (with the gracious help of my friends) to wear at the con. I'll have to rework it though, to get it into something decently photographable.
As for the rest of the con, Thursday was mostly just getting everybody together and driving down to Seattle. The weather was fairly ok; overcast-ish but no rain. The border wasn't too long a wait either - about 20 mins - but Jen made a boo-boo by driving ahead too soon to the guard, and got chewed out for doing so. Other than that, it was pretty smooth sailing; we took exactly the right exit to get to the Washington State Trade & Convention Center where the event was being held.
The hotel, the Red Lion, where we were staying at, was only two short blocks away from the convention center, which made it insanely convenient. Our room was fairly nice and spacious too; I think it was an 'Executlve Suite" or whatever they call it. Still cheap when the price is split four ways.
Friday, the first day of the con, I dressed up in my Takuto costume (a few years old now, but well-made), and the others dressed up as Shinsengumi from Peacemaker Kurogane. We went to the photoshoot for PMK and met up with two other Shinsengumi cosplayers. Unfortunately, since they'd scheduled their photoshoot at the same time as opening ceremonies and opening of the dealer's room, there was scarecely anyone there to photo them. I ended up being the photographer. Aside from that, we wandered about the con, visited the dealer's room, and quickly dropped in on the Masquerade Ball.
Saturday, I cosplayed a bit in my new costume - Celestine from AMG the movie - while the others cosplayed as characters from Gintama. Highlight of that photoshoot was Kim dressed up as Elizabeth the Alien Duck. Saturday was also the LiN CLOVER and m.o.v.e. concert, as well as the Cosplay event, and I had just enough time to grab lunch after the concert to get in line for the cosplay.
The concert was cool, although I liked the headliners (m.o.v.e.) better than the opening band, but I guess that's usually the case. It was a bright idea of them to sell earplugs for a dollar a pair... people were buying them like hotcakes. The cosplay was pretty good this year; a lot more entries than in previous years, a bunch of song & dance numbers, as well as a lot of funny, and sometimes touching skits. I tried taking pictures, but I was too far back to get decent shots.
After the concert, we went off to get dinner. Most of the places were either closed or insanlely busy, so we chose this non-busy, more upscale restaurant to have dinner at. Boy, what a mistake. The food was sub-par (Jamie's skewers were partially burnt), and the prices high. On top of that, they were the kind of restaurant that wrote in the amount of gratuity they expected to get for their subpar food. And the icing on the cake was that they refused to accept "checks of any kind - even traveller's checks" A traveller's cheque is as reliable as a credit card, and they accept credit cards, geez. Now i know why they weren't busy. Crappy food, high prices.
After dinner, I went to the dance (I love dancing although I suck at it), and danced into the wee hours of the morning. Afterwards, I dropped in on the all-night karaoke, and since there was virtually nobody there, I went up to sing. Yay for virtually no one hearing me butcher a song! XD
Sunday was pretty much checking out of the hotel and packing everything back into the car. I forgot my jacket in the hotel room, but managed to get a bellhop to let me back in to claim it. We went to the convention center to spend our last few hours there. Kim, Jen, and Jamie went off to crash the Peacmaker Kurogane showing since they were back in their Shinsengumi cosplays. I went to hit the dealer's room one more time, since Sunday is when the bargains usually are. I went in with my credit card, and managed to spend waay too much =P
The ride home was pretty uneventful although it did start raining, as if to say the world was sad the con was over >.> I pretty much crashed as soon as I got home.
See you next year, Sakura-con!
As for the rest of the con, Thursday was mostly just getting everybody together and driving down to Seattle. The weather was fairly ok; overcast-ish but no rain. The border wasn't too long a wait either - about 20 mins - but Jen made a boo-boo by driving ahead too soon to the guard, and got chewed out for doing so. Other than that, it was pretty smooth sailing; we took exactly the right exit to get to the Washington State Trade & Convention Center where the event was being held.
The hotel, the Red Lion, where we were staying at, was only two short blocks away from the convention center, which made it insanely convenient. Our room was fairly nice and spacious too; I think it was an 'Executlve Suite" or whatever they call it. Still cheap when the price is split four ways.
Friday, the first day of the con, I dressed up in my Takuto costume (a few years old now, but well-made), and the others dressed up as Shinsengumi from Peacemaker Kurogane. We went to the photoshoot for PMK and met up with two other Shinsengumi cosplayers. Unfortunately, since they'd scheduled their photoshoot at the same time as opening ceremonies and opening of the dealer's room, there was scarecely anyone there to photo them. I ended up being the photographer. Aside from that, we wandered about the con, visited the dealer's room, and quickly dropped in on the Masquerade Ball.
Saturday, I cosplayed a bit in my new costume - Celestine from AMG the movie - while the others cosplayed as characters from Gintama. Highlight of that photoshoot was Kim dressed up as Elizabeth the Alien Duck. Saturday was also the LiN CLOVER and m.o.v.e. concert, as well as the Cosplay event, and I had just enough time to grab lunch after the concert to get in line for the cosplay.
The concert was cool, although I liked the headliners (m.o.v.e.) better than the opening band, but I guess that's usually the case. It was a bright idea of them to sell earplugs for a dollar a pair... people were buying them like hotcakes. The cosplay was pretty good this year; a lot more entries than in previous years, a bunch of song & dance numbers, as well as a lot of funny, and sometimes touching skits. I tried taking pictures, but I was too far back to get decent shots.
After the concert, we went off to get dinner. Most of the places were either closed or insanlely busy, so we chose this non-busy, more upscale restaurant to have dinner at. Boy, what a mistake. The food was sub-par (Jamie's skewers were partially burnt), and the prices high. On top of that, they were the kind of restaurant that wrote in the amount of gratuity they expected to get for their subpar food. And the icing on the cake was that they refused to accept "checks of any kind - even traveller's checks" A traveller's cheque is as reliable as a credit card, and they accept credit cards, geez. Now i know why they weren't busy. Crappy food, high prices.
After dinner, I went to the dance (I love dancing although I suck at it), and danced into the wee hours of the morning. Afterwards, I dropped in on the all-night karaoke, and since there was virtually nobody there, I went up to sing. Yay for virtually no one hearing me butcher a song! XD
Sunday was pretty much checking out of the hotel and packing everything back into the car. I forgot my jacket in the hotel room, but managed to get a bellhop to let me back in to claim it. We went to the convention center to spend our last few hours there. Kim, Jen, and Jamie went off to crash the Peacmaker Kurogane showing since they were back in their Shinsengumi cosplays. I went to hit the dealer's room one more time, since Sunday is when the bargains usually are. I went in with my credit card, and managed to spend waay too much =P
The ride home was pretty uneventful although it did start raining, as if to say the world was sad the con was over >.> I pretty much crashed as soon as I got home.
See you next year, Sakura-con!