Another Adventure and some Heroes Expo

Ahhh... I'm here at Roji's. It's so nice to be able to just sit here and write for a while. There's actually some construction going on in here right now. They're expanding! Tomomi said they should be done by the end of this week. It looks wonderful so far. I can't wait until I come back to see it finished off.

When I sat down Tomomi asked, "Taro?"

Haha, yes. Like always.

Well, let me get you caught up with some events here in Syracuse. Actually, what I'm going to tell you about first didn't take place in Syracuse, it was in New Jersey. That's right, I went down to visit Asher and Erika.

Erika drove aaaaaall the way here, right after work. She didn't arrive until 10:00. It was so exciting to get her phone call though. "Lisa, I'm in the parking lot now! Come get me!"

Because it was so late when she got here, she sayed the night in my room on the roll-out mattress. We stayed up for a while though and talked about anime and manga. That's one of the subjects I feel really comfortable talking to her about. Other subjects usually leave me .... bewildered.

So, we got up early the next morning and set off to Hopewell. The ride was very pleasent. We stopped at McDonalds and got some yogurt :] Now I crave yogurt with granola a lot. I also watched Hale Nochi Guu most of the trip. What a cute show...

Well, we got there, most likely much quicker than we should have. I brought all my laundry to do there too (at the time I was still afraid to do my own laundry in public). What did we do once we got there? I can't remember. I expect we probably took a bathroom break first. Then, not long after, we left to go meet Asher at the Bicycle Shop.

And we took Sid.

Erika insisted that he loved hanging out the window, which he did. In fact, he tried to jump out at one point. That was somewhat of an interesting trip.

Once we got there, she also insisted that he loved to chase the squirrels. Which he did, and failed at because his little legs don't go fast enough. What a silly dog. I wish I had a picture. This would be the perfect place for one.

We got to wander around the HUUUUGE campus for a while to get to the ...town? I don't really know what it was. How can you have a town in the middle of the school? Or, was it a school in the middle of the town? Well, anyway, it was really amazing. We walked down a long street and passed several cute little shops until we finally got to the bike shop. Asher was really cute there, showing people around, telling them important bike things....

Erika and I waited with Sid on the curb. :]

When Asher was finished, he introduced us to some of the people he worked with. They all seemed like good people to work with.

Theeeeen... we started checking out some shop places. Mostly food. Asher said he was really hungry. Erika said she would make pizza for supper, but since there was a pizza place nearby, we went there instead.

They pizza was really good. Erika got it all over her face.

I noticed while we were eating that Asher and Erika argue a lot. It's mostly over petty things too. That made me feel a little akward... I think Erika was annoyed because Asher didn't get napkins or something.

We continued on, and this is where it gets really interesting. There's a Morning Glory store in Prniceton! That's so amazing! I spent around $60 in there. I was in there for the longest time with Erika (Asher had to wait outside with the dog, which I think he was okay with).

Now, be prepared for photos...

I got this last minute at the counter. Best thing ever. Anybody need an extra life? I give these to Ari when she's feeling overwhelmed or down.

This photo you've already seen. This is a pencil. The most adorable pencil you oculd ever get. EVER. And it matches my blog. :]




And what is a Sushi rug without...



...the trash bin!











From Laputa! Isn't he great!?



This little purple guy is called an Ugly Doll and his name is Toodey. He's my friiiiieeeeend.....





After all that, we continued on to an ice cream place where I got some delicious orea ice cream something. It was way too much for me though. But I loved it anyway.

Hmm, I think that's it for the town. Oh yeah, there was that when we saw some guy in a truck parallel park between these two cars, but manage to hit the car in front of him. It wasn't even an accident. He was perfectly content with pulling up until their bumpers hit each other. Oh well, I guess.

So, I rode with Asher back and Erika took her litle doggie with her. I figured this might be one of the only times I could be alone with Asher that weekend.


Aren't you bored yet? I'm getting a little bored. Do people even read this? Oh well.


While in the car, Asher let me in on his secret desires. He said he really wanted to drive fast. On a motorcycle too. I don't like that idea.

That evening we watched James Bond and I did some math homework. I seem to remember Asher playing Guild Wars with me for a while and we had some delicious sloppy joes and cinnamon rolls. That was the last time I've played GW with him in a long time.

Then, on Sunday, I walked with them to church. I figured it would be a long walk, like from St. Mary's to Han's, but it was barely a block away. It was a little strange. There wasn't very much singing, there weren't man people, and the sermon(?) I think couldn't have been longer than 15 or 20 minutes. Then at the end everyone held hands in a big circle and said some things. I still can't quite figure out if I liked it or not. It was just very different than what I'm used to.

I don't think there was a lot happening after that. Somehow, when we finally got to doing laundry, Asher's pants were put in with my clothes, so I still have them in my room (and guess what, I can fit in them!). The rest of the day happened. Was that the Guild Wars day, or the James Bond one? I can't remember. Oh yeah, I played Okami most of the time too. Ahh, Okami...

Eventually, on Monday(labor day or something) when we stopped stalling, Erika and I got in her car and headed back. No without stopping at the Bubble Tea place first though. That place is actually what sparked my investigation in bubble tea in Syracuse. It was actually a bubble tea bar in a Japanese resturant. I got some Taro to go, and left quite happily.

It made me sad that it got hot in the car though...

I guess that's the end of the story. I don't think there's anything interesting to talk about regarding the trip back, and I don't remember what happened when we got there. All I know is I really want to go back. But it doesn't look like I'll be able to. It's a 20 hour trip for Erika to make... I looked up bus tickets, but it's really expensive. I also don't have any long weekend coming up either. I only have major holidays off from here on, which I'll be going home for. Hmmm... I don't know what to do.

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SYRACUSE HEROES EXPO 2007!!!

I WAS THERE!!!!!!


I'm quite thrilled to have attended my first Cosplay Convention. Well, it wasn't exacly a convention, but there were cosplayers there. That's what I really wanted to go for. It was just a plus that there was going to be a DDR tournament there.

After two weeks straight over being completely stressed out, I managed to figure out a bus route to get there. By car, it should have only taken around 30 minutes, but by bus it was about 2 hours. Eventually I was able to write up a complete schedule on how to get there, which Jim was quite impressed with.

1. Brunch - 11:15
2. Leave around 12:00 for the Han's bus
3. Board bus at 12:30
4. Arrive at downtown around 12:50
5. Board 116 N 7th - 1:00
6. Arrive at 1:30
7. Walk 1.6 miles to Electronic Parkway

Sure, the schedule was planned out really well(which I am quite proud of myself for), but that didn't mean things would work out as planned or that we would make the buses, or find them.

So, I met Jimm-ah at the cafeteria and we had some brunch. That was a little weird, actually...

Anyway, we headed down to the Han's stop and waited around for the bus for a long time. We ended up talking about anime and manga for a long time. We determined that I like anime with anything thought provoking (Evangelion, Haibane Renmei...), and also quite a bit of girly stuff (Stellvia of the Universe, Kodomo no Omacho, Kare Kano...). I really like a wide range though. Record of Loddoss War, Miyazaki films, Kenshin, Jinki Extend,... Mostly whatever. But we'll talk more about my preferences some other time.

As for Jimm-ah, he likes either really really crazy (Jojo's Bizarre Adventure), or, you know, boy stuff. Stuff like...Samurai X. Something with lots of killing. Sometimes there's a plot. I'm sure he likes other things though. Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, NGE...

So, the bus came, and get got transfers. Yes, I even remembered to make sure we got those. I remember Jim continuing to tell me something about this crazy manga, Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, but not being able to hear most of what he said. It wasn't just that the bus was loud, he just has one of those voices that's kind of hard to understand, combined with with deep mumbling.

We made it to downtown and stood around for a while. I could see some buses lining up on each street, but I was sure I knew which street the bus would be on, so I just waited. Meanwhile, some kid was trying to ask Jim about some coin machine in spanish. That's downtown for you. When it looked like there weren't any more buses coming, I thought it would be best if I asked one of the bus drivers where 116 would be coming in. It's a good thing I did too, because otherwise I would have just been standing there forever and missed the bus. I didn't have a backup plan either. Well, the bus guy said that it was probably already here, on the street I wasn't watching, and he said to hurry.

Eep!

We ran across the street and found the bus about to leave. We hopped on and were off! I was quite surprised actually. For some reason I didn't even expect the bus to exist.

Jim continued to talk while we were on the bus, and I only caught a few things he said. I started to get a little nervous at this point. I can't believe it took that long though. I was just concerned because I didn't recognize the area and wasn't quite sure then to pull the stop line.

I really got to panicing when I saw the street sign for 1st N Street. At that point I started second guessing myself, wondering if I read the sign right, or if we were really supposed to get off at that street. But I waited, trying to think logically while being talked at. We hadn't even gone past the Carousel stop, and it was way beyond that. Actually, when we got to the RTC, there was a banana there. A dude ..... dressed up in a banana costume.

Oh well, people have their hobbies I suppose.

Eventually I forgot what I was worried about and just drifted off into my mind. Oh? 7th North? THAT'S OUR STOP!!

I pulled the wire thing, but we were at a stop light so had to wait a bit until we got around to a bus stop sign. I figured since this was a good opportunity, I would ask the bus driver how to get to E. Parkway, since I didn't even really know which way to walk when we got off.

Good thing I was feeling so talkative that day. Rather than dropping us off where I pulled the wire, he stopped closer to the Parkway so it wouldn't be so long to walk. He told us how to get there too. I could actually see the hotel from where we got off, and the walk couldn't have nearly been a mile. It was about the same distance from my house to Dawn's (which is down the long driveway and up a small hill a ways).

We stolled on down and crossed the street and landed in the hotel parking lot. At this point, I suddenly got really excited. I had been so concerned about how to get there that I hadn't really thought about the actual event much. I kept saying, "We're here! We made it!" and Jim congratulated me again on my scheduling skills. We concluded that that was my super power.

We entered the convention center section and got our wristbands put on and our pre-ordered tickets. Yay!!!

It was somewhat of a shock at first. I wasn't overwhelmed, which is the thing that surprised me. There weren't as many people there as I expected. There was one big room with millions of comic books and some artists.



This is Dave Ross. A famous artist guy. Jim was really excited about meeting him; it was almost cute. The guy seemed pretty cool too. When we asked if we could take his picture he seemed quite pleased and asked how he should pose. "Should I look at the camera? Should I look at my paper and draw? Should I look at the camera, but still kind of be drawing?"

Hahaha...

Here's one of the other artists...



I can't fully remember his name. Pop Mahn? I think that's close anyway. I was impressed with him. At the time he was doing a superman sketch for someone. He was very polite and personable. :]

There was a DDR tounrament there which I was looking forward to being a part of, but when Jim asked the mini-Sasuke how to sign up, he rudely responded that it was already over. Oh well.

Jim played the Die of Doom. I thought about taking a photo, but I couldn't get my head together long enough to do so. It was really just a giant yellow die that you toss and get a silly little prize. Jim threw a 5 and got some tiny super hero action figures. Yay.

Now... onto the main event....


PHOTOS!

I was quite impressed with a good deal of the costumes there. The one I liked the most I didn't get around to photographing :[
Hopefully someone else will put a photo up somewhere.
This was the best part. I wish there was another convention around here.




This is me in my Haibane costume. Actually, this is the costume I made for Sam last year. Mine was Rakka, which I think suits me better, but at the time I didn't have the whole costume with me, and it wasn't completely finished either.

I actually had two or three people say, "HEY! I know what you're from! It's... eugh! What is it?!"

One girl even glomped me. I've never been glomped before! I was so thrilled!



Lulu from FFX. I was very glad to have gotten her photo. Her whole outfit looked great, as you can see. This was the only time I saw her that day too, so I'm glad I asked right away. :] Good job, Lu.



Sakura, from Naruto. She was so cute. I know a lot of people don't like Sakura, but I do. That poor girl has it rough, and to be quite frank, no one ever gives her a chance to show off what she can do. Anyway, this girl looked really good.



Ari said she was from Inuyasha...I think. She was really sweet, just like in the photo. She said she liked my costume and I think she was one of the people who knew what anime I was from.



As for the last of my photos, Itachi Uchiha! This guy was so cool. Unfortunatly, the picture doesn't really do him any justice. I wish he had shown his face in the photo too(although I suppose he was trying to give off the scary, intimidating aura).

Well, I got to see his face in person though, and I thought he was just really cool. It kind of made me want to give him a hug.

The next few photos weren't taken by me, but you should see them. Unfortunately, I can't upload them directly, so it'll be up to you if you want to click the link or not. These photos are by jade19721

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jade19721/1700330888/in/photostream/
This one is important because you can see Rikku from X-2 as a sorceress. Well, her back anyway. Her costumes was amazing, I just wish I'd photo-ed it.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jade19721/1700330944/in/photostream/
This was the banana that we saw at the RTC. Then, there is the Die of Doom.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jade19721/1699604513/in/photostream/
These two look great! I didn't see them either, but Jim and I spent a lot of time in the hall anyway because the room was a little crowded.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jade19721/1700555826/in/photostream/
Another photo of Sakura. So cute!

Lazuru-Machine just sent me this photo. She's the schoolgirl :]



At one point while we were there, we ran into Brandon, whom I passed the word along to. Somehow I could just tell he liked this kind of stuff. He was very grateful that I let him know and said he actually attended last year also. It was a little akward seeing him there though. I just find him a little hard to talk to. Hmm...

Well, I was hoping that he'd driven there so we could ride back with him. As it turned out, the cosplay contest was going to take place at 5:00, and in order to catch the bus, we would have to leave around 4:30. So, I asked, and he said he was planning on taking a taxi back, unless he could come with us. So we all ended up leaving at 4:30 and took the bus.

It was sad to have to leave. I saw Tifa from Advent Children as we were heading out. She was cooool. I would have stayed the entire time and just taken hundreds of photos, but I couldn't.

After we FINALLY got back, Jim bought a pizza at a little corner store place, and we ate in the basement. It was about that time that I was very much ready to be back in my cave, alone. It was just weird to have been around him alone all day. Euugh... I just can't handle personal stuff sometimes.

Well, it was a great day, and ever since I've been thinking about future events. I really wish there was another convention around here soon, but it looks like I'll just have to wait until next year's expo. I guess I'd better start thinking about my next costume!

YAY!

-Lisa