And the Happiness Level Decreases to Pain

A few minutes ago, I was about to write about my excitement of going to my next anime convention. Well, that excitement has turned into pain. I'm not going anymore.

Why is this? My source of transportation (my dad) has decided that it's too far and he's not taking me. He also said that I should've had a bigger group to go with (my original group consisted of just me and my sister).

Sayonara, big event that I kept thinking about this March Break. I'll see you in a few years, when I can legally be considered to be an adult and go wherever I wish. 

Besides the pain and sadness I feel, I also feel embarrassment. There I was, blabbing to the world in my previous posts about how excited I was about going, and I sit now, typing this, just a few hours from the big day, telling the world I can't go anymore. I guess this can be a part of a life-learning experience, or a lesson in the life of a young otaku. I won't delete any of my past MTAC posts, and also take this as an experience in blogging. My tears have finally dried up, and I'm going to accept that I can't go. My dried tears have left my eyes all big, red, and puffy.  

What can I look forward to now? In the near future (which is pretty much on Sunday) I'll be on my way to what I consider to be one of the heavens on earth-Pacific Mall. Pacific Mall, as I've previously mentioned, is one of the most beautiful places an otaku will see. As promised, I will try to take pictures of the mall and the stores. If my source of transportation (my cousin) backs out on this one, I don't know what will become of me. This disappointment was big enough. I don't need any more to further disrupt my mind.

Another thing I can look forward to is Anime North 2011. After a discussion, I definitely will be able to go to this one, as long as my commitments don't decide to take my entire weekend. This is one I will continue to pray to God for. 

One last thing I'd like to say is, to anyone who's read my past MTAC posts, please forgive me for talking on and on about an event I would end up not going to. This otaku will try her best next time. 

MTAC Excitement! (and Things I've Learned From My Previous Anime Convention)

The March Toronto Anime Convention is less than 3 days away! My sister and I have already laid out our master plan for the event. We took things we learned from our previous convention and are applying it to the one coming up this weekend! We're still in the middle of planning things, but we know what the game plan is.

The things I've learned from my first anime convention:

• Ask cosplayers for their pictures.

Everyone knows you should do this, but I was way too scared to ask cosplayers to pose for me. I'm going to build up the courage to ask them for their photo this time (I make myself sound really weak, don't I?).

• Bring a lunch.

This helps you save more, allowing you to spend on other things! My sister and I did this last time, and it was definitely a life saver. 

• Keep your lunches mess-free and "portable". 

A bagel, for example is something you can bring that isn't messy, and something you can eat and walk around freely with. If you brought something "messy", for example, a salad, it might take time to find a place to sit, not to mention the mess it can create, which may cause you to lose time cleaning up after it. 

• Make sure you know who the guests are. 

I've made this sad mistake. Vic Mignogna, an anime voice actor was a guest at Anime North 2010. My friend, V-chan brought us along with her to get his autograph, but just before we got to him (there was no line, by the way) she said, "Never mind". Later, I discovered he was a voice actor of numerous famous animes, such as Dragon Ball, Vampire Knight (as Zero and Ichiru), and Ouran High School Host Club. Hah. The sadness. I found out a few weeks ago that he would be the guest of honour at a convention somewhere down in the states. Yikes! You can usually find out who the guests are on the convention's website.

• Bring a wagon load of money. 

I'm not kidding. I brought $60 last time, and all I ended up buying was this: 

I lost the Yuki Button at school afterwards! You never know what you'll find at an anime convention. I saw lolita clothes (there were even Baby, The Stars Shine Bright and Angelic Pretty!), Yuki Cross cosplay, and a lot of rare mangas that I can't find in stores anymore. They were out of my reach because I didn't bring enough money. I went there, thinking I wouldn't buy so much, since I wouldn't feel like busting all my money. I was wrong. VERY wrong. 

• Bring snacks

You're going to get pretty hungry. Trust me. It happens to all of us. I'm going to bring Hello Kitty Pocky! I'll see what else I'm going to bring. 

• Reseach, research, research!

I did this an entire month before the actual day last time. I should have done that for this weekend's, but due to my laziness, I didn't until a week before. Aside from admission fees and times of operation, what should you look for? 1. Videos/images of the area! If it's held in the same area annually, there should be videos on Youtube of past conventions. Also, search for the area on Google streetview. This will save you time when you search for the building. 2. Reviews. What did people think of the convention? Was it a waste? Was it worth their money? 3. Videos of the Dealer's Room. The Dealer's Room should give you an idea of how much money to bring. How big is it? Is it a tiny room, or a football field-sized room? What are the contents of the past Dealer's Rooms? 4. What events are held there? Is there DDR? Yu gi oh card battles? There are varieties of them out there. At registration, after you pay, there are program books that tell you what events are being held when and where. 

Bonus picture! 

I just noticed that there are a lot of Bleach cosplayers in this picture. O.o

• Get ready for a bunch of over-excited fellow otakus. 

I was partly shocked at how enthusiastic fellow otakus were at the convention. They were shouting in joy, and also shouting at us to sign their t-shirt (We didn't, in the end). But hey, this is a good thing! Would you rather have depressed otakus, or screaming in joy otakus? 

I'm becoming more excited day by day! 

I'll  post my MTAC adventure up as soon as I have time to upload the pictures and write another entry. We're nearing the end of March Break! T^T

Sephora x Hello Kitty Collaboration!

I went to the mall yesterday, and found out that the Hello Kitty x Sephora promotion is still underway! When I went inside Sephora, I found that all the employees were wearing those pink hello kitty bow headbands! I rushed in to see if they were selling those in the store, but none could be found to be sold to the public.

I remember going into Sephora earlier this month to check out the prices, to see if I could buy anything, but this asian writing this didn't end up buying anything. That's what I get for being a cheapo!

I'm also glad I didn't buy anything because I'm trying to save up for the MTAC and Anime North. I'm not 100% sure that I'll be going to either of them, but it's nice to save up some money, just in case. I don't want another "not-enough-money-I-can-barely-buy-anything" incident. Ugh. That was terrible.

In any case, I'm still excited for the two events. I really hope I can make it!

One of the windows at Sephora

*Sorry for the blurry picture! It was taken by cell phone!