Anime Expo 2005

Status: Procrastinating
Quote of the day: None

This year is my fourth time at the Anime Expo. The only difference is that I got a press pass, and it's simply awesome. I remember how I used to line up for Masquerade tickets for like seven hours with my friend Michelle. One year, we even camped out on the side streets overnight for it. Although it was a memorable experience (and everyone ought to try it at least once), but it was also very tiring at the same time.

Lawrence and I stayed for all four days of the expo. Over all, I still love the Exhibit Hall the most because there were so much things to buy! Yes, anime/manga makes my wallet bleed! It's a money draining hobby but I just can't resist.

I didn't take a lot of pictures because I was either too tired from walking around or PMSing - dunno which one. The one time I felt like taking pictures was when we saw these huge fluffy anime creatures right outside of the Exhibit Hall. They were super big and cute! So here it is:



Aren't those creatures adorable? Too bad I don't know if they are from a specific anime series.

Oh yeah, I bought this totally wicked and awesome Death Note notebook and necklace set. Death Notebook is done by the same author and artist of Hikaru no Go. It's a really smart and twisted manga series. I'd like to see it in anime, but I think it will be too difficult because the story involves a lot of siturations where a character is thinking or analyzing. Since anime tend to be better with more action than thinking, it might turn out to be boring. However, I would suggest anime/manga fans to read the manga. It is really, really, really THAT good.

On the last day of the expo, which was July 4th, Lawrence and I went to Downtown Disney to watch fireworks. It only lasted about 20 minutes or so. Afterwards, we spent an hour sitting in the parking lot because there was so much traffic. People who were lined up to exit couldn't move at all. Some people just ate snacks while others watched DVD in their cars. It was a rather interesting experience.

Vegas Fun

Status: Full from eating too much
Quote of the day: None

It's so hot today! Actually, it's been hot for the past couple of days. Every time I go outside, I feel like I am walking into an oven. Since I don't have class today, I stayed home and read Harry Potter. I'll probably watch more episodes of Naruto later on, or finish my Blockbuster rentals. Anything is better than going outside and getting roasted.

I haven't had time to blog about my Vegas trip with my boyfriend, so I'll do it now since I have time.

Let's see, the trip was from June 22 - June 24, 2005, which is really about a month ago. Lawrence came to pick me up around 11:00 AM in the morning. We first had to go to Costco in Chino Hills because I had to exchange my digital camera. We both thought that Chino Hills was some rundown city with lots of street bums. Surprinsinly, it turned out to be a nice and quiet town in the hills. Unless, of course, we just happened to be in the good part of the city.

We started out around 12:00 PM and arrived in Las Vegas at little after 3:30 PM (if my memory serves me correct). The drive was pretty smooth, and we didn't stop to rest. So the first thing we did was to check-in at Imperial Palace and rest before we went anywhere else. That night, Lawrence and I went to eat at the Mandalay Bay buffet. Besides the obvious fact the Las Vegas is famous for it's casinos, it is also well known for it's many buffets. Anytime people mention about Las Vegas food, it's gotta be those buffets.

The next day, we went to visit the car show at Imperial Palace (the tickets came with our hotel package). Right in front of the exhibit, there was a small store that sold car related items. I found this little orange cone we had a good laugh over:

Lawrence joked that he was going to leave me in exactly six minutes (hmph!).

After that, we pretty much visited the different casinos (Mandalay Bay, Paris, MGM, Bellagio, Mirage, Aladdin, Treasure Island, Venetian, and etc) and played Roulette. This is actually the first time I went to Las Vegas since turning 21, and felt, for the first time in my life, that I can walk freely around the casino. Unfortunately, my boyfriend and I were still being carded when we played. This is the bad part about being Asian. Everyone thinks we are underage.

Anyhow, Aladdin was the most friendliest place because we kept on winning while we lost at other places playing Roulette. I am definitely going back to Aladdin the next time I visit.

During the trip, we took a lot of pictures. Here's one of the Eiffel Tower:

After the first two days, we pretty much got tired of eating at buffets. Therefore, we decided to try something new and random. The final verdict was - Indian food. Both of us had Indian food before. We both knew that Indian resturant usually smelled like curry and everything tasted like curry. Fortunately, the one we found (I think it was at Treaure Island hotel) didn't smell like curry (not that I didn't like curry, I just preferred it didn't smell like it) and was pretty upscale. The place was nicely decorated, dim and lit with a few chandeliers and candle-lights on every table. Nice? Yes. Very nice, except for the name of resturant. The place was called, yes I am serious, it was called Gaylord (no offense intended). Here's the picture of the resturant:

The food there was a bit on the expensive side (it's Las Vegas after all). The taste? Let's just say that it tasted very interesting. I can't envision myself eating the food on a daily basis, so I'd say it was worth trying it for fun.

We drove back home around 1:00 AM, which was techinically June 25. The trip had been very fun, and we were already talking about another trip back to Las Vegas. If we do go, we are definitely going back to Aladdin to win some more at Roulette!