This was my first time utilizing the shuttle system. Bus Route #3 took a while to get to the front of the Omni. The Anime Expo forums stated that you would need a wristband to access events in the Westin or a hotel room keycard. Luckily, I had a hotel keycard on me. After changing in Faye Valentine (Cowboy Bebop: Ballad of Fallen Angels), I must have waited half an hour for the shuttle. Anime Expo had a mix of charter buses and school buses for the shuttle system. Hey, it was better than footing it back the Omni.

On the way back to the convention center, media was setting up for Michael Jackson’s memorial on Tuesday. I made a bantering remark at NBC to hire me.

Upon arriving at Los Angeles Convention Center, I literally ran into the Hetalia Axis Powers gathering. It’s Yaoi Con lite. Thankfully, I did not wear Hetalia Philippines because I’d be buttraped by India, China, Spain, and Japan whlist begging US of A for protection.

I also ran into Ebie-chan’s 18th Birthday. It was nostalgic in the sense that I celebrated my 18th at Anime Expo 2002. Many thanks to Ebie-chan for the free soda pop and cookie cake!

It was getting close to the 6PM hour. Several of my buddies went ahead to the Masquerade Ball at the Westin. Jared showed up just in time cosplaying as Charles Foster Ofdensen (Metalocalypse).

Though the shuttle lines were long for the Westin, we boarded the shuttle in no time. There was not a map in the Westin to notify where the dances and other events were. In this case, we had to follow where the music was to determine where the Masquerade Ball was.

Compared to previous years, the dance was pretty small. According to Craig Yamaguchi, it felt like senior prom more than a ballroom dance. We had a different DJ from previous years. A few of the tracks I donated played (“Tequilla,” “Johnny B Goode,” etc). It felt very light this year, but on the upside, there was more space for dancing. We had a good mix of swing, waltz, and popular music to dance to. I could have done without “Mambo Number 5.”

I also ran into Sarah and Jonas Brother at the dance. Of course, I danced with both of them. I also ran into my Seattle buddy, Trumby. I also taught Sarah the joy of swinging in threes. Likewise, it was nice to truly start off Anime Expo festivities at the Masquerade Ball.

Sarah informed us about the Anime Los Angeles con suite. After all that dancing, we could use some of Chaz’s special pink lemonade. Luckily, we caught the last batch of spicy meatballs.

The Westin lobby was full of fountains. It was perfect for singles and double shoots. Many thanks to Justin for taking shots of Jared (Charles Foster Ofdensen) and I (Faye Valentine). Maybe one of these days, I’ll make the jacket to accompany the dress.

For the most part, we just chilled in the lobby, catching up, etc. We were having insightful late night debates on the superiority of the Irish versus the superiority of the Jews.

I took the shuttle back to the Los Angeles Convention Center so I can catch my bus back to the Omni Los Angeles. Frankly, the bus route back to the hotel looked scary. Those of you local to the Los Angeles area, it passed through Broadway’s jewelry district. While it is fine during the day, it feels like a different world at night. However, I was safely dropped off to my hotel where I got a good night sleep.

Pictures are copyright by Scarlet Rhapsody. If I took your picture, feel free to use it on your site or cosplay gallery. While you're here, do sign the guestbook. This site was brought to you by the font Forte Script. Many thanks to Chaz Boston Baden for the image resizing and watermarking program.