The Fanime adventure began as a dileema. A choice between Anime Central or Fanime. I posted an entry in my livejournal explaining the decision. Fanime would be too close to Anime Expo and thus be a strain on finances. I realized I had people who really wanted me at Fanime and Anime Central. I decided to do both cons. The other problem I ran into was hotel and transportation. When Tom visited me during Spring Break, he introduced me to Jarod. The three of us decided to book a room and that Jarod and I would fly out of LAX to Oakland. Later, Nando informed me that Ace was looking for roomies at the Westin. Because Jarod got the Four Points Sheraton (overfill space), I suggested we take Ace's room. In the end, Jarod roomed with Michi and Tom and I roomed with Ace.

I bought the tickets to Fanime before going to Anime Central, and bought Southwest tickets during my finals week. I was planning to go as Osaka during Fanime due to my short hair. However, there was no way I could get it done in time. Then I was thinking about entering karaoke. However, I decided not too and put more focus in AX Idol. However, it did give me a chance to spend more time with friends and bring a costume I have not worn in ages - Mahorin Iwaza from Kare Kano. Last I wore her was Anime Expo 2001. ^_^; Another dissapointment was that my boyfriend couldn't make it to Fanime due to financial strains. I could have used an Aoki for the X gathering, nyuu...

It also should be noted that my dad thought I was just visiting San Francisco, and not attending a con until the night before.

The Thursday morning came. I picked up Jarod from his place and drove to LAX. I haven't flown on Southwest for a while and the line was uber hectic. x_x However, we finally managed to have a safe flight to Oakland. We were picked up by Jarod's friend Amber, and it was off to Santa Clara! We arrived at the Sheraton. I called Tom, and he said he was on his way (with his younger brother, Michael). They showed up 20 minutes after I called him. He showed up in his GTO costume. ^_^; So we checked in to our room and moved our things.

We stopped by Tom's house to get his stuff. Jarod was using his computer, and I was admiring his anime collection. After that was done, Jarod went to the hotel to hang out with friends. I gave Dale a call and we got into a "baka" fight again. ^_^; Tom walked right in and was confused as heck. We had ramen for lunch as we watched Jarod's Fanime 2002 video tape. Tom took his brother and I to Golfland for some Para Para and DDR goodness.

After playing legit Para Para Paradise (only Para Para Dancing in my area), I played some DDR with Tom (yay! Fourth Mix Plus!). Afterwards, went back to his place to drop off Michael. We headed to the convention center area for pre-registration. Despite the delay, I talked to Jarod's friends about old school anime, explained the concept of Audrey Hepburn. We then got our badges (Victoria here got the chick from Onegai Teacher)

Being it just in time for dinner, we decide to get food at Taco Bell. So the company heads over there. Me, being very Osaka like whenever really really hungry, starts passing out and flailing around. Luckily Tom and Sejiro were there to keep my sanity. Tom and I went to Kenny's room. We talked to Sean here and there. We finally got the food from Jarod. Somewhere in between was a brawl between Tom, Sejiro, and Kenny. Tom was drunk off the vanilla coke. Kenny decides to tell us a story during dinner. The company decides to head over to Albertsons for food rations. I get my mocha frapps. Yay! *^^*

So we hung out at the con area for a while, ran into old time friends. ^_^v Finally, it was time we should get back to the hotel for a good night sleep. Jarod watched a very interesting program on HBO...while I went into my con mommy mode and made sure my two children kept their virgin eyes shut. Good night! *^^*

Pictures are copyright by Victoria Erica (Scarlet Rhapsody). If I took your picture, feel free to use it on your site or cosplay gallery. If you want me to remove something, kindly email me. While you're here, do sign the guestbook. This report was brought to you by the font Flowerchild.