Thursday, December 30, 2010

Conventions around Toronto

I've always thought: wouldn't it be nice if there was an anime convention every month around the Greater Toronto Area? Here is a list of all usual-running conventions in and near the GTA in order of months.

MonthLocationNameWebsite
FebruaryGuelph, OntarioCon-Gcon-g.com
"Toronto, OntarioToronto ComiConwww.hobbystar.com
MarchToronto, OntarioToronto Anime Conwww.hobbystar.com
AprilBuffalo, New YorkUBConubcon.org
"Rochester, New YorkTora-Contoracon.rit.edu
MayToronto, OntarioAnime Northanimenorth.com
AugustToronto, OntarioFanExpowww.fanexpocanada.com
"Troy, MichiganGodaikocon (Previously Anime Detroit)godaikocon.com
NovemberOttawa, OntarioNaru 2 Unaru2u.com
"Toronto, OntarioDot Conwww.dot-con.com
DecemberToronto, OntarioToronto Anime Conwww.hobbystar.com


I find that the best place to find out about major anime conventions is at AnimeCons.com.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

DTAC 2010

I have examinations during the following 3 weeks. I guess I'll have to miss another anime-related convention.

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Things to do at an Anime Convention (part 2)

  1. Make all cosplayers give two thumbs up.

  2. Get cosplayers to flip their hair in an elegant manner.

  3. Use a pokéball and catch as many cosplayers as you can by throwing the ball somewhere near them (not at them).

  4. Sing a song with convention people.

  5. If there is an elevator, set up a table, a few chairs, and play a game of poker in there.

  6. Pick an anime/manga character and try to take a picture of all cosplayers cosplaying that character in the convention.

Things to do at an Anime Convention (part 1)

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Manga Farming

Manga FarmingI was surfing the net and stumbled upon manga farming. I was amazed!

Koshi Kawachi, an artist from Japan, used the pages of old magazines and manga to grow plants with. He has a gallery of photographs on his website with pictures of the plants sprouting from manga.

Watering MangaIt seems manga farmning requires the pages to stay moist as it's in the way of sunlight. I wonder if I should try it with the extra Shonen Jump magazine I have. I'm not sure if it's wise to grow edible vegetables with manga though. Would the ink from the pages cause the vegetable to taste funny? It may even be toxic! I guess if I want to try this manga farming I should try growing daisies.

Source: http://www.koshikawachi.com

Monday, November 29, 2010

Selling your Used English Manga

You're cleaning your room and you find manga that had been lying around for some time. You haven't touched that manga after who knows when and you know that if you keep it it'll just continue sitting somewhere catching dust. A thought comes across your mind: "what if I could sell the manga and other anime-related stuff I have but don't need or want anymore?"

That's a great idea, but if you're living in a metropolis like the Greater Toronto Area, another 100 or more people are already doing that. In the past 4 years, I learned selling old anime and manga related treasures isn't as easy as it seems. You want to get the most out of selling your stuff, but a lot of people are looking for the lowest price possible-- unless it's a rare item that you're selling.

In this post, I will be discussing the steps to and what I've learned about selling used English manga in the Greater Toronto Area. Here is an outline of the steps I will be discussing:
  1. Finding a network
  2. Know the condition of your manga
  3. Setting a price
  4. Sell it

Step 1.

The first thing you should do is to find a network where you can advertise for used items. Examples of such networks are: shops that buy used stuff, classifieds in newspapers, eBay, personal websites, social networks, online classified communities, or community garage sales. I prefer to use online classified advertisement communities such as Craigslist and Kijiji because you just need to post an ad and set up a meeting with anyone who responds to the ad. Most of the people I've met offline were kind, but you still have to be careful about meeting someone you don't know offline.

Step 2.

The condition of your manga is very important when setting a price for it. When I buy used manga, I don't mind the spine being bent a bit on the edge, light fingerprints, and light-yellow pages, but other people may. If your manga has liquid damage to it (i.e. water or coffee) or has a ripped cover, it's better to set the selling price really low because there's a chance that someone else is selling the same manga in a better condition. Oxidation causes most manga pages to turn yellow. To avoid this, keep manga in a closed space like drawers and shelves. I like to put my manga in a dark place away from sunlight and heat because I'm afraid sunlight would cause the covers to lose colour and the pages yellow. I am not sure if sunlight is capable of turning pages yellow though.

Step 3.

This step is setting the price of your items. Please be aware that I use Canadian currency. If you want to sell your used English manga for $10 each, those books better be in new condition, wrapped in plastic, look untouched, and is expensive in stores. You'd have to be lucky or find someone desperate for manga to sell used manga at that price. Not even volumes of rare manga like the first published english-translated Sailor Moon series could be sold for $10 each in a casual manner. An omnibus manga is a compilation of volumes from a manga series. I am not familiar with the chances of selling a used one for $10, but it seems reasonable enough if the book isn't damaged. Considering that an omnibus is a package that carries more than one volume, you could even try to sell it for $12 or $15.

The standard price for used manga is $5 each. It's not guaranteed that it will be sold, but you'll have a better chance of selling it than at the price of $10. If you're selling a manga series, $5 per book would work best for series that have 1 to 8 volumes. For series with more than 6 volumes, it is better to sell them for less than $4 each. I have to admit though, you're more likely to sell a manga series at the price of $3 or less per volume.

Here is an image with suggested prices and my thoughts on the prices according to what I've learned about selling used English manga:

Suggested Used English Manga Prices per Volume
Remember: $5 is the standard price. That is where I am 75% sure that the manga will be sold. If the price is at $1 per volume, it is 99% that the book would be sold. At $12 per volume, it is 5% that the manga will be sold.

I remember trying to sell volumes 1 to 27 of Bleach for $100 ($3.70/volume) on Kijiji for half a year. I lowered the price to $60 ($2.22/volume), but I still didn't get a reply to my offer until I lowered the price to $50 ($1.85/volume). Even though the books were in new condition and I included a picture to my advertisement to prove their condition, I had to lower the price because there were other people selling more than 20 volumes of Bleach at a unit price similar to my earlier offers. I also wanted to guarantee that I will sell the series because I didn't want it lying around any longer. I think the reason why no one replied to my offer of $100 was because it was $100. The number of digits and the overall price probably seemed unpleasant to people.

As a used English manga buyer, I tend to buy smaller series because I like to avoid spending over $60 for a used manga series. I have met vendors that sold their manga where the more you buy, the less it is per unit. Vendors that do that seem to sell their manga much quicker than set prices.

Step 4.

When someone has taken an interest in your manga, lose all attachment to it. If the person asks for a lower price, sell it to them for that price (if it's reasonable). They may have found that price somewhere else and the chances of another person interested in buying may not come by if you know you're selling a series that many other people are selling. Don't expect to make a lot of money out of selling your used English manga!

Comments and opinions on this guide (if you would call it a guide) are greatly appreciated. I read through it a few times and it feels like a shared personal experience that is not at least 90% realistic.

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Korea

North Korea, what game are you playing?

Conventions, Conventions

This post is a follow-up to Where did TAC go?.

A few of my friends mentioned that the dates for the next March and December Toronto Anime Con (TAC) were released a few weeks ago on Hobbystar Marketing's website. TAC's going to be on Sunday, December 12, 2010 and the weekend of March 19-20, 2011.

I didn't get the chance to attend any conventions this last summer, so I want to be there for both TACs.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Looking Back

I was reading my old log on the Miyavi Concert. I thought: Gosh, I am childish. I should try to do random things with dignity, serenity, and respect in an elegant style.

I love my squirrel observations. I haven't been updating on the subject. *looks at camera*

I should manage my time better. That way I may be able to sleep more and discouver sanity. Wait. What's sanity?

Saturday, November 6, 2010

November 5

In Toronto, in a restaurant, at a recycling depot, in a dollar store, at a school, in the subway, and at a mall.

Favourites on deviant ART 2


Domochu by ~2DChew


BAM by *Valerei


Lighthouse - ACEO by ~toadstone

Monday, November 1, 2010

Tricked or Treated?

What was the weirdest thing you received while trick-or-treating?

I remember I used to visit my friend Madeline's Scarborough neighbourhood to go trick-or-treating with her. The candy there has more variety than the chips from my neighbourhood. There was always this one highly decorated house that stood out with me.

The first year Madeline, my sister, and I went trick-or-treating together we got to choose between getting candy or calculators at that house. We chose the calculators. The third year they let us choose between candy and Kraft dinner's maccaroni and cheese. We chose Kraft dinner, but it turned out they weren't serious about giving it away. I haven't visited that house on Halloween since the Kraft dinner year. I've either been busy these past Halloweens with school work or could not visit the folks there.

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Hallowe'en 2010

'Tis I.
To all you trick-or-treat-ers out there, have a safe and fun Hallowe'en!

I had fun at the teahousing event at Go For Tea even though there were only 4 of us teahousers that showed up. I will be getting my picture taken with the Guy Fawkes mask on November 5th for you, Siena! I love the horns you made and wore.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Magical Boys

I'm into magical people, and when Fancy Shirt showed me this video, it inspired me.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

QR-Codes are Quick and Rule!

I've known about QR Codes ever since I bought my first anime figurine that came with a complimentary candy. I didn't know what they were called though, I simply recognized the code like I do with a bar code. Then one day, I saw a large advertisement in the subway!

The advertisement stated it's a 2D-code. I bing searched it and with the help of wikipedia, I eventually found out that the codes are actually called QR codes. The wikipedia page linked to a website that explains what QR codes are: QRcode.com. I bing searched QR code for a code generator and the first website that came up was http://qrcode.kaywa.com. I generated this text QR code:
qrcode

It's a message that only a QR code reader can decipher. Awesome!

Sheet Music

I was going through my little sister's favourites in her web browser, and she had anime sheet music websites! That reminded me of the good old days when we downloaded fan-made sheet music for pianos and violins. Too bad we don't know how to play the cello, flute, and guitar.

Anime on Strings~
Ichigo's Sheet Music
josh's anime sheet music collection
Piano Squall - Sheet Music
Pianocian

Monday, October 18, 2010

Capsule PV: Episodes 1-3

From: http://www.youtube.com/YasutakaNakata

Episode 1




Episode 2




Episode 3

Sunday, October 17, 2010

capsule - Toukyou Kissa and 5iVESTAR

I stumbled upon two animations that use capsule music on YouTube and felt like sharing. There will be a few more posted tomorrow.



Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Boo

I want to sleep, but I need to work. Luckily, I have my anti-drug: manga.

Monday, October 11, 2010

Betta fish

My betta fish, Bulky, died today. She was the first female betta fish I have ever brought to this house I live in. I think I bought her early this year. The hard part of her death is not letting her go, but deciding on what to do with the body.

Monday, October 4, 2010

Nuit Blanche

I wasn't in downtown Toronto for Nuit Blanche last year, so I decided to go for Nuit Blanche 2010. I was expecting a line-up or a crowd to every piece of artwork that was on display, and sure enough, there were lines and crowds--more lines and crowds than the first time I stayed out for Nuit Blanche. There were a lot of people this year too. I wonder if last year had this many people.

There was garbage everywhere--no amount of recycle bins and compost bins can ever get Torontonians to use them in events such as Nuit Blanche--even if you remove garbage bins. If you ever see a Torontonian using a recycle bin or a compost properly during a large event, help me give them two thumbs up. Seriously. Though I was more disturbed by the number of times I almost stepped in a puddle of vomit on the streets.

I didn't get any pictures of the artwork because frankly, the ones I encountered didn't leave a great impression on me. I liked them though, because they looked like they were already a part of the city. The only photograph I took that was close to an artwork was that of a stuffed cat tied to a post:


Conclusion: kudos to the people who worked hard in making Nuit Blanche a success. That includes the late-night public transit workers, police officers, security people, and medical staff on duty that night!

Shop Spot: Wall's Matter


What do you think about walls? I mean physical walls, not mental or abstract ones.

I like the walls in my room to be plain, but adding a bit of flare to them would be interesting. Wall's matter focuses on styling flat surfaces, mainly walls, in offices, kitchens, living rooms, bedrooms, and even washrooms. Their products are like giant stickers with the potential to change the overall atmosphere of a room. They have many themes ranging from plants, to cityscape, to silhouette shapes of items like chandeliers. People can customize their walls however they like. Neat, right?

Website: www.wallsmatter.com

**THIS STORE IS CLOSED**

Store Location:
Unit D68, Pacific Mall
(main floor)
4300 Steeles Ave. East
Markham, ON
L3R 0Y5

Telephone: 905-480-1117


View Larger Map

Sunday, October 3, 2010

FMA Day

Funimation's blog announced that they want every October 3 to be recognized as FMA Day. A day where everyone in the anime community who has read, watched, or acknowledge Full Metal Alchemist reflects on it.

Apparently, Funimation will also be giving out free FMA stuff today. Sweet.

Friday, October 1, 2010

Where did TAC go?

I was checking out Hobbystar Marketing's website for events and I didn't find any Toronto anime con listed. The website didn't look like it was updated since the end of Fan Expo 2010. I then checked the convention list of Canada at anime cons and Toronto anime con wasn't there either. I guess there's no December TAC this year.

I realize I missed Fan Expo this year. I wasn't even in the province of Ontario anyways. I was looking forward to it, but people told me that the number of visitors this year exceeded Hobbystar's expectations. I heard the event was a semi-bust [in the fun level] for a few people because of the long line to get into the building. I understand if people who were lined up weren't allowed into the convention hall because of fire hazards. The organizers knew they were having more popular special guests at their event this year and they had commercials of Fan Expo on television and ads at random places in the media. The geek culture has rose over the past few years too (on experiencing the Internet and market). Did they miss something, or is it because geek culture has become bigger than I thought?

Whoops

I accidentally deleted one of the shop list posts about my crusading for magical girls and looking for a lolita shop.

It was a long post too...

Thursday, September 30, 2010

Dear Public Bus Drivers

Dear Public Bus Drivers of the GTA,

I thank you all for your hard work
getting people from one place to another.
Although some times it is creepy,
I enjoy the random singing some of you do,
the kindness and understanding
that you show when I forget
where I placed my transfer ticket, and
the beautiful smiles you show
whenever I greet you.

I've never been a bus driver,
so I don't know the hardships that you go through.
I often wonder if driving a bus for hours
would mean experiencing difficult times
like having to hold it in and wait
for a short break to a washroom.
I believe it's hard to be a bus driver
with all the different people
you meet and deal with everyday.

Keep up the good work though!
Hopefully the umbrella that the YRT and TTC are under
would better their services
to benefit both you workers and commuters alike.

Sincerely,
Mun-Yeen Cheung

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

And It Hit Me

It's my third year studying environmental studies as my major, and it seem like there is an endless amount of work that need to be attended to. I think it may be because the courses I chose require a lot of attention. I enjoy the topics the lecturers and students talk about in my courses, but there's just too many issues in this world to talk about. School club activities also require spending a few hours every week.

I calculated the amount of time I spend on average in classes, school work, club(s), and travelling to figure out how many hours I have to myself at home to do chores, eat, clean, and sleep per week. This is what I got:

44 hours in class
12 hours for school work
6 hours for club
18 hours travelling

total: 80 hours
Hours per week: 168
Hours to myself at home: 88

If I divide 91 hours by 7 for each day of the week, I get about 12 hours to myself (not rounding up) everyday. I spend about 6 or less of those hours sleeping, so I actually get 6 hours to eat decent meals, read manga, iron shirts, and blah, blah, blah.

I wanted to try going to the pool at night, try this 'going out with friends' thing I've been missing these past years, and attending events held by the city and unknown organizations. I haven't been able to stop at a mall to get a swimsuit though, so swimming's out of the question. I either don't feel a comfortable connection with friends when we're together anymore or people keep cancelling on me, so I can't seem to keep up with this 'going out' thing. Tickets to events are costly, and it's not as fun when you're there without a friend as it would with a friend. I am complaining. I should just go do things myself rather than ask people to go with me, shouldn't I?

This is the part where an imaginary friend comes by, hangs out with me 24/7, and I end up being called a lunatic [again]. Many times I hope a bus or a truck would hit me, even though I know the chances of that happening is under 50%. I would occasionally listen to news reports about people being hit by a bus or a truck and I wonder how the people they knew were affected. Whenever I think about how I'm alive, I make a schedule. Maybe that's why I don't have enough free time to myself.

The skin under my eyes are purple.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

This squirrel could never take over the world

I was walking with Ariana and Oie Lin on Spadina last Friday, and as we were passing by an apartment building surrounded by trees, we heard a loud thump. Something that was black and fuzzy and about the size of a soccer ball fell out of a tree. We took a closer look at it and it turned out to be a squirrel. The squirrel fell out of the tree and landed on its butt.

It sat still for a moment then ran to the back of the tree it fell out of. It didn't climb up the tree: it seemed more like it was waiting for us to do something because it wouldn't stop staring at us as we stared at it. We figured the squirrel was embarassed and wanted to be left alone, so we continued our journey up Spadina.

Is it normal for squirrels to fall out of a tree? Did that squirrel break its butt? Will I ever get to see another epic fall of a squirrel?


Heh heh. It made a loud thump noise.

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Squirrels could take over the world 4

I went through the pictures in my canon camera and guess what I found?

I found a picture of the day I found a squirrel sleeping on a fence from outside my kitchen window! I remember that day.

IT WAS AMAZING!! The squirrel was sleeping soundly on the fence. I was surprised and excited, got my camera, and took pictures and videos of it! AHHHH!! When it woke up, I casually walked away. I never saw it sleep there again, but it is a squirrel event I may never forget as long as people remind of squirrels, fences, and kitchens. *nods*

Now here's a picture with its gradual close-up.





ITS EYES ARE CLOSED! I don't think I've ever seen a squirrel close their eyes before, let alone blink!

Ouran HSHC

Ouran High School Host Club is so good it's bad.

I can't seem to stop rewatching the english dubbed episodes I bought last month. I've watched the episodes with Casanoda enough to worry about the DVD being scratched! I mean-- the idea of a lovely item on a mean-looking person is genius! The thought of it makes me think that it would work 100% on any person that puts fear into the hearts of others when looked into the eyes. It's so good.~ I can't stop watching it.~ That's bad.~ (>_<')

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Thinking

I had two of my wisdom teeth removed on Thursday. There's only a bit of pain when I eat and I can feel my face swollen. The stitches in my mouth feel funny and my face looks funny (as usual).

I was out today at a plaza were it seemed like there were no public washrooms. I had to go badly. My sister and I walked into a dumpling house and asked if we may use their washroom. They nodded yes! We took turns using the washroom. The female washroom had two toilets in it but no stalls! Before we left the restaurant, we thanked them and I left a dollar at the counter. My sister told me that the lady at the counter stared at me and that I shouldn't have given them such a shiny loonie.

Now I'm wondering if it was rude of me to leave a loonie there. They let us use the washrooom out of kindness, but leaving a loonie there may offend them. ('._.)_ Maybe I'm just weird?

Friday, September 3, 2010

Realization

It just hit me now.

I MISSED FANEXPO!!!

This is an event. I'm going to have to find something to do to make up for it. Any suggestions?

I'm thinking about walking around downtown again and looking for deals on manga. It won't replace the hundreds of cosplaying people I could have taken pictures of at the event though.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Hey Hey TO

I'm back in Toronto!

I'll miss you Prince George.

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Socks

I always check for holes in on socks before wearing them for the day. Today, I made sure that the sock had no holes in it. Four hours later, I find myself annoyed by what felt like a rock in my shoe. I went to the washroom, took off the shoe, and saw that there was a hole on my sock. My big toe was showing its beautiful self while nothing but air can be found in the shoe. I put my shoe back on and felt the familiar annoying sensation in my shoe as I walked.

Sorry, socks. I'll have to throw you out. May you decompose well in the garbage dump.

Friday, August 13, 2010

Some things do not work out no matter how hard you try

Me + server at a restaurant = bad
Me + server at a home = decent
Me =/= server

How am I going to live a life now?

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Time

Time used to feel like it went by slowly.

Now it's going by too fast.

Monday, August 2, 2010

Gorillaz


I recently bought Gorillaz' Plastic Beach. The CD art is as interesting as the music. I really like the Gorillaz' style: they have a variety of sounds and their image takes you into another world that can be related to reality.

I've known about the Gorillaz ever since I watched a commercial for their CD "Demon Days" in Hong Kong back in the early 2000's. My late grandmother told me that their music is good when she caught me watching the commercial. I later met a Gorillaz fan in residence at York University. I never really checked out their music until recently though. Why is that? @_@


Friday, July 30, 2010

Promise

In kindergarten, I was told that breaking promises is wrong.

They should have told me that making promises is wrong.

Monday, July 26, 2010

Dear Left Leg

Dear Left Leg,

I am sorry that you will forever have an ugly grayish blue scar on you because of my tendency to allow people to carry me and for falling on the edge of a rock hard sofa as someone was gracefully letting me down. I hope that you will find the blood flow to forgive me as we are bound for as long as you are attached to me. Let's hope that you still have the strength to carry me like the recently sprained right ankle had.

Sincerely, M.

Monday, July 19, 2010

Away from the City

I recently moved to Prince George to work for the summer. The air here feels much cleaner than the air from Toronto, but it doesn't always smell clean. The sky is also a funny-looking colour once in awhile. It feels like the suburbs, except where rows of houses are suppose to be there are rows of trees. Walking distances are long too.

My fixed daily events look like this
(all times are approxiamate):
10 am__leave house
11 am__work starts
10/11 pm__work ends

I work almost 12 hours everyday: no days off. Am proud to be me. I can't go looking for magical people though. So sad. Well, I've learned to force myself to smile for an hour straight at least. It's not as easy as I thought it would be.

I hope I make enough to replace the window in my room in Markham and to pay my tuition and textbook fees for the next year and a half. Maybe even pay the mortgage for a few months as well. I want manga too... (._.) and ice-cream. ('._.) I guess I'll have save money by starving myself.

Saturday, July 3, 2010

Rabbits

My father recently came back from his trip to Hong Kong. He wanted to visit friends and family for a month. While he was unpacking, he gave my sister and I rabbit dolls that our cousin Lam-Lam made for us. The dolls impressed me! I have to try making one myself one day if I ever find a fabric as soft as the ones she used. The rabbits she made for us reminds me of chocolate because of the colour.

I took pictures of the rabbit she made with the rabbit that my mother gave me about a month ago (the one she found at night in a parking lot and brought home around 12 am). The magnets in the hands of the brown rabbit hold onto the ear of the white rabbit nicely. The white rabbit is currently under surveillance because I suspect it to be a cursed rabbit of some sort or a magical boy/girl in disguise.

Chocolate rabbit nom!

Chocolate and Berries

FonduA few friends and I went over to Oie Lin's house to make chocolate fondue with berries on Monday. We had strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries, but we only used what was red. The chocolate was hot! The only trouble we had with dipping berries into chocolate was to avoid getting burned. We had to wait for the chocolate to harden when we were done though: Lin put one plate in the freezer and another in the fridge. We had three plates of chocolate covered berries in total.

!!I remember having to bike to the nearest No Frills to buy Hershey's chocolate and berries early in the afternoon. It was my first time biking to a grocery store! I should do that more often, but I would have trouble with carrying all the groceries home. The weather was warm too. Oh how I dislike the heat.

We watched a movie called 'Zombieland' while waiting for friends to arrive and for the chocolate to harden. Some parts actually scared me (mainly the washroom scenes.) Note to self: don't use public bathrooms during a zombie apocalypse.

After watching the movie, we were bored. We tried watching a few cooking shows and Animal Cops, but not everyone was into them (mainly me.) *heh* That was when my sister texted about how bored she was with her friends. I asked her if she wanted to hang out with mine. She replied yes, and I went to pick her up (by bike.) :D

Shortly after my sister and I arrived at Lin's house, everyone set up to play mahjong. The rest of the crew arrived and we ordered pizza for dinner. When the pizza arrived, we all sat at the dinner table talking about the past and the future. We ate the strawberry fondue soon after and played mahjong until it was night. After cleaning (not enough of) our mess, everyone bid farewell and left for home. Nights in the summer are nice. I don't like mosquitos though: they bite too often.

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Mangos in Downtown Toronto

Yeah!!

Ariana, Krystal, Livia, Oie Lin, Michael, and I spent today walking around downtown Toronto looking for stores with discount books. Our intentions were to find cheap comic books (mainly manga).

We thought we could get a day pass for our group, but apparently the TTC group passes are only for weekends and holidays. It made us feel sad because it meant that we had to walk between our destinations rather than take public transit. We ended up using two tokens per person for the whole day.

At the end of the day, I got to buy a few books for kids for my cousin and a few comics that I've been meaning to read. I found a Japanese image book of dolls at the Silver Snail and thought that it would be a good gift for a friend that's into those pale dolls with big eyes (they look eerie in my opinion). When I got to Oie Lin's house and checked out the contents of the Japanese book, I found that it was gothic bondage doll book. The damn thing was Japanese and I personally have no experience in reading Japanese! How was I suppose to know it was about bondage?! It was wrapped before I paid for it too. @_@ I'm scared of the book now and I have to keep it because it wouldn't be a good gift at all! I was hoping for a book about doll fashion for all ages, but it was a doll fashion book for sexual-bondage-interested people. XD I guess I brought it on myself. I should have opened (?) the package before buying it (?).


List of books bought at BMV:
Curious George (x2) = $5
Lagoon Engine vol. 6 = $4.51
Eric Carle books (x2) = $11.98
Peter Rabbit (x3) = $11.97

List of book bought at the Labyrinth:
Lagoon Engine vol. 5 = $9.99
Love Com vol. 16 = $9.99

List of books bought at the Silver Snail:
Battle Royale vol. 5 = $3
Japanese doll book = $5
Moyasimon vol. 2 = $3
Trailers = $3
Yeah Kou Phobia = $2
_tax = $2.08

Friday, June 25, 2010

Miyavi Concert in Toronto

My schedule:

June 25th, 2010
8:10 am __Woke up
9:30 am __Walked to ttc stop
11:30 am __Got to Union Station
11:40 pm __Look for Pavan
12:00 pm __Took bus to the concert building (Sound Academy)
12:30 pm __At Sound Academy waiting in line
12:40 pm __Got to meet a few people from the line__research
1:30 pm __Waiting in line
8:xx pm __In Sound Academy
9:08 pm __Concert STARTed!
11:xx pm __Concert ended
11:xx pm __Classified.

June 26th, 2010
12:28 am __Took bus to nearest subway station
1:10 am __Transfered trains
1:40 am __Home


My friend Pavan wanted to get to the concert line-up early so we met in the morning and headed to the Sound Academy. I didn't think that there would be people lined up at Sound Academy the night before the concert, but there were! Many of them had to face the heavy rain on the morning of the concert day. They're so dedicated! (Unlike I.) My friend wanted to get there earlier, but I rejected the idea. I like sleep too much. (._.)

When we got to Sound Academy, we ate samosas! It was my first time eating pre-made samosas and I have to say that they are like fried dumplings but spicy. Pavan told me they're not spicy but the first one tasted spicy to me! When we finished eating I was wondering what I would do for the next 8 hours in line. Pavan and I talked a bit and we got to know our line neighbours and decided that we should get to know everyone in the line! :D The truth is, I didn't take into account the boredom I may feel when lining up: I didn't bring anything to play with. Eight hours is a long time for a line! I've only ever stood for about 5 hours at most in a line!

It was fun talking to people we didn't know. I thought it would be hard to do, but most people are friendly once you get into a nice chat with them. The problem was that I didn't think about what others would think about me talking to them other than them thinking that I'm a creepy and weird person. Pavan left when we jumped to the near beginning of the line to check on our stuff.

There were many different people there! Most of them were between the ages 15 and 26 and many were from places outside of Toronto. I think the furthest a group of people travelled was either from Trois-Rivières, Québec or New York, U.S.A. We spoke of maid cafés, animé, asian dramas, music, Miyavi (of course), post-secondary institutions and of business (Tim Hortons and fashion). When I finished speaking with half of the people in the line, someone was speaking in French about how I was being a naughty person and that I was trying to suck up to someone in the front to get in earlier. (@_@) That was the first time I wished I didn't understand French. I was almost in tears. (T_T) So I moved onto the next group where one girl was sitting in line for her friends. She's an asian from Québec! The fifth one I've met in my life! I wanted to feel like I couldn't stop smiling at her because of her cuteness, but the people from before were still talking about me in French next to the girl and I. I ended the chat immediately when I couldn't take their glares anymore and left to go back to my place in line. I didn't get to know the rest of the people... (+_+) But! I got a business card from someone AND a new facebook friend from chatting. I could have gotten more, but I believed that they should give me their contact rather than me asking them (or else I would seem even more sketchy).

I'm jumping to the concert part now!

When the entered the concert hall (?) it looked just as I dreamt it would: like an expensive elementary school gymnasium. Yup. Pavan introduced me to a few friends she just met and we spent our time at the front of the stage the whole time (right behind the barracades I believe). I brought giant headphones to muffle out the loud screaming and music. Sound Academy workers noticed my headphones and asked if I had a recording device with me though. O_O They scared me! I already gave them my camera and suddenly they were asking about my cellphone and headphones! They let me keep the headphones on but kept an eye on me. I didn't actually look to see if they were watching me, but I knew that they thought I was suspicious. They did hand signs of headphones and pointed in my direction! XD It was funny. They cared for many of the fans in the crowd during the concert by giving water and fishing out people from the crowd. The lights were blindingly bright, but they were awesome! It wasn't too warm in the front, but there's not much space to move around there. :P

Miyavi looked much more divine in person than in pictures. His guitar playing was so beautiful that I didn't mind being crushed by a crowd of people and having a strong wave of arms coming from behind me during the 3 or 4 times he moved right at the end of the stage from where we were. I stood still for most of the concert, watching rather than jumping and stretching my arms out though. The drummer, keyboard man, and Mac guy were so pro, I couldn't help staring at them too.

I compared having the headphones on and being without it during the songs and I have to admit that I believe having the headphones on saved me from hearing damage. I accidentally hit a few people while adjusting the headphones on my head though. >_< I don't think they heard me say sorry.

When I got home, I found a bruise on each of my legs, one sprained knee, and scratches on another knee. I had fun at my first J-rock concert.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Friends

I feel that the hardest thing about keeping friends is trying to avoid drama.

Problems between two close friends could cause you to have to choose between them or have to oppose both of them. The love between friends could also be mistaken as another kind of love. It's hard not to find your time with a close friend that is also your ex-lover to be awkward.

With drama, I often think, whatever, and move on because I want to spend time with friends like I usually do. I tend to avoid drama by avoiding people, but people have ways of bringing drama to me.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Durarara!! Chat

I'm in love with Ikebukuro Dollars chat rooms.

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Gardening

I always end up breaking a sweat when I pull out weeds for half an hour. I didn't think that pulling out plants from the ground would be almost as tiring as cleaning a bath tub and a shower stall! Of course, bath tubs and shower stalls require more back breaking work depending on its size.

My family bought zuchini plants about a month ago. The plants were growing well indoor and were ready to be planted into the garden 2 weeks later. My younger sister and I planted the zuchini plants into a patch of moist soil, but during the process, we sort of broke a part of each plant (the stem broke or the leaves folded). Heavy rain from these past few days haven't helped their growth either it seems. I've sort of given up on the thought that they'd grow but I also feel hopeful that they'd pull through. They looked like super plants when we bought them and they still look like super plants to me.

I guess I've learned something from this first planting: be gentle with plants unless they're dandelions that won't leave the favoured vegetables alone.

Friday, June 11, 2010

Saturday at Anime North 2010 (part 5): The End

After walking around the building again, M., K. and I decided to go to the line-up. It was about 2 pm and the line is usually much shorter around that time. While heading to the end of the line, we took a few pictures of cosplayers.


(Rawr! Where's princess Peach?)


(All aboard!!)


(Nice bandana. I want to wear one like that too.)


(Cooking Mama! What kind of meal will we make today?)


(Fusion!)


(Master Roshi hard at work.)


(FF7 cast?)


(Who's that bum and what's up with the police cars?)


(Sand people!)


(It's Davis and Veemon!
Veemon looks younger than his usual self.)


We finally got to the end of the line and it was still long. At least it wasn't as long as it was in the morning. We ended up standing behind three girls who I will dub as the three princess fairies. It took about an hour to finally get to the table inside. While in the line, I took pictures of the bunny rabbit toy my mother found in the streets and brought home at 12 am one night.


(Princess fairies)


(One of few pictures of bunny.)


My sister and I didn't want to pay for tickets, so we left Madeline to explore the main building herself. We went to Milestones for air conditioning and non-fast food. On our way to the restaurant and out, we took pictures.


(O_O Are they from Gaia?)


(A robot!
We followed it for a minute
and gave up the idea that it would fly away.)


Madeline called and we met up with her to take more pictures of people. We walked around for another hour while looking for friends.


(Kick-Ass and... ?)


(Naruto being sneaky behind a bush!)


(Apple people! I have their cousins in my fridge.)


(Pokémon love this guy so much that they stick to him.)


(Cute girls from Eureka7.)


We headed to our last destination: the DDR room. We stayed there until 5 pm and left the convention afterwards. DDR is so hard to play with a mat.

Conclusion: cosplayers stick out of a crowd even when they're in a crowd of cosplayers.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Saturday at Anime North 2010 (part 4)

Madeline, Krystal, and I walked once more around the building. We --most of the time, I-- kept running up to people asking for pictures. It made me feel like a creep.


(Pokémon!)


(I have no idea where they're from,
but I can guess it's from a story about high school girls.)


(General Maes Hughes eating a sub!)


(The lonely DigiDestined.)


(I thought I saw something in the tree.)


(Zim!!!)


(Yes. Cell wears glasses.)


(Dood! What does that mean?)


(What series are these people from?)


(Death Metal City!!!)


(The KING. Has a beautiful face.)


(FIGHT!!)


(Insert doom music.)


(I keep asking: where are they from?)


(RAGE!!)


(Clannad, right?)


(*pew pew*)


(One of their wigs fell off because of us...)


(Sweet coat.)


(Ursula! I wasn't expecting her there.)


(That thing on his back looks so pro!!)


(Pretty Sailor Soldiers. Magical girls!)


Highlight of the day: super cool outfits. To be continued in part 5.
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