MOCHI > The Scrapbook > Convention Memories > Anime Detour > 2006

While the decor in Contingent A's room seemed to be some sort of hotel commentary on their mental age, it was nice and roomy. Continuing on the theme of "adventure", Sugar Bomb and Daifuku tried their luck with breakfast at IKEA. About a five to ten minute walk from the hotel, they were lured in by tales of a 99 cent breakfast. (If you opted for pancakes, as Daifuku did, you shelled out another 40 cents.) While not exactly a mountain of food, it was a nice change from dining at the hotel or at the Mall of America. Toasted, Grandis, and company satisfied their sweet tooth at their nigh traditional Friday breakfast spot: the A Baker's Wife. [They even let me open a tab! -Toasted]

There was some confusion about badges (as in when registration was actually going to be open and how they were handling pre-registrations) but, in the end, everything got sorted out. It was a little confusing to be herded from one room to another without a clear idea of what might be happening (especially when one of the rooms was very empty).

Grandis had some great reception as Isabella, from Paradise Kiss. While there are not as many ParaKiss fans as there are, let's say, Naruto ones, what ParaKiss fans there are are very serious fans of the show and can pick out folks costuming as ParaKiss characters -- despite the fact that the characters wear a LOT of different clothes because it is (after all) centered around the fashion world.

Making our way down to the dealers' room, we were pleasantly surprised to find it bigger than last year. Sadly, most of the merchandise seemed to be focused around 1) Japanese snacks or 2) a handful of very popular shows. Poor Toasted Mochi had to console Daifuku after she failed to find a single sticker, phone charm, or other piece of silliness for any of the shows she follows. [Daifuku displays a pair of big, watery eyes.]

On the other hand, Grandis was able to find some serious loot from one of her favorite titles. Nana is the current project of Yazawa Ai, the mangaka of Paradise Kiss and Gojinko Monogatari. It was a surprise to see merchandise for such a recent shoujo title.

MOCHI briefly split into contingents again, as Contingent B decamped to mix up a soundtrack for the masquerade entry and Daifuku Mochi continued to put the finishing touches on some cast resin pieces. Meeting again for dinner, we decamped to a wonderful little Vietnamese place. The food was, as to be expected, delicious. Toasted Mochi was on good terms with the folks that run the place and they recognized Grandis from her two previous visits. [They even remembered what flavor of bubble tea I like! -Grandis]

Afterwards, Contingent B went off to hunt down Terry (who we all had met at last year's con) for a Full Metal Alchemist shoot. Arranging to meet for breakfast at an hour of the morning that made Daifuku wince, everyone went to catch some sleep.

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