MinamiCon 2009
Got back safely from Minami yesterday. Here’s the written report, with photos to follow once I steal them from everyone else :P You’ll notice I only managed to take photos of things unrelated to the convention on Thursday and Sunday night. I rely on others to fill in the gaps of costume photos for the other days!
Thursday
This was the first time I’d turned up the day before a con. I enjoyed it, but certainly don’t feel the need to do it for every con, especially when it involves paying more to stay an extra night (although I imagine it’s more worthwhile at larger cons like Ame and Aya). It only came about this Minami because flights on Thursday were dramatically cheaper, and even with the extra night at the hotel, it was still cheaper than flying on Friday 0_o, so Tom and I went with that. Even if it was an unnecessary extra day, it was still fun to be there, and I was amazed how many others were about.
We were staying in the Etap, which was fine, but not spacious, and the infamous shower opening right on to the main room wasn’t ideal. However, for the price, it was great, and it really is all you need at a con. It’s exactly like the hotel we stay in in Paris, except missing a wall for the bathroom, which although inconvenient for taking showers, was great the rest of the time for giving extra space and room around the sink and mirrors.
We obtained an Oz once we arrived, ventured over to the shopping centre for some food, and discovered the amazing milkshake place. Never seen one like it before, where they’ll make any chocolate bar or any food item whatsoever into a milkshake. I had a delicious Crunchie one.
Tescos had this amusing sign on all its doors. I assume people have actually managed to walk into them then….
Tom still had sewing to be doing, so we invaded Oz’s shiny Novotel room to finish that up. A lazy venture to McDonald’s for dinner, then some time in the bar where suddenly loads of people had appeared! However, I didn’t stay long before retreating for the night.
Friday
Up early because Elifish’s flight arrived at 8am. Collected her at the station, and after dropping off her things in the room, went over to Costa (where else?) for breakfast. I wore Eruka Frog from Soul Eater for a fair bit of the day, and we mostly hung out in the bar, as people gradually started arriving.
My hat was improved a bit - I padded it out more, and tried to smooth it out at the front to get rid of the messy brim.
I was pretty tired, although not as sleepy as Fish, but I went through more awake phases. Being sleepy led me to get fed up with costumeness in the afternoon, so I got changed, and sort of helped Eli with finishing up her costume and did some touch-ups on my own stuff. Also did a coffee run to Starbucks. The Borders isn’t as good as ours, not a big enough hole in the upper floor.
Then there was the opening ceremony in the evening, with foooood, candy floss and entertaining games. Nia gave me clockwork racing snails as a birthday present, so those were thoroughly raced, and were probably far more hilarious than they should be. The twister game looked pretty funny, and the events in the variety show were excellent as ever. Giant rock, paper scissors was rather more fail than last year, but still funny, the speed-changing sentai game was absolutely hilarious (especially Erin :P), iron cosplay was as excellent as ever, and I think Chinese whispers drawing went much better this year.
Afterwards there was some hanging out in the bar, which shifted to Annette and Phil’s room. Nice to meet Dario and spend more time with Junta. I gave up earlier than I would have liked to go to bed, and was out like a light, although not as amazingly as Fish, who was incredibly soundly asleep.
Saturday
Even with a earlyish night, we all slept right in, leading Annette to phone to ask where we were, to have me explain we hadn’t even got as far as breakfast yet (when it was around 11ish, oops)… Breakfast was over at Starbucks for some variety, then back to the room to change, and in my case, switch my contacts around to the correct eyes (oops). Eli and I realised at 11.50 that we hadn’t entered the masquerade yet, and I thought entries closed at 12. So we dashed over and registered, acquiring an Annette whilst up in Ops, who gave me the painfully adorable Pinky Street figure of Rebecca from Wild Arms.
It was the morning of Shadow Hearts, I was wearing Karin Koenig again, and we all froze outside getting photos, which were being destroyed by the wind. Soooo nice to get inside into the warm afterwards!
We invaded the quiz, and were amazingly successful. Our drawing of Evangelion truly was a masterpiece.
Eli and I decided to get changed into our masquerade costumes quite early, since I was fed up with wearing Karin, and excited about the Odin Sphere outfits! Took a while to get into Velvet, and Eli’s Gwendolyn was even more complicated, but then it was back to the Novotel for a barrage of photos and then the masquerade. I was fairly happy with Velvet, but would like the proper stockings for next time, instead of my messy, rubbishy last-minute-replacement ones, a neater wig, and all the stuff balanced on my head better, more durable gold stars, and perhaps the psyphers tidied up more. In spite of that list, I was pleased with the majority of the costume!
Although in general this con was more lacking on the cosplay front, as people were more up for the socialising and fun side, the masquerade was amazing as ever, if not better this year. The theme seemed to be light-up costumes, and general awesomeness! The performances were great too - loved the Pokemon group, Uber Nerd, Team Giblets and Wessex - all well-done, hilarious stuff.
Afterwards, I was keen to run off and get changed, but stuck around long enough for glowy photos in the dark whilst developing hypothermia.
Team glowy!
Once in comfortable, normal clothing, Eli and I grabbed food at McDonald’s, and went off to enjoy the Novotel bar, karaoke and later on, cheesecake and drinks in Annette’s room. Not happy about losing an hour that night…
Sunday
Having once again failed at timing it for the McDonald’s breakfast, we decided to go over to Asda instead. Neither me or Fish felt like wearing our Odin Sphere costumes again, so I got into Eruka again for Soul Eater day.
We spent forever in the pre-registration queue, where I did my best to break the registration system by registering another Eilidh (this one of the Pudding variety). Then we scooted into the J-pop quiz only a little late, where I won a lollypop in pass the parcel, hooray!
Following that, it was time for Lex’s panel, and the decorating of the amazing Minami banner. After a slow start, we all got going, mainly with pictures of cute sea creatures, and then things developed into slight insanity. Lots of fun, and an awesome result!
After the panel, we managed to get nearly all the Soul Eater cosplayers together for photos with Mike’s fantastically decorated car. I don’t think I’ve ever participated in such a fun shoot before!
Following the closing ceremony, we got even more people into the group and continued on with photos. By the time that finished up, it was getting late, and very cold, so I happily went to get changed. Although there was the TGI meal that evening, a brief trip to McDonald’s for the magical Creme Egg McFlurry was required, along with coffee. Found most people in the Novotel again and hung out until it was time for our TGI’s booking. With 2 simultaneous bookings for 15 people each, and various other people there at the same time, we basically moved the convention over there for the evening. The restaurant coped almost perfectly, and dealt with the numbers fine, and even fairly efficiently.
After delicious foods, we enjoyed the Novotel bar for the rest of the evening, which included mucking about with Duplo, trying to make the most structurally unsound creations stay up. As you can see, our amazing tower was sabotaged by an Erin.
Monday
Woke up early thanks to a phonecall, but made the most of the early start and finally managed to be in time for McDonald’s breakfast. Pancakes and syrup mmmmmmm! Packed up and checked out in plenty of time, and shifted to the Novotel where everyone else was gathering. With a flight at 3, we didn’t need to leave until 1, so had plenty time to spend with everyone as they gradually left, or tried to in the case of the failure of the Dez mobile.
Redkun’s flight was around the same time as ours, so we all headed off to the airport together. Journey home was uneventful, but that was when the sleepiness really started to kick in.
Conclusions are not surprising - excellent con, great to see everyone again, only wish there was more time to spend with everyone.
In other news…
I’m going to stay with my parents in Edinburgh for a bit (I'll be back on the 7th at the latest). Annoying having to lug all my revision stuff with me, but I’m overdue a visit, and looking forward to it. Once I’m back, it’s just revision, then exams, so don’t expect to see much of me. My exams finish on the 14th May, and I move out on the 21st, so I’ll have my chance to have fun in Glasgow then before I leave.
Thursday
This was the first time I’d turned up the day before a con. I enjoyed it, but certainly don’t feel the need to do it for every con, especially when it involves paying more to stay an extra night (although I imagine it’s more worthwhile at larger cons like Ame and Aya). It only came about this Minami because flights on Thursday were dramatically cheaper, and even with the extra night at the hotel, it was still cheaper than flying on Friday 0_o, so Tom and I went with that. Even if it was an unnecessary extra day, it was still fun to be there, and I was amazed how many others were about.
We were staying in the Etap, which was fine, but not spacious, and the infamous shower opening right on to the main room wasn’t ideal. However, for the price, it was great, and it really is all you need at a con. It’s exactly like the hotel we stay in in Paris, except missing a wall for the bathroom, which although inconvenient for taking showers, was great the rest of the time for giving extra space and room around the sink and mirrors.
We obtained an Oz once we arrived, ventured over to the shopping centre for some food, and discovered the amazing milkshake place. Never seen one like it before, where they’ll make any chocolate bar or any food item whatsoever into a milkshake. I had a delicious Crunchie one.
Tescos had this amusing sign on all its doors. I assume people have actually managed to walk into them then….
Tom still had sewing to be doing, so we invaded Oz’s shiny Novotel room to finish that up. A lazy venture to McDonald’s for dinner, then some time in the bar where suddenly loads of people had appeared! However, I didn’t stay long before retreating for the night.
Friday
Up early because Elifish’s flight arrived at 8am. Collected her at the station, and after dropping off her things in the room, went over to Costa (where else?) for breakfast. I wore Eruka Frog from Soul Eater for a fair bit of the day, and we mostly hung out in the bar, as people gradually started arriving.
My hat was improved a bit - I padded it out more, and tried to smooth it out at the front to get rid of the messy brim.
I was pretty tired, although not as sleepy as Fish, but I went through more awake phases. Being sleepy led me to get fed up with costumeness in the afternoon, so I got changed, and sort of helped Eli with finishing up her costume and did some touch-ups on my own stuff. Also did a coffee run to Starbucks. The Borders isn’t as good as ours, not a big enough hole in the upper floor.
Then there was the opening ceremony in the evening, with foooood, candy floss and entertaining games. Nia gave me clockwork racing snails as a birthday present, so those were thoroughly raced, and were probably far more hilarious than they should be. The twister game looked pretty funny, and the events in the variety show were excellent as ever. Giant rock, paper scissors was rather more fail than last year, but still funny, the speed-changing sentai game was absolutely hilarious (especially Erin :P), iron cosplay was as excellent as ever, and I think Chinese whispers drawing went much better this year.
Afterwards there was some hanging out in the bar, which shifted to Annette and Phil’s room. Nice to meet Dario and spend more time with Junta. I gave up earlier than I would have liked to go to bed, and was out like a light, although not as amazingly as Fish, who was incredibly soundly asleep.
Saturday
Even with a earlyish night, we all slept right in, leading Annette to phone to ask where we were, to have me explain we hadn’t even got as far as breakfast yet (when it was around 11ish, oops)… Breakfast was over at Starbucks for some variety, then back to the room to change, and in my case, switch my contacts around to the correct eyes (oops). Eli and I realised at 11.50 that we hadn’t entered the masquerade yet, and I thought entries closed at 12. So we dashed over and registered, acquiring an Annette whilst up in Ops, who gave me the painfully adorable Pinky Street figure of Rebecca from Wild Arms.
It was the morning of Shadow Hearts, I was wearing Karin Koenig again, and we all froze outside getting photos, which were being destroyed by the wind. Soooo nice to get inside into the warm afterwards!
We invaded the quiz, and were amazingly successful. Our drawing of Evangelion truly was a masterpiece.
Eli and I decided to get changed into our masquerade costumes quite early, since I was fed up with wearing Karin, and excited about the Odin Sphere outfits! Took a while to get into Velvet, and Eli’s Gwendolyn was even more complicated, but then it was back to the Novotel for a barrage of photos and then the masquerade. I was fairly happy with Velvet, but would like the proper stockings for next time, instead of my messy, rubbishy last-minute-replacement ones, a neater wig, and all the stuff balanced on my head better, more durable gold stars, and perhaps the psyphers tidied up more. In spite of that list, I was pleased with the majority of the costume!
Although in general this con was more lacking on the cosplay front, as people were more up for the socialising and fun side, the masquerade was amazing as ever, if not better this year. The theme seemed to be light-up costumes, and general awesomeness! The performances were great too - loved the Pokemon group, Uber Nerd, Team Giblets and Wessex - all well-done, hilarious stuff.
Afterwards, I was keen to run off and get changed, but stuck around long enough for glowy photos in the dark whilst developing hypothermia.
Team glowy!
Once in comfortable, normal clothing, Eli and I grabbed food at McDonald’s, and went off to enjoy the Novotel bar, karaoke and later on, cheesecake and drinks in Annette’s room. Not happy about losing an hour that night…
Sunday
Having once again failed at timing it for the McDonald’s breakfast, we decided to go over to Asda instead. Neither me or Fish felt like wearing our Odin Sphere costumes again, so I got into Eruka again for Soul Eater day.
We spent forever in the pre-registration queue, where I did my best to break the registration system by registering another Eilidh (this one of the Pudding variety). Then we scooted into the J-pop quiz only a little late, where I won a lollypop in pass the parcel, hooray!
Following that, it was time for Lex’s panel, and the decorating of the amazing Minami banner. After a slow start, we all got going, mainly with pictures of cute sea creatures, and then things developed into slight insanity. Lots of fun, and an awesome result!
After the panel, we managed to get nearly all the Soul Eater cosplayers together for photos with Mike’s fantastically decorated car. I don’t think I’ve ever participated in such a fun shoot before!
Following the closing ceremony, we got even more people into the group and continued on with photos. By the time that finished up, it was getting late, and very cold, so I happily went to get changed. Although there was the TGI meal that evening, a brief trip to McDonald’s for the magical Creme Egg McFlurry was required, along with coffee. Found most people in the Novotel again and hung out until it was time for our TGI’s booking. With 2 simultaneous bookings for 15 people each, and various other people there at the same time, we basically moved the convention over there for the evening. The restaurant coped almost perfectly, and dealt with the numbers fine, and even fairly efficiently.
After delicious foods, we enjoyed the Novotel bar for the rest of the evening, which included mucking about with Duplo, trying to make the most structurally unsound creations stay up. As you can see, our amazing tower was sabotaged by an Erin.
Monday
Woke up early thanks to a phonecall, but made the most of the early start and finally managed to be in time for McDonald’s breakfast. Pancakes and syrup mmmmmmm! Packed up and checked out in plenty of time, and shifted to the Novotel where everyone else was gathering. With a flight at 3, we didn’t need to leave until 1, so had plenty time to spend with everyone as they gradually left, or tried to in the case of the failure of the Dez mobile.
Redkun’s flight was around the same time as ours, so we all headed off to the airport together. Journey home was uneventful, but that was when the sleepiness really started to kick in.
Conclusions are not surprising - excellent con, great to see everyone again, only wish there was more time to spend with everyone.
In other news…
I’m going to stay with my parents in Edinburgh for a bit (I'll be back on the 7th at the latest). Annoying having to lug all my revision stuff with me, but I’m overdue a visit, and looking forward to it. Once I’m back, it’s just revision, then exams, so don’t expect to see much of me. My exams finish on the 14th May, and I move out on the 21st, so I’ll have my chance to have fun in Glasgow then before I leave.