Anime Matsuri Report -Day 1-
Friday, Day 1
Oh yeah, my car.
Since i went to the airport with my car to pick up our guests, then got on the limo with them back to the hotel, i had to leave my car parked at the airport the whole time. That meant i didn't have my luggage (or comfortable shoes) with me. i was hoping to check in Thrusday and get situated in my room before even going to the airport to welcome our guests, but i ended up having someone take me to the airport at 2AM to get my car. Btw, the guy who gave me a ride is another issue i'll mention later.
Oh, and my "cute" sandal broke on me because i was running in them... (T-T
Friday was "Promotion Day" for the vocalist, and "Off Day" for everyone else. The limo was going to pick up the band members and the other translator (Hajime-san) at 1 PM so they can go sightseeing in Houston. (They were all looking forward to seeing the NASA space center) Our schedule said "Lunch" from 12 noon to 1PM, then sightseeing, but i think the overseer misinterpreted that as "Sightseeing and Lunch starting at 12 noon", so he wasn't happy to find out that the limo wouldn't be at the hotel until around 1 PM.
Anyway, we see the band off as they leave to explore Houston, then the overseer and i get with John to confirm on the interviews (and the location) that will be held. The vocalist had appointments with a couple of "companies". One was Japanator, and the other was Masa Karasu. Now, when we were arranging for interviews, John asked me if Masa Karasu brought up the issue of forming an official fan club, would that be totally taboo. We figured it would be ok, since it's up to the vocalist to make that decision. And anyway, i thought that they were going to conduct an interview, then include the question "Can we set up an official fan club for you?" i was wrong. Masa Karasu was there ONLY to negotiate with him to set up a fan club. They weren't there to do an interview... >.>;;;;; The overseer was like, "?!" but the vocalist seemed to take it in stride (i guess he's used to that) and said he'd have to talk with the rest of his company.
The interviews went fairly smoothly, and so we proceed to double-check on the location for the press conference... Which is "too big" according to the overseer. So we switch to a smaller room (i think we hijacked the Karaoke room). We had the vocalist wait in the utility closet while DJ Tito introduced him to the press. >.>;;;;;
During the location hunt for the press room, i kept hearing my name on the radio. Do you remember when i said "4 sets of guests and 2 translators"? Well, the second translator was out with the band, so in essesnce one set of guests took BOTH translators. And another Japanese guest needed a translator for his Q&A panel, at the same time as the vocalist's press conference. And they were paging me to go. i mean, the vocalist spoke English fine (i think) so i thought he'd be ok by himself.
So... i BOLTED.
Of course, John was aware that i was going to go, but the overseer and vocalist weren't. >.>;;;;; As soon as they were situated in the press conference room, i ran to the Takuya Angel Q & A to translate for him. It was so much fun. i actually GOT TO TRANSLATE! Takuya Angel's middle man (Oh my gosh, that's another mess in itself) was pleased, and so was Takuya Angel himself, so i was glad.
There was some down time, then Opening Ceremony. Got to translate for the other guests a bit. i met the Showdown (gaming tournament) guests for the first time there. Pachi, Legendary Otaku, and Ken were very nice people. And very fashoinable. You would've thought Pachi-san was like, a musician or something. i thought gamers were recluses that weren't so keen on looking good. (Sorry, all the "gamers" that i've met in the past were non-social geeks with bad hygene and bad taste in fashion. >.>;;; ) Legend-san was so shy. So cute. Here's a YouTube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7o125Kb7pM
After the opening ceremony came the vocalist's Q&A. Panel Room 1 was packed, thank goodness. (i would have been VERY frustrated if the overseer wanted us to move everything to a smaller room because he didn't want his vocalist disappointed in seeing gaps between the seated people.) We allocated 1 hour 30 minutes for this, but the overseer wanted it to be more like 45 minutes. So, if fans were wondering why the Q&A was so short, please blame the overseer. >.<)/
Those were the con events for the day. Then came tending to the overseer, vocalist and band. i had made a reserveation for dinner at the P.F. Chang's restaurant for 8PM, but the band didn't get back to the Hotel until, like, 8:20. i had pushed the reservation back from 8:00 to 8:15, then to 8:45. By the time i call again after 8:45 telling them we're now on our way, P. F. Chang's decided they're going to give away our seats. (T-T i think it was around 9:15 when we finally got everyone situated at the restaurant. Hajime-san, who took the band and met us at the restaurant, had to drop off the band and get right back to the hotel so he could take Strong Machine's family to the J-Fashion show (in which Strong Machine 1 and 2 performed.) Dinner was yummy. We ordered a bunch of food and shared...i always like that because you can eat a little bit of everything. ^^ The overseer had me sitting faaaar away from him. (Maybe he was silently pissed that i disappeared, which he did have a right to be. =P ) By then, the lady in charge of merchandise sale was there, and she was entertaining the overseer.
i don't remember what happened the rest of the evening... i do remember looking for John with the overseer and getting to see a bit of Import Reactor. (Missed the Strong Machine performance, though. ;_; ) i think we were trying to see if we could check the keyboard and guitars that were going to be used for the concert.
Oh! i ironed my blouse and skirts that i was planning to wear in the next couple of days, since i actually had some time on my hands! XDD
Day 0 entry here, if you haven't read it: http://azu79.livejournal.com/49866.html
Oh yeah, my car.
Since i went to the airport with my car to pick up our guests, then got on the limo with them back to the hotel, i had to leave my car parked at the airport the whole time. That meant i didn't have my luggage (or comfortable shoes) with me. i was hoping to check in Thrusday and get situated in my room before even going to the airport to welcome our guests, but i ended up having someone take me to the airport at 2AM to get my car. Btw, the guy who gave me a ride is another issue i'll mention later.
Oh, and my "cute" sandal broke on me because i was running in them... (T-T
Friday was "Promotion Day" for the vocalist, and "Off Day" for everyone else. The limo was going to pick up the band members and the other translator (Hajime-san) at 1 PM so they can go sightseeing in Houston. (They were all looking forward to seeing the NASA space center) Our schedule said "Lunch" from 12 noon to 1PM, then sightseeing, but i think the overseer misinterpreted that as "Sightseeing and Lunch starting at 12 noon", so he wasn't happy to find out that the limo wouldn't be at the hotel until around 1 PM.
Anyway, we see the band off as they leave to explore Houston, then the overseer and i get with John to confirm on the interviews (and the location) that will be held. The vocalist had appointments with a couple of "companies". One was Japanator, and the other was Masa Karasu. Now, when we were arranging for interviews, John asked me if Masa Karasu brought up the issue of forming an official fan club, would that be totally taboo. We figured it would be ok, since it's up to the vocalist to make that decision. And anyway, i thought that they were going to conduct an interview, then include the question "Can we set up an official fan club for you?" i was wrong. Masa Karasu was there ONLY to negotiate with him to set up a fan club. They weren't there to do an interview... >.>;;;;; The overseer was like, "?!" but the vocalist seemed to take it in stride (i guess he's used to that) and said he'd have to talk with the rest of his company.
The interviews went fairly smoothly, and so we proceed to double-check on the location for the press conference... Which is "too big" according to the overseer. So we switch to a smaller room (i think we hijacked the Karaoke room). We had the vocalist wait in the utility closet while DJ Tito introduced him to the press. >.>;;;;;
During the location hunt for the press room, i kept hearing my name on the radio. Do you remember when i said "4 sets of guests and 2 translators"? Well, the second translator was out with the band, so in essesnce one set of guests took BOTH translators. And another Japanese guest needed a translator for his Q&A panel, at the same time as the vocalist's press conference. And they were paging me to go. i mean, the vocalist spoke English fine (i think) so i thought he'd be ok by himself.
So... i BOLTED.
Of course, John was aware that i was going to go, but the overseer and vocalist weren't. >.>;;;;; As soon as they were situated in the press conference room, i ran to the Takuya Angel Q & A to translate for him. It was so much fun. i actually GOT TO TRANSLATE! Takuya Angel's middle man (Oh my gosh, that's another mess in itself) was pleased, and so was Takuya Angel himself, so i was glad.
There was some down time, then Opening Ceremony. Got to translate for the other guests a bit. i met the Showdown (gaming tournament) guests for the first time there. Pachi, Legendary Otaku, and Ken were very nice people. And very fashoinable. You would've thought Pachi-san was like, a musician or something. i thought gamers were recluses that weren't so keen on looking good. (Sorry, all the "gamers" that i've met in the past were non-social geeks with bad hygene and bad taste in fashion. >.>;;; ) Legend-san was so shy. So cute. Here's a YouTube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7o125Kb7pM
After the opening ceremony came the vocalist's Q&A. Panel Room 1 was packed, thank goodness. (i would have been VERY frustrated if the overseer wanted us to move everything to a smaller room because he didn't want his vocalist disappointed in seeing gaps between the seated people.) We allocated 1 hour 30 minutes for this, but the overseer wanted it to be more like 45 minutes. So, if fans were wondering why the Q&A was so short, please blame the overseer. >.<)/
Those were the con events for the day. Then came tending to the overseer, vocalist and band. i had made a reserveation for dinner at the P.F. Chang's restaurant for 8PM, but the band didn't get back to the Hotel until, like, 8:20. i had pushed the reservation back from 8:00 to 8:15, then to 8:45. By the time i call again after 8:45 telling them we're now on our way, P. F. Chang's decided they're going to give away our seats. (T-T i think it was around 9:15 when we finally got everyone situated at the restaurant. Hajime-san, who took the band and met us at the restaurant, had to drop off the band and get right back to the hotel so he could take Strong Machine's family to the J-Fashion show (in which Strong Machine 1 and 2 performed.) Dinner was yummy. We ordered a bunch of food and shared...i always like that because you can eat a little bit of everything. ^^ The overseer had me sitting faaaar away from him. (Maybe he was silently pissed that i disappeared, which he did have a right to be. =P ) By then, the lady in charge of merchandise sale was there, and she was entertaining the overseer.
i don't remember what happened the rest of the evening... i do remember looking for John with the overseer and getting to see a bit of Import Reactor. (Missed the Strong Machine performance, though. ;_; ) i think we were trying to see if we could check the keyboard and guitars that were going to be used for the concert.
Oh! i ironed my blouse and skirts that i was planning to wear in the next couple of days, since i actually had some time on my hands! XDD
Day 0 entry here, if you haven't read it: http://azu79.livejournal.com/49866.html