So I’m going to try a different way to do this trip report.

Hotel – Fairmont San Jose Hotel

The third, and most expensive, of Fanime’s con hotels. By the time the lolita event was announced, this was the only hotel that still had rooms available at the con rate. I didn’t mind because the lolita event was being held in this hotel and the hotel’s regular rate isn’t something I would pay, so getting to stay at a luxury hotel at a discount was a plus.

The room was nice and the bed was super comfy, I never wanted to leave it. ^^; The size of the bathroom surprised me. I wish I had made use of the tub.

The evening view from the window.

Fanime

Registration was quick and painless since I pre-registered. Last time, AS and I decided at the last minute to attend Fanime and we wasted hours in line registering the day of. Never again. :/

It’s hard for me to evaluate any of rooms or activities since I barely utilized my Fanime ticket. In the dealer’s room, I looked for Aria related merchandise for AS and Tomoyo related merchandise for me. I tried to look at figures for him, as well, but I really don’t know figures, so mostly I concentrated on nendos. On the last day, I did buy one nendo, Raspberyl. AS kinda wanted her and I liked her partially eaten meat accessory. xD The price was “normal” for a nendo after the 50% off for figures was taken, so you can imagine how inflated the original price they charged was.

The Artist Alley was nice. I saw the Drunken Panda people again and I wanted to buy everything (they’re stuff is so adorable!) but AS told me it wasn’t worth it (over the phone – I had to ask him to check what we bought two years ago to make sure I wasn’t buying the same thing again). I think this was the only purchase I made in that room. ^^;

Wendy Pini (Elfquest) was in the AA promoting her new work, but unfortunately, I had passed her table towards closing and she wasn’t there anymore, so I made a mental note to come back. When I went back the last day, Fanime had switched the entrance and exit doors temporarily (why I never found out) and my feet hurt from walking in heels, so I decided not to bother going in again, totally forgetting why I was going there in the first place. Argh! It was silly of me, too, because her table is actually by the exit, now the new entrance, so she would’ve been right there as I walked in, but I guess the weariness overrode my common sense.

I didn’t attend many other panels or events, though I meant to, but I was either at the lolita event or too tired to do anything. ^^;; I liked staying at the Fairmont a lot, and the walk really isn’t too much, but the bed just was so comfy…

One of the things I did get to check out was the black and white ball. That was actually in the Fairmont though, hah! Mostly, I was there to check out how they did a fancy ball to take back to my local convention. ^^;

They were selling roses outside. Loved the glitter!

I also participated in the Lolita fashion show. I only did it because the organizer is on my friends list and I saw they were short one person, but regretted it immensely when we were waiting to go on because I was super tired. I slept so much the other night that I couldn’t sleep at all the night before, so all I wanted to do was go to bed. Also, I was regretting all the lost time for browsing the convention! I had planned on peeking in at the figures panel and I wanted to finish browsing the AA and the dealer’s room, but it does take a long time to get ready so didn’t have time before the fashion show and unfortunately, the timing of the show meant there was very little time to browse before rooms closed. Meh.

Fantaisies dans le Monde des Rêves

My main reason for attending. :3 It was both good and bad. Seeing the designers again was awesome, of course. They’re so cute! The shopping was great, too. My favorite brand (Angelic Pretty) was extremely overpriced, but there were other brands there, namely Atelier Pierrot, which I should’ve avoided checking so I could save money but couldn’t. ^^; What I didn’t spend at Angelic Pretty, I wound up spending at Atelier Pierrot. I really would’ve loved to have bought more, the clothes were so gorgeous.

The bad was basically that I paid A LOT to attend as a VIP. Much more than what I’ve paid in previous years. And although they promised a lot that made it seem like would make it worth my money, they didn’t deliver everything that was promised. There was a lot of shadiness involved in the auctions for the VIP tickets. I would’ve objected more but the organizers have put on their terms of service that they would ban anyone from attending for making negative statements against them. :/ It’s BS, but what can you do when they have a stranglehold on these events? I’m punishing myself more by not attending when I desperately wanted to. I got past the money thing, but it did upset me at the time. I paid more for my ticket than the last 2 years combined.

The tea party, which was the main event was really so-so. They started an hour late, and then they started with this silly Miss USA type pageant with 3 contestants. It was pretty much a total bore. I struggled to stay awake. Next up was a concert by Kokusyoku Sumire. I liked them when I was first introduced to them a few years ago, but their new material takes a few listens to warm up to. I was told it’s an experimental album. ^^;; They played for an hour, which wouldn’t be so bad if we weren’t all hungry.

Table centerpiece

Emcee and the 3 pageant contestants

Yuka of Kokusyoku Sumire

Sachi of Kokusyoku Sumire

There was an intermission and then we came back in and there were sandwiches and desserts on the table. I went to talk to a friend on another table and most of the sandwiches were gone when I came back. ^^; Luckily they brought out another plate. They finally started the fashion show portion which I believe was the highlight for everyone.

I found out later from a friend that only VIP had sandwiches to eat.

The other VIP table.

This model amazed everyone with how adept she was to be able to walk and spin quickly in those shoes!

They ended it on a low point though, because after the fashion show came the game. Previous years ended with a game and lovely prizes provided for by the brands. First place would be a brand new outfit – dress, socks and matching hair accessory. Second and third place would be similar, though not as extravagant. And then there would be a number of socks and other small gifts. For people who didn’t win anything, they would pass out a postcard so no one would leave empty handed. This time, everyone did get a little something, but I heard it was cheap, dollar store type accessories.

I can’t really speak because I received a goody bag that was worth the price of admission alone for me. :3 They were really generous to the VIPs in terms of goodies and most importantly for me, it included a sketch from Maki, my favorite of the two Angelic Pretty designers! *fangirls*

I also got some private time with the designers on the last day because there was so little people in the boutique. I did it without a translator though, so the conversation was a little stilted as we all struggled to remember vocabulary. ^^; I debated whether or not to ask for a translator (another perk of VIP), but I decided against it because I liked the intimacy of our conversation. I ended it early because the pain of standing in my feels was too much for me to handle. I regretted it after as I waited for my brother because he was an hour late and I could have just taken my shoes off. Oh well.

Cosplay

Here are some pictures I took, but admittedly, I don’t care to take cosplay pictures but forced myself to do so for the blog. I got tired of constantly taking pictures in the past, so I usually only take pictures of characters I like or if I’m impressed by the costume. ^^;

Yes, that’s it. ^^;; The only reason there are more than one picture in this section is that I happen to come across them as they were already posing for other photographers and I had my camera in hand or in easy access. The only cosplayers I stopped for a picture were the ice climbers, because I remember liking the game when I was a kid. xD

Lolita

I didn’t take very many pictures of lolitas either. ^^; Most pictures on my camera are of myself, the guests or me with my friends/guests. ^^;;

Casual outfit worn on day 1 since it was only a shopping day.

Out to dinner with a big group the first night.

With a friend on day 2 for the big tea party event.

With the shop girl that Angelic Pretty brought with them (they usually bring one person).

With Maki, my favorite of the two designers. She’s super cute!

And another – she took off with my balloon I took from the centerpiece and I never got it back. ^^;
I wish I asked them to sign it.

With Yuka and Sachi.

With Asuka, the other designer. AP used this picture on their blog, which made me super happy.
Maki took this picture. :3

For Fanime’s black and white ball. I decided to forgo to the petticoat because I wouldn’t be staying long, which is why the dress is super flat instead of poofy.

Food

Of course, no Chibified post would be the same without food. It was a very short trip to San Jose, so I only ate around the area. Nothing super unusual this time around.

We went to Omogari for the group dinner the first night.

Ban-chan was ok.

My friend ordered meat jun.

I ordered soondubu with beef and mushrooms. Super tiny beef. I asked for extra spicy for a change and it tasted normal to me. Someone else said their soup was too spicy. I wonder if that was mine? Tasty soup but the beef pieces were incredibly tiny.

We couldn’t figure out what flavor ice cream this was. It looks like green tea but didn’t taste like it.

I made an order of chap chae to go for dinner the next day, since it was cheap and everything around me wasn’t. Unfortunately no fridge meant it was a wee bit “overripe” by the time I got to eating it 24 hours later (I didn’t keep the room as cool as I would’ve liked – that darn large window!). Luckily I tasted it while it was still fresh and it was yummy and worth the money.

Bought some macarons and a smoothie at the bakery next door to the hotel for dessert and ate it in the hotel room on day 2.

Breakfast from the same bakery. A delicious cheesy filled croissant and another smoothie.

Cheeseburger, fries and a shake for dinner on day 3 from Johnny Rockets. Last major loli event (Fanime fashion show) was over so I could eat some junk now.

No food for day 4 because my brother was supposed to pick me up and we were going out to lunch, but that never happened, so I had some canned soup at his place and then they rushed me to the airport.

The view from the plane as I was on my way home.