Got the tickets earlier this year, so this time round, I do not have to queue like 40 mins before having a chance to get in.
Day 1 tix - Just a wrist band this time round.
Day 2 tix - Festival + Stage + iLoveAnisong
Since I got the tickets earlier, I've time for some breaky!
Haven't took this in a while
Just in time to catch this, its interesting to see Danny's event every year. I guess that is the only reason why I got the F+S tickets.
Yoshimi & Danny are the hosts for all the stage events this year.
This time, he started off with some stuff which made me felt like I was attending a seminar.. lol...
correct? lol...
Anyway, it was some interesting talk.. and we were shown the latest series of Culture Japan. You can catch that series here in youtube too.
After the show, we were introduced to the duo (vividblaze) who does the music for the show.
can't remember their names though..
Went off to explore the area first before it gets too crowded... it was already starting to get crowded at 11am.. Some photos from the Festival Area.
Some cool itashas were on display.
of cos, danny's mirai chan was on this bmw
Didn't take alot of photos of the stalls this time round... too many people crowding around the toys too... The number of people just spawns by the seconds... I wonder where did they spawn from...
I have only a few other photos to show, and these were actually taken on Day 3 morning.
Madoka
Mirai chan
danny with mirai chan
Miku - Genki version
Most of the time, I was just wondering about looking for cosplayers to shoot... The crowd on Day 2 was really horrible... Level 3 had an event going on, Level 4 had some crazy electronics fair going on which added tons of humans... Level 6 was closed to cosplayers... End up most of the cosplayers ended up at the area above the steamboat restaurant. The lighting was bad and lots of people were there... it was a disaster..
Luckily towards, the end of the day, the event on Level 3 finished and more room was available to everybody who just wanted to enjoy the event. This story repeated itself again on Day 3......... will keep my story short and show u some of my favourite photos....
And oh.... the crowd control for the Kaname "meet and greet" event was crap too... whatever happened to the "pls queue up first before the event system" which we had last year???
i was stuck behind lots of folks.. lucky for me, i had my 45-200mm
hey look, 2 Sanji-s
Always like the snow miku
Madoka
Madoka again
Madoka again again
(lol..)
Madoka again again yet again
Real nasty characters
Mio - found her to be quite attentive to cameras
Stealing a sneak shot at May'n
Always find these red contacts very fierce
Trying to be creative with these 2 shots
Trying to be creative with these 2 shots
Another girl who seems to know where all the cameras are..
Didn't have any chance to be a fan-boy this time round... no photo taking opportunities with any guest at all... was pretty disappointed with how it turned out this year...
You can view the rest of the photos in the albums here :
Facebook : Day 2 / Day 3
iLove Anisong
It was still a blast - always felt enjoyable with their performances, especially Angela, Kalafina & May'n. Afterall, it's a once a year event..
Anime Festival Asia 2011 is back again~~
It has become an annual pilgrimage for me. The lucky thing is that it is always 1 week right before my paper. Let me take a break first before going for the papers...
Time to go and be a kid again... ^^
AFA11 will start on this Fri, 11-11-11. What a good date to host it, although I was wishing it can be held elsewhere other than Suntec (again). But I guess, being a rather centralised part of Singapore, it makes it easier for foreign visitors. The expected attendance was placed to be at 70,000 - 80,000 (if I remember correctly from what I read).
The 3 day schedule goes like this
Day 1 is mainly for the Cool Japan Forum. According to the website, the Cool Japan Forum brings together the top minds from the music, novel, anime and digital content industries of Japan. Through a 1-day conference, this 11th of November 2011, be inspired, learn and benefit through this comprehensive platform featuring numerous industry leaders.
Day 2 and 3 is where the real party begins!
Check these out for a quick review of what's going to happen.
Day 2
Day 3
Ticketing info can be found here : http://animefestival.asia/ticketing.html
My plan is to go for Festival + Stage on Day 2 and I Love Anisong on Day 3. What's your plan?
Finally got a chance in late Jun 2011 to venture out into USA to the company HQ for a meeting, how cool is that.. Finally like after 5 years?? lol....
A 20 hours flight await us...
At 0550 u know....
7 hours later @ Narita Airport....
1st time eating Ramen + Gyoza in Japan
4 hours delay
Another 13 hours in the air...
Finally reached St.Paul International Airport...... Took us another 1
hour+ to clear the customs... this is getting weary... Time to go get a
car ^^
Chevvy HHR
I think it took another 40 mins on the road before I reached the hotel... phew!! 1st time driving in a foreign country, using left hand drive (or some say driving on the wrong side of the road.. lol) Lots to learn and adapt quickly for the next few days here..
My room @ Sheraton Minneapolis West
Free starbucks in the room... but no free water...
Off to Target to find some water!!
Nothing much going on for today... Too much traveling done in a day.. off to bed...
Breakfast!!
Outdoor dining in the morning.. the weather's great..
Went around exploring the area en route to AlbertVille...
Saw some nice houses along the way.
View along the way
Reached the Destination!!
Lots of outlet stores here...
BK
Spent the whole day shopping here... As it is summertime here, the day stretches very long. When it was 6pm, the sky is still very bright. No more energy left after all the walking and shopping here. We decided to pop by Wayzata Bay..
Train is coming~
Beautiful scenery without the train
Jetty
The town beside the lake
Yes it's 830pm and the sky is still bright....
Along the streets...
Wayzata Station
Went for a spin around this area before turning back to the hotel to rest..... spent a very relaxing weekend here before going to work tomorrow....
Here are some other places which I went to during after my work during the week...
Biggest mall in America - Mall of America
Its so huge that there are 4 anchor tenants and a indoor theme park...
That's how big the theme park was
Super big lego toys too =)
Something which I like but its not available at home.. A&W
For the geeks Windows vs Apple
My HQ
MSCP - love the sky color during this period
Cheesecake factory for dinner @ Southdale
Cheesecake was great!
Dinner at the dungeon.. lol..
Their food portion is always so huge that u can divide it into 2 and it still looks very decent for 2 pax.
Realised i didn't take a photo of the hotel until the last night...
In short, pace of living was pretty slow here... I could make do with a job here and have a better work life balance.
