Selamat Hari Raya Haji people!! Hope you enjoy your long weekend this week. Public holidays are the best when it falls on Mondays or Fridays right? =)Last Saturday, I was part of history by witnessing the revelation of the first ever mascots for the Youth Olympic Games. However, the reason why I was at Suntec City was not because of this event …. I didn’t even know it was going to happen until I heard Daniel Ong’s voice at Suntec lol. I was at Suntec City last Saturday because I went to the Anime Festival Asia 09. =)
Shawn had some complimentary tickets and asked if I wanted to go and I said yes immediately he he. How could I miss such an exciting event? Cosplays, maid café, anime, figurines etc etc … hey, I would happily pay for the tickets if he didn’t have them free (provided someone goes with me). So Shawn, Wayne, Ben and I went to Anime Festival Asia 09!
The last time I went for an event with cosplayers was the License2Play event, also at Suntec City. I managed to post only 1 miserable picture of that event, so I was determined to take many more pictures this time.
(The only pic I posted for License2Play last time lol)
As you need to pay to be able to go in (except for us and maybe some others =P), the place was not as packed as License2Play which was a good thing for me. I hate crowds, especially at IT shows where you can’t even walk properly and have to squeeze through people to get to see the products you are interested in. I wouldn’t mind paying to enter IT shows sia he he … dun flame me!
I’m sure if you need to pay, there will be less people who will bring their whole family to look and see and don’t buy anything at all heh. Just use the money from entrance fee to have some lucky draw or instant win thingy for every ticket so that people won’t complain so much =P The last IT show had around 1 million visitors – This equals to 5 million dollars worth of prizes! Actually, if the organizers keep half the money, they would still be giving out exciting prizes lol. People queue up to buy toto for a chance to win 1 mil but have nothing to see, now you pay $5 and can see IT products and get a chance to win 1 mil plus other exciting prizes too! Oh nooo, seems like a good deal …. skali got more people attend the fair instead of the crowd lessening. =P What was I thinking? Maybe they should keep 4mil and give lousier prizes instead … Can I organize my own IT show? There is Sitex this week by the way. I will not be attending this time round he he.
Anywayz …. Back to topic …
Since it was not as packed as License2Play, I was able to take more pictures of the place, cosplayers, displays and all. =) In my License2Play post, I said I wanted to buy a DSLR so that I stand a better chance of taking better pictures and look better when I ask cosplayers to posed for a pic but I haven’t got one yet lol. There were a lot of people with DSLRs at License2Play and I think there are more at Anime Festival Asia .. it seems like almost everyone there had a DSLR! Everyone are becoming pro photographers nowadays huh. However, I had a rather decent compact camera I bought for my trip to Australia in September, and together with my determination to take more pics this time round, I was 10 times more thick skin in asking cosplayers to pose for pics he he. Hope I can have my very own DSLR cam next year so I can take better pictures though.
Soooo …. Let’s see what I took this time round!
We walked around the place looking at the lovely figurines, artwork, anime related stuff on sale etc and I took some pictures here and there.
There were different areas for different interests like the Bandai Kids Land for kids, drawing booths for wanabe (mostly very good) artists, toys, a stage for events like the cosplay championship and the I Love Anisong concert.
It seems like there are lots of figurines and other products of Anime which I have not watched before so I was a little lost. I only knew those older anime like Dragon Ball and Naruto (which I still watch) he he but was still able to appreciate the beauty and cuteness of the things on display heh. Gotta watch more Animax on TV on Mobile to update myself =P It seems like they are showing the latest episodes (same week as Japan!) of Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood and Inu Yusha The Final Act every week.
I took some pictures of figurines I know and don’t know as they all look really good and kawaii. I used to buy a lot of these stuff when I was younger but I’m too poor now ha ha. I still buy gashapon items and play those UFO catcher machines though. Don’t think I will grow out of them lol.
Dragon ball, Gundam, Naruto, Ghost in the shell and other Anime related figurines and models – I’m sure Anime lovers would be able to find something they like. I see a lot of $100 plus Bleach swords being snapped up by Anime enthusiasts … rich sia.
As much as I enjoyed looking at all the exhibits, cosplayers and stuff, I got to admit that the highlight of the day was the Moe Moe Kyun Maid Café. =p I have read about these places and saw videos of the maid cafés in Japan but it was my first time actually visiting a maid café. I know there is one at Chimes, but I have not been there before. There were strict restrictions regarding taking of photos and other hanky panky actions but I managed to risk my life and take a few pictures he he. Don’t believe me .. see this video!
Sorry, the last pic is not from the maid café but one of the artworks being displayed he he … couldn’t resist posting the pic =)
Everyone had to order a meal to be able to dine 1 hour in the café, so all four of us ordered a meal which includes a free Polaroid picture with one of the cute maids!! Food ain’t that important as the experience so I won’t talk about food lol. They greeted us masters (they really called masters lol) when we were shown to our seats and drinks promptly arrived. Okaerinasaimase, goshujin-sama!! Aka welcome home, master!! If you ordered coffee like my lucky friend Wayne, the maid will help you add sugar and milk to your liking … that’s what I call excellent customer service!
It was fun seeing the maids serve other customers while we were waiting for our food. All of them were friendly, pretty, cute and made sure we were happy with our food. When our food arrived, the maid who served us POWER-UPed our food!! She said some things which I can’t hear properly (probably due to being stoned by shyness) and casted a spell on our food to power it up! We were all shocked as it was our first time experiencing this and the food definitely levelled up in terms of taste after the power-up lol.
Don’t believe me … see the video!!!
I’m in the video, but only for like 1 to 2 secs in the background lol. My friend Shawn was the star of the video clip though he he. See to the end to check out his very “honest” answer when asked which is better – food or the maids?
We have to go back next year for some more power ups!!
After more Anime Festival Asia exploring, we got hungry again and went to the Sakae Sushi at Suntec City for some Japanese food!
There was a 1 for 1 red plate promotion for Sakae Sushi’s 12th Anniversary on when we visited the outlet so we ordered some red plates along with the standard chawanmushi and some other sushi and ala carte food. Still thinking about the lovely maid who powered up our food, we tried to power up our food at Sakae Sushi too lol. I don’t if it’s due to our power up but all the food tasted really good ha ha. Favourite food of the day – Soft Shell Crab Crepe.
After eating till my pants was tight at Sakae Sushi we went back to Anime Festival Asia for a little more exploring and shopping.
I bought a pack of UCC Evangelion coffee and a big pillow for my sofa. I know the design is a little pervy (see above) but the pillow is very comfortable. I sit on it when watching tv with my father in the living room he he.
We also went to Marina Square for some UFO plushy catching. The shop has so many kinds of machines which tempted me to spend over 10 bucks. I only got a really small cookie monster scooped up from one of the machines in the end he he. The bigger one in the pic above was given by Shawn the pro UFO catcher. Sorry, I really can’t resist spending money on a UFO catcher when I see one.
Okay it’s the end of today’s post …
Wait a minute ….
Where are all the cosplay pics??
It will be posted in my next post ha ha … sorry, this post is getting a little too long (too many pics and talk cockness!) so I decided to split it into 2 and dedicate an entire post to the cosplay pics I took he he.
Here is a little preview …
I promise that the pics will be better than my single license2play pic he he.
Next post coming up very soon!!
(Images Taken From: My Digital Camera)