Adventures in Los Angeles: Anime Expo and Other Journeys into Nerdisms

Memes are outlawed in Canada, escape to the south where the food is always good

Warning: This is going to be a lot of pictures and even more of my own personal stupidity. You have been warned.

Friday: Day 0

Due to my work schedule, the earliest I could make it to LA was at the very end of Friday. I didn't think it was a big deal considering that the con is 4 days. OH HOW WRONG I WAS. I landed at LAX around 9:00 pm PDT. By this time, I had already tired contacting my airbnb host about the exact address of the place I'm staying and had not gotten any reply. Once I had landed I hadn't received any response via messages so I began frantically calling the phone numbers left on their profile to no avail. I officially had no place to stay. My trip was off to a great start. 

Thankfully I was able to book a last minute 1 night stay at the Mayfair Hotel. I really liked the room and I wish I could have stayed there but they were fully booked for the con.

Saturday: Day 1

After a good night's rest (on mattress that was comfy as F) I did some serious digging and found a room within walking distance of the Staples Center for the rest of my stay. Super lucky! Even though I wished things had just gone as planned. Now I had to worry about checking out of the Mayfair and into my new place on time. I thought that 2 hours would be plenty of time to get my pass and then get back to the Mayfair to check out.

I clearly do not make good decisions.

The line to pick up badges did not move at all for the first hour and a half. Once we started moving I think it was only because volunteers were straightening out the line and directing us where to go. It eventually got to the point where I had to step out of line and sort out my room situation, which was a dumb move. In hindsight I should have just checked out first thing in the morning. I am not a bright man. 

I came back with more comfortable shoes, a bit of sunscreen and a feeling like I was somewhat prepared for the wait ahead of me. HA 

Actual diagram of the seventh layer of Hell.

Somewhere in the front was where the line started. It was really hard to tell exactly where it was. It's also possible it wrapped back around Pico but I literally had no idea. It ended up being around 4 hours before I made it inside. After that excruciating wait, I make it to the front desk and... ~ I couldn't get my pass because I forgot my ID at the hotel. I broke down and cried like an idiot because of my own stupidity. In the 4+ hours of standing around I never thought to look into my bag and check for my wallet. I was having a great time. 

My new LA friends are angels and took pity on my poor stupid soul and took me to Little Tokyo for dinner. We ate curry, croquettes and omorice and did a little bit of shopping. Then they took me to a place called Round 1, I guess it's an arcade with special contracts to promote Japanese games that you can't see anywhere else. It was a amazing and I don't deserve their kindness. I'm so thankful that I had such amazing people looking out for me. 

Weebs were here

Cheesey omorice! I even at the mushrooms it was so good!

I got pwn'd by the sun

Sunday: Day 2

The biggest event for today was definitely going to the FLCL and Trigger panels. I didn't take any pictures but I doubt that I will ever forget them. I managed to get a mini photoshoot in with My Other Half with a self-proclaimed Real-Fake-Photographer. He was really good but my camera is really messed up. I'm thinking that I need a new lens. Anyways, I'm really happy with how these pics turned out, please excuse the slight blurriness to them. I'm 100% sure it's my camera. 

Monday: Day 3

I finally made it to the dealer's room and got lost for what felt like an eternity. It was amazing. So much nerdy sh*t to look at. The highlight of this day was visiting the Rilakkuma and the Lolita
Collective's booths

This is sadly the only decent pic I got of my outfit. At least it's in with of a bunch of kawaii Rilakkuma foods. 

 This was the shop girl that took my photo for me! She was such a sweetheart and impeccably dressed! <3

I bought so much stuff. I'll have to do a separate haul post because I feel like this one is already long enough. Hahaha
There were so many cute booths and even more people so it was hard to get many decent pictures. I was really surprised at how few Lolitas I saw. I thought with a bigger population there would be more. There's also a possibility that I was too distracted/jetlagged to notice. Oh well, the people I did run into were amazing. Thank you to these cuties for letting me take their pictures. You all were wonderfully dressed and thanks for making quick conversation with me. <3

Tuesday: Day 4

I didn't get back to the con for Day 4, I had a flight back home to catch. It was a very emotional goodbye. I thought I would be relieved to finally head back to the safety of my home but I ended crying in my uber and for a good hour of my flight back home. It was hard leaving My Other Half and my other new friends. I'm already planning for next year! Gonna stay even longer and save as money as humanly possible for the dealer's room.