Anime North 2012 Report!

Better late than never! It's time to blog about Anime North! I'm definitely a month behind, and I've been trying to catch up on blogging. Thankfully it seems my computer is back and running to a normal degree, I just need to get some of my backed up files back on it. Luckily, in hindsight, I had decided to get a flickr subscription and I've been uploaded a lot of pictures to back them up, so I can still blog about a lot of things!

This year at Anime North I decided to opt out from getting a Crafters Corner table since it was a bit too hectic last year running around for the cafe and the table. I also forgot about the request date, so it wasn't going to happen anyways! (^__^);;

So this year ended up being devoted to Cafe Delish, the charity cafe that is organized by my friends and once again I was one of the maids for the event. 

Credit: SolarTempest

This year was going to be bigger and better than previous years since this would be the 5th year that the Cafe Delish has been an event at Anime North for charity! 

We did a really nice photo shoot with all the maids in April, and I think I was slowly freezing to death around the water front, but the pictures turned out amazing! There was a total of 14 maids this year for the cafe since we were also bringing in the extra PuriMeido event (Picture Maid). 

Back to the convention! We don't do much on Fridays at the con, but my sister was hosting a Dollfie Dream panel with PlasticFantastic at Doll North. And since I didn't have much to do that day and I forgot to bring my lolita dress to wear and walk around that day, I went to help her bring her dolls and take pictures at the panel. I've never attended a Doll North event since the activities are located at the Sheraton hotel which is further away from the Double Tree Hotel and Congress Center.

Credit: Archangeli

They hosted panels about Dollfie Dream dolls and info about the history and models of the dolls and also talked about going to a doll convention and how that functions.

Saturday was the big day for the cafe and it all went along quite smoothly in my opinion! My first shift was at the photo booth. The PuriMeido photo booth is styled to be similar to the picture booths in Japan, and Bosu created a special design for the picture print outs. His friends Selina and Edmond built it and it was really amazing! The picture sheets had 2 sets of photos on the sheet so you could go in with a friend and both would get a set of pictures.

Some of the maids trying to cram into the picture!

The idea of the photo booth was for guests who could not get tickets to the cafe seatings, but could still get a Cafe Delish experience by going to the photo booth. Each set of pictures cost $5 and it went to charity as well. The ideal amount of people for the booth is probably around 2-4 people since it's not too large, but that didn't stop us from trying to do the impossible!

My parents were at the hotel eating dim sum at the Chinese restaurant, Grand Chinese Cuisine, so I met up with them to eat lunch during my short break after the photobooth. All the servers and managers there didn't recognize me at all even though we go there quite often! I thought it was funny :)

Credit: Whitefrosty

After I went back to the Terrace room so I could start my remaining shifts at the cafe. It's nice to get into the rhythm of things and I thought it went really well! We brought a couple portable fans into the room this year since it was really stuffy last year and it was a life saver! It ended up being much cooler in our glass room than the outside hotel/hall area. Plus the atmosphere is quite different than the hustle and bustle from the convention. It's just a nice hour to relax and watch the maids dance, have some food and drinks and play some games. (^__^)*!

Alice decided to attend the cafe this year with her friend. She couldn't make it last year but was determined to come this year! She was at the table that I was serving so I got to talk to her for a bit and convince her to upload any pictures she took at the cafe for us! Too bad her memory space/battery was running low so she couldn't get a video of our dances. (>3<);;

Credit: Whitefrosty

Alice also got a pretty awesome picture of my nails and bling for the cafe! A few of us like to deco our nails and bring a little bit of Japan to the guests at the cafe. Although usually it's my sister, Yumi, Keiko and I who go above and beyond and have lots of kira-kira shiny jewelry. One of the ladies at a seating made a comment of my nails and I showed them to her and she was amazed I could serve in them. To be honest, so was I! (^__~*)!

After the cafe, we went out for dinner and had an after party in our hotel room! It was super fun and some hilarious moments!

The Sunday I spent mostly at the photo booth. I did wander the Dealers room a couple times but didn't buy much. Talked with some old friends to pass some time. I went to say bye to Jess and Alice in the Crafters Corner and to do one more walk through in the Dealer's room with Keiko. I find that I don't buy much stuff anymore at Anime North....possibly because I've bought a lot of things I've already wanted in Japan and partially because I didn't have a lot of money to spend!

Overall, Anime North was great this year. I think the costumes are getting much better, as I saw some really great ones while I was walking around. I hope one day I'll be able to cosplay again for fun. I'm not really sure what's stopping me....probably the commitment to the cafe, but I can always cosplay for another convention!

We also raised more money this year for Sick Kids Hospital Foundation, so that's a great accomplishment and success!

Credit: Chad Ordona

So until next year, 

see you again Anime North!

♥