AX'06 Pre-Registration Day: Beating The SoCal Traffic
I picked up the rental car on Thursday 9:30 P.M. at the San Jose Airport. My Dad helped me pick up the white Ford Taurus sedan which has 6,307 miles from Hertz. I got a free navigation system because Hertz was busy and rental cars were hard to assign. My rental car for AX'05 had 50,000+ miles. I got a 50% off coupon from my credit card company. We returned home and I took a nap. My suitcases, cosplays, laptop, and snacks were packed on Wednesday.
I left home at 11:15 P.M. to pick up Lisu and DLZ from the San Jose Dierdon Train Station. They took a train from Watsonville. I arrived at 11:30 P.M. and picked them up. I was surpised the station closed at 11:00 P.M. If I knew the closing hour, I picked them up earlier. We briefly stopped at my work place because I left my soap dish. The soap dish contains a special soap I use.
At 11:50 P.M., we ate a light midnight snack at Carrows. I ordered the Southern Fried Chicken Salad, Lisu ordered the Fish and Chips, and I think DLZ ordered the Chicken Fried Steak. Carrows was busy because the restaurant is very popular for a late night hangout.
We left San Jose around 2:00 A.M. Friday. We could have left earlier; unfortunately, the service was really slow. It seems Carrows were shorthanded. We listened to classical rock CDs. I drove 90 MPH on the Interstate 5 straight away. We stopped for gas at Chevron on Wheeler Ridge before the Grapevine. Lisu and DLZ slept during some of the trip, and they snored *Hee, hee* When we arrived in the SoCal area, there was a minor bumper to bumper traffic spot near Orange County.
Arrived in Anaheim
We arrived in Anaheim around 7:00 A.M. The first stop was to check in at The Anabella hotel. (In 2005, I checked in early and my room was available.) The staff says all rooms were occupied because of Disney promoting the Pirates of the Caribbean movie. Check-in time was 4:00 P.M. Oh, well. I guess I'm checking in late. *Sighs*
Then we ate at McDonalds on Harbor Road near Interstate 5. I ordered the Sausage Biscuit with Egg combo. I forgot what Lisu and DLZ ordered. I think DLZ ordered nothing? After McDonalds, we drove around Anaheim and Garden Grove. Fireworks are legal in Garden Grove and we saw fireworks booths. We also saw a nickel arcade. Nickel arcades are where customers pay an entry fee and the arcade machines takes nickels or are free play.
Around 8:30 A.M., we went back to The Anabella hotel. The plan was to park the car at the hotel and wait at pre-registration because there was nothing else to do. I successfully got the parking pass and the plan was a go. At 8:45 A.M. we found the pre-reg line near Hall C. I was glad pre-reg was not at Hall D and Hall E, AX’05 pre-reg line. I brought my laptop and Lisu and DLZ brought their manga and drawing supplies. The line shifted a few times and where there was a plug nearby, I charged my laptop. We met a group of people and we played Mexican Bingo. (During the con, DLZ hanged out with the group of people and got contact information from one of the girls. You stud-muffin @__@)
At 11:00 A.M., the line moved to Hall C where AX staff set up the pre-reg line. We continued to play Mexican Bingo and we listened to MP3s on my laptop. After we played Mexican Bingo, the person who brought Mexican Bingo had a sketchbook and notebook. She opened the notebook and collected names and email addresses. Great idea. In the future when I’m with a group, I collect names and email addresses to keep in touch. Who knows what happens. Maybe a few in the group live close by and we can hang out. For me, I gave her my ININ business card with my name, email address, and webpage. The same person with the notebook gave me her CD containing her favorite MP3s. Arigato! There was a plug nearby and I charged my laptop several times. *Metal note: I need to buy another battery.* Around 12:15 P.M., we played Slap. Slap is a card game nobody knew how to play. Someone taught us and the game made time fly fast.
Pre-registration opened on time at 1:00 P.M. The pre-reg was the best ever. No computers were needed. The people who pre-reg got their badges in the mail. Pre-reg congers must to get the badge holders at pre-reg. The staff checked ID and gave you the badge holder. Super easy and very quick. After getting the badge holder, we walked to the end and picked up the program guide and schedule guide. The front cover of schedule guide is Sakura and Syaoran from Tsubasa Chronicle. I cosplayed as Syaoran. I got bragging rights. LOL!
Check-In Time
Lisu, DLZ, and I went to the Hilton and Marriott to check in to their hotel rooms. First, DLZ contacted one of his roommates and they already checked in. We went to the Hilton and DLZ got the key from his roommates. DLZ was ready to go. Next was Lisu's party at the Marriott. We successfully found Lisu's party at the Marriott front door. Lisu got the key and he was ready to go. (Sadly speaking, Kazuko, one of Lisu's roommates couldn't attend.) We went back to The Anabella hotel around 2:00 P.M. and got their stuff from the trunk. I got my digital camera to take cosplay pictures.
We went to Lisu's Marriott first to drop off his stuff and then we went to DLZ's Hilton next to drop off his stuff. Then Lisu, DLZ, Alan, one of DLZ's roommates, and I went to get pizza for lunch. I met KyraEnsui who is Alan's girlfriend and a Fanime Con board member. The pizza place is at the corner of Harbor Boulevard and Katella Avenue and I forgot the name. We got the pizza and went back to DLZ's room and ate pizza and watched Anime Music Videos (AMVs). BTW, I carried my laptop since pre-registration at 8:45 A.M.
At 4:15 P.M., Lisu and I left the hotel room. It was time for me to check in and settle in. I got my room which looked almost exactly the same as AX'05. The differences were the refrigerator was below the TV instead of next to the door and my room was closer to the hotel driveway entrance. I moved my stuff in the room and turned on the air condition. I realized I forgot to bring shampoo.
Around 5:00 P.M., I went to get a haircut at The Anabella's salon. The buzz-cut haircut cost me $15.00 with a 20% discount. I gave the worker the 20% discount for tip $-) After the haircut, I went to the hotel store to purchase shampoo. The store had full size shampoo bottles. I purchased a Suave shampoo bottle which was the cheapest. The lady was nice not to charge tax. Heck, $3.50 for the shampoo which probably cost $1.50 at a drug store, yeah, you could afford not to charge tax.
I went back to the hotel, took a shower, and then unpacked my essentials. I called Arashi up if she wanted to go with me to Food4Less to purchase food. I met Arashi at Fanime Con 2005 and she lives near San Diego. Arashi said yes and we headed to Food4Less around 7:00 P.M. We got food and purchased dinner for ourselves. I purchased oranges, six pack of bottle water, one gallon bottle water, french rolls, turkey and ham deli meat, donuts, four Baby Ruth and four Nestle Crunch candy bars. The cashier charged three Nestle Crunch bars. Woohoo! I saved $.25 because the Baby Ruth and Crunch candy bars are $.25 each. Yeah, whohoo!
We went back to my hotel room and ate dinner and just hanged out. I gave Arashi the chocolate donuts because I wanted only the powder donuts and plain donuts. I walked Arashi back to the Hilton around 8:30 P.M. because she was staying for free for the first night thanks to a friend. I saw Karisma and her sister hanging outside the Anaheim Convention Center. She told me Ryu, YourMyHiro and his girlfriend were late. Karisma text messaged Ryu and Ryu replied YourMyHiro was AWOL. Ryu had no clue where he and his girlfriend were. Ryu was watching Independence Day during the wait. Arashi and I separated. I went to bed around 10:00 P.M. and setting the alarm clock for 7:00 A.M. on Saturday. I was really tired I went to sleep easily.
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Resume? I don't need a resume. Here is my resume: Innovator. I'm available to innovate for hire.
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