To Live and Eat in L.A.

Yeah, that's right, I took that title from a movie, To Live and Die in L.A. You got a problem with that? :P Anyhoo... This post is mostly photos from outside of Anime Expo which consists of scenery and food. That's right, food pictures, so if you're hungry, you may want to look at this post and lick the monitor...


Anyway, the four of us, myself, a friend from Vancouver, Tsubasa and soulfringe, stayed at the JW Mariott this year in hopes of staying somewhere close but split the cost small enough for us to stay. It was nice and convenient, but we had all sorts of trouble. For one, the bathroom in each suite didn't have a lock on the door... Then the second day, we had trouble with keycards and credit cards. And apparently there was a prank fire alarm being set off. I was in the hotel when that happened, but I didn't hear it from where I was at the time... Very strange. I'll have to give this hotel another thought next time...

Nice view from the window seat, but I don't even know where this is...

Anyway... Let's start fresh from the beginning. We originally drove from Vancouver to Bellingham and from there we'd take Horizon Air to fly to Seattle. And then finally fly from Seattle to L.A. Very convoluted, I know, but it was cheaper than direct from Van to L.A. and from Seattle to L.A.

No trouble with the flights at all. Maybe a little late, maybe a little early, but it was all perfectly timed. Nothing wrong with our luggage too, though I did worry a bit since I brought Helen and Mugi along ^^;

Arriving at the LAX gate were these Samsung charging stations. It was free if you got your charger around. There was one in Seattle that had all the hookups, but it was charging something like $5 for 30 minutes if you didn't have a charger.

On the first night we had dinner at Matsui. I had an Oyakodon set with tanuki udon. Very filling... But I still prefer soba over udon.

And here's the others' meals. We all had the set, but it was quite a bit that we didn't finish everything, though I tried...

After this I keep forgetting to take pictures of our meals. I mean there was a time where we all had some pizza at California Pizza Kitchen and the numerous Starbucks breakfast sandwich and the overpriced food at the Convention Center cafe... Oh and also the one time I had ice cream for my late lunch/early dinner. That was an awesome lunner! And to be honest there weren't much cheap food around the convention... The fast food were a bit of a walk away and us Vancouverites didn't know where they were.

This was soulfringe's free appetizer because he's got a Premier Fan badge. Very large portion. We didn't finish it and the spicy jalapeno messed with my stomach ^^;

This is his lunch, lol. I didn't take pictures of mine, hahaha. We both thought this looked like a dessert when it came. A brownie on top of vanilla ice cream with donuts on the side ^^; It's actually beef ribs on a bed of mashed potatoes and onion rings.

Finally remembered to bring someone to accompany me to dinner.

On the last night, we went out for dinner and I asked for something easy and something unique to US or California. In-N-Out was the answer. It was very busy when we came. But the food was good. I didn't get around to try out the secret menu items though. The bun was grilled so it was actually really crispy. I had a lot of fries too!

Afterwards Tsubasa drove us through Hollywood and we got to see some of the famous buildings like Madame Tussauds Wax Museum and the Grauman's Chinese Theater. It was hard to get photos though since we were moving and it was at night.

The one time we had a red light, it had to stop at this building called "Playmates"... I wonder what's in there, especially since it's got a Grand Opening on the side :P

Pantages is famous for having all the musicals and plays going on in there. Right now they have Shrek The Musical playing...

After checking out of the hotel but before heading to the airport, we were able to visit a Cheesecake Factory at The Grove in Beverly Hills. This one is my lunch. Orange chicken which was mucho delicioso! Tsubasa had the Miso Salmon which was really good too. It melted in your mouth! This was the smaller portion but I was already full when I finished it!

But since it's called "Cheesecake Factory", I had to get one before we went. I got the Ultimate Red Velvet just to show Chun :P But it was my undoing... It was so big that I almost got sick trying to finish it ^^;;; It was good, but it was just too much.

Let the red velvet suck you in closer... Closer... CLOSER!!!

The last view from the fancy Grove in Beverly Hills.

And then it was pretty much a rinse and repeat process where we flew from L.A. to Seattle, then to Bellingham and drive back to Vancouver. One of the most interesting thing that I saw and wished I took a photo of was the TSA agents in the airport checking my bag in the X-ray with 2 dolls inside, Helen and Mugi.

Also a big big big thank you to Tsubasa who picked us up at the airport and drove us around when he could and drove us to the airport when we had to depart. I am very grateful for your help and definitely return the favour if you come to Vancouver ;)

Mini Doll Meet at a Maid Cafe

So even though I couldn't come to the originally planned BJD Meet in Langley in Early February, I was able to make it to this smaller one at the Nikkoffee Cafe which had maids as servers (you can see the maids at the end of this post). This cafe was smaller and fewer menu items but it was a bit better compared to the "Cosplay Cafe" that I went to before. It's also located in Richmond, across the Richmond City Hall.

The main event was, of course, the meet. We had quite a bit of people coming by and pretty much filled up the seats by the time I came at 11:15 am on Sunday (February 13th). It was pretty much our group for the longest time.

 There were shenanigans already when I arrived ^^; This poor girl had her head turned into a Beargguy's!

 Ok, maybe just a switcheroo. It somehow seemed to work even when the sizes are different.

 Also for this meet, I brought Azunyan in a maid outfit by Re-Ment... And an extra friend! That's right, it's Yui! I'll bring you more details about Yui in a separate post later. She came sometime in the beginning of January, but I decided this meet would be a good time to introduce her :)

 And since Yui is only a month old, Pedobeargguy just couldn't resist...

On to the cafe, the drink and the food itself. The cafe is quite small. Much smaller than Magnetic Cafe, but had a much better atmosphere. Perhaps it's the background or the more cozy environment and decor. I ordered a Nikkoffee special called a Chocolate Top Nikkochino. It looks like beer! I had to mix the foam and the tea underneath or it would've been bland. It was quite good and big for a $4 drink.

Yui seem to want some too... She can't resist any sweet looking anything! I gotta admit the presentation looks quite attractive. The maids were working quite diligently trying to get our orders as people came in one by one. They pretty much left us alone with our devices since we were occupied with the actual meet.

I ordered the chocolate hotcake with waffle and ice cream. I'm not sure if that's a good idea to eat if it's just for brunch. The hotcake was actually a chocolate sponge cake. I was actually expecting an actual hotcake, which is like a pancake. Not complaining. It was pretty good. Though my sense of taste been dulled because of my sweet tooth, so perhaps that's why it didn't seem as sweet to me. This was about $7-8. I didn't really want to spend too much, though it was quite inexpensive for the other food items. My bill came to about $12.

 Yui meets another newcomer! The doll on the right is like a Forest Fairy. I don't remember the brand nor the name, sorry ^^;

Since it was Valentine's Day, one of our attendees gave each of us a plastic rose with candy in the center. Yui gets the giri choco, of course...

Chun and Aki also came along, showing off her new outfit!

Aki: "Hey! What are you doing to me?! Don't touch me!"

 FYI, this is a dragon outfit, not a lizard... A misconception that I had to pay for when I asked to borrow the "lizard boy" ^^;

 And of course Yui gets to hold the sweet looking boy. I swear, she likes anything that look remotely sweet!

One thing about Yui is that her body is not the original. The knees can't bend and when she has to sit, she has to spread her legs wide open! Fortunately it works when she's riding two alpacas.

 Here's a gathering of all the small maids! Though technically Moko-chan is just wearing a black dress, as Chun has told me ^^; Close enough! XD

And here's the gathering of ALL the maids! Actually it would've been nice if the maid servers were also in the picture ^^; Oh well, opportunity lost.

Sweet Aki is sweet! Chun is selling this particular outfit, so you may want to check up on that if you're interested ^_~

And here's the group shot! It's good that we got the background for this group photo ^^ If you're wondering what that Nendo Yui box is doing there... I had a group order with Bluestarbaby through HLJ and was sharing the shipping fee. Since she was coming to this meet, I was able to give it to her last Sunday.

 Nekoryu no otoko no ko! Azusa wants her nekomimi back!

 Aww... how touching. Beargguy pretends to be a school kid and latches on to Aki's chest.

Unfortunately I had to leave early for work... Leaving the parking lot was quite the challenge as well since the parking spaces were really tight. Something you may have to watch out for when you visit Nikkoffee.

And here are the maids! We had two people from the meet dressed up who were also in this photo that I cropped... I figured they may not want to have their photo posted here ^^; But it was quite a great place, I have to say. The owner was quite happy to have us there and even took photos of the dolls. And unlike Magnetic Cafe, the maids didn't mind that we took pictures of them :) So here's to the Nikkoffee maid cafe! Hopefully we can come back soon ^_^

November Doll Meet

Last Saturday I attended another BJD meet and I'm still lacking an actual BJD ^^; But I did bring along Azunyan and Saber again. I think Azunyan is behaving well during meets... She doesn't turn yandere... I wonder if it's because everyone else is bigger than her?

There are tons of pictures here, so I won't mince too much words and I'll keep the thumbnails smaller. This meet took place in Richmond in one of the member's apartment lounge. It's a very roomy space, but some of the tables and chairs were nailed down to the floor, lol! We all went to the Richmond Public Market for Bubble Tea and some Asian lunch. I got myself a mint chocolate bubble tea and nasi lemak for lunch. Big portion! I was pretty much full afterward!

Angelic, yes?

Purty dolly!

CAEK!

A mini tea party ^^

A very cute tiny dinosaur ^_^

Ah! Don't eat Saber's ahoge!

I didn't change Saber's clothes after the last doll post ^^; She does look good in it, doesn't she?

Chun was also there along with Aki. She was the one who called me from the lounge when I was trying to look for the entrance ^^;

Aki looks very cute with her earmuffs ^^

This outfit reminds me of Mikuru's lolita outfit.

Mature dolly ^^;

Mokotan riding an alpaca!

And Azunyan too!

Azunyan's legs didn't spread as wide (sounds dirty ^^;) as Mokotan's legs, so I made her ride on the side. She looks good nonetheless on the alpaca!

Looks like Azunyan was able to ride the alpaca too, but barely ^^;

Oh... Mokotan is getting closer to Azunyan!

Apologies to Chun for uhh... borrowing Mokotan for this ^^;;;

Mokotan and Azunyan getting really, really friendly!

Looks like Mokotan is the one wearing the pants!

Saber attempts to get friendly with Vivi...

Cute little boy!

Cute medium-sized girl XD

Vivi and Mokotan strike a pose while Saber and Azunyan taking a rest.

I'm not just the president of the Hair Club for Alpacas; I'm also a client.

Mokotan offers you a cake!

Saber gets a turn on the Alpaca

I ended the night with dinner with my brother at Boston Pizza so I can use the free appetizer coupon from work ^^; We had the dessert sampler at the end of dinner :D

The next doll meet will be very soon! Too soon perhaps, lol, but it's the busy holiday season after all ^^;