Captain’s log - September 1 – AnimeFest Panel 4 Room, Hyatt Lobby, Dallas

Oh man, I’m having so much fun it should be illegal (don’t worry, NOTHING I do is illegal). So last time I was talking about get a bike …… and that what I did! I search online for a place that will rent a bike and I found one, but I have to go there by cab (around 7 miles in Google Maps). So I went out, got a cab and went there (by the way, the guy was from Eritrea and we talked a bit about Jeddah and stuff). So I entered the shop and 3 min after I signed the papers, it rained. It rained so bad …… well, it was BAD. At first, it was a little rain, so I put my backpack in plastic bag and took the biked in the hotel direction. Then its start pouring hard, so I took shelter at the entrance of a planet museum (I guess). I spend there like 45min before the rain stop a bit and I got on my bike again. Armed with a map that I got from the hotel, I kept biking and looking for a place where I can have lunch. I was lucky to find Popeye on the way. I took my lunch and then biked again. I was lucky to miss by a bit (the map was small) and end up near the Hyatt hotel, which gave me the chance to clock the trip from there to the hotel. A 45min walk turned into a 10min bike ride, which was very good. After that I got out to get some food from the nearby Denny’s. And that was the end of Wednesday. On Thursday, woke up & breakfast around 9 am, Then I went to the hotel again (again, 11 min biking and the exercise was great). They were setting up for the convention and told me that the badges will be given to pre-registers at 6 pm. Ok; I got some time on my hand now. So I explore the hotel for a bit, and then decided to go to lunch. I have left my bike and helmet at the hotel lobby and I didn’t want to take out just to return it after 30 min. So I walked around, and wondered into Union Station. I couldn’t find the train schedule to Austin so I got out of there looking for a place to eat. Quinz Subs was around the corner so I went there. Luckily they had a wireless access, because by the time I finished my sub *BAM*, another hard rain. I stayed inside the place until the rain stopped and walked back to the hotel. I got my badge and hang around a bit ……. Nothing interesting happened, so I returned to the hotel. The next day (Friday) was the opening day …. And I have to say, Anime conventions cannot be described by words! Basically, when they started, the first thing they opened was the “Dealers Room”, this is where they sell all things Anime. I browsed around, bought a few gifts for the family, took a few photos here and there (one of the reasons anime convention cannot be described by words, is the amount of people in customs and *cough* lots of hot girls *cough*). Then I went around exploring the recent of the convention (This thing is HUGE!). There is video gaming, board gaming, artists, movie theaters, panels and workshops. I spent some time in the board gaming room (it’s actually called Table-top gaming, because it’s different than your regular “Monopoly” board game), then it was about time to the main event. There they introduced the guests, talked about the events and then a group from Japan gave 2 -3 songs. And that was JUST the first day. It was 10 pm and I’m not going to stay up all night (it’s a 24 hour convention, I’ll stay up on the last day), so I returned to the hotel. Today I came here and attended a few panels. The people who give these things are funny as hell! I tried to video some of the workshop but I keep laughing. I continued to brows around and going to panels ……. This time that I’m writing in is actually a break I took because the panels at this time are not of interest to me. There will be a main event tonight that is sort of a customs party. Well, that’s raps up what I have been doing so far, so until next time, have a nice day :D