PAX 2009!
September 9, 2009
Posted by AnnaTheRed in Alteil, Everything else Tags: castle crashers, conventions, pax, the behemoth
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…and I’m back from PAX!
I was working at Alteil (online card game I work for) at PAX, Penny Arcade Expo, in Seattle from 9/4-9/6. I was going to do a blog post about PAX from the hotel everyday, but I was pretty exhausted by the end of each day… So I’m gonna do a post about my three-day experience at PAX!
9/3 Thursday Pre-PAX
We got to Seattle around 3:00 pm on Thursday. After we dropped our stuff off at the hotel, we headed to the convention center to set up our booth. When we were done, we went to the market, which was a couple of blocks away from the hotel. The market had fresh fruits, vegetables, fish, olive oil, etc… They all looked so shiny and yummy. I had grilled seafood for dinner and it was delicious. We went back to the hotel and decided to call it an early night for the long day on Friday.
The lanyard was by the Behemoth!
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Gen Con 2009
August 25, 2009
Posted by AnnaTheRed in Alteil, Everything else Tags: Alteil, Black Lotus, conventions, Gen Con 2009
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I’m alive! I’m alive!
Sorry for the looong hiatus.
Usually, even if I’m super busy, I try to post about anything to update my blog so people won’t get bored seeing the same front page over and over. But I got pretty tied up with my work and I had to go to another convention. Now that I’m back and finished the project I was working on, I’m gonna get my lazy butt in gear, and start bento-ing! But before that, I’ll blog about the con my boyfriend and I went.
My boyfriend and I were at Gen Con, the biggest card gaming/table top gaming convention in the world, which was held in Indianapolis last weekend. (8/12-16) I was going to update my blog from the hotel, but the hotel’s internet was soooooooooooo slow. (12KBs or something like that)
We weren’t there to attend the con, but we were working at the con for my company’s imported online card game, called Alteil.
Bathroom sign at Indianapolis airport. Seems like the women are curvier and sexier and the men are more buffed and manlier in Indianapolis.
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Otakon! part 2
July 19, 2009
Posted by AnnaTheRed in Everything else Tags: conventions, otakon, tachikoma
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When we work at the convention, none of us really gets a break, but we take turns to see and shop at other booths. I was going to check out the concession stand and walked by this cute booth. It was called Happy Japan. First I saw bento boxes, then I saw bento gadgets on the wall!! I immediately went in there and grabbed a bunch of stuff.
Various cutters for kyaraben!
I soooo wanted these!! I often use a part of a cookie cutter to cut food, but usually they are little too big for the characters in bento box. I also use plastic bottle caps as a cutter for my bento, but they’re caps, so they are all circles. I’ve been wanting these since I saw it on a Japanese kyaraben site, but I’d never though I’d find it at Otakon. Hooray for bento trends! They were all $18. The retail in Japan is 1260 yen (about $13.50), so I think it’s very reasonably priced. When I was paying for these stuff, one of the employees said “Aww, your bento is gonna be sooo cute!”
The great thing about this cutters is that each one comes with a little booklet explaining how to use it. (all in color and pictures!)
How-to kyaraben booklet
Tons of pictures with detailed instructions.
I don’t usually buy rice molds since most rice molds are way too small for my boyfriend, and I can mold rice into any shape I want with plastic wrap. But I just couldn’t resist this one… It’s a Doraemon rice mold!
Doraemon rice mold
Completed with cutters for his whiskers, nose, eyes, and even the bell! Honestly, I don’t think it’ll work like it says in the packaging. (Or maybe it’ll work, who knows.) but I’m probably going to end up using it to make jello or something.
Check out Happy Japan for bento, Anime, and Studio Ghibli products!
*When I checked their site 2 days ago, they still had the food/quail egg cutters that I bought, but I don’t see them now… If you really want them, you might want to contact them.
And here is something else that made me super happy.
Tachikoma Collection Only $20!!
They're all mine. 
Otakon! part 1
July 19, 2009
Posted by AnnaTheRed in Everything else Tags: conventions, cosplay, otakon
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That’s right, we were at Otakon in Baltimore! I wanted to blog while I was in Baltimore, but I had a very crazy schedule everyday, so I decided to do two blog posts today, a cosplay post and a post of stuff I got at the con.
If you’re reading my blog, there’s a good chance that you’re an otaku. (a.k.a. anime nerd) And if you are, you probably know what Otakon is. It’s one of the biggest anime conventions in the U.S., and it’s definitely the biggest one in east coast. We weren’t there for fun but we were working at the con.
My company licenses and sells anime dvds, Japanese live action film dvds (with English subtitles), and also operates a Japanese online card game called Alteil, which we brought over here from Japan last year. When we go to a convention, I work at Alteil booth, and my boyfriend works on the dvd side.
We got to Baltimore on Thursday and set up the booth. On Friday, we worked from 12 to 8, and on Saturday it was from 10 to 6. Today (Sunday) was a short day, and it was from 10 to 3. Standing on my feet for 5 to 8 hours straight for 3 days in a row, teaching people how to play the game can be exhausting. Good thing I like what I do.
Anyway, here are some pictures of amazing cosplay from Otakon! (*The fuzz ball they’re holding is called Kesaran Pasaran and it’s a character from a card in Alteil.)
Dethler and Susumu Kodai (Derek Wildstar) from Space Battleship Yamato
Creepy woman with a rabbit mask from BioShock
Major Motoko Kusanagi from Ghost in the Shell
1st Colossi from Shadow of the Colossus
Silent Bob
Anime Tencho
Ultraman
Yoshi
Kanchi (Canti) from flcl
ZIM from Invader ZIM
Companion Cube and GLaDOS from Portal
Back from Boston!
May 24, 2009
Posted by AnnaTheRed in Alteil, Everything else Tags: anime boston, boston, conventions, cosplay
8 comments
We’re back from Anime Boston!
The people I went with were my boyfriend and four other co-workers. We’re all friends, so even though it was a business trip, we had a great time. My feet and neck were killing me by the end of each day, but one of the great things about a business trip is that we can try different food in the area. My boyfriend and I love cooking, and we cook almost everyday, but it’s still kinda nice to eat food someone else cooked for you once in a while. (especially if you don’t have to pay for it 
) As I mentioned in my previous blog post, we ate at The Daily Grill on Thursday.
On the second day (the first day of Anime Boston), I had an omelet at the hotel for breakfast.
My omelet seemed concerned about the long day (9 hours) ahead of us.
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Memorial day weekend in Boston!
May 21, 2009
Posted by AnnaTheRed in Alteil, Everything else Tags: applemmon, boston, conventions
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I’m on a business trip again! This time I’m in Boston, where my boyfriend is from. Sorry for those people who came here looking for a new bento… I’ll be posting more bento next week! But today ~ Sunday, my posts will be about this trip.
When you’re in Boston, you gotta try this…
Applemon. Apples and lemon, all in one.
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Anime Central 2 – I got E. coli!
May 12, 2009
Posted by AnnaTheRed in Everything else Tags: Anime Central, chicago, conventions, cosplay, Fran, Link, midori days, Moyashimon, shiek
5 comments
No, I didn’t get sick. I got a plush of E. coli from Moyashimon!
Moyashimon plush! I got E. coli and A. oryzae 
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Anime Central 1 – I can has hedgehog sammich?
May 7, 2009
Posted by AnnaTheRed in Everything else Tags: Anime Central, chicago, conventions, sandwich
9 comments
Why no bento blog?
It’s not because I’m lazy this time, but it’s because I’m on a business trip!
My boyfriend and I work for a post production company that licenses and releases Japanese anime, live action films, online card game (<-I’m in this game department now) and our company goes to many conventions throughout the year. It’s definitely fun to work at anime conventions, because we both love selling our products and just enjoy being there.
Anyway, we’re in Chicago, will be attending “Anime Central” from May 08 ~ May 10, so I probably won’t be doing bento related blog posts until I get back to the city. Instead, I’ll blog about the convention and anything interesting. I hope I can blog about food around here, but since usually these anime conventions are held in the middle of nowhere, there aren’t that much choices for food…
On the airplane to Chicago, we got a small sandwich, baby carrots, and a kitkat as a snack, so I decided to play with it.
First I played with it a little…
OH HAI!
And I decided to play with it a lot.
I can has hedgehog sammich?
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NY Comic-con! Index! Wired interview!
February 8, 2009
Posted by AnnaTheRed in Everything else Tags: conventions, NY comic-con, Wired
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I apologize for the lack of how-to’s in the past couple of weeks. Last weekend, I had a leakage from the ceiling at my apartment, and spent days cleaning up my place. This weekend I was working at NY Comic-con, so no how-to again this week. Working at conventions is fun but standing on my feet all day isn’t…
So instead of how-to, I added an index page on my blog!!!! Yeah, not very exciting, I know. The blog was getting messy, so I wanted to make it easier for people to find a specific bento.
Another news is that I did an interview for Wired.com, and you can see it on here! I was pleasantly surprised that the article was a lot longer than I expected. I’m a little embarrassed but the editor Scott did a good job and wanted everyone to read it.
Oh, and I realized that I somehow managed to publish my very first bento in 2009, Calvin and Hobbes bento, privately… (so it wasn’t visible to public)
I realized when I was publishing Battlestar Galactica bento. Wooops!
By the way, I’d like to thank everyone for encouraging comments about the leaking ceiling/flood damage! It was more like an excuse post for not doing how-to, and I didn’t expect I’d get any comments. The leaking has stopped, and nothing important was damaged, so it’s all good.
My blog is almost caught up with my current bento and I might have to start doing bento-related blog between my actual bento posts. I hope I can make bento sometime this week… before I move to a new place this weekend!!
That’s right, my boyfriend and I are moving in together on February 14th, and we’re super excited! I can’t wait to make more bento in a new kitchen with full-size fridge!
