Yeah. We went back.
Because we were pretty late on Saturday, I was determined to get to the event by 4 pm so that we could catch most of the action. But due to unforeseen circumstances, the P-Meister and I went on a tour around the east area of Singapore. The two of us decided to make our decisions in which turn to take through random coin tossing. Heads would mean a left turn, tails would make me go straight. There was no option for turning right since I was driving on the extreme left lane.
I swear we passed this place more than four times.
We eventually found the venue and it was already 5.30pm. But before we entered the hall where the event was taking place, the two of us had to make a visit to the gents because of a long drive prior to arriving.
The venue, known as Downtown East, is a chill out place for the regular Singapore family during weekends. So quite a few non-anime fans, simply curious people, were checking out what was going on. And the first thing that was humourous to me was the fact the nearest washroom had a shared makeup area that branches off to the respective sectors for the gents and ladies. Because one would have to pass through the common makeup place, I chuckled at how some regular folks were surprised by the presence of anime fans who were visually uncommon in their attire aka cosplayers.
The event was taking place mainly in two areas, the hall where the competitions were taking place, and just outside the hall where the cosplayers would loiter around for DSLR wielding warriors to take shots of them.
Speaking of DSLR users. This picture is SO accurate about my feelings when I use my puny digicam next to them.
Entering the hall, I was blasted away by a sudden burst of squeals and screams when the Bleach cosplayer on stage blurted out the word ‘the fans want yaoi!’. So ID Sojourner suddenly had control over me and I was screaming ‘HO YEAH! YAOI!’. Personally I wonder why did ID not scream ‘FUCK YEAH! YAOI!’ instead. So I was actually quite excited to witness how the crowd was getting restless and the partner on stage giving suggestive hints about how they ought to appease the agitated mob. So that lead to more ‘HO YEAH! YAOI!’ from ID.
Sad to say, Singapore has yet to embrace the yaoi paddle culture so I was sorely disappointed over the absence of rabid fans wielding paddles with the word ‘yaoi’ written over them. So unlike some who are abhorred by such a phenomenon, I would actually kill to experience it once. But sorry to say, even the craziest fans here in the Singapore anime community are still relatively meek as compared to the awesome stuff you get in say America. Never actually saw anything that was significant in qualifying as a reason for why we can’t have nice things but then I was pretty late upon arriving for Cosfest so there might be a chance that I had already missed those moments. So the fans and the cosplayers were pretty docile and friendly from my observations, and yeah no trees were harmed. Or maybe I was just blind.
DID SOMEONE SAY YAOI??
P-Meister was entrusted with the task of shooting the cosplayers while I ran off, just like Saturday, to begin my dungeon exploration. He has a knack in accosting the cosplaying folks but most of his photos tend to have an awkward object ruining the aesthetic feel of the shot. We decided not to use most of his shots since most of them had a dustbin, a yawning bystander or a leg just next to the cosplayers. And while I was loitering, I served as the P-Meister’s additional eyes in spotting cosplayers whom we would want to take pictures of.
The event was not just all about cosplay as there were booths for some to sell their fan art. And because the booths are arranged around the peripherals, I found it hard to navigate through those that were closer to the walls of the hall since people tend to crowd near the corners to rest.
It was not long before the event concluded, since we were late, and the winners of the Cosplay competition were revealed. And to wrap things up, a massive group Caramelldansen performance. I was amused when I saw those big swords from Bleach oscillating vertically from the midst of the dancing cosplayers on stage. Yeah so everyone was pretty excited and even some of the people from the audience joined in as well.
OH SHI
Anyway, these are some of the more presentable pictures that the P-Meister took. Not that I am complaining though.
>>>”Anyway, these are some of the more presentable pictures that the P-Meister took. Not that I am complaining though.”<< You didn’t even take a a single shot with that poor excuse of a camera which doesn’t even have anti-shake or scene functions. Why don’t you do it then? Furthermore i was running around chasing haruhis as if i were a stalker.
I was talking about how tend to have redundant elements in the background of the pictures like a dustbin. I was not commenting on the quality of the pictures since that cannot be helped but rather I had something to say about what was in the pictures.
THEN WHY DON’T YOU DO IT SINCE YOU ARE SOOOOO BETTER THAN I AM!!!
It kind of amuses me when guys from the same blog actually start ripping each other.
@Lord Kai
What’s so amusing? Never heard of the ancient Chinese proverb of scolding being equivalent to concern and physical bruising being a show of love?
BONDS CAN BE FORGED THROUGH FLAMES.
I’m so glad I watched Code Geass before reading this post! ^_^’
By the way, is that Iron-Man a cosplayer…’cause it looks too awesome!
NNNoooooo! Shirley DIES!!!!!
Rule #7 when driving a car:
Always carry a street directory.
At least you managed to isolate some cosplayers. I just did a shoot and run. Then again, my SD card got wiped out in a freak accident in the end. *Sigh*
(Misses shots of SZS, meta-photography and dancing otakus)
Not enough Ranka Lee shots.
I second what Shin said. Were those pics taken on the first or second day?
@53RG10
Yeah there was a real dude inside the suit. The suit was so real that even the hands were glowing. But according to P-Meister, who had a good look of Ironman, movement is pretty restricted.
@Stifler
I went to the event with hopes of such kinds of stuff and I was not disappointed.
@MrMayat
True. And one should never assume there is a street directory in the car without checking.
@Shin
I agree. But P-Meister was the one who took all the pictures, I was being useless by wandering around.
@Starvade
The pictures for this post were taken on the second day.
Needs moar Haruhi.
@double
Yes but sadly… we arrived half an hour before the event ended. Our dear Haruhi was part of the choo choo train fun and only had some time for a single shot after the Caramelldansen.
Did I mention that she had a lot of spunk? No wonder she left such a deep impression.
RAAAAAAAAAAAAAANKA
What kind of demented person would put that horrible spoilerific sign on that board?!
rroknedaj –> and what kind of demented blogger would post it online so even more people would view it. Your answer is Sojourner!
@rroknedaj
I believe it was Anonymous.
A few pointers about the picture post-ups:
-One uguu~ is not enough.
-Great. One less emotional baggage for Lelouch (and I meant it).
-No KOS-MOS cosplayer picture? But it’s OK. P-Meister: you’re still a Rank B cosplay photographer, because rarely we have rare creatures to “shoot at,” if you know what I mean…
But you know what? I’ll die a happy Singapore otaku if any Japanese seiyuu comes down to support our local events, like Masakazu Morita (in Melacca, Malaysia) or Nakagawa Shoko (in Los Angeles, Republic of California).
TP: KOS-MOS cosplayer picture is on day 1, check previous post, i think, this one only covers day 2. =)
Lenneth, that KOS-MOS cosplayer appeared in the Straits Times. She certainly deserved it, but I think that they should have gotten Exia as well.
Needs moar Ayu
either Singaporeans are rich or their printers print money. need to get a DSLR soon myself. >.<
@gordon
Wow. Was that intended irony or was it a blooper?