Comic Fiesta 2012 - OTAKU OVERLOAD Day 2

I admit.

I was dead tired from Day 1 of Comic Fiesta (read about my experience here). But as soon as I reminded myself of the exciting doujin stalls, cosplayers, and photos waiting to be taken, I was out the door in a flash.

Despite having the blogger tag (which gives me certain privilages), I joined in on the queue outside to see how fast it moved and to accompany my friend and my sister. Compared to last year's nightmare, it progressed quite smoothly and quickly for early birds and like the previous day, the halls filled up fast as soon as the doors opened.


Here comes the crowd!

Everyone made a mad beeline for the booths as it was final day of Comic Fiesta and things and products were either limited or being sold at discounted rates. As the next time you get the chance to buy this stuff again will be....in a year's time at CF 2013 so the motto of the day: Buy first, think/regret later. I certainly lived by that motto. 

A popular stop of many was the Culture Japan booth due to the limited edition Mirai Suenaga Touch N' Go cards, t-shirts and posters. And guess who was there. The celebrity otaku himself: Danny Choo!

<3 Danny Choo!

And I managed to get his autograph and a picture with him! Sweet!

The opening performance was by an awesome band with an equally awesome name..... Flying Pan! (readers: ........*insert crickets chirping*) I kid you not! Their band name really was Flying Pan but by the end of their performance, I think they should change their name to Standing Ovation.



Flying Pan rocking!

To complete the opening ceremony of Day 2, a video of CF fans was shown in which they had to answer the question, "what is Comic Fiesta?" in 3 words or less in 10 seconds. The different answers and ways of depicting CF to them was astonishing, some meaningful and others funny. I think this event meant the most to those who poured their blood, tears and sweat into it; the CF Committee so it seemed about right to interview them as well.



Mystical Mirage - owning the stage like a Boss!

Next up was Mystical Mirage who belted out songs from very popular animes such as Bleach's 'D-Technolife' by UVERworld (me like!) and Naruto 'Rising Fighting Spirit' and 'Fight Dreamers'.



And the crowd goes literally wild for Raja Farouk!

Raja Farouk and his "Yakuza family" as he called his band then took over and kept the hype up with a very rocking cover of 'Hana Kimi' followed by a very nostalgic song from Cardcaptor Sakura 's 'I am a Dreamer' sung by the uber adorable Huei Chan!

Huei Chan, kawaii!

Now it may seemed as though those stuck in Hall 2 queueing for tickets have missed out a lot but rest assured, there were things to see there too. Namely cosplayers. A lot of cosplayers have set up shop there to fix/amend their costumes and to take photos because there was so much space!

I was in awe once again at the skills, not to mention commitment that goes into cosplaying. These guys are seriously talented! More pictures in my FB album.

 

Back in the main hall, guess who else was at Comic Fiesta looking for victims cosplayers and fans to interview! Malaysian Youtuber, Dan Khoo! If you don't know who he is (seriously?), go look him up on Youtube. He's freaking funny! Got a picture with him in exchange for a quick interview.

Dan Khoo <3

The solo cosplay competition was one of the highly anticipated CF events and this year the organisers decided to make it a little different by letting the participants draw random locations and means of death, again in line with the 'end of world' theme to act out in a skit. With Shaun and Alfred at the batang mic once more and at the contestests' expanses, cue the 'batang' and ball jokes.

To quote Alfred, "CF is a batang Fiesta." No wonder Hard Gay turned up....



No guy was safe that day...

Death by Meatball Shower.
"I am all wet and sticky!" she said.

Judges are amused.

Alfred: She reminds me on my roti man. Pom pom!

The Malaysian Mandarin Comic Society took to the stage next, giving out prizes to their gifted talents who came up with their own comic strips and drawings. If only the Malaysian government supported the local comic and anime industry, I am sure we could match Japan. Take Korea for example; a lot of animes have been produced in South Korea.

Mandarin Comic Society

Finally the time came for the most anticipated VIPs of the day, bless4!




From left: Aiki, Kanasa, Akino and Akashi <3

From what I heard, their concert the previous evening drew in a crowd of over 1000 people! And when Akino sang her popular single 'Sousei no Aquarion' (Genesis of Aquarion), everyone sang along. In Japanese no less! (Only in Malaysia, own national language subject fail in exams but Japanese, no problem!)



Check out the crowd!

bless4 shared what they loved about Malaysia and it was no surprise that it was our local food they enjoyed the most. They tried roti canai and said it was delicious! Then Alfred and Shaun offered to take them for Bak Kut Teh the next time they visited. I second that! Can I come too if you do go?
Besides performing an acapella version of Sousei no Aquarion, the band also wished their fans a Merry Christmas with an interactive cover of Jingle Bells. I managed to video it up close (again, thanks to my blogger pass) so enjoy!

After a very insightful and personal Q&A session with questions from the emcees and the fans, the meet and greet session commerced for the fans who bought the bless4 CD at the Coffy Tiam booth. These lucky fans got a chance to shake hands and have an exchange of words with the siblings as their CD was signed. I liked how pleasant and friendly bless4 was with everybody, smiling and thanking them for their support!

 

More on bless4 here!

 

Several gaming competitions were also held throughout Comic Fiesta such as IAH Games' Superstar Live and Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom. The finals of the Counter-Strke: Global Offensive tournament between Malaysia and Philippines was held after the bless4 meet and greet. Now, I used to play a bit of CS back in college and I still play first shooter games like Modern Warfare when I can. But the level these players were on was OVER 9000! (yes, I know. I couldn't resist)

 

Gamers at work.

The final order of formal CF business was the prize-giving ceremony for the games tournaments, CF Side Quest, Coffy Creative Challenge and the cosplay competitions. (Results can be viewed here) Then after that, was part-ay!

 

As per-usual Comic Fiesta tradition, the after-party was held in the form of a dance off! Too bad I couldn't stay for that too. Next year, I will drag my friends along and join in the party!

 

By the end of this wonderful weekend (why must it end? sob!), I was in a state of euphoria, exhaustion and was incredibly broke. Here's my overhaul from Comic Fiesta 2012.

 

Buy now, think/regret later.

While I may have spent a lot of ka-ching! this time, I also came away with some priceless memories like meeting Danny Choo and Dan Khoo, catching a Redjuice-thrown-CF-shirt and seeing bless4 live. But more importantly, I have reinforced perspective that IT IS COOL TO BE AN OTAKU!

Redjuice shirt & Danny Choo signature.

In case you didn't know, this year also marked a milestone for Comic Fiesta. This event has come a long way since its humble beginnings in the Kuala Lumpur Chinese Assembly Hall. Read about its history here.

Congratulations, Comic Fiesta, on your 10th year Anniversary and for reaching
over 25,000 visitors in just two days!

 

My deepest gratitude and appreciation to the committee members, volunteers and everyone involved for making this event a huge success! I know it wasn't easy pulling off an event of this magnitude and I know there'll be ungrateful farts those who are unaware of the hard work, effort, blood, tears, sweat, sleepless nights, hair-pulling moments, I-want-to-beat-up-someone days and stressful times that goes into making it happen. But from this humble writer's point of view, it was by far the best Comic Fiesta she have ever attended! It truly was an event for fans by fans because only diehard fans will put so much into it!

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to cover it as one of your bloggers especially Wayne, the Head of photographers, videographers and bloggers. I look forward to collaborating with Comic Fiesta in the many years to come!

For more photos, head on over to my FB album here: Comic Fiesta Day 2

I cosplayed as....... Crying-Pokai-Bunny.

photo credit: Su Yen

Comic Fiesta 2012 - EPIC Day 1

Rumour has it that the end of the world was postponed for another 500 years after The Powers That Be found out that Comic Fiesta 2012 was to be held on 22 and 23 Dec at KL Convention Center. So if you think about it, Comic Fiesta saved the world.

Thoughtfully packaged tickets.

I have been going for Comic Fiesta for the past 4 years, thanks to my cosplaying cousin from Kuching and it has become some sort of a tradition for me and my sis now. Why? Because Comic Fiesta is the only place where I can unleash my inner otaku without judgement! This year, I decided to try out as an volunteer blogger and was selected along with a few others like Jane and Matilda. Check out their blogs ya!

I was up at 5am on the first day of Comic Fiesta because I am that gungho! I had my last bootcamp session of the year that morning. By the time I reached KLCC, a long line had already formed outside the hall at 730am.

 

By 830am, the line had extended along the pathway to the shopping mall. This only serves to prove the growing madness that was Comic Fiesta. Can't say I was surprised though considering the impressive line up of acts and international VIPs scheduled to appear (you will see).

While snapping pictures outside, I bumped into two of my former high school mates. Teo Elaine (in the middle) was Comic Fiesta's Head of Art so all the banners, stage designs and artworks that caught your eyes were all her and her team.



As soon as the doors opened at 10am, early-bird ticket holders flooded the halls, many of which were diehard Anime, Comic and Game (ACG) fans and cosplayers. This year's booths had so many things to see, do and buy! Sigh, there goes my hard-earned cash....

Colourful keychains.

Doujin booths.



Taking to the stage once more as emcees were the comical duo, Shaun and Alfred. They kept the crowd entertained and rolling on the floor in laughter throughout the event with their thinly-veiled crude jokes and antics. I heard plenty of batang and bola jokes on both days from these two ...sweatdrop....

Awesome emcees, Shaun and Alfred.

Comic Fiesta was officially launched with a beautifully made video featuring Coffy and Mirai Suenaga. I was definitely impressive the quality of work and creativity placed into the video! Very worthy of an Iron Man anime!. Check out the video below:

Local bands Alien Dork Fuse(ADF), Divine Reborn and Temjin then took to the stage and warmed up the crowd with their melodious renditions of familiar anime songs such as from Rurouni Kenshin, Doraemon and even Power Rangers! I grew up with those songs!...Damn I feel old now.




Alien Dork Fuse.



Divine Reborn

There was also a group cosplay competition and since the theme of Comic Fiesta this year was 'End of the World', each team had to put on a skit with that particular theme. Their performances were interesting, some super hilarious and I admired the effort they have placed into their skit. My personal favourite was Team Syok Sendiri who played out the R-rated anime version of the PowerPuff Girls, Panty and Stocking. (Er, minus Panty who was probably doing you-know-what-if-you-watch-the-anime).



Stocking versus evil MJ.

Speaking of cosplayers, here are some of the awesome cosplaying I spotted while wandering around on the first Day 1. Got to admire their commitment to their characters and the detailing of their outfits!



The Red Queen

Kenshin from Rurouni Kenshin

Cute Chobits!

Danny Choo finally took the stage in the afternoon! Yay! I enjoy watching Culture Japan. Keeps me motivated to visit the country one day. He has never been able to make it for Comic Fiesta previously so it was a huge deal to have him here this time! He talked about a number of things including his latest series, Japan Mode and choosing a career path that you love and not because society tells you to. That's good advice, one that I follow personally.

Danny wasn't the only mega celeb at the event because the next special guest was Supercell's RedJuice, the man behind the character designs for latest hit anime, Guilty Crown especially Inori and Tsugumi. After Redjuice answering some fan questions, Shaun and Alfred opened to the floor to a quiz session and participants were tormented rewarded with Redjuice's signature!



Redjuice (mid) with the Guilty Crown cosplayers.

Now as Shaun and Alfred were banned from throwing things into the crowd, they invited Redjuice to do so instead with a Comic Fiesta 2012 T-shirt. With everyone waiting in anticipation and ready to pounce, Redjuice threw the shirt. And guess who caught it.



And there it goes!

Yup, yours truly. Here's a narrative of that moment:
"Must get pictures for my blog. Snap snap snap. Oh, look. He's throwing the shirt....Look at it fly....turning in midair....why is it falling towards me? Why is my hand reaching out? Hey, look, I caught it. Ow ow ow!"

Got nearly crushed by the horde of people behind me but it was worth it! Hehehe. Best first day of Comic Fiesta ever.

The event continued on with more talented local acts such as violinist Nisa Addina, band Harmonia ACG and singer Shiomaru before officially ending at 730pm. I say officially ending because unofficially, it continued with a concert by Bless4!

Unfortunately I couldn't stay for the concert because I was dead tired but from what I heard, it was a killer performance by the sibling band.

Day 1 of Comic Fiesta was, for a lack of a better word, EPIC!



 It was OVER 9000!!!

I got to meet a lot of friends, old and new, see Danny Choo and Redjuice live, took loads of pictures of sporting and dedicated cosplayers and went on a mad spending spree.

And it only got better on Day 2. Read on here!

For more photos, head on over to my FB album here: Comic Fiesta Day 1

I cosplayed as....Exasperated-Undercover-Blogger


Posh! nail spa SS2 Launch

 

The saying 'diamonds are a girl's bestfriend' rarely rings true today. Too expensive to afford and too damn risky to wear out. Especially in Malaysia. On the other hand (pun!), pampering yourself to a mani-pedi is now the way to go. A fresh new colour on your nails and you immediately feel like a new lady.

All the pretty colours, all in a row.

For those living in Petaling Jaya, you now have the closer-to-home option of doing your nails at the newly opened POSH! Nail Spa outlet in SS2. Located in the less busy part of SS2, this second outlet of Posh! is tucked away in a housing neighbourhood where parking is not much of a problem. The launch party was held early this month, just in time for the festive seasons!

Decorated in purple and pink - the official colours of Posh!, the salon opened its doors to old and new customers and goodie bags were handled out upon registration. While waiting for the event to kick off, guests were treated to a complimentary express manicure service. And by express, it took 15 minutes to have your nails done probably because of their special quick-drying top coat and also because their manicurists were very efficient with their work.

Express manicures.

 The event was hosted by the beautiful and engaging Belinda Chee who invited the owner of Posh!, Sereen Eng and her sister to conduct the opening ceremony. And pop! goes the wine bottle.


Pretty in purple - Belinda Chee



The sisters duo.

The event continued on inside with wine tasting by Adventure & Leisure who generously sponsored the wines and champagnes. Food and drinks were served along with sweet pink and purple cupcakes.

Cupcakes and newly painted nails.

And once everyone was good and drunk mingling and chatting up a storm, Sereen gave her speech, thanking everyone for their support and especially her family whom were all present at the launch too. Her daughter, Yuri was so adorable! Imagine a blur of white suddenly running past you with three coloured balloons floating behind her because they were tied to her hairband and wrists. Too cute!

Owner Sereen.

Lucky draw numbers were drawn by little Yuri who did her job with enthusiasm! There was also a quiz session with Belinda and all you had to do was answer the questions about Posh! Almost everyone went home with a prize that day.

The little lady at work.

This hardworking blogger won the grand prize!

I won a Bikini wax session in the lucky draw while my friend, Olivia won a quick-drying top coat polish for spelling out Posh!. But the grand lucky draw prize went to my other friend, Senri who went home with a box filled with a balloon, teddy bear and chocolates! You can read about her post on this event here!

 

To end, here's a photo of little Yuri attending to her grandma's nails like a boss!

 

Kawaii!!

Address:
Posh! Nail Spa

TTDI

31, Lorong Dato Sulaiman 7, Taman Tun Dr Ismail 60000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Phone 03.7724.1890

SS2

23, JLN SS2/30 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia

Phone 03.7877.0815 

 

Email nailspa.posh@gmail.com

Maldives Part 4 - The Art of Doing Nothing

The art of doing nothing is actually not true. It was just something I saw on a t-shirt in the resort's souvenir shop. There are actually quite a lot of things to do at Huvafen Fushi. But with the view we had and the relaxed mood we were in, it was just as easy to just laze around and do nothing.

Non-motorised water sports are complimentary so everyday, my sis and I went snorkeling. Each guests gets their own set of snorkeling gear that they can keep with them for the rest of the stay. The underwater was simply stunning. I never quite understood the appeal of scuba-diving but having seen what the shallow reefs had to offer, I am tempted to tryout for a scuba-diving license now. Over four days, I spotted a reef shark, a sting ray and a tiger fish. Too bad, there were no sea turtles in sight. Motorised activites are chargable to the room so plan your days carefully.

Underwater world.

We also went kayaking on our second day there. In the middle of the afternoon. With the mid-sun beating on our backs, we went around the whole island in a hour. Bad move because it was really hot! The kayaks have a glass bottom which lets you look at the reefs beneath you. I prefer snorkeling for an upclose view of the reefs. Still no sea turtle.

 

Kayakking under the sun.

The resort also has a daily stingray feeding session at 5:30pm. The stingrays have been coming to the lagoon beach for ten years now so it's pretty much clockwork routine for them and allows them to be familiar with humans. (God bless Steve Irwin's soul..). The resident stork whom I call Si Bangau also drops by every evening for food.

Stingray feeding

On days when all we wanted to do was chill out and escape the sun, we hung out in the island library, the Lair and played with the gaming consoles. I was so happy when I found Need For Speed. (yes, I do realise that I went all the way to Maldives to play video games). The resort also has a resident kitty cat which demanded to be let into the Lair when we got there. I wanted to ask if I could take it to our room....

Now seeing dolphins is a personal dream of mine so we booked ourselves on the resort dolphin cruise as soon as we got there. The cruise only takes place on Sundays from 4 to 7pm at USD175 per person. But if there are more than 6 people, it gets cheaper. What an experience it was, being able to see wild dolphins in their natural habitat. According to our guide, Lana, this particular pod has over 200 dolphins in it and during that hour, we certainly saw plenty of them. It was magical.

Dolphin sighting.

0%Here's a video of the dolphin cruise: http://youtu.be/tbZVCUPpSgQ . I had to remove the actual sounds because it was just too noisy from the wind and other tourist boats. Music in the video is by Daniel Veerapen, an Malaysian artist.

 

 

There are many things to do in Huvafen Fushi. You can adopt a coral reef and plant it yourself. Then in 50 years (if Maldives hasn't sunk) you can come back and marvel at your contribution to Mother Nature.

 

 

 

Or if you're Asian like us, then take lots of pictures. Whilst there, we noticed all the Asian guests had DSLRs and digital cameras everywhere they went hence the theory: picture-taking is an Asian thing.

 

It's impossible to take a bad picture in Maldives. In fact the only thing that can spoil a picture is, well, us. We took tons of pictures; camwhoring, weird shots, jumping shots.... this shot below...

 

Fireball!

We were saddened when the evening for us to check out came about. The resort manager, Marco and our Thakuru, Nahu saw us off at the jetty as the speedboat took off for the airport. The resort representative escorted us to the Singapore Airlines check-in counter and bide us farewell. We boarded our plane and prepared for the comfortable ride home (flight experience here) It was a memorable vacation to Maldives and Huvafen Fushi was the dream resort (read about it in my previous post). The food was delicious (drool over it here) although I was missing teh tarik by the first morning.

Pristine blue waters, colourful reefs and fishes, majestic dolphins, friendly locals and resort staffs...I see now why Maldives is the place to visit before you kick the bucket.

To finish off this post, a momento of our holiday there.

From Maldives with Love.