c0redump

�����ϭ�������! (Kaizoku Ou Ni Ore Wa Naru!)

okok two weeks w/o post... v's gonna smack me if i don't post a long one o_O
i'll try to make sure the content is worth the wait =p

Table of Contents:
Crew
Job
Creditcard Bill Shock Syndrome
Baltimore
DC

- went rowing at allegeny river the previous weekend. more accurately, vic taught me how to row on sunday morning... *crosses off 1 item from my list of things-to-do-before-i-die*. it definitely takes more skills (and therefore more fun) to row a crew boat than kayak on calm water (<-- me, with terrible sense of balance&coordination, had a hard time keeping my boat going straight). the weather was pleasent and i'm sure that if i ever become proficient, crew will be an excellent way to stay in shape ;).

- so last week marked the end of my 6th month at work. despite all the company money i wasted through sleeping, blogging, and surfing at work, at the review meeting Dave(boss) still said "great job, we're pleased with your performance ... nothing to complain about" o_O and then proceedes to happily gimme a raise... hoho my boss is cool.

- got my credit card bill last thursday ... i stared at the $1500 bill and thought... "hmm... maybe i traveled too much this summer...maybe i shouldn't have bought that direct flight to bay area for $470... i should try to cut down cost by hitchhiking to baltimore [and then sleep on the sidewalk at night] this weekend instead of driving [and staying at a courtyard marriot]..." ... then i went to my computer and reviewed my photo albums and thought..."nah... spending money is good."

- Otakon, the gathering of nerds, dorks, geeks, space cowboys, vampires, samurais, pilots and pirates. Yes i cosplayed (another one crossed off the list), or else the experience is not complete (vic dressed as disgruntled cmu student... and it was clear that luisa, who dressed up as envy, kris, who dressed up as ginji, pris, who dressed up as hibiki, and i, who dressed up as luffy, had more fun, or at least blend in better with rest of the crowd =) L'arc en Ciel, famous japanese rock band, my first rock concert (yup, you got it... that was on the list too) was the main event of otakon. It was quite nice, thnx to vic&ev who got us excellent seats (seats at rock concert?? that's kinda weird) by waitin' under the blazing sun for hrs then beat up old ladies with sticks to get in the door. music was good, the crowd was boisterous, and i really appreciate their effort at the English language, tho it might've been cooler if they said somethin' in japanese too =) ...best line: "zu yu wan zu eat my banana?" =))) the rest of the con consist of many pictures (pose for and take pix of each other), looking around (to get free stuff, window shop, and admire other ppl's artwork), and the tradition of masquerade skits/fashion show (of which i only understood 3 out of 20 skits because i'm unl337 and not hardcore like the other ppl[who dressed up] =(
During the concert, which recordin' device of any kind was prohibited, vic stylishly whipped out his camera and started takin' pix... the security guards promptly took notice and approached vic. But vic, obviously prepared to face such obsticle, smoothly pulled out a gunblade from the bag of a cosplaying Squall next to him and started firing plastic pellets at the guard... however, being unfairly outnumbered and surrounded by crazy otakus, vic had to surrendered his camera, which the guard promptly sold it to the pawnshop next to the convention center.

- on Sunday (i only went to otakon on saturday), we drove down to DC to meet up with w, eric(whom i FINALLY got to meet =p), and mulan<--really should be pronounced "MU-rhong"(who has extremely cool parents and gave her uber l337 name... ... i approve =) and had excellent authentic Spanish food (the dishes are dimsum size, forgot what they're called in spanish [EDIT] the all knowing v informed me that they're called tapas*, and we had like 20 of them... quite satisfying). after that we walked around georgetown and had ice cream at a Edy's with a scenic view of the river (forgot name of the river too). The summer weather at DC is just as i remembered, humid and hot with heavy 10 minute showers every 5 hrs... just like taiwan =) After a decent chinese dinner at rocksville, we headed home around 8pm and arrive just be4 midnight... ... [Edit 08.04.04]... so Luisa has all the pix online =) but lemme steal some and put it here:

so compare with the rest of the luffys (i'm the one lookin' away, incaseyoucanttell) at the convention, methink my costume is pretty well made ;) ...ok... me being the only asian luffy probably helped.

i asked some dude to take a picture for 3 of us... then other random ppl started takin' shots, even tho we are from completely unrelated series...

abit chubby, but this is the best vash i saw at the con ;)

the name of this spanish restaurant is called Jaleo's =) be sure to go eat there if u r ever in DC.

posted by wooden @ 12:01 PM