I woke up this morning, feeling quite refreshed. Having spent an entire day yesterday walking around a show floor will get you out of your jet lag in a hurry. I was jet lagged the previous day, yes, but not nearly as bad as I thought I would be. Today it was practically a non-issue.
However, my throat wasn’t doing so well.
I checked my email. More youtube comments… I had been noticing a strange uptick of hits on my blog recently, as well as a particular blog post – The Mirai Fan Art post. The associated video was also getting an uptick of comments. I figured “something’s up”, and went onto figure.fm. I saw a couple of mirai fan art posts here and there, but it didn’t really tell me what was going on. So I went onto dannychoo.com to take a look see. Saw the article on CGM. I gave that a quick read.
From what I heard the previous day, there were over 140 sign-ups. That had intimidated me a little bit. Reading the comments about the legality behind the gathering also made me a little wary.
I was a little excited that I could meet and network with other Singaporean bloggers, and potentially other readers of my site. And since I didn’t get to meet Danny last year, this was a good opportunity to do so.
I saw Alafista’s comment and replied “Save us some seats, tomodachi!” I hadn’t signed up yet, and still wasn’t sure if I should.
I looked around and found the Mirai Fan Art submission post and decided to comment. Chun happened to be online at the time and a quick discussion made it all clear – Danny had tweeted my video earlier. Not really sure what was up, but figured “Why not ask Danny himself?”
I decided to go to CGM.
I spent the better part of the day drawing. I liked the idea that my artwork could potentially be on TV somewhere. It was time anyway, since I wasn’t 100% happy with the previous Mirai fan art. I had improved significantly in my skills since then, so an update was in order… plus I didn’t have the original PSD to submit anyway.
My wife seemed a little bit wary “140 people?!” not only that, but she feared I would get lost trying to find my way around on my own. I’d never been to that part of Singapore before, and I guess that’s the way wives are.
I was looking at google maps and it seemed pretty easy to me on how to get there.
She decided to come with me anyway (in case I was lying and meeting up with some hottie I met at AFA, I guess).
When my wife and I arrived, you could already tell that something was going on. People had already gathered and were doing there thing, taking pictures of figures set up at various tables, and a few Dollfies were standing at another table. I ignored the Dollfies at first, as I noticed EX14. He waved.
“oh hey! I thought you weren’t coming!” he said.
“Decided to anyway. Not like I get to do this everyday!” I replied. I introduced my wife, and said my greets to my other comrades, now familiar faces.
“So has Danny arrived yet?” I asked.
“Yeah, he’s just over there, making his rounds.” they all seemed nonchalant about it, which was strange to me, considering how he seemed pretty popular online and carries himself as such. “You can get an autographed card!” I remember him posting once.
Since everyone was so nonchalant about it, I figured that I probably should be too.
I took a few pictures of my comrades, as well as introduced myself to a couple of others. Gordon had already shown up, as well as Alafista. Zh3us hadn’t arrived yet, since he was still at work.
I could tell that my wife was not used to this sort of environment, but she seemed to accept it with an open mind, and curiosity. This was her first time meeting up with a large group of people who shared the same interests as me. She seemed more fascinated by it than anything else. She was interested in the dollfies. I do admit, that dollfies are pretty. We went and had a look for a bit. I’m not really sure how she felt about them.
“They’re pretty and cute… but at the same time, kind of revealing.” I think that’s what she was thinking… or maybe she did say that, I’m not really sure.
I could tell that she was trying not to be judgmental about anything or anyone. Not that she normally is anyway. But I could tell something was going on in there. She was acting a little different… or maybe that’s just me.
Yukito came up to me and said hi.
“Is this your wife?” he asked.
“Yup!” we chatted for a bit, and my wife seemed genuinely interested. We sat down at a table, and Yukito brought out his box of nendoroid petit parts to show her. It was strange to me seeing my wife light up like that, as she giggled and played around with the parts. She assembled a little scene and was proud of herself. I took a snapshot.
Not too long later, I was introduced to Gordon. I introduced my wife to him and we chatted briefly. A little sad that we didn’t have a chance to take a picture together.
He passed me his infamous Sandtrooper cards.
“Do you know who this is?” he asked my wife and I. I wasn’t thinking at the time. It was obvious, but I still let it slip.
“Umm… Star…trooper?” my wife said.
“No, you mean Stormtrooper?” I blurted.
“You’re both wrong.” Gordon said happily.
I know I’m wrong! I thought to myself. “Sandtrooper.” I corrected. “Hey! I like your ID tag!” I pointed at Gordon’s Darth Vader themed tag.
I wanted to chat with Gordon a little more, but Danny was suddenly beside me.
“Hey! You’re Radiant Dreamer, right?” he asked, shaking my hand.
“Yes! That’s me!” I was caught a little bit by surprise by his sudden approach (like a ninja!)
We exchanged cards, bowing down with the exchange, and had a brief conversation (not exact wording in the least):
“I saw your Mirai fan art youtube video.” Danny mentioned.
“Yeah, I know. You tweeted it.”
“I’m planning to put it in Culture : Japan. Do you have an HD version of it?”
“Not with me, no.”
“Would you be able to get it to me somehow?”
“Maybe… might be a bit difficult… but I heard about the request on your site, and have actually been working on a new fan art.”
Danny looked at me with a raised brow. “Oh really? You have your computer with you?”
“Yeah, been working on it since today. I can get you the youtube video of it maybe tomorrow or the next day.”
“Wow, you work fast.”
“Thanks. I’ve gotten a lot better at my art skills anyway. So hopefully you’ll like this one more.”
“I look forward to it.”
Actually, I think our conversation and discussion took place over a few chats throughout the night.
I’ll be uploading the artwork to my facebook page.
The youtube video of it being done:
[pro-player]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcVYWtnHxjI[/pro-player]
The rest of the night was spent hanging out with comrades, and meeting new ones, checking out the scene, and simply enjoying ourselves. It was pretty awesome of everyone to bring all their Nendoroids, Figmas, and Dollfies. I’ve never seen so many of them in one place (outside of a convention, that is).
A comrade raised the same question that I had “Aren’t people worried about losing parts?” It’s bound to happen – someone loses a tail and that’s it – Saber Lion ain’t a lion anymore.
I suppose though, that if everyone were afraid to bring out their toys, then there would be little point to the photography and gatherings. It was interesting to see a few nendoroids that I owned too, in the mix.
Zh3us’ doll was there even before Zh3us was.
Kodomut was doing his thing, and so I interrupted him for a moment to take a picture with him. He’s a very nice guy, and I was happy to take this shot with him. It’s quite a nice photo, ya? Feels like we’ve been buddies forever. 😀
Kodomut’s writing.
My wife saw this and couldn’t help but take a picture of it. Nice!
As the night went on, more and more people showed up, but it was hardly the 140 people that I thought there would be. (You may see yourself in the picture here!)
I don’t think I can make the cut to be part of the Legion… but it was fun wearing the helmet.
We ordered noms and chowed down.
I was surprised to see a Wendy’s here. It just seems so… out of place, at a hawker center!
My wife decides that she wants a picture with the Dollfies. Those of you who met her that night will remember what she looks like. Those that haven’t met her yet, well… I suppose the paint-over is fairly accurate. 😉
You think buying her one of these will convert her? Note the hand pose!
I do admit, they are kinda cute. But I’ve never been much for ball jointed figures. I just don’t like seeing joints. It’s not natural enough to me.
It looks like Stingray if I am not mistaken. Delicious!
Plenty of Satays! A plate of this many (40?) Satays would have cost about $50 CAD in Vancouver. Plus 12% tax, and 15% tip. That’s about $82 SGD!!!
I think ihatenegi ate most of the wings. He was working on it all evening when most everyone else gave up. Shortly after dinner, my wife decided to go home first.
Typical Singaporean condiments.
Sharing my info. I was completely unaware that there were limited pages in this notebook, and that this was intended to be used to gather lots of contacts.
Partway through, I noticed a single caucasian guy chatting around. He looked rather interesting, and I felt an urge that I needed to talk to him for some odd reason. I dismissed it and continued chatting with a couple of comrades.
He eventually made his way to my table, and sat himself down.
“Hi! You’re Radiant Dreamer, right?” he asked.
“Um.. yeah!” I was surprised. There was something he knew that I didn’t. “Who are you?”
“You’ll know as soon as you see this…”
My eyes widened. “NO WAY! No way!!” I exclaimed in disbelief. As if in reflection to my reaction, Fabrice’s smile widened too. I excitedly shook his hands. “Oh my GOD it’s so great to meet you!”
“YEAH! I was over there talking with some people, and I heard that Radiant Dreamer was here. I just have to meet him! I said to myself.” Fabrice said excitedly.
It was an incredible feeling to meet another one of my readers. In fact, before I started taking these trips to Singapore, I figured that I would never meet any of my readers, but here I was, and sitting in front of me was a good friend whom I had never met. This realization was an emotionally heady feeling, an unreal feeling.
Excitedly, Fabrice and I chatted for a long while, exchanging our stories on our travels to Singapore, and about AFA X.
Delicious desserts.
From what I heard, the two girls in the middle are famous cosplayers or something. The one on the right is kinda cute. Someone shouted “Should take a photo of Danny getting a kiss from them!!”
Awkward silence. Not even a giggle from anyone. I can only assume the perp was trying to live vicariously through Danny, or didn’t realize that Danny’s wife was also present. Oh how scandalous that would have been! O_O
After a while, Danny sat with me and Alafista to chat for a bit, eventually more people gathered. It’s an interesting technique he used to bring everyone together – he didn’t announce anything. All he did was ask the next person sitting nearby a question or two “So where are you from? What do you do? What are your plans for the future?”. Each time he asked that, a couple more people would join in, and they’d eventually get asked.
When enough people got around, he opened up and started talking. I was a little disappointed by the “content” of what he said. Not that it was bad or anything. It was just nothing new. He’d said all this stuff before, probably in his other gatherings and speeches, but what he talked about was also on his website – his motivational posts.
I sat beside him anyway to listen. In a way, it’s like recounting old war stories. Oh yeah, I remember that one. I found that story inspirational. It wasn’t just a gathering to meet Danny and hear him speak. It was a gathering to meet other like-minded people.
A secondary group of people were enjoying themselves chatting with Danny’s wife and joking around, including Kodomut, zh3us, yukito, Gordon, and several others. I guess they must have heard Danny’s talk before?
The music started getting loud (it’s weird that there’s a stage at the center of the hawker center) it wasn’t very good music either. It was getting exceedingly harder to hear what Danny was saying. We all decided to move further to the outskirts of the hawker center. During this time, Fabrice and I began to chat again.
I’m not really sure what Danny was talking about during that second part. But it wasn’t too long after that we all decided to get up and take a group photo. It was getting pretty late anyway.
Hmm… strange how some of the comrades I met the previous day all happened to be moving at the same time…?
It was an evening well spent, I think. I couldn’t believe that it lasted that long (about 6 hours). That’s a lot of socializing. As several of us walked together, I could tell that my sore throat was getting worse. After all, I had spent the majority of my time almost shouting because it was so loud.
“Dang, what an awesome night.” I croaked.
“We’re gonna do a WLNF meet-up this weekend.” Kodomut explained, “Shazz is coming back from Australia.”
I love how hard Singaporeans play. “That sounds cool! Count me in on that! If I’m not dead from zh3us’ germs…” I said jokingly.
“Be careful. It’s a big one… I’m only just recovering.” zh3us warned.
Sure enough, the next day, I could barely talk anymore. The burning sensation in my throat indicated that I was not going to get better soon enough. This was just like last year. I thought to myself. My sickness pattern usually started with signs of a sore throat (so bad that it hurts to swallow), a couple of days and it goes away, only to be replaced with an unstoppable dry cough, then a slight fever before a productive cough. After that, it usually takes two or three weeks for the cough to completely go away.
I opened my email to find Kodomut had already sent out invites to WLNF.
“I’ll try to make it if I’m not too sick…” I replied. We joked around a bit about me getting the germs from kissing zh3us.
I never did make it to WLNF.
Read more!
FINALLY all the broken shit is fixed. dammit.
Wow, this sounds fun, out of all the comrades I would like to get together with none live anywhere near me, either half a continent away or on the other side of the world. That’s why when I hear of stuff of like CGM Night or the WLNF gatherings I can’t help but get a bit jealous.
That aside sounds like you had fun, minus the getting sick part of course. I like the bit with meeting Fabrice sounds like a nice experience.
I wouldn’t mind meeting you, Miette-chan. 🙂
I think the joys of it is actually making the effort to meet someone very far away. It’s just a magical feeling, one that you really appreciate and savor when it happens.
I didn’t feel nearly the same when I met some of my local comrades like lightningsabre or puppychun, even though they are equally as important.
Did you know that I met my wife online? 😀
Make the effort if you get the opportunity. It’s definitely worth it.
I’ve met other bloggers at cons and there definitely is something nice about meeting someone for the first time that you’ve been trading messages with for a couple of years. Sounds like a great trip, your description making me wish I was there.
It’d be nice to meet you someday too. 🙂
I don’t go to cons very often, especially since the local con is not very good. In all honesty, if my wife wasn’t Singaporean, I doubt I’d be going to AFA too.
But yeah, these trips have definitely been very pleasant experiences.
I deliberately tried to give the readers a sense that they were there with me. 🙂
Glad you enjoy your stay in sg again and meeting more comrade this year =D
Sorry didnt manage to update your blog till now. was busy after AFA… with more event to attend and stuff to do >_<
Next time when you are back in sg I will bring you to Aston =)
I met more comrades this year than last year, that’s for sure! 😀
I will definitely take you up on your offer! 😀
Sounds like you had a great experience! It must’ve been nice to meet with so many like-minded people and, especially, people you’re more familiar with online.
It was very enjoyable, yes. 😀 Hopefully, I can go again next year!
haha, glad that it lit her up a bit! =P
it’s nt that we heard Danny’s talk before, but since so many people were already there, it’s nt easy to hear out what Danny is saying. Had lots of fun talking about random stuff with Danny’s Wife, though most of the conversation was in Chinese and a bit of English xD
I think she definitely enjoyed herself. 🙂
You’re right, it wasn’t easy to hear what he was saying. Even sitting right beside him, it was incredibly difficult. That and everyone was huddled so close together, it wasn’t very comfortable, that’s for sure.
Don’t worry, it didn’t seem like you missed much. Sounds like you guys had some good fun over there too! I understand some mandarin, but not a whole lot, so I probably wouldn’t have gotten it. 😐
I know what you mean about meeting people who read your blog!
I met up with Q back just before he left for Hong Kong and we spent a couple of evenings just messing around in central and just chatting. It was a little surreal yet almost totally natural and we talked about a whole lot of stuff.
Might be going to HK next year. I’ll have to see if I can catch him then!
That’s sweet! It’s cool when you get to hang out together too. You think you know a person from the email exchanges and all that, but you end up learning so much more when you actually meet them.
I tell ya, this whole social network thing is more ANTI-social network, if you ask me. 😛
Can’t really diss social networking to much tho. Sometimes, it’s the only way to know if some people are still alive when they update their statuses!!
But my mates and I are pretty good. we meet up whenever we can and communiate via txt to get things organsed. But I do know some people who organise themselves using facebook and my question isn’t so much “why” but rather “how?”
If I ever head Toronto way, I’m sure I’d have a load of ppl I’d like to meet!
It was an honor to have met you, and i hope well meet again in the near future!
I hope so too! You made my evening a worthwhile one. 🙂
This is such a late reply but I’m trying to catch up to reading ^^;
This is such an awesome recount of CGM night that I feel sad that I missed it! It was a chance to meet you too ;~; I was actually roaming SG during the time AFA was happening but I was sightseeing with my parents and I doubt they’d let me go off alone since AFA was happening at the other end of the city from our hotel ._.; If I ever get the chance to attend next time, hopefully I can go there~! I’d want to meet fellow bloggers too ^^
Also, your waifu is very pretty :3c
It really is too bad that you didn’t go to CGM. It would have been so awesome to finally have met you. I had no idea you were roaming around Singapore at that time.
Your parents should understand that Singaporeans are very complacent, so you’d be safe in the streets for sure! 😉
We were actually in SG for just a few days because in the middle of our trip we were at sea on a cruise. We spent the last couple of days in our trip going around tourist spots in SG because I thought it’d be a shame if we went there and didn’t bother to go around. I feel so sad that they didn’t get a decent picture of me with the Merlion fountain! DX
I was actually tweeting about going to SG but never got to tweet while I *was* in SG because my phone somehow sucks at getting wifi signals. Haha. =)
I actually saw your other SG post. We were in the hotel right next to Takashimaya, and I saw that very same toy fair although I never went in. Maybe we crossed paths but never knew? Haha XD
Maybe if AFA is still in SG this year I’ll try to make it =)
Did your photo end up blurry or something? Or just didn’t get a good chance? But oh well, more motivation to get back to Singapore, then! 🙂
I noticed that my phone had trouble getting wifi signals in Singapore too. I think that it’s not the phone, but their setup. They could be providing membership only free wifi.
You probably saw this year’s toy fair. The pics I posted were actually last year’s toy fair. ^___^;
I never did get Singapore post 4/4 up. -_-||
But it’s still possible that we might have crossed paths. I did go to Takeshimaya twice this time.
A bit late to comment (my head is all over the place recently orz), but you sure like to keep this as a little surprise with a storytelling kind of way!
Looks like the CGM Night you’ve attended in Singapore is very different to the one I have experienced in Tokyo this summer. The one you’ve been is heavily orientated for fans, readers, and fellow bloggers, while the one I’ve been is orientated for business related people, which made me feel a little bit out of place I gotta admit, but oh well as you said this isn’t something one gets to do very often so it won’t hurt to experience it in person.
The venue looks rather unusual to take place at; it looks much more in public than I have expected. This will sure give much more of an awkward feeling as an outsider involving in such event compared to, say, a closed room such as a booked lecture room I’ve been to for CGM Night in Tokyo this summer. Not surprisingly a lot of GSC stuff, especially nendoroids, are seen in the pictures, though I think I do see a number of figmas in the background of some pictures too. There sure are lot of known names mentioned here; the ACG blogging community related to DC.com and/or figure.fm is expected to be quite strongly bonded. As English speaking communities are much more outspoken than Chinese communities, I may have to see it myself just how big it really is. I’m sure I will get to do so when oppurtunity arises. Maybe next year’s AFA or the year after? We shall see.
Meeting bloggers in person is always quite an experience, and just as I have done with gundamjehutykai this summer before I head back to Hong Kong. I even brought my ex-coursemate along who introduced me to DC.com too on the second day we met up, and we sure had a good chat together! I personally like having a much smaller meet-up like 2-4 people rather than a huge gathering, because one gets to do a lot more exchange compared to a huge gathering, where I feel kinda lost at times (like I did in CGM Night Tokyo I suppose). Well, there still are chances out there, and I sure won’t mind meeting you or fellow bloggers in Toronto or Singapore when I have the oppurtunity to do so!
heh yeah, the storytelling thing is deliberate. I do want you guys to enjoy the read, and feel like it’s a first account.
Hmm.. I would have loved to attend the Tokyo CGM Night if that’s the case. I’d love to network with the execs. It’s too bad I don’t speak Japanese though… I might feel out of place for a little bit, before I put on my business face I guess. I think the important thing about those kinds of mixers is to go in with a plan – an objective of what you want to accomplish.
The venue was a hawker center! Very much like those ones in Hong Kong “Dai Pai Dong”. So yes, very informal. I felt a little bit more awkward at AFA during lunch because there was only about 10 or so of us hanging out together with the dollfies and nendoroids. At CGM, I felt much more comfortable because of the sheer number of people there. I think this was mostly self-conscious feelings though. You’d only feel like an outsider if you didn’t participate.
If you’re able to go to AFA, it’s definitely worth experiencing, especially when you’re able to meet up with people who you know online. The community in Singapore is a much closer network, so they hang out together often (well, at least the clique I hung out with). I found Singaporeans much more friendly and welcoming than other places I’ve been to, so you may be pleasantly surprised at how little you’ll feel like an outsider there.
your waifu is like anime character XD
lol! the perfect waifu.
Just read this after reading last week’s blog. Seems like Singapore is literally a social hot spot for you! Plus, you have a really good looking wife.
lol thanks! It’s a bit of an anime style, but yes, attractive wife. ^^;