First of all, I'd like to thank my sister for driving me to the airport and thanks again for showing me support on my first trip to wherever alone!! Whoo hoo! XD

The plane I took to San Francisco had very few people so it didn't feel all too cramp even though the seats were still super small and tight. I was going to think of what to do for 90 minutes on the plane when I picked up the magazine on the seat (as usual) and ended up playing Sudoku for the first time in my life. LOL You know what, that was a great choice, cos' I actually spent all 90 minutes trying to solve one godamn puzzle!!! (And I didn’t even complete it!) O_O I'm pretty slow at these things ^^" Now you see why I hate puzzle games? >_o

Anyway, I arrived at San Francisco on time around 3pm. I had to ask which of those conveyer belt thingies (baggage claim) was for my flight and I sat there waiting… only to find out the one that had been circling for a while was mine. D'oh! And that was only because the of the workers there came up to me and asked "Is this yours?". Hahaha! Aren't I stupid? Well… I don't exactly recognize my own luggage bag very well… >_o

After claiming my baggage, I took the shuttle to my hotel, the San Mateo Marriott. I was lucky the shuttle came at the time I got there since I heard that it comes only once an hour. All that time I was thinking "Holy shit, I really am alone in this new place!" XD First timer, dude, first timer…

The ride was about 10 minutes and soon I arrived at the hotel. The room I got was pretty good, except for the TV that really sucked. By then it was already 4pm and I literally had nothing to do. A friend, Morgan, was supposed to (or so I thought) spend the day with me but it was her finals week that week so she ended up being busy and stuff, and said that she could only meet me after night.

And so I waited around in the hotel room, switching channels every 4 seconds and thinking of what to do, but there really wasn't much to do, so I tried to take a short nap and I think I did fall asleep for a little bit. I woke up around 7pm hoping that Morgan was ready to come over. We planned to meet at 8+pm at the airport, but we didn't really meet until 8:50ish cos' somehow I missed the shuttle at 8pm.

Morgan is an online friend I knew only through email since last October. I've seen one picture of her but I didn't remember at all how she looked like, so I'm practically meeting with someone I couldn't recognize at all. XD She caught me though, luckily, by approaching the last San Mateo Marriott shuttle that I was on and telling the driver that she was looking for someone. Woot! And so we met! That was the second time I've met a friend online… make it 3rd if I were to include the guy from Singapore.

Anyway, Morgan then introduced me to her friend, David, who was also the one to be my trusty cameraman during the convention. Then together we took the train (Bart) and went downtown SF to look for food. We ended up deciding to go to Cheesecake Factory, which was only about 5 minutes away from the station we got off from (Powell). And since it was late night, we didn't have to wait for a table.

We sat on a table 'outside' where it's open and you could see the nice scenery comprised of mostly nearby high-rise buildings (the restaurant was on the 15th floor). I remember I ordered something called Spicy Beef something… and it was okay. >_> And we got pretty full after eating our entrée, so we didn't order any cheesecake, which was a shame.

After dinner, we got on the train again and Morgan and David got off a couple of stations before me. We planned that we'd meet again the next day afternoon so all I had for me that night was to go back to the hotel alone.

You see, the hotel shuttles run only until 8.30pm, so to get back to the hotel I had no choice but to grab a taxi. I knew a taxi would be expensive but I didn't think that it would go as far as $25 for a 10-minute ride!!! HOLY GODAMN TAXI!!! What a freaking rip-off!!! MAN, that definitely is a fast way to waste your money!! =_=

Day 2 was utterly boring for more than half the day. Morgan said that she'd call around 3pm after her class and I woke up at around 11.30am, so I thought the best way to pass the time quickly was to buy a movie from the hotel's TV. Since there was nothing else I really wanted to watch, I ended up buying "Night at the Museum". >_O

It was also only after I clicked 'Buy' did I find out how much it was going to cost me - $12.99. How nice. =/ DAMN. =_= Well, it wasn't too bad of a movie, although it is mostly silly and considerably lame. Still, it was entertaining for someone rotting in the hotel.

To cut things short, I waited and waited and waited and Morgan finally arrived at the hotel at around 7pm. =/ It took her quite a WHILE to pack her stuff since she was going to stay at my hotel room for the rest of the days I was in SF. I spent about an hour of the time waiting on the internet in the "business room" on the first floor. By rights it's not free, but the lady who attended to me was nice and said that she'd let me use it for free once. ^_^ It kinda sucked though. It was a seemingly old PC and MSN messenger wouldn't even log me in no matter what. I ended up having to go on Skype and I was lucky that anyone was even around. (Good thing Ryman was there!)

Anyway, after Morgan came, we went downtown again looking for food. This time, we went to a Japanese restaurant called Hanazen, which was also 5 minutes away from Powell station. It was pretty good, but rather expensive. =/ Later, we went to Walgreen, a drugs store or the sort, and stocked up on some dry food. I got myself a pack of Band-Aid for my leg since my boots were scraping against my skin. >_<

After that, we took the same route back to the airport. Morgan needed to withdraw some cash and while we were looking around for an ATM, Neiru, another online friend who was going to be sharing the same room as me, arrived at the airport. So we met up with her and went back to the hotel together by taxi again.

It was great to have met with Neiru, really. I've talked to her quite a lot online and although I thought that we might have some conflicts in personality and such, we ended up getting along just fine. ^__^  The rest of the night was really just us talking and Neiru showing me some of her art books and such. =)

Now this was when the fun truly began. Friday was the first day of the Tales of Anime convention, which was the sole reason why I went for this trip. (It was for the 3 special guests - Johnny, Reuben and Dan)

We woke up about 11am and went downstairs at around 2pm to the registration booth to get our badges/passes. Already we could see many cosplayers all over the place. I was supposed to meet with Jo, one of the staff people, at 2.30pm but I forgot!! >_<!! I felt so bad! I think by then I was busying myself in the dealer's room or something.

Anyway, let's rewind a little bit. Right around the time we got our badges (me and Neiru), we were introduced to a guy called Sean (Morgan's online friend whom she also just met). Later when Morgan forgot her own key to my room, I went upstairs to open the door for her and saw that Sean was with her. When I asked why he's there, Morgan said "He's staying with us." Seriously, my face went WTF.

You see, already there were going to be SIX people in my room (Me, Neiru, Jon & Shannon (friends from Eugene), Morgan and David (the cameraman)) and I swear I've never heard her talk or ask me about a 7th person. Morgan casually apologized (which I was not appreciative of) but by then it's not like I have a choice to say no. I thought that so long Sean slept on the floor there'd be no problem… but there was, cos' we later found out that he SNORES. But wait, we're going a little out of topic so let's go back a little.

Okay, so I opened the door for them and then went back downstairs to the dealer's room (merchandise room) where Neiru was crazily shopping for anything with Dante on it. LOL. I looked around for a bit and only bought one of those elastic wristband thingies with the words "I LOVE YAOI" (mwahaha!) and a kitty hat. Man I've always wanted one of those but couldn't find a nice one on ebay. I'm glad I found it there!

By the end of shopping it was already ~3pm. Neiru wanted to go to Japan Town where there's Kinokuniya and I wanted to go too, and since the first day of the convention was the only day with the least number of interesting/must-go events, we decided to use that time to go to Kinokuniya, and Sean came along with us.

Now, the interesting thing is, none of us knew how to get to Japan town. None of the hotel people knew either. So, we called Kinokuniya and asked for directions and got only as much as "Go to Powell station and take bus 38." Well, since I know where Powell station was we proceeded to take the shuttle and then the train to Powell station.

On the shuttle, one of the most shockingly unbelievable thing happened. You see, the way we sat was like this on one row: Neiru > Sean > me. We were talking about random things and such (that was also when he told us he snores) and I was searching for something in my bag when I saw Sean reached out his right hand towards me. At first I thought he wanted to look at my cell phone cos’ I have a very interesting picture on the back of it (LOL), but when he said no, I was like “Huh??” even though I sort of got the hint/idea.

So he got somewhat nervous or something and said “Oh nothing.” And so I was hoping that he’d just end it there when he whispered to me saying “I was actually going for your hand.” =_=’’’ I don’t remember exactly what I said but obviously, I gave him the “Er… NO” look. Then, he continued to tell me “I found you attractive and I was hoping you’d feel the same.” ……… RIGHT………..

You barely met me for 2 hours and already you’re getting to THIS? Gimme a break. I’m not that kind of girl, tough guy =/ To be honest, that totally disgusted me. And that was after I told him I’m not interested in relationships too! (I said that due to a topic we were at when we walked back to our room before we left the hotel) But seriously that’s out of the point. I don’t know bout you guys reading this blog of mine but I find that an insult. I’m super conservative when it comes to relationships and how I think it should be/go. ‘Love at first sight’ is bullshit, not to mention I’d blow my head off to even think that he truly likes me. Urgh. Anyway, he got the hint that I totally rejected him so yup, I’m pretty sure he knew to stay awaaaay from me after that.

So, later we arrived at Powell station and we were like "Ooookaaay… What's next?" And that's when I felt like "Holy shit, this is real-life RPG!! When you don't know something, ask one of the many NPCs (non-playable character) standing around for clues that may lead you to your destination!!" XD And so we asked around, wait, just me, really. It's like… I'm the one who's entirely direction illiterate yet I'm the one asking around… I don't know if it's because Neiru and Sean are even worse than I am or something… but anyway, we soon found the bus station to take bus 38 from and we safely arrived at Japan Town!! Whoo hoo! Cheers to me!! LOL. At least I didn't get us lost! XD

Neiru recognized the building Kinokuniya was in so we just walked in and had lunch first. Tell you what. That meal was the best of anything I ate at all during the entire trip. It was a simple omelet yakisoba in this Japanese restaurant in the mall that cost only $9+ and it was delicioooous!! O_O Man, I wish I could go back and order it again!!! But alas…

Anyway, after lunch, we hopped over to Kinokuniya where Neiru bought a ton of Bleach manga (it's her obsession man). I looked around for things that might interest me and I did manage to find a Devil May Cry art book but I wasn't interested and so Neiru bought it instead. LOL. Sean found himself a rare Metroid soundtrack (I think) and I was the only one who didn't find anything… but I had to! I came all this way spending so much money just on travel (the train costs $10.30 for a single roundtrip), I had to buy something! And so I ended up buying this FF7 Advent Children book, which is really pretty and even has both Japanese and English text, but I already saw it once since Neiru had it and already showed it to me the night before.

I also totally forgot about sales tax… which REALLY sucks since I've never had to deal with that my entire life. (No sales tax in Indonesia, Singapore and Oregon) But, I bought that book anyway and then we rushed back to the hotel hoping that we wouldn't be too late although we were. The first event I wanted to be there for started at 7pm (the opening ceremony) and it was 7pm when we stepped out of Kinokuniya. >_<!!

We finally got back to the hotel at around 9.15pm, which sucked, cos' I missed Johnny's gaming session. (Johnny was one of the 3 special guests whom I went there for. He voices Nero from DMC4.) Fortunately, he was still in the event room by the time I arrived. I've only seen his picture once and I didn't quite remember how he looked like so I sort of just guessed which one he was.  

Neiru and I sat on the chairs on the back row and waited for Johnny to be free (he was watching the people play Wii sports). The moment he stood up, looking like he was ready to leave the room, I nervously went up to him and tapped on his shoulder. My heart was thumping really fast by then.

Johnny turned around and I asked "Excuse me, are you Johnny Yong Bosch?" (LOL) He said "Yes I am" and I got even more nervous. I don't remember if I asked for a handshake but I did say something like "Hi, my name is Cat. I'm a webmaster of a DMC fan site and here is my card." And that's when I gave him my business card and I showed him which URL on the card was the DMC site and told him that it'd be nice if he could drop by, take a look and leave a message if he had the time.

I don't remember what he said, but he did smile and then I asked if he could sign me an autograph on this black notepad (good quality) that I brought. He kindly did, and then I asked for a picture. XD He said sure, and so I had Neiru take a picture of us. (Neiru's not a fan of Johnny/Nero so she didn't care if she took a picture with him) Seriously, I was trembling. I could feel myself shake and I was hoping that Johnny wouldn't find out, but GAAAH!! He placed a hand on my back and I was like HOLY SHIT NOOO!!!

You can laugh all you want but that was still the first time I approached someone who's a 'star'. It was a really nervous moment for me you know! It took us 3 times to get a nice picture and I seriously hoped that Johnny didn't feel me shaking >_<!! GAAH!! And so this is the picture that I got…

After the picture, Johnny left and my mind was just blank for a while. XD It was like "OMFG!! That was Johnny!! I talked to him!! I took a pic with him!! KYAAAA~~!!!" After I recovered from that moment of 'shock', Neiru and I sat in the room and waited for Dan and Reuben (the 2 other special guests) to arrive. The schedule stated that their gaming session would start at 10pm.

Soon enough, Dan arrived first. (He voiced for Vergil in DMC3) When I first saw him walk in from the door my mouth opened wide, thinking "ZOMFG….. THIS IS THE GUY….!!!" He looked just like he does in his pictures online. It's like… THAT'S THE GUY!!! I didn't have too much time to be constantly in awe though, cos' the moment he started playing (wii sports against fans), I had to begin shooting his footage.

I could have played against him I guess, but for some reason that never came to me. I think I was too busy thinking that I must take footage footage footage! So for the next 45 minutes or so, all I did was just shooting videos of him and his opponent playing, and still thinking "OMFGOMFG!!" XD

I only had one tape with me then and knowing that Reuben would arrive later, I decided to stop shooting at some point to save some tape for him and the death match that would come at the very end. David, my trusty cameraman (XD), already ran out of tape then, so I gave him my camcorder so that he can shoot later while I just watch XD

I don't think I even noticed this but soon enough… Reuben arrived with a group of escorts. I was probably only watching Dan from the back when suddenly I saw this guy walk towards him and then playfully grabbed him from the back to disturb him in his game. I think I was so dazed that it took me a while to even click that that was Reuben. XD After that happened, I immediately went up to David and asked "OMG, please tell me you took that!!" And luckily, he did! WHOO HOO!! Cheers to David!!

Now that Reuben had arrived (he voiced Dante from DMC3), I was in my second phase of shock thinking "OMFG!! THAT'S REUBEN!!!" LOL. You know it's really hard to believe that two stars you've always only seen on screen are now right in front of you, live!! I sat down beside Neiru and watched Reuben play for a while until I stood up to take pictures… I think? Or maybe I went out to get something and when I came back into the room I stood by the wall, where I later noticed Dan was too. I was SOOOO tempted to go up and talk to him but he had Jo with him (Jo, the lady I was supposed to meet at 2.30pm).

Now let me tell you something about Jo that I found out. Mind you, she's nice in general but there are a few things that were super annoying/unreasonable. For one, Jo would hardly ever step out of a meter's range from either Dan or Reuben. She would ALWAYS be right beside them, sometimes sitting so close their shoulders touch. And let me declare, this is not about a fangirl's jealousy. This is about why she's acting like a complete leech.  

You see, I was standing near Dan and was debating whether to talk to him when two girls nearby approached him first and asked for a picture. Dan looked up and said "Sure" and the girls were so happy, ready to turn on their cameras when Jo told them "No you can't." Why? Cos' that's what the signature and photo session tomorrow is for, she said (paraphrase). That is true, Jo, but Dan said YES! Why disallow it when the guy himself agreed to it?? I understand that one exception may lead to many exceptions but still, that was annoying. She totally acted like a possessive woman. “They’re mine!! MINE!!” Something like that.

Later when Dan went back to sit on the front row near Reuben, Jo followed, of course, and she would sit right next to him, shoulders touching. Soon, Reuben switched with Dan and so Reuben sat back on a chair. A few seconds later, he decided to switch to the seat on the right side of the room (I think he was trying to talk to someone over there?). I told a friend I made there, Adrienne, that in 5 seconds Jo would stand up and move right next to him. I was half right. It was in about 10 seconds when she stood up and moved right next to him all right. =_= What a leech. I bet she just wanted the guys all to herself. =/

Also, Jon and Shannon (the other two friends sharing my room) finally came at around 11pm. I told them that they came at a good time since Dan and Reuben were already present and was going to bring them into the event room when they were stopped because they had no badges since the registration booth had long closed for the day. I talked to Jo and asked if they could come in cos' they DID pay for registration (and they even had printed proof of it) and the only reason why they didn't have their badge was because they arrived late and the registration booth was closed. But guess what? She said "NO, they can't come in." Well damn you!! That was so unreasonable! She said "They have to wait till tomorrow when they get their badges." Seriously, I was so pissed I could smack her. I just don’t see why she had to be so strict for something like that.

And so poor Jon and Shannon couldn't join us in the event room to watch the death match between Reuben and Dan. URGH. The death match was so fun and hilarious to watch too!! I took a few pictures at the beginning when they were creating their Mii characters and David shot the video.

For the match, all Vergil/Dan supporters sat on the left side while the Dante/Reuben supporters sat on the right. I told Neiru that I would sit whichever side had less people… but I didn't think that the ratio would be THREE to ONE, Vergil to Dante! O_O NO WAY!!! Poor Dante!! And so I immediately switched sides and rooted for Reuben during the match. Dan was funny though, he was constantly being humorous and he was really fun to watch but I still wanted 'Dante' to win so I had to make the decision. >_> Fortunately, luck was on Dante's side and even though his supporters were totally outnumbered, Reuben still won!! YAAAAYY!!! Mwahahaha!! Take that Vergil!! XD You should totally check the video out here – Death Match.

That was it for the first day of the convention. After the match, both guests left and we went back to our room where seven people would be sleeping that night. =/ It was horrid. Sean's SNORING was horrid. I practically couldn't sleep. That was when I got SUPER pissed about the fact that Morgan just stated that he would be staying with us. Good going. =/

Oh, I think Neiru, David and I walked to a nearby 7/11 for dinner. Yeah. Dinner at 7/11. *DIES* If you're wondering why, that's cos' the hotel's location SUCKS ASS. There was no food place AT ALL except for the hotel restaurant downstairs that sucked and was super expensive.

The second day of the convention was the biggest one. I met with Jo in the morning at 10.30am since I missed it on the first day and she briefed me and another press person on the things that we need to know as press. At 11am, we went for the most important event in the entire convention – the guest focus/panel.

The guest focus was practically a Q&A session with the three guests. As press, I was given the privilege to sit on the first row, but I wasn't allowed to bring a tripod with me so I had to handhold my camera the entire time as I shoot the footage.

The first question was by Jo, and I forgot what question it was but it didn't take them long to answer. The second question was for the press to ask, but because I was shooting the video, I was quiet and didn't ask anything, thinking that perhaps the other press people would have questions. However, it seemed that all of us were quiet… (LOL) and Dan even made a comment "So silent!" and so I thought I had to do it. >_<""

I stopped shooting, picked up my notepad where I wrote down the list of questions to ask and finally found a question I liked. XD The surprise was, while I was still looking for the question, Johnny called my name from the stage and said that he's visited my site and left a message in the forum. O_O… I was like "OMFG" in my head and I was surprised when he said ‘forum’ cos' I only expected for him to leave a message in the tagboard rather than the forum, so that was really nice of him! ^__^!! Cheers to Johnny!

Anyway, this entire event was a simple Q&A session and it's kinda silly to write about it here when I have the entire footage online, so for those who are interested, just download the videos and take a look at them. =) For those who are fans of DMC, you MUST check out the Cerberus joke Dan made. (It's in part 2 of David's footage) It's the funniest and dumbest joke anyone pulled at the convention for the whole of three days.

The next event after this was the signature & photo session at around 3pm I think. The 3pm one was only for those with con passes, and only those who pre-registered AND reserved rooms at the hotel could get them. Since I qualified for one, I got my con pass and joined the session at 3pm.

I cursed myself for forgetting to bring all my DMC related materials for the guests to sign on. I kept having the idea that signatures should be signed on a blank piece of nice quality paper and so I didn't bring my DMC books and stuff, only to regret it after. I brought my nice quality black paper along for them to sign on, but I felt like that alone was very NOT enough. Desperate to find something relevant, I went to the dealer's room and bought two posters that cost me a total of $35 =/ Damn.

And so I went back to the room and lined up. I first lined for Johnny since his line was the shortest (poor guy!). I had him sign my posters (I didn't make him sign on my black paper cos' I already had him sign it the first time I approached him) and then asked for a picture. By then I had gotten used to them enough that I didn't tremble anymore. XD He also let me take a pic of him doing Vash's LOVE AND PEACE~~ pose. XD (He voiced Vash the Stampede from Trigun in the English dub)

The second one I lined up for was Reuben since Dan's line was uber long. >_o While waiting in line, the lady in front of me (she looks 28-ish and is Asian, probably Chinese) started talking to me and told me random things about her like how she has a boyfriend and loves him so much and that they've been together for 5 months but her parents don't know about it cos' they'd kill her if they find out her boyfriend is Mexican bla bla bla. I was like wow lady… that is absolutely random. She was also holding this Dante doll, one of those super expensive ones that you buy for hundreds of dollars. I asked her how much it cost her and she said probably a thousand in total. She commented about how that could have paid for her grad school. Well YEAH!! A thousand dollars for a DOLL??? Holy insanity.

Anyway, soon enough it was my turn in line and I handed Reuben the two posters to sign on. I also gave him my card, telling him that I emailed him a long time ago (7 months) asking for an interview during this convention bla bla bla. I didn't expect that he would remember, and he didn't (LOL) but I wanted him to know that I was doing everything for my site, hence hoping that he would drop by the site/forum to say hi when he had the chance.

As he was signing, I also asked him in Japanese "Reuben-san nihongo ga wakarimasu ne?" (Reuben, you understand Japanese right?) and he looked up and said "Hai, perapera desu" (Yes, I'm fluent.) XD Then I spoke to him a little more in Japanese and he later asked if I'm Japanese. (LOL) I said no and he said "Sugoi desu ne!" (You're good) XD I asked him how he learnt his Japanese and he said that he picked it up from living in Japan for five years. Woot! We talked a little more after that but I forgot what about. >_<! I remember him talking about how he had to re-audition for Dante in DMC4 but I don't remember how it got to that topic. ^^''

I also gave him my black paper notepad and asked him to sign and write something/anything in it. He said, "Since you know Japanese, let me write something…" He was going to write a phrase in Japanese when he paused halfway, looked at me and asked "How do you write MA?" *Dies* LMAO!!! That was so funny to me. XD I guess he speaks Japanese but doesn't exactly write it. Hahaha! And so I told him and he finished the rest of his line before I asked him for a picture. ^__^ What he wrote was "Tanoshisugite, kuruchimaisouda" which was the Japanese translation of a line in DMC3 - "This is what I live for! I'm absolutely crazy about it!" Thing is, he missed writing some hiragana and he also miswrote "da" as "ta". LOL How cute. XD Oh, I also got to take a picture once with all of them before I even lined up for Dan.

So after Reuben, the last person to line up for was Dan. He's a popular one, especially after we found out how big of a goofball he really was. LOL. Same thing, I went up to him, handed him the posters, gave him my card, told him the same things and gave him the black notepad. I told him that he can fill up the entire page if he wanted, and so he started writing. I thought he was writing me a message and so I stood there waiting. After a while, I looked back and he was still writing. O_o'' I was like wow… it's getting long but that's cool. And so I watched until he reached the end of the first page, but no, he had more to write! I was like damn… what are you writing?  

He practically went on and on and on until he nearly reached the end of the second page when he looked up at me and said, "I'm sorry I had to shorten it or I won't stop." *Dies* I didn't even know what he was writing about but whatever it was, I was happy he wrote something so long. XD So after he finished with all the signatures and stuff, I asked him for a picture.
I asked a girl behind me, Christina (also a friend I made at the convention), to help me take the picture, and I was preparing to stand next to Dan for a regular shot when he suddenly went "Auw come on!" and grabbed me for a hug without asking. O_O!!!  ZOMFGWTFBBQ!!!!! *DIEZZZZZZZZZZ* I was surprised but in my head I immediately went "WTH?? WHY NOT!??!?!?!?!" And so I went ahead and hugged him and took the picture. Mwahahaha!! DUDE!!! YOU DUNNO BLESSED I WAS IN THAT SHORT 3 SECONDS!!! It felt like ETERNITY!!! *DIES AGAIN*

Man, I was blanked out for quite a while after that. I couldn't stop thinking about it. >_< Dan sure knows how to treat his ladies… I'm guessing that all the girls after me got hugs with him too LOL. Anyway, after that, I left the room and sat outside to read what they wrote me. Oh, before I left the room I also had Johnny rewrite/sign my black notepad with one of those silver/gold markers that they got.

Johnny just wrote a quote from his character (Nero) "Give me power… more power!" and signed off his name. Reuben also wrote a quote from Dante “I love a fast woman!”, signed his name and added the line of Japanese text on the bottom that I already told you about above. Dan… apparently he wrote an entire passage from Shakespeare, whose book I have never even read! *DIES* Worse thing is, I couldn't read a lot of the words he wrote since he was writing with a thick marker and it was really hard to tell the letters. In any case, I understood the first line and it was really sweet, although I knew he probably meant none of it ^^" Oh well…  In any case, the first line was “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” LOL.

So that's that. Before the next event began, I went up to my room and changed into my Kingdom Hearts Organization XIII outfit that Shannon kindly made for me. (I really liked it!) The next event was the AMV contest at 7+pm that was ultimately boring (I never liked AMVs), but since there was no other event going on at the same time that was fun, we ended up just sitting through the entire show. Dan and Reuben were there too as judges and I felt bad for them, cos' most of the AMVs were so bland or random and I bet they didn't even know what anime they were from to even understand the subject matter. >_o Not to mention, the very first AMV that showed was this blatantly 'shameless' yaoi AMV, which was hilarious to us yaoi fans who know their stuff but poor Dan and Reuben were probably traumatized and speechless all the way. XD

The next event was the cosplay show at 8pm. Neiru even joined it and I was impressed by her guts, cos' I totally wouldn't be able to do it at all, not that I'm interested. XD The cosplay lasted about an hour, and as before, I sat on the press row (front row) and recorded the entire event. Damn it was TIRING!! My arm hurt!! >_<! I even got Dan and Reuben on the footage at the end when they were discussing who the winner was going to be. And speaking of which, they were only sitting two seats away from me to my left… although I totally couldn't see them at all throughout most of that event. >_>" And of course… right next to them was Jo, the giant un-detachable leech. =_=''

After the cosplay show, we got hungry (we haven't eaten the whole day) and we decided to get dinner at the hotel's restaurant. We had no choice, really. As we walked in, we saw Reuben and Dan, along with the leech and a few other staff people together having dinner near the bar. I didn't want to sit close to them so we (me, Neiru, Jon, Shannon, David) picked a table far across from theirs.

I wanted a big, good dinner so I ordered what looked best on the menu, which was some lamb dish. Alas, it wasn't all that great and it was expensive. Asshole. All that time we stared at Reuben and gang at the opposite end, thinking about how Jo really wouldn't leave the guests at all. >_> I'm not the only one who thinks that's annoying. The other girls I told this to (and even showed them as it happened) agree as well.

Anyway, after dinner we went back to our rooms and went to sleep at around 3am… only, I couldn't sleep, again. Seriously, who the hell can sleep when this giant snoring machine sleeps right next to you? (Even though he's on the floor and I'm on the bed) That night was even MORE HORRID than the previous. I was so frustrated I told myself I would totally stay awake if some drug could keep me awake for the next 40 hours.

I woke up at around 8.30am that morning. There's no way I could sleep any longer with all that snoring. The first event, a commentary by Dan and Reuben on all the cutscenes in DMC3, started at 10am, so we took our sweet time to prepare and finally got to the event at 10.30am. Fortunately, we were actually RIGHT IN TIME for it cause there was a bit of delay. XD Lucky us.

It was a shame that I wasn't allowed to record/take pictures of anything in this event so the only thing I could do was to take notes (for my site) in the dark on the things they commented about. Then again, I was sitting near the back and the sound from the movie was really loud and it was hard to hear/pick up what Dan and Reuben said. Urgh.

Now, the one thing I regret is to not have sent David (my cameraman) over to the room next door to shoot an event with Johnny! >_<!!! I didn't even know there was such an event until Adrienne told me yesterday!! GAAAHH!!! I feel so freaking bad for Johnny!!! T___T Since Johnny wasn't involved in DMC3, there was no reason for him to be there for the commentary, so he had his own little event with Mr Wendell, a host, but I didn't know about it until yesterday!! GAAAAHHH!!! I MISSED ALL THAT FOOTAGE FOR NOTHING!!! OMG I'M SO PISSED AT MYSELF!!! *Slap slap slap slap slap*

The commentary lasted for a while. At the end, Reuben showed us some behind the scenes footage that has never been shown before, and it was really fun to watch. It's a shame no one could take videos of it… except for one guy who took the best spot in the entire room and for some reason was allowed to take footage of the entire thing!! WTF!?!?! If he was not doing it because he's part of the convention staff and so he had all permission to do everything, I'd seriously rip his face apart. It was also during the commentary when Jon and Shannon had to leave us to drive to Sacramento. It's a shame they couldn't stay till the end of the convention…

The event after this was yet another signature and photo session. Although I've taken pictures with them the day before, I still wanted more… >_> I have nothing more for them to sign on but while I was in the toilet (LMAO) I came up with the best idea… XD I thought… "Why not I write each of them a letter??" WHAT A GENIUS! XD MWAHAHAHAHAA. And so I joined the line at the very end and wrote a letter in Japanese for Reuben first.

I was pressured to write it ASAP since there were three of them and I had to finish all three in time. Reuben's took a while to write since it was in Japanese and I wanted to make sure I wrote all that I wanted to write and stuff. After his, I proceeded to Dan's, which was the most regrettable of the three letters. I was rushing through his really quickly and I don't even remember what I wrote. All I know is that I didn't write much, nothing that talked about how great a person he is, at least, and it's been bothering me since… But anyway, I didn't have time to write Johnny's… and that was like NOOOO!!!! The photo session was about to end and so I HAD to stop and give them the letters (that I've finished) and asked for more pictures..

I first asked for a picture with Dan, again. He had been having fun posing weird/intimate poses with the girls before me (although I didn't notice at all cos' I was busy writing) so when it came to me he asked "What pose do you want?" I knew he picked Neiru up princess-style before and that was sweet but I didn't want the same you know? =/ Here's a quote from Shannon from God Hand – "There can never be two queens." ^^"

And so I told him, "I don't know. Anything you can come up with." And so he went into this pose and told me to stick my feet right where his was. I had absolutely no idea what he planned to do so it was hard for me to follow his instructions, plus I was wearing my Organization XIII outfit and the zipper was low so I couldn't spread my feet apart as he told me. To solve that problem, he went ahead and zipped the zipper up without asking and put me into the right position. Reuben, who was watching everything cos' he had nothing to do, shouted out in Japanese "Yarashii!!" I'm guessing he only wanted me to understand what it meant… which was "DIRTY!!" LMAO. Anyway, once we got into the right pose… we took a picture. *DIES*

Hahahahaa!!! Great pose Dan!! XD Thank you!!! HAHAHAHA!! After that, I asked for a normal picture, and then a handshake… And this was when the next most unexpected thing happened… I put a hand out to shake his hand… or so I thought, when he nicely grabbed my hand and gave me a hug, again. O_O…. And just as my mind was blanked out with bliss, he suddenly like pushed me over or something (I have a very vague memory of what exactly he did) and did something like a 'dip' (dance move, where the guy holds the girl who's bending over backwards). It was absolutely sudden and random and I really don't even know what he did.

All I know was that all of a sudden I was out of balance, and I was screaming a lot, and I could see the ceiling with the lights, and then I got pulled back up and my face almost hit his shoulder. That's all I remember. I thought my cameraman who's been shooting all this time got that on tape, and I was looking forward to re-watching it so that I could tell for sure what happened, but to my ultimate dismay, he didn't shoot it.……………………….

I don't think words can describe how upset and disappointed I was. I actually cried thinking about it. =/ It's something that I could barely even make out what happened through memory (even though it happened to me) and I was so looking forward to seeing it from another person's perspective, only to find out that it wasn't shot… of all things!

When I asked David why he didn't shoot it, he said he didn't remember something like that happened, and that he was probably trying to grab another person’s camera. I was like "I was screaming!! It was an exaggerated motion/action, how can anyone miss it when you were standing right there by us?!?" But nopes, apparently he didn't remember it at all. So I asked Neiru who was there too, and who was supposedly even looking in our direction, but she said she didn't remember seeing it probably because she was probably busy thinking about things inside her head. Lastly, I asked Morgan who stood behind me… and she said she wasn't looking. =/…………..

Mind you, I'm not trying to prove to people that happened. I would care less if others saw it. All I want, is a footage of it for me and myself only. And since David said he didn't remember that happening, I wondered if anyone else could tell him that it did happen but I guess not. =/ Now that entire moment was lost forever. The only thing remaining was that very vague memory that I have of what happened. Call me super fangirly, call me nuts, whatever, but that moment still meant a lot to me =/ And it's lost.

I don't blame David though. He was a great guy and I like him lots (not to mention I appreciate him helping out at all), but then again it's hard to get over this. =/ I still can't. I still get this wave of depression every time I think about it. =/….

Anyway, that was what happened with Dan, and that was the last time I took pictures with him. Here's a flash video of what was on tape, thanks to David. (Check out what Johnny's doing in the background LOL)

The next one I took pictures with was Reuben. (I gave him the letter I wrote first) He also asked what pose I wanted but since I had no idea, he suggested a simple back-to-back pose. When I asked for a second picture, he suggested the infamous 'jackpot' pose from DMC3. I don't actually know how the 'gun' was supposed to be posed so he corrected me when I held my hand wrongly LOL. I like both pics I took with him. ^_^

And then… for some godamn reason… I FORGOT TO TAKE MORE PICTURES WITH JOHNNY!!! OMFGWTFBBQ!!!! I CANNOT BELIEVE IT!!!! I now feel EVEN WORSE for him!!! *Kills herself* All I know is that time was running out and there was no more time for more pictures. Maybe that was why… but I'm pretty sure I also forgot it myself… T_T I'm so sorry Johnny…

Right after the photo session was the press-only event, which includes photo shooting of the guests and an interview (extended Q&A session). Since I was part of the 'press', I got to take a few pics of the guests doing their funny poses (LMAO). The only thing I was pissed about was how fucking slow my digicam was to process one single picture, so I couldn't take many shots and some of the shots I got were bad… Urgh!!

After the photo shoot, the interview began. I was literally the only one asking questions since the rest of the press probably weren't even specifically DMC fans. There were some who only took photos cos' their job was to take photos of everything in a convention and post them online in some yahoo group thing. Many of the rest were convention staff and so yeps, the entire interview was practically set up just for me O_o'' which was totally sweeeeet.  =P

I wasn't given much time though, cos' Jo said that she could at most only give me 15 minutes. =/ So I only picked about 4-5 questions. There isn't really much to say about this unless you're a DMC fan, in which case I'd recommend that you watch the footage David took for me here. But bottom-line, it was great to be able to interview them one on three (since the rest just watched). It was a great honor and pleasure.

The interview probably ended at about 4pm and we went back to our room for a little break. Now I'm pissed to realize that once again I FORGOT TO ASK FOR A PICTURE WITH ALL THREE OF THEM!!! AAAAAAAAAHHHH!!! I CANNOT BELIEVE IT!!!!! I told myself I must take a picture with all three of them after the interview but I FORGOT!!!!! SERIOUSLY I NEED TO SLIT MY OWN THROAT (or perhaps not, since I'm a coward) BUT AAAAAAARRRGGGHHH!!!! *Bashes head against keyboard*

Anyway, back in the room, I took my time writing Johnny's letter, since his was the last and only one I've not written. After I was done, we went back downstairs for the closing ceremony. While we were waiting outside the door, I noticed Dan walking by and I went up to him to ask if Johnny was still around (I heard that he already left the hotel). Luckily, Dan said that he saw him just a moment ago and would tell him to come look for me if he saw him.

And so I went back and waited with my friends, but soon enough, Dan came up to me and said, "Johnny's coming down right now. He should be coming by soon." I thanked him and waited for Johnny to come by, forgetting the fangirl reaction "ZOMFG! HE JUST CAME AND TALKED TO ME!!" LOL.

Soon enough, I saw Johnny walk by and I went over to give him the letter. That was all, I think. But now that I think of it I could have rehearsed all the things I wanted to say/tell them so that I don't forget to say what I wanted to but alas… I don't have the sands of time. I should be glad enough that all the good things that did happen happened.

The last event was the closing ceremony at 5pm. That was when they drew the raffle ticket for the free WII. You see, for every night you stay at the hotel you get ONE raffle ticket. I stayed there for SIX nights and so I had six tickets, the numbers ranging from 269172 to 269177. I was feeling rather lucky that day so I thought maybe I could win it. The first ticket (Johnny chose it) was a number no one claimed so he picked another one.

What's the number? 269178. Lemme repeat. 269178. Aaaaahh… what frustration…. *PULLS HAIR OUT* …………… WHY ISN’T THIS WORKING?!?!! IS THERE SOMETHING MISSING?!?! MUST MORE BLOOD *AHEM* TEARS BE SHED?!?! =_=#### And so that was it. After the guests gave out the WII and a few more prizes for the AMV and cosplay contest, they left (even though the closing ceremony was way longer than that). =/… I/we didn't even get to say goodbye… T__T That's why I said now that I think of it, I could have used that chance I talked to Dan (and Johnny) while asking for Johnny to tell him the last few things I wished I could have told him, including a goodbye. DAMMIT.  Urgh… *Goes into depression mode*

The closing ceremony was long, so we left a while before it ended and went to get food. We walked out of the hotel and tried to find a food place nearby (other than 7/11) for about an hour, only to accept the fact that there's NO place else to get food from but 7/11. So once again, we ended up having dinner there. =/

The good thing about that night was, Sean decided to leave for the airport that night (even though his flight was early in the morning). Hey, not that I think he's a bad guy but seriously, snoring just isn't the best gift for someone who agreed to let him stay in her room for free. =/ So for that night, the only people remaining in the room were Neiru, Morgan, David and me.

We woke up around 11am that day thanks to the peace of the night, finally. Neiru's plane was at about 3+pm so we had to leave the hotel by 2pm to catch the shuttle to the airport. It was sad to be sending a friend off so soon after I just met her… T__T But it was great spending those days with you, Neiru!! It was absolutely fun!!!

After we sent her off, Morgan, David and I got on the train to go downtown SF again. Morgan was with me all the time but David had to stop at a station before us cos' he's going home in a different direction. I took a picture with him on the train (LOL) and said goodbye later. T__T

Morgan and I got off at Powell station, again, and went to grab some food at a Chinese restaurant. Later, we went up to the top floor of this hotel whose name I forgot. It's this really old hotel built in 1902 with a starlight room at the topmost floor (21st floor), which is actually a 'fancy' restaurant with the most ridiculously expensive drinks. I saw this one drink that was priced for $3000, no kidding. =/ Rich people may be rich, but they aren't crazy, or so I'd like to believe. =/ Damn.

We only went up there for the scenery and to take photos, but since it'd be impolite not to order anything, we ended up just ordering some of the cheapest drinks. LOL. Even then it was $5 for a glass of some... orange something mix. O_o… I took some pics of me there and we ate this chocolate mousse… and that was it.

After that, we walked to this mall called Metrion nearby where there's this pretty big PlayStation store. I actually remember that place. I first went there when it first opened on December 1999. =P How was I there? I was on my first trip to the US with my grandmother then. I was only 14. XD I remembered that place cos' I remember seeing a PS store, and the interior looked familiar. I remember that on that night when they first opened, they gave out free tickets to watch the newly released movie Bicentennial Man by Robin Williams in their theatre upstairs. My brother, grandmother and I totally went for it considering it's free. XD Woot for great memory! Mwahahaha!

Anyway, Morgan and I entered the PS store and looked/played around for a while until it closed, and then we took the train back to the hotel. I also took that chance to take a picture with a statue of t3h Solid Snake. Mwahahaha! We spent that night in the hotel room watching Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers (first season, with Johnny cast as black ranger). LMAO. It was actually fun watching it with a friend!! HAHAHAHAA!!

We stayed up pretty late and finally slept at around 3.30am. We had to wake up at around 5am though, cos' my plane is at 8+am and I wanted to make sure that I don't miss the shuttle, so we had very little sleep. >_o…

Aaaaand… that concludes my 17-page journal on my 6-day trip to San Francisco. Though it may not seem like much, the days of the convention still were the best days of my life. I'm sooooo glad I went for it, really glad.

Special thanks to Morgan who made all of this possible, and Neiru, Jon, Shannon and David who made it such an enjoyable wonderful trip. Hope you've all had a great time!!

And for those of you who actually read all of this, look into a mirror, smile and scream I AM T3H AWESOMOST!!!! =D