• Event

    The otome side to Anime Expo 2015

    Voltage MFWP at AX15
    Since my interest in attending Anime Expo came about from playing otome games, allow me to begin this post with Voltage related photos from Anime Expo 2015. The Voltage booth was based off the otome game, My Forged Wedding/My Forged Wedding Party. The booth was super girly and very cute. There was also a chapel where you can take a photo(s) with models, who I guess were supposed to be characters from My Forged Wedding Party. I know Las Vegas receives a lot of hype, but seriously now, where else can you get “married” with two guys in one day? Move over Vegas, because what happens in AX, stays in AX. (I hope that didn’t come off too lame… LOL)
  • Event

    Anime Expo, a first timer’s experience

    Entrance to Anime Expo at LA Convention Center
    Believe it or not, but Anime Expo 2015 was the first Anime Expo I’ve ever attended. I believe I never cared enough to attend until 2014. Strangely enough, it wasn’t because of some revived interest in anime that made me want to attend in 2014; it was the otome games. I kid you not. But by the time I had found out that Voltage would be showing up at Anime Expo 2014, Anime Expo 2014 had already ended. (I believe I found out on the last day of Anime Expo 2014 or something…)
  • Event

    Anime Expo Registration

    Anime Expo Badge and Lanyard

    I will be honest and say that I was a bit turned off with the registration process for Anime Expo 2015.

    I didn’t have a problem with Anime Expo using Eventbrite to process registration/ticketing, but what I did feel iffy towards was how they asked registrants for their date of birth.

    I don’t understand why Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation (SPJA) made it mandatory for registrants to divulge their date of births in order to purchase a ticket(s) to Anime Expo. Was it really necessary? If you need to know my age, just ask for my age. If you just need to know if I’m older than 18 (or 21), just ask me a yes or no question. I don’t need Eventbrite and/or whatever companies to know too much about me. Who knows what companies these days do with customers’ additional information. (FYI: If you aren’t already aware, an example would be the ugly possibility of said company selling customers’ DOB and so on. The risk is there and it’s somewhat exploitative if you ask me.)

    In addition to one’s date of birth, registrants were required to identify their gender. Do you really need to know if someone is male or female? If you want my honest opinion, the date of birth and gender part of the registration form should have been made optional.

    Since I wanted to see if this was some standard, I chose to check out Comic Con‘s registration page. Guess what? Comic Con’s registration page did not require registrants’ date of births nor did they require registrants to identify their gender. This was the case, despite the fact that they also were using Eventbrite to process registrants.

    Another thing that turned me off slightly was how there was a period of time where people were not made aware of beforehand that there would be some processing fee on top of the registration fee. For example, if you registered prior to July 1st, the fee was $39 with an additional processing fee, which led to a total cost of $42 (estimated). FYI: This was the amount I paid for a one day ticket. Apparently, this was a concern one registrant voiced to AX over twitter and since I encountered this twitter remark before purchasing, I fortunately learned that there would be an additional processing fee that I’d have to pay by the time I decided to purchase my ticket. Interestingly enough, by the time I actually purchased my ticket, AX had already fixed their website (or their Eventbrite account) so that prospective registrants would be aware of the processing fee as well as the cost of the processing fee. I suppose I at least give them props for that.

    I don’t expect people to agree with me on how I felt with the registration process to Anime Expo 2015, but I think it’s safe to say that I wouldn’t be surprised if I were to encounter registrants who felt the same way when registering or now sort of feel the same way after reading this post of mine.

  • Travel

    WiFi in Thailand

    Just because you’re used to free WiFi in the states doesn’t mean you can expect the same when in Thailand. Free WiFi at a McDonald’s? In America? Yes! In Thailand? Not exactly.

    In Thailand, you need to purchase something (ie. food) in order to access the WiFi for free. I suppose the WiFi isn’t free if you have to purchase something in order to access it. Upon purchasing that something, be it a beverage or a meal, you’ll receive a receipt that contains an access code to the restaurant’s WiFi. It’s a rather lengthy access code, by the way.

    I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking it’s not a big deal to spend a buck or two in order to access the restaurant’s WiFi for a good three hours or so. Not so fast, you smart aleck, you! As with almost all things in life, there’s a catch. And the catch here is that you can only access the WiFi for a good thirty minutes or so. Once that thirty minutes is up, it’s time to buy another drink in order to obtain a new access code to continue accessing the restaurant’s WiFi.

    I’m not sure if this is the case in Bangkok, but this certainly was the case for me in Ayutthaya. Perhaps, you’ll have it better when you visit Thailand. Or if you’re like me and can do without being online almost 24/7, you’ll be fine. 🙂

    If this post got you a little antsy, admit that you’ve been spoiled rotten in America with “uninterrupted” free WiFi access from McDonald’s (and Starbucks)! 😉