E: Day 01 - MGCC & C2AGE 2012

Woke at 8.00am to a sleeping Ika (or rather, all covered underneath the blanket) and to the persistent alarm of Aria. Gave DavionT a (actually five persistent) morning call and went down to cook breakfast while the princess rise at 8.30am. As expected, Davion arrived at 9.00am sharp, but instead of departing as usual, we had to wait till Ika is done dressing. Talked to him about Hisou and Sai, ate a slice of buttered toast and hurried Ika. Let’s just say, Doujin artists were expected to arrive before 10.00am. The unexpected delay was fine, and we departed at 9.40am to KDU Damansara.

MGCC was great for a first-timer, minus the few small hiccups, has great potential to become even more significant in the near future. The event has a number of celebrities (mind you, they may not necessarily be of Hollywood status) and notable sponsors which contributed to the success of it in all. I hardly participated with the crowd, for I was two hands on deck with the booth alone. It wasn’t busy, sales weren’t good, I simply can't leave the booth to Ika alone.

Neighbors were complaining about the sheer size of the booth they rented out. I must admit, it is the SMALLEST I’ve ever had over the countless events I’ve participated in three years. Not the cheapest, but definitely the smallest. Sales were second worst, but that’s another story; our target market wasn’t right. Put it into your perspective; the event is catered for American comic fans, while I can only wish people from C2AGE would drop by for some last minute shopping. It’s fine tho, RaymondN at Tropicana City Mall for C2AGE was doing really well. With that, I can sigh a relief. However, I am just certain that I wouldn't be returning to this event, not hating it, simply not my cup of tea.

Memorable snippets of MGCC (like any other events) are the people visiting my booth. Sure, I love my customers. Most of them are friendly and understanding, some of them would end up being actual friends of mine, like VictorN. He gave me a bear hug upon sight and promised lunch before resuming sketches hunting again. Cosplay friend, AllenY greeted as well except, he was donning this Captain America costume. I forgotten to tell him that he looked great in it, guess it’s gotta wait till another time.

Back to the story. Things get interesting with non-customers recently. One manifested in a form of an “American Otaku” (as DavionT labeled him). Ika was his target and she being her usual self, tried her hardest to ‘entertain’ him while also desperately dropping ‘leave-me-alone’ clues to no avail. I was on the verge of yelling “security!” as this dude kept coming back to speak to her. She was disturbed by this and I told her to walk away should he return, and he frankly did, to which I lied about Ika’s whereabouts. *sigh* I saved her in the end. You’d have to ask her for more on that story. The second was this faux beat boxing fifteen year old girl. My plushie must have been covered in saliva, but I’d leave it at that since a customer bought Happy away. Thank goodness.

At 6.30pm, we reunited with RaymondN at Tropicana City Mall and had dinner at Papa Johns. Honestly, I felt that C2AGE had more to offer to its visitors. I knew from the sound of Raymond's phone calls that he was having a great time. That spells a lot.

Garlic Naan for supper,
Vonnie S.