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Vanessa and I tried very hard to get tickets for Comic-Con this year. The process to get the tickets are left up to chance, and luck was not on our side. With the defeat still fresh in my mind, I discovered that Disney was hosting their convention this year as well, the D23 Expo. With news that Marvel will not be attending Comic-Con and instead participate in D23 Expo instead got me excited once again. So I quickly got tickets for Vanessa, Lilli, and myself. The process of obtaining the registration and the tickets and the badges was a nightmare for D23, but everything eventually went through.
I got tickets for Saturday only because they would be showcasing all Marvel, Star Wars, and live action movies that day. That showcase was to start at 10:00 AM, and we arrived at the convention around 5:30 AM to line up. We were not the only ones with that idea, however. More than enough people were already in-line, causing a stir for most of us possibly not being able to enter the showcase. It was a grueling 4 hour wait, not because of the length of the wait, but the anxiety of not knowing whether or not there would be room for us. Many people around one was losing home as they slowly admitted one row in at a time. The three of us just watched with envy while the line attendant got closer and closer to our line. It wasn't until I heard the words "follow the line" was when I finally took a breath of relief. The three of us got in!!
The showcase was the highlight of our whole D23 Expo experience. We were shown exclusive footage and trailers of all the upcoming movies by Disney, which included Captain America: Civil War :). We were greeted with a plethora of celebrities showcasing their movies such as; Chris Evans, Johnny Depp, Harrison Ford, Daisy Ridley, Chris Pine, and Lupita Nyongo. The showcase lasted about 1.5 hours, but it was one of the coolest experiences I ever had.
The rest of the Expo was entertaining as we walked all around the showroom and people watching. There was a lot of very good cosplayers, set-pieces, and artists recreating their original works. I will definitely come back again in two years for the next D23 Expo.
Vanessa and I have been able to stay at many hotels for very cheap (sometimes free). We have been to countless timeshare meetings where we get haggled to buy one of their "luscious" properties, but we always come out on top with a free deal. However, we have grown tired of all the awkwardness these meetings can bring, and have concluded that the cheap to free accommodations aren't worth the trouble anymore. One of the last meetings we attended offered us a trip to San Francisco with a paid flight and hotel stay. The deal was set and we were excited for our mini-getaway. However, I soon discovered that the flight and the hotel that was booked for us were so inconvenient that it would have only given us one day in San Francisco. So arrangements were made with the agency and they transferred our stay to San Diego instead. This deal was much worse in price, but it was stress free. We were equally excited for this trip since my brother recently made me a private client for Chase Bank, giving me cheap to free deals to all Southern California museums, zoos, and attractions.
We stayed at La Quinta for the weekend and spent our first day in Old Town San Diego where we walked around and dined in one of our favorite Mexican restaurants. The next day was spent at the San Diego Zoo exploring the animals and dining next to a jungle :). The weekend went by extremely fast. We need more of these little getaways, but with no more timeshare meetings.
Due to my recent obsession with Marvel and the Avengers in the particular, I decided to put my efforts into an ambitious art project. For weeks, I have been looking for a particular styled poster of the Avengers. With no luck, it only made sense that I would try to create one myself.
A lot of time was put into the preparation phase. My first step was to decide which heroes I wanted to be in the drawing. The second step was to go through countless drawings and pictures of each hero so I can form an overall rough draft. The third step was to put them all together, arranging them in a way that would look best (the picture above was my final draft). The last step was the most daunting, actually drawing it.
For weeks, I figured I had to freehand it and to just draw it, however, Brian Vu came through in a clutch. He was aware of my project and offered his projector to help. Thus started our weekly drawing sessions where I would slowly trace every character on a giant 25x36 poster by pencil. After three weeks, I was finally done with all the pencil tracing. The hardest part was yet to come. The last and final step was to go over every line with a pen, as well as adding shadows and other details to make the picture come to life. After a few more sessions with Brian, I was ready to take home the project to work on it full-time. Each stroke of the pen was an anxiety attack and frequent breaks were needed just so I can rest my hands. This project took about a month to finish, but I am very satisfied with the result.
Avengers Assemble!
We celebrated Lawrence's birthday this year in San Diego. Thanks to Morgan's resourcefulness, she was able to book us a nice little cozy home from Airbnb. This was my experience with Airbnb for the first time and it left a great impression. We got to the house in the early afternoon and met up with Braimy, Tuanolyn, and Morlawr. There, we met Reggie, Lawrence's pug, for the first time! We played with the pug while catching up and watching Lawrence opening his gifts. We quickly proceeded to beer games which included "Slam the Flower" and King's Cup. This lasted until the evening when we decided to move the party to a nearby pub. The night ended with us playing a few games of Scategories, where the winning pair would gain access to a legitimate bed for the night. Braimy won and the night was at an end. By the next morning, Vanessa and I had to leave early due to prior engagements. Despite the trip being so short, we still had a blast. Happy birthday Ma Fan Yao.
Vanessa's birthday was celebrated with a pool party this year! Vanessa's wish of having a Taco Man was granted thanks to her parents and a legitimate bartender was occupying the bar! The decorations for this event took quite some time since Vanessa and I had to cut out "leaves" to make vines. The theme was jungle and Vanessa and her family always go all out when decorating for the occasion. The turnout was great and Vanessa had a good time :).
For the actual day of her birthday. I took Vanessa out for dinner at a new place in Fullerton called Twisted Vine. This restaurant specializes in gourmet cheeses, meats, and wine. Vanessa always asks ahead of time for a specific gift and I always go out of my way to get her something different because I like the surprise element. However, this year I decided to give her what she asked for (cheese) along with a necklace and display to hold it. Happy birthday my grumpy girlfriend. I love you more.
