July 14
(WED)

9:20(JST)

Left home to the station by taxi.(July 13, 20:20(EDT))

Took a taxi from Tokyo station to Tokyo City Air Terminal(TCAT).

Checked in for baggage and got boarding passes at the airline counter.

Got on a limousine bus to Narita airport.

Arrived at Terminal B in Narita airport.

Plane left Narita to Minneapolis St. Paul airport on time.

12:25(CDT)

Arrived at Minneapolis St. Paul airport on time.

Plane left Minneapolis to Orland on time.

Arrived at Orlando International airport on time.

Bought a shuttle bus ticket at MEARS booth. Thanks for the discount coupon, Lyn.

Left Orlando airport by shuttle bus to Holiday Inn. I was the only passenger.

Arrived at Holiday Inn International.

Checked in and entered my room finally! After unpacking, I tried to reach BBTV people who I knew online but failed.

Got a call from Pat and went to their room. I was so glad to get her call. Thanks a lot, Pat! Met some BBTV people in person! What a thrilling and exciting moment! Spent a delightful time listening to stories from "Cyber Dreams 2."

0:20(EDT)

Returned to my room and went to bed.

Woke up 3:43 in the morning and couldn't go back to sleep since then.

Went out for shopping with Angelique. She told me that there was already Vincent's decoration at the con registration table. So, we took pictures. (The right picture is Vincent and me.) We didn't know where the shopping center was, so went to the store opposite the hotel and some gift shops. (After I returned home, I read brochures in the toto bag and found the shopping mall, like International Drive Value Center. But it was too late!) I bought several postcards to send to my family and friends. It was too hot to walk around outside, we came back to the hotel.

Done my registration and got a toto bag and a name tag. (The right picture is my name tag. BBTV label was made by Judy. Thanks Judy!) It was so nice to have the bag with con zine. Dream came true!
People at registration table. A beautiful sign hung on the wall.

Welcoming party
Candles were lighted on the tables and the candlelight gave the room a quiet and cozy atmosphere. People sit around the table and enjoyed chatting. I wore yukata, cotton kimono, Japanese traditional clothes.

3:15(EDT)

Woke up again at this time. Wow! My body clock was still moving according to Japan time?! (But it's 16:00 in Japan.)

Opening Ceremonies
The convention officially started. It was the time which I waited for more than one year! I was honored when I was introduced as one of attendees from foreign countries. Thanks Teri! Pictures from the ceremonies.

Dealers room
People went around tables and looked for something they wanted to buy.
Got T-shirts, mug cups, two zines, and notecards, etc. I wanted to buy more zines but I was afraid that I would not able to carry my suitcase if I bought more. I was impressed people out there were so kind to me and I got some gifts from them. Thank you very much for your kind heart and friendship!

Art Room
Drawings and paintings were displayed on the panels very neatly and there was a table where lots of B&B stuff which I've never imagined such things were produced was shown. And there were costumes from the show, as well.
I've seen some drawings and paintings in fanzines and web sites but most of them were new to me. I thought the years which have passed since B&B was first broadcasted. During these years, B&B fans have developed their talents and produced wonderful things by their hands. How wonderful!

Thank you for your hard work, Chandler! I enjoyed seeing them very much!

Panels: Adult Fanfic hosted by JoAnn, Pat, and Teri
It was so interesting to learn how to write the same scene for different rating versions.
And I enjoyed listening to the sample sentences read by JoAnn, Pat, and Teri. I haven't had many occasions to listen to stories read by authors. It was really a treat for me!
"Do's and Don'ts" is very useful section, I think. My textbooks in writing English are "The Element of Style" and "Plain English at Work." I bought "Everyday Creative Writing" recently to try writing something in English. I'll put the handout of the panel by me.

Thank you JoAnn, Pat, and Teri!

Costume/Talent Show costume

3:20(EDT)

Woke up again at this time. I gave up waking at ordinary time.

Celebrity Q/A
I couldn't understand well what David talked about. Especially humor and jokes were difficult for me to understand. Linda Campanelli said she did like perfumes and Edward talked about his job(?) of public announcement at California Park (I hope I heard these correctly). And, finally, Ron appeared! I'm afraid I don't remember what he talked. I was so excited seeing him that I couldn't concentrate on listening to him. I just watched him!

Autograph Signing
I wanted to have a celebrity's autograph if I had a chance but when I got up from my nap, it was already six o'clock and I thought Autograph Signing finished. When I came to attend the banquet, someone told me that they were still signing there. So, I went to have their autographs. Unfortunately, I had no photos, no zines to be autographed, so I had their autographs on this. Ron was so kind to sign a photo from his stack of Vincent's photos and gave it to me. Thank you very much, Ron!

Banquet
I think there were two highlights:
One was Candles Lighting while celebrities read a B&B tale. Ron did it with Vincent-ish voice!!
Another was Vincent&Catherine's real kiss scene from "A Happy Life" episode in the video tape played back. There were lots of impressive scenes from the show, too, and some people including me watched Vincent&Catherine on the large screen with tears in their eyes .

Pictures from the banquet.

3:10(EDT)

Woke up again at this time. Oh well!

Checked out of the hotel. Said goodbye to Angelique and Lesley.

Got on the shuttle bus to Orlando International airport.(July 18, 21:45(JST))

Checked in for baggage at the airline counter.

Plane left Orlando to Minneapolis.

Arrived at Minneapolis.

Plane left Minneapolis to Narita.

16:59(JST)

Arrived at Narita on time.

Took a limousine bus to Tokyo station.

Arrived at Tokyo station. Got on the Shinkansen.

Arrived home at last! Trip&Con were great, but home is the best place! When I got home, I weighed my suitcase. It was 1.5 times heavier than that one which I brought with me to the con!