| WFC Chicago Festival, 26th October 2008 |
[07 Nov 2008|10:14pm] |
Back from Japan- booh! - and suffering from the usual blues. But we had a great trip and saw plenty of Taka-chan! I have lots more bits and pieces to post about Chicago, but I'm going to get this report of the party up first. Hope it's of interest! :)
We went to the Chicago WFC party on Sunday 26th, and it was great fun! Unfortunately, reporting all that was said is a hopeless task (particularly since I didn't understand 100%), but I will try and write what I remember. Apologies in advance for any mistakes.
Also, there are CHICAGO SPOILERS in here, so please watch out!!
The theme of the evening was Halloween, so there were pumpkins here, there and everywhere and orange flowers on the stage. ( (Pictures under the cut.) )
There were a considerable number of people present - we estimated at least 1,000 - including a few members of Taka-chan's family. Through sheer pot luck, we got really good seats in the third row (out of at least 20, maybe more) and in the block next to the centre block, so from our seats we could see the whole of Taka-chan from a few yards away. It was amazing!
Hana-chan appeared first, and welcomed us to the party. She was in the corner, so we couldn't see her very well, but she was dressed in a very sober black suit, with longish ginger hair worn loose. Taka-chan appeared and did her usual weaving along the lines waving at everyone (but she only did half the room and didn't pass us.)
The first thing to do was admire Taka-chan's attire. She was dressed in a long flowing black top, with a black jacket, scarves and a huge golden jingly necklace of crosses and tight black leggings that stopped midway down her legs. But most importantly she pointed out her shoes, echoing one of Velma's lines from the show (which goes something like "How do you like my shoes?") - and some shoes they were! High-heeled open sparkly golden sandals, which most remarkably had light bulb-shaped heels. Taka-chan likes light bulbs, apparently. O-Hana remarked that she had never seen Taka-chan in such shoes. Can't say I liked them much, but personal taste, I guess... ^^;
We started with questions about Chicago and Velma, and in the second part had questions about Taka-chan herself. I can't remember the specific questions, but in any case, O-Hana sort of picked a question from the audience and then pushed for more info, around what were probably pre-determined topics.
( Questions on Chicago. )
( Questions about herself. )
In between the two sets of questions, we had a handshake and giving over of presents session. O-Hana came to take presents, so we got to see a little more of her, but she was very reserved and self-effacing. The handshake was more worthwhile than I had anticipated, as Taka-chan took the time to greet each person and smile and say thank you, despite there being several hundred (thousand?) people there. The whole process didn't even take all that long compared to past events. We gave Taka-chan some senbei from Arima Onsen, where we'd just come from, and got a thank you in English. :)
At the end, Taka-chan weaved back through the lines on the other side of the room, and came right past us and gave us a big scrunchied-up face grin. :)
Then when she had left, O-Hana reminded us of the dates for the remaining performances, and thanked us all for coming etc. When she'd finished, everyone clapped and she made for the doors at the back of the room. Only as she was walking along the side of the room, she remained in sight and people continued to clap for her, so she ran the last few steps and slipped out of the nearest door, looking a bit flustered. :)
Anyway, it was a brilliant party! We were so lucky with our seats, it was unbelievable! Taka-chan was very lively and smiley and looked well.
We got an omiyage from Taka-chan too, some teabags and drip coffee in a nice tin, which were particularly useful for satisfying our daily caffeine requirements in our hotel. At the end, lots of people took some flowers from the stage, as the hotel staff were simply clearing them away. We were given a red rose each, which we then put in some water in our room. ( (Picture under the cut.) )
That's about it. I've probably forgotten lots, but if anything else comes to me, I'll add it in an ETA or something. :)
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