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I hope you won't mind a slight detour to start with before we begin our AX adventure: I wanted to show Lisa around my old hometown (we missed that chance 2 years ago). So we flew in 2 days early to revisit my old stomping grounds, do some shopping, and actually enjoy some SoCal weather for once!
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This Bear was a gift from Sinclair before we left; it's so I have something to hold and hug when I can't be near him. It's nice and all (but it's no substitute for Sinclair).
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While in California I got to FINALLY! see the ocean. Sinclair and I visited lovely Seal Beach. It seemed chilly to me for beach weather but according to weather master Sinclair it's like that all year long at that place.
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Another view of Lisa on the Seal Beach pier. This is one of the quieter beaches and one where I spent a lot of time while growing up. Sometimes the busier beaches are just too weird!
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A closer view of Lisa on the pier. Isn't that a beautiful view?
(I know what's going to be my new desktop wallpaper!)
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This picture was taken from the back yard of a very polite guy named Jon (a big anime fan about to fly off to Japan). I have to say this view was really something else; the picture really doesn't do it justice!
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Welcome to Jon's pool: that's me and my cuddle-bunny Sinclair. And no, that isn't a predator hiding behind that tree; it's our good friend Jesse (or as he's known with the ladies, "Mr. Spectacular" -- I don't know what they mean by that but several girls we met obviously knew)!
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No, this is not Jon's pool anymore... this is the koi pond just outside his room. (Did I mention that this was a NICE house? Well, now you know.) These koi were apparently very used to having people around.
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Lisa and Jon are trying to pet the koi but the fish continually tease by turning away at the last moment. They were no fools; they weren't going to allow themselves to be touched without any food being fed to them.
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There we are by Jon's pond: his mother really did a beautiful job on the landscaping. Jon said you could actually pet the koi fish, so that's what I was trying to do.
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It took me a while but I was finally able to pet the slimy fishy... See what you can accomplish with persistence! Sinclair was too scared though to stick his hand in the water, though; he kept mumbling something about "Jaws"...
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Contrary to what Lisa said earlier, I have touched koi before. I wasn't missing much; still nice to look at though. You also have to admit that is one really impressive front yard.
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Just a fun shot of Jon as we head out to dinner in my cheap rental car. Lawnmowers were faster than that vehicle but it still managed to carry us around all over Orange County that day.
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We went with Jon and Jesse to a nice little Japanese restaurant. Aren't we a cute couple? Sinclair is just so handsome.
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Here we all are at the Japanese restaurant. All these guys were such great company; thanks for showing a girl from Missouri such a good time. I really couldn't have asked for more!
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Lisa wanted a photo of the grill....or maybe she thought the cook was cute?
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This was taken in Little Saigon in Orange County, CA. I took Lisa there to have lunch, do some shopping, and see just how big the Asian population was were I grew up. The statue is a monkey, which is also the Chinese zodiac animal for the year Lisa was born.
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I am in front of a beautiful fountain in Little Saigon, a really nice place in CA. I had to beg Sinclair to take my picture in front of this fountain; he was afraid we were going to get into trouble for some reason. I really didn't care (yeah, I wear the pants & the skirts in this relationship)!
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I'm not sure who this Spooky guy was cosplaying as. But the spookiest thing about him was the fact his piano-playing (while basically blindfolded) was actually good... now that's scary!
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A Hellsing operative with Sailor Pluto? Why not? Guarding Pluto is a lot safer than continuing a tour of duty with the Hellsing Institute.
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I'm not a big fan of Sailor Moon but I think Lisa is slowly converting me. One look at this photo and you can easily see why.
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This was by far the best Rei Ayanami (from Evangelion) I have ever seen, she even has the red eyes... creepy but very cool!
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I ran into a Sailor Moon cosplay group and snuck in for some picture opportunities with them. I didn't know how but they were all carrying a conversation while holding their smiles. Now that's cosplay talent.
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Sailor Pluto decides to brighten up this Sailor Moon gathering with her presence. She worked very hard on this costume and I am very proud to see her show it off among fellow cosplayers.
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I wasn't sure if she was going to use me as her scratching post but maybe that wouldn't be such a bad thing?
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These two are cosplaying as the two cat sisters from the Escaflowne Movie, Eriya & Nariya. They did a great job on these costumes.
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Awww.. there's my cuddle bunny again cosplaying as the sexy Hellsing trouper from the show. The fellow next to him is Father Anderson, from Hellsing of course. Do you think if
you unwrap that big cross it might just be a big chocolate bar inside? I wonder...
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I could not recall what this is from (later heard it's some manga called Alichino) but I thought it was fantastic costume nonetheless. Half the fun of cosplayers, even if you cannot identify their character, is admiring the detail and construction of the costumes.
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Again, I couldn't ID her character but more importantly, how did she walk in those heels? Then Jesse mentioned that she's from Dirty Pair Flash, so Lisa took a closer look at her skirt and agreed that it's a very appropriate title!
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