#its crazy. especially all the photos where i'm laughing randomly because i just like me so much

[lesbicastagna]

took some absolutely insane pics like i cannot believe i look like this AND i'm also funny and fascinating and smart. i don't need someone else i fuck with myself too much even

[soundlesswind]

Dusseldorf, post-thoughts (extras)

Extended extra-post of the trip to Dusseldorf. Less to do with the con, and more microblogging. I had a good time, and also had some notable happenings that were kinda interesting.

(the photos in this post will be randomly placed)

First report --- Airport: I don't know why, but we went through TSA a total of three times on the way to Dusseldorf, which is a bit extra. It's roughly about a 7-8hr flight from east coast Canada to Frankfurt, and then another short half-hour trip from Frankfurt to Dusseldorf, but if you include all the wait time it's about a 10-16hr trip of just being in the airport. There were also some delays and plane mishaps but miraculously we made it to Germany without missing our connecting flight. Not much trouble on the way here, other than that everything is simply just really far apart.

Their TSA lines truly are vertical though when it comes to ticket class *laughs*... gosh we had to walk what felt like 10-miles through the path to the customs line because we weren't first class tickets, and there were several other stop points for other ticket types along the way. It really is a pay-for-convenience world. Not that it's unusual to have expedited lines for pricier tickets but it was weird being made to purposely walk through a much longer route along a mall strip for really no apparent reason (especially on an hour of leeway to the next flight). I could've gained some crazy miles on my fit-bit if I had brought it with me. But if I wasn't in a hurry, the walk might've been nice.

Very little AC runs throughout the buildings, if at all. And this is true for the majority of the trip, minus a few eateries and shops. Which I'm okay with, since I usually enjoy mildly warm temperatures, but I think it'd be pretty tough for people who run more hot as it is slightly humid from the rain. Although I did suffer running through the airport a bit, it wasn't too bad. It was cloudy all week, with only one day of rain, but I think that was a blessing in its own way.

I was warned in advance that finding toilets in Germany would be a bit difficult --- and it sort of is. Yes you can find one if you look, but there are signs leading up or down or to other paths for a toilet, and it was strange. Although I do quite prefer their low-water-flush toilets, and have a similar one myself. I kept some change on me all the time, since I was also told the toilets had to be paid for, but I didn't actually end up needing them since I was mostly either at the event or at the hotel. The hand-towel spinner seems really eco, though; as is their bottle-recycle-system. I think in terms of being more environmentally-friendly, NA is really behind the EU.

The trip from Dusseldorf airport to downtown is actually quite short and quick. Taxi fares aren't that bad at all. It's about 30-euros to and from my hotel. They also have Ub*r, which is cheaper, but I wasn't really in the mood to experiment with that, so cab it was.

It was super weird though, landing in Germany but staying in Dusseldorf's Little Tokyo...there were Asian shops all around, and it kinda didn't feel like I was in Germany (lol). But funny enough the same was true about Tokyo. When I got to Tokyo (Japan) --- the town square had changed so much, it became all American-brand shops so it felt like I was in America, and not Japan. Most of the Asian stores in the Dusseldorf area also seem Japanese-run, as they would automatically speak to me natively instead of opting for either German or English.

In terms of spending and pricing, everything is more or less rounded. I've only experienced round-prices in Asia but I didn't know it was the same in Germany. Just like Japan, tipping isn't a thing here either, which was nice because I didn't have to math out what I'd be paying at a tax rate I wasn't used to. Quite a difference from Canada or America where you sort of low-key get judged depending on how much you've tipped (sometimes pre-tipping or tipping is obligated).

Our hotel room was interesting...it adopts a system similar to a few other energy-conservation places where the electricity for the room only runs if you slot the card key into the holder. Otherwise the room's electricity, AC, and everything else stays off.

The strangest thing was the sink being outside of the bathroom. Interesting design choice? Is this common? I don't know. I probably should've asked the other guests staying at the other hotel.

There was one day where we rode on the shuttle with Toshio Maeda, an elderly gent, (who apparently is one of the forefather of tentacle erotica in Japan), and he mentioned his room being way too chillingly cold. Which, kind of seems like his room has central instead of individual thermostats. His English is great by the way (honestly had a George Takei vibe to it), and he had so much dirt on American cons, I laughed. I could tell by what he was saying, that he's been to a certain large US-based expo a number of times given that he understands their internal working structure way too well.

Initially, I knew he was a guest, but not what for, so when he said he was the forefather of tentacle porn, I was like "really!?". And then his wife, who sat beside me in the middle row explained (in Japanese) that they have a booth in the R18 section. I thought it was really cute they travelled together. Just an old couple, vending erotica.

We were staying in the same place as one of the bands, if I recall, but I only ran into them a handful of times. We had planned on mingling at the Saturday party, but I was too tired so my assist and I just went back, ate, and called it a night.

So the entirety of the weekend I asked around, whether it was staff or visitors, or people who lived in Germany for food recommendations, and oddly the responses seemed to be recommending me either Japanese food or they weren't sure because they don't live in the area, and at this point, I was eating too much Asian food and wanted authentic German food. The only issue was given the convention hours, I would be up too early or would be back too late to go anywhere (a lot of places close quite early-ish). It wasn't until the 4th or 5th day that I decided we were going to Ub*reats some locale food. The ofenfrische schweinshaxe (pork knuckle?) was amazing, by the way. 23 euros, even after conversion was still a steal. Food is just so much cheaper elsewhere than North America.

I had one free day left post-con to do exploration, unfortunately I wasn't feeling well so the full-day tour ended up being a quarter, but we still managed to see quite a bit within walking distance.

The locals were also very friendly, helpful, and multilingual. Even when the shopkeepers didn't speak English, there was always someone nearby who could and offered to help. Overall it was a nice trip.

Also, while it doesn't quite feel like island time or anything, being in Dusseldorf overall felt much less "rush-rush-rush" and way more relaxed than back at home.

I think if I visit again, it'd be nice to do a more thorough exploration of what the area has to offer. Overall it was a lovely trip.

...To end things off, though, I'll leave you with one hilarious story of the travel back home.

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So I had bought some cookies and sausages as souvenirs for friends and family, and I put them all into my carry-on luggage...but while going through TSA, one of the sausages got dinged by the sensors. I was confused because it wasn't liquid or anything, it's just a really long whole sausage (around....35cm?), and the TSA officer was basically rummaging through the sausages and patting them and squeezing them down and eventually he says to me:

"This sausage, too soft, too squishy, you can't take this on board. This other one *squeezes firmly* it's ok, it's very firm and hard. *smacks it a few times*"

I was like, "Oh...okay..." (internally crying because it was kinda expensive, but also crying because I just literally lived through a dirty joke).

I think he felt really bad for me, but rules are rules? I didn't think soft meat would be considered too much like a liquid.

Anyway, the remaining sausages were tasty. The PSA is: be careful what you bring through TSA.