Wanderer's Pen: Holiday Matsuri 2017 + Winter Florida Trip Report

I decided to take a break from the chill and head down to Florida to visit some of my good friends to spend time with each other and attend Holiday Matsuri in Orlando! We made so many great memories!

Day 1

I bored the bus very early in the morning after freezing my bahookie off (it was below freezing that morning with the wind chill) to head down to Florida. I slept most of the way so the time went by really fast.

Next thing I knew I was in Orlando. My friends and I went out to Sus-Hi Eatstation and I was so delighted to see it all decked out for Christmas!

After that, we finally decided to stop at Sno Tea and get sno and bubble tea! I got mango sno and Thai milk tea! Sno is like ice cream but it's so fluffy and light like cotton candy!

When we got to my friends' house we exchanged some Christmas gifts. I was so happy to give Casey and Amy their bottle necklaces!

They gave me Pusheen and Stormy plushies and a necklace with a quote from Starbloods! :D

Day 2

Today we went out for lunch at @Pizza and I made a pizza with white sauce, blended cheese, artichokes, capers, red onions, mushrooms, green peppers, bacon, garlic, arugula, truffle oil, feta cheese, and olive oil with oregano. It was delicious. ^ ^ Yes I have a weird palate. XD

Then we returned home and opened some presents from another friend and I got Ymir and Krista figures! Squee! ^ ^

After that, we saw Star Wars: The Last Jedi! I enjoyed it. It was more original than the first film and I really enjoyed Luke Skywalker's character arc.

Then for the rest of the day, we played King's Quest VIII: The Mask of Eternity!

Day 3

Today was the day of Holiday Matsuri! Whoo Hoo! I decided to cosplay as Ymir from Attack on Titan and Amy cosplayed as Rin Tohsoka from Fate Stay Night: Unlimited Bladeworks!

After a bit of a chaotic morning, where Casey's contacts dried up preventing her from cosplaying, the GPS taking us a way that added an extra half hour to our journey, and encountering so much traffic on the way to the convention that we had to walk the rest of the day, we finally got our wristbands and made it to the voice actor panel where I got to listen to J. Michael Tatum (Black Butler, Attack on Titan, Spice and Wolf), Fred Tatasciore (Mass Effect, Gears of War), Charlet Chung (Overwatch, Call of Duty: Black Ops II), and Brandon McInnis (Samurai Warriors, NANBAKA) answer questions.

I was particularly inspired when a man with a significant speech impediment asked what advice the actors had on having a speech impediment and getting into voice acting. J. Michael Tatum went on an inspiring tangent about how he had a speech impediment and acting helped him find his voice. I have the majority of the speech here in this video.

After that, I browsed the vendors for some holiday shopping and came across some awesome cosplays!

Then it was time to get in line for J. Michael Tatum! Squee! While I was waiting in line this amazing Grinch cosplayer. He stomped by the line, making obnoxious in character comments and I knew I had to get a picture with him. I asked him if I could have a picture and he told me, "Sometimes you can't get what you want in life." I pursued him and he let me take a picture with him. I told him thank you and he told me to scram. It was great. XD

Now it was Tatum Time! The line went pretty fast and the next thing I knew I was face to face with J. Michael Tatum, one of the most talented men in voice acting! I slid him my fan signed by Brina Palencia and he said, "I love meeting my fans." He was a pleasure to talk to for the brief conversation we had and I'm so happy to finally have Sebastien Michaelis's autograph next to Ciel Phantomhive's!

Next, we decided to take a bit of a Christmassy photoshoot and we got some nice shots in the Marriot Hotel!

We also stumbled upon a train completely made out of dark chocolate. O_O

My convention haul includes some gorgeous prints of Aang and Katara from Avatar: The Last Airbender; Colonel Mustang, Ed Elric, and Alphonse Elric from Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood; and Logan and X-23 from Logan. Then I also got this adorable keychain of Rider and Waver from Fate/Zero!

Day 4

Today we just all relaxed. I slept in a bit then we spent most of the day playing King's Quest VIII and we ended up finishing the game! It was so great to just relax and play video games with good friends.

After that, we decided to go take a walk and look at some of the Christmas lights around the neighborhood, where I caught lots of new Pokemon!

We finished the day by watching Patema Inverted, which Casey and Amy both loved!

Day 5

After accidentally missing my bus and having to rebook, I killed a few hours walking around a nearby shopping mall. Then after a bit of a stressful ride back to my city, I finally made it home to an amazing present from my cousin and my adorable kitty!