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Otakuthon DollFest, Montreal, Quebec, 08/03/2018-08/05/2018: Friday travel and hotel, Saturday morning

Otakuthon DollFest, Montreal, Quebec, 08/03/2018-08/05/2018: Friday travel and hotel, Saturday morning published on No Comments on Otakuthon DollFest, Montreal, Quebec, 08/03/2018-08/05/2018: Friday travel and hotel, Saturday morning

Bittersweet Blue, Lyrajean, and I traveled up to Montreal, Quebec, Canada on Friday morning for the BJD-related programming at Otakuthon.

This year’s badge came in the mail so we didn’t have to wait in a huge line for hours to pick them up!

The FLE car, with me behind the wheel, successfully completed its first international drive without difficulty. I was most worried about navigating in a city, since I don’t like urban driving, but Montreal is a small, polite city with decent signage. I find it easy to get around in, despite the fact that the construction of Le Pont Champlain’s replacement has rerouted all sorts of traffic. [On the plus side, the construction requires lower speed limits, so I drove slower without receiving too much annoyance from fellow drivers.]

I experienced only two challenges with Canadian driving. First, Montreal’s pedestrian crossings allow people to cross when cars want to make turns onto the street. Therefore the cars creep forward, trying to find a space between oncoming walkers, who move swiftly in erratic clumps. Second, sometimes the traffic lights flash green. I still haven’t figured out what that means, but this did not impair my driving.

Anyway, we took 45 minutes at the border, just like last year, and 2 hours’ of driving to go from Burlington to Montreal. There we parked the car for $30/day, which was more than expected, but which also offered the security of a key-coded garage. We then checked in at the Travelodge Wyndham, just a block from Chinatown and two or three from Le Palais de Congres, when Otakuthon was happening.

We then wedged ourselves into room 311. Though small, our accommodations offered a convenient location, air conditioning, and Wifi included. All these traits made it much more comfortable and attractive than last year’s UQAM shit heap. The room, however, is very small, as you can see from the photos.

A shot of the three beds as you enter.
Directly to the left of the door is this desk unit and something that’s trying very hard to pass for a closet at right. It’s in a narrow section of the room that’s awkwardly shaped to fit the bathroom around it.
The front door, at left, practically smacks the desk chair when it opens inward. The TV, though visible from all three beds, is clearly an afterthought.
I slept on the bed bolted to the wall. Guard rail and ladder [at foot of bed] were not bolted to bed. Fortunately I did not fall off, though we joked a lot about it. However, since the ladder shifted every time I climbed down to take a whiz, Lyrajean heard me. :/
Very small bathroom. Not built for tall and/or fat people.
The shower bulges out into the bedroom part, creating the narrow area in which the desk and pathetic attempt at a closet is wedged. It is truly a weirdly shaped room, but a vast improvement over the UQAM shitholes. The air conditioning made it so much more tolerable!

After checking in, we hit the Buffet Chinois Restaurant Jade, just like last year, for a late lunch/early dinner/general face-stuffing. Then we did a thorough circuit of the dealer rooms, where we experienced sensory overload, as we admired people’s cosplays, drawings in the artists’ alley, and commercial products. I had not planned to spend much money, but I picked up a few things… The artists’ alley provided a wonderful way for me to fulfill an annual goal of supporting independent artists, as everything I bought was handmade and/or original from small-scale creators.

This adorable cartoon, energetically drawn, with a very sweet LGBTQ story [fat brown girl + dykey dragon girl = LOVE], was by Courtney. On Webtoon, she’s @fawnduu. That’s also her Patreon name. Another person to support… I got this for @natalunasans to read once I was done.
I didn’t intend to buy presents for anyone, but this litle magical kitten combines @natalunasans’ interests in fantasy and kitties, so I had to get it for her. By Maureen of maureencreates.com.
Even the other side of her business card is cool!
The most unexpected and wonderful acquisition was this otherworldly tree, with a wire trunk, flat beads for leaves, and a glass pot of rocks filled with clear resin water. Shinri-san, the creator, priced this at $50 CDN, which was waaaay underselling it, so I added $20 to the price and advised an increase in price. These came in all color combinations, but I chose a naturalistic palette to enhance the oddity of the wire and stone construction. This is about 25cm high in the pot, with poseable branches. It’s the perfect addition to the Doctor’s garden of alien flora.

After my unexpected purchases, we hit Chinatown for BUBBLE TEA. I had the honeydew flavor, which, of course, was sweet, vaguely melon-like in taste, and heavily caffeinated. Whoops. I should not have consumed that mmuch sugar + caffeine right before attempting to sleep. I got up uncountable times because I couldn’t sleep. Also I had to pee. After that I decided not to drink any more bubble tea on the trip, however delicious I find it.

On Saturday, the busiest day of programming, we ate continental breakfast at the hotel, another benefit of staying there, as opposed to UQAM dorms. We all took our BJDs and headed to Le Palais before the 10 AM doll meetup. While waiting at Van Houtte, the same cafe as last year, I shot a wordless photostory making use of Submit and her many expressive faceplates. Lyrajean’s Volks Yo-Tenshi Yu [on left] and Volks Yo-SD Kira [on right] also appeared.

 

 

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