I attended my first anime and cosplay event last Sunday, and it was an eye-opener.
My daughter, who had not shown much interest in cosplay previously, wanted to dress up and follow her friend to an event at Jumpa @ Sungei Wang Plaza.
For the record, I did not know that Jumpa was a ‘revitalised’ block of the 42-year-old Sungei Wang Plaza, but as it had been ages since I visited the mall, the home minister and I agreed to tag along.
We arrived at 9.30am, and it took us 40 minutes to get in. My daughter’s friend said she waited two hours at the same venue a couple of weeks earlier.
The best part? Entry was only RM5 per person.
The threat of Covid-19 certainly did not faze the fans.
We were amazed at the effort people put into their costumes and the money they spent to look exactly like their favourite characters.
I only spent under RM50 for my daughter’s costume – buying or borrowing items of clothing that she could use later, sans costume.
But it took us about four hours of shopping to find the right bits and pieces!
The problem was, she went as Cinnamon Cookie, a character from a popular game, but not common among those who cosplay.
While there were several versions of many characters, she was the only one from the game at the event!
Among the wizards, witches, furry animals, and babes, there were also soldiers, warriors, a host of other cartoon characters and my favourite, a Jedi Knight!
The event, Nijigen Expo, was held over three days – March 18-20 – and was on two floors.
The first had over 30 lots selling everything from collectibles to T-shirts, food and beverages, and even had a ‘fortune teller’.
There were booths of famous cosplayers who had fans lining up for autographs. There were more stalls on the second floor and an area for card players.
The main attraction was the Best Costume competition with an RM1,000 cash prize.
After a while, the home minister and I left the kids to explore the mall.
Besides the anime-cosplay event, there was also a K-pop dance competition at Jumpa. That made the place look more crowded than it was.
I remember Sungei Wang being a hub of activity ‘back in the day’ and was a little disappointed to see many shops closed.
Among the businesses that were open were hairdressers, manicure, pedicure and reflexology services, and shops selling figurines from the anime, and movie world. The big bonus was a Giant hypermarket inside the mall – we needed to buy groceries.
For the adventurous types, there is ‘Beast Park’ for indoor activities that get the blood pumping.
We spent more than nine hours at Jumpa. Thanks to my MI Band, I knew we walked more than 9km!
My daughter has expressed interest in attending more such events, and the home minister said we must put more effort into her costumes.
Perhaps, the next time we go there, I will pop into the reflexology centre!
FOUR MILLION AND COUNTING
Malaysia went past 4 million Covid-19 cases on Monday. Until yesterday, the total number of cases was 4,101,081 after we recorded 149,403 infections in the past week.
On the recovery front, 196,231 patients received a clean bill of health in the past week to make it 3,819,299 who have beaten the coronavirus.
The death toll rose to 34,717 after 473 fatalities in the past week.
Worldwide, there are 480,047,174 cases, and 6,143,179 million fatalities.
PARENTS STILL SEARCHING FOR SCHOOL BOOKS
Last week, I wrote about the long queue parents had to endure to get school books.
I also lamented the fact that several books were out of stock.
Sadly, the wait goes on for many parents in my daughter’s school. I do not understand why this happens every year. Surely, the publishers should know how many books they need to print.
FIRST-WORLD PROBLEM
Maybe it is me, but one thing I look for in restaurants or eateries are plug points. It is difficult to find such outlets – pardon the pun – except at a well-known coffee franchise.
I guess this is what you call a first-world problem.
AIR-FRYER LAMB CHOPS
Most people own an air-fryer. So, here is a recipe to make lamb chops.
IT’S A BIG OLD GOOFY WORLD
What better way to end this week’s diary with a song from John Prine – ‘It’s A Big Old Goofy World’.
Like his song ‘Onomatopoeia’, this tune is another fun way to learn English as Prine collected similes and used them as the lyrics.
Until next week, stay safe.
