Why do I call it "Trying to Get There and Stay Awake" day? Because that's exactly what it was!! I work nights (7:00pm to 7:00am) so, I requested permission at work to leave early. They were cool about it so, I left for Otakon at around 5:00am and after a 4-hour drive from New York State to Baltimore (Mapquest said it was 5 hours but I was literally FLYING on the road and that's counting morning rush hour through Baltimore!), I made it to the Hilton, where the rest of the gang was already settled.

After leaving my stuff in the room, I left for pre-reg. It wasn't THAT bad (considering the 3+ hour waits at Anime Expo) although some people were complaning about it (it was probably about an hour and a half to get "badged and laminated"). I had a hard time choosing between Card Captor Sakura and DigiCharat but, I went with Dejiko for my badge!! After taking some pictures of some cosplayers on the Convention Center's floor, I went back to the room to try to get some Z's.

After a little 1-hour nap, I went to the Dealer's Room. It wasn't that big but, it had a decent number of dealers. After scoping out merchandise to buy on Sunday (I never buy on the first day as I like to "negotiate" the prices on Sunday afternoon ^o^!), I got in line for the Welcoming Gala, which included a nice 1-hour long concert from British band Bôa, famous for Serial Experiments Lain's OP song "Duvet". I love that song!! (I'm watching the concert from my camcorder as I type this). My hat off to the Otakon staff for bringing Bôa to the con!!

I would have been nice if they had allowed us to stay in the room but, they cleared out the room for Mystery Anime Theater 3000 (I guess there were people lining up for it since before the end of the Welcoming Gala). We got seats all the way in the back but, thanks to the magic of video equipment, I was able to get a nice view of the action ^o^!. Anyway, the anime they tore apart ... (ahem!) ... I mean, the anime they "reviewed" was the horrendous Final Fantasy anime. Everybody had an excellent time!!

After that, I stayed for the music videos but, the body didn't want to respond anymore so, I headed back to the hotel to try to sort out sleeping arrangements. I was able to get me a little space and got to sleep since Saturday would be the busiest day of the con ...