You can tell we are mother and daughter in this next picture.....
So when I renewed my contract, I asked to be able to go home for a month as I had been in Korea for three years and had only seen my family for like a week. My boss was nice enough to agree and July was the month that I got off. It was actually a pity that it wasn't June as then I would have missed all the days off due to MERS. But there were advantages to going home in July as it also allowed me to go to Otakon, a big anime convention in Baltimore that I have only managed to go to once before.
So let's begin with the flight.... 16 hour flights are already obnoxious as they are long and you can't move around much. But the flight attendants asked since my flight was full that I possibly switch over to a flight that would have me arrive in Orlando, Florida faster. The only issue is the decision would be made last minute but a flight attendant would escort me to the plane. Fine. But when the decision was made, the flight attendant dropped me off in a long security line to fend for myself. Thankfully, a Korean who spoke English had also agreed to wait and he forced them to let us go through a quicker line and expatiated the whole process. The flight attendant was at the end of security and couldn't understand why we were upset as it was already past the boarding time for our plane. Not a great way to start the journey and service on the flight wasn't that great either.
So I arrive in Orlando to have a Disney vacation with my mom and getting to the hotel well enough but jetlag was pretty brutal those first few days. Also, switching over to American food, even if it was gourmet Disney World food, was not pleasant as everything tasted sour to me and kept upsetting my stomach. I wasn't expecting the food to be an issue as I do eat a lot of American style food in Korea. This really sucked as I was eating at some of my favorite restaurants, like Le Cellier at Epcot. The first night we ate at Sanaa, an Africa restaurant. I was not impressed with their curry sadly and I fell asleep rather quickly.
We spent the first day at Animal Kingdom, as it was the closest part and I was suffering from jetlag, and another morning later in the week. I really enjoyed the different rides and shows there, especially the Flight of Wonders show which is always one of my favorites. We at at Yak & Yeti - where I had a delicious burger, Jiko - which was a two credit place but I was disappointed with their steak, Rainforest Café, and Tusker House. We did a lot of character meals as I love taking pictures with the different characters. It must be the cosplayer in me. ^.^ Also, we saw some baby gorillas at Animal Kingdom that were pretty cute. We managed to get to the safari earlier in the day so we could see the animals pretty well. Not to mention you could see animals right outside our hotel window.
Magic Kingdom is always a great place to get characters and I even managed to find Anna and Elsa though I was disappointed with how my pictures with them turned out. Though I was very impressed with Rapunzel who was really in character and spent a lot of time chatting. Anna was in character too and invited me to Arendale .... oh if only it was real. ^.^ I didn't spend as much time hunting for characters as much as I have in previous years. This may be because I see a lot of wonderful Korean cosplayers do Disney princesses from time to time. We ate Crystal Palace - for Pooh and friends, Be Our Quest - which is made to look like Beast's castle which was pretty cool, and Tony's.
Epcot is usually my favorite but this time I leaned towards Hollywood Studios as it was doing a Frozen summer special program. I was disappointed that the cancelled the art class at Hollywood Studios. I would have waited in line if I had known it was the last day and I wouldn't be able to do it later in the week when I came back. But the Frozen fireworks were awesome though the Royale Welcome Parade wasn't worth the wait. I hope they keep the Frozen Sing-Along show as it was adorable and had a lot of adult humor that makes it enjoyable for the parents as well. Sadly the Olaf Summer show got canceled due to technical difficulties and I never did get to see it. We ate at the Sci-Fi Diner, Mama Melrose, Hollywood & Vine - which is how we got our tickets for Fantasmic which was sold-out and running late due to whether, we were worried it would be cancelled, and the Brown Derby. There were also these cute baby ducks following their mother in Hollywood Studios and they went straight into the Indiana Jones line. It was adorable. There were so many little ducklings. <3
Epcot has always been known for its good food and its World Showcase. We ate at Le Cellier - which I honestly go for its pretzel bread <3, Via Napoli - which amused me because I have friends who have the last name Napoli and it was my first time at this restaurant, and Teppan Edo - which always disappoints me as I have just had better hibachi. I always enjoy roaming the World Showcase and seeing the different countries. I spent a lot of time in Japan as always but ended up not having time to finish everything. Also, they must have had some sort of event for Japanese people because I couldn't tell you how many Japanese tourists there were at Epcot and even met a pair of girls at my resort, Animal Kingdom Lodge. I got to actually use my Japanese for once which was nice, but I had to keep the conversations basic as that's all I can really do. I also got a Henna design on my arm for the first time. I really liked it but wished it would have lasted longer.
Here are some old Cat Maid pictures that I just got from March 2015.
Photographer: Bul Ro Gu (Kay) 블로그
Other places we ate included Boma and the O'hana breakfast at the Polynesian, both which had excellent buffet style breakfasts. I was disappointed in the Polynesian because they took out the indoor waterfall which I loved about it. We also ate at Ragland Road, an Irish pub, and T-Rex, which is basically Rainforest Café with dinosaurs. I also ate at the Grand Floridian where I got to watch Cinderella dance with Prince Charming and I gossiped with her step sisters. The step sisters were probably the most in character actresses we saw the entire time we were there.
Here are some old Anna photos from December 2014 that were never posted.
Photographer: Dal Ji (Sweet) 달지
We did four sets of mini-golf. Two were at Fantasia Golf. One was a Disney Fantasia golf course and the other was more of a normal golf course. The other two were at Summer Winterland which were Christmas themed that showed Santa in the winter and summer. We spent some time shopping in Downtown Disney but never made it to Disney Quest and there were a lot of rumors saying that it was already closed. Either way I bought souvenirs for friends, rode a bunch of rides .... though I will still not get on Tower of Terror, saw a bunch of awesome characters and costumes, and ate a lot of great food. I even met a Chinese guy who was going to work there for six months and then go back to help out with the Chinese park that is being built.
Here are some old Cat Maid pictures that I just got from March 2015.
Photographer: Na Bom (Yoon) 나봄
It was finally time to leave and go to New York City to visit my boyfriend and meet some of his family. Sadly I had more plane issues .... Delta .... and my flight was delayed four hours due to various reasons. First, the plane that was supposed to come to us got cancelled due to weather. The second plane had an issue and needed a replacement part that had to be flown in on another plane. Finally the plane was fixed but there was lightning which grounded all the planes. Let's just say it was a long day and then I got rushed to a restaurant to meet his family.
Here are some old Cat Maid pictures that I just got from March 2015.
Photographer: MOA
Here are some more old Cat Maid ones I just downloaded.
Photographer: Rae Li Ji (Polylina) 레이지
Next Greg took me to Ohio so I could surprise my dad and his family .... I think the only one who was actually surprised was my dad and grandfather because people couldn't keep a secret .... seriously like everyone knew ... so much for my big surprise but everyone was happy to see me. One of my cousins is really into anime so she had lots of questions. Plus I had gotten my cosplay cards finally so was able to hand out a lot of them to my family. The first day we just had dinner with my dad and I finally got to meet his wife, Meri-Lynn. My sister and I had rented a cabin for the few days we were there. 
Here is one from December 2014 that I just got.
Photographer: Ri (Lee) 리
The next day we had a cook out with the family. My cousin Mike kept trash talking me about being a city girl (which hey whatever I'm not exactly a country girl). But it was funny because he kept calling me a city girl and I scored a bull's-eye while we were shooting some compound and cross bows. He was doing worse with the bows than me, though I admit I need the guys to pull the strings because I didn't have the strength to do it myself. So right after the bull's-eye and him calling me a city girl, I teased him saying that he got beat by a city girl.... Needless to say he didn't tease me so much about being a city girl after that. But it was all fun and games. ^.^
Photo By: Kate D.
Photo By: Greg K.
Photo By: Patty D.
My dad also taught me how to shoot a gun that trip ... and lets just say I am better with bows than I am with guns. My eyes just cannot focus on that little bump in the front of the gun that helps you line up with the target. But as I was probably the only girl on that side of the family who had never shot a gun before, it was an interesting experience. I was always the odd one in that side of the family, but that it was makes me unique. ^.^ But then again, I am a cosplayer, so of course I am unique. We also got to see my grandmother from my mom's side while we were there as she lived in the same area as my dad. ^.^ Greg also won my family over by baking cookies .... though I admit he makes some pretty good cookies ... and then they teased me about having kids .... I am so not ready to even think about that yet. Haha.
Some Luka ones from July.
Photographer: Ringo Apple (Creative Rock) 링고애플
Kate and I also took the boyfriends to the Spillway which is a giant fish (I think carp but I am not sure) breeding ground where you can feed the fish and all the ducks and fish fight over the food. It was a pleasant childhood memory and it was nice sharing it with Greg. We also took them to the Covered Bridge, which is a yummy pizza restaurant that is made of the remains of a bridge. Either way it was a fun visit and I managed to not get poison ivy thankfully so didn't have to make any emergency visits to the ER.
And a few more from December 2014.
Photographer: Tun Gap Neo Gu Ri (Disguised Raccoon) 둔갑너구리
After that we stayed at Greg's brother Will's place and I got to meet a little more of Greg's family. Will and Greg taught me Settlers of Catan which is actually pretty fun despite how simple it is. Greg and Will were surprised at how fast I learned the game and started to regret teaching me how to play but in the end I have yet to win a game.... I will have to keep trying. ^.^ We couldn't stay long at Will's and we finally went to my home and met my mother. Talk about meeting a lot of family this trip. We had a nice dinner with my mom when she got home from work and we stayed until we needed to leave for Otakon. Also, something big that changed since I was home is that my town now has a working train ... I can't remember the last time I heard a train where I live in America. The train might not go very far, but it is a moving train which is progress since a lot of the rails have been fixed up.
Photographer: Abi B.
Now I was really excited for Otakon as I have only managed to go once and it is the biggest anime convention on the east coast. I had preordered the badges and paid extra to have them shipped to me. I'm glad I did because they line to pickup badges was wrapped around the entire convention center. Many people who lined up ended up having to wait till the next day to get their badges. I got to go to Otakon Matsuri and it was fun to listen to the music though it didn't have too much.
Photographer: Kim D
Photos I Took:
During Otakon weekend, I met up with my friends Abi, Kim, Tiffany, and surprisingly Mathieu was visiting from Canada and I haven't seen him since I lived in Japan. I also met their friend, Shannon who is awesome. I have to say I am jealous of their skills because they made a lot of their costumes. I can barely sew a button or do makeup. T.T Either way it was great to see them and we all watched Abi perform in the Talent Show. It always amazes me when she sings because she is so good. I wish I had half her talent. ^.^ We also saw a Sailor Moon skit, saw some ovas, explored the dealers and art rooms, and went to a manga library. This time I spent a lot of time people watching than going to the various events. I also ran into my friend, Sarah, who I had met in Korea. ^.^ It was nice seeing her again.
Photographer: Greg K.
Photographer: Greg K.
I frustrated Greg a bit as I was sick a good portion of Otakon weekend and pushing myself a bit hard. But Otakon is expensive and who knows when the next time I can go is so I was going to do my best to make the most of it. I'm hoping to be able to save enough money to go again next year. We returned home and taught my mom Settlers of Catan as well and it was fun. Greg returned to New York City after that and I didn't get to see him anymore. T.T But we Skype a lot so all is good. ^.^
Photographer: Greg K.
Towards the end of the trip I finally got to see my friends Brandy and Liz. Brandy was sick so she was pretty miserable but she tried her best as I am rarely in the States. Her little girl has grown up so much though she still has no clue who I am since I've lived in Korea since before she was born. I finally met Liz's boyfriend as well which was nice. He said he was surprised I didn't threaten him as all Liz's other friends had. I was like you've been around long enough and I trust Liz's judgment. Besides it is implied that if you hurt my best friend, you are going to regret it. ^.^ I think we understood each other.
Photographer: Greg K.
After that, I had a few days left with my mom before I had another long flight to Korea. There were more delays on this Delta flight and after waiting an additional six hours to get to Korea I had to spend a small fortune on a taxi to get me back home as the buses were no longer running. Plus I had slept too much on the flight so had trouble falling asleep and needed to work the next morning. Overall it was a very hectic and sometimes stressful trip but I still had a lot of fun and it was an enjoyable vacation where I got to see a lot of people who are important to me. The only thing I didn't get to do that I wanted to do was go to the Renaissance Fair and there were a few friends I didn't get to see.
Photographer: Anna Mittower
Also, while I was away my friend Anna finally edited and posted some of my Moka Akashiya pictures. Please enjoy seeing a few of them here. I also brought two fun outfits from home to use while cosplaying here in Korea so look forward to some pictures in the future. I'm also including some old photos that I finally downloaded here for you to enjoy.
Photographer: Anna Mittower
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