jbadger, rapidtrabbit, jappodawg, jimwolf24, and foxwell. Also mascotting was another group of performers who had costumes of Barney, Simba, Elmo, and a bear, which you can see in one of the pictures I posted below. (We discovered later that the bear suit belonged to UCPN.)First, I went into Upper Manhattan to pick up
foxwell at the 168 St. and Broadway subway station. I chose that pickup location because I was familiar with it, having lived in Washington Heights back in 1994. (Okay, so it may have changed a little since then. :) ) Then we went to the Long Island Mariott Hotel in Uniondale. We were early but we found the changing room and moved our gig stuff there. Later, we were joined by jbadger and then everyone else.It was a pretty good gig. I can't remember having ever posed for quite as many pictures with kids, and that happened starting the moment I stepped into the ballroom in fursuit. Since it was a teddy bear event but I didn't have a teddy bear, I brought Plush Husky and carried him around for pictures and stuff. I was in the husky suit so some of the people said Plush Husky was my baby. :)
Aside from the abundant photography, there was also a dance and a magic show. And the event ended with a little parade around the ballroom.
After the gig, we went to Main St. in Flushing (New York City's second Chinatown) for lunch. We had shabu shabu at Minni's Shabu Shabu II. I had the sliced fish shabu shabu with a side order of udon. Everything cooked pretty quickly once the water started boiling. I tried all the dipping sauces. Then after that, I drank the hot pot water because after cooking everything in there, it had become soup.
Here's the odd thing: I've never had shabu shabu until today, but this is pretty similar to what my relatives did in their backyard back in the old country every time there was a big family gathering. Of course, instead of the individual hot pots at the restaurant, we just had one big hot pot, and instead of "shabu shabu", we called it "steamboat". But the idea and many of the ingredients are the same. I think the hot pot concept just cuts across many cultures.
After food, I drove
foxwell, jappodawg, and jimwolf24 back to the 168 St. subway station in Manhattan. A little slow-going because there's way too much traffic in Queens in the early evening, but we got there with no major problems.Some pictures from the event (photography by
jappodawg, jimwolf24, and a few by me): |
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