Theme: Spirits of the Zen Garden
Location: Clarion Hotel Malmö Live
We got up at 4:40 after way too little sleep. My mom drove us to airport. We met Tabbie there and boarded a tiny Embraer plane for our 7:20 flight to Copenhagen. Apart from us, at least 3 other furries were on board.
At the baggage collection we met up with Nico and took the next train to Malmö. After picking up some (expensive) groceries at the supermarket, we went to the Clarion. Luckily our room was ready, so we went up there and took a 2 hour nap. Then I went down to check if I can find any charity supplies. I couldn't reach anyone from my team, but found the office at least. Eventually I met up with Kirino. The rest of the afternoon was spent cutting wood and setting up the booth, which was slow and tedious. Most of the time I was by myself, luckily some people from the charity team helped, and some non-staff friends like Tabbie, Nico and Henrieke also helped.
By around 18:30, the booth was standing. We brought up the remaining materials to the charity office. I chatted a bit with Jazzy, then we went to the room where I took some ibuprofen. Henrieke napped a bit.
Later I went down to lobby again. I met Satti, Paco and Steel. It was already super busy down there. I ran into Zed and we chatted for a while.
I also met Kalaallit in lobby. Went to stew lounge with him. Said hi to Tilli who was trying to figure out how to fix the lightbox for the charity booth. I also chatted a bit with Pinky before she would be super busy for the rest of the con. I then went to Kalaallit's room and he gave me some Bang&Olufsen service manuals that he got from another furry at CCC last December.
Apart from picking up some supplies at the supermarket at the station, we didn't do much more today and went to bed pretty early.
8 hours of sleep felt nice! We had breakfast with Steel and Paco.
Then went to booth and waited for charity team members to show up. Sadly no one came. I ended up decorating the booth and setting up the tables by myself. Skippy, who just arrived after an overnight flight helped me a bit and then went to bed. I finished up booth, then Trax dropped by and we talked for a bit. Then I went to room where Henrieke rested for a break. I walked around in lobby a bit. This year, with about 5300 attendees, the lobby was incredibly packed. There was absolutely no space to breathe.
In the afternoon we went to the city hall, since the major invited a delegation of furries there. We met Mausie on the way and took some photos. After waiting a bit in line with Paco, we all got in. The major gave a speech, and I quickly went to the very fancy fursuit lounge to get Baseball. Pinky, Jules, Smokey, Skippy, Trax and many others were there. They took a big group photo, then there were several musical performances by furry artists. It was a very nice event! We took some more photos, then dug in on the snacks there.
After the event Henrieke and I went to Pressbyrån at the central station to look for the Swedish Donald Duck magazine (Kalle Anka) which had a 1-page comic by her in it. We did find it eventually!
Then we went back to the hotel. We dropped our things on the room, then went to Pink Noodles, a local ramen shop, where Skippy, Goddy, Nico and Tabbie were already seated. We had some very tasty ramen, then went back to the hotel.
Henrieke went to the room, I walked around a bit. I checked out the drawing corner with Skippy, then we went to the "Granny Room" and watched the line to the opening ceremony which stretched as far back as this remote corner of the hotel.
I went to the room and watched the opening ceremony, which started on time! Goddy and Skippy joined to watch too. After that, we went to the pub quiz. We assembled a diverse team of nerds in hopes of winning this time. Our team consisted of me, Henrieke, Chiros, Dice, Riff, Procyon and Emejn. We did pretty well, as usual there were some questions that we should have gotten right, like one about Toki Pona, which was annoying as I talked about that with Skippy the day before.
In the end we did make 2nd place, I discovered a grading error though, which means we did tie with the first place. We did get some chocolates, which we shared with our team. It was really fun, Kalaallit's pub quiz is always a highlight, very hard questions, but not impossible! Next year we're going to win decisively.
I chatted a bit more with Kalaallit, then went to the room. We went to bed at 2:00.
I got up at 9:00 and went down to breakfast, Henrieke was still on the room for a bit. I ran into Paco and Steel. Today the Artist Alley opened. I waited in line for a spot with Paco, and we managed to get tables next to each other. I set up my Karpour standee and Henrieke's stickers on my table. The first hour was very slow, pretty much no one came by my table and I already figured no one would ever want art from me again, luckily then suddenly people came by and I got enough commissions to keep me busy for the rest of the day. I also sold quite a few of Henrieke's stickers.
I met Balt, a friend of Paco who also lives in Guadalajara and draws very cute art! He and Koidel were sitting on the table left of me. Many friends dropped by and I was drawing the entire time until we had to pack up at 15:30 to make space for the next shift of artists.
I went to Coop at the main station with Goddy after to pick up some sandwiches, then rested on the room for a bit.
I suited a bit, while Henrieke was working on an illustration for Vienna Comix. Baseball met Neop and took some photos outside together with him. He scribbled some stuff on one of the many drawing stations in the lobby and ran into Tabbie, Nico and Goddy.
After suiting I went to the sticker exchange with Henrieke. It was packed, and we had to stand in line to get in, but it was fun. I left some of my stickers there and picked up some fun ones.
I decided to also check out the night market, but it was so incredibly cramped that I left after a few minutes. I went back to my room then, got my jacket and went over to Valhalla, the overflow location, to check out the demoscene meet. It was in a small panel room which was packed beyond capacity. I used to be in the demoscene myself, until about 2009. I'm glad to see the scene is still going strong.
After the panel I reminisced with BotchFrivarg and Reyna a bit about the "old" demoscene days, Breakpoint and other things. I also talked with Artec and Konsti about Windows CE. Gallen was also there.
I played a round of DDR on the machine right outside the panel room, then checked out the arcade, which was huge. Then I went to the snack exchange. The Japanese table was nice, I met eps_ham there, who I met years ago at Eurofurence. I chatted with Gallen a bit. Henrieke and Goddy showed up too a bit later. Nik, who I know from Mastodon was also there. We nerded out for a while about SGI hardware, Laserdiscs and early HD video. He offered me an SGI Indigo2, but I declined, as I have no space for it.
We left around midnight. Goddy suggested the bus, which was a big mistake. The bus took 25 minutes to arrive, then after driving 2 blocks, the bus broke down. After 20 minutes of the driver trying to start an obviously inoperable bus, we asked to be let out and walked to the Clarion after all. So instead of 10 minutes walking, we spent 55 minutes.
We went to our room and straight to bed after that.
We went to breakfast at 10:00 and sat with Koidel and Vael. Skippy joined as well. I worked on some a commission for Kvikk after eating. Henrieke, Tabbie and Shorty joined as well. Paco wasn't doing very well today sadly, do I didn't see him. I went to the Nerd Market, which is an event that always takes place during the open house day. It's a bunch of sellers of Videogames and general nerdy merch. I was lucky and scored a Japanese GameBoy Pocket! I was also excited to see Laserdiscs, sadly all the interesting ones were already reserved. It was very busy there, so I stopped by every table once. Henrieke ran into an artist she knows who draws for Disney Lorcana.
I went to the entrance of the Nerd Market and worked a bit more on commissions, then I went to the room to rest a bit and got into suit after. Suiting is always the most fun on the open day, where locals are allowed to roam around in the convention space for free!
Baseball had lots of fun with all the families that brought there kids to the playground area! Sadly the bouncy castle outside never got inflated, maybe it was due to bad weather. I took a short break on the room, then Baseball went down for more fun, Henrieke took some photos. Henrieke planned to go to Valhalla, but sadly she missed the bus, so she was still there when I came back to the room.
I worked a bit more on commissions on the room, Chiros dropped by to pick up his surface and other things he forgot at the pub quiz earlier. Kvikk also came by to pick up his commission. Then we went downstairs to meet Joakim and Hedvig, who we made a reservation with for the new Italian Restaurant atop the Clarion. The view was fantastic, despite the fog. We chatted for a while, mostly about Donald Duck, the Three Caballeros, Bommel and Bamse! I worked a bit more on commissions while waiting for the food.
The pizza I had was massive and delicious. I went down a bit earlier to deliver 2 commissions, one of them to GarfieldAirlines. Then I went to the artist lounge and joined Paco and Koidel. We sat there for a while, drawing. Henrieke joined as well later. Riff and Procyon also dropped by. Balt also joined. I did a trade with Paco first, then one with Balt. Henrieke doodled on the paper tablecloth.
I did a collab with Paco and another on-the-spot commission. When most people left, I still chatted with Jazzy for a while, then I checked out the dance for a bit. It was cramped.
Henrieke already went to the room. I ran into JohnyBCoon and we talked a bit. I walked around a bit in the lobby still, drew in the big NFC guest book and left a note on the furry memorial board for Cookie, who passed away recently.
I went up to the room and to bed at 2:30.
We had breakfast at 10:00 with Procy, Goddy and his roommate Terra.
Paco also sat with us later. We went to the room at 11:30, then I got Baseball out and he went outside for the fursuit parade. It took a long time to assemble the massive amounts of suiters for a group photo. It was a bit confusing since no one had a clue where and when the picture was taken. Eventually the parade started. Baseball stuck to Smokey, and also met Tabbie on the way.
There were hundreds of locals watching it, and the vibe was great! The weather as well, it's been cold and wet most days, but just for the parade the sun came out and it was perfect! The route was through the city center, past Max Burger and the city hall. Henrieke took the opportunity to bail halfway and go to the Dealers Den, which was empty at that time. Once the parade returned to the hotel, I got out of suit and made my way to the still empty Dealers Den.
It was such an upgrade from last year, lots os space and natural light rather than a cramped panel room! I chatted a bit with Sniffer and Dibs. Goddy joined too. I bought a cute dragon print. Procy and Riff came by to pick up some art too. Henrieke stuck around longer, I left once I saw all the tables. I ran into Cheetah, Skippy and Lempi there still. Skippy and I went back to the hotel after stopping at Coop for some Red Bull and princess cake. I went to the room to warm up a bit and watched Game Changer on TV, where Riff was competing. Then I went to the Artist Lounge to meet Paco. Henrieke and Balt joined too, they also did a trade. I scribbled a bit.
After Henrieke and Balt were done trading we went to the restaurant for the Fajita Buffet. It was expensive, but tasty. And most of all, quiet! Lots of people we knew were there. We sat with Balt, Jazzy, Trax, Paco and Koidel.
I also spent some time chatting with Goddy, Shorty and Lycus, who was wearing a badge I must've drawn about 15 years ago that I had almost no memory of. After dinner, I went to a little meetup in the panel room upstairs. It was delayed and way too full, but once it started it was nice. I got 2 more commissions for Flint and Rosebuster. I also met Paco, Steel and Koidel. Then I met up with Tabbie. I super quickly got into fursuit and Baseball, Tabbie and Nico went to Valhalla to catch the tail end of the inflatables panel. Hai was there and took some thermal camera photos of Baseball.
Since the panel already ended a few minutes later, Baseball, Tabbie and Nico took the bus back, which did not break down for a change. Baseball visited Paco and Steel at the panel and fooled around a bit, he also said hi to Trax. Then he visited Henrieke and Jazzy in the Artist Lounge. Since Trax' backpack which included his old conbook was stolen, Jazzy was nice enough to get him a new one and asked people to make drawings inside. Baseball happily made a sketch, Henrieke drew one as well.
After suiting, I also went to the artist lounge and did my best to recreate an old drawing I made in there from memory. Henrieke and Jazzy also did a trade.
We went back to the room at 3:00.
We got up at 10:15 after having very much not enough sleep. We had breakfast with Goddy and Terra. Procyon joined too, and a bit later Skippy as well. We went back to the room and started watching the closing ceremonies, which were 30 minutes delayed. Procyon joined, Goddy and Ethan came by later too. The highlight was definitely the musical performance by the breakfast manager, who performed "I eat it my way". Next year's theme will be Circus.
I went downstairs to meet Jazzy since we wanted to surprise Trax with the book, but that didn't work out.
After a while I went back up, everyone left by then. We went to MAX for lunch and met with Tabbie and Nico there.
I went back a bit earlier and met up with Neop, who was happy to use our room to get into fursuit. We also told Chiros, so it was a little bat meet with Baseball, Neop and Chiros. We had some fun outside with locals and Henrieke took some nice photos.
Baseball and Neop still dropped by the Artist Lounge, but no one we knew was there. They went back to our room and we both unsuited. Then I went straight to booth teardown. Luckily the electric screwdriver appeared, so I tried to get things done as fast as possible. It took about an hour with lots of help from the charity team.
In the evening we organized a little Jackbox party. Procy, Riff, Ethan, Paco, Koidel, Neop were there and we played some Split the Room, Tee K.O. and Trivia Murder Party. Shorty also dropped by and gave me a 1991 Philips CD-Rom drive, which is a really cool collectible!
We went to bed not too late.
We got up at 9:00. At breakfast, the breakfast guy welcomed us like every day. I told him I enjoyed his performance at the closing ceremony a lot! We sat together with Pinky, Procyon and Riff. Pinky told us about the company lawyer of NFC who was very curious about the convention itself! Emejn gave me about a kilo of M&Ms for me he brought from the US (This is after we didn't manage to get any at the 4-story M&Ms experience in London a couple months back), very thoughtful! We went back to the room to pack. So much stuff! I barely managed to fit everything within the weight limit and had a fully stuffed and heavy backpack too. Of course we had to carry our luggage down the stairs as there was no chance of ever catching an elevator. We spent some time standing in front of the hotel. I chatted with TechWolf and Purple a bit, the most I've talked with them the entire con! Goddy also dropped by, sadly concrud already got him. I said bye to Koidel, but it turned out he and some friends went to stay another night in Copenhagen, so we agreed to try and go out for dinner together. Eventually we made our way to the train station, where we still ran into Neop and Koidel again. We took the next train to Copenhagen and walked to our hotel, which was nice enough to let us check in early. First thing to do was have a nap, then we walked around in Copenhagen a bit. We had a tasty smashburger, then walked past the city hall down the biggest shopping street of Copenhagen. Sadly it rained, so we went inside a big comic store. We didn't buy anything since we can't read danish, but it was a very nice store!
Since it still didn't stop, we went to Expresso House, a coffee chain similar to Starbucks. The interior was interesting, kind of a mix of Global Village Coffeehouse mixed with Industrial, though more on the industrial side. I do appreciate comfy couches in a coffeehouse though! What I didn't appreciate were the prices. 18€ for 2 lattes and a chocolate ball?!? And that is apparently normal in Denmark, everything is crazy expensive here.
We rested there for a while and made plans with Pinky, Koidel and his friends to meet up for dinner. They chose a seafood place that was about half an hour walking from where we were, so we made our way there. Sadly the Lego store we walked past was already closed.
We arrived at the restaurant, Koidel, Balt, Jonathan, Franco, Cross, and Vael were already there, having oysters as a starter. I couldn't bring myself to try oysters, but Henrieke tried one. I shared some Fish and Chips with Henrieke as the prices for food were simply too expensive. Pinky also joined, and we had a nice evening! Sadly they made us wait about half an hour to pay since we had to pay separately, and I was starting to get a bad headache. Would not go to this place again to be honest.
Pinky headed out, and we walked past the hotel where Koidel and friends stayed. We decided to still hang out in the very comfy lobby of our hotel, so Koidel, Balt, Jonathan and Vael joined us and we spent a few more hours in the lobby, chatting and drawing together.
Eventually they all left, and we said one last good-bye. We went on our room, did the daily Wordle and went to bed.
Today it was time to go home, we packed out bags, had a burger at McDonalds on the City Hall square, then headed to the airport.
We were fairly early, had some overpriced coffee at a hipster coffee bar that only served a single kind of espresso and had no decaf.. pff. Henrieke's gate was completely at the other end of the airport, so I walked her there for 20 minutes, then walked 25 minutes back to my gate, which was almost as far as you could go in the other direction. I had a nice flight, read some Windows CE programming book on the plane, and arrived at home around midnight.
It's been great! A bit different than the past years, as several friends decided to not attend due to price and how hard it was to get a room. It's been crowded last year, and this year has been even more extreme. Sadly the venue is just way too small, and even with the overflow venue, there was barely room to breathe in the Clarion lobby. I still had a blast however! The City Hall Event was great, the parade was fun, I got to art jam and meet lots of old and some new friends! I'm glad the charity booth design worked out well in the end too. Hopefully I'll make it to NFC again next year!
