Japan report - Week 1
I have a lot to talk about, and maany many pictures so I will do the report of my Japan trip in 3 parts, one part covering each week. It's going to be long, but I hope you manage to read it! :D
TRAVELLING
The Great Adventure starts!
From Outokumpu through Helsinki to Tokyo.
I'm not independent like... at all. So a part of me was really scared and doubted if I could do this or not. The way my trip started was really bad. First of all, when I got to my train, there wasn't the wagon I was supposed to be at. A lot of people were confused too, and the conductor making bad jokes about it didn't help it at all. In the end I found my place, but also in that wagon we couldn't hear the announcements because there were problems -__- Luckily I was supposed to get off at the last stop, so it wasn't a huge problem. Just annoying. I spent the night at yuumei_nata's, we had so much fun and we ended up staying up for like, 5 in the morning and ended up watching School Kakumei from keyhole too :D
On the next day the problems continued. yuumei_nata kindly came with me to the airport, but there were technical problems there too! I was there 2 hours earlier, but the lines were massive because the thing they carry packages with were broken, so everything was slow! I lined up for 2 hours and got to the counter like 5 minutes before the plane was supposed to take off (of course, it was late too but I couldn't help worrying). There were also some problem with my ticket!! I was so sure I can't even get to the damn plane. But in the end they managed to solve the problem, and I got to the plane. The take off ended up being 45 minutes late.
The flight went quite well. I couldn't sleep much, but the entertainment system in the plane had fun games and stuff so I had things to do. I watched Ice Age 3 (which was a huge disappointment :( I guess I slept part of it lol) and Rookies, which was surprisingly good! I hadn't watched the drama before, but I think I'm going to see it at some point, I really liked the movie.
DAY 1
Monday, Dec 28th 2009
When the plane finally landed, I realized that I'm finally back, and tears started coming out. I went to get my luggage and got to the lobby. Kumiko was there waiting with her mom. Omg her mom is awesome! She doesn't speak English at all, but she was really nice, and I know enough Japanese to talk with her. We went to get my Japan Rail Pass before heading to their home by car. At this point I was feeling so hot, because I had to have so much clothes on when I left Finland, and it's so much warmer in Japan. When we get to their house, I quickly went to change and felt so much better XD They offered me some food before I was ready to get out. Unfortunately, Kumiko was sick and had to go to the hospital so I decided to go out alone.
Of course I would first head to my favourite place on Earth, Shibuya. I was a bit confused about the train first, but I was quick to get back in to the system. Trains in Japan are so easy to use! I knew there would be a huge Hidarime ad in Shibuya, and I was ready to flail. And then I got there and there were TWO huge gorgeous ads. I'm a bit bothered by the fact that Nittele's character bear that was next to one of the ads, as well as is jumping behind Yamada in one tv ad, looks too much like pedobear. YEAH YEAH I GOT IT THANKS AGAIN.
First I went to check the magazine store, and my eyes went immediately on Bidan. I had no idea Yamada would be in it and A COVER, omg it was so pretty I didn't even think anything, I just went to buy it. Later when I got back at Kumiko's I looked inside and died because it's like the hottest photoshoot of him ever. DSgdsgk ANYWAY, I also visited my favourite second hand cd/dvd-shop and found NEWS' Sayaendou for like 400yen. That's ridiculously cheap considering people in LJ sell it for like 2600yen. I also bought the newest Wink up and Potato, ViVi with Ayu cover, and also got Ayu's amazing new single from Tower Records and got a poster with it!
In the evening I went back to Kumiko's, and we had dinner. There were lots of different kinds of food for me to try, but unfortunately I don't remember what at all XD
DAY 2
Tuesday, Dec 29th 2009
Kumiko was still sick, so I went out alone again. I decided to head to Nakano, where I knew are two shops that sell JE stuff including old con goods. There's a huge shopping center called Sun Mall right next to Nakano Station. Inside there's lots of different kind of little shops, like clothes, electronics, manga/anime/cosplay stuff, lots of restaurants and all that. There were also a heaven of mine, Trio, that had lots of old goods, magazines, almost everything. They also have like all JE cds, so I found NEWS Nippon and Kibou~yell~ quite cheaply, and now my NEWS discography is complete! Also, I got a Yamada uchiwa (important for the concert!) and Jin uchiwa because it was cheap and pretty. Also, a Yamada clear file and NEWS Winter Party Diamond pamphlet that I've been drooling for like forever. I also went to Mandarake that was close to Trio, actually almost the whole second floor is about Mandarake. They sell mostly manga stuff, so lots of otakus, it was scary. But there were a few JE stuff too, I found UMP CD+DVD and completed also my HSJ discography!
After finishing my shopping in Nakano, I decided to go quickly to my second favourite place, Harajuku, before going again to Shibuya. When I got out of the station, something had changed. That huge KinKi kids ad had changed to NYC Boys' New Year Congratulation, and oh my god it was so huge and pretty I almost started crying.
DAY 3
Wednesday, Dec 30th 2009
In the morning Kumiko's mom made me taste lots of different Japanese sweets and candy. Surprisingly many of them were NOT GOOD XD I was a bit afraid I would offend them, since the Japanese say everything is OMG SO DELICIOUS even when it's not XD But luckily, she just laughed when I didn't like something. I can say that I don't like daifuku, but dango is a yes. Also, she said that she has free time so she could take me somewhere if I had some place I wanted to go to. I took out my guidebook to see where I would want to go. Last time I was in Japan we already went through most of the sights, so there wasn't really places like that I wanted to see. In the end we decided to go to Shinjuku and Asakusa. Kumiko was feeling better so she decided to go too. When we got out, Kumiko and her mom started talking that there isn't really any meaning for her mom to come along, if she's going XD So in the end, her mom went back home.
First we went to Shinjuku. We were planning to go to ... some huge goverment building - I forgot the name - which I knew would have an observatory where we could see over Tokyo. But of course since it was almost New Year's, the building was closed. We went to the other side of Shinjuku to see famous places like Studio Alta. There was a SMAP commercial playing in the screen XD Also, there were several huge Kimutaku ads there. For sure those streets of Shinjuku would be an amazing sight in the evening with all the lights!
After, we decided not to go to Asakusa after all, but ended up going to... Shibuya. We looked for Shibuya's Mandarake, and I bought JUMP's Calendar. It's only useful for another 3 months BUT it was cheap and pretty! Also I went to the book store to buy Oricon style that had 1 page of Yamada but but but it was sooo cute. Kumiko laughed at my flailing and said "It's like an obsession" XD I was like "GIRL YOU'VE SEEN NOTHING YET".
Here's a few other pictures from Shibuya:
We went back to Kumiko's for a few hours, but I was supposed to go to my hostel in the evening. I was a bit afraid of how to get my huge luggage to the hostel, and they were kind enough to take me there by car. I was so thankful, that suitcase is heavy! They took me to the hostel, and before leaving, Kumiko's mom gave me some candy she had bought. It was so sweet! There was some that I had tried in the morning and liked, and also POCKY. I was really glad.
This is my room, still quite clean. *coughs* The futon would go on the empty area next to my suitcase.As you can see, it's not very big, but it was okay and enough for me. I was at the same hostel last time too, it's really nice and really cheap. The toilets, kitchen and showers are shared, but that's okay. There's also two computer we got to use for free. And there was TV! But right on the first evening something happened XD Omg. I was channel-surfing to see what's on, at that point it was really late, like over 12. There was some show that looked normal at first, but then the girl started stripping and I realized that it's some kind of adult show. Before I managed to change the channel, the tv zipped and there was a text that said that those kind of shows are not showed here! XD omg! I tried to turn on the tv to change the channel, but I couldn't, it always zipped right away. So I couldn't look at the tv anymore XD It was annoying, but how it happened really made me lol.
DAY 4
Thursday, Dec 31st, 2009
It was my first morning alone, and it didn't start that well. I woke up around 6.30, when a huge group of some dudes where marching outside the hostel yelling "WASSHOI! WASSHOI!" I had no idea what that was, and for a while I was a bit worried. It continued for a while, so I couldn't really sleep anymore. And the tv still didn't work -__- The day before me and Kumiko planned to go buy Countdown uchiwas from Tokyo Dome, and we were supposed to wake up really early for that, but I found out there wouldn't be individual uchiwas this year, so we decided not to. I met her and her boyfriend around noon, and we decided to go check Tokyo Dome anyway.
KinKi kids were having concerts in Tokyo Dome around that time, so along with Countdown goods they were also selling Kinki goods, and there were Kinki props around the area. We went to Tokyo Dome City to find something to eat. There's a Moomin Cafe in there, that has Moomin goods and there's a bakery and a restaurant that has Finnish-like food. At least supposedly, the food wasn't that Finnish XD We decided to go eat there. It looked like a popular place, we had to line up for a while and the place was full. You could also stay there for only 2 hours. I wasn't sure if it was okay to take pictures there so I didn't. Some Moomin goods had Finnish text, so Kumiko made me read them aloud XD She also learned to pronounce one sentence :D
We had no idea what to do next, so after thinking Kumiko asked if I would like to go see Nittele Tower. Nittele, or NTV or Nippon terebi is the tv channel also Hidarime is on, so we thought maybe there would be posters or something. So we headed to Shiodome next. Unfortunately, no Hidarime anywhere, but the little shop had some goods from dramas like Samurai High School and Gokusen, and also there was Bandage stuff!! They were just brought to be on sale, and there was a little tv with Jin's interview. Also, outside was a huge screen playing Bandage PV. I was laughed at again because of my fangirlism XD
After that I went back to my hostel for a few hours, until I went to Kumiko's again. The whole family plus Kuu's boyfriend were there to have the last dinner of the year. It was huge, there were lots of sushi, rice, miso soup, tempura and other stuff. Really good, though. We also watched Kouhaku, because I wanted to see NYC boys 8D Kumiko gave me an old penlight she had and said: "You can use it tonight" XD ...And I did. Ohhh Yamada, I didn't really understand much what happened in the performance because I was so struck by the prettiness of Yamada. In a big HD TV. After Kouhaku the parents went to sleep, but we stayed up to watch Johnny's Countdown. It was a really nice way to change the year ♥ I only had one complainment: I was freezing! Japanese houses are cold, it was like 17C inside when we have at least 23C. I'm not used to that D: But other than that it was nice!
DAY 5
Friday, Jan 1st, 2010
Kumiko's family was going to have a New Year's lunch with relatives, and I had other plans for the day anyway so I woke up already around 7 to get back to my hostel. On the way there I went to my first konbini shopping spree of the trip XD I got an onigiri, that Lemon water I'm addicted to (drank like thousands of litres it the last time too), more the same Pocky I had got from Kumiko's mom, and of course Ghana Milk Chocolate, advertised by our very own Hey!Say!7. IT WAS GOOD and during the trip I ended up buying it like almost every day. *coughs*
I had planned to go to Johnny's Shop that day, and from past experience I knew I should go get the ticket early. I went around 10, and there were surprisingly few people, not just going to the shop but in Harajuku overall. I guess most were celebrating New Year with their families, going to the shrines and all that. Well, I got the ticket for 12.30, so I had a few hours to spend before that. I went to Takeshita Dori to freshen my memory of all the shops there are. As you can see from the picture, there's surprisingly few people XD
Also, I walked around to find an ad of Bloody Monday 2! It was sooo pretty. As it was New Year's day, all shops had started their winter sale. Already on Takeshita there were huge lines to the shops, but this has to be the longest ever, it was going for Laforet. Yes, all those people in the big below, and the line continues around the corner! That's just crazy XD
I went to line up for Johnny's Shop right at 12.30. I didn't have to wait for longer than 45 minutes before I got in. Oh god how I love this shop, I could easily waste all my money in there. I ended up buying a few *coughs* shop photos - surprisingly mostly Yamada - and a NYC Boys photo album for the pretty pics as well as a NYC boys notebook, which I don't really need but it was cheap and pretty (why do I feel like I use this excuse way too much?)
After, I went to Shibuya. Again. I had just read from the net that there should be Yamanade ads around already, but I hadn't seen them. I decided to go walk around Shibuya, and tadah, I found one!
Also I went to Tower records to get Loveless, and then to my fave shop again to see what I'd find. Those second hand cds are awesome, they're so cheap, yet the condition is great! I bought Koda Kumi's album, Real Face live, Niini dvd (I was distracted by smiling Yamada in the cover... and it was cheap again!) and I made the most amazing discovery. Full dramas are usually over 100€, it's crazy! But they had Yukan Club, used AND on sale, and it was frickin 40€! SO CHEAP. I didn't have to think for long if I'd buy it or not. I love Yukan Club ♥ And lmao it comes with a keyholder and A PUZZLE.
I also went to get my first bento of the trip. I'm really picky when it comes to food, so tbh I couldn't eat all of it XD But most of it was good.
DAY 6
Saturday, Jan 2nd, 2010
This would be THE day. Hey!Say!JUMP Concert tour 2009-2010 in Yokohama. I was supposed to meet Kai Lin, a Singaporean "friend" that had got me the ticket, as early as 7am in the morning in front of Yokoari. To make sure I wouldn't be late, I put on the alarm to wake me up a bit before 5am. And then I woke up... at 5.15! ALARM FAIL. I have no idea what happened, but it had turned off. I was so lucky to wake up. I rushed to do my hair and make-up, ran to the train station and luckily made it to the train in time. I had to switch trains twice to get to Shin Yokohama. I was there just around 7, and Kai Lin arrived quite soon. The concert goods would go on sale at 9.30, but she had seen people lining up already the day before, so that's why we decided to go that early. We got to the line a bit after 7am.
This was an hour before the goods started selling, and even we weren't even close to the start of the line XD It was a bit cold, but the time went quite fast when we started talking. She was reeally nice! After 9.30 we lined up for another 2 hours before getting the goods. I bought Pamphlet, T-shirt, penlight, Trading cards and shopping bag. In the pic below there's also that strap that I grabbed in the 3rd con when it fell from the ceiling.
The concert would start at 5.30pm, and we would get in an hour earlier, so we had plenty of time to spend. We went to get something to eat, and walked around the shops and just hanged out around the station and concert area. As it has been said, there really WAS yakuza-looking dudes around there selling concert tickets for high prices XD It was funny. After hours of waiting it was finally the time to go back to Yokoari. We were supposed to meet another Singaporean girl Kai Lin had got the ticket for, but they had just said "In front of Yokoari" which I was afraid would be impossible, the place was full of people! Just before we almost gave up, we found the girl, and quickly ran to line up. Soon, they started letting us in.
The seats were on Block B, which is far from the main stage, but I knew it would be close to the front stage and sidewalks, and it was line 4. I knew it would be good. But I had no idea how good. When we got in and looked for our seats, we just went closer and closer. IT WAS LIKE 3-4 METRES AWAY FROM THE SIDEWALK, and the front stage was superclose too. We actually started screaming and shaking each other XD It was crazy! I was so close. I would see Yamada really closely. I was ready to pass out.
I won't get into detail about the con, as this report is already so long, and I've made a con repo before. Just saying that the seat was really awesome, and the boys were so close it's unreal. The first time they started running towards us, the feeling was amazing, my heart was beating so fast. SO FRICKIN CLOSE. I saw everyone so well as they passed by. I've already said it thousand times, but Yamada is way too gorgeous to exist, irl he gets even better, I'm just unable to comprehend how amazing he looks, and that smile oh my dear god, even the whole aura around him is awesome. At one point when he passed by quickly, I thought he might have seen me, as he looked at my direction and smiled a bit, but I wasn't sure. Now I'm quite sure though, since Daiki in the 3rd con and Jin in Bandage premiere (more about those later) had the exact same face when they saw me XD SO I GUESS OH MY GOD? Was that smile directed to me or not, I'm not 100% sure, but it was amazing either way. And Chinen. Well his peace sign was 100% sure directed to me, because he reacted when I peace'd back. I was already in the middle of the con quite sure that Chinen is my new official second favourite, but that totally left no doubt. Chinen is awesome, he was such a sweetheart!
Oh and about juniors, OH TAIGA IS SO PRETTY. At one point he was dancing a whole song like 3 metres away from me, that's when I came to that conclusion. He looks amazing irl. And excuse my shallowness but so does Fuma and I'm back to liking him XD Nakaken looks a hundred times better irl too. Hokuto is adorable, but he looks the same XD Yugo just has no presence whatsoever.
After the concert I was really happy, but tired, because I had walked the whole day in high heels XD So I just wanted to get quickly back to my hostel to rest. And also flail about the con and what happened with Chinen and everything. Kai Lin left to different direction, but I went back to Tokyo with the other girl, she was nice too.
DAY 7
Sunday, Jan 3rd, 2010
I was supposed to meet my friend Ruriko at Ueno station, and we would go together to Ginza to meet her friend and have lunch. At first I was confused on where to meet, there are too many exists XD So I had to call her, and we found each other. We took a subway to Ginza to meet the friend. She was so cute and nice! She also speaked English really well, as she had spent a few years in the US. We spoke mostly in Japanese though. We went to eat yakiniku, and it was oh sooo delicious. After that we decided to go to karaoke. I was ready to impress them by knowing the whole rap of SNOW EXPRESS XD They were really impressed overall too how well I managed to read and sing in Japanese. I was glad 8D I looove karaoke, we had so much fun! Ruriko's friend had to leave earlier, but we continued singing. After that we walked around Ginza a bit and took pictures, but Ruriko had to go home, so I headed back to the hostel too.
In the evening I was bored, and really frustrated at the TV. I decided to find out what's wrong with it, and after fighting with it for a while I managed to change the settings, found the problem and WOHOO, THE TV WORKED AGAIN. PARTY'S ON. So the rest of the evening I just spent watching tv XD Mostly Nittele, in the hopes of seeing a CM of Hidarime...
And that was the end of my first week in Tokyo. In the next part 2 you'll hear about meeting more friends, two more HSJ concerts, random Finnish people, and ending up from a club to karaoke with some ojiisan ?!
TRAVELLING
The Great Adventure starts!
From Outokumpu through Helsinki to Tokyo.
I'm not independent like... at all. So a part of me was really scared and doubted if I could do this or not. The way my trip started was really bad. First of all, when I got to my train, there wasn't the wagon I was supposed to be at. A lot of people were confused too, and the conductor making bad jokes about it didn't help it at all. In the end I found my place, but also in that wagon we couldn't hear the announcements because there were problems -__- Luckily I was supposed to get off at the last stop, so it wasn't a huge problem. Just annoying. I spent the night at yuumei_nata's, we had so much fun and we ended up staying up for like, 5 in the morning and ended up watching School Kakumei from keyhole too :D
On the next day the problems continued. yuumei_nata kindly came with me to the airport, but there were technical problems there too! I was there 2 hours earlier, but the lines were massive because the thing they carry packages with were broken, so everything was slow! I lined up for 2 hours and got to the counter like 5 minutes before the plane was supposed to take off (of course, it was late too but I couldn't help worrying). There were also some problem with my ticket!! I was so sure I can't even get to the damn plane. But in the end they managed to solve the problem, and I got to the plane. The take off ended up being 45 minutes late.
The flight went quite well. I couldn't sleep much, but the entertainment system in the plane had fun games and stuff so I had things to do. I watched Ice Age 3 (which was a huge disappointment :( I guess I slept part of it lol) and Rookies, which was surprisingly good! I hadn't watched the drama before, but I think I'm going to see it at some point, I really liked the movie.
DAY 1
Monday, Dec 28th 2009
When the plane finally landed, I realized that I'm finally back, and tears started coming out. I went to get my luggage and got to the lobby. Kumiko was there waiting with her mom. Omg her mom is awesome! She doesn't speak English at all, but she was really nice, and I know enough Japanese to talk with her. We went to get my Japan Rail Pass before heading to their home by car. At this point I was feeling so hot, because I had to have so much clothes on when I left Finland, and it's so much warmer in Japan. When we get to their house, I quickly went to change and felt so much better XD They offered me some food before I was ready to get out. Unfortunately, Kumiko was sick and had to go to the hospital so I decided to go out alone.
Of course I would first head to my favourite place on Earth, Shibuya. I was a bit confused about the train first, but I was quick to get back in to the system. Trains in Japan are so easy to use! I knew there would be a huge Hidarime ad in Shibuya, and I was ready to flail. And then I got there and there were TWO huge gorgeous ads. I'm a bit bothered by the fact that Nittele's character bear that was next to one of the ads, as well as is jumping behind Yamada in one tv ad, looks too much like pedobear. YEAH YEAH I GOT IT THANKS AGAIN.
First I went to check the magazine store, and my eyes went immediately on Bidan. I had no idea Yamada would be in it and A COVER, omg it was so pretty I didn't even think anything, I just went to buy it. Later when I got back at Kumiko's I looked inside and died because it's like the hottest photoshoot of him ever. DSgdsgk ANYWAY, I also visited my favourite second hand cd/dvd-shop and found NEWS' Sayaendou for like 400yen. That's ridiculously cheap considering people in LJ sell it for like 2600yen. I also bought the newest Wink up and Potato, ViVi with Ayu cover, and also got Ayu's amazing new single from Tower Records and got a poster with it!
In the evening I went back to Kumiko's, and we had dinner. There were lots of different kinds of food for me to try, but unfortunately I don't remember what at all XD
DAY 2
Tuesday, Dec 29th 2009
Kumiko was still sick, so I went out alone again. I decided to head to Nakano, where I knew are two shops that sell JE stuff including old con goods. There's a huge shopping center called Sun Mall right next to Nakano Station. Inside there's lots of different kind of little shops, like clothes, electronics, manga/anime/cosplay stuff, lots of restaurants and all that. There were also a heaven of mine, Trio, that had lots of old goods, magazines, almost everything. They also have like all JE cds, so I found NEWS Nippon and Kibou~yell~ quite cheaply, and now my NEWS discography is complete! Also, I got a Yamada uchiwa (important for the concert!) and Jin uchiwa because it was cheap and pretty. Also, a Yamada clear file and NEWS Winter Party Diamond pamphlet that I've been drooling for like forever. I also went to Mandarake that was close to Trio, actually almost the whole second floor is about Mandarake. They sell mostly manga stuff, so lots of otakus, it was scary. But there were a few JE stuff too, I found UMP CD+DVD and completed also my HSJ discography!
After finishing my shopping in Nakano, I decided to go quickly to my second favourite place, Harajuku, before going again to Shibuya. When I got out of the station, something had changed. That huge KinKi kids ad had changed to NYC Boys' New Year Congratulation, and oh my god it was so huge and pretty I almost started crying.
DAY 3
Wednesday, Dec 30th 2009
In the morning Kumiko's mom made me taste lots of different Japanese sweets and candy. Surprisingly many of them were NOT GOOD XD I was a bit afraid I would offend them, since the Japanese say everything is OMG SO DELICIOUS even when it's not XD But luckily, she just laughed when I didn't like something. I can say that I don't like daifuku, but dango is a yes. Also, she said that she has free time so she could take me somewhere if I had some place I wanted to go to. I took out my guidebook to see where I would want to go. Last time I was in Japan we already went through most of the sights, so there wasn't really places like that I wanted to see. In the end we decided to go to Shinjuku and Asakusa. Kumiko was feeling better so she decided to go too. When we got out, Kumiko and her mom started talking that there isn't really any meaning for her mom to come along, if she's going XD So in the end, her mom went back home.
First we went to Shinjuku. We were planning to go to ... some huge goverment building - I forgot the name - which I knew would have an observatory where we could see over Tokyo. But of course since it was almost New Year's, the building was closed. We went to the other side of Shinjuku to see famous places like Studio Alta. There was a SMAP commercial playing in the screen XD Also, there were several huge Kimutaku ads there. For sure those streets of Shinjuku would be an amazing sight in the evening with all the lights!
After, we decided not to go to Asakusa after all, but ended up going to... Shibuya. We looked for Shibuya's Mandarake, and I bought JUMP's Calendar. It's only useful for another 3 months BUT it was cheap and pretty! Also I went to the book store to buy Oricon style that had 1 page of Yamada but but but it was sooo cute. Kumiko laughed at my flailing and said "It's like an obsession" XD I was like "GIRL YOU'VE SEEN NOTHING YET".
Here's a few other pictures from Shibuya:
We went back to Kumiko's for a few hours, but I was supposed to go to my hostel in the evening. I was a bit afraid of how to get my huge luggage to the hostel, and they were kind enough to take me there by car. I was so thankful, that suitcase is heavy! They took me to the hostel, and before leaving, Kumiko's mom gave me some candy she had bought. It was so sweet! There was some that I had tried in the morning and liked, and also POCKY. I was really glad.
This is my room, still quite clean. *coughs* The futon would go on the empty area next to my suitcase.As you can see, it's not very big, but it was okay and enough for me. I was at the same hostel last time too, it's really nice and really cheap. The toilets, kitchen and showers are shared, but that's okay. There's also two computer we got to use for free. And there was TV! But right on the first evening something happened XD Omg. I was channel-surfing to see what's on, at that point it was really late, like over 12. There was some show that looked normal at first, but then the girl started stripping and I realized that it's some kind of adult show. Before I managed to change the channel, the tv zipped and there was a text that said that those kind of shows are not showed here! XD omg! I tried to turn on the tv to change the channel, but I couldn't, it always zipped right away. So I couldn't look at the tv anymore XD It was annoying, but how it happened really made me lol.
DAY 4
Thursday, Dec 31st, 2009
It was my first morning alone, and it didn't start that well. I woke up around 6.30, when a huge group of some dudes where marching outside the hostel yelling "WASSHOI! WASSHOI!" I had no idea what that was, and for a while I was a bit worried. It continued for a while, so I couldn't really sleep anymore. And the tv still didn't work -__- The day before me and Kumiko planned to go buy Countdown uchiwas from Tokyo Dome, and we were supposed to wake up really early for that, but I found out there wouldn't be individual uchiwas this year, so we decided not to. I met her and her boyfriend around noon, and we decided to go check Tokyo Dome anyway.
KinKi kids were having concerts in Tokyo Dome around that time, so along with Countdown goods they were also selling Kinki goods, and there were Kinki props around the area. We went to Tokyo Dome City to find something to eat. There's a Moomin Cafe in there, that has Moomin goods and there's a bakery and a restaurant that has Finnish-like food. At least supposedly, the food wasn't that Finnish XD We decided to go eat there. It looked like a popular place, we had to line up for a while and the place was full. You could also stay there for only 2 hours. I wasn't sure if it was okay to take pictures there so I didn't. Some Moomin goods had Finnish text, so Kumiko made me read them aloud XD She also learned to pronounce one sentence :D
We had no idea what to do next, so after thinking Kumiko asked if I would like to go see Nittele Tower. Nittele, or NTV or Nippon terebi is the tv channel also Hidarime is on, so we thought maybe there would be posters or something. So we headed to Shiodome next. Unfortunately, no Hidarime anywhere, but the little shop had some goods from dramas like Samurai High School and Gokusen, and also there was Bandage stuff!! They were just brought to be on sale, and there was a little tv with Jin's interview. Also, outside was a huge screen playing Bandage PV. I was laughed at again because of my fangirlism XD
After that I went back to my hostel for a few hours, until I went to Kumiko's again. The whole family plus Kuu's boyfriend were there to have the last dinner of the year. It was huge, there were lots of sushi, rice, miso soup, tempura and other stuff. Really good, though. We also watched Kouhaku, because I wanted to see NYC boys 8D Kumiko gave me an old penlight she had and said: "You can use it tonight" XD ...And I did. Ohhh Yamada, I didn't really understand much what happened in the performance because I was so struck by the prettiness of Yamada. In a big HD TV. After Kouhaku the parents went to sleep, but we stayed up to watch Johnny's Countdown. It was a really nice way to change the year ♥ I only had one complainment: I was freezing! Japanese houses are cold, it was like 17C inside when we have at least 23C. I'm not used to that D: But other than that it was nice!
DAY 5
Friday, Jan 1st, 2010
Kumiko's family was going to have a New Year's lunch with relatives, and I had other plans for the day anyway so I woke up already around 7 to get back to my hostel. On the way there I went to my first konbini shopping spree of the trip XD I got an onigiri, that Lemon water I'm addicted to (drank like thousands of litres it the last time too), more the same Pocky I had got from Kumiko's mom, and of course Ghana Milk Chocolate, advertised by our very own Hey!Say!7. IT WAS GOOD and during the trip I ended up buying it like almost every day. *coughs*
I had planned to go to Johnny's Shop that day, and from past experience I knew I should go get the ticket early. I went around 10, and there were surprisingly few people, not just going to the shop but in Harajuku overall. I guess most were celebrating New Year with their families, going to the shrines and all that. Well, I got the ticket for 12.30, so I had a few hours to spend before that. I went to Takeshita Dori to freshen my memory of all the shops there are. As you can see from the picture, there's surprisingly few people XD
Also, I walked around to find an ad of Bloody Monday 2! It was sooo pretty. As it was New Year's day, all shops had started their winter sale. Already on Takeshita there were huge lines to the shops, but this has to be the longest ever, it was going for Laforet. Yes, all those people in the big below, and the line continues around the corner! That's just crazy XD
I went to line up for Johnny's Shop right at 12.30. I didn't have to wait for longer than 45 minutes before I got in. Oh god how I love this shop, I could easily waste all my money in there. I ended up buying a few *coughs* shop photos - surprisingly mostly Yamada - and a NYC Boys photo album for the pretty pics as well as a NYC boys notebook, which I don't really need but it was cheap and pretty (why do I feel like I use this excuse way too much?)
After, I went to Shibuya. Again. I had just read from the net that there should be Yamanade ads around already, but I hadn't seen them. I decided to go walk around Shibuya, and tadah, I found one!
Also I went to Tower records to get Loveless, and then to my fave shop again to see what I'd find. Those second hand cds are awesome, they're so cheap, yet the condition is great! I bought Koda Kumi's album, Real Face live, Niini dvd (I was distracted by smiling Yamada in the cover... and it was cheap again!) and I made the most amazing discovery. Full dramas are usually over 100€, it's crazy! But they had Yukan Club, used AND on sale, and it was frickin 40€! SO CHEAP. I didn't have to think for long if I'd buy it or not. I love Yukan Club ♥ And lmao it comes with a keyholder and A PUZZLE.
I also went to get my first bento of the trip. I'm really picky when it comes to food, so tbh I couldn't eat all of it XD But most of it was good.
DAY 6
Saturday, Jan 2nd, 2010
This would be THE day. Hey!Say!JUMP Concert tour 2009-2010 in Yokohama. I was supposed to meet Kai Lin, a Singaporean "friend" that had got me the ticket, as early as 7am in the morning in front of Yokoari. To make sure I wouldn't be late, I put on the alarm to wake me up a bit before 5am. And then I woke up... at 5.15! ALARM FAIL. I have no idea what happened, but it had turned off. I was so lucky to wake up. I rushed to do my hair and make-up, ran to the train station and luckily made it to the train in time. I had to switch trains twice to get to Shin Yokohama. I was there just around 7, and Kai Lin arrived quite soon. The concert goods would go on sale at 9.30, but she had seen people lining up already the day before, so that's why we decided to go that early. We got to the line a bit after 7am.
This was an hour before the goods started selling, and even we weren't even close to the start of the line XD It was a bit cold, but the time went quite fast when we started talking. She was reeally nice! After 9.30 we lined up for another 2 hours before getting the goods. I bought Pamphlet, T-shirt, penlight, Trading cards and shopping bag. In the pic below there's also that strap that I grabbed in the 3rd con when it fell from the ceiling.
The concert would start at 5.30pm, and we would get in an hour earlier, so we had plenty of time to spend. We went to get something to eat, and walked around the shops and just hanged out around the station and concert area. As it has been said, there really WAS yakuza-looking dudes around there selling concert tickets for high prices XD It was funny. After hours of waiting it was finally the time to go back to Yokoari. We were supposed to meet another Singaporean girl Kai Lin had got the ticket for, but they had just said "In front of Yokoari" which I was afraid would be impossible, the place was full of people! Just before we almost gave up, we found the girl, and quickly ran to line up. Soon, they started letting us in.
The seats were on Block B, which is far from the main stage, but I knew it would be close to the front stage and sidewalks, and it was line 4. I knew it would be good. But I had no idea how good. When we got in and looked for our seats, we just went closer and closer. IT WAS LIKE 3-4 METRES AWAY FROM THE SIDEWALK, and the front stage was superclose too. We actually started screaming and shaking each other XD It was crazy! I was so close. I would see Yamada really closely. I was ready to pass out.
I won't get into detail about the con, as this report is already so long, and I've made a con repo before. Just saying that the seat was really awesome, and the boys were so close it's unreal. The first time they started running towards us, the feeling was amazing, my heart was beating so fast. SO FRICKIN CLOSE. I saw everyone so well as they passed by. I've already said it thousand times, but Yamada is way too gorgeous to exist, irl he gets even better, I'm just unable to comprehend how amazing he looks, and that smile oh my dear god, even the whole aura around him is awesome. At one point when he passed by quickly, I thought he might have seen me, as he looked at my direction and smiled a bit, but I wasn't sure. Now I'm quite sure though, since Daiki in the 3rd con and Jin in Bandage premiere (more about those later) had the exact same face when they saw me XD SO I GUESS OH MY GOD? Was that smile directed to me or not, I'm not 100% sure, but it was amazing either way. And Chinen. Well his peace sign was 100% sure directed to me, because he reacted when I peace'd back. I was already in the middle of the con quite sure that Chinen is my new official second favourite, but that totally left no doubt. Chinen is awesome, he was such a sweetheart!
Oh and about juniors, OH TAIGA IS SO PRETTY. At one point he was dancing a whole song like 3 metres away from me, that's when I came to that conclusion. He looks amazing irl. And excuse my shallowness but so does Fuma and I'm back to liking him XD Nakaken looks a hundred times better irl too. Hokuto is adorable, but he looks the same XD Yugo just has no presence whatsoever.
After the concert I was really happy, but tired, because I had walked the whole day in high heels XD So I just wanted to get quickly back to my hostel to rest. And also flail about the con and what happened with Chinen and everything. Kai Lin left to different direction, but I went back to Tokyo with the other girl, she was nice too.
DAY 7
Sunday, Jan 3rd, 2010
I was supposed to meet my friend Ruriko at Ueno station, and we would go together to Ginza to meet her friend and have lunch. At first I was confused on where to meet, there are too many exists XD So I had to call her, and we found each other. We took a subway to Ginza to meet the friend. She was so cute and nice! She also speaked English really well, as she had spent a few years in the US. We spoke mostly in Japanese though. We went to eat yakiniku, and it was oh sooo delicious. After that we decided to go to karaoke. I was ready to impress them by knowing the whole rap of SNOW EXPRESS XD They were really impressed overall too how well I managed to read and sing in Japanese. I was glad 8D I looove karaoke, we had so much fun! Ruriko's friend had to leave earlier, but we continued singing. After that we walked around Ginza a bit and took pictures, but Ruriko had to go home, so I headed back to the hostel too.
In the evening I was bored, and really frustrated at the TV. I decided to find out what's wrong with it, and after fighting with it for a while I managed to change the settings, found the problem and WOHOO, THE TV WORKED AGAIN. PARTY'S ON. So the rest of the evening I just spent watching tv XD Mostly Nittele, in the hopes of seeing a CM of Hidarime...
And that was the end of my first week in Tokyo. In the next part 2 you'll hear about meeting more friends, two more HSJ concerts, random Finnish people, and ending up from a club to karaoke with some ojiisan ?!