나는비비안. 지금나는인천공항에 있어요. 하글 type uh… I can. 모르게서. 시발, 나의 책을 잊었어요. (XINLEI, YOU HAVE MY KOREAN BOOK! You’ll have to give it back to me sometime T__T)

와, 이거 “pear drink” = 너무 단것 (???).

Since my Korean sucks and I can’t type anything, really, that makes sense, let’s list what foods I had this time!

SIDE DISHES

김치 (Of course…)

MAIN DISHES

국밥 (Delicious……………..!!!!!!!!! I want to eat it now!!!!!!!!!!)

떡볶이 (Same ol’, same ol’ — didn’t actually see 볶이 anywhere!)

오뗑 (Meh)

버페 (Vegetarian buffet @ New Start — clockwise from top: eggplant, candied yam, spring roll, tofu, soybeans, weird apple cinnamon mash thing, vegan quesadilla, and in the center, potatoes and vegetarian flour pancake thing.)

된장지개
해물파전
김치순두부지개
빵
김밥

DRINKS

바나나우유 (Well, I’ve made myself sick of it. Naturally.)

“링빵” (Well, not in cake form, but doughnut form. )

햇밤우유 (So good, kinda tasted like coffee milk…)

아침햇살 (Some kind of rice milk, I think. YUM!)

민트초코레트
커피
허니레몬
맥주

SWEETS

와플 (Waffle with tiramisu gelato!)

바나나초코레트

More later, MAYBE. Flght’s boarding to go to Narita.

Dude, in other news, I’m pissed! Twice now I’ve paid for internet at Narita and it’s just fucked up! This time I changed companies, thinking maybe it would be better, but at the moment, I think it’s worse! Fuck this shit! For motherfucking $6 a day I damn expect it to work and to work awesomely. I mean, the Taiwan airport has free internet. Damn you, Narita. Damn you to hell. So ghetto. Still not fixed. Godamn it Narita; time’s a tickin’ and money’s a drainin’. Not that I can even complain to someone, cause the last time I asked for any kind of help in Narita (losing my jacket and trying to claim it from the ridiculously lost and found and then being utterly unable to communicate what kind of jacket it was that I lost) soured me in asking Japanese people for help in any capacity than looking for directions or something! It’s just too hard to communicate.

In the meantime, I guess I’ll just keep adding shit to this and hope that the internet comes back in time for my flight for me to actually post it, cause if not, that’d be stupid, too.

General observations about Korea, which is no doubt the weirdest freaking Asian country I’ve been to:

THE PEOPLE ARE HIVE-MINDED AS FUCK.
Everyone is the godamn same! They all wear the same kinds of clothes (the fashion is boring as can be, which was a huge disappointment), drink the same drinks, eat the same things, listen to the same music… it’s sooooooo boring.

THE SUBWAY 90%+ OF THE TIME SMELLS LIKE OLD PEOPLE AND KIMCHI.
It’s truly horrible. That’s all there is to that. The only times it didn’t smell like that was like, at 11:00 in the morning when no one was really riding the subway. It’s truly, truly foul.

SEOUL IS LIKE A CONFUSED WESTERNIZED COUNTRY.
Everything in Seoul seems to have a huge Western feel, which makes it a really weird place and really different from other “first-world” Asian countries I’ve been to (and even different from developing Asian countries I’ve been to). Nearly everything has English signs and a shitload of their signs are in Konglish or English — generally making pretty decent sense, even.

SWEET SHIT REIGNS THE FOOD MARKET.
If you look at Korean imported drinks in America, the ingredients are surprisingly similar to those in American soft drinks. If you look at the same drinks imported from Taiwan or Japanese, they are generally pumped with sugar, yes, but at least it’s sugar. Korean drinks, on the other hand, taste fake, even when they taste good. They’re pretty much all high-fructose corn syrup, and some have phenylalanine. As a drink whore, I still drank a good array of shit in Seoul, but I showed

ATTENTION TO DETAIL IS KEY.
All new restaurants, all tour book guides, all the subway messages, hell, even the airport shuttle bus… it’s all done very, very well, generally with an adorable flair of kid-like proportions. Attention to detail seems pretty immense.

THINGS ARE APPARENTLY BETTER NEW.
From houses to eyelids, all things seem better if newly renovated in Korea… including older neighborhoods, which are being demolished by the dozen to make room for newer condos.

MOST PEOPLE SPEAK AT LEAST A *LITTLE* ENGLISH.
As opposed to Japan where people will barely ever talk to you in English even if they know some, in Seoul, it seems like everyone speaks a little English, including old ahjusshis and ahjummas. And I find that even if they don’t really know English in Seoul, they will at least try and talk to you. Which is appreciable.

WASHINGTON, D.C (Press Release)–The following is the text of a joint Rewards For Justice – Federal Bureau of Investigation statement on a reward offer for information about terrorist suspect Husayn Muhammed al-Umari:

The U.S. Department of State has authorized a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Husayn Muhammed al-Umari (also known as Abu Ibrahim).

Husayn Muhammed al-Umari is wanted by the FBI for his alleged participation in the August 11, 1982 bombing of Pan American World Airways flight 830, which resulted in the murder of one passenger, the wounding of 16 passengers, and the attempted murder of 267 passengers and the crew on board. Al-Umari was one of three people indicted for the terrorist act and is alleged to have designed and built the explosive device which detonated while the aircraft was in flight from Narita, Japan to Honolulu, Hawaii.

Al-Umari was charged in the District of Columbia’s U.S. District Court with: (1) Conspiracy to commit assault and damage to property; (2) conspiracy to commit murder, (3) murder; (4) aircraft sabotage; (5) damaging aircraft used in foreign commerce (6) placing bombs on aircraft; (7) assault; (8) attempted aircraft sabotage, and (9) aiding and abetting.

In 1998, a co-conspirator, Mohammad Rashed, who placed the bomb on the aircraft, was arrested and brought to the United States. He pleaded guilty to his role in the bombing and signed a cooperation agreement as part of his plea.

Believed to be a master bomb maker and one-time leader of the “15 May” terrorist group, al-Umari also has been indicted by the Government of France for his alleged role in the 1985 bombing of the Marks and Spencer Department store in Paris and the Leumi Bank.

Al-Umari was born in 1936 in Jaffa, in the former British mandate of Palestine. He is about 5 feet, 8 inches tall, with a medium to large build and light complexion. He is believed to have black or graying hair and may be balding. He has brown eyes and is believed to wear glasses. He has scars on both hands and his right forearm. He may possess a passport from Lebanon, where his wife reportedly lives. He is the father of two sons and two daughters. He lived for several years in Iraq. While his current whereabouts are unknown, it is possible that he is residing in Lebanon or Iraq.

He reportedly travels at all times with a firearm and should be considered armed and dangerous. He is reported to have received training from various terrorist and intelligence groups including the defunct Soviet KGB, German Red Army Faction, Irish Republican Army, Basque Fatherland and Liberty, and the Japanese Red Army.

More information about Husayn Muhammed al-Umari is located on the Rewards for Justice website (www.rewardsforjustice.net/umari). The FBI also has placed al-Umari on its Most Wanted Terrorists website (www.fbi.gov/wanted/terrorists/fugitives.htm).

We encourage anyone with information on Husayn Muhammed al-Umari’s location to contact the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate, any U.S. military commander, or the Rewards for Justice office via the website (www.rewardsforjustice.net), e-mail (RFJ@state.gov) or mail (Rewards for Justice, Washington, DC 20520-0303, USA).

All information will be kept strictly confidential.

Since its inception in 1984, the Rewards for Justice Program has paid more than $80 million to more than 50 persons who provided credible information that has resulted in the capture or death of terrorists or prevented acts of international terrorism.

The Pan Am Flight 830 investigation is being handled by the FBI’s Washington Field Office (WFO). Inquiries and information about this investigation should be directed to the FBI WFO’s public information office at 202-278-3519.
*
Preceding provided by the U.S. State Department

5 years ago, I walk into the field of architecture with my best skill of artist and my proud knowledge from Mahidol Wittayanusorn school of science. I did not expect anything from this field, but I thought that architecture should have been the easiest way to graduate. Not so long time ago, my meaning of “Architecture” was changed. I saw many under-constructional areas around my village. Those places had been farm before, but then, they were just the surface of concrete and concrete housing.

Kanjanaburi, photo by Sw Eden on Flickr

Thailand is considered as a perfect country which its land can grow almost kinds of agricultural plants, and has a vast area of forest. King Bhumibol Adulyadej has kept teaching people to head to develop agriculture instead of industrial. Thailand is already good at agriculture, but Thai people just need to make it better and greater. Only less number of capitalists can hear what the King says. They have changed green lands to be nongreen buildings to make a lot of money. My family has been one of foolish people who stepped into their traps. 1997, when I was 10 years old, my family moved to their housing, which built on top of a lotus farm. Many city people love to move out from the crowd areas into suburban housing. They escape from traffic-jam streets and high-pollution air. Most of them have to have their own cars to use in rush hour to go to work in the city. They waste the gas/benzine and also waste the material to make the cars.

Moving Car, photo by Sw Eden on Flickr

The happy life with fresh air could not stay with the city people in suburban so long. When the capitalists invested in malls or supermarkets around those housings, the peaceful areas became the expanded city. The air and noise pollution came into the place. The time to move has come again then. The green areas have been destroyed very fast around many cities in Thailand, such as Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Songkla. Most capitalists do not do a green design, because they just want to pay less. They put a beautiful picture of house with a big grass field on the advertising board. We call those boards, “Air Junk”, because they hide all scenery and wind. People pay for those advertising housing projects before seeing the real houses. Most of real-estate projects in Thailand, people need to pay for every step to build a house, not pay for a finished house. The results that they get are small green areas, because most of green areas are cut to be the main circulation of the project, and that is made by concrete.

The expansion of the city may be a good economic sign in the business term or for the government, but in fact, it is a sign of disaster for environment and for an agriculture country as Thailand. The houses, buildings and factory keep releasing heat and toxic into the natural resources. They do not only hurt the nature by themselves, but they are also harmful for the agriculture areas around. Thai Government announced that rain of all province was not drinkable, because it contained very toxic substance. Although the toxic makers are in the city, the toxic can spread around many places, covering the tropical jungle area in Nakornsritummarach, the north east of Thailand.

Sprash Water, Thai Kid, photo by Sw Eden on Flickr

Cathleen McGuigan wrote on NewWeek.com under a topic of “The Bad News About Green Architecture” about the unpleasantness in the design of green building. She described that the green buildings work so good by themselves, but people still have to drive to work. In my opinion, moral is more important than an object. One Bryant Park has a system of recapturing rainwater which is good, but many people who do not pay for the water bill will never think about saving the water. For example, many women always turn on the tap when they are doing their hair in public restrooms, and many men liked to do that when they are shaving. I have visited a company that my parent worked with, and I saw the janitor turn on all taps in the restroom at the same time to clean an individual sink. Moreover, he spilled some detergent on the restroom floor, and he used whole roll of paper towel to absorb it, then he threw that roll away. Paper is made by the trees. If only people waste and kind of material, that is the way they waste the energy, because all manufacture processes have to use the energy. This mean many people cannot change their attitude, if the results do not impact them directly. If we can change their habits, the world will be able to save the energy by this method more than the green design many times.

Want to pee again, photo by Sw Eden on Flickr

Not only the gray water system that One Bryant Park has, it also has air-condition ventilator on the floor. Most of buildings in the world have air-condition on the ceiling, which is far from human living space. What One Bryant Park does should be so good during the winter, because people love to feel hotter at their feet and feel colder at their heads.

Green design is enjoyable as people love to hang out in the park. People like the sun rather than a electric bulb. I always cheer the green design, but we have to accept that there is no building in the world can be 100% green. Although the big window can save the electricity used in bulb, the building also lose its heat in the winder through the window about 30 times bigger than the wall. If the office loves to use air-condition so much, the big window can also heat the interior up as the system of greenhouse effect. The better way to save the energy during the summer is using fans and open windows instead of air-condition, but it is still the problem for the offices in the high pollution areas.

Narita Airport Facade, photo by Sw Eden on Flickr

One of the towers of K Bank (Kasikorn) in Thailand uses a special kind of glass for their facade. Its glass does not create greenhouse effect as other towers do. The color of its glasses seems white and can reflect the light very well. It is not dark color that will absorb the heat into the glass itself. Considering about the north pole, Greenland and the south pole, they are not only the cold place to keep the world cold, but they are also big white areas to reflect the heat out from the world. I tried to say that the colors of facade and rooftop are very important, too.

I went to Japan accidentally when the flight to USA was delayed. Narita Airport sent Thai people into its hotel for one night. It was winter at that time. We could not make a far trip, because we did not have Japanese visas. I walked to see its swimming pool. It was surprising me that it was covered by half-sphere glasses, and the water was one of the glass’ layers. The temperature was quite fine. The water can act better than the gas or air space actually. If you are a Bible reader and you can remember the Great Flood (Noah’s Ark), the water was from the sky and that means the planet earth had been surrounded by the water. The water can prevent many kinds of rays from the universe and the sun, and it acts very well in this Japanese swimming pool. The Bible also shows that after the Great Flood, humans’ ages were reduces from 800 to be less than 100 years old. Humans’ genes began to have mistake, because the water-atmosphere was destroyed. Brother and sister could not marry anymore after that time.

Koh Chang Tropicana Thai Spa, photo by Sw Eden on Flickr

For the case of using gray water in flush toilets, I cannot say that the toxic rain may destroy the toilet, and the owners may need to pay more to repair whole things. I had talked with a ship owner when I went to at the south ocean of Thailand. I asked him for the reason that he still used tab water for flush toilets in the ship, because he could get salt water from the sea very easily. He told me that salt water had destroyed his flush toilets before. I cannot fully believe in his words, when I think about how much pH in human’s urine comparing with pH in salt water. The rainwater should not have less pH than human’s urine, too. That’s mean using gray water may be good enough to be considered as a part of green design.

The Gherkin Building in London should be praised, especially its system of natural air ventilation which is created by the tower’s aerodynamic form and ‘double skin’ facade (Hannah Bullock, http://www.forumforthefuture.org.uk, 2003). Moreover it support the biking people by its bicycle service.

Queen Sirikit Botanic Garden, photo by Sw Eden on Flickr

For car industry, many new electricity cars were produced, because people believe that using the electric city is better for environment rather that using benzene. If they consider about electricity producing process, both types of cars are not much different. Most electricity is from coal factory outside the city. To use electricity cars is only move the pollution in the city to outside the city. All still heat up the world.

To get a clear energy may cost higher at the first installing, but it works very well in long term and it is also good to the world, too. The words that pop-up in your head should be solar, wind and water from dam. We can also think about other cheaper things to install, such as roof pond and water coil on the roof to make hot water for hot country.

Concrete Dam Water Container, photo by Sw Eden on Flickr

Dams are something truly green, although they do not look green. A dam does not only produce a lot of electricity, but it can be the biggest green project in the world. Although the government have to destroy a lot of forest area to make a dam and the concrete surface can heat up the temperature around, the dam can keep the water to serve people all year long. When people have water to use, especially for agriculture, they will create the evergreen lands around the rivers, because the rivers have never dried. The places that had been desert during the summer time, the dams can make it to be evergreen territory for whole year. I visited many dams in Thailand during my vacations. The weather was quite hot, especially on the highest part of the dams. People cannot stand without umbrellas in the sunny day. I looked into the town side, and I was very impressed. All territory was green with banana and rice farms. That dam is, “Kun-Dan” Dam (เขื่อนขุนด่าน) in Nakorn Nayok.

เขื่อนขุนด่าน Kun-Dan Dam, photo by Sw Eden on Flickr

I was in a seminar of Dr. Smith Dharmasaroja with other Silpakorn University professors and students in 2008. Dr. Smith explained about the disaster from the dam in the north part of the world. He said that that the current planet earth was just like a feeble spinning top with 23 degree leaning, and if people kept making dams above the equator, the earth would be end faster. Most of the lands on the earth are above the equator, so most of the dams will be above equator, too. This may be real, but I cannot fully believe it, because I cannot know if the south part of the world is exact the below part of the spinning top. The words, “North Pole” and “South Pole” are only what humans used to call for representation. (The first map was made by European, so they would love to show themselves on the North.) If we do not consider about what Dr. Smith said, the dam is still not so useful in many ways as I mentioned before.

Snow At prospect park, photo by Sw Eden on Flickr

I also have another reason to support that the south pole can be the top part of the world, if the world acts like a spinning top. Generally, we know that a biggest ozone hole is at the south pole, and the air of south pole is the lowest moisture air in the world (like the desert air). That mean the south pole does not have much of substance in atmosphere. If we notice the hurricane which acts in the same way, we will see the cloudless space at the eye of hurricane, which is the top part of it. That is the reason that I guess that the south pole is the real top side of the world. You can simply test this method at home. You just have a bowl of water with some sand or dust in it, and then you stir the water around; you will see the dust crowd at the bottom, and the water is hollow at the top when you are stirring.

NASA already found the water on the moon. It also loves to research the Mar. That means humans are looking for new places to live. Why don’t they want to make the world better rather than being hopeless to keep the world green. We cannot stop people who cut the trees down. We cannot stop people who burn the forest. We cannot stop people who keep punching the holes at the north pole for their ice testings (the ice melts faster if the bigger surface touch the water). We cannot stop people who consume everything wastefully. The results are bigger and stronger hurricanes and toxic. Finally, their acts just kill other innocent people who may have never hurt the world.

I’m listening to… Bowerbirds.

Quick update as it is 1:20am here and I’m to wake up at 6:00am to go to Hong Kong in the morning. Had a long ass fucking day going from Seattle to Narita, Japan to Taipei, Taiwan. Can I just say that Chinese people are ridiculous? I mean, I’m Chinese or whatever, so I say this in partial jest and partial honesty. But I hate Chinese society and cultural norms, man. Everyone is sooo impatient and sooo loud and just need to fucking chillax. People are constantly cutting in line in front of me at the godamn airport — like really, do you need to get to your rotting air plane seat faster? Chill some fucking lax!

I watched “Up” on the plane finally. It was pretty good. Some parts definitely made me laugh out loud — mostly parts involving the talking doggie, Doug.

I also got vegetarian meals, and my first meal of the day had palak paneer, which was fucking awesome!! The other meals were a lot more eh. But ehh. Still better than the chicken teriyaki everyone else was eating. It’s kinda ridiculous that non-vegetarians are like just… tons of meat. Like, “Here, you can choose between chicken teriyaki or freaking steak with potatoes.” Ridonkulous.

Oh yeah, I told my mom I had Indian food on the plane and she was like, “EW!” and the proceeded to say that everyone on her flight — like 80% — was Indian, and there was another 10% that was Vietnamese. And I was like, “I bet you hated it,” and she basically said yeah, so I called her horrible. She’s so racist against Indians. And also against the Vietnamese. Not really sure why. But I do know that’s un-Christian as fuck.

Another movie that was showing was the Jamie Foxx and whats-his-face movie, “The Soloist.” Boring. And don’t understand why it’s freaking everywhere. But I love the simplicity in the cinematography. Really dug it.

Anyhoot.

Time to go to bed, I reckonz.

ANA (All Nippon Airways) Boeing 747-481 JA8098 (msn 25207) NRT, originally uploaded by Airliners Gallery.

ANA (All Nippon Airways) (Tokyo-Haneda) will be phasing out the remaining three Boeing 747-400s (JA8098,JA8958,JA8962) in 2010. All three aircraft are deployed on charters, except for occasionally substituting for the Boeing 777s on the Tokyo (Narita)-Paris (CDG) route. 10 747-400Ds (without the winglets) will remain in service on trunk domestic routes, although they are likely to be phased out with delivery of the Boeing 787 Dreamliners.

Copyright Photo: Michael B. Ing.

Please click on photo or link below for full view, information, prints for sale and other photos:

http://airlinersgallery.com/2/20c752d/#/gallery/ana-all-nippon-airways/ana-747-400-ja8098-83-apr-nrt-m0-lr-901335/

Kansai International Aiport (KIX) is the second most important airport in Japan (after Narita in Tokyo) and the main airline hub for the Kansai area, which includes Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe, Wakayama, and many other large cities. KIX is located on an artificial island in Osaka Bay, near Sennan and Izumisano Cities in southern Osaka Prefecture. It is connected to the land by a 3 km (2 mile) bridge that carries rail and road traffic, and also by ferry services.

The island built for this airport turned Osaka Prefecture, formerly the smallest prefecture in Japan in terms of land area, into the second smallest in Japan, putting Kagawa Prefecture in last. There have been problems with the island sinking slowly each year, but they have been mitigated for the most part, naturally and due to technological innovations. Fear of strong crosswinds affecting rail traffic has also been assuaged through installation of protective barriers. KIX survived severe typhoon winds and the 1995 Great Awaji-Hanshin Earthquake without significant damage.

The airport was designed by world-famous Italian architect Renzo Piano, and the terminal is the longest in the world at 1.7 km in length (it is served by a tram/train). There are two runways, and a third is planned as part of a future expansion. KIX has a good variety of restaurants and facilities, and just across the bridge is Rinku Town, one of the most extensive and entertaining shopping areas in all of Osaka Prefecture. You can also stay in the ANA Gate Tower Hotel at Rinku Town, located in the Rinku Gate Tower Building, the second tallest building in Japan after Yokohama’s Landmark Tower (Rinku Gate Tower is the same height as Osaka City’s WTC Cosmo Tower).

KIX is about 35-45 min. by limited express train (JR or Nankai Railways) from central Osaka City, and JR trains continue through Osaka all the way to Kyoto. Check out KIX’s website here. When you visit Osaka next, come through Kansai International Airport and learn why it is considered on of the best airports in the world.

Here is another good post on KIX that focuses more on the interesting architecture design of the airport and contains a number of terminal-building photographs.

So, jetzt bin ich wieder in Deutschland, dem Land der Klos ohne Klobrillenheizung, Bidet-Funktion und Geruchsabsaugung, dem Land der unfreundlichen Zöllner und anderer Gestalten.

Aber nochmal zurück nch Japan. Am letzten Tag des Urlaubs stand noch Nikko auf dem Programm. Was schon mal insgesamt 5 Stunden Fahrt im Bus bedeutet. Daher auch der Vorschlag des Reiseleiters, dort nach der Besichtingung ein Mittagessen einzunehmen. Er kenne dort ein Restaurant mit günstigem Mittagstisch, wo man einige Gerichte zur Auswahl hat. Er nannte vier verschiedene Gerichte und kündigte an, eine halbe Stunde vor dem Mittag nochmal nachzufragen, wer den welches Gericht haben wolle (zwecks Vorbestellung). Nun sollte man annehmen, dass erwachsene Menschen in der Lage sind, sich innerhalb von zwei Stunden für eines von vier Gerichten oder die Option “will nix” zu entscheiden. Sollte man? Es kam die Zeit des Nachfragens.

Erster Versuch: 25 Meldungen bei 22 Personen. Naja, immerhin fand sich eine, die zugab, zwei Gerichte gewählt zu haben. Ach so, die Nudelsuppen sind so groß wie sonst auch? Na dann nur ein Gericht.

Zweiter Versuch: Mitten in der Zählung der erhobenen Hände für Gericht Nr.3 kam irgendwo von hinten ein “Ach nee, ich nehem lieber den Curry-Reis, nicht den Gemüse-Reis”.
Irgendwie kann ich verstehen, dass der Reiseleiter langsam genervt war (das hier erzählte hat durchaus representativen Charakter für andere Vorkommnisse).

Dritter Versuch: Endlich passte die Zahl der geäußerten Wünsche zu der der anwesenden Personen.
Muss ich noch extra erwähnen, dass es – wie hätte es auch anders sein können -  im Restaurant eine Nudelsuppe zu wenig war?

Noch so ein Highlight: Reiseleiter besorgt Eintrittskarten (ist in Nikko ein langer Zettel mit mehreren Eintrittskarten drauf für die verschiedenen Tempel), Reiseleiter verteilt Eintrittskarten. Die, die schon eine Karte haben laufen schon mal langsam los zum ersten Tempel. Plötzlich kommte von hinten die Frage: “Hat jemand zwei Karten? Es fehlt eine.” Die meisten schauen natürlich brav nach, haben aber nur eine. Also musste noch eine Karte nachgekauft werden. Erst beim letzten(!) Tempel fällt auf, dass ein Teilnehmer vom Kartenabreisser (an dem er zunächst einmal unter völligem Ignorieren vorbeigelatscht ist), auf seine doppelte Eintrittskarte angesprochen wird. Vom Reiseleiter zur Rede gestellt lautete die lapidare Antwort: “Ach? Ich dachte man braucht zwei Karten.” Is klar, zwei absolut identische Eintrittskarten. Immerhin hat die Dumpfbacke dann bereitwillig die zusätzlich gekaufte Karte bezahlt.

Nachdem Nikko dann endlich geschafft und die Gruppe verköstigt war, sind wir noch kurz um die Ecke zum Kegon Wasserfall gefahren. Dank des schönen Wetters war er auch gut sichtbar – die Gruppe im letzten Jahr, wo ich auf Nikko verzichtet hatte, konnte hinterher von einem rein akustischen Erlebnis berichten.

Abends dann noch ein gemeinsames Abendessen mit der Gruppe (halt wieder eine Menge verschiedener Kleinigkeiten, so dass eine Gruppenabstimmung zum Glück vorher nicht nötig war), hinterher noch ein Bierchen und dann ab ins Hotel, zur letzten Übernachtung in Japan.

Morgens dann um 5:30 raus, Frühstück, Koffer fertig packen, 7:00 Abfahrt nach Narita. Also von mir aus können die ruhig Haneda zum internationalen Flughafen von Tokyo machen, der liegt deutlich näher. Anyway, einchecken, Sicherheits- und Passkontrolle, noch ein par “Leckereien” einkaufen und rein in den Flieger.

Die Sitze im Flieger waren wohl von der Reiseagentur vorreserviert worden. Und die hatten wohl gedacht sie tuen uns einen Gefallen, wenn wir Fensterplätze bekommen. *SEUFZ* Da war ich froh, dass in Frankfurt endlich ein bisschen Bewegung angesagt war. Zunächst ging es von einem Ende von Terminal 1 zum genau entgegengesetzten, wo mein Gate für den Weiterflug nach Düsseldorf lag. Also brav an das Gate gesetzt, das auf meiner Bordkarte stand. Aber in Frankfurt wird derzeit ja ein wenig gebaut, so dass da keiner so genau weiss, welcher Flieger wann wo abfliegt. Boarding war für 16:10 angesetzt, um 15:50 kam dann die Durchsage: “Sollten sich noch Passagiere für Flug LH 808 an Gate A1 befinden, bitte begeben sie sich zu Gate A15.” Ja, woher hätte man das auch wissen sollen, wenn auf der Karte A1 steht und an der Anzeigetafeln nur A (weil, wie gesagt, dort offenbar keiner weiss, was wann wo wohin fliegt). Und es ging nicht nur mir so, da walzte plötzlich eine mittelgroße Menschenmasse durch den Flughafen zum bis dahin verwaisten Gate A15.

Immerhin, der Flug war pünktlich. Und ich war verdammt froh, als ich endlich wieder daheim war.

UPDATE: So, hier noch schnell ein Foto der kulinarischen Mitbringsel

KitKat しょうゆ wird bestimmt der Renner

“A wizard is never late, he arrives precisely when he means to!”, Gandalf

Unfortunately, I am not a wizard, so I can’t really use that excuse. My lack of input has been down to college and me being extremely lazy. Plus, it’s a little disheartening writing all this stuff when no one actually reads it, but I’m Anglo-Irish (therefore, inherently awesome and godly) so I’ll get by and stick to my imperial guns. If there’s anyone out there (I sound like Robert Neville from I Am Legend), please stay tuned for the other parts, as writing this will probably motivate me to write all the others.

Japan is still surprisingly fresh in my mind, even though I came back nearly two months ago; it’s almost impossible to believe. At least it brings me one step closer to my next outing, whenever that may be.

Also, I give serious kudos to the chap that stumbled upon this blog by searching for ‘touronaut’ – you, sir/madam, are the cream of society.

Enjoy the first part of the Adventure.

*  *  *

After having been reassured twice by the Aer Lingus employee at Dublin airport that I would not be seeing my baggage again until Tokyo’s Narita airport, I set off on my trip to London. Landing in England, strolling past the luggage carousels with only mild amusement that my fellow fliers would have to wait several years for their suitcases to be transferred one hundred metres from plane to arrivals, I continued my onward journey in a vain effort to find Heathrow’s Terminal 3.

After about twenty minutes of traipsing through underground tunnels and taking the wrong elevators, I turned up in the airport’s third terminal, not unlike a glorified concrete shed, a very far cry from the cosy and familiar interior of Terminal 1. Everyone seemed to be dressed either like some Afghani goat-herder or Jamaican Rastafarian. Despite feeling somewhat out-of-place, after much ado in attempting to find why Virgin Atlantic’s flight to Japan had already left, I finally got to the right check-in desk (operated by ANA, a completely different airline no less – turns out they share flights with VA) and was told rather apologetically that my luggage may or may not have been delivered to the plane because some sticker or other bit of arbitrarily meaningless paper hadn’t been stuck to my passport indicating that said bag would have to be driven from one plane to another, no doubt a frightfully difficult process. Thankfully, I received my boarding-pass without too much hassle and continuing the theme of sheds and goat-herding, I passed through security like a timid bullock in a huge cattle auction and walked nearly half-an-hour (I kid you not) to my departure gate.  Suddenly, I was surrounded by a lot of Japanese people.

ANA's Boeing 777 to Tokyo - my home for twelve hours.

I had images of my time on the Boeing 777 that would fly me half-way around the planet being some sort of moving paradise. I would sit next to a lecherous Japanese schoolgirl, have a butler constantly on call and that I would have the same amount of leg-room that I had enjoyed on my flight from Dublin to London. I was rather mistaken. Instead of an attractive Japanese woman, I was stuck beside an Anglo-Japanese man that I took an instant dislike to (for no real reason, really) and a middle-aged Japanese woman that spent most of the flight seemingly in some sort of stable coma. Despite having my legs doubled-up upon themselves, I couldn’t  exactly complain about the service that the ANA staff provided – drinks, snacks and meals were constantly supplied and I watched one of Liam Neeson’s new films, Taken,  and some subtitled Japanese film about mountain-climbers charting a conveniently uncharted mountain. Both were brilliant and provided suitable entertainment until I fell asleep somewhere above Moscow and woke up just above Vladivostok with a terrifically bad dead-leg that induced a degree of hypochondria for the remaining three hours it would take for the plane to touch down in Tokyo (and pretty much for the rest of my stay in the East).

Welcome to Japan - ah, good ol' global commercialism.

When I finally landed in Tokyo after what seemed like six months of aimlessly flying around the globe, I was greeted with gloriously torrential rain – Kanto (Japan’s eastern province, home to the capital and Yokohama) was experiencing one of several of its summer typhoons. Of course, me being me, I would never be allowed to leave the plane without some other tragic mishap occurring – within moving five paces from flying vehicle to skybridge, a small notice indicated that I had been paged by ANA staff. ‘Sod’, I thought. When I finally came to the luggage carousels, I was informed that my bag ‘may have not been on the flight’. Being a mild-mannered person, I apologetically filled out their missing-bags form and probably complimented them on their excellent service, perhaps advising them on how to lose other people’s baggage in the future. I was left clutching little else but the hope that my suitcase would turn up within the next two days.

It was 3:30pm and I was starting to smell rather like a lone sports sock found at the bottom of a kit-bag. The one drink I hesitantly bought was cold rice tea. My host, H., was an hour late. Even my stiff upper-lip was beginning to crease. Thankfully, the Fates decided to smile upon me and H. arrived; he had an extremely delightful and accommodating family indeed, and on the way back, I was treated to a view of Tokyo’s night lights which were most impressive. After a brief trip to collect our German friend, D., from my host’s local train-station and we arrived at what would be base-camp for the next fortnight. Sleep was only too welcome.

My host's neighbour's place - what a fantastic building!

I had finally done it. I was in Japan.

Today I’ll be looking at the Natsumatsuri Hibiyayaon concert.  It’s a favorite of mine, so I don’t have all that many bad things to say about it.

Click the pictures for the review, or you can read it all below!

MC

Today’s concert is actually done outside!  This is AKB’s first major outdoor concert, and the idea of a summer festival is present with the lanterns decorated by AKB48 members.  Also, this is AKB’s first actual concert using all three Teams.  Shibuya AX doesn’t count in my opinion.

To start off the show, Nacchinon comes on stage to talk about… whatever they’re talking about, and then they count down for the (live) overture!

Overture

This is the second time the vocalist of ‘Overture’ comes on stage for us.  The first being in AX08.  That time, I don’t think he had ever listened to the overture since he recorded it.  Luckily this time he was better: probably because he heard the overture only eight months ago.  Very little progress was made, despite his wearing of a rainbow purse and a towel over his head.  He even ended his own lyrics with “Are.”  I mean, at least finish the sentence if you decide to start it.  Oh well… On to the short skirts!

Dear My Teacher

Team A does their instructor-pleasing shuffle on stage non-nonchalantly and the concert begins!

My favorite parts of the song are the opening lines with Mai and Rina and then we they come back closer to the start of the chorus.

As you can see, it’s already raining!  I wonder if that’s the reason why there hasn’t been another large-scale concert outside…

What!?  Why are they moving?  Oh wait, does this mean what I think it means: they’re going to sing the second verse!?  Yes.  Yes, it does!

If you listen super closely, during and after the above three’s trio line, you can hear the Team K fans chant “1 + 2 = N-Nacchi.”  I love it.  Best chant ever.

Since so many girls have graduated and/or been added, the second verse has a few new additions like Mariko, Amina, and Fujie.

I definitely forgot that Acchan had lines in this song.  I need to watch A1 again, I think.

As you can see, it’s already raining!  I wonder if that’s the reason why there hasn’t been another large-scale concert outside…

Saishuu Beru ga Naru

Next up is Team K’s fourth Stage’s title song, which happens to be a new favorite in the time period of the concert.  Team K fist pumps out on stage, but with the now damp floor, it seems to be slippery as evidence of Sayaka tripping during the transition.

Natsuki’s back with an awesome hair-do!  Yay!

Please note the water on the camera lens.

I love when they get to perform all the verses of a song.  It gives the whole Team their original parts, and usually is the half of the song that my favorite member sings in.

I love how they had that whole ‘Amai Kokansetsu’ single and one of the reasons for it was the part of the stage that Ohori would often be in during songs due to her popularity.  They said that she was often in the back corner, all the while showing video of ‘Saishuu Beru ga Naru.’  What the viewer doesn’t see is that she mirrors Natsuki during the majority of the song and Natsuki is in the other corner, and that the duo get to be front and center in the first chorus and part of the bridge.

Shounichi

Team B’s most popular song gets presented for the first time here.  I used to dislike how they didn’t get to do their prayer, but in reality, that’s really not part of the song, but it’s more like it’s the intro to B3 and is just associated with the song because it’s similar in concept and immediately before the song when it was performed in the theater.

Just a little earlier that month Sasshi had been promoted, and only a little over a week before this concert, Ayarin was fired.  This kind of shows how Sasshi was given Team B front girl status immediately after she was given a full position.

Look!  A camera!

Aitakatta

Now the entire AKB gets to be on stage at the same time!  Who would have ever thought?

Natsuki gets the first real close-up.  That makes me happy inside.

Team K took off the removable raggedy parts of their costumes like in K4… if you care.

Moeno also was promoted a little while before the concert.  Since they probably only have sixteen ‘Shounichi’ costumes, she’s stuck with the ‘Boku no Sakura’ uniform that the RS wear here.  Also interesting to note: Inoue Naru has yet to graduate.

The current RS join in during the last chorus.  I find it funny that the first time I saw this concert, I had no clue who any of them were, yet now all I can think is about how I love a ton of them!

Nagisa no CHERRY

One of the perfect summer songs actually got a spot here.  I love when they perform seasonal songs in the right season.  Here, Mayuyu takes Acchan’s spot as she’s performed it the most recently.

Harugon, Haachan, and Rabutan get stuck with the back-dancing.  Nakagawa actually seems to out-dance her fellow Haruka despite her side position.

Namida no Shounen

Another fitting A2 song.  We even get a multi-Team cast!

CinDy takes Orii Ayumi’s lines as she does in B2.  It’s nice to see her with her old Team’s members.  She looks less old compared to them than she does with Team B!

Each time I watch this performance I always wonder about how Mai’s hair stays so styled dispite the humidity and rain that’s currently pouring.  I know that I should wonder this about all of the girls, but it’s only Mai’s hair that makes me wonder this.

Nage KISSU de Uchi Otose

Acchan’s unit for the night is her cowboy-costumed one from A3.  It seems like this is the wota fall-back favorite next to ‘Nagisa no CHERRY’ when it comes to Acchan.

Fujie has taken over Masuyama Kayano’s position… this is a very fitting selection.  It just sucks that I like both of them, so I never know which I’d prefer to see in this song at AX.

I love these costumes.  They’re so colorful.  And sparkly.

Gomen ne Jewel

I’ve always felt that these costumes looked a lot like ‘Nage KISSU de Uchi Otose’ and so having them right next to each other in a concert’s set list helps me confirm that they really do look similar and it may very well be on purpose.

The RS’s outfits look even more ‘Nage KISSU’-like…

I’ve heard many people complain about how they don’t like how Asuka and Yuka don’t get solos during the dance break.  While yes, that isn’t very great for them, we must remember that the other half of the unit at the time was the two most popular members of Team K and that Mocchi and Masuda got the same amount of solo lines (albeit in worse positions), so they had to loose something, which ended up being contrasting colors on their costumes and they share a dance part.  Good for them, regardless.

The stage seems to be getting even slicker.  Suzuki definitely took a tumble here.  Speaking of which, Nakanishi Yuka, Hatayama Arisa, Suzuki Nae, Oya Shizuka, Nakatsuka Tomomi, and Arima Yuka (I think) back dance here.  I might be wrong on the last two.

Glass no I LOVE YOU

I like how this song’s opening positions always tend to be sort of interesting.  Going back to the A2 roots, two girls appear on stage and the other two appear on speakers on the outside of the stage.  Very original and cute.

Why does Akimoto do this to me?  Rie, Moeno, and Sasshi are grouped so often.  I seem to always find them together.  It’s almost lucky that they will all be in different Teams soon.  But then I wonder if during a shuffle performance they’ll just take each other’s units.  Oh, and Myao’s here, too.  She gets to lead.

Junai no CRESCENDO

This is especially fitting in this concert.  I’m pretty sure the lyrics might mention rain.  And it’s raining.  Awesome.

I love how the setting matches their costumes so much.  I’m serious, this all works so well that I think it’s perfectly epic.  The blue, the pink, the rhinestones.  Sexy.

No3b looks like an actual music group here.

And again, suburb lighting.  Lovely.

Ame
no Doubutsuen

Ruining the mood like it always does comes the original song about rain.  And a zoo.

I love how dispite how unpopular Kana might be now, she still gets her part whenever Team K performs this song.  Oh, and that’s the lineless camel by Naruse in the background there.

Such coincidence.  Wonderful.

Ah!  The French revolutionaries are coming!  Quick, animals, go back to your cages!

Kagami no Naka no Jean de Arc

The choice to show this unit song so close to the time that its leader left AKB is a curious one.  They most likely had time to choose a different one or just cut it out since Ayarin had stopped regularly performing about three weeks previous to the concert, yet they decided to keep it in the set list.  Was it a diss at the original performer, or was it simply a push of it’s new one?  Maybe one day we’ll get to see Ayarin on stage with her flag.

I love Rumi’s spot in this song.  Everything about it.  She gets the same amount of lines as the center in the first verse (Ayarin/Sasshi get one solo in the second) and has the best outfit.  And she’s a perfect fit here, too.

CinDy gets to rev the audience up.

Despite the flag only really being used at the start and end of the performance, it’s so intense whenever the lead grabs it.

Blue Rose

‘Blue Rose’ half-shuffled version.  Here, Kashiwagi takes Yuka’s spot since she performed in ‘Gomen ne Jewel’ and Mika takes Ohori’s position because she’s about to have a unit song.  I love how they pushed Mikachi all of the time.

I think they chose the ‘Temodemo no Namida’ duo to substitute in just because they wanted to add in their unit, but they already filled the set list.  ‘Temodemo’ would look so amazing here, though.  I’m going to take a moment to imagine it… and yeah, it would be great.

Fog much?  I’m pretty sure that even Memolist mentioned there being a ton.  I guess that they don’t have very much practice with using it outside, let alone with rain there to contain it on stage.

Oshibe to Meshibe to Yoru no Chouchou

One of the more famous versions of this song is here.

It used to be that there were often costume changes for ‘Oshibe to Meshibe,’ but they kind of slowed down after this time.  Off-hand I remember that there were variations like teacher/student, office ladies, gangsters, Middle Eastern-wear, and a lingerie version.  On the second to last night of K4, they performed a version wearing the ‘Kinjirareta Futari’ costumes and an ‘Original Mix’ of the instrumental featuring a melody that sounded similar to a music box and like ‘Kinjirareta.’

I wonder how it feels for them to perform with bare feet.  I’ve heard that since everyone was slippery, Nacchan came up with a great idea to save them: pouring some sort of cola soft drink on the ground, placing a towel over it, and then stepping on it.  This made their shoes a bit stickier so they could hold on to the ground a bit better.  With these two rolling around on the wet, now sticky surface, I wonder if it was a bit uncomfortable.

Romance, Irane!

After an MC (shown on the second disc), comes
AKB’s most recent original single that was distributed traditionally.

Have I ever mentioned how much I love this song.  The costumes, the lyrics, the choreography, the epic-ness…

They get to do two verses again, and so we get to see Natsuki singing in the very middle of the stage.  Aren’t we lucky?

So gosh-darned cool.

RUN RUN RUN

Usually, ‘RUN RUN RUN’’s opening consists of the girls taking off their vests and running to put them on the sides of the stage before proceeding to sing.  Here, the girls who just performed get to dance about for a moment before going back.

The Team performing this song and ‘Romance’ are modified Himawari-gumi Teams.  ‘Romance, Irane!’ had H2 Team 1, minus Sae and Yuka and adding Fujie and Chikano, and ‘RUN RUN RUN’ has H1 Team 2, minus Kayano, Yukarin, and Deguchi and adding Rina, Sae, and Yuka.

It’s always interesting how they use new costumes.  Since K4 was the newest Stage at the time.  They were pimping-out the ‘Shamu Neko’ uniforms.  These girls get to wear them here, and in an important performance of Baby! Baby! Baby!, the participating girls (Team A, I think) got to wear them.  It’s a shame that I’m not really all to fond of them.

By the way, for consistency, both verses were sung here.  It seems like every Team (A, K, B, 1, and 2)gets to perform one song by themselves with two verses.

Wasshoi B!

Ah!  ‘Wasshoi B!’ and some of my favorite costumes!  Yay.

This is one of the only nearly-full-member ‘Wasshoi B!’’s I’ve seen.  I think that the 3D show that featured some B3 Team songs may have had the full Team, but I’m not sure.  At least Naru is here, though!

I found Natsuki’s lantern!  I had never seen it before, but I just caught a glimpse of something that looked like an ‘N,’ and sure enough: it was!  I had always figured that that’s what Natsuki would have done with hers, but I never had proof.  Now I do.  Of course, I technically have no clue if it’s actually hers or someone else’s, but ‘N’ is kind of her thing, so it would have to be Natsuki’s or Mikipomu’s, as she’s a Natsuki fan.

I remember the first ‘Wasshoi B!’ I saw in that 3D show.  I couldn’t figure out why a couple of the girls didn’t have microphones for a moment and then were given some a little while later.  I think I kind of studied this for half an hour before seeing that they had given them up to lift another girl.  I was so impressed by myself for noticing it!

I love Team B.  The original, the new recruits, and the New Team B.

Gokimen Naname na Mermaid

I love this song.  Why on earth did it not get into AX09?  What is wrong with the world?  The rest of B3 got in!

In B3, the first verse and chorus is done by only half of Team B, as they left during ‘Hissatsu Teleport.’  Here, they give the other half of the girls choreography and present it as though everyone is usually on stage.  Also, they’ve added a few RS for no apparent reason.

Except, they do have at least three very good performers up there: Chiichan, Sara, and Chunchun!

Korogaru ishi ni Nare

Team K pops out for their anthem wearing the red Kouhaku fringe costumes.

Yay for Natsuki!

As you can see, some how my favorite lost her amazing costume from the last time she performed in it.  She used to have the best out of the three: the shorts.  Now, she’s stuck with the conservative one.  I’m guessing Sae is wearing hers, as Sae’s was white, and they put all of Team K in red for this.

Melos no Michi

Okay, the video of the very start of the song, the battle of Sae versus Nonti, is terrible.  You can’t see a thing.  I don’t know if they thought it’d be cool or what, but it just looks bad.

See, if Natsuki had her costume, she could look as awesome (even better, probably) than Sae.

The only reason I really like this song is because of N’s placement.  Her group has very, very similar voices, and you can hear hers pretty well.   It’s also nice that it’s one of the first two groups, which have the longer lines in the first verse.

At some point, some Kenkyuusei come in the back with the blue Stage-version ‘Skirt, Hirari’ costumes on.  I’ve never understood why there are so many versions of these costumes.  I’ve only seen the blue variations here in one (small) video and one picture.  They’re just not very attractive.

And they definitely don’t match.  They could have put the RS in the white Kouhaku outfits or something instead.  Those would match Team K and the Research Students’ costumes from the Team B Research Students’ costumes.

Only Today

This is another one of my favorite songs.  It’s so catchy and cute with a nice poppy instrumental.  And the girls get to wear the ‘Ato 1cm’ outfits!  I love these so much.  Almost as much as the ‘Romance, Irane!’ costumes.  The large amount of girls in Team A makes me wonder how many costumes they have per set for Himawari-gumi.  Since there are so many girls that have weird sizes, they must have more than sixteen and closer to twenty.

I found the lantern again!  I didn’t even have to try this time!

Normal-sized hair accessories on normal-sized girls…

And Takamina-sized hair accessories on Takamina-sized girls.

Skirt, Hirari

When I first read about this performance, I was super-excited because it was Team A-only, and I heard that it put the “SukaHira Seven” in their rightful places.

Too bad this is actually an encore version of the audio, as it has the single version with added Team A voices so you hear a lot of whoever is singing, but also everyone else simultaneously.

Who is that behind Amina?  Creepy.

Only a portion of the girls are actually wearing skirts.  And those skirts can’t flutter.  The irony.

Team A sang two songs without RS in the back?  It’s almost like they’re favored.  I guess they’re shuffling Teams for a good reason.

Sakura no Hanabiratachi 2008

For the last song of the night, they sing their first single.  Team A is in front for the first half.

Then Team K pops up to form a line dancing with a forward-backward motion.

And then they go into ‘Nounai Paradise’-mode and add in some of that choreography.

Team B’s turn means they bring in the thumbs up and jumping motions of ‘B! B! B! Wasshoi!’ from ‘Wasshoi B!’

Team A has no characteristics, so they just act as though they are all good buddies and rock side-to-side and then pose and wave ‘Aitakatta’-like.

Pretty…

And this is the cover of the DVD and the PB to go along with it for this concert.

(Kenkyuusei Dance)

Yay!  I love this one.  It’s short, meaningless, but a transition, and I count it as a song.  I want a studio version!

The RS get to wear Team A, K, and B t-shirts.  I wonder how many got onto the Team that their t-shirt said.  And oh look, Chiichan!

Takajo Aki gets to introduce the encore.  One would think that it would be Oya’s job since she was the un-official Kenkyuusei leader, but I guess not.

Virgin Love (Research Students ver.)

I always think that ‘Virgin Love’ is just an okay song, but since I love just about every single performance I see of it, I think I actually really do enjoy it.

Who is this?  I have no clue.  Please fill me in.

Takajo is all over in this performance.  They were pushing her before she even joined Team A.

Yuka gets to perform with SKE48 tonight, too!  She’s busy.

By the end of the song, Team A starts coming out and the ‘Virgin Love’’s start sounding better.

Baby! Baby! Baby! (Team A ver.)

For whatever reason, Team A gets to sing an extra single.  Again, they’re just that special.

All three Teams performed ‘Baby! Baby! Baby!’ as part of their Stages (A4R, K4, and B3) for a little while when it was first released, so I guess they didn’t have to stage a new version or anything.  I just wish they would have just used the selected members or something.  Maybe without Ayarin.I usually really like short over-alls, but the ones that Hiichan and Acchan are wearing aren’t very attractive.  I feel sorry for them.

And I totally love seeing Fujie and Rina on the same stage.  Yes, I’m aware that Fujie is not in this screen capture.

Also, more talk of the costumes: I usually don’t like encore costumes like these from AKB, but I really like them here.  I think that it’s because the tops are light and seem more effortless and since it’s outside, it seems more fun-friendly instead of how I always expect to be awed by concert hall performances.

The lighting during the bridge alternates side-to-side.  I’m not sure if I like it.

Kojiharu definitely just shot someone.

PARTY ga Hajimaru yo (SKE48 ver.)

SKE48 performs ‘PARTY.’  It’s of course super-interesting since I’m not that big of a fan of the song, and I can’t tell the difference between a bunch of them at this point.  They hadn’t gotten their makeovers yet.

But there’s my Rikako!

Boku no Taiyou

For the third all-AKB song of the night, we have a single that hadn’t been performed in a real concert yet, and one of their better selling due to a one-of-a-kind photo included with each CD.  Here, a double-Team Himawari-gumi performance is given with Team B in the back.

Yay!  My girls are together!

Seriously, I’m loving this hair.  If only she dyed it back…

Team A and Team B get to wear denim shorts/skirts/pants/overalls, while Team K gets to wear white bottoms, similar to the RS.

Natsuki!  You are my sun!

Ohori’s recently-published memoir mentions that her grandmother passed away shortly before this performance.  Meetan had never had much support from her parents but her grandmother was a big part of her life.  In the book, Megumi says that this is one of the songs that she really sang her heart out in remembrance of her.

AKB48

AKB48’s fight song!

Team K starts in the front row, so that means it’s an instant N attack!

And it’s still raining…

The RS jump on stage at some point.  Now, where is SKE?

BINGO!

Takamina announces this one as usual.  I don’t know if anyone other than her and Ohe have ever done so.

It’s another modified Himawari-gumi performance with the less popular girls and RS in the back.  Natsuki’s in front and she gets her usual lines.  It’s wonderful.

The audience get their little strands of metallic tape.  Soon they’ll be flashier than the AKB members!

Natsuki!

Guess who’s pretty much dead center for bows?  Yup, that’s right.  No need to ask where she for this one.

And that’s Natsumatsuri Hibiyayaon in just under five hours.  I made sure to be really quick with this one for whatever reason.  Next stop: Budokan!

Ah, I wonder, when will there ever be a night out when half of my friends and dozens of people I know wouldn’t throw themselves out or literally run out of the club in a line, having started a fight over something superbly stupid again? ( u____u ) Man I’d been bored to death with such boyish behaviour after a few cat fights but they just keep it up. Pheww~ So there we were again, us girls eating McFries while the boys were fighting on the other side of H-town.

Something about our Sat. night at the closing night party of this one club made my night though; this one ultra cutesy girl (that I’ve last talked with like 2 years ago when the Gazette played in Helsinki) came to talk to me at the club while I was suffering from bad music and not being able to dance~* We only got to switch a few lines but quickly talked about Tokyo too and she mentioned that I hadn’t written on Club ATOM and such on here yet… I would’ve wanted to ask her a thousand questions on how she’d experienced Tokyo and thought that, man, I should share my experiences too if there was any chance that someone might want to share theirs in exchange. Or just be curious to know about mine like I’d be to know on others’.
An experience shared is always better than one kept only to yourself, right?

★  ★ ★ ★★

And so I realized that heck I really hadn’t posted those travel posts on my Asia tournee from Spring ‘09!
That said ( ~   A   ~  )/…LET’S GET TO IT!

First off, thank you for all the comments on that Travel Blog intro I posted ages ago! There’s too much to tell but I will start posting on my trip in parts. 1st we need to get some facs straight though so I made this little table here for all y’alls →

Purpose of trip → Vacation & friends, getting to know new people and things & seeing things from someone else’s perspective (as always when travelling around), getting to know the places that might become the location of my future studies/work abroad etc

Coming Up → Staying in Tokyo, Men, Clubbing, Shopping etc hohoho~ But in this post I will just get the Tokyo part started.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

[Pt.1] ‘Getting there’

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Wow man what should I start with? Probably by shortening my nails with an inch or two so I wouldn’t typo as much hohoho~ Ah, Tokyo, Tokyo…

While I’m so done with hearing TOKYO from every single direction it still holds a special value to me. I don’t think I can ever repeat this too much, but Tokyo is something that I believe could heal any problem or worry I was struggling with. I’m not sure if it’s more like the sweetest getaway or the home I’ve always wanted to call my own, or maybe both of those are the same. It’s a hideout but it’s a place to show your face to the world, you can stand out or you can drown yourself in the mass of people. The fact that I’d most likely always be concidered as an immigrant or worse as gaijin doesn’t bother me that much- I concider it my turn to be the immigrant against all those times that I’ve been the only native Finnish person amongst my friends from different cultural backgrounds here in Finland; which I believe to be quite conservative with outlandish people though in a different manner than Japan.

But yes! This Spring I went to Japan after I’d spent ~2 weeks in Thailand and man oh man how big the differnce between two Asian countries can be! From Bangkok I went to Seoul, spent a day alone there and the next morning went to Seoul Airport to take a flight to Narita JPN. And I have to tell you that the best thing ever was to see Jartsa (my co-worker and friend from GameStop and my to-be Tokyo travel mate) at Soul Airport after he’d just landed his flight from Helsinki to Seoul. I remember my voice was shaking as I spoke to him on the phone and I could hardly speak Finnish after having used English in Bangkok for two weeks… but man was I happy, excited, scared and relieved to see him then all at once! Our Japan Journey started from there and as I go along telling about my time in Japan Jartsa is pretty much alongside me most of the time. So many of my memories from this Tokyo trip I share with him, and I am so thankful and glad for that our intended travel times just happened to match and we decided to discover Tokyo as a team. Besides… He’s got to be one pretty amazing friend, having been able to stand living with me for ~a month, having to bear my continuous babble and moodswings 24/7. (‘Arigatooouvainsinullekin♥’)

Wow, I’m down with another novel again and I haven’t even gotten as far as Narita aiport with this post yet hehe~

Hmm… One of the things why I wouldn’t change travelling to Japan for example to anything is the following which I see as part of the whole essence of travelling. Funny how strong the sense of wanting to put yourself to test and to experience something ‘new’ or ‘adventurous’ is! One of the sweetest feelings is the feeling of knowing that you’re up in air, you’re on the way to something, something you can’t really know about but that you’ve been waiting for for so long and missed like hell. When you get on the plane and hear people speaking in Japanese around you, when you realize that ‘I’m almost there, I’m on the plane and when this plane hits the ground I’ll be there‘. That tingling feeling in your stomach when you finally get to travel is something worth experiencing.

And man, it’s a petty amazing feeling to finally be standing there in front of Shibuya station again. Although dead tired and with luggage along and with a friend who hasn’t slept in 2 days plus 2 nights in a row. Yep I’m smiling in the picture but if I remember corectly we were also pretty damn tired at that time and just wanted to find the closest hotel to crash ( @____@

But more on staying in Tokyo in the next travel post! For now…  cheers~

Travellers taking the Narita Express rail link between Tokyo and Narita International Airport can now enjoy the second-generation E259 series trains. East Japan Railway Company (JR East) began introducing the new trains on 1 October 2009, which link the airport with downtown Tokyo Station in 53 minutes.

The 6-car E259 series trains offer 290 seats in a 2-class configuration and promise improved passenger comfort with better sound insulation for a quieter journey. Passengers travelling in the Ordinary Cars are seated in comfortable reclining seats with a 40.2-inch seat pitch and adjustable headrests. Each seat is also equipped with a large table, power supply and storage space beneath it. In the Green Car (first class), there are 28 leather seats with a seat pitch of 45.7 inches equipped with sliding tables and footrests, in addition to the amenities of the standard seating. Each car is also equipped with large flat-screen information displays for destination, weather, operational and flight information (on airport-bound trips) in English, Mandarin, Japanese and Korean.

The new trains are also designed to be more accessible for passengers with disabilities, sitting closer to the platform and equipped with multipurpose cabins, large western-style restrooms that can accomodate wheelchairs, as well as braille signage and luggage racks that are set lower for easier use. For improved security, cameras and combination locks are installed at the luggage racks and entrances of each car. JR East has also installed pay telephones in cars 6 and 12, with prepaid cards and refreshments available from the buy-onboard service.

The Narita Express operates 10 services in each direction daily with the E259 series trains, while the remainder of the trips are operated using the older 253 series trains. Services operate at intervals of 1 hour, with frequencies increased to 30 minutes during peak service times. Seats must be reserved and tickets can be purchased at the airport station, JR ticket offices, travel service centers and ticket machines.

For more information, visit www.jreast.co.jp/e/nex/index.html.

Japan

I found the cleanest place in the world I have ever seen, in July 2002… Japan. I toured the southern part and went back six years later, in 2008, to see the northern island of Hokkaido.

Asakusa
After landing at the Tokyo Narita International Airport, we started our tour in Asakusa, seeing a temple. It’s almost like, if you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all. Nevertheless, Japanese temples are tranquil places, where beautiful cherry blossom trees flourish and the sound of flowing water is usually never far.

Mt. Fuji

Tokyo
The capital of Japan is what you would imagine but so much better. It’s a high-tech mecca full of business people rushing around, but it’s not like New York City (no offense) — Tokyo is clean, and the people are ultra polite. The Ginza Tower, well, towers over one part of the city. And from our hotel room, we could see Mt. Fuji, the country’s tallest mountain and what I think is the world’s most beautiful mountain.

Yokohama
This pretty oasis of serenity is also Japan’s second largest city, where modern buildings line the skyline and young men (they could have been teenagers) await customers wanting a ride on a rickshaw.

vending machines in Toyohashi

Toyohashi
We took a bullet train from the Hamamachi train station to Toyohashi. Bullet trains are among the fastest in the world, screaming toward you like a white ghost while you wait on the loading platform. You shouldn’t stand too close to the track because the wind produced by the high-speed train is so strong, you might get blown over. The ride, though, was amazingly smooth. Everywhere we went, including in this city, I bought green tea ice cream: from vending machines, from ice cream stands, from cafes. I took full advantage of its widespread availability. We also visited the beautiful Kinkakuji Temple’s Golden Pavilion.

Kinkakuji Temple's Golden Pavilion

Kyoto
Models put on a fashion show at the Nishijin Textile Center, where we saw seamstresses make kimonos, yukatas, and other Japanese clothing.

Osaka
Perhaps my favorite city in Japan, it’s home to the majestic Osaka Castle and Shinsaibashi Suji (a mile-long, outdoor shopping arcade), where I had my first Starbucks green tea frappuccino. I prayed that Starbucks would start selling it in the U.S., but I had to wait a couple of years before this delightful drink made its way to my home country. With several blocks of stores, I indulged in more than just green tea frappuccino; I had green tea, green tea ice cream, green tea frozen yogurt, and green tea slushie. I also fell in love with the Sony store — designed so much more high-tech and modern than computer/technology stores in the United States. Pachinko (a cross between pinball and slot machines) parlors were abundant in this shopping arcade, and there was no shortage of people playing the game. Funny enough, I felt like I stuck out in Japan, especially in Shinsaibashi Suji, because I have naturally black hair, whereas most Japanese young people dye their hair brown or even blond.

Shinsaibashi Suji

Nara
In Nara Deer Park, we got up close with graceful deer. And of course, we visited Nara Temple and Todaiji Temple.

Kobe
Kobe Tower at Kobe Port is an impressive red structure that’s a landmark among other uniquely designed buildings.

Read about my second trip to Japan, during which I traveled throughout Hokkaido, in an earlier blog entry.

Der Lufthansa-Flug landete pünktlich am Morgen auf dem Internationalen Airport NARITA, nördlich von Tokyo. Mit an Bord: Zottel und unser 4-jähriger Rasmus! Nach dem Check der Einreisepapiere für den Hund, Kofferkontrolle für Zottel, dem Vorzeigen der elternlichen “Denenchofu”-Visitenkarte, die den japanischen Zollbeamten anscheinend ein staunendes ‘Oh, Ah so so so’ entlockte, dem Quarantäne-Check und der Kontrolle der Chip-Nummer des Hundes konnte es endlich mit dem Mietwagen ins neue Zuhause gehen. Es warteten noch ca. 1,5 h Autofahrt und dann, dann endlich durfte der große Baum vor dem Hause begossen werden!!! Auch schon am Flughafen konnte Rasmus sein Bein heben und sich erleichtern, direkt neben einem “Saubermachmännchen”, der schon mit seinem Besen daneben wartete, das Ungemach wegzufegen. Mir war das sehr peinlich, das hutzelige Männchen lachte aber nur…

Alle sind wohlbehalten angekommen! Der Hund wirkte nach dem langen Flug nicht sonderlich verstört, trank viel (eine Flasche kaltes Mineralwasser aus dem Automaten vor dem Flughafen, nachdem unsere mitgebrachte Flasche schnell leer war und das, obwohl er von den Flughafenmitarbeitern sehr umsorgt wurde und etwas zu trinken bekommen hatte…) und hatte sich nach kurzem Schüttel neugierig umgeschaut. Das neue Zuhause wurde gleich ausgiebig bis in den letzten Winkel, hinter die letzte Zimmertür und auch aus der Nebeneingangstür heraus angeschaut, abgeschnüffelt und für gut befunden. Neuer Lieblingsplatz: unter dem Esstisch auf dem neuen Teppich mit Blick in Küche, Wohnzimmer UND zur Haustür (ein Wohnen im amerikanischen Stil mit Eingangstür direkt im Wohnzimmer macht es möglich!).

Schnell hat der knapp 70 cm große Hund im Land der Bonsaihündchen Aufsehen erregt und, besonders die Frauen halten an und kreischen in ihren hohen Quietschestimmchen “was für ein großer Hund” oder so etwas auf japanisch. Allerdings ist uns in den ersten Tagen deutlich aufgefallen, dass KEIN Japaner fluchtartig die Straßenseite wechselt, schreiend die Kinder wegreisst o.ä., wie es leider in Deutschland des öfteren vorkommt. Hier gehen alle ganz gelassen etwas zur Seite…

HammondCast 180 from Narita Japan special guest TAKA BLUE GROOVE SESSIONS KYOU Radio Jon Hammond Hosting
*LISTEN TO AUDIO HERE:

http://kyouradio.com/player.php?id=18718

HammondCast 180 KYOU Radio special guest TAKA Takamitsu Yashiro BLUE GROOVE SESSIONS interview with Jon in Japan and “Big Leg Woman” “Thrill Is Gone” JON HAMMOND & LATE RENT SESSIONS MEN Live Le Bar Bat “White Onions” “Head Phone” breakdown “Nu Funk” © www.HammondCast.com 45 minutes

Blue Groove Sessions, Takamitsu Yashiro, Jon Hammond, HammondCast, Kamakura, Narita, Blues, Funky, B3 organ, XB-2, XK-1, XK-3c, Local 802 Musicians Union

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HammondCast 180 from Narita Japan special guest TAKA BLUE GROOVE SESSIONS KYOU Radio Jon Hammond Hosting
*LISTEN TO AUDIO HERE:

http://kyouradio.com/player.php?id=18718

HammondCast 180 KYOU Radio special guest TAKA Takamitsu Yashiro BLUE GROOVE SESSIONS interview with Jon in Japan and “Big Leg Woman” “Thrill Is Gone” JON HAMMOND & LATE RENT SESSIONS MEN Live Le Bar Bat “White Onions” “Head Phone” breakdown “Nu Funk” © www.HammondCast.com 45 minutes

Blue Groove Sessions, Takamitsu Yashiro, Jon Hammond, HammondCast, Kamakura, Narita, Blues, Funky, B3 organ, XB-2, XK-1, XK-3c, Local 802 Musicians Union

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• Joe Franklin Up Late HammondCast KYOU Radio (lockergnome.com)
• Ben Koning Interview on HammondCast KYOU Radio (lockergnome.com)
• HammondCast Summer of Love 40 special guest Boots Hughston KYOU Radio Jon Hammond hosting (lockergnome.com)
• New Czechoslovakian Salsa Song JON HAMMOND Band JAZZKELLER FRANKFURT (lockergnome.com)
• HammondCast 176 with Jazzbeaux Collins, Chris Cortez, Ben Koning KYOU Radio (lockergnome.com)
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• High Noon at 50 UN PLAZA S.F. CA JON HAMMOND Band Larry Schneider guest star (lockergnome.com)

First of all, today is the beginning of a three-day-weekend in Japan.
Monday is 「体育の日」 (Sports Day).

Until a few years ago, this holiday was on October 10th (today), and if that day fell on a Saturday (like it is this year), the day off would be “lost”. (If the 10th was a Sunday, it would be observed on the following day, though).

But now the holiday is the second Monday of October…so it’s always a three-day-weekend.
(Click here to read my short FAQ about this holiday).

Anyways, here are few recent Japan-related news items that involve Americans:

• Japanese Prime Minister Hatoyama sent his congratulations to U.S. President Obama for receiving a Nobel Peace Prize, saying in part that he was pleased by Obama’s call for a nuclear-free world and that it must be difficult for the leader of the nation with the most nuclear weapons in the world to make such a statement.

  Japanese survivors of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki also expressed their happiness by Obama’s plan to rid the world of nuclear arms and their support of his Nobel Prize.
  They also reiterated their invitation for him to visit their cities.

• U.S. President Obama is scheduled to make his first official visit to Japan on (2009) November 12 – 13.
• An American man was arrested for bringing a handgun into Japan on a flight from America.
  His gun was found by Japanese airport customs officers when he passed through customs at Narita Airport near Tokyo trying to transit to a flight to Thailand.

  It is unclear how he managed to get the gun through U.S. customs at the Dallas / Ft. Worth Airport, where he boarded the plane for Japan.

• Another American man is in Japanese prison for attempting to kidnap his children from his Japanese ex-wife and bring them back to America.He divorced his Japanese wife in America and the U.S. courts gave him custody of their two young children.

  But his ex-wife (the children’s mother) took the kids to Japan on “holiday” and never returned. So there is an arrest-warrant for her in America…that can only be enforced if she steps foot on U.S. soil again (which is unlikely).
  The Japanese courts, though, granted her full-custody of the children and when their father came to Japan to take the kids back, he was arrested.

  This case shows one of the many differences between American and Japanese culture.
  In America, when parents divorce it is common for both parents to “share” custody.
  But that’s extremely uncommon in Japan. The divorce-rate is still very low in Japan…but it is climbing. And when parents divorce here it is felt that it’s in the children’s best interest to try to keep life as stable as possible by having the father (usually) simply move on and keep out of their lives.

Have you heard about any of these cases? What’s your opinion?

Copyright Photo: Michael B. Ing. Please click on photo for full view, information and other photos.

JAL-Japan Airlines (Tokyo-Haneda) is coming under increased pressure to remain totally under Japanese ownership rather than having a foreign investor. The Japanese government is ready to support the ailing flag carrier and believes JAL can revive on its own.

News link:

www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idCNT5526720090930?rpc=44