Japan 24 Apr - 2 May 2016 Day 2

I wake up at about 6am as I have to catch a flight to Hokkaido at 9am

It is my first time to Hokkaido so I am very excited.

The flight is about 2 hours so I reach around 11am. From the Airport, it is a 1.5hour bus ride into the city.

Even though I always fall asleep on buses, somehow I always manage to wake up just before my stop. My special talent I think.

Bare Maruyama Park

The event I am attending only starts at 6pm, so I have plenty of time to kill. I meet up with a friend and take a train (20min from city center) to Maruyama Park and Zoo to spend the afternoon.

Maruyama Park is supposedly a popular spot for Sakura Viewing. However, the trees were all still bare… I was hoping that I would have been able to catch Sakura in Hokkaido at least, but I was a few days too early…

An Early Tree

Next up is Maruyama Zoo! I love Zoos! The Zoo is practically empty and not really all that big. I would say that within 2-3 hours it is possible to finish the whole Zoo. The entrance ticket costs 600yen

The main attraction is undoubtly the Polar Bear as all their snacks and souviners are Polar Bear Themed.

Honestly to me this is a pretty standard Japanese Zoo. Can't be compared to our world class zoo in Singapore rofl.

I enjoy the these 3 attractions the most

1. Big Bird of Prey. This giant eagle looks like something out of a fantasy book! I don't think I have seen such a regal looking bird before

2. Wolf. There are 3 of them. The one in the largest enclosure keeps pacing and staring at his Zoo Keeper, who is chatting with some aunties (likely regulars to the Zoo)

3. Brown Bear. This Bear keeps pacing right in front of the glass. He often stands up and bounces against the glass. Which is kind of scary the first time. He is so close!

Normally I would really enjoy the petting Zoo, but this Petting Zoo didn’t have any baby animals (NO BABY GOATS!?) so it was kind of meh for me.

I actually didn’t find the Polar Bears too impressive.

Some of the enclosures were so small I felt sorry for the animals.

After grabing a quick meal at Matsuya, its off to the Idol Event!

IDOLige 4.25 SAPPORO @ Sapporo Mole

The venue is a live house with capacity of I would estimate as 100 people. But at any given time, there are only about 20+ people on the floor chilling out so it was really cool. Not stressful and everyone can comfortably enjoy the performances from anywhere in the venue. As there are so few people, there are a lot of chance to interact (get response) with the idols. Very Homely feel. 10/10 would go again if it wasn't in Sapporo. Each group/soloist performs about 4 songs per set.

I make friends with a Kikka fan High School Girl. She is so quiet though. I think she was kind of scared of me when I told her I was a foreigner. We exchanged twitter, she is cute hehe

18:00 – 18:30 白井美彩

Misa-tan is my friend's Oshi, future Wife (for real) and solo idol. She is 31 years old this year. Former Fruity Member. She sings 1 anime song and 3 original songs. She has a very strong singing voice. I am quite impressed. Too bad she is not young anymore otherwise I am sure she will be more popular. On the other hand, her speaking voice is kind of Burikko, which I don’t really like haha. I guess guys are ok with it. My friend says that her voice used to be even more high-pitched and child-like so she already has improved in that aspect.

18:30 – 19:00 2代目HAPPY少女

Belong to same company as Fruity group of 6 Youngish (?) Idol group performing lively songs. They are full of energy and just watching them makes me feel tired. They are cute, but not THAT cute. I would say that only 2 out of the 6 members could compare to the underground idols in Tokyo. I am a harsh master.

19:00 – 19:30 寺嶋由芙

This might be my 2^nd or 3^rd time watching Yuffi, I can't really recall. Usually Yuffi, Mainya and Kikka come as a set. Her Mascot Kyara Mania is still going strong. Personally I feel that these 3 solo idols kind of complement each other. The fans of each of the solo idols usually enjoy the other 2 lives as well as it’s a great package to have. I do enjoy her lives quite a bit, not as much as Mainya's, but as a solo idol fan, I can appreciate the difficulties of supporting a solo idol more so than others might.

Her singing is so on point. Her voice is much easier on the ears than Mainya. And when she speaks, there is a ふわふわ感 which I like.

19:30 – 20:00 小桃音まい

Yay Mainya! She announces that this is her last live as a solo idol in Sapporo. She will be forming an idol unit soon. Her idol aura is so strong as usual and she performs her "BANG BANG 鼓笛サンバ" and " Dreamscape☆". The crowd gets really into these songs as well. (Because these songs are so OLD that everyone would know them by now lol) For some reason Kikka fans really love Mainya and participate fully in her live. I guess we all just think alike so naturally we will like the same idols.

During her MC she made several booboos. She was supposed to say "I haven’t been to Sapporo in 1 year!" but instead she said "I haven’t been to Sapporo in 1 month!", when in actual fact she just came to Sapporo last month. This means that she made a mistake which turned out to be the truth, but promptly tried to correct herself, to the wrong statement ("1 year"), when in fact what she originally said was the right statement ("1 month"). This left everyone mindfucked.  Lol

Stolen from Kikka Twitter, this is what she wore. Photo does not relate to live at all.

20:00 – 20:30吉川友

KIKKA! As with UUG, I haven’t seen her in 6months (considered long for me). She looks like she lost A LITTLE bit of weight. I would guess its due to her lead role in her Musical "Snow Princess". There are about 5 Kikka fans who flew from Tokyo and 1 Hokkaido fan. As such, I got to stand right in front and enjoy HD Kikka.

She sings "Ha wo Kuishibare" from her new single first. This is my first time listening to this song as it has yet to be released (release date: June 2016) Actually this is a really strange sounding song and I think anyone who hears it will agree with me too. It is written just for Kikka by Omori Seiko (an eccentric idol/composer). She uses so much of her Nasal voice which I don’t really like (Kind of like Ayaya during the Nee~ period). Knowing Omori Seiko, the lyrics are probably really "special" so I have to be sure to check it out when I have the CD.

Then it is 2 of her hype songs "Konna watashi de yokattara", "Akanedisuco" and"Renai Endo". I realized that she was not able to hit some of her high notes. She sounded kind of tired too… Besides that I absolutely adore Kikka's voice because of her ability to change the tone so skillfully. She can sound really sweet and idol-ish in "Konna watashi de yokattara", and then switch to a rock sounding "Renai Endo" without you even realizing. It is so easy to get swept away by the mood she creates.

She closes off with the other A Side to her new Single "Charming Shoubu Sedai". I initially didn't think much of this single, but after listen to it several times throughout the course of my Japan trip, I really like it now (Now in Singapore)

During MC, she mentioned how she doesn’t really come to Hokkaido often. Dwells briefly on her new single and upcoming birthday tour (unfortunately there is no Hokkaido leg). She wishes to come back again. She also has Showroom streaming right after this so she reminds everyone to watch.

20:30 – 21:00 フルーティー

There are about 10 of them. Immediately my eye gets caught by Seina. She looks like THE Hashimoto Kanna. So cute and charismatic. Its easy to fall in love with her because of how easy she makes performing look, and the cheeky smiles she gives the audience.

The only song I know is "Captive". The fans are really enthusiastic and it’s an enjoyable live overall. Could easier be compared to any Tokyo Idol Group I think. When I listened to Captive on Youtube, my impression was that their singing was sub-par, but hearing it real life was so different. The 2 lead vocals (Obachi and Seina) CAN SING so well. 10/10 Performance

21:00 ~ Buppan

I pre-order 2 copies of Kikka's new single, which entitles me to 2 handshake with Kikka.

1. I tell her this is the first time I am seeing her this year and she wishes me "Happy New Year". I say good job on the performance. She asks what I intend to do after the live. I say "Go back Hotel" LOL

2. I tell her I will attend her Birthday Live next weekend. And ask her if she has a new birthday T this year. She says yes, it's in the same colour as the previous one (LOLOL) I tell her I will see her again soon~

I am kind of disappointed that there isn’t any Tokutenkai (Cheki kai etc.)

I also give away the vouchers for the new CD because I would not be able to collect them.

After Kikka leaves, I go to Shirai Misa's Buppan and pay 1000yen for a Cheki and 1 minute of Chatting. For the cheki she suggested the pose of "Yubikiri". Misa is really friendly, although I have a few things to say she her, she keeps talking and doesn’t give me any chance to say anything. I tell her that my friend really likes her and always talks about her. She asks me how old I am and when I tell her, she says NO WAY~ You look so young… We do the thing where she says Im cute, then I say nonono you are cuter. I wanted to ask her about Hokkaido but 1min is over in a flash

After this I approach Mainya's booth. I pay 1500yen for her cheki. I told her this is the 2^nd time Im seeing her and I really enjoy her songs, especially "BangBang Koteki Sanba" (Which I refer to as the Flag song". I tell her that she is TINY. She POUTS and says "NO I AM NOT TINY, I AM HUGE WITH LOTS OF CURVES".  (OMG SO CUTE, I LOVE MAINYA)  Mainya… is really good at this… I lost to her… I am weak piss… orz

Misa-tan and Mainya cheki

This marks the end of day 2. Me 0 – Mainya 1

.

It's amazing how much I can get done in just 2 days actually.

My Acomodation at Susukino, Sapporo. Hotel Relief Sapporo. Has a very neat public bath! 

I need to stop writing "actually" so much. Also my posts are devolving into walls of text.

Japan 24 Apr - 2 May 2016 Day 1

I have decided to restart my blog as there are just too many precious memories of my trips to Japan that I would like immortalized. I already regret not recording the past few trips. Although I travel to Japan pretty often, each and every trip is a collection of special events that I would not wish to forget

It starts out like any other trip, I head out of Singapore on a night flight to reach Tokyo on Sunday Morning. It was the Scoot flight so no frills and all. But I sleep like a pig cause of a full day of activities the day before.

On NEX. Already decked out in Orange but covering up with リア充 Disguise

The flight lands on time, however, I make a poor decision in taking the Narita Express Airport Train into Tokyo. I had thought that since the NEX goes straight to Shinjuku, it would save me time by not having to transfer trains. However, I realise that it much slower than if I had taken the Keisei Skyliner instead. (And also more expensive). I was very lucky to be able to fund an empty locker in Shinjuku station to dump my luggage, usually I am really hard-pressed to find one. My flight touched down at 11am, however, I only reach the venue in Shinjuku at around 12:30 (Live starts 12:30). Just in time!

アップアップガールズ（仮）Zeppツアー “The Seven PARTY LIVE Alien”  Setlist

1.   パーリーピーポーエイリアン
2.  (仮)は返すぜ☆be your soul
3. イチバンガールズ!
4. ピンチはチャンス バカになろうぜ! [メロン記念日×ニューロティカ]
5. お願い魅惑のターゲット
6. バレバレ I LOVE YOU
7. Shout!!!!!!!
8. 青春の涙
9. キラキラミライ(アコースティックVer)
10.  チョッパー☆チョッパー
11. ジャンパー!
12.  銀河上々物語
13. イタダキを目指せ!
14.  UPPER ROCK(remix)
15.  全力!Pump UP!!
16.  美女の野獣(remix)
17. サバイバルガールズ
18. アップアップタイフーン
19. アッパーレー
20. アッパーカット!

Encore

    21. アッパーカット!
    22. セブン☆ピース
    23.  ENJOY!! ENJO(Y)!!

This was an explosive live from start to end. Except for the Acostic ver. Of Kira Kira Mirai (Will get to that later)

There is a girls only area so even though I arrived late, I was still pretty close to the stage.

I didn't expect Party People to come out so early, but it was the first song! Akari improvs on her solo Acapella Part to a great comedic effect. She refuses to start the song without everyone in the audience doing the alien pose. Her ability to draw laugher from the crowd is so natural I am sure the other members are envious of her.

Personally I have heard these songs live before except for Party People Alien and Seven Peace. I love the Rave sound and the Lasers so Shout!!!!! And Seishun no Namida are such great songs for me. Everyone is jumping and having a good time. There are hardly any MC, similar to high spurt kingdom and rave festival, just 90min of EDM

The only slow song is the Acoustic version of Kira Kira Mirai, where Ayanon, Akari (Center) and Azusa stand in front to take the lead vocals while the rest do backup vocals and backdancing. This song really moved me because the Lyrics are so meaningful and Akari and Azu have such soothing voices. I did wonder why they chose Ayanon over Miiko for the Vocals though. In my opinion, Miiko has much more control over her voice than Ayanon. The reason I suspect so is because Miiko's voice sounds too similar to Akari, and they need a more "passionate" voice, thus Ayanon was choosen.

Right after this song was an MC. Ayanon could not hold herself together and started to cry. You can tell how much soul she puts into her singing. Although she still has much to catch up with Akari iand Azu skill wise, but she makes up for it with her passion. Azu laughs at her. LOL

After that brief respite, it is back to the adrenaline pumping setlist we are all used to.

I really love the EDM Remix of Upper Rock. They performed this exact (?) same remix during Rave Festival last year too. It sounds too good! I actually don’t have a copy of this =( I would listen the hell out of this song if I had it.

During the Remix Ver. Of Bijo no Yaju (Or as I like to call it "I am a Beast"), there was no singing, just high impact dancing which our girls are sooo good at.

From the start Azu already spotted me and gave me lots of smiles and waves. I am actually so happy, it's great to see her again after half a year. I have mentioned before that Azu has grown so much as a performer in the past 3 years. She started out so awkward and full of doubt. But, each and every time I see her, she has grown so much from the previous time I saw her. She has blossomed in to a confident and beautiful woman. (Only her MC is still bad LOL). I rarely see any awkward moments from her anymore. And most importantly, she loves every minute of it and cherishes her time spent with the fans. What more could you ask for in an idol.

My current favorite song is Appare. I am pretty sure it will be a staple in lives for at least the rest of this year. It is a massive crowd pleaser. During the MC, Azu moves to backstage for a short period of time

At this point during the MC, UUG BOSS comes out. Everyone is really nervous (Especially members), because this means that there is a huge announcement coming. BOSS announces that BUDOKAN live is CONFIRMED for UUG on 8 Nov 2016! Immediately all memebrs start crying. BOSS stresses he know that the group is still very far from this objective (they will be unable to sell out the huge venue). And that while they have been taking 1 step at a time, Budokan is 10 steps ahead of them. He knows that the tears being shed by the girls (and fans) are joyous tears, but also those of anxiety and fear. Was it possible within a span of half a year, to be able to sell out 10,000 seats? Was the question on everyone's minds.

Picture of Budokan cause this post lacks pics

In my opinion, there is a method to full the 10k seats. UUG Family itself is about 3k strong (my estimate), Let's say we rope in another few thousand Hello Project fans, by announcing Hello Project Groups as Guests (Much like Angerme's Budokan), we could easily fill 7k. Which is a reasonable amount to make Budokan not look too empty. But I am sure I speak for all UUG family when I say, we will not be satisfied with this. The girls have to rely on their own strength to fill in the remaining 7k seats, otherwise it could not be called a "success".  Somehow or other, the people attending that Budokan have to be able to say "I am an UUG Family" instead of saying, "I came because of the Guests". The road to that result will be to release 1 more breakthrough single similar to PPA, promote their concerts as "The ULTIMATE RAVE ENJOYMENT EXPERIENCE". Hopefully, their success form PPA can translate to an even more successful next single which will snowball into a break into mainstream media. It all sounds very hopeful, and to be able to do that within the next 6months is the real challenge for the girls.

Ayanon mentioned that the Zepp tour has not even started. But I am not too worried about it, I am confident that the Zepp tour will be successful. I cannot stress how important Idol Festivals will be to promote Budokan (TIF2016 Im looking at you)

During the break between the 1^st and 2^nd lives, I hang out with my fellow foreigner fans (2 from SG and 2 from HK). We discuss about the shocking announcement.

There is also a handshake session slotted in here. As I came late, the handshake tickets were already sold out. But fellow Singaporean fan gave me his ticket! I am eternally grateful! UUG fans are so nice..  However, I was so disappointed to see that Azu was not in attendance during the handshake session.. Apparently she was not feeling well.. Honestly I felt so crushed because I was really looking forward to speaking with Azu. I congratulate all the members on Budokan.

Thankfully, Azu makes a re-appearance in the 2^nd Live. The girls still seem kind of in shock and that the announcement has not quite set in their minds. It is easy to say "Well, It's already been decided so we will just do what we can". But it is a whole different matter to say "WE WILL MAKE THIS SUCCESSFUL!!!" and actually work your ass off to make that dream a reality. That difference in attitude and the consequent result what is weighing on everyone's minds.

I pay very close attention to Azu as I am very worried about her condition. Despite her less than optimal body condition, I could not see any less energy put into her dancing and singing. I love this girl.

After this I meet up with my Dad and Sister for dinner. Coincidently, my Dad is also in Tokyo for a conference.

Truthfully, I am really dead because of the red-eye flight I took the night before. Combined with a whole date of jumping.

After dinner, I go back with my Dad to bunk in his hotel room at Hotel New Otani.