Japan 11-15 June 2015 Day 2

I woke up at around 5.30am while everyone else in the sleep quarters were still in dreamland. I pack up my stuff and head to Shinjuku to catch my highway bus to Matsumoto. Upon reaching Shinjuku Station. I realise that I left all my hotel/bus reservations with the front desk at the previous hotel. As I don’t have time to go back, I have no choice but to continue on without the documents (we will see how this plays out later on..).

At Shinjuku station I take some time to kind the Keio Bus Terminal (It is raining too) Because I gave myself ample time, I am still not late for my bus. At the Bus Counter, I am supposed to show my bus reservation, but just giving my name and telephone number worked well too.

The Train

All the way to Matsumoto it is raining. I reach Matsumoto at about 10.30am, dump my bag in a locker and take a half hour local train to the last stop on the Kamikochi Line, Shin Shima Shima Station (A tiny station actually with nothing around it). From here, it is an hour long bus ride into the mountains.

As it is a weekday, most people heading to Kamikochi are old people. The bus ride winds up a narrow mountain road and through several tunnels. Although I won’t be able to tell me much because I was asleep most of the time. A real pity because the scenery is awesome.

One of the "Mountain Cabins"

Upon reaching the Bus Terminal at Kamikochi, I take in a big breath and stretch my achy legs; the mountain air is so fresh. It is a little disorientating because just a few hours ago I was in Shinjuku, and now I am 1,500m above sea level, up in the Japanese Alps. At the bus terminal. There are 3 very well maintained Mountain Cabins (Bus Ticketing, Visitor Information Centre and a Post Office), surrounded by luscious green pines. Surreal indeed.

Trip advisor had advised me to buy my return bus ticket immediately when I reached, so I bought the last bus back at 6pm.

Kappa Bridge

It is about 1pm now and I am hungry. About 300m from the Bus Terminal, is Kappa Bridge, from which you can catch a glimpse of the Snow Capped Peaks. There is a cluster of Hotels/Restaurants/Souvenir Shops at Kappa Bridge and I have my lunch here.

Soba noobdles and Fish. From the Menu, I couldnt tell what kind of fish this was. I only knew it was a kind of fish. So I asked the staff, and he brought out a frozen one just for me to look at. XD

After re-fueling my body, the rain starts again. I buy an umbrella from a souvenir shop and start my trek to Taisho-ike. The walking guide tells me that I will take an hour to walk there and another hour to walk back. Maybe I am slow, or take too much time to stop and take pictures (you would think they’d include this in the walking timings? Tourist done just bee-line to ANYWHERE right?) I take considerably more time to get there than what the walking guide stated.

There are a few bridges and small ponds on the way. The path is mostly flat paved with gravel . It is a leisurely walk. I encounter a few people on the trek. But mostly I am alone in nature.

The rain obviously dampens my mood. Especially when I am three-quarters way to Taisho-ike and it starts pouring like mad. The wind threatens to flip up my umbrella several times too. Luckily the umbrella is pretty sturdy.

Comparing the "Expectations" and "Reality"

Finally I reach Taisho-ike. As it is so cloudy, there is no view of the snow-capped peaks as I would have liked.  There is a restaurant/café overlooking the Lake so I seek shelter there till the rain stops. I had a lovely mini cheesecake and a not-so-lovely blend coffee (i.e. coffee powder). I was the only one in the café for almost the entire time. Very Chill :D

My Lovely Tea

At about 3pm, I decide to head back. It is not raining anymore. However, the clouds have stubbornly refused to leave. I can only manage peeks of the blue sky. I still take lots of pictures anyway. The weather is very nice at around 20deg Celsius.

Bear Warning

I take another route back but it still takes me about one and a half hours to reach back to Kappa Bridge. I buy a little souvenir to remind myself of the pleasant time I had at Kamikochi.

The Sky has cleared up a little!

I still have about an hour till my bus comes, so I buy a post card and send it back home via the post office. It has been a while since I wrote a postcard. I doubled checked with the Post office guy just to make sure I was doing it right.

A Bus Terminal in the middle of the Mountains

Since I am still early, I requested for the bus station to let me ride on the earlier bus back to the city. I would have definitely loved to have spend one night in Kamikochi to give myself more time to explore some of the other trails (more chance for better weather too!) Perhaps the next time I guess.

By the time I am back in Matsumoto it is dark. I wander around the train station, but to my horror, all the shops started to close around 8pm! I am really not used to it. Most shops in Singapore close at around 10pm.

I take some time to decide on where to eat my dinner and finally settle on a Japanese Restaurant for some Tonkatsu and Soba. It was alright. The soba was good.

My Dinner

After which I search for my hotel. Not to brag, but I am really getting quite good at finding my hotels. At least much better than before, Haha.

What was waiting for me was one of the biggest nicest hotel rooms I have ever stayed in Japan! What a delight considering my previous “hotel” was akin to a dormitory. I am still reeling with joy from the awesome room, when I tried the shower. It was the kind with 2 knobs, 1 for cold and 1 for hot. As usual, I fire up the hot knob and wait for the bathroom to steam up before adjusting the cold knob. The hot water takes about 10mins to come out, and it is scalding-ly hot. To my horror, once I turn the cold knob, the whole shower turns cold!  I repeat this multiple times with the same result. I am really angry now. Nothing gets me more riled up than my bath not turning the temperature I want.

I put my clothes back on and call the reception. The girl comes up and tries the shower (NO NOT LIKE THAT) and she also get visibly frustrated. She tells me “Sorry I can’t help you” in the very nice Japanese way that all Japanese staff say. But to me, it just sounded like “Fuck you, why can’t you shower in extremely hot or extremely cold water”.  If it was winter I would have absolutely kicked up a fuss. But since it is summer, I just settle for it. “Ok.. what else can I do, right?” I say. She nervously exits the room before I change my mind.

BIG BEAUTIFUL BED

So now, it is back to me versus the shower. I curse and swear at it with all my might. As you can imagine, the shower ends badly with me almost in tears and alternation between scalding hot and freezing cold water. I also attempt to supplement the poor water pressure with a CUP. What a way to end the night.

Japan 11-15 June 2015 Day 1

As this was my first trip to Japan in 2015, I had been eagerly anticipating it for months now. I managed to get a really good offer for my flight tickets at SGD572 for Japan Airlines (JAL). It was a night flight. The leg space is very decent but the meal was kind of a letdown. They served breakfast at around 5am(?). It was catered by “Tokyo Soup Stock” which is a Fast Food Chain selling MSG-less Soup. The soup is as bland as I had it in Singapore. Thus is the healthy life I guess. I watched a movie called “Focus” (Will Smith)

I arrived at Haneda at around 10am. From here I head straight to Shibuya to find a Docomo shop so that I could pay for my sis’s mobile phone bill so that I can use it. I take some time to find a Docomo shop and after asking around, the shop attendant told me that the bill has already been paid ORZ.

Family Resturant Lunch

I am quite hungry by this time so I pop by a Family Restaurant to have my Pasta Lunch.

After this I go to Tower Records to buy Kikka CDs for the CD Jacket signing that night (After C-ute Con).

The sky looks cloudy... uh oh... MAIMI CHAN

While walking there, I happened to pass Shibuya PARCO which had a poster on a special Pop-up One Piece Shop on the top floor. Unable to resist myself, I spend quite some time browsing here and end up buying 2 keychains. (I had to stop myself from buying more)

Mugiwara Store!

Now I head to Akiba to meet 2 Singaporeans to go to Yokohama for the C-ute 10 Anniversary Concert.

I also pop by Akiba’s Yodobashi to see if they had stock of the Apple Watch which I wanted to get for my dad. They didn’t have the colour that I wanted so I did not get it.

Now off we go to Yokohama! I had initially wanted to go Yokohama earlier to explore the place as I heard many nice things about it. But as I had to run some errands, I ended up in Yokohama only about 2 hours before the concert starts. Had a quick Conbini Bento before entering the venue just half an hour before the live starts.

Yokohama Arena has a Capacity of 16,000 people, so getting everyone into the venue in an orderly fashion is no mean feat.

Team C-ute waiting to go into the Venue

Just as we enter the doors, Juice=Juice’s new Single “Wonderful World” starts playing. I quickly rushed to find my seat. The seat is an “Arena” seat, but actually it is still pretty far for the stage and Terraced so that we still on a raised platform. Only when the girls run around the sides of the arena, could we see their faces.

Juice=Juice is the opening act and they perform “Wonderful World” (which I really like!), Honestly because I am just settling into my seat, I couldn’t really enjoy it. But their Singing Quality is surprisingly very good. Their 3 main vocals of Karin Chan San, Baby Monkey and Kanatomo are very solid. They could very well become the next C-ute (Although I highly doubt any of them could obtain the vocal prowess o f Suzuki Airi)

Gamyusha Life Banner at the foyer

The next opening act is a group of “left-over” Kenshuuseis comprising of Yamagishi Riko, Kaga Kaede, Danbara Ruru and Hashimoto Nagisa. They sing a KSS release called “Seishun Beat ha 16”. I have heard this song a few times before at previous Hello Cons, but this is the first time hearing it with 4 people (Normally its more like 15 people).

Now that we are done with the Opening Acts, the real fun begins. It starts with a VTR of C-ute Music Videos, About 10 seconds each, from Newest Single to the Oldest. So just after Soku Dakishimete, it is supposed to be Massara Blue Jeans (Their Indies Debut), but instead the Members run out and START with Massara Blue Jeans. The Arena ERUPTS, this was a really epic Opening, so simple yet Unexpected. Its genius! Maimai is wearing Sunglasses here LOL

まっさらブルージーンズ

即抱きしめて

大きな愛でもてなして

桜チラリ

わっきゃない(Z)

Oldies but Goodies! I suspect that these were aimed at C-ute fans who “disappeared” during the dark ages of H!P. Its like saying “Welcome Back! We Love you as long as you come back to us”. Also, I am not too sure I have ever heard Wakkyanai(Z) Live before (I probably have but just forgot). Starting off with a touch of nostalgia… not too bad

I miss you

My First time listening to this live! The audience goes TuTuTu TuTuTu TuTuTu along with the song hahaha

ほめられ伸び子のテーマ曲

Wow, I am totally not familiar with this songs. Its an album song from their 3^rd album LOL. I guess the title itself is making a statement

悲しき雨降り

< START MEDLEY>

夏DOKIリップスティック

Yaji Solo. This is like the highlight for Yaji fans. Because YokoAri turns a FULL RED for her. The way the whole Arena Chants “Maimi Maimi Maimi” during the verse is just too awesome… the feeling is great :D. I am really looking forward to the DVD just for this scene.

ディスコクィーン

地球からの三重奏

君の戦法

通学ベクトル

Airi Solo. While it is good, and Airi’s singing is just out of this world, it just wasn’t as epic as Yaji Solo. (BIAS)

One's LIFE

< END MEDLEY>

There is a MC somewhere here, but unlike normal Tour MCs, the girls don’t talk about mundane stuff. They talk about how great the Arena is, Chisa claims that she can see everyone even in the last row of the 2^nd floor (“Airi fan, Maimi fan, Chisa fan, Chisa fan, Chisa fan, Chisa fan, Chisa fan”). At the same time you can tell their nerves are affecting them. I don’t know if I am too sensitive, but Maimi starts to speak gibberish when she gets too nervous.

心の叫びを歌にしてみた

世界一Happyな女の子

SHOCK! (Performed by KSS)

This is really not an easy song, but the talented KSS make it sound very good

Flashdance…What a Feeling

Song performed in English. Oh my God the horrors. Maimi-chan’s English pronounciation is SO VERY POOR. I can’t understand her at all. Airi is slightly better.

次の角を曲がれ

Airi’s singing is so dam superb here. I got goose bumps listening to her.

君は自転車 私は電車で帰宅

The Middle Management～女性中間管理職～

ひとり占めしたかっただけなのに

アダムとイブのジレンマ

悲しきヘブン

The popular “Mid Ages” of C-ute. This bunch is purely here to showcase their singing and dancing skills.

Here is the start of what we call後半戦(Last Half Battle). The really high adrenaline songs

Midnight Temptation

都会っ子 純情

Kiss me 愛してる

僕らの輝き

ザ☆トレジャーボックス

超WONDERFUL!

Danceでバコーン!

I couldn’t have picked a better setlist. It has my favourites Midnight Temptation, Tokkaiko Junjou’s opening speech was made by a joint Yaji and Hagi (so as not to anger either camps), Bokura no Kagayaki is such a crowd pleaser. And of course Treasure Box, Chou Wonderful and Dance de Bakoon to end nicely on a great high.

Only Iza Susume Ready go is missing. I am forever whining about that song.

たどり着いた女戦士

This is such a fitting song to be here. The girls have really come a long way. And this song is a triumphant “WE DID IT”. When it first came out in the album, I thought it was a filler song, but when it was sung in Budokan, I realized that it was the most important song in the album. It is a real tear-jerker. My heart swells with pride for C-ute, as I am sure every single other member of Team C-ute in the Arena felt as well.

ENCORE

JUMP

It has been a while since they did JUMP, but I was already expecting this song. Everyone sang their loudest when C-ute turned their mikes to us.

MC

Members take their turns to thank everyone (Family, Friends, Staff, Fans) for the 10 years. About how tough things have been. They mentioned the other 3 members A LOT (We later learn that all 3 of them are in the audience). Maimi-chan scold fans who left them halfway, and starts her gibberish again. Everyone is crying now. Nakky announces their next goal is Saitama Super Arena (The first time they had actually named the venue)

Even if you weren’t part of Team C-ute, you would instantly be one. This is the reality. Of the thousands of Wannabee Idols, only a handful reach this stage. It is not easy, nor is it for the faint of heart. But if you persist (and with a little luck) this is where you could end up. They were tested time and time again. With being the “Losers”  of the H!P Kids, with their first Ace leaving, with their 2^nd Ace wavering, with producer pulling stunts, with 2 members leaving. And finally their slow climb to the top. The Idols for Idols.

我武者LIFE

This song has been touted as C-ute’s new Kamikyoku. To me, it has not cemented that status yet. It is nice sounding enough, but not worthy of being called Kamikyoku. At the end, they shoot streamers out with a bang. This really gave me a fright.

View from my seat.

So originally, I intended to rush off after the concert to go for Kikka’s jacket signing event at Shibuya, but I realize that it was not feasible at all.

Me and the other Singaporeans end up joining a bunch of Chinese (from China) for an after concert meal at a Chinese Restaurant (LOL). We all can speak chinese, but as there is a Japanese guy there, we end up speaking Japanese to each other. It’s kind of hilarious. I got praised for my good Japanese and talk C-ute stuff. I ask the Japanese guy about C-ute’s ability to do SSA. He tells me unlikely. He said that even for YokoAri, many people were not Team C-ute, but just H!P fans (Musume fans being the large bulk) Even for myself, I could see that the back rows of the 2nd floor were often unoccupied.

This kind of confirmed my suspicions. I had always knew that C-ute is often Over-hyped about its popularity, so I was extremely surprised when the news came out that YokoAri was sold out. I just didn’t think that it was possible. I often told people that YokoAri is C-ute’s limit. I don’t think they could sell more. But now that they have officially named SSA as their next target, as a member of Team C-ute, I have a duty to cheer them on. I really wish the best for them. Even if their don’t get SSA, I know that this is best that they could do with what they have.

One of the chinese fans helps me check when is my last train, and I quarrel with the waitress with how slow the food is (in chinese). 1 minute later, the waitress brings the food out. We eat and rush off to catch the last train.

My hotel is in a pretty sleezy area near Akasaka. Luckily, I didn’t meet with any incidents while walking to my hotel (It is raining slightly too. さすが舞美ちゃん)

My accomodation for the night. Its exactly as you see in the picture. 

The accommodation in question is called “Centurion Cabin and Spa”. Bascially it is just bath facilities with a shared sleeping area with (unlockable) sliding doors (Girls Only). Everything is really public, but its really cheap at about SGD30 per night. Don’t think I will be booking this place again. While the facilities are decent, I just can’t take the lack of privacy. Anyhow I am so drained, it takes me a whole 5 mins to fall asleep.

Team Syachihoko in Dalian 21 – 22 March Day 2

Something I forgot to mention yesterday was that we were just randomly standing in a corner of the shopping centre when Tenchou and his Managers walk past. As we were in Wota gear, Tencho actually stopped and apologised to us personally for the cancellation of the 2nd session. I was really touched that he would bother to talk to us fans like this. I told him we were from Singapore and they were so surprised, did about an 80deg bow. Tenchou asked me if I was going to come to the shopping centre on the 2nd day and I replied “Of course”

Admittedly, when the 2nd session was cancelled, I immediately thought that this was a play of anti-Japanese sentiments. The Chinese and Japanese are not exactly known to be the best of friends (with good reasons). Later on I was re-assured by a local Chinese that this was not the case, but I guess we will never really know.

For day 2 I had originally wanted to do some morning sight-seeing to visit China’s “Great Ocean Road” called “Binhai Road” which is a coastal highway. It also features a 40km Boardwalk which happens to be the longest boardwalk in China, promising breathtaking views of the coast.

Alas, my body disagreed with this plan and I slept through the morning LOL.

A Random Giraffe

And so, back to the Wanda Shopping Centre it is. Reaching at more than an hour before the 1pm session starts, ALL the Japanese wota already lined the 2nd and 3rd floors looking down onto the stage area. This would be what we Singaporean Chinese call “自动” (Automatic). They all know the right thing to do without being reminded or cajoled.

However, the front row of the stage is still a row of wota. These are the local Chinese(and HK) fans which number less than 10. As we are not locals, we are slightly confused as to where we could stand. We decided to go up to the 2nd floor to recce.

Upon settling on a great vantage point in the middle of the stage, we make conversation with the wota around. It is only from talking to the wota in which you can get a real sense of what the fandom is really like, and also learn more about the girls. They also informed us that it was still not clear whether the performances would go on or not.

One other thing that made me chuckle was that one of the Ojisan wota said “Us Syachi fans are very nice to each other, not like AKB fans who always fight among themselves.”

There is a Chinese couple standing next to me and they also talk to me. They ask me about the girls and how I find the event. It is only halfway through our conversation that they reveal that they are one of the organizers to the event! What are the chances! Of course we say we are from Singapore. They told us that they are very pleased with the turnout and will likely invite the girls (and maybe more artists) next year! Although I do not like Dalian very much, but if Syachi PLUS other groups come again next year, I could consider going again.

They also told us that the Managers visited the Police Station yesterday to 打个招呼  or “Say Hello”. But we all know what that means. I guess things turned out for the best because they got permission to continue with the rest of the Lives!

The Japanese Wota urged us to go down to the first floor as we are not-Japanese. We took their advice and went down.

Basically, apart from the row of Chinese Wota sitting in the first row (whom I got to know later on), there was another 2 rows of chairs, followed by the crowd of local Chinese non-wota. We stood right in front of this crowd and in full wota gear so I guess you could say it was as good as front row seats. The MC is a very cute Chinese girl who speaks very fluent Chinese and Japanese. Her accent sounded a little Taiwanese to me so she was definitely not local Dalian-er (The local Dalian-ers have a strong Northern Chinese/Beijing-ish Accent). Her Japanese had a little bit of Chinese Accent in it so I know that she isn’t Japanese. She warned the wota not to make too much notice or get too excited.

The setlist was something like “Otome Juken Sensou” “Colours” and “Stardust Bowling”. This time, Nao chan gives me the full fan treatment. Lots of eye contact and smiles. She is really cute when she isn’t giving her bitch face. Haha. Haruna also looks at me at least once. Nao chan’s voice sounds exactly like in the DVD lives, her performance more than lives up to my expectations.

At this point we notice Tenchou, his managers and other random crew members lining both the sides of the stage. To our shock, they are actually physically holding down the red felt floor covering! And also visibly using considerable strength to make sure that the girls don’t fall down due to the loose flooring!

Incredible. Once again I was touched by their strong determination and commitment to the fans.

In between performances, the members have to do interviews. 

Yuzu-pon is not present so Yuzuki mostly takes over her lines. We later learnt that she flew back to Japan to take care of things at home (An internet source said that she had exams). Sometimes they forget to fill in for Yuzu-pon so everyone just kind of stares at each other while the music plays and nobody sings(Some people still chant for Yuzu-pon though she is not there). The sound system was still shitty and the music cuts off in short intervals.

The “Oi Oi”’s of the wota from the upper levels echo into the atrium of the shopping centre sending chills down my spine. You would have to be there to know what I mean. Just Amazing. Another person could likely describe the same as “Creepy” though.

After the performance Tenchou informed us of the Photo Session after the 4pm performance. I took it that this was to make up for the cancelled 2nd session on day 1. Maybe you could say that this was a blessing in disguise? I would never have thought to be able to take pictures with the girls!

Once the session was over, the local Chinese wota would gather at the back of the stage to wait for the girls to come out. So we went to hang around there to see what would happen. True enough, the girls came out and spoke to some of the fans.

We didn’t want to trouble the girls so we stood apart and just observed. To our surprise, one of the managers told Haruna that we were from Singapore (The manager recognized us!). Haruna gave us a 90deg bow and thanked us for coming. I was absolutely stunned. NOBODY has ever given me a 90deg bow. And it was from an Idol so young (and cute) as Haruna. In my eyes, she is not a kid despite being 15 years old (same age as Maa-chan but Maa-chan would never do this). She is an extremely professional artist who takes her job and commitment to her fans very seriously. She is mature beyond her years. She has my full and utter respect.

I wanted to tell her not to bow and that we were the ones who should be saying thank you. But I was just at a loss for words. I was so moved. Typing this now at this moment just makes me feel like oshihen-ing from Nao chan to Haruna. Double oshi it is then.

Finally we have some time for lunch, which was at a Japanese-Family-Restaurant-like place. The food again was nothing too great, if a little disappointing for the relatively high price. I swear I am not picky with food but the standard is just not within acceptable restaurant standards (for Singapore or Japanese standards).

I had Omurice, Fried Pork Cutlet and Nao-coloured drink

This time, the 4pm session started promptly. However, the Organizer took to the mic again and announced happily to the wota that they could make as much noise as they wanted to, this being the last session in Dalian. I could just feel the tingle of excitement in the air as the wota get ready to release their inhibitions.

This setlist does not disappoint with all their hit numbers “Otome Juken Senso”, “777”, the pizza song and the like. Once again, the staffs are using all their might to hold the stage together. This time I try to take note of members other than Nao chan. Chiyuri gives me a cute smile. Haruna also give me a quick glance to make sure I am paying attention to her. I don’t know if it’s just me, but Honoka doesn’t seem to connect with the audience much. It could be just how she is with her “my-pace” attitude, but she does always seem to be in her own little world. Yuzuki less so, but she too seems to be thinking about something else. Nao chan has her on and off moments; one moment she could be smiling and fishing fans, but when she is in her “off” moments, she puts on her doya face, especially when she has to dance at the sides.

More people forget to sing Yuzu-pon lines. There seems to be a slight improvement in the sound system too. But other than that, it was awesome! The wota certainly gave it their all the cheered the girls on with all their hearts. In response, the girls were fired up. To be in the middle of it all was unforgettable.

As the performance came to an end, the girls stayed on the stage extra long to say good bye to everyone. All the wota ended up waiting around for announcement of the Photo Session. We then trooped along outside to the front of the building where the photo taking would take place. Again making conversation with fellow wota. It is kinda confusing because there are multiple languages being thrown around. There was also a reporter from Nikkei Sport who spoke to me in English and Japanese, he took down my name too.

Soon, the wota are split into “Bus Groups” This is the bus service organized by Syachi Manager to ferry wota from the Hotel to the Shopping Centre. “Others” Japanese wota not signed up for the bus plan and “Local Fans”. Once again, we are confused where to go, but the manager who recognized us waved us into the “Local Fans” group along with 4 Japanese-Wota-Living-in-China. As a result our group is pretty small compared to the other Bus sized groups of about 15 people.

Behind the scenes of the picture taking session. This is a normal group pic size.

After the picture is taken, we get a chance to talk to the girls. Haruna again comes to talk to us and thank us for coming I tell her to come to Singapore. Nao chan then comes over and she is surprised that we are from Singapore. I ask her if she knows where Singapore is, and yep, she knows the Merlion. I tell her to come to Singapore. (This is my standard phrase haha). They are all super tiny. Her profile states that she is 154cm, but I swear Nao chan is smaller than that. What do they feed these girls!?

While Nao chan is very considerate as expected of an idol, Haruna is the one who won me over with her earnest-ness.

Soon, it is time to say our good-byes; to the girls and fellow wota. We head off to the airport straight, sharing the cab fare with 2 female Chinese wota. At the airport we chat about wota stuff and exchange wota stories. At our gate, we also bumped into 1 of the Japanese-Wota-Living-in-China who is a huge Mononofu.

The flight back is un-eventful aside from being bogged down by post-event depression. What a weekend indeed.

Lastly, the group pic! Too awesome!

Notes on Team Syachihoko, Managers and Fans

I would say I have become a slightly bigger fan. I could also appreciate how differently Stardust treats their fans as compared to other groups. The managers take their time to personally speak to the fans to make them feel like they matter. The thought that they put into taking care of the fans is something uniquely Japanese, and more specifically, uniquely Stardust (?). I can truly understand how Stardusters can support their groups so whole-heartedly. I came out of this re-thinking everything about the idol industry and realizing how much the management style can affect an idol group. And perhaps also begin to understand how Momoclo got to where they are now.

Team Syachihoko in Dalian 21 – 22 March Day 1

Truth to be told, I have never even heard for Dalian before this trip, much less thought of even visiting the place for just a weekend. Alas, Idols make you do strange stuff that you would never have imagined yourself doing. The event itself has no connection to idols at all, “第二届大连日本品牌展“ which translates to “The 2^nd Dalian Japan Brands Fair” There are about 10 booths set up in an open space in the middle of a Wanda Shopping Centre (Which happens to be owned by a guy who is richer than Jack Ma) As the name suggests, the booths sell Japanese products like beauty and foodstuffs. It also promotes tourism to Japan.

Shopping Centre where the event takes place

Speaking of jumping the gun, I should start at the beginning of the story.

Once again, my flight is on a Friday night. I end work relatively early at 7pm to zoom home for a quick shower and off I go to the airport. My flight is at midnight via Air China . I can proudly say that I have conditioned myself to sleep on airplanes. I normally slip into la-la-land before the plan takes off, so when I wake up above the clouds you can imagine I get a little disorientated.

Actually the domestic flight into Dalian was delayed so even via taxi to the shopping centre (which is about half an hour away from the airport. The performance started at 1pm, but I only reached at 1.15, about halfway through the 2^nd song happened to be Iikurashi. There are about a 100 Japanese Wota going crazy at the small stage.

It is not too difficult to find a place near the stage because apart from the 100+ Japanese Wota, the rest of the audiences are bystanders who happen to be in the shopping centre. I am still wearing my 一般人Black jacket so it is not obvious I am a fan too. The sound system is horrendous as the music keeps cutting off and on through the performance. The mics don’t seem to be functioning particularly well too. Other than the technical problems, the girls sang pretty well. Honoka didn’t sound too bad live, but when I watched the fan cams at home, she did in fact go off tune quite a few times. It might be due to the fact that they are in a shopping centre, so the singing was not as powerful as, say Budoukan was.

My view for 1st Session.

They sang the pizza song, dakishme anthem and 777. As it is my first time watching them, I don’t participate much, more of enjoying the girls and observing the wota. As expected of Stardusters, the fans are crazy (especially since they did travel all the way to Dalian for this) their furi copy and chants are co-ordinated and well practiced. It must have been quite a sight for the ordinary people doing their shopping.

The girls also introduced themselves in Mandarin and say a few standard phrases. Nao chan cannot remember her lines so she writes them on her arm in black ink. This is very obvious to the crowd and elicits lots of laughter. But Nao chan is the boss so she CBF.

I supposed that since I wasn’t wearing any outstandingly wota-ish clothing, it was difficult to catch the girls’ eyes, but surprisingly Haruna did give me a nice smile. She was always my 2^nd favourite so I was happy. Nao chan on the other hand is not very generous with smiles or waves to people who are not her fans. This is something she could really improve on. She also has the classic “resting bitch face”. Unusual for my Oshi as I usually avoid these types, but I guess this is something you won’t know until you actually see them live. Those who seem to genuinely enjoy their time on stage are Haruna and Chiyuri.

After the performance is over I move to the center to take some better pictures

After the performance, we go for lunch at this pork ribs place. It was actually pretty bad and I wouldn’t recommend it. The clams had sand in it as they were not washed properly, and everything was on the salty side.

We could also explore the shopping centre a little. I felt that the layout was generally similar to some Western Shopping Centres I visited (Especially sub-urban malls in Australia). The mall has big brands like Uniqlo, H&M, while the main tenant is Wanda Departmental Store, thus named the Shopping Centre. There is a big supermarket in the basement. Meanwhile I also swapped my 一般人disguise for my blue leopard printed Nao chan Parker.

Suited up

The 2^nd performance slot was scheduled at 4pm, so all the wota diligently gathered at the stage at 4pm to wait. However, at 4pm sharp, instead of the girls coming out, a man who introduced himself as the organizer of the event took to the mike. He informed the wota that this session will be postponed to 5.30pm due to the stage being unsafe for the girls. We didn’t notice this, but during the first session, the girls were having trouble dancing due to the terrible stage flooring (Made in China FTW). So the stage is basically made of wooden plank platforms, covered with a red felt–like cloth. But this cloth was not properly pinned to the wooden planks so the girls couldn’t get a firm footing and were in constant danger of falling.

Following this announcement, the wota disbursed obediently to find something to occupy themselves for another hour. We went to a Starbucks/Coffee Bean Knockoff called “Caffe Bean” whose tagline is “咖啡陪你心” which means “Coffee to accompany your heart”. I had a frappe drink, and learnt a few more Chinese words.

Dalian Frappe

Once again, at about 5.30pm, the wota gathered at the stage again. It seemed like Déjà vu that the same man came out. Peppered with apologies, he told us that the 2^nd session would have to be cancelled. He explained that this was the anniversary of a Shanghai Earthquake where some 30+ people died, so the local Chinese people were not too happy with all the shouting and the noise that the wota were making. He told the wota that for subsequent performances, the Japanese wota would have to watch from the 2^nd and 3^rd floors AND be more reserved in their “Encouragements”. First floor would be reserved for locals. Then, Tencho also spoke to us for a while saying very sorry for everything, and that they will try their best to continue the performances tomorrow, but no promises.

One thing I was very surprised, that the wota did not complain much, they didn’t grumble. They reacted as if it didn’t concern them even though they paid so much money to fly from Japan and traverse this strange land. If it was Singapore, everyone would be kicking up a great fuss. My respect for Japanese wota grew. To make sure I didn’t understand them wrongly (also due to the strange reactions of the wota = no reaction), I doubled checked this info with a fellow Nao chan oshi.

Honestly I was really disappointed. Having travelled so far and facing the possibility of not being able to enjoy the lives as promised, there seemed to be no meaning in this trip.

Crest-fallen, I cabbed to my hotel for Check in. I chose this hotel as it was rumored to be the same hotel that the girls would be staying at. Hotel Nikko Dalian, on their website, they gave themselves 5 stars. Hotel Nikko is a chain of Japanese Hotels and is also the official hotel for ANA Airlines. The price was much higher than the normal hotels, but since it was only for a night, I didn’t mind paying a little more on the chance that we might see the girls.

The room is big and luxurious as expected. There were many Japanese TV channels to cater to the Japanese guests. The reception recommended a Chonqing Hot Pot nearby so dinner was settled.

Somehow, I feel that I paid tourist prices for nearly everything I did. I guess that is alright because the meat tasted good.

Extra large Hot Pot!

On the way back, there was a Lawson (catered to Japanese tourist as expected)

My thoughts on the City of Dalian

I had done some research on Dalian, in which I learnt that it was a promising industrial city with lots of up and coming projects. Having been to Shanghai 8 years ago, I expected something similar to the bustle of the Bund. Boy was I in for a shock. Once I touched down, even from the plane, there were miles and miles of residential buildings, unoccupied, uncompleted and in various states of derelict. This was definitely not what I read about in Wikipedia. The streets and cars are covered in dust and sand from all the abandoned construction sites. I could just hear the wails of fail investments as I passed it all by in my taxi. I could not imagine this magnitude. While we in Singapore complained of our lack of housing. Here in the middle of Dalian city are hundreds of thousands of unoccupied units of Condominums, just wasting away. I remember thinking to myself as I saw a scruffy looking dog trot pass my taxi, you gonna be eaten soon.

As expected of China, the streets are not well paved, the roads are not well marked and there is a general disregard for traffic rules. The buildings are falling apart, and people pick fights in the street. This is the land my ancestors hailed from.

Welcome to China.

Taiwan 24-25 Jan 2015 Day 2

I had a really restless night despite being so tired.

The hotel gave me a free KFC breakfast voucher, but I left the hotel later than expected so I nearly missed the timing to get my free breakfast. Luckily the KFC staffs were quite lenient and also very patient with my horrible Chinese.

There is a Bank named after me

I did more shopping at Watsons and XMD. As usual I bought some rubbish that was a totally waste of my money. Stocked up on cosmetics, earrings, useless but cute pouches and BL Manga (there was an Animate!)

I arrived at the venue fashionably late as usual. To my surprise, there was an opening act! A Taiwanese Duo who performed AKB and Nico songs. I guess you could say that this was the TW version of Pika Pika Maid Café? There was no live singing though.

First up is Tokyo Performance Dolls. I have read about them before so I knew that they were a Rehashed 80s idol group. But as for their songs, I hadn’t heard them before. I have a grudging respect for them due to Morning Musume being in a similar position (Having to deal with the comparisons to the Golden Era).

In all honestly, it was like watching a Non Lip Syncing version of AKB48.

I do admit that their level of performance is top notch. There were about 10 of them who performed together and in small groups. But it was non-stop and pretty intense. Some of the girls however, obviously thought of themselves not like idols but “Musical”-like performers. I can tell this by the way they don’t make eye contact with the audience at all. To be fair, some of the songs are more suitable to be in Musical Theatre.

There is 1 girl who looks like Sato Sumire from AKB (but the nice not-so-haughty-version). She performs a song with Spanish influence (it has “Ole”s in it) And I thought she was really cute there, and I tell her so during the handshake.

There is a girl who lived in Singapore when she was young. She is one of the centres and has a good vibe about her. She reminds me a little of Suzuki Airi. She speaks fluent English and we converse in English during the handshake

Next performance is Shiritsu Ebisu Chuugaku.

I have been listening to their songs for a while now so I am excited to see them. I hadn’t decided on a oshi at first. Ebichu brought in a TON of fans from Japan. At first I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to see much, but thankfully, most of the Japanese fans were confined to the Non-VIP area so the VIP area was not as crowded as I thought it would be.

They performed some songs I was really looking forward to like “Ume”, “Kari keiyaku no Cinderella” and “Encore no Koi” . Especially “Encore no Koi” which has been my favourite Ebichu song for a while. As expected, AiAi’s voice really gets on my nerves. I am so sorry to AiAi fans. I cannot take it.

The pitch of their songs is generally rather high so some of them end up shouting into the mic. Actually I don’t mind this at all because I am used to this after watching the New Gen MM so many times (I.E. Sayashi Riho) The music is so loud anyway so it isn’t that obvious.

As my first time watching a Stardust group and knowing the notoriety of Stardusters, I was slightly afraid of the crowd. But my fears were unfounded. Maybe because this is Taiwan? The crowd is a little more rowdy, but not unmanageable.

There was supposed to be an Encore performance, but due to the schedule running behind time, they had to scrap this.

I have absolutely nothing to say to them during handshake. Hahha

And it’s finally UUG! All my waiting and travelling and waiting can finally find its conclusion!

Actually I think their set list is exactly the same as the Team Makenki Setlist. They mentioned that they wanted this to be a “Mini” High Spurt Kingdom (2 hours of nonstop high tension tracks) so I knew what kind of songs to expect.

Although the number of people have decreased from Ebichu, but everyone jumps around like crazy. Its really very very Fun. Azu always keeps an extra eye out for me and we make plenty of eye contact. Even with the jarring EDM, her smooth vocals pierce through the noise and straight to my heart. LOL.

They all have a go at the Chinese versions of their usual introductions. Actually, if I didn’t know their usual introductions, I would have absolutely no idea what they were saying. Akari did her Karate.

“Zenryoku Pump Up” “Jump” “Enjoy Enjoy” “Chopper Chopper” “Up Up Typhoon” and the 2 New Singles “Beautiful Dreamer” and “Itadaki wo Mezase”. It was so enjoyable that the 1 hour fly by. Although I am a seasoned(maybe not so seasoned) apuga family member, I am out of breath by the 2^nd last song. My stamina is still bad. I don’t think I would last through a High Spurt Kingdom…

They announced that their newest single will be released in TW as well. They also spoke about the things they ate. Azu mentioned that during the press conference, she completely forgot her lines in Chinese. I so would have loved to see that, but it had happened on fri when I was still at work in Singapore. They mentioned their 47 Prefecture tour in Japan and hope to add Taiwan to the list. Oh how I would love that too. But I know it’s pretty much false hope. Judging from the number of audience, they would never be able to cover their costs unless we all bought 5 T shirts and 10 towels each.

The encore song was “Party Party”. I have heard this song very few times live before. It is a little strange for an encore song. I also immensely regret not getting the UUG Kingblade because it changes colour according to the song.

The towel that I purchased. 

As I bought a UUG towel, I have 2 extra handshake tickets on top of my VIP handshake. I speak to Azu 3 times (and the rest as well of course, but I don’t really have that much to say to them)

Azu starts speaking to me before I could say anything

1．

A: Im so glad to finally see you again!

Me: I am always happy to see you!

A: Thank you very much!!

(Didn’t get much in this handshake Lol)

2.

A: Thank you!

Me: I watched you on the Girl’s Live Outfit Co-ordinate!

A: Really? I was so embarrassed!

Me: No~ It was so cute!

A: Really? Thank you!

Me: I think your fans will increase!

(Haha, this is just me trying to make her happy)

3.

Me: This will be the last time I see you for now, I don’t know when I will see you again L

Azu: Oh no~ Lets see each other again ok!?

Me: Yes! I will work hard to go to Japan to see you!

My gosh. I love this girl so much. She really knows how to be nice to her fans. I just wanna hug her.

Generally I tell all the other members

• I’m from Singapore
• Good luck for Budokan
• I enjoyed myself
• Other random stuff that came to my mind

I told Akari her Acapella was good and to do it during Live. I asked Maana when she will be on Showroom (lol just to tease her) Moritty said that my necklace was cute. BUT, because I was wearing Azu T, they all didn’t really bother about trying to be extra nice to me. Lol.

Ayanon is such a Yanki.

While looping the handshake, all the UUG family make conversation with each other. One of the UUG family gives me this Azu balloon. It is so freaking cute!!

The Azu balloon that a wota gave to me! I will cherish it forever! 

After this is Passpo but I have a flight to catch so I have to give it a miss. While the others were watching a “Flight”, I was in an actual “Flight”. Pardon me.

The dreaded “Air Asia” flight, wasn’t as bad as I thought due to the fact I was fast asleep most of the way into KL and then from KL to SG. I even managed to squeeze in a Shower for SGD13 at KLIA. Upon reaching Singapore at 7am, I zoomed to the taxi stand to catch a cab home (5min from plane to boarding the taxi), changed my clothes and headed to work.

Round Up

Cart of Dim Sum near the Live Venue

Yes it was an unbelievably short trip. But in this short weekend, my love for UUG and Azu has grown so much. Come to think of it, Azu was really very very very x10000 good to me. She constantly gave me eye contact and wide smiles (I just know it is aimed at me XD).

I remembered in the previous Makenki live, even though I was wearing her T shirt and always looking at her, but sometimes she dared not make eye contact with me (she sort of skipped over me even when looking in my direction). She looked kind of awkward. But this time, there was none of that. She never failed to give her warm eye smile. Honestly because of the variety of idols I see in these idol festivals, there are many many idols who try so hard to “fish” people that they are constantly winking (Like 2-3 times per solo line, I'm not kidding) and pointing and stuff. Although I said that I like idols who work hard, too much of it makes me quite sick. Thats why I relish Azu's warm smile so much. It makes me melt inside~ Hehe

I really think of her as my younger sister and it makes me feel like spoiling her. (Its true I have a real younger sister but she doesn’t act like a younger sister at all :P). Even though I always say that I don’t require any kind of acknowledgement from my idol to continue to Oshi her, but it feels really good to have it too.

It happens that the day after I return to SG, UUG announces the dates for the 2nd half of their 47 Prefecture tour. There is a Birthday Live for Azu on her birthday, 14 June in her Hometown (Title: The Triumphant Return of Sekine Azusa). I HAVE to go for it.

アプガ最高！

Taiwan 24-25 Jan 2015 Day 1

Ok, I lied. I did go for @Jam Taiwan from 24-25 Jan (Sat and Sun). My parents continue to insist that I am crazy. I guess I kinda agree with them.

There are a few reasons why I was really apprehensive to go for this event even though I was very keen to go ever since the event was announced last year in Nov.

1.  I could not take leave due to just starting a new job, thus the flights would have been very tight.
2. The only flight that I could take back to Singapore was “Air Asia” because of the timings
3. It was considerably expensive for such a short Trip.

The deciding factors were:

1. Azu
2. Since I am definitely not going for my March tour, this would be my only chance to see UUG until the next time I go Japan which could be 6 months from now.

But mostly the deciding factor was No.1

Anyhow, my flight there was via Jetstar @ 6am in the morning. I woke up at 4am, and my mum gave me a lift to the airport. She could have driven me to a mental institution, but she didn’t, so I guess that makes her an awesome mum.

Selfie before flight

I arrived at 11.45am in Taipei and take a bus into the city (about 1 hour). I head straight to the venue as there is no time to drop my bag in the hotel. I reach at about 2pm, the time when the first performance is going to start. I dump my bag in a locker. There is a Opening Act called MimimemeMIMI

It’s a 2 girls, 1 singing and another “DJ-ing” (this girl wears a big snow hat with 1 mufflers so you cant see her face) As I came late, I only managed to watch half a song so I can’t comment much. The girl who sings is cute though.

First up is Galette. I admit I have never listened to this group’s songs before so it’s pretty nice to watch them without any expectations and pre-judgements. Their songs all sound pretty much the same (I guess that’s common if they are all composed by the same guy). They do kind of remind me of the upbeat version of TGS. There is a very Korean looking girl here. She looks so ditzy and when she speaks, my jaw just drops lol. She actually said “Eigo tte… English?” It was then when I thought, this girl can’t be real. Nobody is that stupid, she is totally faking it. Initially I thought her energy was great, but now I just can’t take her seriously anymore.

There is a fake Loli (17 years old) who is going to graduate.

There was a fair amount of attempted fishing going on throughout which is just really enjoyable. Note: This is despite me standing quite a few rows back.

During the handshake, the tallest half-Caucasian looking girl actually touched my face (she said I was cute la..) I think I flinched a little cause I am kinda uncomfortable with physical contact from strangers, that’s just my natural reaction, sorry! She is really beautiful though. One of the prettiest idols I have seen. I told her that her legs are very nice.

Snack I ate between shows

In between the performances, I stroll about the venue which just so happens to be very near a “night market” called Shida Market. I grab a bite check the market out.

Next up is DLH. I still don’t have an oshi, so I am at a weird point where I totally enjoy their songs, yet can’t get into them that well because of my lack of oshi. They perform all the crowd favourites and everyone has a good time. Koumi’s Chinese pronunciation is very very good, probably the best of all the idols who went to Taiwan for the Live.

At first I think that Mari chan has slimmed down a little, but when I look closer, I realise that she hasn’t. Hahahaha. They performed my favourite “Koi wo Hashiridashita”.

During the handshake, I tell Koumi her Chinese is good, and wish Kana Happy Birthday. Annnddd I have totally no recollection of the other handshakes. Lol.

DLH are such veterans so I can’t comment much, they do just as well as they always do.

After the DLH, I got interview by a Japanese TV crew. Actually I have no idea what program this for. They asked me about DLH (the guy said he saw me jumping about so he thought I was a big fan), this part is really awkward because I am just a fake DLH fan so I couldn’t answer his questions well. But he caught on that I was a UUG fan. At the end, I gave a message to UUG to wish them good luck for Budokan. I hope they see it! One of the guys told me that he will tell Miiko what I said so I am really happy.

Last for the night is TGS. What a coincidence that this is the same order that they performed for the 2 man live I saw of them in Shinjuku.

As I have mentioned before, I am not familiar with the new TGS so I can’t really enjoy them. But I also know that this might be the last time I see them as they have just announced that they will no longer be appearing in any Idol Events (they are heading in the “artist” direction now). I possible know only 3 songs “Koudou no Himitsu”, “Himawari to Hoshikuzu” “Nee Sensei” . I might have heard the others before, but they all sound pretty similar. I was disappointed that they didn’t perform “Onnaji Kimochi”.

Before, I had complained about Aachan’s bad pitching. To update you guys, she did much better on this day. She managed to keep in tune for the first half of the songs, but lost it a little in the 2nd half. Its really painful to hear her sing because you can tell she struggles so much just to keep in tune. From the look on her face, she just can’t enjoy herself which makes things difficult for the audience.

During the handshake, I tell Yuri she has become beautiful (she’s all grown up now~), I tell Hiichan she is cute and Mei that her singing has improved. I also ask all of them when will they come back to Singapore.

My hotel. Apparently Im so fat I need 3 beds

I’m done for the night! I grab my bags and head to XiMenDing to check into my hotel. They hotel is just next to the train station and the room they give me is actually for 3 people (1 double bed 2 single beds). I walk around XMD to do some light shopping and grab some dinner before hitting the sack in preparation for another long day tomorrow.

My Dinner: Taiwan Sausage, Baked Potato and a big cup of Bubble Tea (Weaboo Translation: Tapioca)