sunsweet’s blog

Even at work, I have to see them -

Conflict 1

:

I don't want to step out of my house because I'll be away from my JE updates and downloads!

BUT.... I need to go to work to buy more JE mags and stuffs.

 

Conflict 2:

I can't bear to bring my pinups out of my room!

BUT.... I need JE motivation at work.

 

Conflict 3:

I don't want to let my colleagues think I'm a gushing fangirl even though I'm already 22!

BUT... I just can't stop spazzing about KoyaShige & Jin to keep me awake in front of the office computer.

 

.... my sis is starting to question my sanity....

 

 

I've been having problems uploading my pictures the past few days, but it's all solved now! Have been trying to put this up, though the excitement level is significantly lower as compared to last Wed - the very punctual delivery of my weeeek single on their Nov 7 release date! Cdjapan has made me a very happy customer~~

 

 

This has got to be my fav 2 pages of the entire CD sleeve! I only allowed my sis to stand beside me while I flipped through the lyrics pages once (and only once!) since I don't think I'll bear to open the cd again. It's to protect my shiny new single! My sis calls it selfish obsession >.<

My happiness arrived through Fedex today! All thanks to Bec's friend who could stay on longer in Taipei to help un international fans fight for the chance to buy the con goods~~

 

Frankly, there are so many other con items that I regretted not buying, and the list could go on... Demo, I'm just as grateful for the chance to have these precious few, given the problems we went through in Taipei.

I'm going to wave Keiichan's uchiwa and sway my penlight with the con dvd!! *flails*

I blame Typhoon Krosa for the extreme lack of fulfillment for my Taipei trip last weekend. In fact, it felt as if I've paid money for two most memorable experiences in my miserable lifetime - the scarily frightening powerful typhoon (never want to go through it again - ever!) and NewS con (can I go Japan for them next year too???)

The trees were falling everywhere and I had the shock of my life when this thick branch fell narrowly past my head! We could also see signboards flying too, and what was the point of clinging on to the umbrellas when the wind could just snatch them out of your hands and the rain was so heavy that you would still be wet nevertheless?? ( To Becs: After much deliberation, I've decided not to post the pic of you squirming in the rain - I still need my travelling companion with me to Japan next year ne! Believe me, that photo still amuses me, it was such a brilliant candid shot (>.<)v )

 

The concert and having the precious first chance to watch Keiichan and Shige was the salvation. I loved NewS as a whole during the two concerts, even though I don't usually fancy Yamapi and Ryo. Admittedly, Yamashita was really good-looking in real life, and Massu was expectedly genki AND funny! Especially when they were doing individual introduction during the second con, and he called himself "Xiao Long Bao". I came home gushing about my wonderful time there to my sis, and after a few days she got really bitter, hahaha! She couldn't even go near the computer since her 'O' levels are next week, so I think I have brought out the bitter streak within her!

 

Where I couldn't spend on con goods or clothes or food, I spent them buying manga and some precious NewS related stuffs. We went to the well-known huge Eslite bookstore on Sun morning before going for our afternoon concert. It was a redeeming point, because I bugged the staff to ransack their store for me to get Yukan Club (Jin's upcoming drama on Oct 16 remember???!!!) I could not find this series anywhere in Spore, even Kinokuniya. So I just bought all in Taiwan, and lugged all 19 books to the Taipei Arena after that! Becs was commenting," love is blind huh" even as I was panting from the weight of the books walking in the rain. Plus, the steps at the Arena were high and steep, I literally plomped my butt hard on the seat after every torturous climb - the result of couching too much in front of the computer ^^"

 

P.S. To my friends who had been worried while I was over there, thankew so much for the concern!! Note the contrast-

• my sis' sms: Saw typhoon in the news. Is it cool?? Boring over here n studying all day...
• my dad's teleconversation: Stuck in the hotel ah? Told you outside is not safe! Next time just stay in Spore the best!

~~sigh~~~

 

I have been really really neglecting my vox, and it seemed kind of sad to be stagnant.... but then again, nothing interesting happens in my life so there was actually nothing much to blog about anyway ^^" Demo, last week was a high point again when I went to Taipei for NewS con! Apart from the very fact that the typhoon was hateful and ruined every enthusiasm and plan I had, I loved the con!! In fact, while I was stuck in the hotel room with Becs and feeling extremely bitter, NewS (je in general) managed to cheer me up on that Sunday of their con....

My very first time attending any con, and gosh Becs was right! It gets addictive, especially with the whole atmosphere - pretty penlights in the dark, kakkoii dancing, happy sing-along, and kawaii mc! I am already so tempted to go for their winter con at the end of this year, but!! my dad has already put his foot down and made sure I understand that there will be no more travelling for me for the rest of this year with my trips of Japan (Jul) and Taiwan (Oct)...... *wails*

This was the balcony where Koyama appeared! Although there was still a certain distance, I was actually suddenly breathless because that was the closest I've got to see Keiichan! It was like magic when he appeared: he and Shige was supposedly locked in a box on the stage, and when a Jr burnt the box, they seemed to have disppeared and and very next moment- they both appeared at the balcony areas! Sugoii!!! Tricks like these kept us very very happy indeed!

 

My only hurting regret was not buying any con goods at all! I was so so looking forward to buying so many items, since they'll be perfect souvenirs and keepsakes for the con. But the typhoon!!! They cancelled the selling and pushed it to the following weekend instead.Obviously international fans like us who need to be back for work/ school won't be staying! *bitter* My consolation was I bought their penlights, dvd, and (many) newspaper articles. In fact, I felt so deprived of spending since we couldn't even find the chance to do any shopping at all ><

 

This was the hotel that Becs and I stayed at while we were at Yokohama. It was a wonderful change from the one we stayed at for the past 10 days, because this one has shopping places linked to the hotel, the room was fantastically cosy, and even the bellboy was good-looking! I was tempted to take a picture of him just to prove my point, but erm, luckily rationality took over ^^

I loved the fact that our room was on the 29th level. There was this serene feeling just admiring the pretty view of Japan from there.

 

Plus, we could also see Yokohama Arena! I could easily spot the crowd of fangirls gathered outside the concert venue. Hahah, I was even tempted to whip out my pair of binoculars just to see if I could spot Becs amongst them (the tickets were way over my budget, so Becs had no choice but to go without me)!

 

The day before we were due to arrive at Prince Hotel, we decided to pop down to Shin-Yokohama in advance just to check out how the place is like. It was important because we only had each other to help move our luggage from Ueno to Yokohama after all. Just one day in Harajuku could make us shop and buy non-stop, what's more we had 10 very fulfilling days of walking and exploring at many other places!

Anyway, when we first stepped into Shin-Yokohama, it was a Sunday and gosh, the place was teeming with fangirls! Everyone seemed to want a ticket for Arashi's con - they were all lined up outside the train station and holding handwritten placards a placard that could be roughly translated to: "Please give me a ticket". If anyone needs proof for Arashi's popularity, I guess that scene could well explain everything then.

 

So many people. It was obvious that fangirls dominated that area - all the fastfood restaurants became meeting places for fangirling and making new fan-friends!

 

 

 

Waiting and hoping that someone would sell them a ticket. I didn't dare take a photo too upclose; the girls may be feeling frustrated already not to watch the concert. Better not incur their wrath!

 

 

 

 

They were supposed to be the fangirls' last hopes - the scalpers! Haha, Becs did expect them to be more yakuza-like wearing suits, but from what we witnessed, they looked more like fierce-looking uncles in white T-shirts and bermudas!

 

 

 

 

Negotiations taking place. The tickets were really expensive! I was shocked when I heard that one could fetch something like 30,000yen! The fact is, there really IS high demand anyway.

 

 

 

By the time we finished walking around, it was evening time. Then Becs spotted the queue for the con goods, and it was comparatively a lot shorter since people tend to queue early in the morning rather than at a later time. They wouldn't want to risk going later in the day and find some items out of stock, I was told. We were really lucky, the line moved fast and we managed to buy what we needed in less than an hour.

Waiting in line to the tent selling the goods. Thank god for the fine weather too, not too hot!

 

 

 

 

 

The Johnny's staff hard at work even till evening. Many of them had towels around their necks. Becs was pleased, she said their sweat won't drip on her precious Arashi stuffs then! Hahah, hilarious! It's always good to have a friend to chat with while queuing ne~~

Read this on Live Journal:

NewS con on Oct 6 & 7 will be held at Taipei Arena. The tickets will start to go on sale on Aug 10.

I'm excited already? Wld I be allowed to go on another trip after Japan? I'll be testing my luck, I'm praying hard I do pass my job interviews successfully today!

Heard from Becs that there were people in Taiwan who intended to camp there for the tickets one week before that! Wow, I would never imagine myself to have that type of resolution I guess...

 

*credits to the_lilone

 

 

I finally found time and energy to blog about my Japan trip. After I got back, I have been suffering from what I suspect is post-Japan withdrawal symptoms! I missed the great customer service, the delicious food, the endless shopping and fashion haunts, the kakoii guys in suits to ogle at, the wonderful scenery of the country, and of cos, the fangirling!!

It's really so so much easier to be a JE fangirl in the land of Japan itself. Firstly, I was happily buying the tv guides and monthly mags since I didn't have to pay for inflated prices like I do back here in Singapore. Plus, there were billboards and advertisements of the boys at train stations and shopping districts. My only regret was I couldn't see any sign of KAT-TUN's adverts =( The closest I could go was this:

 

The candy in the KAT-TUN CM...

 

 

 

 

Johnnys shop! Definitely a must-stop for any fangirl! And yes, all the warnings about the long queues and endless waiting are true. Gosh, Becs and I spent around 3 hours there, not because we were doing our photo and good selection slowly, but because there were queues to go into the shop, queues to go to level 1 after you are done at the basement, queues to pay for all your je stuffs, and queues to wait for your things to be packed. My legs were sore and tired just from the standing, and Becs nearly died too since she was wearing heels ^^"

Alright, we did have a little difficulty in finding the shop still despite researching in advance how to get to Johnny's shop. What took me by surprise was that people actually had to gather at a meeting place first before they were led to the shop. And I had initially thought we just had to wait outside the shop itself?

 

I spotted girls gathering and waiting around that area and sniffed something je-related. After all, I've read fans' accounts that the key to nearing the Johnny's shop is the congregation of girls hahhah. Plus, the woman right in front walking in the photo was carrying the trademark yellow bag!

It turned out that the 2 guys behind the tree were the shop's staff. They were in charge of giving out time tickets to tell you what time you could be queue for your turn, and splitting the girls into groups before leading them to the shop. 

 

 

Our ticket to JE land! Unfortunately we could only be admitted at 1.30pm despite reaching there at around 9. I figured all the tickets for the 10am slot (the shop's opening time) must have been given out like hotcakes. I could only imagine how early the girls must have been there in order to get their hands on the first round of tickets!

 

 

 

 

Took this pic while waiting in line, sorry for the blocked view! Basically we just had to wait at the open space in front of this Meiji-jingumae stn before the person gets the signal from the staff at the shop to bring in the next batch of customers. Johnny is making big bucks I tell you.

 

 

 

 

The little sloping lane beside this shop will bring us to the je goodies!

 

 

 

 

The Johnnys shop's staff now wear professional white tops with the logo proudly printed behind. They communicate with one another throught the walkie-talkie too. Everything was done in a systematic and fuss-free way really. I was just impressed with the business-like feeling!

 

 

 

After the long but extremely satisfying visit to the shop, girls being girls, Becs and I could still summon energy to do more shopping at Harjuku. There were of course many more unofficial je shops along the area, and they sell almost anything just to maximise consumerism. There were mirrors with the boys' pics printed on them, stickers, keychains, phone straps, notepads and letterpads, posters (which were actually blown up laminated pieces from the magazines' pin-ups), unofficial photos and smaller versions of uchiwas. You name it, they have it!

 

These unofficial shops are usually small in size, and many of them have steep steps that leading all the way down. But it's a treasure trove when you go inside, since there are many more photos besides je boys. I was excited to see Oguri Shun's and Mokomichi's photos too! However the photos are not any cheaper despite being the non-official types, they still cost 150yen per piece.

 

 

 

Becs and I had difficulty finding the "unofficial je shop above the bra shop". There was another big shop selling bras before this one, so we were confused for some time. Finally we decided we could probably walk down the street somemore, and there it was! Hidden upstairs! So yes, there IS another bra shop at Harajuku, so be sure to remember that it's the 2nd one! We took pains to locate this one because they were known sell con tickets too, so we were there to track down any bargains we could find.

 

 

I guess that has been quite a bit. Should give myself a rest now, or I'll start missing Japan again if I continue! Will update on my Yokohama con scalper experience soon!

 

 

 

It's weird posting this blog since I'm typing in the dark and I can hardly see my keyboard at all! My mum will kill me if she sees the lights in my room switched on.... Sigh, I can't get to sleep despite knowing that I do need to since I'm having a 6am flight (in 6 hrs' time). The reason is plain and simple I guess - I'm going on a trip wif my friend to Japan! Firstly, I haven't gone for an overseas trip for around eight years, hence I'm always envious of my jet-setting friends! Plus, this is the very first time I'm travelling without my parents. What makes it more exciting is that we are gonna be going free & easy - the process of finding a place, getting lost, asking around, and finally reaching a destination, shoulh be a memorable experience ne~~

I'm just as thrilled to be watching my summer dramas in Japan with the rest of the country at the same time! It sounds silly, but somehow the feeling of catching it on tv over there must be a little different from watching the downloads on the computer, no? So far, my personal ranking of dramas, based on the first few eps:

1. Hana Kimi!! - colourful characters, funny scenes, starting to like Toma, but of course all the attention's on hawt Shun!!!
2. First Kiss - admittedly it was because there's Makino. But the show's really not bad, I loved the beautifully inspiring theme song, the plot about the affection between the elder bro & kid sis, and the possibly blooming relationship between the heart patient and the doctor.
3. Hotaru no Hikari - based on a manga series (again!) it gets quite interesting to see that a lovable and well-dressed OL in the day changes completely into a sloppy mess when she's at home. Her boss moves in to stay with her. She starts liking a new colleague. That new love interest is interested in her too, the only problem is, the other girls in the office are fighting for his attention.
4. Yamada Taro - kawaii Nino. I can stare at him throughout the show. So far, all the eps that were aired made me cry cos the kids were just too sweet! This show has LOVE all around!
5. Yama Onna Kabe Onna - the ultimate hilarious show. My friend recommended it and I was hooked. The problems that flat-chested women AND well-endowed women face. Cute title ( yama = mountain; kabe = wall)
6. Love & Farm - watching it for only one main sole reason: Tetsuji Tamayama.

Whew, it's really a long list of dramas! I have to constantly clear my folders or burn shows into dvds to clear space! I foresee massive downloading when I'm back then, but I don't mind!!!

 

When someone sends u a caps msn message at around 12 midnight, it sure gets my attention! Well it turned out that Becs was urgently and desperately dying to get me to watch Nino on this Blonde Sensei programme, where Nino answered the questions of a (make-believe??) press conference in English. As much as it was amusing (there I go entertaining myself with Japanese English) I found it adorable that he was really trying so hard to give complete answers by himself1 Now, if only my pain-in-the-assneck tuition kids were as serious as Nino........

I was laughing so hard when he was the fourth(!!) reporter to ask Nino to "give more details" on Yamada Taro! Hahhahah, they obviously took great delight in seeing how Nino was squeezing out more and more words for the same topic!

 

 

 

 

The cute thing is, Nino was just as amused himself with how he was being tortured hahahahha!!

 

 

 

 

Yup, this was the part I loved! It was just plain sweet how he explained he did not study English, but was only using the words that he knew! Modest and honest, and he still managed to provide coherent and understandable sentences! Definitely my ichiban in Arashi ne~~~~

 

 

 

See how pleased he was with himself at the end of the clip?? Just like a small boy! Yeshhh, you deserve the applause, Nino!!!

 

 

 

 

Ok, on a side note, there was *gasp* another man who got my attention while I was watching the programme. But since he wasn't introduced, I'm going to call him "Mr Potato Head" (the shape of his head really looked like one!) Presenting to you the comic relief:

He was really really funny! I laugh whenever the camera turned to him! He had this hilarious 'what-are-you-waiting-for' expression whenever Nino took long pauses for his answers. And Mr Potato Head would peer through his glasses with the same pout!

 

 

 

But yay, he was pleased (or relieved??) too that Nino managed to complete his 'press interview' mission - with the same unchanging face and pout -_-" I loved this grumpy potato head!