This Is Halloween (Slightly Incoherent ナイトメア Fanaccount)

I just cannot life right now. I have no words. Tonight was the most fun I've had in F-O-R-E-V-E-R. Despite all the respect I have for Junsu, Jaejoong and Gackt, and love too, and despite how excellent they are live, technically, of course, but also in heart and soul, with their passion and stage presence, and although they all gave me a time I will never forget, AND AND AND I don't even know what I'm saying anymore... This was the best concert out of the four. For those who know me and my obsession for a certain Korean boy, you will understand that this is quite a statement, coming from me. But it's true. Out of the four concerts, this is the one I enjoyed the most. I really had the time of my life. My expectations will be too damn high (over 9000!) for the next show I will be going to, which happens to be アリス九號 (Alice Nine). Please don't disappoint? :)

Before I start fangirling (too late?), I need to point out that these guys have a sense of humor. The music that preceded the show wasn't always good, not at the very beginning (okay, it was downright weird), but then they started playing a tune from the Nightmare Before Christmas movie - Pumpkin King, I shit you not, which was shortly followed by Manson's rendition of This Is Halloween. What a wonderful way to start off the show. Everyone was so pumped already!

Not only are Nightmare just as good live as they are on their albums, but they pack one hell of a powerful performance. The guitar riffs are ORGASMIC. They reach into your soul (and play with your heart strings). They don't miss a single note. Those guitar solos...! Oh, and Yomi's voice is completely flawless. You wouldn't believe it... The guy is 5 feet tall TOPS. (He's apparently 5'1", but still, just lol, haha.) He's so unbelievably TINY and scrawny and freaking ADORABLE, yet his voice is amazingly deep and strong. Also, Hitsugi really surprised me. Shocked me, I must say. Remember the guy with 20 piercings and thick make-up on his face? He's genki as shit on stage. He just can't stop moving around and dancing and grinning like an idiot. I'd read that he's actually a super sweet guy, despite his usual appearance, but I wasn't expecting THIS. And he communicates with the crowd so much and so well. Also, he seems to have ditched the scary get-up for now. His hair was pulled-up and his face was bare, so we were able to admire his shockingly pretty features unhindered. Guys, I'm in love with this guy. That sneaky bastard crawled his way into my heart and made a gigantic mess out of it. Sorry, Jaejoong, but you're gonna have to share me. :D I just want to marry him already. (I seem to have a marriage addiction, someone stahp me!) He was so funny, too. He had great interaction not only with the crowd (most of the time he was the one who instructed us what gestures (workout routine) to do), but also with the rest of the band, whose members had really nice chemistry. So there. Meet my new husband.

I bought this photo book because of a fan. It's her damn fault. (She was a nice girl.) I was eyeing it and hesitating and she had to butt in and show me that she had just bought it and flip through it and DAMMIT if I was gonna leave it on that table...!

So I did what I do best and I bought it. Yay, more eyecandy.

Oh, and the crowd was WILD. Yes, I'm serious. Although we had seats, I never stopped moving for two hours, much less sat down to take a breather. That is probably what sets this show apart from the rest of the gigs I went to. My body is completely trashed. I've never seen anything like this here in Japan... When they weren't headbanging like crazy mofos (I swear! Hair flying everywhere!), the fans had these gestures... It looked like a cross between a full-body aerobics workout, jazz moves and tai-chi. Everyone seemed to know what they were doing, and it looked so fun and addictive, so I couldn't help but join in! Now I kinda wanna die (not really). :'D We really gave our all and they obviously appreciated it. Still, the venue was small. It was in this municipal cultural hall place. It legit looked like a small movie theatre. But that means that even though we didn't really have good tickets, we could see the stage pretty well. I managed to record the audio for the whole concert, so I'll try to share a snippet later. :) Here

What more is there to say... The merchandise was really nice. Besides the photo book, I bought a black T-shirt, a white tote bag, a black rubber band SAVE JAPAN bracelet... There were also ガチャ machines with goodies in little plastic balls (how the heck do you call this stuff?). Really interesting concept. It was pretty fun! I bought four and got two different Hitsugi keychains. What were the odds? They were 300 yen, a pretty fair deal considering the quality of the contents. Also, I was so shocked to see to what lengths some fans had gone for their outfits. Was this still Maebashi, Gunma? Nothing was less sure. Most people, like me, had made a minimum effort to blend in by wearing black-and-white, striped clothes, that kinda thing. But others looked like they had just walked out of Harajuku (or like they were doing the opening act for Nightmare)! I should have taken pictures...

Well, that's all I can remember for now. Do checkout the audio recording if you can, it took a while to make. You can listen to some of the highlights of the evening. Now I really want to see them again... BRB looking for tickets to another one of their gigs. Probably Tokyo in June. Wish me luck! I'm gonna need it! :)

進撃の蛸 (Shingeki no Tako)

Why do I do this to myself.

After taking the train and again transferring like eight times, like a boss (life skillzzzz), without making a single mistake, and then stopping in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka for the night (and like the walking fail that I am forgetting a bag full of electronic devices and wires A.K.A. leaving my whole life behind), I finally got to Osaka and was able to meet with my friends there. The weather was awful again (WTF OSAKA!), so it was perfect for shopping in the Shinsaibashi/Dotombori area. We had delicious takoyaki in a shop where you had to poke a menu with some kind of electronic pen to make your order (and in barely concealed fascination listened endlessly to the Takoyaki Song which was coming out of a restaurant guarded by a gigantic octopus) and I proceeded to empty my bank account at ALL THE STORES to buy ALL THE SHIT because that's how I am.

Coming back to the coin lockers area, I realized that I had left the key in one of the doors, but thankfully, my bag was still there... which contained my laptop, for one thing. Congratulations, Stephanie. Also, thank you, Japan, for having such (usually) well-behaved and honest people. Speaking of which, I was planning on sleeping at a net cafe, because although Japan does have its fair share of shady people, it doesn't make me nearly as nervous as... Okay, I can't think of any place. It's true that I tend to be pretty reckless when I'm traveling alone and, on some occasion, let's face it, unbelievably stupid and naive. Though for the record, I've never had any trouble and I'm still alive so that's all that matters, right?

But that night, I was fortunate enough to end up at my lovely friend's warm house of love, be treated to a wonderful meal and invited to spend the night. (As comfortable as those cubicle reclining chairs are, they are no match against a bed.) We had 手巻き寿司 (temakizushi - basically, sushi in hand), garden salad and miso soup, and concluded the meal with coffee and choux a la creme. We also had a skyping session with the dad and sang the addictive sake song (酒が飲める) which features many Japanese dialects and just pure silliness (yet no alcohol was drunk... not sure how this came on topic, but it was highly instructive). To some this may not seem much, but I enjoy this kind of evening, surrounded by this kind of people, the most. That night, I deepened some friendships and created new ones, and for that I am forever grateful.

We failed our lives going back on the following day when we just kept missing our trains or taking the wrong ones and it took us ages to get to Osaka (but I made good use of my time by doing some good ol' jacket-shaving... inside joke). Then we literally wasted hours looking for ONE shop - a J-Rock place -, but it was well worth the effort. An indie band was there for a signing event (I thought there were too many staff members and they looked way too good.) I asked one girl who they were and what I could catch sounded like "Peacock" but I doubt that's it XD Oh well, I'll never know. I'm ashamed to admit that I treated one of the members as if he were an employee before we understood that they were actually musicians... but he didn't appear offended, thank god. XD Still, I now have a favorite place in Tokyo (much more accessible) and it's called Closet Child. It also has AWESOME clothes. :D

After leaving, we set out to find the famous Koreatown - which, we concluded, does not exist, as we did not find it. DX But we did find a great restaurant which served pretty good Korean cuisine. The waiter was heavenly good-looking and so genuinely sweet that my friend and I fell for him at first sight. The other one was a magician and managed to take our towels from us and replace them without our noticing. He also kept looking at us as if he could read our minds... O_O It was a little unsettling to say the least. But, good times, good times.

I seem to run into a lot of trouble whenever it comes to finding where I'm going to stay for the night. (That still doesn't make me want to start acting like a normal person and book hotel rooms.) Although I prefer staying in net cafes than in hostels (it's the best if you just want to be left alone), locating the right one is not always a piece of cake. Whether it's going in a questionable building that turns out to be nothing more than a sort of apartment building, and being greeted by two couples (that really look more like two prostitutes and their clients), who chuckle softly at the sight of you poor innocent thing that has lost her way, carrying more pieces of luggage than she has limbs, or finding another net cafe that is advertised as such, but walking in on rows upon rows of porn DVD's... The fun just never ends. All episodes are usually preceded by or at some point followed by the drop of my phone's energy below the fatal point and the inability to find a goddamn electrical outlet wherever I go. (That wouldn't be a problem if I could find a net cafe, but that is exactly what the problem is in the first place. Not very helpful, huh.)

All of this happened on the same night, but thankfully, I managed to find what I was looking for and in fact discovered what is probably the best net cafe I stayed at to date. (I'm starting to be something of an expert, so trust me on this.) (UPDATE: I found one that compares to this one in Shinjuku.) The staff was friendly and good-looking, the place was dim-lighted and quiet, but also clean and modern. Of course, they also had the usual deal: drink bar included in the price and daily necessities provided in your booth (headphones, tissues, Q-tips, candy) at reasonably cheap fares. You can also take a shower, of course, and they also sell a bunch of stuff if you happen to have forgotten something (even underwear lol). It's really convenient!

BB Cafe near Nishinakajimaminamikata Station in Osaka, Osaka

大阪府大阪市淀川区西中島  3-23-9 中里第  2ビル  4F

Gran Cyber Cafe Bagus near Shinjuku Station in Shinjuku, Tokyo
東京都新宿区歌舞伎町1-21-1第二東亜会館

On Friday, I was on my own, so I decided to do a bit of sight-seeing. I was glad I decided to stay, because it was a beautiful day! The weather was gorgeous, so warm and sunny! I went out to find Osaka Castle and hopefully some sakura. Before that, I went to Sky Building, but I regretted going there during the day. I didn't want to pay again (700 yen), so I left it at that, but I'm sure it would have been much better at night. Exactly because it was sunny, the landscape was too bright and kinda foggy (smog?). I really would have liked to admire a night view instead. Some other time, maybe! On the other hand, the castle was quite the sight. I had some takoyaki again, bought a lot of souvenirs (including this little guy!) and walked around in the sun. There I found some sakura at last!

But they weren't that impressive. My big surprise was upon leaving the castle, when I ended up in Osaka-jo Kouen, a lovely park right outside Osaka Castle. More sakura! But this time, it was the real deal. Most of the trees were quite small and the flowers had only started blooming, but they were already of a vivid dark pink – magnificent. At that point, my cellphone was begging me to save what little energy it had left, and my camera had just died, too. But that wasn't going to stop me! I took a ton of photos, and then my phone died, and I was left to find the station without any directions. In the end, I found my way back, and I was more than happy not to have held back!

Don't Call 119 Yet, I'm Still Alive...

You might have read about it, but my Christmas vacation was absolutely epic, so going back to work wasn't easy by all means. Perhaps because Christmas is my favourite holiday, I didn't want to put away my Christmas tree just yet, and so my apartment remained decorated for quite a while, long after the holidays were over. At least it wasn't Christmas lights like in the West, but I might have overdone it... I think I kept it until we were well into February. >_> But my apartment now felt pretty empty and naked, so I made up for the absence of festive objects by buying and printing a shit-load of posters and little anime and idol cards and invading my walls with them. Not sure I want anyone who doesn't know me well to come in anymore... I wonder what their reaction would be upon seeing Haruchan's bare chest in the living room... At least the BL stuff is rather SFW, but still, I'm not sure how I would explain it! (@^w^@)

Other than a shinenkai (New Year's drinking party) at a local sushi place, where I met lots of new people, I also celebrated my 24th birthday, spent time (and probably too much money) hanging out with dear friends. I discovered what has become the new meaning of my life, those who know me personally know what I'm talking about, I won't go into detail here. :P Let's just say it's an anime with a very short name that tells the story of a flower and a mouse. Moving on... We had our first real snowfall around the beginning of February. That one time, we received what would qualify in Canada as a "storm" (albeit a normal one). Not long after, I tried my hand (feet) at skiing and wasn't much more successful than I had been at snowboarding a while ago. This was going to be my last time on a slope for this year... I hope I can motivate myself into going many more times in the future (next year), but this year wasn't too productive... I know, you are all very disappoint. Oh, also, I made a short trip to Niigata and on the train ride back was harassed by an old man who tried too hard to be my friend and get my number. >_>

The yosenkai was a party that the teachers and the 1st and 2nd-year students staying behind prepared to send away their seniors who would be graduating in March. I wasn't supposed to be there, because the day of the party fell on a day on which I'm usually away at one of my visit schools, but I wanted to be there, so I asked for special permission. I didn't know what to expect, if only for a kind-of lipdub I had been asked to participate in. The song was Koisuru Fortune Cookie by AKB48 (my favourite band! – just kidding, I can't stand them). But Japan cannot get enough of them, it seems, so it couldn't be helped. In its defense, the tune is pretty catchy, and it was their newest song when I arrived in Japan last August, so it's a bit nostalgic... maybe.

Anyway, the farewell party started on that rather funny note and from then on it just got funnier as it was punctuated with little presentations of survey results (who is the most ikemen (good-looking) amongst the male teachers, for example), baby pictures (both students and teachers), reminiscences and goodbye messages. There were a lot of performances, too, including skits but also choreographies. The music ranged from SMAP to Morning Musume, Exile, Arashi (Happiness), Busaiku, AAA, Kyary Pamyu Pamyu and of course, the group you want to shake a finger at but just can't seem to shake off, AKB48. Overall, although there were some sadder moments, there was a good feeling to this party, which is good because I hate goodbyes with a passion.

The graduation ceremony a few weeks later was another story. I'd read and been told about it a number of times. I knew that what could have been a festive occasion was solemn and serious, often sad. My expectations sure were met in that respect. Many things went as I had foreseen: students were awarded diplomas, but also certificates and trophies in their respective disciplines and club activities. As usual, there were many addresses and greetings where everyone had to stand and bow (and sit down and stand up and bow again and WHY NOT A THIRD TIME). The usual drill. What shocked me was how orderly and disciplined the students were, and how spotless and infinitely precise everything was. Even more so than what I was used to. I knew there had been a lot of preparations and rehearsals, but still, this was especially impressive.

At this point, we did not know yet which teacher would be staying and which teacher would move to a different school, so those farewell speeches were pronounced at the closing ceremony. This was entirely about the 3rd years who were finally saying goodbye to their high-school days and moving on with their lives. We may not realize it in the West, but Japanese students are often deeply involved at school during those years, and they go through intense moments and feelings, both good and bad, so when the time to get out of school comes, whether they are moving on to university or entering the labour market, they leave a great deal behind. For that reason, not a single pair of eyes stayed dry, at least as far as the students are concerned, when the time to say goodbye came. I didn't cry, but I must admit that when this emotional pop song started playing and the girls filed out of the gym in tears, my heart ached in my chest.

Between outings to and from Tokyo and Yokohama with my precious girls, I also had a few enkai. I might have enjoyed myself a little too much. But in the end, all was well and good in the world and I got to know the teachers better. (Even if the next day I almost threw up twice in the car of one teacher who was nice enough to drive me home from the hot spring resort.)

Damn you Gunma and your swirly mountain roads!

I also started a tattoo project (a bicep tattoo which will become a half-sleeve in due time), saw kabuki for the first time in Tokyo (separate blog post will follow, as they say in Japan, 暫くお待ち下さい - please wait a moment). During spring break, which started last week, I also made a short trip to Osaka. I had been once, but it had been much too short of a stop, to the extent where I could say that I had never set foot there before. Although this time around wasn't that much longer (only about three days), it was definitely worth the super-long ride on the local trains. Find out more in a separate soon-to-come blog entry.

That leads us to... well, now. The new school year has just started, some teachers have arrived, others have gone, the desks have been moved and the seats switched and floors swept and I am about to meet some new kids. Though it has its perks, the job isn't easy, but...

I'll do my best again this year!