I am not satisfied with this post, but I don't think I ever will be. >__< On top of that, I've been procrastinating so much, more than three months have already passed since the events. O__O
So here is the story as my foggy brain remembers it.
Last December, I traveled all the way to Osaka over a single weekend, so that I could catch one of JYJ's concerts after a long absence on their part. For Christmas, I even got out of Honshu for the first time since I came to Japan. This very trip would take me to Fukuoka in Kyushu. As for the second of the two shows, things did not go as planned and almost took a turn for the worst, but luckily, all was good and well in the end. Here is what happened.
I originally made my friend swear to keep mum about my blunder, but here I am, telling the world about it. It's just too funny to keep as a secret! Basically, what happened is that when I planned our holiday together, I looked up the itinerary from Osaka Station to Fukuoka Station. Well, it so happens that the said station, while it exists, is not located in Fukuoka Prefecture (as logic would have it), but rather in Toyama Prefecture. Has anyone reading this ever looked at a map of Japan? Because not only is that in the wrong direction, it's also miles away from where we were ACTUALLY supposed to go. In other words, we were in deep trouble.
So here is the story as my foggy brain remembers it.
Last December, I traveled all the way to Osaka over a single weekend, so that I could catch one of JYJ's concerts after a long absence on their part. For Christmas, I even got out of Honshu for the first time since I came to Japan. This very trip would take me to Fukuoka in Kyushu. As for the second of the two shows, things did not go as planned and almost took a turn for the worst, but luckily, all was good and well in the end. Here is what happened.
I originally made my friend swear to keep mum about my blunder, but here I am, telling the world about it. It's just too funny to keep as a secret! Basically, what happened is that when I planned our holiday together, I looked up the itinerary from Osaka Station to Fukuoka Station. Well, it so happens that the said station, while it exists, is not located in Fukuoka Prefecture (as logic would have it), but rather in Toyama Prefecture. Has anyone reading this ever looked at a map of Japan? Because not only is that in the wrong direction, it's also miles away from where we were ACTUALLY supposed to go. In other words, we were in deep trouble.
Oh hell no.
When I noticed that there was only a short time left to our trip and that we were nowhere near our goal, not to mention that we had started heading east again, my heart skipped a few beats. My body started shaking violently and didn't stop for a very long time. This realization came to me just as the doors of our train were closing, after yet another one of our countless transfers. Suddenly, I couldn't think anymore, and barely breathe. It couldn't be... Surely I had to be mistaken...! But this was all very much real. I honestly didn't know what to do. What was done was done... In any case, we had to get off the train, so we did at once. The station we stopped at, I believe, was called Imajo Station. Looking around at the endless expanse of snow, I was reminded of the town I currently live in. This was by no means an indication that we were getting closer to civilization. Where in those towering mountains was our dome hiding?! We headed towards the exit and what met our eyes was a single, old-fashioned heater around which were gathered a few elderly persons, huddled in front of a small TV.
In broken Japanese, I tried to explain our unfortunate situation to the lady in the ticket booth, and asked whether we could use the glorious electric outlets I had spotted across the room (I've developed something of a 6th sense when it comes to these, since my number one problem is always their presence, or lack thereof). She seemed to understand and sympathize with our desperate situation for she kindly accepted. We must have looked truly pitiful... Besides, let's face it, she might not have been allowed to let us use them, as is usually the case wherever we go, but she said that no one was there to tell us otherwise, almost like it would be our little secret. I ended up using two of them, and I felt a little bad, so I bought anko (red bean paste) donuts and started offering some to everyone. XD (They were delicious, by the way!)
We were able to look up the only possible route that lay before us. Whether we decided to attempt it was up to us, but our chances were close to none, as we only had a few hours to go and a lot of distance to cover. And yet a JYJ concert was on the line, on Christmas Eve no less, one that might be their last in a long time, and definitely our only chance to see them together.
This is the course we decided to take:
Local train to Tsuruga from which we had just transferred, Thunderbird back to Kyoto and Shinkansen all the way to Hakata Station, which should have been our destination in the first place.
This would surely be a close call, because we hadn't bought our Shinkansen tickets yet. Essentially, we were betting it all on the slim chance that seats on the next train would not be completely sold out. Long shot indeed, considering that this was the day before Christmas. In any case, we were terribly lucky. When we got to Kyoto, though we had not reserved seats (which would have cost us double), we were able to sit for the whole ride. We arrived in Fukuoka less than an hour before the concert was scheduled to start, grabbed a locker in a hurry, took a taxi to the venue and slipped in like ninjas 10 minutes before the show.
This was definitely the work of the (five) gods!
From that point on, things just got better and better.
We had excellent seats, but it turned out that we had made a mistake when we sat down. That became obvious when a few women approached us with their tickets and we realized that we had taken their places. But lo and behold! we had to go down a few extra rows to get to our spot, and it was possibly the best one we could have wished for. We settled down in the FIRST block, at the very center, just a few rows away from the FLOOR! Jackpot!
I had been to JYJ's Osaka Dome live, the week before, so it wasn't my first time, but boy does going with someone make a difference! Being closer to the stage helps as well, of course, and that isn't necessarily easily to achieve in one of the Domes. The girls around us were also rather pumped. Absolute recipe for epic fun!
My memories are hazy and overlap slightly, especially since, after such a long time, it's difficult to differentiate between the two lives. There might be inaccurate information onward, and so I apologize in advance. In any case, I believe the setlist was as follows (thank you Internet my love for filling the holes in my tiny brain):
1. Empty (What better, more powerful way to begin the concert than with an established classic?)
2. Babo Boy
3. Ayyy Girl (I hadn't heard this track in forever! To be honest, I had actually started to forget about it... O_O)
4. Let Me See (Oh my god sun. Stunningly gorgeous performance.)
5. In Heaven (Beyond my expectations. Unbelievably beautiful. This song always gets to me. It has a special place in my heart.)
6. JJ Solo: Keshou (Fukuoka), Konayuki (Osaka)
7. JS Solo: Sora to Kimi no Aida ni (Between the Sky and You)
8. YC Solo: Saiai (Greatest Love)
9. JJ Solo: Butterfly (Another great performance by everyone's favorite little rocker boy. <3 Bad Boy Jae-Jae kicks major butt!)
10. JJ Solo: Ultrasoul (I will never get sick of Jaejoong's rendition of that song. And in very much the same way, he doesn't seem tired of covering it. XD U-RU-TO-RA-SOORU... HEY!)
11. YC Solo: I Love You (Good performance, and a little bit of nostalgia since this is kind of an old song.)
12. YC Solo: Thirty (I was positively impressed by this one. As always, Yoochun's rapping was top-notch. Actually, I much preferred this song over the previous, which never really does justice to his voice, in my opinion.)
13. JS Solo: Story (Gorgeous song. I later recognized it as the song that plays at the end of Big Hero 6 (Baymax) XD I legit freaked out when the credits started rolling. No wonder it sounded so familiar!)
14. JS Solo: Incredible (I went to Junsu's Incredible concert in Yokohama in 2013, so I had heard this song performed live before, but I'll reiterate what I had said then, for good measure: yay or nay, whether you like it or not, Incredible is catchy and addictive. It quickly grows on you and raises what the Japanese like to call the "tension", lifts the atmosphere and gives everyone the irresistible urge to dance along. Almost did not hear Junsu "put his swag on".)
15. So So
16. Chajatta (Found You: This was remixed but it's a personal favorite. I was ecstatic when it came on.)
17. Lion Heart (Oh, how I remembered this song, from an old TV appearance. Good old times, and painful memories.)
18. Be My Girl (Too bad Mission was only featured during the dance break as BGM. What a shame!)
19. BackShit Seat (I'm not a fan of the video (Don't kill me!), and the song is not their best, but it sounded pretty good live. The excellent vocals make it sound emotional and powerful despite some of the lines being somewhat lacking in quality. "Put you on my back seat" is not the most romantic thing a man can say to a girl, boys... SIT IN THE BACK, WOMAN! XD I kid, I kid... Seriously, though, we had a really good time.)
20. Be The One (This got us all hyped! What a catchy tune...)
21. Valentine (Junsu completely stole the show during this song...)
22. Wake Me Tonight (Love the new single. Cool outfits and smooth moves! No wonder it did well in the rankings!)
23. Get Out (Encore) (The boys would not have gotten away easily if they had forgotten this one! Another classic!)
24. Nine (Apparently, they hadn't sung this song in a concert for a long time. It was really beautiful, as expected. But I'll admit it stirs extremely painful feelings in me every time I hear it.)
25. Begin (Encore) (Another stab in the feels. Well, they could have chosen a sadder TVXQ song, which would have hit harder, but it was still hard to take this blow. I got a little teary. T_T)
Here are some fancams (not mine - credits in the videos):
So So: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2z4HPFB6LY
Thanks To: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xj-1B8UgDgg
Chajatta: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8soPccCRygk
Lion Heart: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwdhmB2FeIw
(Omg the dancing is so awkward in this one can't stop laughing XD)
Ultra Soul: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTMM9edTRFE
Nine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smetY8CT0Rw
In Heaven: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxrUjyWWhyE
Let Me See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJuEPpDKCLs
Wake Me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1XaMhABGY4
Valentine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GT_xd5gsYuQ
No concert would be complete without the boys goofing around a little, so here you go, have some free lols.
In the Osaka live, Junsu and Jaejoong spoiled us with some oyaji gags and aegyo, but Yoochun didn't do a very good job in that aspect. Also, at some point, Jaejoong opened his big mouth once more and let the world know how much of a big pervert he is. During one of the ments, he said something about having warm/hot feelings of excitement while being alone (maybe he meant that he wished we would keep cheering for them even when we're apart, and hoped that we would not get lonely waiting - well, it's my interpretation), but Yoochun picked up on that and didn't let him get away that easily. Oh, he seized his chance, alright.
Yoochun asked: "What do you mean, feeling hot when you're alone?" When Jaejoong realized the way he had worded his thoughts and what this could imply, he tried to make excuses and got all flustered, claiming that, he was a man too, dammit! This dragged on for an eternity. Everyone made so much fun of him. >:D Then I think he said that it was fine to talk about this because we're family, but then Junsu protested that it was NOT OKAY exactly BECAUSE we're family... They had such a hard time moving on after that (it was before Wake Me Tonight). As punishment, YooSu left it up to Jaejoong to introduce the new single, but he couldn't keep his serious, and they just kept throwing the ball at each other. Oh, and of course, Yoochun had to ask Jaejoong if he was S, and Jaejoong sheepishly admitted to being more M... I thought he had said otherwise in his solo concert? Who knows, he might have switched sides since. That or he's quite versatile.
In the Fukuoka live, there was a long talk segment about some chocolate Jaejoong had recently been eating. I couldn't understand everything, but everyone's reactions were a clear indication that there was something really wrong about this, and potentially dirty. I think the shape of the chocolate might have been of questionable nature, in any case. Jaejoong just never seems to run out of ways to embarrass himself. (Edit: I ran a quick search and apparently the chocolates were boob-shaped and given by fans. XD Upon being asked if he licked or bit the chocolate, Jaejoong responded with the former. I just don't I can't what. The hell did I just hear.)
We were really lucky to be spending Christmas with the boys. As a Christmas present, they had prepared a little surprise for us. At a certain point, they came out on stage wearing jolly costumes to put us in the holiday spirit. XD As the eldest, and because he's a bully, Jaejoong got to be a sexy version of Satan Santa Claus with a plunging neck line, though he had to wear a bag of presents as a hat, which looked absolutely ridiculous. XD As for Junsu, he was dressed as a snowman, a getup that tragically obstructed the nice rear view for us. But the most unfortunate of the three was probably Yoochun, who had come to the party wearing a CHRISTMAS TREE that really looked like a dress, no less, stockings included. He looked absolutely miserable. Chunface was not amused.
Poor sweetie.
What a blow to his pride this must have been.
Just how ridiculous do they look?! (Photos not mine.)
What is worth mentioning that would be something new? What else can I say about their voices other than that they were fantastic? Of course, we all knew that. No one's surprised. Well, I am, a little. Even now, even today, despite all I have seen and heard, the boys always amaze me, pushing past their limits and bringing their skills to higher peaks. It just doesn't make any sense at all, defies all logic, but they make it happen. It makes you wonder if there can be an end to their evolution. One thing is for sure: that time doesn't seem to be near and I hope the day never comes. As Jaejoong mentioned: "It's not the end, but a new beginning." And yet, it might be a long time before we get to see them on stage again. This is a very sad thought to have. It's going to be lonely without them...
As previously mentioned, the members sang small parts of TVXQ songs acappella, including Thanks To (also Stand By U & Doushite), one of my top favorite songs, and one that makes me extremely emotional. There was a long talk segment where JYJ talked about the past (I think?) and everyone suddenly started sniffling around us. The prospect of a future without JYJ and an impending goodbye (I prefer "see you later"), as their military enlistment fast approaches, kind of killed the mood and shattered our hearts to pieces. Seeing how it was Christmas, I sort of wished they had not ventured in that avenue, wished we could have kept laughing as if there was nothing wrong, but I guess it could not be avoided, not forever. Actually, this was the only time to talk about it.
There was no getting around this.
Two years... What are we going to do during that time?
An eternity.
God, I hate goodbyes.
JYJ, you babo. Stupid stupid stupid. Please don't cry.
We will wait for you. We will never leave. Don't you dare worry about this one fucking second.
Cassiopeia's love for you is endless.
Thank you, boys, for this memorable night. Our futures are so uncertain, so I'm glad I had this chance to see you. What will become of us? Who knows. There is, however, one thing that I know for sure. I will remember this day for the rest of my life.
And... I know someone who will most definitely never forget.
The end.
We were able to look up the only possible route that lay before us. Whether we decided to attempt it was up to us, but our chances were close to none, as we only had a few hours to go and a lot of distance to cover. And yet a JYJ concert was on the line, on Christmas Eve no less, one that might be their last in a long time, and definitely our only chance to see them together.
This is the course we decided to take:
Local train to Tsuruga from which we had just transferred, Thunderbird back to Kyoto and Shinkansen all the way to Hakata Station, which should have been our destination in the first place.
This would surely be a close call, because we hadn't bought our Shinkansen tickets yet. Essentially, we were betting it all on the slim chance that seats on the next train would not be completely sold out. Long shot indeed, considering that this was the day before Christmas. In any case, we were terribly lucky. When we got to Kyoto, though we had not reserved seats (which would have cost us double), we were able to sit for the whole ride. We arrived in Fukuoka less than an hour before the concert was scheduled to start, grabbed a locker in a hurry, took a taxi to the venue and slipped in like ninjas 10 minutes before the show.
This was definitely the work of the (five) gods!
From that point on, things just got better and better.
We had excellent seats, but it turned out that we had made a mistake when we sat down. That became obvious when a few women approached us with their tickets and we realized that we had taken their places. But lo and behold! we had to go down a few extra rows to get to our spot, and it was possibly the best one we could have wished for. We settled down in the FIRST block, at the very center, just a few rows away from the FLOOR! Jackpot!
My memories are hazy and overlap slightly, especially since, after such a long time, it's difficult to differentiate between the two lives. There might be inaccurate information onward, and so I apologize in advance. In any case, I believe the setlist was as follows (thank you Internet my love for filling the holes in my tiny brain):
1. Empty (What better, more powerful way to begin the concert than with an established classic?)
2. Babo Boy
3. Ayyy Girl (I hadn't heard this track in forever! To be honest, I had actually started to forget about it... O_O)
4. Let Me See (Oh my god sun. Stunningly gorgeous performance.)
5. In Heaven (Beyond my expectations. Unbelievably beautiful. This song always gets to me. It has a special place in my heart.)
6. JJ Solo: Keshou (Fukuoka), Konayuki (Osaka)
7. JS Solo: Sora to Kimi no Aida ni (Between the Sky and You)
8. YC Solo: Saiai (Greatest Love)
9. JJ Solo: Butterfly (Another great performance by everyone's favorite little rocker boy. <3 Bad Boy Jae-Jae kicks major butt!)
10. JJ Solo: Ultrasoul (I will never get sick of Jaejoong's rendition of that song. And in very much the same way, he doesn't seem tired of covering it. XD U-RU-TO-RA-SOORU... HEY!)
11. YC Solo: I Love You (Good performance, and a little bit of nostalgia since this is kind of an old song.)
12. YC Solo: Thirty (I was positively impressed by this one. As always, Yoochun's rapping was top-notch. Actually, I much preferred this song over the previous, which never really does justice to his voice, in my opinion.)
13. JS Solo: Story (Gorgeous song. I later recognized it as the song that plays at the end of Big Hero 6 (Baymax) XD I legit freaked out when the credits started rolling. No wonder it sounded so familiar!)
14. JS Solo: Incredible (I went to Junsu's Incredible concert in Yokohama in 2013, so I had heard this song performed live before, but I'll reiterate what I had said then, for good measure: yay or nay, whether you like it or not, Incredible is catchy and addictive. It quickly grows on you and raises what the Japanese like to call the "tension", lifts the atmosphere and gives everyone the irresistible urge to dance along. Almost did not hear Junsu "put his swag on".)
15. So So
16. Chajatta (Found You: This was remixed but it's a personal favorite. I was ecstatic when it came on.)
17. Lion Heart (Oh, how I remembered this song, from an old TV appearance. Good old times, and painful memories.)
18. Be My Girl (Too bad Mission was only featured during the dance break as BGM. What a shame!)
19. Back
20. Be The One (This got us all hyped! What a catchy tune...)
21. Valentine (Junsu completely stole the show during this song...)
22. Wake Me Tonight (Love the new single. Cool outfits and smooth moves! No wonder it did well in the rankings!)
23. Get Out (Encore) (The boys would not have gotten away easily if they had forgotten this one! Another classic!)
24. Nine (Apparently, they hadn't sung this song in a concert for a long time. It was really beautiful, as expected. But I'll admit it stirs extremely painful feelings in me every time I hear it.)
25. Begin (Encore) (Another stab in the feels. Well, they could have chosen a sadder TVXQ song, which would have hit harder, but it was still hard to take this blow. I got a little teary. T_T)
Here are some fancams (not mine - credits in the videos):
So So: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2z4HPFB6LY
Thanks To: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xj-1B8UgDgg
Chajatta: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8soPccCRygk
Lion Heart: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwdhmB2FeIw
(Omg the dancing is so awkward in this one can't stop laughing XD)
Ultra Soul: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTMM9edTRFE
Nine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smetY8CT0Rw
In Heaven: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxrUjyWWhyE
Let Me See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJuEPpDKCLs
Wake Me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1XaMhABGY4
Valentine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GT_xd5gsYuQ
No concert would be complete without the boys goofing around a little, so here you go, have some free lols.
In the Osaka live, Junsu and Jaejoong spoiled us with some oyaji gags and aegyo, but Yoochun didn't do a very good job in that aspect. Also, at some point, Jaejoong opened his big mouth once more and let the world know how much of a big pervert he is. During one of the ments, he said something about having warm/hot feelings of excitement while being alone (maybe he meant that he wished we would keep cheering for them even when we're apart, and hoped that we would not get lonely waiting - well, it's my interpretation), but Yoochun picked up on that and didn't let him get away that easily. Oh, he seized his chance, alright.
Yoochun asked: "What do you mean, feeling hot when you're alone?" When Jaejoong realized the way he had worded his thoughts and what this could imply, he tried to make excuses and got all flustered, claiming that, he was a man too, dammit! This dragged on for an eternity. Everyone made so much fun of him. >:D Then I think he said that it was fine to talk about this because we're family, but then Junsu protested that it was NOT OKAY exactly BECAUSE we're family... They had such a hard time moving on after that (it was before Wake Me Tonight). As punishment, YooSu left it up to Jaejoong to introduce the new single, but he couldn't keep his serious, and they just kept throwing the ball at each other. Oh, and of course, Yoochun had to ask Jaejoong if he was S, and Jaejoong sheepishly admitted to being more M... I thought he had said otherwise in his solo concert? Who knows, he might have switched sides since. That or he's quite versatile.
In the Fukuoka live, there was a long talk segment about some chocolate Jaejoong had recently been eating. I couldn't understand everything, but everyone's reactions were a clear indication that there was something really wrong about this, and potentially dirty. I think the shape of the chocolate might have been of questionable nature, in any case. Jaejoong just never seems to run out of ways to embarrass himself. (Edit: I ran a quick search and apparently the chocolates were boob-shaped and given by fans. XD Upon being asked if he licked or bit the chocolate, Jaejoong responded with the former. I just don't I can't what. The hell did I just hear.)
Poor sweetie.
What a blow to his pride this must have been.
Just how ridiculous do they look?! (Photos not mine.)
What is worth mentioning that would be something new? What else can I say about their voices other than that they were fantastic? Of course, we all knew that. No one's surprised. Well, I am, a little. Even now, even today, despite all I have seen and heard, the boys always amaze me, pushing past their limits and bringing their skills to higher peaks. It just doesn't make any sense at all, defies all logic, but they make it happen. It makes you wonder if there can be an end to their evolution. One thing is for sure: that time doesn't seem to be near and I hope the day never comes. As Jaejoong mentioned: "It's not the end, but a new beginning." And yet, it might be a long time before we get to see them on stage again. This is a very sad thought to have. It's going to be lonely without them...
As previously mentioned, the members sang small parts of TVXQ songs acappella, including Thanks To (also Stand By U & Doushite), one of my top favorite songs, and one that makes me extremely emotional. There was a long talk segment where JYJ talked about the past (I think?) and everyone suddenly started sniffling around us. The prospect of a future without JYJ and an impending goodbye (I prefer "see you later"), as their military enlistment fast approaches, kind of killed the mood and shattered our hearts to pieces. Seeing how it was Christmas, I sort of wished they had not ventured in that avenue, wished we could have kept laughing as if there was nothing wrong, but I guess it could not be avoided, not forever. Actually, this was the only time to talk about it.
There was no getting around this.
Two years... What are we going to do during that time?
An eternity.
God, I hate goodbyes.
JYJ, you babo. Stupid stupid stupid. Please don't cry.
We will wait for you. We will never leave. Don't you dare worry about this one fucking second.
Cassiopeia's love for you is endless.
Thank you, boys, for this memorable night. Our futures are so uncertain, so I'm glad I had this chance to see you. What will become of us? Who knows. There is, however, one thing that I know for sure. I will remember this day for the rest of my life.
And... I know someone who will most definitely never forget.
Look at that face. Look at ittttttttt.
The end.
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