Well it's time for a make-up review!

I've now been back in America for 9 months and in this time I've become a bit nostalgic for things I liked in Asia. Korean cosmetics being one of those items. I was recently shopping in Target and ran across a huge Laneige display.

They were still stocking the display.

 Seeing real BB cream is rare in America, where tinted moisturizer is the norm. I noticed the BB cushions first and decided to give them a try. The magic cushion by Etude House has been on my to buy list for a month but instant gratification won out. I bought the shade Light and it was in a surprisingly large box. It retailed for $34 without tax. At first I thought it was a bit expensive, but when I opened it up and saw the refill package this sealed the deal for me.

This product comes in three shades and has 2 packs inside

Once open the compact is quite large but really classy looking. The top is white, with silver edges, and the bottom is a flat white color. It's about an inch in thickness. Most of this thickness comes from the inside packaging that keeps the cushion away from the BB cream. 

 Inside is the cushion. The back of it is a white material that is super soft and the mirror in the back is really large. It is slightly magnifying. The puff/cushion does not touch the BB cream and keeps in sanitary.

Layer two!! Here is the cushion, again it is in the Light option and is super spongy. The whole middle section can be popped out along with the cushion to be replaced. It has a light smell, kind of floral, but you can't smell it once it's applied. 

The cushion it's self is blue and it keeps the BB from absorbing into the cushion also the plastic tray keeps it from getting on the mirror as well. 

Refills!! This is what made the packaging so bulky. Inside is another BB sponge and cushion. This is what makes the price ok for my purchase price. I would think this product is a bit expensive WITHOUT the extra pack. 

Now for ingredients. I'm not allergic to anything and there are no products I've tried, that I've broken out from so make you own decisions about what is this. It is SPF 50 and is a broad spectrum sunscreen. It's listed as protects, covers, hydrates, soothes, and brightens. It has 15g of product per BB tray. The three active ingredients are : Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate 7%, Titanium Dioxide 4.15%, and Zinc Oxide 9.8%

Final recommendation: Amazing product and it's even better because I can get it right down the road. No waiting for orders or paying for shipping. The texture is smooth and it covers my redness really well. Once I finish the refill I would purchase it again.

5/5

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Korea again, but this time SM town!

So, stress, stress, and more stress is the name of the game. So to take a reprieve from all the hell that is now my life I went to Korea. The land of cute things, fashion, beautiful scenery, k-pop, and damn delicious food. I spent five days this time with it all ending with a trip to the SM TOWN family concert in Seoul. Arrived on a Wednesday afternoon after a short flight from Kyushu, Japan to Seoul via Asiana airlines. Turbulent as hell but for an hour flight they did give me a full lunch. I can't complain too much.

Red velvet cupcakes!!!

Day 1: Arrived at Incheon and rode the fabulous train system straight into main Seoul. I actually like the Seoul rail lines better than Japan. Super cheap. I recommend getting a T-card from the ticket booths or conbini's that way you don't have to keep buying the temporary cards and exchanging them. You can just hop from one train to another quickly. Went to our hostel a place called Shinchon Hostel. Nice place, they spoke lots of languages so it was easy to communicate. Room was clean staff was friendly and we headed out to the surrounding area. We were near ewha's women's college so there were many cute shops and interesting place to go. We did a bit of shopping and found this amazingly cute little cupcake shop on the main street. We  also got dinner at a local place with a nice local vibe and customers.

Day 2: We explored more of the area around and took the local train to hongik university area. There was lots of art and we visited a local art school that produces its own pop art merchandise. Bought some really cool screen printed things. I really enjoyed all the art in this area. Apparently some of the art was even featured in dramas that I have not seen. I spent a lot of time walking around and visiting small areas. I went to corso 10 cosmo and a designer clothes botique. Got to see the crazy lady gaga shoes where you have to walk on your tip-toes too.

Day 3: It was all shopping! myeongdong and dondemon for the win. This day we changed hostels to a guesthouse. Haemil hanok was an amazing little traditional korean house with the nicest owners ever. It was located near Anguk station. I got a bit lost and asked some random people for help were the owner of the hostel came and found me on the main road. He led us to the hostel and made us delicious food. We booked the deluxe room  and had plenty of room to spare. The private bath and cute room decorations were awesome. Super helpful and kind people run this place. I went to the fubu store which had new pictures of TOP to drool over and I picked up a new sweater. Went to BSK and got new shirts. I think I bought about 5kilos of facial products. Overall nice day, I went back exhausted.
Day 4: Sightseeing. Went to Seoul tower where I was jealous of all the couples and there locks. Couples lock the lock on the tree to signify they will be together forever. Went to the top and laughed when I saw the 10,000+ km to Chicago sign. You can take the cable car to the top and then a separate elevator to the top. After the tower we went to an art museum that had giant spiders outside of it. Took pictures and ran into a takaki murakami statue. Got Vietnamese food for dinner and hung out along the river walk in the middle of Seoul. Very beautiful and relaxing.
Day 5: Concert day!!! Doors didn't open until 4:00 so we went sightseeing in the traditional village near Anguk station. There's a really pleasant walking course that we followed and we could see many cool little museums. We met the official knot maker of Korea. Any time a drama, the emperor, or real traditional art is needed this women was the artist. She showed us giant cases with beautiful accessories that must have cost a fortune to make. We also saw all of the old houses, you can't enter because people are still living there! After we went to a duty free shop in gwanghyamun and saw the large gold statue of King Sejong and the palace in the back ground. We happened to run into the changing of the guards and watched their procession. A last minute decision left us running to go to Coex to see the sm.art exhibtion at coex station. We arrived at sm.art and walked around viewing what there was to see. first was a virtual runway. It looked like the artists were walking down a large road. There was the genie dance camera, where you can make it look like you are dancing with your favorite artists. Overall it was very fangirly but over all a guilty pleasure. Lots of star handprints, purikura with sm artists, tons of cutouts, and special goods as well. The best part was the two 3-D performance stages. One was shinee where the projection was so real it looked like they were actually in the room. They sang sherlock and hello. The other was a trippy 3-D glasses show where the best dancers of Sm showed off their dance skills in outer space. As we left we even noticed there was a little cafe as well! Now for the concert. I bought my tickets online from Japan with a daiko service. I paid only a tiny bit more than the Korean price, but I didn't have extremely close seats. I was in the stands, but this was a blessing in disguise because the concert was 5 hours long!!!! The floor area was mostly standing and standing for 5 hours would have sucked. Didn't even try to get goods when I saw how long the line was. Went straight in and took my seat in the bleachers. Another lucky thing was that the floor above me cover me from the rain. I didn't have to wear a poncho.

Here's the set list.

FLAG CEREMONY: Yunho and Changmin | Siwon
1. Opening Song – Jonghyun, Changmin, BoA, Luna, Yesung, Taeyeon, D.O, Chen and Luhan
2. The Grace – One More Chance
3. Zhang LiYi
4. Chu Ga Yeoul – Vincent
5. f(x) – Pinocchi
6. f(x) – Hot Summer
7. Kim Min Jong
8. Like A G6 – Key & Kris & Amber
9. Changmin & Kyuhyun (with Taemin)- Just The Way You Are
10. EunHae – Oppa Oppa
11. EXO – History
12. EXO – MAMA
13. Taeyeon – Devil’s Cry
14. SNSD – Run Devil Run
15. SNSD – Genie
15. SJ & f(x) – Oops
16. SHINee with Luhan – Lucifer
17. Super Junior – Superman
18. Super Junior – Don’t Don
19. SHINee – Ring Ding Dong
20. Super Junior – Bonamana
21. SHINee – Juliette
22. SHINee – Love Like Oxygen
23. Ryeowook & DO – Missing You (Fly To The Sky)
24. TTS – Twinkle
25. DJ Got Us Falling In Love Again – TTS, D.O, Luhan, Sehun, Chanyeol
26. Dance Battle (Yunho, Eunhyuk, Tao, Kai, Taemin, Yoona, Hyoyeon, Yuri, Victoria)
27. Rising Sun Dance Stage – Yunho, Taemin and Kai
28. BoA – Hurricane Venus
29. BoA – Not Over U
30. BoA – The Shadow
31. Super Junior – Sorry Sorry
32. Super Junior-M – Perfection (Korean ver.)
33. Super Junior – A-CHa
34. SNSD – Mr. Taxi (Korean ver.)
35. Jonghyun & Taemin – Internet War
36. TVXQ – Maximum
37. TVXQ – Mrotic
38. TVXQ – Keep Your Head Down
39. SNSD – Gee
40. SNSD – Kissing You
41. Super Junior – Dancing Out
42. BoA feat. Taemin – Only One
43. f(x) – Electric Shock
44. SHINee – Sherlock
45. SNSD – The Boys
46. Super Junior – Sexy, Free & Single
47. TVXQ – Rising Sun
48. All Artists – Hope 

To be continued!

Mt. Fuji-ness!!

5th station

Well, I conquered mt. Fuji and about killed myself doing it, but it has been beat! Here's the break down. Climbing for two days to see the sunrise. First we took a plane from Miyazaki(宮崎） Japan to Handeda airport(羽田空港). We pre-booked a bus from Haneda to the 5th station on mt. Fuji. It took about three hours and made several stops at Fuji land theme park and finally the 5th station. Once we arrived it was really busy. It looks a bit like a ski-lodge and many people were milling about. It was easy to tell who would be climbing the mountain and who was there for sightseeing. You could easily see the mountain top with a bit of snow on it. There was lots of　お土産　souvenirs that could be purchased. The most popular was a walking stick. It was made of sturdy wood and already had the fifth level seal on it. As you go up you can get a new seal for every level. Things are a bit expensive like water $5ish dollars, we ate some udon and made our way up. It was already noticeably colder and as we stared the clouds rolled across our paths.


Yoshida trail head. Start time July 27th 6:00pm

5th---& 6th station

short and easy, also very flat

This was short and easy. The ground is packed solid and you are surrounded by greenery. We hiked for a short bit and some of the ground was even paved flat. Not many people around, but lots of weary looking people hiking down the mountain. It gives you a good idea of how you'll feel coming down the next day.I bought the walking stick because of advice from a friend who had climbed earlier and I do not regret it. At first I felt stupid walking with a stick on flat group, but it became an invaluable tool as I slide down the mountain on the return trail. I wore a heat tech shirt, t-shirt, water proof pants that zip into shorts, leggings, a hiking backpack, soy joy bars, 2L of water in a soft water bottle, and calorie mate bars. This was perfect and I used it all. I also recommend carrying a head lamp, hat, gloves, and sun glasses.





6th---->7th station

This was also short but more difficult to climb. The flat ground sloped up and the dirt became more gravely and loose. This was actually harder to climb than some of the rocks. This is where you start to notice the thin air. Your heart will pound and make you a bit dizzy if you try to keep a fast pace. Take frequent rest and it will be fairly easy. Because we climbed in the afternoon, by this point it became dark and it was impossible to see anything without a flashlight. Do not climb this without a light, way too dangerous, seeing as there are no barriers or bars to stop you from falling. I was in a group of seven people and we didn't all make it together.

7th station.

7th--->8th station

8th station

This was the longest and worst part. At this point it was pitch black out and everyone was huffing and puffing at different paces. I went slow and steady, while others preferred to go super slow, or every fast up the mountain. I got a wee bit loopy as we went higher and just focused on not slipping or falling. We all split up and reached the eight station at different time. There are multiple cabins/huts on each station. I rested at every single one also getting a new stamp as I relaxed. This is where I noticed people getting sick and breaking out with the oxygen cans. I tried using them but didn't notice much of a difference. We reached the eight station at 11:00pm. It took me five hours to climb to level 8 slowly.

Rest house!

So we booked a rest house via the phone numbers listed on websites. We stayed at the Fuji hotel on the 8.5ish level. If wasn't a hotel but more like a cabin with rows of sleeping space. Bring your earplugs because people will be chilling outside your rooms and shifting around. The price was a bit much but our included dinner and breakfast. Dinner was water and curry rice which at the time was delicious. There is no running water on Fuji so there was no place to shower or change clothes, I just slept in what I was wearing. Breakfast was rice and a fish sauce. All super carbs good for hiking up mountains. I slept until 2am and then started hiking. There were tons of people outside hiking up without staying in a hut. I think next time I would just continue straight up to the top. This is also the station where I started to feel sick. I was dizzy and my heart was pounding. Not going to lie but I was throwing up from the 8th level up. Luckily because there are so many people the pace is slow.

To the top!

The final climb was hell. Dizzy, sick, and every step felt like I was going to fall over. I love cold weather so I was fine but lots of people were bundled up. You will need the gloves because the path just turns to giant rocks you have to climb over.

I managed to get there for sunrise, but barely. Notice in the pictures its bright, but the sun is not up yet. You can continue through the gate and get some food or secure a spot to sit on to see the actual sun rise. Once it comes up people start cheering and then there is a banzai chant. If your ambitious you can continue around the crater. It takes about 1hr 30minutes. The last 600m were sooooo slow. It took me about 1hr to traverse the last bit due to exhausted and unsteady people.

I felt awful but the sunrise was really beautiful. After the sun has risen everyone rushes down the mountain to catch buses and rest. Once the sun came up I was hot, and the sunglasses came in handy. Sunrise started around 4:30am on the Sunday.

           Top sunrise and the four that made it to the top!

   














                                   Going down

This was a different path that met back up with the original path around the 6th station. It was super steep and made of extremely soft gravel and volcanic rock. To me, this was harder than going up on the knees, and hips. Your toes will also slide to the front of your shoes giving you blisters. There's absolutely nothing to see on the way down, except the sun. Bring sunscreen or you'll get burnt. It took me 4 hours to get down the mountain going slowly and making sure not to fall off the mountain. Two walking sticks would have made this much easier but there are no shop, only two toilet stops, and no where to sit except on the group. 

Finishing time 9:00am Sunday July 29th.

Time spent on mountain: 14 hours

Time spent climbing: 11 hours

I took the staff back with me and its a pretty cool souvenir, if you don't want to lug around a huge stick buy the mini key chain version. Once at the bottom the altitude sickness was gone and I ate everything I  could afford. Caught the next bus out to Shinkuku.

Bigbang Alive tour in Fukuoka Japan 2012

lo-and-behold!! the fabled ticket!!

Wellll, Got my tickets to another bigbang concert and this time it was in Fukuoka, Japan on the 24th of June.This brings my total BIGBANG concert count to 5!! I got my tickets using my Japanese VIP membership card. I applied to all the drawings, of all of the concerts and only managed to get one ticket. Although I can't complain because it was nearby and I got the VIP TICKET!!!! I paid at the local 7/11 and early June got my ticket in the mail. This cost me around $200USD. Usually I got a paper ticket but this time I got an awesome plastic card with my picture on i,t with the date and venue name. This ticket draw was the first time I had to send my picture in with the application for the tickets. You could use this as the actual ticket and on  the back was a QR code that on the day of the concert you could scan to get your actual seat number. Yes, that's right, I didn't know my seat number until the day of the concert. Also important to note is VIP tickets are only sold in 1's and it has to be the person who was in the photo you included on application.(meaning no one but me can use my ticket.)
I live in Miyazaki Japan and decided to fly to Fukuoka. Took and early flight and took random buses until I arrived at the venue on a Saturday. This concert was at Marine Messe and I headed straight for the goods line. For first time fans, goods refers to all the merchandise sold for the concert. They are highly sought after and require hours of waiting in line. It was around 10:00am and there were already two lines formed. This is where I found the gloriousness that was the VIP GOODS LINE!!!! The last four concerts I suffered in line for up to five hours only to find out all the best things were sold out before I got there T-T.

The VIP goods line was around 30 people and the regular line was well into the hundreds. Well lets just say I made a mistake and as I was standing there I noticed the line had a time, it said 1:30!!!! I had to wait in line for 3.5hours and I don't regret it at all. I managed to get all the things I wanted for the first time ever. When I left the line the time of the line was six hours. SIX HOURS!!! When I got out of the picture line everthing was sold out and there were still people in line that got turned down. Okay goods, there were alot of things to choose from but I got the bag, hoodie, pins, chips, hair ties, cd, and giant fan towel. The towel was only for fan club members and you had to wait in a seperate line.(more time in lines) For every $50 you spent you got free cell phone charms. It seemed the everyone wanted the towel  and the hair ties because they were cute. Also near the goods was the giant bigbang truck.It had super smexy pictures on it and everyone was fighting over getting pics with it. I managed to run over right after getting goods so I could get a pic with no one in it.(see top picture) IMPORTANT!! Okay, so I waited in line forever for the goods line to open and when it did, they scanned my ticket/cards and told me I could only buy goods on the day my concert was scheduled and basically told me to come back tomorrow. I was freaking out because I just sat there waiting and none of the signs said anything about this. I tried to argue but they weren't having it and told me to go. Luckily my new friends in line said they would buy the goods for me and give them to me outside the line. ^_^ I tried to offer them money to buy it,but they bought all of it on good faith and I paid them outside. People in Japan are so trusting and kind I couldn't thank them enough!!

Well after that I hopped in another line and quickly got the fan towel. Then there was a line for Jeju airlines which BIGBANG is sponsoring at the moment. You could take pics and get lots of free stuff. I figured since I was there why not.

me and a new friend

The concert was on Sunday and the doors opened at 3:00pm which was a bit early. When the concert ended it was still light outside. The line for the regular tickets was crazy long but the VIP ticket came with another perk, a special entrance. When you go in, there were people in fancy outfits handing out small vip bags wearing white gloves. It was  bit funny and I could go straight to my seat. They also scanned the card and gave me my seat number. My seat was on the right side in the fifth row from the front!!!!! I also had an isle seat. It was an amazing seat and the women in front of me handed out flyers to hold up for the 3rd anniversay of VIP in Japan.

yatta!! special entrance

my seat number.

Soooooo, now for the concert. It started on time and was actually a little bit better than Bigshow in Korea. Dare I say it, it was really, really, good!! The song list was enormous, I tried to find the list for Fukuoka but to no avail. Once I find it I will post it. The concert opened like the korean one with the video intro and them coming out in cryo pod things follow by a slightly cheesey opening video. Strangely its in english and was subbed in japanese. During bigshow it was subbed in korean.

1. Alive Intro
2. Tonight
3. Hands Up
4. Fantastic Baby
5. How Gee
6. Stupid Liar
Then they went straight into songs. The first six songs were the same as other concerts. Fantastic baby had great atmosphere and eveyone was freaking out. They sang How gee but I got the feeling not many of the Japanese fans knew alot of the words to this song.

First things to notice:

1. gd's hair: his hair was white!! Whiter than even Daesung's.

2. TOP: His hair was jet black and looked freshly dyed.

3. VI: His Japanese has gotten soooo good.

4. Daesung: His hair is slowly changing back and he still won't take his shirt off at concerts -_-

5.Taeyang: still spicy as ever, still doesn't like wearing clothing.

crown, my sign, and my vip present!

After was a short talk while gd and top got ready for their solos. The three left on stage can all speak Japanese pretty well so they were having fun and taking turns trying to pronounce Fukuoka.              fuh-ku-oh-kah!!! Seungri also jokingly chastised the audience for liking g-dragon too much. He said in a poll d-dragon was the most popular in Fukoka and that girls were always screaming ji-on!!! and ignoring the other members. This was also BIGBANG's first time in Fukuoka. They also used some local dialect and did some chants.

7. Ppeokigayo
8. High High
9. Strong Baby
10. What Can I Do
11. Gara Gara Go
12. Number 1
13. Cafe

Then gd&top came out for a really cool remix of ppeokigayo. They were dressed far more casually then I've seen them for their promotions and as usual they got the crowd jumping. Vi came out  and sang wearing his army outfit and had a lazer gun. He was really charismatic and each time I see him perform he gets better and better. Gara Gara Go is one of my favorite Japanese bigbang songs so it was really cool to be able to perfectly sing along with it because I learned the Japanese lyrics. They ended this section with Cafe where they were on the main stage and Gd ended it with an awesome falsetto note.

14. Bad Boy
15. Blue
16. Ego
17. Love Song
18. Look Only At Me
19. Wedding Dress
20. Wings
21. Haru Haru
22. Monster(I think it was here)
23. Lie
24. Last Farewell

So I'm not completely sure because I can't find the song list, they then broke into blue and bad boy. Bad boy was the same as usual while blue was really neat. I had heard about project blue but this was my first time experiencing it. The VIP's in front of me had around 100 light sticks and were passing them out to whoever. Then everyone turned off their light crowns and held up the blue ones. Really cool effect. There was also fake snow(some kind of soap suds) that came from the ceiling. This was also the first time I heard them sing Ego live and I really enjoyed this song. They did a minor remix of it. They also had the Japanese on the screen above.Taeyang then came out for his solo and as usual was fantastic. He danced a little bit less serious than usual, but looked like he was having a great time. He was very energetic and ran across the stage like a mad man. Also while dancing like a boss he of course slowly removed all his clothes except his pants and shoes. He did an epic shirt tear off and threw it into the audience. This was the first time anyone threw anything into the audience.

back view of my seats.

Daesung came out for his solo wings and wore the wings and flew across the stadium. I'm always a bit sad he only sings one song but it was really cool to watch. The final song of this section was Monster which was awesome. Even though they didn't wear the costumes from the music video they had a really cool and original dance where taeyang was lifted into the air and the members pushed around their backup dancers. GD was particularily cool during his rap part.

special goods for VIP tickets, It scrolled bigbang across the screen

Talk Part
Next was free talk with all of them. This was quite funny as they began to mock each others dance style. Top even got in on the fun and was doing lots of cute gestures and was laying on the stage. He imitated VI's dancing and did a hilarious hip dance(butt dance) where he tried his dancing skills. They talked about Gd's upcoming new album in august and to support him. Gd and Top continuously tried to pull of Daesungs shirt to no avail. Everytime they tried Dae would whisper someting to them and the would stop. I'm guessing it was something like, I'm super sweaty so I not taking my shirt off. Marine Messe was extremely hot, this was the hottest concert venue I have ever been in.
 Seungri then told the audience that they would each take turns mcing the concert. First up was Top who was a bit flustered and tried his best and only managed things like, are you having fun? It's hot isn't it? Gd's turn was similar. I don't think they know alot of Japanese and he tried to say it in part English as well. Daesung, Taeyang, and VI were fine and held mini conversations and kept making jokes. They talked about their world tour and where they will be going using what I guess was a scripted talk because Top and Gd said quite a bit in difficult Japanese. Top forgot his half way though and Daesung could be seen behind him telling him what to say. It was super cute, Vi did the same for gd.

Next was the encore!
This was a super long encore!
25. Let Me Hear Your Voice (Encore)
26. Heaven (Encore)
27. Feeling
28.bad boy
29.fantastic baby
30.Banarama- Na Na Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye sang by the members

special VIP sign to hold up during the encore

The encore in Japan is not started with the words encore. The Japanese word for encore is on-co-ru, but for BIGBANG concerts we always start with singing my heaven in Japanese. I was super surprised when the mega-fan in front of me started the encore my heaven chant . The entire audience followed this women's cue to start singing! awesome! The re-sang bad boy and fantastic baby, and for the first time sang feeling during the encore. Then the fan service began. Another first was all the members going directly into the audience. Japanese concerts have chairs so it was unusual for them to just go running into the audience. It was madness. Giant balloons fell from the ceiling and everyone threw them. Taeyang of course gave away all of his clothing again. Vi threw his light up rings into the audience. Top had soaked his hair in water and was walking around giving high fives. Daesung was smiling, waving, and singing to random fans. Gd also poured water all over his hair and shook his wet hair onto the fans(a little gross)  Vi quickly grabbed the camera and filmed himself and gd in a really cute little video. You can check it out on youtube. The girl in front of me got taeyang's shirt and everyone was sooooo envious. The funniest thing was Top pointing at a fan in the front row during badboy and said 'you a good gir'l and then he hugged her. The fan was shocked and soooo happy. Top walked away laughing.
They quickly stopped the concert for a photo op. This was the third anniversary of VIP fan club in Japan. They wheeled out a huge cake and they joked that they would share it with the audience. Everyone took a giant picture with it and all of their back up dancers. The cake had pics of them in chibi form and was really cute.

quick pic before security came along

 As they finished the last song Vi started singing na na na na hey hey hey goodbye, and the live band started playing it as well. Gd started doing crazy rocker yelling and Daesung was hitting all the high notes. Vi was yelling random things in English, I think it was goodbye my friends. Taeyang did one final back flip and then it was all over.Below are random pics of goods and bigbang glory!! This was an amazing concert and if you have any questions please comment below!!!

Vip attire check.

fan from jeju air line

sweet seat! only one row in front of me!

Its not just mud tohoku volunteering

It's been a bit weird this last week. I've returned from Ishinomaki-shi and have been sitting in the office.  My spring trip was strange to say the least. Two friends and I traveled from Miyazaki--> Tokyo----->Ishinomaki, Miyagi-ken and then back. First was the plane to Tokyo which had terrible turbulence and arrived in the late afternoon of the first day. We then caught the overnight bus which was super luxurious, but sadly, was still too small for me. No sleep for me..T-T. Met some awesome people going to the same program at the station. Before we came we decided on It's Not Just Mud (INJM) to work with. They have a reliable program and don't make you go to an orientation. We were promptly picked up and taken to the INJM housing. It's cozy and everyone works together to get things done. Then we were rushed off to start work. It was about an hour drive to our place of work and the word of the day was....WAKAME!! It's a kind of seaweed with three parts. A stalk, feather soft pieces, and the swirled root part. First you had to separate the spiraled pieces from the stalk. The spirals were then cut off the short stalk and collected in giant water bins. The stalks and soft pieces are then cooked/steamed until soft and dark green. The final step is cutting and peeling off the softest pieces from the stalk. These parts and worth the most and are the most difficult to get. We did this for TWO days!! It was fun, but my hands and face stung with salt water. We met lots of people who were affected by tsunami and we saw the destruction first hand. In many places you could still see the water lines on the buildings, and where the salt has killed the trees and plants.
Day 3 was gutter shoveling. In Japan gutters and large stones covering tunnels alongside the road. Each block has a small hole to let the water in. We removed the blocks and dug out the tons of mud and stuff that has been lodged in there for years. We founds many things including personal items, garbage, mud, shells, and lots of glass. We dug all day and then moved the bags to our starting place.
Day 4 We were in the same area as before but this time we just scoured the land picking up anything man made. From far away the ground just looks grey and deserted, but up close its a treasure trove of things that shouldn't be there. Foam, glass, roof tiles, toys, debris, shells, and much more. We found jewerly, house doors, electrical lines, and wallets. When they demolished what was left of houses they flattened the group with plows, crushing everything into the dirt. It was our job to remove it all. After work that day Yannick took us on a tour of the worst parts of the city. The first thing is notice is the already sparse housing becomes non-exsisting. Everything is gone and what left is in bad shape. There is a large bridge spanning the river and on both sides of it are giant car grave yards filled with cars that look new and some that are smashed flat. Pressed against the hill was a school that was hit bad by the incoming waves. The water filled this area quickly and smashed cars against the school where they then leaked gasoline. The school then caught fire. There are lots of sad things here, but the town is doing its best to keep up with everyday life. がんばぺ！！
Day5 The last day and we went to temporary housing almost 1.5 hours away. It was a school on a giant hill that HAD been damaged by the tsunami. Even though we drove so long inland, the water had rushed along the river spilling out onto the flat farm lands. Most of the land is now unfarmable due to being salty and sandy. There's no money to fix any of it. At the school we made lots of food for the families and children. We made sanwiches and inari zushi for everyone. Older people were learning how to tie bento boxes while we played with the children. All of the students wanted hugs. I carried a 4 year of girl around who would not let go. She was like a little koala and super sweet. Muqing as usual was chasing the students about while they slung insults at her rapid fire. Including calling her luffy and sanji from onepiece. There were some first grade girls that wanted piggy back rides all day long. We left that day exhausted and happy we could meet so many great people.

Everyday in Ishinomaki we went to a fabulous onsen that was always packed with people. We ended each onsen trip with ice cream and Q10 drinks. Dinner was amazing too! I'm not terrible at cooking, but I make extremely bland food. Always have, but the food here was awesome and super flavorful. I ate too much each night and slept really well even though it was super cold. One night it even snowed. The worst though, was the two earthquakes that happened while we were there. I have only felt one quake in Nichinan but there were two in three days there. The first was 15 seconds and a level 5, the second was a 7 and lasted about a minute. It was scary to be in an area devastated by quakes and just be sitting there enjoying dinner. Everyone just went about their business as usual.

The last day we got the night bus again and I actually slept this time. Our goal was to go to Tsukiji fish market, but we arrived too late. We got in at 5am and decided instead to get some fresh sashimi. from Daiiwa. It had a twenty minute line but we ate the best sushi I have EVER eaten. The tuna was amazing! It didn't even look like fish, and we got a full set for about 30Usd. Caught our plane from Haneda and arrived back in Miyazaki at 12:00.

Bigbang bigshow 2012 alive tour!

okay this is going to take a while to adequately blog about what I've seen, but I just got back from day 2 BIGBANG bigshow alive 2012 tour and my mind has been blown!!! Holy beejezus it was amazing!

goods line

goods=sold out(mostly)

First I hit up the goods line. Let's just say things sold out, fast....Most everything was gone by the time I got there but thank god everyone was chill and having a great time. I like the goods at this concert and picked up quite a few things I wanted. The only thing I really wanted but couldn't get was the daesung fan. Oh well I'll be at the Fukuoka japan concert in the VIP section. Got my goods and then wandered around. I had some trouble reading things and understanding what it said, but luckily there was a lot of Japanese and English on things.
I was planning on picking up some soul headphones but chickened out on the prices at the last second. Picked up a new lightstick(my last one broke from rocking out at the last concert), Hoodie, paper crafts, and bandana.Below was a giant display of the gmarket collab with Bigbang. They had games such as bigbang basketball and this strange stepper machine that, the more steps you took the better a fan you were. You could win special prizes. I saw clear files, shirts, and special photos. They had a thank you box where you could write letters to the members. The paper had pictures of the member you were writing to.

Bigbang g-market collab=cute pics of g-dragon

We waited forever but were happy with our goods. There was a special line for Korean VIP'S to get special goods. いいいなあああああ！！ I'm a Japanese VIP and wanted all the goods. It has gotten me the special VIP seats for the Japanese concert but is no good to me in Korea. Ok here's how I got the tickets to Bigshow 2012. I live in Japan as a teacher and have two Japanese friends who love bigbang. We used a special company called a だいこ (I think) It buys bulk tickets from other countries and sells them to people in their own home country. It IS more expensive than just buying the tickets on Gmarket, but it guarantees you good seats. I spent \10000 on my ticket alone, but I was in section 2 in the front stage. It was the best seats I could have imagined. I would pay it again to not have to fight on gmarket for tickets. I booked my flight from Miyazaki to Seoul for \20000 (there and back) and got a hotel in Meoyeoungdong(sp?) for cheap as well.

waiting for goods top needs a hug

So onto the concert. I went on day two, the Saturday, and after goods went shopping more. I came back around five and got in line for my section. First you got a wristband that identified you section/gate and then you got in line, with numbered groups. I was in 500-800. Our group was the third to enter for group two so we got great seats. At first I was confused. We were ushered in and after a bit of walked entered two's section. No one was there. The whole arena was empty! The hand full of people who had entered before us were all lined up next to the main stage. I thought it would be better to be near the extended stage so that's where I went. I'm a tall girl, at 6'ft (180cm) everyone was keen to stay away from me which was great, until the concert started. Slowly the whole section filled up and they started playing music videos to keep us entertained. I stood there forever(1 hour) while security yelled at us.....No camera's, no phones, no unauthorized goods, no light, etc. The number one rule was no pushing, which was useless by the time the concert started. This particular concert started late, about 15 minutes late and people were getting antsy. Finally it started with a hilarious opening sequence.

waiting to go in

It started with a bang and people went crazy. Sorry I have no pics, security was right in front of my and I didn't want to be thrown out. The threat was very real, with several people around me being dragged out, crying. Madness I tell you! Madness. I was smashed into the railing and stayed there the entire time. The girl next to me hyperventilated and had to be escorted out. The closest thing I can describe it as, is a mosh pit. A mosh pit of crazy fan girls and man was it awesome. My friends didn't fair so well and were pushed around. I could reach out and touch the stage and had a great view. They went straight into their new songs and blew everyone away. This was a loud concert. I have been to rock concerts in America that weren't as intense as this. All of the songs were awesome, most of the stages were new and many of the songs were a remix of the original. There were cool cut scenes in between performances. First up was Seungri who came out in this army laser costume and I must say he has gotten wayyyyy hotter. His singing has also improved and I really enjoyed him in Blue. He performed his songs and then it was on to Gd&Top. As usual they were energetic and bouncing around, TOP was even more bubbly than usual.

after and leaving

Then Taeyang performed his classic songs and really broke out in some fantastic dancing. It was better than usual and he had a back up crew of break dances. On a funny note one of the backup dancers in from of me(a guy) had a minor wardrobe malfunction. His pant had clips/buttons on the side so you can change them quickly but the whole backside of his cameo pants came undone and he was dancing around with his underoos showing. He quickly got of the stage. I really liked their fashion as this concert too! Cool jackets, hiphop accessories, and hats were the theme of the night. The final solo stage was Daesung. I really liked his new song and it sounded powerful and cool. I really liked the tempo of the song. I was super surprised when he had giant wings and floated above the audience. I noticed at Korean concerts the atmosphere is extremely different from Japanese concerts. The Korean concert was very loud, cool, and everyone seemed way more into it than in Japan. My favorite song was definately fantastic baby. If had a club like atmosphere and everyone was singing and dancing. G-dragon rocked it and TOP's boomshakalaka's had everyone cheering. Second song was ain't no fun. I really liked the girls vs. boys vibe and the stage was pretty sexy. 

stage, all the black areas were screens

Funniest things this concert.
1) Taeyang and Daesung rolling across the audience in giant human hamster balls. Taeyang looked  like he was having the best day ever as he ran around. At first I thought they would stay on the stage, but then the rolled onto the audience essentially crowd surfing without being mauled.
2) G-dragon sitting in front of the girl next to me on the stage and taking her hand made sign. He said something to her and handed her one of his towels. Fan girls near her were sooooo envious!!
3) The girls behind me catching Daesung's towel and fighting over it. The security man made them rock scissor paper for it and the winning girl cried.
4) Backup dancer pants falling off.
5) Seungri mocking Taeyang's dancing and all of them laughing.

after the concert, couldnt take pics where I was because security man threatened to remove me from the front row.

The last part of the concert was lots of fan songs and we cheered for an encore. There was lots of towel throwing and I believe GD accidently threw his jacket into the crowd. I think he was aiming for the edge but it flew into the audience and was consumed by fan girls. It ended and we were ushered out quickly. Thing to note. HUGE line for the subway. Have your t-card loaded or you'll be waiting in line for a ticket forever.

goods, games, and lots of photos

leaving