Osaka & BIGBANG

30,000 people!

ramen museum

So for a quick three day weekend Muqing and I went to osaka to chillax and see the Yg family concert at the Kyocera dome. We stayed at another awesome hostel, super clean and very helpful, called j-hoppers hostel. Really nice place. Day one we arrived in Osaka around 12:00ish and decided
that we were sleepy and not wanting to move around so we headed to the goods line. It was super easy to find but the train system here is crazy. It's well run but there are tons of lines you can choose from and moving from one line to another is interesting to say the least. Got in the goods and and lo-and-behold!!! It only took an hour and everything we wanted was there. Meaning NOT sold out!! I got a yg hoodie, anniversary light, 2NE1 pins, gd&top clear files, and a tablo pen. Good haul! We were starving and saw a poster for a collaboration between coco curry and bigbang. Yes and yes, we headed there and payed too much and enjoyed the best curry evah!! including getting a free bigbang spoon. Checked into the hostel and then headed out to find a cat cafe.

our seats weren't too bad

The lady at the hostel had given us directions to a cat cafe with a map. It took us TWO hours to find the damn thing. We wandered around in the cold deciding where this cafe was, only to take a taxi around a corner to a building we had already been to. Sadly in was in a building we had walked by at least 10 times. Oh well... We went in and chilled with cats for an hour and called in a night. The next day slept in and went to the ramen museum. Momofuku cup ramen museum and had a blast! You get a cup and decorate it for only 300yen. ($3) Then fill it with pre-frozen noodles. There is a plethora of delicious freeze dried things to put into the ramen including, asparagus, kimchi, and cheese. I choose curry flavor and have yet to eat it. I can only imagine mine will taste horrible. Then we headed to the concert. It was surprisingly easy to get in and we found our seats. We were pleasantly surprised that our seat were so close, right near the floor area. They were showing lots of music videos and other videos from the Korean family concert.

bigbang curry

The concert got going with GD&TOP's Oh yeah video, it was a bit strange, and everyone started singing to this video. It kicked off with 2NE1 singing a variety of songs and then we got a sampling of all of the artists songs in their groups. Bigbang, 2NE1, Psy, Se7en, Gummy, Tablo, and Jinsu & Sean all sang lots of songs in a variety of languages. Including English, Korean, and Japanese. Then they mixed in the collaborations. Sometimes they sang of Yg songs, other times they sang new songs, like se7en did. Gummy, Psy's and Jinsu & Sean's songs were new to me. Gummy sings alot of ballads and has an amazing voice. I don't like ballads but her singing was extremely powerful. Psy is Amazing!! I had seen him but never seen him perform. It was crazy, his stage presence was overwhelming and even though he could only speak Korean and his songs were new to us no one could sit down or not pay attention to him. How could you ignore a giant statue of him drinking and smoking, and then having its clothes ripped off? answer is---> you don't. Jinsu & Sean has this amazing old school American hip-hop vibe. I really liked it because it wasn't trashy sounding like contemporary hip-hop now adays. Bigbang came back at the end for another round and they sang the special ending song, but not before the most ridiculous ending songs ever. 2NE1 and Gummy sang bigbang's last farewell and Bigbang sang I am the best. Top and daesung in I am the best was hilarious. I wish they would break from their cool image to be goofy more often. Since the accident they've been more reserved. Again Psy stole the show parodying lady gaga and beyonce. He wore the EXACT same outfit as they did and danced like a beast on stage with the video playing behind him. A nice touch was his face glued onto the video. Awesomeness.

-FIRE (2NE1)
-CAN’T NOBODY (2NE1)
-GO AWAY (2NE1)  
-TONIGHT (BIGBANG) 
-HANDS UP (BIGBANG) 
-BIGBANG TALK TIME 
-KOE WO KIKASETE (BIGBANG) 
-GARA GARA GO (BIGBANG)
-I’M SORRY (GUMMY)
-DIGITAL BOUNCE (SE7EN FT TOP)  
-TALK TIME (se7en Jinu & GD(?)) 
-HIPHOP GENTLEMEN (GDRAGON, SE7EN, JINUSEAN)
-A-YO (JINUSEAN)
-TELL ME (JINUSEAN WITH DARA)
-LOVE IS BAD (TABLO FT BOM)
-TABLO AND GUMMY STAGE  
-TOMORROW (TABLO FT TAEYANG) 
-IT HURTS (DAESUNG) 
-LONELY (SE7EN SEUNGRI SE7EN DAESUNG) 
-OH YEAH (GTOP FT BOM)
-PSY STAGE
-SHAKE IT (PSY)
-SOMEBODY ELSE (SE7EN)
-I AM THE BEST (2NE1)
-I DON’T CARE (2NE1)
-UGLY (2NE1 FT GUMMY)
-HEARTBREAKER [BALLAD VER] (GUMMY)  
-HARU HARU [japanese VER] (BIGBANG) 
-LIES (BIGBANG)
-HEAVEN (BIGBANG)
-LAST FAREWELL (2NE1) with gummy (?)
-LADY GAGA PARODY (PSY)
-I AM THE BEST (BIG BANG)
-MALHAEJYO (sung by the whole family + GDYB dance)

FOUR hours later!!! The concert ended with the special ending song and then we headed out deliriously happy. Best concert ever. Monday was a holiday and we went to kiyomisu temple for coming of age day. We got to do giant omikuge and I got middle level so I am moderately lucky for the rest of the year.

swag

mini GD&TOP from Japan album

Korea!!

This explains most of the trip

Korea, a land full of spicy foods, cosmetics galore, and tempers running high. Had an amazing time in Korea just walking around and taking in the sights. Although we were a bit on edge and a bit nauseous, we came out on top and with overly filled suitcases. I saw what I wanted to see and went were I wanted to go. I do regret not going to the new years bell at the big square, but knew that if I went it would equal more sickness.
Day 1: Still in Japan, drove to Fukuoka on the highway. Cost $50 but was so worth it. Arrived at the ryokan and checked in. Hit up some shopping and eventually the onsen. Muqing and Lola used the hand massagers which immediately left them with their hands stuck in a large plastic box.
Day2: Drove to the port and 3 hours later arrived in busan via ferry. Took a taxi to the hotel to arrive just in time to meet Sakimi-san at the door. Stayed at Zen-backpackers, the cleanest hostel I've seen in a long time. Pristine with free toast and tea. Awesome view as well. We were starving so we got yakiniku/korean bbq and then hit the town for some shopping. First thing of importance to see= BIGBANG bus for Nikon. It was monstrous and plastered with pictures of all of bigbang in giant, color glory. Fan girled...Called it an early night and saw sherlock holmes. Awesome movie and then headed to TGI Friday for some chopped steak. Damn hamburg had disguised itself as chopped steak on the menu so got to eat chopped steak/hamburg for dinner..
Day 3:Went out and waited for our 5th person tomoyo-san and headed to the bullet train. Cheap and fast we arrived in Seoul around mid-day Arrived at our hostel only to find that they messed up the reservations and moved us to another hostel across the street called golden pond. Okay hostel, little messy, with strange shower, but overall no to bad. Dropped off the stuff and hit the town. Met a really cool girl at the hostel from Germany and got yakiniku(again) and drank an entire bottle of shoju in about 30 minutes. It was a bit potent and left me a bit spiny but overall much better taste than shochu. Went shopping around and only bought a bit and went to bed early. Hostel was hot, and I mean really hot. My apt. in Japan averages 5C in the winter, the hostel was at least 20C and I thought I was suffocating. I opened the window only to be thwarted by the lady wearing long sleeves in pants below me. She shut the window and turned the heater on high. : ( .
Day 4: Photo shoot=incredibly sick. How I mad it through this morning is a mystery for me. So sick and in generally a bad mood, I powered though 3 hours of make-up, hair, and free tea. I had alot of fun and was glad the clothes fit me although they added an extra piece in the front. After we shopped til we dropped. We went to meoyongdong and shopped at millions of cosmetic stores and street stalls. Bought my polaroid camera,cd's, northface jacket, and BSX stuff. Hit up all of the famous k-pop related items/stores. Posters, cutouts, and boot leg goods were everywhere and it looked like other people were fan girling as well ^-~ Ate more soups and street foods including spicy mochi then went to get massage. Note to self, never get a massage again. It was unpleasant and expensive. They beat the shit out of my back and my back hurt 3 days later. It might have helped my posture, but the pain was not worth it. The others got their unmentionables steamed, yes steamed, I'm not going to explain. Then we all headed to the onsen which was ungodly hot. Even hotter than Japanese bath houses. Did not enjoy.

Day 5: New years eve! DMZ tour was planned for half a day, so got up at the butt crack of dawn(still sick) and rode to the city hall and then headed to various places on the way. We saw the freedom bridge, and the original train intended to travel to north korea. It was rusted and not in use. We went to a mini museum where we saw a video and what is actually in the DMZ(mostly nature and land mines) It was freezing and everything was frosted and frozen. Finally we went to the 3rd tunnel, which was a steep climb into the ground that flattened in a small rocky tunnel you could walk to the end of. N. Korea dug it and when it was discovered they retreated back, whilst smearing the walls with black coal. They tried to claim they were mining coal even though the tunnel is granite. Walking back up was hot and tiring and then I bought snacks and randomly found bigbang cola!!We ended at an amethyst factory where could buy Korea's official stone. We went to a tea shop the diagnosis you, and then creates a unique tea blend for any ailments you might have. They even included bottles of extra tea to take home. Then our group parted ways. Muqing and I went on our k-pop craze while the others got massages and aka-sui. We went to se7en's chicken shop which had amazing food and then shopped on this amazing street with light show. I really wish I would have stayed there for New years. We went to SM entertainment and laughed at ourselves when we realized we could only stand outside of it. Headed back and ate cake and ice and we quietly rang in New years.

Day 6: People in our group got sick and so we headed to the hospital which discharged here very quickly. While Iv's were flowing we went to the main palace for the changing of the guards. We missed the first change so we wandered. It was cold and everything was frozen. We also saw a large gold statue. We went to Meoyongdong to meet up with our sick member and got lunch at a mild Italian restaurant and then split up again. Muqing, Tomoyo, and Sakimi went to Nandeomond for some bootleg shopping and Lola and I did a final sweep of Meoyongdong. Final cosmetics were  bought and we met back at the hostel to pick up the luggage then headed to catch the bullet train back to Busan. 3 hours later back at our original hostel we settled in and sorted the suitcases. We to a pasta shop that gave us free hot chocolate and delicious lettuce pizza.

Day 7: Pure traveling. Chilled at the hostel eating toast and tea then took a taxi to the port and ferried it back to Fukuoka. Then a 4ish hour drive back to Miyazaki, where we stopped and ate soba and ice. It was super mild after all the korean food. delicious! then got back around 9pm.

It was a difficult trip with lots of suitcases and opinions. But I'd like to think we came out happy and on top. I would love to go back and stay 2 weeks next time. I would travel slowly, stay in a different hostel, and never go to a bath house again. I got what I wanted and more. Leaning towards a short teaching time in Korea now, but to be determined.