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

woah,

GOT TICKETS TO BIGSHOW/ALIVE TOUR 2012!!! Never thought I'd be going back to korea so soon, again, but it's going to be fantastic. We got amazing tickets in the front section of the stage area. Going to go on a three day BIGBANG fueled trip via money and constant smiling. I'm going with two of my best Japanese friends who are just as crazy as me so I can only imagine what's going to happen. I'm a bit intimidated by the goods line in Korea and hope it doesn't excede 3 hours.....Hotels, traveling, and plane arrangements are all complete. I will leave this upcoming weekend on friday. Listened to their new song Blue and was blown away by the sadness of it. Amazing lyrics that stick in your head even though I can't pronounce all of it. On another note in March I will go to Tohoku to help clean up. Tickets were more expensive than the Korea tickets but I think this will be a good thing for me. I want to help and deep down I secretly enjoy manual labor. I enjoy cleaning and carrying things so it will be an adventure. Golden week is coming up but I have no plans, I'm thinking a trip to shikoku might be nice and do the pilgramage around the island. Had my birthday and everyone was extremely nice and got me an amazing cake. I got lots of presents, lots of it cat related. For Valentines day I made 100 truffles and gave them to everyone and anyone. Here's hoping white day brings good returns. I forgot what a pain making chocolates is and the second batch was bad so I had to do it again. Pictures to come soon.

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.

sick and tired

So I got my tickets to the YG family show in Osaka and am super excited!!! I'm going to pay the bit extra and fly there instead of taking the ferry due to my motion sickness issues. This ticket and my trip to Korea in December are all that are motivating me at the moment. My English club is currently involved with creating a play for a large and important event, and its slowly killing me. It looks TERRIBLE. No amount of English learning will undo the horror that is this play. My co-workers and I have created elaborate backdrops(this took months to make), at least 20 hand made props, and hours of script writing and dancing training. When finally it came time to put it all together, the students could say their lines perfectly, but changes to the script were frequent and have ruined any chance of it being good. Too many people that should have no say are being allowed to run the show and the blame inevitably will land on my friends and I, and the people who worked hardest to make this the best it can be. The students are also ruining it by looking bored and joking around. They seem to think messing around and not doing what they should in front of the head(mayor) of the city I work for is tons of fun.......The worst part is there is nothing we can do anymore. The students have been reprimanded, praised, warned, and threatened to no avail. They have gone to that magical place where Japanese students go when asked a question they have no answer for. They just stare blankly back at me and the worst part is, it is them, who will look ridiculous on stage, and it is my friends and I who will take the blame at the end of all this. But worst of all, it is the head of juku who will be crucified for the budget, student failures, and overall horror that the students have made. All the blame will be where it shouldn't and could possibly end the best thing going for my city: Juku.

cat of doom

But enough of my ranting onto bigger and better things. I have felt like crap for about two weeks now(possibly stress from the play) but I have been having some fun. Like going to ji-chan's house for some catching up and ridiculous stories. Got to drink fanta out of bamboo cups and enjoy awesome company and food. I made the fabulous choice to head out for some drinking after the event. Lola tried to steal my shoes, but I talked her and Muqing out of walking from Nango back to Nichinan at night. I dropped them off for a great night. Squeezed my ass into a friend's tiny car and headed to karaoke for two hours. Nomihodai for the win and some epic singing. First time seeing heavy metal sung at Karaoke and ate tons of french fries. After two hours of singing with a slightly sore throat, I headed home at 2:30am and finally went to bed at 3:30.....Woke up at 6am got ready for a trip to mt. aso. One of Lola's English students took on a fabulous high speed drive on the highway that got us to mt. aso in 3 hours(let it be known it took me 6 hours on backroads to do the same thing). I got seriously car sick. I should have known, but I felt terrible for inconviencing this poor guy. He even pulled over so I could barf on the side of the road.(also let it be known I bought him a $30 bottle of sho-chu as an apology) good times, I think I scared him a bit. First stop was the cuddly dominion, basically a glorified petting zoo. Saw tons of animals that are wild in America but are novelty to people in Japan. Such as the giant guinea pig petting area and cat and dog areas. At least I got to play with animals. Next was mt. aso and an amazing soba restaurant. Everything was soba, ice cream, teas, noodles, even salads. I have never enjoyed ice as much as that place, who would have guessed soba ice cream could be so damn delicious. We then drove through the expensive onsen district where people pay upwards of $200 to bathe in black salt, and mineral waters. We went to an onsen for $8 and enjoyed the lovely rotten egg smell all onsens have. I even dared to go into the freezing pond that literally gave me pins and needles it was so cold. Finally we drove back and stopped in Miyakonojo for kaiten sushi and ate tons of sushi. I like these places because you can pay per plate and there's nothing better than seeing a giant stack of plates that only cost you $5. Finally head back to nichinan where I got the best sleep of my life. The next day(sunday) was spent on a dress rehearsal for the play from hell. All of my superiors were there and could witness the horror for themselves, and thus began the debate of too many cooks in the kitchen. Too many ideas and authorities clashed. In the end I have no say and will still be at fault at the end.
Final not: Aoshima camp is this weekend and I plan to de-stress and work with children. I will also help make curry and nan. Come on Korea time!!!! I need clubbing, eating, and shopping stat. At least I'll have lots of money for the trip because I'm too busy and stressed to spend money right now

making wasabi

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