♩(●・ω・●)ノ Update:

My computer yet again has failed me. ヾ(｀д´●)ノ We think the fan isn't working correctly - or at all, since the computer has always been eerily quiet when loaded and finally it died. I hope it isn't anything too bad, but the fix is free since it's not even a year old. (My previous desktop lasted me for ten years before retiring)

Ah anyway, these past few days have been very hectic. As many people on my Twitter and Facebook noticed, An Cafe have finally ended their Hiatus - which was pretty short in all honesty. They have been previously inactive (with Bou) for almost a year, though quietly worked on a new album. But! Yes, they finally announced their Summer Dive live for September -- so guess who is going back to Japan? ヾ(≧∀≦☆) Kyaa~ yes! Me! As always there is a strong fold of determination, although there is a planned group of us going, so I feel pressured to cater for us all, already. (゜д゜;) Which is something I do not really want to do.
There are two dates, and tickets are 5,500JPY, a little cheaper than Budokan, but that was a one day show, so Summer Dive is going to be expensive! However I do not care! ♩(●・ω・●)ノ

I also told my Boo I was returning to Japan again this year, since now I know 100% I will be there. So I need to ask him a couple questions and see if he will accept my offer. ･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･'(*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)'･*:.｡. .｡.:*･゜ﾟ･ I hope so! Since my trip may be cut short, due to money issues on various parties and I don't really want to blow £600+ on flights again for one week away from home. (A little greedy perhaps?) So I will see what he says! Fingers crossed for me! It all depends really on the people I may be travelling with. Early days, but I have 20 days to pull together ticket money! (=゜-゜)(=。_。) くそくそくそ

(*´∀｀*)♡ Purikura

During my trip to Tokyo, we decided to take a lot of プリクラ or, purikura. However being a little forgetful I left my book back in England, so I wasn't able to stick straight into my book. Ah, anyway, プリクラ is basically the Japanese for 'photo sticker booth', the name is actually a shortened variation of プリント倶楽部 which roughly means 'Print Club'. These machines are very popular in Japan, regardless of age - though seem very popular amongst young Women and School Girls. Occasionally couples will also go to take photos. We managed to try and take at least one or two photosets a day!

 

Juu and I took purikura after 高田馬場AREA, so excuse if we look a mess. The bottom photo amuses me so much, someone actually walked into our booth, thus Juu looking away. This booth was very cute, and it was perfect for showing off our ~twin~ outfit! I borrowed Juu my MONOMANIA necklace to wear so we were matching accessories wise, we also wore our own 10st bracelet!

 

Next is a set of purikura we took in Asakusa after going to Tokyo Disney! We ended up taking two sets in total, for whatever reason. We were all wearing our Disney ponchos!

This blog is a little short, and mainly a picture dump. I'm in the process of taking photos of my GETS from Japan, again it will be a HUGE picture dump so a pre-warning.

(★ω★。) Tokyo ・ March 2012 ・ PT7

I have been trying to prepare myself for this post ever since I started with my chain of updates from, "Tokyo ・ March 2012 ・ PTX" blogs.. I still am unsure of how to correctly word this entry and keep it entertaining for my readers. So please forgive me if this feels very choppy in places..

So the day was March 16th, which was technically our last day in Japan before we left for home, and I guess this day was the day which I took over since I had work to do! We headed to Shinjuku in order to locate the building - however I forgot my iPOD which had the address and map saved, so we ended up asking staff of a shop, and he checked out the location on his iPAD for us so we found it eventually and with time to spare so we headed back to get food, though I was feeling very nervous at this point.
It was almost 2:45 so we headed back up to HOLIDAY Shinjuku, and for those who are aware of Shinjuku and it's Host/Hostess population, it was amusing seeing groups of them loitering around. We approached the building slowly, and I mentally wanted to slap Renji for having his hair styled in the most typical and common Host style, (it didn't help he wore shades and a face mask either). So we didn't approach them, and waited, though we kept exchanging glances, at one point I asked Juu what to do, but then the JP Staff approached us first and asked for my name. So it was them! We stood talking about details of the day, before the rest came out, Neu and Mio, who were in the middle of getting drinks and food. We spoke about our trip, and where we were staying during our time in Japan, just general chit chat. Though I am incredibly shy so just a couple nods from me. Finally we were taken inside - and this is where the post will get choppy.

We managed to squeeze, Neu, Mio, Juu, Imke, Myself and the JP Staff into the elevator, and we kicked Renji out - though we could hear him running down the stairs frantically while Mio kindly pointed out just how tall Juu was. Which didn't help since she stood in the middle of us all.
Inside we dropped off our bags, but soon went to retrieve them to help with the sound checking. The JP Staff gave us the rules of where we could stand, move to and general basics. Then we stood talking again about the music scene, since he doesn't really like Visual Kei however he is a Friend of the band. A Girl appeared, and we was told her name was 'Kuro-chan', at first she seemed weary of having a bunch of foreigners near her.
Juu gave me a kick as a reminder to give Renji his gift, since he was sat smoking I went to give it him. He was still amazed, though I had shown him on twitter and he was excited, but I ended up handing the gift to Neu - and Mio who was harassing Juu to look at her cigarettes.

After the sound check and letting both Staff and Band view some images, we moved backstage to the smokers area to talk some more about our free time, and what we were doing later. Basically we could go back out to Shinjuku again and return at 7:00 where the staff would meet us again. We said our goodbyes and left to do even more shopping.
Juu finally located the Closet Child, and she bought me a MONOMANIA shirt. We then went into a couple second hand music shops, at this point I wish I had more spending money. I put down two PIECElang cheki and some others because of funds. Weeh. We ventured to DONKI so Imke could buy a Kigurumi. Again my throat was being a pain in the ass, so I probably always looked pissed off at some points.

We arrived a little earlier than 7:00, and because it was evening, a lot more Hosts were out in the area. I knew that the band wouldn't be around on time, since they were running the merch stall themselves and were probably still with Kuro-chan doing make up. Eventually they came back out to fetch us and finally, Renji was showing his face off! Haha, we went back inside to just hang around, and Kuro-chan finally warmed up to us and we got to know her really well. She was absolutely adorable! We went back into the main hall - and the audience made me laugh since it was very very small. Less than 30 people! We waited for DELeTE to play and moved back with Kuro-chan to watch the end of the previous band. Then Juu and I moved in to position.

I was 'amazed' that I just had to choose to stand next to the tallest Japanese I could find, so I often got ARM ARM ELBOW SHOULDER in my photos. So I ended up crouching down for the majority of shots, and seemed to photograph Renji and Mio very well, however Neu was furthest from our given spot, and he only swapped places with Renji a couple times. Once their set had finished, we headed to the back of the room with Kuro-chan since DELeTE had moved back to return their instruments. We shown her a couple of photos, and the JP Staff also. Then we stood around, Mio came back to work the merch stall while Renji passed out fliers to people who attended the show. It was cute seeing the bond between Fans and Band, and because they're still a small band in Japan, they can have more of a one to one with people.

When the next band came on, who were rather amusing for a two man band - Juu and I decided to fake mosh, and Kuro-chan go ever so excited, so we started to talk about dancing, and difference between Japanese Lives in Japan and in Europe. Since there is a big difference! Which she wasn't aware of.
After a couple songs, we all headed backstage to thank DELeTE for the live, and sadly we couldn't hand over our photographs right away due to technical difficulties. We stood and spoke for ages, however we divided into groups, and we spoke more to Kuro-chan than DELeTE, even the JP Staff spoke to us, but he explained Kuro-chan was learning English also!

So Kuro-chan asked us where were our first Japanese words we learnt, so out came our incredibly weebish sides, belting out whatever word came first, NEKO, ARIGATO, OHAYOU!, and then I ended up rather loudly shouting 'BAKA' and that caused DELeTE to slink their way over to us and spoke again, they used a bit of English, Mio's English was -- interesting.

We ended up talking about a variety of things.
☆ Tickle attacks! Kuro-chan makes the cutest noises when you poke attack her!
☆ Finger tricks? This really amazed Renji, though he almost broke his fingers attempting it.
☆ Mexican wave - oh my God I wanted to die. They basically forced me to join.
☆ Purikura! Kuro-chan asked us if we knew of it. I really wish I took my gachapin book.
☆ Piercings; Neu spotted my piercings, since I wore a facemask, which as a result, he approached me suddenly to see them closer, so the entire band starred at me.
☆ Mosh! Mosh! This basically ended with us talking about other VK Bands we liked, and in return we asked what bands they liked, Mio's impression of Jacko killed me.


During the entire time of talking, bands were passing through the area constantly, so I saw Gicchi so many times which amused me. Gicchi is wonderful, and I am the only non-band person on his Ameba, awkward?
In the end we received a Thank You gift from the band, luckily I had a pen so I managed to get an autograph from them, and a two shot cheki. Because of how late it was getting, we had to leave for the last train, so we said Good Bye and left. But it was such an amazing night and I truly enjoyed it, of course!

3月16日 2012 @ HOLIDAY Shinjuku

DELeTE / 24thDecember / ぺんぐ☆王 / Bloody Muzzle / Rojak / I.O.T.H. / ヴィルキィ

DELeTE UK FACEBOOK

This is my 'final' part to my Tokyo trip. I truly hope you have enjoyed these posts, though they are more of a small reminder for myself of the adventures I had!  This post has been edited HEAVILY due to privacy and copyright for the bands sake, and I will not disclose anything else.
As a side note: please do not harass DELeTE (or any other band) for the same opportunity. My chance was pure luck in which they accepted my offer, and I worked as Staff having set aside the 'Fan' and acted in a mature manner.

(★ω★。) Tokyo ・ March 2012 ・ PT6

For this entry I will be merging the 14th and 15th together! So it may become lengthy, pre-warning! （ ´Д｀）
On the 14th March we decided to go to Sunshine City "サンシャインシティ" located in Ikebukuro. I totally forgot to include this place in my previous blogs of good places to visit while in Tokyo. Sunshine City is an amazing building, with aquarium, viewing point and the most famous 'Namco Namja Town' It has a stunning view over the surrounding City and on clear days you can see far out towards Mt Fuji. However on this day it wasn't very clear, the distant looked very overcast.

As always in Sunshine City, I end up at Subway because it's the only place I know of with Melon Soda in which you can take away. We did a lot of shopping, although I felt disastrously ill and my throat now felt like sandpaper and grit. For 650 yen or so, you can go to the very top of Sunshine City - so we took a trip there. The elevator was so cool - but travelled at 600MPH so our ears popped, uggh. Upstairs it was simply amazing as you can see from the photos! I loved it, I have a love-hate relationship with heights, however I felt safe enough to stand in the window and over look. (Which only just reminded me, I wanted to go to Tokyo Tower, and experience the glass floor. Next time!)

There was a cute heart padlock too, you wrote a note, either a love note or anything, and then locked it with the rest. My note was more of an apology than a declaration of love, but I wrote a little more afterwards since I felt so guilty for missing out on our opportunity. Anyway! We took a couple more photos before heading back down to ground level.
I remembered last time I was in Sunshine City, that if you take an exit from inside the building you come to a crossing with Brand X close by, but we sort of, detoured and ended up not really finding it. I mainly wanted to go to see the release of A and see the disc art, and a couple other releases. But it didn't really matter since we were heading to Like an Edison to see A in store!

(Oh the sign outside Edison is new, it's all clean! Dear Jrockers, make your mark!) When we arrived in Shibuya at the Edison store, there was already a queue, but we wandered by and then queue heart attack since we spotted Rookie. I was told to believe only Nimo would be there, however it was the WHOLE band. So we went to queue this time, and I was told I would meet my Friend, Nami-chan. But I didn't know what she looked like, aside from being Japanese and cute. Not much help! But I guess talking in English helps them locate? Since the girl stood next to me (just like Aya-chan!) turned and went, 'Ari-chan?'  Ah! It was so amazing, I found both Friends by coincidence. Luckily, Nami had a Friend who spoke rather good English. She asked us when we arrived, and when we were leaving, then if we were going to Shinjuku, since A were doing a store run. (Edison = Nimo, Zeal Link = Toshi) We spoke briefly, and she seemed excited to see A, as were Juu and I. Juu especially, she gave me her iPhone to show Rookie her cosplay.
We were asked what copy we wanted, of course Limited Edition! Nimo was the store clerk, but his stare is so penetrating and it made me nervous, especially with his blue contacts in. UGH. He asked me how I was, and then if I wanted 'Point Card' - he probably thought I was stupid for agreeing, but I did want/need one. We spoke a little and I handed him a gift, but then he forgot to sign my copy of the CD, and Toshi was looking worriedly, so I told Toshi that Nimo had to sign it. Dumbass. Moving on to Toshi, he asked again how I was, and if I liked Japan, then he noticed my 10st bracelet, and he shown me his, and then Rookie interrupted to also show me his too! Toshi was really shy, it was adorable. Finally I landed on Rookie, and he again asked how I was, and he went on to sign the CD so I had time to show him Juu's cosplay. Rookie was so SHOCKED he even tapped Toshi to show him. At first Toshi thought it was me, so after a thousand 'iie iie iie!' and pointing to Juu, Rookie explained and they both were amazed. Haha! Rookie asked Juu for a photo in her cosplay. After, Rookie gave us a cookie, 'For you!' and thanked me. I waited to the side for Juu and Imke and said bye to the guys. Outside I studied the signatures, and then I opened the inside sheet to find cheki! Nimo cheki! Juu and Imke both had a photocard, and I heard there was purikura also in others? Amazing!

We waited for A to leave, but there was another instore right after, I was lead to believe it was DOG in the PWO, but I wasn't 100% sure so I wanted to wait just a couple moments since band men kept wandering back and forth (to leave fliers etc) but none of them looked DOG worthy. My Friends left me for a bit while I waited for god knows who - after studying the TV playing and the band, I was still clueless, so I asked the girl next to me. 'Daizy Stripper' ... NO. So I left which must have looked funny since I was queuing for awhile. I met Juu and Imke, and then we waited for Daizy Stripper to leave before I could go in and finally buy Aurora her DOG singles and another copy of CURE magazine. Afterwards we headed to Jonathan's for food!

It was so delicious! カレーうどん!! The noodles were so big, and I was so hungry, I'm surprised I didn't drown myself in the bowl. It was amazing size for the price, as I find in Japan, meal portions are smaller than here in England. For 900yen / £9 you get a small portion, but in England there are popular 2 meals for £10 restaurants, and there is twice as much food! Ah, Japanese eat small portions, I could never adjust. We headed home afterwards I believe, full and fat -- or, did we go around Harajuku one last time?

March 15th: I decided to stay in the Hostel for the duration of the day, I literally felt like crap. I managed to pack my case and finally after awhile I went to Asakusa alone to buy some gifts for my Family before heading back, the wind in Japan that day was INSANE, which didn't help.
Juu and Imke came back, and Juu had this bloody HUGE Alpaca toy, like it was the size of her case! After talking some we bossed around the hostel just cleaning our room and packing some things away. Well, I continued to pack since I knew the 16th was a full day out of the Hostel. I am really excited to blog about the 16th, but I'm going to need to leave a lot of stuff out!
We eventually all set out to meet Maria (Juu's Friend) one last time and do Karaoke, though I refused so hard to even sing. Juu invited her Friend, Kohta along too which was nice meeting new faces. We ate and I lived on Melon soda that night. I actually did sing, but not very loudly. Kohta noticed I was singing the lyrics to the Clash. Damn you British Punk, D A M N Y O U.  It got late, and Maria had to get the last train, plus we needed to be up and in Shinjuku before 1pm (trust me, it was necessary to be up early-ish) so we all said our goodbyes and headed back. I guess I needed that alone time that day, I felt much better after.

(★ω★。) Tokyo ・ March 2012 ・ PT5

This entry will possibly be super long and image heavy, just a small warning! March 13 - we spent the entire day at Tokyo Disney! I love Disney, and I have never-ever been to any Disney resorts! Paris is of course the closest Disney to me, but it doesn't look as magical as Florida or Tokyo. This place was MAGICAL and I loved it!
The train ride there was super long, and boring. Since I was unwell I spent most of the journey sniffling and trying not to cough too much.When arriving you are greeted by these gates, honestly the walk from the train to here was a mission alone, but filled with Disney songs. Regularly there were Disney characters on the fence posts as you walked, it was rather cute, but I didn't spot Stitch.

 

Once we paid for our tickets, we had a random bag check which was pointless since they just glanced at the top layer and we were on our way. The park had rules also, while I was waiting I glanced over them and noticed one rule was, 'Please cover up tattoos' - unless all Disney Parks have this as a rule, since I know how taboo tattoos are in Japan. They gave us a map in English too, the Japanese map looked cuter.

Not even into the main park and my camera was out, one shop had the cutest window layout! Stitch! We went inside too and, oh there was so much I couldn't even begin to describe. I could have easily blown all my cash in this shop alone, and it wasn't just Stitch either, but all characters. Everything from phone straps, ponchos, hats and even lint rollers for your clothes! Everything.

Not even a few metres down and we finally came into shot of the Disney Castle. There was also Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse, as a statue, in which there was an orderly queue formed to have your photo taken with it. Something I was amazed at, because here in Europe there would have been several people posing and a dozen photobombing. Though Hachiko in Shibuya is the exact same, you can never get a photo without someone else being in it, so I thought this was something very well thought out. 

Straight after we entered we went for breakfast, though it wasn't very much like a breakfast - more like a sugar rush for myself. I had a Mike Wazowski melon pan, which my Mother calls 'Shrek Poop' - and Imke wanted the mug from the cheese cake, so we paid half, it was sticky and delicious!

After breakfast we moved on to go on some rides, first was the Monsters Inc: Ride and go Seek! The queues were rather long for most rides too. But we were having too much fun to really notice how long we were stood around for. Haha. The ride was a bit like a shoot 'em up, you have a gun - well it is a flashlight, and you had to activate the Monsters by flashing it at them, and they would pop up! Some parts were a little scary. The Parade that morning was at 14:00 so we quickly made our way to the Parade route and settled down to wait.

Juu got the most perfect photo of Stitch, oddly I have none - I don't know what the hell I was doing at the time either, but I do have some videos so maybe I filmed him. If you have me or Juu on Facebook you can see the rest of the photos there! We took so many.

When the Parade had finished, I'm not sure what we did next, but I think we went en route towards Stitch, he had a shop called Tiki Tropic Shop which sold tropical clothing, accessories and Stitch character items. There were cute hats, cell straps, candy, pens and - well again, so much to list! Juu bought me a pen, it's a Pinpin Stitch pen, since he has huge sunglasses on. (Well, 3D movie glasses since he holds popcorn) I love it! On our way there we saw the Monkey's from Jungle Book, and honestly people in costumes genuinely scare me - and since they were so in character I was nervous they'd suddenly run over to me. We went into Stitch's little show, which was adorable, he popped up in the middle, danced and sang his little song. Wehh, I want Stitch.

We went on Pirates of the Caribbean, which was a totally amazing boat ride! It took you through the story, with acting and at points there was Captain Jack Sparrow, who looked SO realistic, seriously. Juu and I are HEARTY, so we were making A related jokes, luckily in English because then people would think we were even more insane. At one point I just screeched Mucho, and we decided that Mucho was working at Disney Tokyo. Other comments were: "This is X vagina, it's so dark and wet." then we called a dead body Seba. All inside jokes of course.
When we got off we went on a couple more rides, we also had food by this river which was so peaceful - well not quiet but peaceful as in relaxing and watching these people row by us every so often. Then a Duck started to pester the girls sat next to us, but he suddenly decided to come bug us, again - I am terrified of birds if they approach me, so as a result I started to whine and scream silently because I didn't want it to bite me! Juu luckily chased it off, which was so funny because the duck basically waddled around our table, and another, and Juu insisted on following it till it flew off.

The temperature soon started to drop, once you were inside a ride, you didn't mind but once outside it was cold! We ended up buying (over priced) ponchos, because they didn't sell kigurumi. Can you guess which one I purchased? By now I am well aware I am showing my face too often in this blog. Sorry. The Ponchos were warm if you hugged yourself, the hoods had character heads, and paws as sleeves, in which you can put your hands in them! We had more food while waiting for the Night Parade too. Eventually we agreed on no more fries - NEVER!! We ate at a futurist place called 'TOMORROWLAND"

We had to sit outside for the night Parade and we arrived rather early for that so our asses were getting cold sat on the floor. But the parade was super magical, and it almost felt like Christmas. Here is one of the Cheshire Cat, since 90% of the others are SUPER ass blurry. Sorry.

I can't remember if we went on any more rides once the Parade had finished, since I was getting sleepy which resulted in walking around in a dazed phase and standing with Juu for a smoke is all I can recall. After we went back to the beginning where the biggest shopping mall was so we could do some last minute shopping from there. I bought my Family Chocolates, and a note pad for myself - it had a Pirate Stitch on, so it was like combining A with Stitch.
On the way home we decided to take Purikura back in Asakusa - yes we walked through Asakusa in our ponchos! I had Stitch, Imke had Minnie Mouse and Juu had the Cheshire cat! Cuteness overload!

Extras

PLANKING! We actually did planking here! Photos, I cannot find but I swear we did.
BRIDGE! Juu decided to jump along the bridge, which I wanted to do, so we both did.
ROOKIE! Casually insulting the Rooster, especially on the log flume.  We are sorry!

Well, that was it, for what I can remember. I should cut this since it ended up being SUPER long.