~JRock-Prophet

14/09/08

We went to Harajuku this time dressed up properly because we wanted to look awesome in front of the other cosplayers. Emma cosplayed Nana... she looked soooo much like her! And me and Nat were just trying to be pretty. Nat wore her awesome outfit from Bodyline and looked sooo cute in it, pretty much because of the hat. It suited her so much! I was wearing my blue wig... but do not fear! It was an awesome Akihabara wig and therefore did not look fake and aweful! In factm the style and the colour both suited me a hell of a lot. It was rather strange because I looked like a completely different person... a pretty different person. I wore my jacket from Asakusa and my amazing collar with the dice chain. I looked soooo Jrockish!

Anyhow, on the bridge people took so many photos of us. It was a weird feeling to be on the other end of the attention we mostly give to other people. Emma counted over 30 on herself... so Nat and I can't be far off. We met with the NHK guys who thought we looked awesome and they took pictures of us including closeups of whatever accessories we happened to have on us. We didn't go to the manga cafe with them after all because apparently they couldn't get the filming permission this time... Kiyoshi said he had asked too late. Anyhow we parted ways for the last time and they told us they would send us dvds when they were done with the footage and it was all complete. Kiyoshi told me where to find the stadium where Penicillin were supposed to be playing the day after and later sent me a relaly nice map so I would find it. I said I would go really early to be sure of getting a ticket and he said that he really hoped for me that I could go. I've been going on about concerts to him for so long I think he knows by now how important it is to me.

We wandered around Harajuku and went to Bodyline again where, once again, Emma and Nat seemed to buy out the place. Heehee. I also gave in and bought something awesome even though I was scared that it wouldn't fir me. It was a tails coat in pinstripe... at the front it is rather short but the tails at the back are really long and amazing. There was a skirt that came with it but I doubted very much if it would fit me... besides, even if it did I probably would never wear it since I have plenty of pinstripe trousers that would go well with the thing. I bloody hate skirts. When we got back to Tokyo Hostel where we were keeping our bags I tried on the tails coat and it was... amazing. I was so worried it might not fit because they only have one side of it but in fact it fit me really snugle but only on the bottom buttons which are around the ribs, just under the chest. The other buttons didn't do up precisely because I am not flat chested. However, this was a good thing because it meant I could fold back the lapels to add to the already amazing collar. What I ended up with was a figure hugging jacket with a rather wide neckline and somehow it really suits my shape... it both makes my waist look smaller and my boobs look bigger. All of a sudden I look like a much better version of myself physically! It's amazing! I attached my watch chain to the lapel so I can keep time on the move and also as a decoration. I decided that I would wear this to the concert the next day so I also took it to the manga cafe with me. Ooh, also that day I bought some really nice earphones with pirate symbols on them! They are so cool looking and when I tried them out later I found that the sound quality was good and that the closed shape is relaly good at keeping other noise out. I like them so much!

At the manga cafe I read Jrock magazines... well, ok, I didn't read... I oggled them. Then I chatted on the internet a lot and looked up wheether some of my favourite bands have anything new out. Duel Jewel had a new single out called Iolite... it was awesome. I also looked up LMC because Nat keeps going on about it. Everything was fine and I was drinking lots of drinks because they are free and then when I was really sleepy I moved all my photos from my camera and deleted the photos from the camera... but somehow I left the camera window open and while I was typing a message in another page and not looking at the screen, I must have pressed a button that changed windows and I pressed undo........ so the computer removed all the photo filed from the mp3 player......... it was horrifying. It was basically a shift + delete. All my beautiful photos gone! Of us all dressed up and pretty all day and interesting things we'd seen and ALL my pictures from the zoo and Ueno park... I felt like crying. But luckily Yousef was online and with his super computer scientist knowledge he gave me hope by telling me to download, install and run file recover... or something like that because some of the files I may still be able to get back... I did what he said... which took a while and then I had to run the scans, which took even longer... and all this time I was worrying and being angry at myself and feeling rather distressed. In the meantime I went to have a shower and found out why they put it right in front of the reception desk... it's because you have to pay according to the time you spend in there. I took a shower anyway because I felt icky and sweaty from the day and I wanted to be clean and lovely for the concert the next day. But it was already super late... It was crazy AM by the time I finished all the scans and managed to get back 14 pictures from my deleted bunch of photos. It's really nice that I managed to get even that back and I felt a bit easier but since there were about 50 pictures on there or more... there were still a lot of amazing pictures that I had lost. Well, it was mostly from the zoo and of us cosplaying. In the end Emma got quite a lot of pictures at the zoo (videos) and as for the dressing up, it is not like we have lost the clothes... we can dress up again some other time and I will take pictures. Still, I ran the scans one more time to see if there was anything else they could come up with.

All of this contributed to the fact that I couldn't have got more than 2 hours sleep... because even at the times when I was trying to sleep, there was a group of girls further down the corridor who were being rather loud and stopping me from sleeping. I woke up rather tired and with a bit of an upset stomach... in the end I think it was just wind combined with exhaustion, but there was no time to dwell on that because it was concert day and there was a lot to be done.

***************

15/09/08

I took Nat back to Tokyo Hostel and immediately grabbed my rucksack, bag, umbrellas and cat and headed to Asakusa as quickly as possible to deposit my bags at Khaosan, where we were going to stay that night. It was an extremely hot day and I had to wear my tails coat because there was nowhere else to put it and I couldn't even drape it over my shoulders because that would have prevented me carrying the rucksack. By the time I got to the hostel I felt so wet and sticky and hot and disgusting... it was as though that shower I'd had at the manga cafe was for nothing. I sprayed myself with deodorant wrinsed myself down with tapwater and wiped myself off and ran off to Hibiya, where the concert was. This time I could carry my jacket draped over my shoulders and basically give it the space to air and no longer be wet from my sweat. It recovered very quickly.

At Hibiya it was rather easy to find the stadium but it took me a relaly long time to find the entrance. While I was looking for it I met some friendly gothic lolitas who helped me out and pointed me in the right direction and a photographer guy who was loitering there for the cosplayers and asked if he could take pictures of me because he thought I looked interesting and pretty. I let him, of course, I don't mind people appreciating my looks. Besides, I hate when people refuse to let ME take pictures of them so I am curteous when people ask the same of me. I had been under the mistaken impression that they would actually have a ticket office but instead I found out that I would have to stand in front of the main gate until they opened at 3 for ticket sales. On the plus side, there were tons of tickets left so I was sure to get one! This made me all happy and energetic all of a sudden! I was no longer sweaty and tired and I put on my coat properly and I used the reflective surface of my camera to do my makeup and I looked all set and ready to go.

All this time, because it was an open air stadium, I could hear all the bands practicing inside! It was an amazing feeling and a good atmosphere to wait in... and trust me, I was waiting for a fair time. About 3 hours since I'd arrived just after noon. I felt really good and inspired so I got out my sketch book that I bought in Kyoto and started drawing. It was a picture of Hakuei, singer for Penicillin, in clothes I was basically designing on the fly but also of the same sort of style I have seen him wear many times. It turned out to be a really great picture with many details and his face was great too. Later on when I'd got my ticket and was waiting to be let in I went around and asked to take pictures of people. I got a group of girls and talked to them for a bit afterward. They said that they were there mostly for Jealkb and one of the girls was obviously cosplaying the singer (it was a really good one too!). I said that I was here for Penicillin and I showed them my drawing and they all went "UuuwAH!" at the same time and randomly started worshipping me. They kept going about how awesome I was. Heehee. It's nice to be appreciated by cool people.

Also, as I was still waiting before I got my ticket a group of fans came and sat opposite me. They were mostly girls with one guy who was cosplaying SOME Jrocker but I have no idea who... but his clothes were amazing! They were white with swirly patterns up the sleeves and the legs of his trousers. It had a large collar with fancy lapels and the bottom half of his jacket was lacey. There were ribons on his shoulders and lacing down his back and he had many necklaces on and a couple of belts around his waist. Aside from all this he was himself just a rather attractive person. He was wearing makeup and his hair was blonde and soft and gorgeous and pinned up in little lines all along one side so that they would stick up in a sort of ripply fashion and fall over the back of his head. On the other side he had a flower clip with a chain on it. He was amaaaazing! Since I had finished the Hakuei picture by then and was only doing shading, as soon as I saw this guy I started drawing him. He was such interesting subject matter with all the details I could do. I spent a while doing it and finally asked him to take a photo of him and he was very nice and obliged. He even posed in a really cool way so I could see all the rings and bracelets he was wearing too! Soon after that, though, him and a few of his friends wandered off so I had to draw without live reference. When he came back I drew a little bit more and then finally confessed to him that I was drawing him. He bowed a lot and said that he was very flattered, so I sat down really close to him and carried on drawing. You see, I had to tell him that I was drawing him at that point because I'd drawn down to his waist and it was time for me to stare at his crotch. If he didn't know that I was drawing him I guess I might have offended him. Well, he DID have a few interesting belts hanging down in that area... Either way, that picture turned out rather well and I showed it to him when I was done. He was so cute and sweet and polite and his friends just laughed and prodded fun at him for being so embarassed.

Well... finally we were standing in the queue and I got talking to a couple of girls from Australia who had just turned up on the day and decided to get tickets randomly. The blonde one was excited because Vidoll was playing and they were her favourite band ever. That is all very fine... I just wish she hadn't been constantly referring to the vocalist as her "husband", I bloody hate that fangirl attitude. It's fine to think they are talented and interesting and pretty and sexy but calling them your husband or having delusions about one day meeting them and falling in love... that is just childish and stupid. There is something seriously wrong with you if you can really believe such things. There is fandom and there is obnoxious obsession, you know?

Anyhow, we got in at about 4 and people were settled and stuff by about 4.30 when the concert started. Oh, there were a couple of merchandise tents but it was like every concert I have ever been to - too much money for too little quality. The t-shirts were very simple and sometimes just boring, there were not any posters, instead tiny photos of the bands performing live... also silly things like towels and slippers, which is a bit weird. Then, of course, there were singles... and I never buy singles anyway because they cost too much when you only get about 3 songs out of the deal. I could download that stuff for free (Well, it's not like I can get it anywhere else in England) or buy it cheap from ebay or maybe, if I am lucky enough to find it second hand, in another shop also a lot cheaper. So I did not buy anything. Besides, I could make a better t-shirt than they had there. And now I WILL make a Penicillin t-shirt to mark the fact that I have seen them live. Also if I find any merchandise of them in Harajuku I will seriously consider getting it.

Ok... now for the concert. But before I get to the acts I must comment on the audience. I have known for a long time the way that Japanese audiences are... I have seen DVDs of concerts and, whilst it mainly shows the act, you can see the audience sometimes. I KNEW that they were really sedate in their appreciation but to actually be among them at a concert was the most baffling experience ever. Now... anybody who is Japanese who is reading this will think I am a complete gaijin for saying this but... the way the audience acts during the show is like a five year old girl trying to conduct an orchestra. The hand motions are exactly the same. They do not put any energy into their hand waving either. Even when they are doing things that are quite rocking like nodding their heads or flicking their hair or pumping the air with their fist it is all very sedate and quiet... like they are doing it in their sleep or as though they are afraid of spraining a muscle. The weirdest movements I saw included people shaping their hands into hearts and waving them around... something that looked like aerobics since it involved reaching into the air with each arm in turn... and also gesturing to band with their open hands as though to remind everybody else where the hell they were (as though we couldn't see) and finally there was a crazy thing they did with their hands where they basically just held them up and wiggled their fingers... or sometimes they alternated putting one hand in front of the other while doing this.

It was WEIRD and spooky because all of this they did with NO sign of physical enthusiasm at all. If you did not know that this was Japanese concert culture and that it was basically designed this way so nobody would have to get embarassed because they don't like to stand out... you would seriously think that they were not enjoying themselves well enough. Any time the band calls for them to shout, they are rather quiet and they clap and cheer very... politely. This is the heart of the "do not stand out" mentality, I know... but it makes me uneasy. I have always enjoyed music openly. I sing and I dance and I jump around and I wave my arms and when the band asks if I am having a good time I yell to show that I am having a damn GREAT time. I felt embarassed at first and did not really do much of anything because nobody else was acting out in this way but pretty soon I realised that nobody was going to truly rock out... then I thought to myself that I would never see any of these people again, except maybe I'd run into them at Harajuku... and if I was going to enjoy the concert I would have to do it in my own way. So I danced and I cheered and I jumped up and down and all the rest of it. I felt like a really big weirdo but I had the best time ever and eventually I forgot about the awkward feeling all together. It's just that in England... because EVERYBODY is standing out nobody DOES stand out.

Mh... it strikes me that the Japanese fans are so quiet in what they do because perhaps they don't want to get sweaty? Well, I did get sweaty... but I had a towel with me so it was all right. I just kept mopping myself up and drinking a lot of water and I had an awesome time. Clearly this is why bands love England when and if they finally get around to coming here... the audiences are much more ALIVE! That is what Miyavi liked about us when he played in London, you could see it on his face, he was like... "Wow... I've come half the way around the world and people like me more here than anybody ever did in Japan!" This, of course, is obviously not true. It's just that Japanese fans keep their fandom to themselves most of the time. It does make me feel a little bit awkward for the Jrockers on the stage, though, because they are strutting their stuff and acting out and putting on a great show and using a lot of energy doing something they love... and somehow the effort they are putting in is not getting the appropriate response, I feel. It's the same feeling I would get if I drew a really amazing picture with a lot of skill and time and effort and it came out really beautiful and I put my heart and soul into it and when I showed it to another person they just smiled and nodded. A concert in Japan is just like that.

I realise it is not easy to change national character and what is socially acceptable and stuff but I just thought that a concert is about self expression Only the bands are truly expressing themselves. Though I guess the fans express themselves by dressing in a certain way.

Haha! When they are trying to get the attention of their favourite band member, though, they are so cute! They stand with their arms out really wide and just yell their name (in a quiet and sedate Japanese way). Like *waves* "Yuki!" or whatever. The scariest thing was when I saw some gothic lolitas trying to make their heads fall off by means of seizures (that's what it looked like, I swear)... they grabbed the back of the bench and put their whole body into swinging their head from side to side really VIOLENTLY. It was scary because it was the only enthusiastic thing they ever did! Once they had finished these mini fits of rocking they would go back to doing their innocent and simplistic child-conductor motions. It was so straaaaaaange. But I was actually half expecting to see at least one head fly off. Haha!

Ok. Back to the concert itself, at last. It was called the Visual Olympic 2008 at the Hibiya Yaon Stage. There was a lineup of five bands and as we all came in we were given a pile of leaflets of the bands that were playing and some other bands of interest besides. The pack was all held together by a poster of Duel Jewel basically saying "Did you know they have a new single called Iolite out?" so I smiled when I saw that because I was thinking, "Yes... yes I do." Because I'd looked it up on the internet the previous day. I LOVE Duel Jewel and it makes me happy that they are more popular now than before, though still not so widely known. They have never disappointed me musically and they just keep evolving in style and sound... if they keep going the way they are I am sure they will hit the even bigger time. Clearly their increased popularity is down to a lot of hard work on their part. I know they have been to America a lot because I know the girl who drew their unofficial logo when she met them out there... I just wish they would come to England... why nobody tours here, I don't know... Well, I DO know. It's because everybody mistakenly believes that there is no Jrock fanbase in England. This, of course, isn't true. It's just that the fanbase is not as visible as it is in other countries. You should have SEEN the Miyavi concert... it was packed. Really it deserved a much bigger venue than it got. It was WAY overbooked. And pretty much any other Jrock band that might choose to come to England would easily sell out as well, I think.

Anyhow... the first band was Chariots which is, as I understand, really new. One of the posters in my concert pack said that they would be releasing their first single soon so I guess they are really a fledgeling band. The audience was especially quiet during their performance so I guess they were not too well known. But the music was relaly good and their style was really interesting. The vocalist had a lot of energy and was running around without any shoes on and there was a platform in the middle of the stage for posing. Mostly the vocalist was dancing and singing up there but there was a bit when the twi guitarists did a back to back solo section. It was pretty impressive. I enjoyed it a lot and by the end of their performance I had completely given up on trying to fit in with the audience manerisms AT ALL so I was rocking out and since I had an aisle seat I was pretty much dancing in the aise and had a clear view to the stage. I must have really stood out because the vocalist spent a fair amount of time pointing at me as he sang in a sort of way that said "Yay! I like you! You look like you are really enjoying our performance! Go little gaijin girl! Go!" Haha! The vocalist of the next band spent a little bit of time doing this too but after that it got too dark for any of the audience to be visible from the stage anymore, especially as they started using intense stage lighting at the third act.

Oh, another side note. Jrock concerts are not for the epileptic. Those flashing lights could easily do things to your brain if you're not careful.

There were quite long breaks between bands as the staff had to rearrange the stage. The second band was Vidoll! I know them so I was even more excited. I did not always enjoy all of their songs but then those were the old days. They have come a long way too and they play very well live. Again, the vocalist was running around with no shoes. He was so slim and cute and he was wearing a black top that was leopardy at the bottom and his trousers were black at the front and leopardy at the back... it was a really good look for him. Also I find it funny that the bands all had to basically direct the audience in their dancing otherwise they didn't do much. The audience wasn't much more active than they had been with Chariots, which is odd... I'd thought that Vidoll had a pretty good fanbase. Well, I enjoyed it and rocked out a lot and headbanged and danced some more and it was great fun. The blonde Australian girl who loved Vidoll ran away after their performance to see ifshe could find the back door and maybe see themcoming out but it seems that all the bands stayed there until the very end, hiding out in the back and just hanging out. She found the appropriate door, apparently, but unsurprisingly it didn't open. I thought she was a bit of a crazy fan to go that far... whilst I look a little bit crazy while I am jumping about and watching the concert, I would not do anything so inappropriate as trying to sneak backstage. I would just be so scared of being thrown out and told never to return and then never being let into any cool concert ever agian. Besides, that's just really rude to the bands. Also... I my Japanese right now is not so good as to be able to say what I really want to say to my favourite bands. I would maybe express the vague sense in which I think they are incredibly awesome and skilled... but the details I know I would not be able to say. I would not want to look stupid in front of an amazing band just standing there saying "I love your music. You are so cool. Please come to England." I would just look retarded and leave a really bad impression. Though perhaps I would do it if I had some of my art with me... so I could show them pictures I'd drawn of them or something... and show my appreciation like that.

Anyway. Penicillin was next! That Australian girl missed ALL of Penicillin because she was too damn busy trying to do stupid illegal things! Gah! Penicillin was the first band to use amazing lighting and the stage was lit with a relaly epic look. They came in wearing their exact clothes from their new single Rainbow. If you don't know what that is I will just describe Chisato and Hakuei. Chisato had a stripy red and white jumper thing and his hair was long and dark with white streaks in. He looked really cool and bouncy in a half whacky half casual way. Hakuei had fluffed up pink hair and an eyepatch on his right eye (it's ALWAYS the right eye! I've noticed this!) and a white t-shirt with the a fluffy leopardprint coat over the top. Halfway through the first song he discarded the coat (I don't blame him... it was so hot that day) and then you could see that his t-shirt had a rectangle in the middle over the chest and some boobs drawn there. It was hilarious because in the next song he was touching up his fake boobs. Heehee. Eventually he got entirely topless and he was covered in relaly nice tattoos over his shoulders and arms and back. Ah! It was so cool! I went a little wild when they came on because I love them so much and I had been looking forward to seeing them for such a long time and I had pretty much given up on seeing them but THERE THEY WERE! I was even more energetic during their performance than during the other ones and I was dancing so enthusiastically that the security guy who was looking after my aisle just despaired at me. He came over to me and told me to get out of the aisle and to stand in front of my seat so I did and as soon as he turned his back and walked away I jumped out into the aisle again. That is maybe a little bit rude but I was not about to stop dancing and jumping and if I stood in front of my seat I might have accidentally hit somebody. Also, I could see much better from the aisle and there was pretty much nobody behind me so it wasn't as though I was getting in the way. I think the security guy was just embarassed by how energetic I was being and wanted me to stop being weird. But if he thought a polite suggestion that I stay out of the aisle would work on me, he was heavily mistaken. Hell, after all I had been through emotionally to see this band! And when the music was so cool and when they were less that 100 metres away from me... how did he except me to be calm? When he got the end of the aisle and turned around and saw that I had just gone back out in the aisle he just sort of gave up. It was too long a way to walk to put me back in my place again when I had clearly shown that I was not going to listen. It's not like I was disturbing anybody, I don't think. Besides, nobody was looking at ME, they were looking at the BAND and rightly so because they ROCKED!

Chisato is a guitar genius! I had to stop headbanging and dancing and jumping any time there was a solo because I was just mesmerised by what he was doing. His fingers moved so quickly and precisely and the sounds that he was getting out of that guitar were astounding. If I had been an anime character my jaw would have dropped open to the floor with a little bit of drool coming out the mouth. Heehee. Ok... maybe a small nosebleed too. That was the sort of feeling I had while watching him play. And he has such an amazing stage attitude! All of them are a joy to watch performing. Also, I had often thought that official Penicilling songs sound kind of badly mixed... as though somebody had gone into a mixing studio and put the whole song through a sparkle machine and the song had come out so strangely and artifically clean on the other side. Since it was live and they were actually playing together, there was no such feeling at all. Everything worked together perfectly and the band had a good dynamic. Hakuei's voice was GORGEOUS and full of attitude. And when he made his address to the audience his speaking voice was also really low and cool. Their opening song was New Future which is my absolute FAVIOURITE song by them so I got really excited straight away from the beginning and I was singing along and everything. It was super! Then they played Romance... and whilst I really love that song it was always one of those that I felt sounded too tidy in the official version but it sounded SO much better live. Then they played their new single Rainbow, which I know quite well by now and then there was a song that I didn't recognise... I will raid my Penicillin collection when I get back to England... I have barely a gig of music here with me in Japan right now and only a few penicillin songs. THEN they played CRASH! Which is another song I really love! I practically wore myself out by rocking out and singing. Wow, though... that performance was god on a stick.

Phew... somehow after that the next band really had to be amazing to blow me away, so I am not surprised that Jealkb failed to do that for me. The music was good and I enjoyed it... but the whole performance was so strange that mostly I was too busy staring at the weird antics of the band and also the drastically different behaviour of the audience. As I understand Jealkb has some song that is an anime theme but I do not know the song or the anime. I do not really know them. I wonder if they are new. Since then I have looked them up on the internet a little bit but not too much. Anyhow... this weird guy ran out onto the stage and started yelling really loudly and being SO enthusiastic as he presented the band. He made a lot of jokes and funny comments and made the audience shout and actually got them a bit excited. I do not know if he was actually famous but everybody seemed to like him and some girls were calling out his name, which was Sakura... mind, you the first thing he said was his name so there is no guarantee he was anybody in the least bit special. After he'd finished talking he ran around in the audience and everybody found this quite exciting. But again, since nobody tried to hug him or touch him, I guess he is not really famous. But then, perhaps Japanese fans wouldn't dare do that sort of thing even if Hide himself ran down an aisle. But also in Japanese Miyavi concert dvds I see him walking in the audience and all the fans trying to touch him and the bodyguards keeping them off... Well, I don't know what to make of that Sakura guy but he did do a rather good introduction and the audience were all clapping as Jealkb came on. The first thing I realised was "Hey, the singer is actually dressed exactly the same as that girl who was cosplaying him" and... "HOW many band members are there???" There were 7 in all. I appologise to anybody who loves and worships Jealkb but I am going to speak honestly about my impressions so don't hate me for what I thought. Largely my conclusion was that two of these band members were largely superfluous and there was very little reason for them to be there. One guy seemed to be a backup vocalist at first but he didn't really do much singing and instead shouted quite a lot and jumped around the stage and spent most of his time telling the audience what to do. The other superfluous band member was the keyboardist... because he was clearly not playing the keyboard. All he did throughout the whole performance with the keyboard was put his hands down at either end of the kayboard and then cross his arms over and do the same thing. There is no way you could make chords with your hands crossed over and at that speed... besides, since he put his hands down in pretty much the same place both times, there is no way that it would have sounded tuneful even if he HAD somehow managed to press an actual chord while doing that. In the second song he had a bit of a singing part during the chorus but that was pretty much it. My conclusion is that they must have just stuck that keyboard in front of him so he would have something interesting to do while the rest of the band did all the work. Anyhow, in the actual music I did not hear and keyboard or synth-like sounds. I looked up a video of them on the internet to see if he was really as superfluous as he looked. Sure enough all 7 were in the video and that keyboardist was doing the same useless pretend playing again. Perhaps there are parts where he DOES actually get to play but in the meantime he just waves his arms around in a cool looking way... although really... to anybody who knows even a little bit about how to play music, it would just look retarded rather than cool. That other assistant singer-like guy was seemingly playing a violin in that video but I did not hear and violin... though it's possible that it was buried in the music... it is also possible that he in fact has no real purpose in the band and he is just there to sit in the corner and pose with a violion he is pretending to play. If that's the case... that's really stupid. I will do more research, though. Oh, that keyboardist guy did a sort of address to the audience and asked if people liked Penicillin and people cheered and then he said, "Ah yes, I respect them too. They are truly my sempais... by about 20 years". It was kind of funny I guess but also rather cruel. They may be a bit old now but they are also really good. Anyhow, being old in music is like a badge of honour. Few people manage to have a carreer in music that lasts for a long time.

Well... the other crazy thing about this band was that the audience got REALLY excited and this is the first time I saw that thing that the gothic lolita girls did when I thought their heads were about to detatch. People were actually jumping around and being energetic, though their dancing still looked rather childish to me. It was the most energy I had ever seen from them and I was so shocked that I actually stopped dancing myself because I was watching everything that was going on. Either this band is REALLY popular (but I don't think it's possible for them to have been around for long) or they are just REALLY good at conducting a crowd. The vocalist was extremely energetic and spent the whole time leaping around the stage and doing all sort of simple but energetic things. It was pretty easy for the audience to copy. His voice was very nice and the music was also good but I was just so confused by the effect they had on the audience. Oh, and the vocalist's finishing pose for when the song ended was strange... it was the same one every time. He turned to the side and half crouched, his body bowed forward and with one arm he would point behind him. I would like to know what the hype about this band is and I bet I would gladly get their songs and listen to them... I just hope that no gothic lolita's broke their necks during that concert.

Then there was the last band... Versailles.

Wow... where to start?

I knew them quite well too but I had never seen any videos or concert footage things of them... since I know Kamijo from his old days in Lareine I figured I knew what it would be like but I was soooo wrong. It was soooo much more awesome than anything I could have imagined. For one thing, it took the staff a long time to arrange the stage because it was EPIC. The drums were covered in creepers and roses and the speakers were covered in roses and lots of platforms were brought out that were also covered in roses and as the show started the stage was bathed in red and those platforms they had put on the stage started spouting FIRE! They were like amazing gothic torches and an amazing orchestral piece of music started. It was a real eye-opener. Everybody looked at the stage no matter what they had been doing before and there was a feeling of "oh my god... now the show is REALLY aobut to start". People who had been at the merchandise tents or in the toilets literally RACED back to their seats and two people tripped over the raised part on my aisle and fell on their faces right in front of me. It looked quite dangerous and I wanted to make sure they were all right but they were just so anxious to see the band that they just got straight back up and carried on running.

The band came on and took epic poses... their costumes were gorgeous... the very same ones that they were wearing in the flier I had been given of them. Presumably these are costumes from their latest song but I am afraid that I don't know what this is. I do not keep up to date with Versailles as much as I should... but after this amazing concert I sure as hell will. Teru had pale blue hair that was sticking off to one side and he had a short top that showed his teeny tiny waist and stomach and little shorts that made him look like some sort of cute victorian child. Jasmine You was done up as usual... like a really FRILLY gothic lady and the way he moved around was so much like Mana from Malice Mizer. He looked really graceful and dignified. Yuki had the blue suit thing that he has on the flier except that his hair was fluffed up a bit rather than lying flat. Hisaki was wearing a red gothic dress and looked really pretty in it. Finally Kamijo had short hair for a change and it was reddish brown, which reminded me so much of Gackt in the Malice Mizer days. Also his clothes and the black and gold embroidered jacket and the flowing cloak that he was wearing reminded me so much of the Merveilles stage show and especially the song Syunikiss. The whole this looked very Malice Mizer, which is really good in my book since Malice Mizer holds a really good nostalgic feeling for me. Ah, I love and miss them so much!

The stage was beautiful and they used the space relaly well, like the guitarists moving together for the most amazing solos and Kamijo moved around really well, raising his arms and making grand gestures. And the thing is that the whole back of the stage was rigged up with really bright lights so any time that there was a really epic bit of the song when the music was just breathtaking but also rather slow, they would turn on all those lights so that the band could pose amazingly and all you could see of them was their profile against this huge pool of intensely bright light. Mostly the light was white but on one occassion it was golden. Woooooow.

Now... When they started playing I was instantly blown away. The way the play the guitars, interweaving the melodies and making harmonies with one another, even doing perfectly synchronised solos... is simply... breathtaking. I couldn't look away and even though inside I was screaming with excitement I was really quiet during this part of the show because I was so impressed with the whole thing. Hisaki had such an amazing stage attitude, which you don't usually get with Visual transvestite guitarists... they are usually too concerned with being graceful and beautiful. But Hisaki was all those things AND he rocked. He swayed and he moved his shoulders emphatically with the music he was playing and he did subtle poses of rockishness... it was great. Kamijo's stage mannerisms have also come a long way from his days with Lareine when he only used to do a few of them and the rest of the time just stand around. He was moving his body and his legs with the music and when he shouted it sounded like he got so much into it. With Lareine he seemed somehow too clean and polite and now he is much more rockish. I love that. Furthermore... what has he been doing with his voice all this time! Well, I'd heard Versailles so I know how the music is but when I think the way Kamijo used to sing it is almost as though it is a different person. His voice used to sound rather weak and thin... perhaps because he was trying to sing too high for his own range sometimes. Now his voice so so strong and rich a deep. It is quite low and that sounds awesome with the gothic rock style they are going for. And how he walks around the stage and swooshes his cloak around... the showmanship is truly astounding. There were times during the performance when there would be a really emphatic part in the song and all of them would do a turn and carry on playing... it looked so smoothly organised but not in the least bit forced or artificial. There was a relaly cute bit when it seemed as though Kamijo was trying to play with Hisaki's guitar while he was doing an awesome solo but Hisaki just calmly stepped out of the way and Kamijo stumbled and fell forward. He came back up again with such a CUTE grin! It was sweet. He found it funny too. In his address to the audience (incidentally, his speaking voice is BEAUTIFUL) he asked if everybody was enjoying Visual Olympic and the audience shouted back but SO QUIETLY that it was honestly rather pathetic. Kamijo instantly went off on a really funny Tamaki-like rant along the lines of "Oh no! They hate us! They want us to go away!" Everybody laughed at that but I laughed more because I agreed with him that they sounded like they were bored. Haha!

Ah, now the really impressive little things that I noticed during the performance. As I said, Hisaki was really into his playing and at one point he thrashed on his guitar so hard that he broke a string and he instantly ran off the side of the stage and came back playing a completely different guitar and he did it so quickly that you barely noticed from the sound. It was a big guitar part, though, so Teru was also playing really rather hard and making up for the tiny gap. It sounded like he had a little bit of a solo bit. But Hisaki came back so quickly and smoothly that there was NO interruption to the song itself. That was AMAZING. Also later on when they left but everybody shouted for them and they came out to do an encore... during THAT song Yuki did something similar. I would not have noticed at all if I hadn't happened to be watching him at the time. On a really strong and emphatic drumming part his drumstick slipped out of his hand on the rebound and I saw it go soaring about a foot above his head and in that very same motion as his hand was coming back anyway, he reached it behind hid back and pulled out a dumstick he had hidden down the back of his shirt and brought it down on the drums straight away on the next beat... he did not miss a single beat... it was amazing to watch. I an surprised he could react so quickly to such a random event... but the drumming is so fast and intricate that I guess perhaps this happens to him sometimes so he has to practice being ready for it. Still... that moment just blew me away.

At the very end of the concert, the real end when Versailles left for good, Kamijo yelled that everybody was super and then reintroduced the band and after he has made the audience scream loads with enthusiasm he made a really beautiful, heartfelt thank you to the audience and at the end of it the whole band bowed really deeply and Kamijo even dropped to one knee with his bow, which just looked so smooth and dashing. It was spectacular. Then as they walked off stage they threw whatever they could spare into the audience. They threw roses and bottles of water and drumsticks. Ah, I'm so jealous of the people at the very front! And just about at that time, even though the sky had been rather overcast all day it hadn't rained at all, but suddenly it began to spit as though to say "Yes, the show really is over... please go home now before your lovely leaflets get wet."

Since I had been completely gobsmacked by that last performance and completely neglected to jump around and rock out, I wasn't sweaty at all so it was a confortable walk back to the station. I went to pick up my camera from the entrance desk, though. They had confiscated everybody's cameras so that there would be no sneaky photography. Personally, I think it is so that they can make lots of money from selling official photos. That sucks kind of... Ah well. The actualy play time of the concert went up intil about half past eight so it was 4 hours long and it featured five bands and the whole thing cost me only 25 pounds! That's five founds per band! Amazing value! Hell, I paid more money for Miyavi in a smaller, more crowded venue (but I love Miyavi so much it was still worth it)... I just can't believe how insanely cheapt this concert was for what I paid for it. Woooow. Anyway, as I left the stadium a bunch of really awesome, rockishly dressed people were handing out fliers and I got some too. Well, most people just sort of took them if they were offered but I actively sought them all out and made sure to get one of every flier. This is a relaly good way for me to maybe discover some new bands, after all, it they were all about upcoming music releases and concerts and I like just to know about these things even though it is pretty much a given that I will neither buy the cds nor go the concerts.

I wish they would actually sell Jrock Cds in England... or at least make them abvailable from Amazon for a reasonable price. I know the Americans are on their weird pilgrimage to kick down music piracy but nobody seems to understand that is is necessary when there is no other way to get the music you love. If I can, I try to get at least one CD by the bands I love most. I have a couple of Gackt CDs, some L'arc en Ciel, some Hide and some Miyavi... even have one Janne Da Arc (it was so cheap!)... but these are all rather large bands... it is more difficult to get a hold of small bands or indies. There was a long time when I was frustrated when I could barely find and Duel Jewel to DOWNLOAD, let along buy. Duel Jewel is a good example of a band I cannot get a hold of by any means other than downloading and there are a lot more, trust me on that.

Anyhow, after all this I was exhausted since I had effectively been up for over 48 hours... those two hours of sleep I managed to grab don't exactly count since it was not deep beneficial sleep. I got back to the hoselt, though, and immediatelly started writing everything that had happened. It has taken me a relaly long time to write all this down because it was all so epic and amazing that I wanted to record every detail. I am so happy right now... I feel so fulfilled as though there is no way that I could ever be sad again. I certainly know that this is a time I will look back on when my life is not so great. I will say to myself "Ah well... but at least I got to see one of the most amazing cooncerts ever"... and then I will think of Chisato kneeling on the floor playing mind-blowing rifs and I will smile. I am so glad I got to have this opportunity. I was seriously preparing myself for disappointment after my failure with one Phantasmagoria and two Penicillin concerts... I was expecting to go home disappointed and I was steeling myself for that... when it turned out to be really quite easy to get a ticket for this one and that feeling of being prepared to be upset was stipped away I was more excited than ever. I had the best time. There were parts during that concert when I genuinely wanted to cry from happiness... (I guess I was too dehydrated to actually cry, though, haha!) but my eyes are getting wet even as I am writing this now. It has been a dream for me to come to Japan for the longest time and the Jrock is the first thing I got into. It has been a big part of myself for a long time... certainly for as long as I feel I have been a complete and happy person. It has really enriched my life and I have a lot of good memories of the times when I first got into Jrock. I made a lot of new friends because of it and I introduced a lot of other friends to it. Many happy times happened with that music in the background of my life and it gave me a lot of inspiration for my writing and for my art. To be here in Japan and to go to a Jrock concert... one with bands that I know and love... I cannot express how much it is truly a dream come true for me. It's quite emotional, actually.

And then I went to sleep. Deeply and happily for a long, long time... feeling completely satisfied.

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16/09/08

In the morning I ached from all the dancing and jumping and headbanging I had done the day before. My neck could barely move. It is still a bit stiff now. I would have slept for a lot longer but we had to check out of the hostel by 11 and we were moving permanently back to Sakura Hostel for the rest of our holiday. We got in and left our bags in storage. Checkin was at 1 and it was after 12 so we figured we would hang around until it was time. So we went off and got food and ate it in the hostel. Then we played Jenga and then we checked in. Emma needed some money as did I after spending so much of it on the concert so we went and got some money and walked back via the stalls in front of Senso-ji as Emma and Nat wanted to buy sool things. Emma bought sweeties, Nat got a Daruma doll and a wall hanging of Japan and we all got icecream which was really taste. In one of the shops I found some really small cute happy cats that were waving their tails around... and then we got to the shop where I bought my watch chain. It is actually a sort of idol shop... I might have mentioned it already... since there were a lot of young handome musicians there... but really they were all boybands and therefore cheesy and awful. It was all stuff like Arashi. Bleeeergh! It looked like it would be sparkly and awful but Emma spotted a Gazette fan hanging from the ceiling and there were several of them with different band members on and ologs and stuff. So we went in because obvious there was at least ONE awesome band in there. So we asked the guy if he had any good stuff starting wtih Gazette and he pulled out his secret stash of Gazette posters and photos and key chains and was showing them to Nat and Emma. In the meantime I saw a small section of Gackt stuff and asked to look at it. I got one rather nice poster of him... it is a closeup of him in a black cloak and with short dark hair (I love when he as his hair black... it is so much better than when he dyes it). It was the last one of that picture he had left too. The guy was like... "Ah, this is really a sample but I will get more stock soon. You can have it". Then Emma and Nat asked about Miyavi and he brougth out a pile of Miyavi things. I got another poster, this time of Miyavi because there was an awesome one just staring at me. Emma and Nat went crazy abvout the posters too and I think that between us we bought one of EVERY picture that was there... except Nat thinks we might have missed one. And Emma was disappointed and wants to go back and get it. They were all about 4 pounds each and really BIG and in lovely quality and laminated. They are SO worth it. I also got a small picture version of a poster Emma got. I loved the picture but she had already got the poster and I didn't want to copy her even though I really wanted the picture. So I got the small one, also because it was cheap and also lovely and laminated like everything else. I didn't want to spent too much more money in that shop unless it was something I really RALLY wanted. I looked for a long time at L'arc en Ciel stuff but didn't find anything that particularly grabbed me from their pictures. I asked about Penicillin and the guy said he didn't have any. But the way he said it was rather funny because it was rather strict and amused at the same time, as though he wondered why I would even know or like such a band. That made me laugh a little. Ah well, we bought nice Jrock photos so we were happy and straight after that we went back to hostel because we were scared we might be tempted to buy more. Heehee!

After that we popped off to Ueno so we could catch the lake before it closed for boating. We wanted to go boating in those little row boats because you get an hour for the same money you would spend on just half an hour in a swan. We bought sandwiches and drinks so we had a bit of a picnic out on the lake. Some girls came out a little fater us who looked kind of rocking. One of them had red and black hair. Emma kept splashing me with the oars which was funny but also uncomfortable but we did get chased by ducks. They followed us around. That was just funny. Haha! Then when our hour was up we went on right back to the hostel and I got some milky fruit jelly desert from the 100 yen shop and some 100 yen ramen fo evening snacks. I have put my laundry on because I have a lot of sweaty clothes now and now finally I have finished writing everything that has happened over the past few days... it was epic. I was glad today wasa lazy day, though... because the concert really made me ache... not least because I didn't sleep the night before. It was all worth it, though. I really have to say that everything I have gone through to get to that concert... all the searching and disappointment and replanning and all the people I asked for help... it was SO worth it. I've learnt my lesson, though. Next time I come to Japan I will book my concerts waaaaay in advance.

Just SO happy right now,
Irina.

In Japan - 17

11/09/08

I went to the Shibuya 109 building as Kiyoshi suggested and I spent a long time looking over the concert catalogue. Penicillin was sold out for the 13th and 14th and the last daz for selling the 15th was the day before. I felt really gutted because I'd clearly just missed it by a tiny amount. I thought that there might be another concert I might see but all the interesting stuff was after we would go back to England and whilst there were a few bands I recognised, there were none that I particularly loved. I mean, I know the Pillows exist but I don't like that grainy singing... same thing for Flow except they are too trendy and pop-like. Whilst Box Wow is cool I really had no idea they were still doing anything and they are rather old so it wouldn't be the same... also it's kind of too western rock... I want Jrock please!

I was kind of sad and resigned myself to not seeing a concert while I was here... but then Kizoshi said that for the 15th they still had some tickets left that they would sell on the door first come first served... I could easily just camp outside the venue from the early morning if it meant that I would see Penicillin! That would be amazing! He has been so helpful and I'm really glad that there is still some chance that I might see a concert... still, because I do not have a ticket in my posession already I am no longer getting my hopes up because that may end badly.

Since I was so disappointed I decided to wander around the 109 building and have a look at the clothes, maybe even find something I liked. I was kind of interested in a certain style of trousers I had seen a girl wearing but I didn't find anything like them... in fact, I discovered that trousers are really scarce in Japan! There are tons of skirts and shorts but trousers come only in the form of jeans and thin tiny things that are only for people with skinny legs. But a girl did pounce on me and tell me that my bag was uber cute (it was the plushie tiger bag I had bought at the zoo). In other words, I failed at retail therapy so I went to Akihabara to meet with Emma and Nat as promised.

I also completely failed to find out meeting point but luckily just happened to see them walking down the road anyway. Emma had won a huge plushy cat thing from a prize machine thing! That's so crazy! But she had lost her lovely umbrella she had bought early that day. I bought a nice umbrella too. It is a clothy lacy black umbrella that is pretty much designed to keep off the sun. Emma's was similar and although we tried really hard to find it, we didn't manage to. That was so sad. It was the wrong day for sun umbrellas anyway since it was raining for most of the day.

We did the usual Akihabara browsing thing and Emma bought Gilgamesh and Kamina and Simon and Nat got Sai from Naruto and maybe something else but I can't recall right now. I finally gave in and bought a Konata... but the most amazing part of the day was that I found a Mikami figure!!! Oh my god! I was so convinced that there were no figures of him and neither would they ever make one because he isn't in the least bit a popular character but there he was! There was a shelf with really minor Deathnote characters on! There was Takada and Light's dad and Mikami! He was standing there just looking at me and when I saw him I squeed! I was so happy! I never thought I would find a figure of him and now that I have it I am so incredibly pleased with myself! All of a sudden, surprisingly, my "figures of characters I have cosplayed" thing is completely up to date since I got that mini Orochimaru figure too! In fact, I'm sort of ahead because I also have a Lavi figure now and I haven't cosplayed him yet! Aaah! I love Mikami so much! It's all because of him that I even have a fringe these days. After I have finished doing that strange experiment with my hair I am planning for February I will just be able to take the figure to the hair dressers and say "I want his hair, please!" They would give me a really strange look but I wouldn't care because then I would have perfect hair forever!

Right... enough ranting about Mikami. We had a good day but got tired quite early and ended up at a curry place. Curry is so delicious and the guy serving the curry was really cute and had glasses (There are those of you out there that know the precise effect that has on me, though he didn't do the glasses THING which was a shame)... still, my eyes became as satisfied as my stomach. It was a good day for bishi watching.

Ooh! Nat bought a blonde wig so she could cosplay Honey Sempai and it is a really AMAZING wig for 15 quid. It's slightly more expensive that our cheapest wigs in England but the extra quality is astounding. And it is pretty much well styled in the first place. Not we are all inspired by cosplay and anime ideas and want to raid a manga cafe for cosplay ideas. If Emma still wants to do that Ouran Hostclub themed thing I guess I might make an ok chibi Kyoya... but I am nowhere near as tall or thin as he is. Maybe if I wore really tall shoes and Emma wore really flat shoes... And if I went swimming every day and lost some weight. I could get a short hair black wig... Well, I would rather find some more amazing cosplay ideas and get an appropriate wig while I am here... as I said, the wigs are super here. I would be stupid not to get one.

Irina.

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In Japan - 18

12/09/08

This is not too interesting a day to report on since it was mostly a shopping day for me. Emma wasn't feeling well, certainly not up to the sort of trekking we've been doing while we've been here. And, of course, Nat didn't want to leave her alone because she was worried. So I went off by myself. I wanted to go back to Akihabara and buy a wig anyway.

I ended up buying two wigs... one black so I can cosplay Kyouya and other people with short black hair... and a blue one just because it looked super awesome. I also got Nat something special that will now become her birthday present. Mwahaha! I completely forgot about looking for those nice purple large earphones I wanted. Damn.

I went to Harajuku to look for sunglasses/goggles for Cat's post-apocalyptic birthday part and I got some blue ones... though this is probably not a good idea if I will wear the blue wig. Ah well, they were the coolest ones there so I couldn't help myself. Besides, the guy who I bought them from was amazing! He was hidden behind the sunglasses racks and reading so I couldn't see him properly while I was just browsing and I thought he was a girl but eventually I got curious and looked at him properly because he was really cool-looking and then I saw that he was a guy and was even MORE impressed! He had long hair that was bright pink and pulled back into a ponytail with little dreadlock bits hanging down the front. He was really cute and had such pale skin and he was so thin and tall and had such long legs and his clothes were cool too! He was wearing some makeup but not so much that it looked like his face was fake. Too often transvestite type people just look rubbish close up because they do that thing of plucking eyebrows and drawing them back on which looks aweful no matter what gender you are but looks even more horrid on men. He didn"t have that at all. He had his own eyebrows and he didn't even look like he was trying too hard to be girly, he just had a naturally feminine shape to his face and it was really beautiful. He was amazing! Anyhow... enough about him for now...

Another interesting person I saw was a lady with a huge hat! It was actually one of those hats that you would have to stick both your arms out straight to touch the brims. It was like that hat that the evil lady wears in Howl's moving catle except that the lady herself was small. There were transparent scarves wrapped around the hat and one of them was hanging down almost to the ground. She looked like a walking cake!

Also I bought a collar and a chain made of dice, which I have now contrived to stick together and make an awesome look. Also I got Bob a present... as soon as I say that, though, he will know exactly what it is. Oh well. Also I got a nice jacket that fits soooo nicely around the waist! But now I am worried Emma is annoyed at me because she saw it and I know she wanted it but I swear we all saw it at the same time the other day. I can't recall who pointed it out first... it was probably Emma... but I know that I was already looking at it when she pointed it out. I feel kind of guilty but at the same time it fit me so well... and it is very hard for me to find well fitting jackets that I really like. My wardrobe will thank me for it, I know.

I had strawberry milk at Cafe Solare... because that place is amazing. Then I tried to go to Kichijouji so I could get a bento and eat it in Inokashira park... but I discovered that you have to pay extra for the stations that are off the map and I couldn't even fare adjust because I had a day ticket and the machine couldn't tell where I had come from. Even though it was a metro line I couldn't get off so I just sat and ate an icecream in the station itself and then went back. I was considering stopping off at Ueno park and continuing with my bento plan but we've already been there twice and I wanted to do something different. So I got off at Waseda instead. I'd like to say that it was on a whim but actually there was method in my madness. I shall explain my thought process...

"Damn, I couldn't go to Kichijouji! Bit Kichijouji is so cool! It's the home of GTO! Oh well, I have to go back... Waseda is one of the stops on the way back... Mmmmh... GTO... in GTO Fuyutsuki went to university in Waseda. So if there is a university there there are bound to be plenty of handsome young men! Some of whom will be tall and wearing glasses! What better place to eat bento! And I bet there is a park because students always seem to be near a park."

And I was completely right on all counts. So I sat in a park in Waseda and ate bento... though it wasn't so much a park as a forest place with paths. There was a crow that sat next to me and begged for bits of my bento but when I reached for my camera it jumped away. There was a cat sitting nearby as well. It was rather playful. When I finished eating I went exploring for a bit and discovered that so many cats live in parks! Everywhere I looked there was a cat sitting in the bushes! So fun!

Anyhow, then I went back to the hostel because I'd done everything I'd set out to do... except that I'd forgotten to look for earphones of super-duperness. Either way, I had a slight headache already and felt tired. Back at the hostel I showed my purcheses to Emma and Nat and we all tried on the wigs. They are amazing and looks so good and so natural! They would be really comfy too, I bet, if my head wasn't already hurting and the head sock wasn't squeezing my head.

Irina.
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10/09/08

Today we went back to Ueno to visit the Zoo! I was told that it was just like most Zoos... but then Zoos are always great. It was a really lovely zoo and as always everything was neat and tidy and well presented and well spaced out. The enclosured were all stunning with gorgeous trees and waterfalls or other water features. All the animals looked really comfortable and happy with perhaps the exception of the polar bears and the penguins who looked rather hot and tired... but they had made efforts even for them. There were icecubes all over the place in the polar bear place and there was a device blowing cold air on them. They air condition their zoo! How amazing is that???

We saw Elephants and a tiger really close up and a lion from rather far away and plenty of gorillas and monkeys and birds. Nat loved the vultures and I think I squeed the most when we went into the small mammal area and there were feneks and nocturnal cat things and teeny tiny cute mice! We didn't get to the reptiles, though, because that was the last section of the Zoo and it was closing by the time we got to it. There were bats and bears and hippos and giraffes but no giant panda... apparently it was quite old and passed away in late April. There were supposed to be red pandas though we didn't see them which is a bit of a shame because I love those red panda things. But we did see a Sloth in a tree out of its enclosure... it's so slow that it can't get away anyhow and it's an isolated tree so it can't get away from that one tree.

Ooh! Before we went into the Zoo I saw a cat sleeping on a bench and I went over to it and I stroked it and it didn't run away like most of the cats in Japan do! In fact, this cat became all happy and nuzzled me and purred and was really happy!

In the Zoo there were plenty of drinking places and eating places and souvenir places with lots of fluffy toys... they were so cute and so fluffy and so well made and so cheap for what they were that we all submitted to the lure of the plushies. I bought some fox ears on a headband that I have been wearing all day. They are really comfy and so fluffy and cute and they bizarrely suit me. I think I could wear these just casually and be perfectly happy about it! Emma got a monkey hand puppet and a cute lazy looking orangutan for her mum. Nat got a plushy bat and a giraffe purse/handbag. I got a handbag too... it is tiger-like! Usually I would never be caught dead carrying a handbag but it's so small and furry and there is a tiger plushy inside that sticks its head out of a cute little compartment and you can take the plushy out and play with it and the zip is shaped like a tiger tail and the whole thing is so soft and it's the perfect size to fit my camera and my face cloth! I would carry this sort of thing around when I don't have much to carry at all... maybe if all I need is my money and my camera. Heehee! I love it and it makes me squee with happiness!

After we left the Zoo we went into Ueno park which is just on the other side, you can literally pretty much step out of the zoo and into the park straight away. We went to the boats because I told you that we wanted to boat on the lake that day but first of all it was 5.10 and the lake closed at 6 and second of all the row boats took one hour so the last admission for row boats was at 5 so we missed it by 10 minutes! That's so annoying! But we determine to go row boating on that lake some time. It is a wonderful park and we've all fallen in love with it. In the end we just sat in the same stream place as before as a dog played with the water. It was rather hilarious. It didn't want to leave when it's owner started going! It was so cute!

Just as we were going down to the station to go back to Asakusa we saw the drawing guys sitting on the steps just as they were the day before and Emma went up to one of them to look at the Einstein picture that was there and the guy told her that he would do a picture of her and Emma for the reduced price of 2000 yen and then said he would do a pic of all three of us for 3000. We agreed since all his pictures were amazing and he looked actually really good. The last time I had one of those done was in Spain and I don't really think it looked like me. This guy was amazing, though, all of us looked just like ourselves right form the beginning and even though he had a rubber he drew everything perfect straight away and only used the rubber a couple of times for making some of his shading a bit lighter in tiny spots. Emma has this great expression where she looks like she is really happy but trying to hold in her laughter. I look kind of smug and Nat looks kind of distracted... pretty much like normal then. Heehee. And I'm wearing my fox ears and look like the weirdo in the picture even though Emma and Nat bought really crazy sunglasses in the morning and wore them all day. For the picture, of course, they wore them back on their foreheads. Besides, it was evening by then and not particularly bright. Emma had some orange sunglasses that really suited her and Nat got bright yellow sunglasses... and I mean luinously yellow. When I left the group briefly to look for a map, as I was coming back, from a distance I could only see Nat's sunglasses overwhelming her entire presence. They were just so neon bright when the rest of her clothes was black! The rest of her wasn't nearly psychedelic enough to go with them but they were pretty amazing glasses.

We were all so happy about the picture that we practically danced all the way home. I bought a giant bottle of mugi cha for 207 yen... when the normal little bottles usually cost 147. A real bargain and that will keep my hydrated and happy for a long time. I tried to book my Penecillin concert again but the lines were closed... again. At least this time the lady helping me told me when the line opening times were so now I know that you can call between 12 and 4... That's really in the middle of the day when we are usually out doing things... but the Penecillin concert is so important to me now that I absolutelly must book it. Since it is so soon anyway I am beginning to feel nervous about it maybe being sold out. At least I did find out that the concert is running on the 14th and the 13th so hopefully if one is full up I will be able to book the other one. This increases my chances I think. So... since Emma hasn't seen Akihabara yet her and Nat will take her there tomorrow in the morning while I hang around the hostel until 12 when I will try to book my concert. We will meet at about 1 outside the porn shop because it is one of the most distinguishing buildings and we all know where it is.

Since the electricity in this hostel is a bit weird and weak I think it will take me a really long time to get my camera battery charged again so this is good insurance time in case it really does take forever. Usually it is charged in about 15 minutes and it hardly charged at all over the course of two hours in the morning. I will leave it charging all night and I will be hanging around for a pretty long time in the morning so hopefully it will be ok. I was so worried my camera would die on me today so I was only switching it on for short periods of time when I absolutely needed it. It actually did die on me several times but I managed to make it work through willpower alone. Heehee.

Still having super fun...
Still wearing fox ears.

Irina.

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