Monday, April 25, 2005
Tadaima~☆
But i guess it's not thaat bad to be the youngest in the group too, cos everyone will take care of you... ahhaha. And yeah, young girls do get a lot of privileges. Hiakhiak~ So yeah, i did enjoy myself. So let's see, what did i do...Oh, i wrote in my previous entry that i went to Mask 2 Cafe. Couldn't post up pictures at that Shibuya internet cafe previously so will do so now. Took a little trip to the Johnny's shop (just to make sure that there's nuttin new... and there isn't. lol~) before i began my Cafe Hunt and there was this single sakura-still-surviving tree...
It was quite funny when i took this pic. Cos it was a Sunday, and the cosplayers are out as usual directly opposite where i took this picture. So you can imagine EVERYONE was aiming their cameras behind me while this looney girl was the only one taking a pic of the other side. haha~ So anyway, after the Johnny's shop, i began the Cafe Hunt. And as i already wrote in my previous entry, wat a hunt! I am very proud to say that my Takki Hunting Skills haf gone up one notch. 
I have come to realise that Harajuku is much Much MUCH MORE than jus Takeshita Dori, Meiji Dori and Omotesando. All the neverending snaking lanes of shops beyond the main streets that i never knew existed.... And that is where the elusive cafe lies. LOL~
I actually heard Kamen before i even saw the cafe... hahah.. and was looking all over the place like... WHERE IS THE MUSIC COMING FROM!?!??? And then nearly banging into the green wall when i kept looking across the street thinking it was on the other side. And then i saw it!!! The performance vid was already showing halfway and i just stood there, FIXATED.
*flatline... ...*
i tink i was totally blocking the narrow street but i din care... Takki, he looked soooooooo BLOODY GOOD!!!! And oh, the dance is TRULY TRULY STYLISH. The dance sequence ain't obvious in the PV but holy cow, it's SMOKING HOT!!! 
There's this part where they will move their hands kinda like clockwork style... and and...the FINAL POSE that Takki struck... ive said it in the previous entry but i shall say it again... The way he flicked his head and STARES into the camera... &*()*)(#X()(UUGYGSGAJGZZY@*(NUZX)IAW{Q(_ZMIWIO;a&^*^B*((*()*&&%^%&^XB*WN(QZ&P(MX^ &*#X&*V!B%(N#!*NM#*(XN)#^Z&*(!&XB#(^B*!^#&*^X#&*^*^X$N*BNY*&X@^*&^#&*!@%((*@R$(_@(@*$NUX()NUISYQUIYSUIYQ*(E&*(!@&^#^R!#R!#)_()_(X)_E(@*XE()@X&*N)$*($....
PRICELESS.
i wasn't planning to order anything from the cafe initially, but decided i needed to watch the vid again and again and so got myself a seat and this GREEN LATTE. It din taste that bad cept for the weird colour. Sat at a table just outside the cafe since inside was full and waited for the vid to replay, trying at the same time to pretend to be NORMAL and not SCREAM OUT like a crazy fan. hahahhahah~~~ They cycled thru a few vids, most of which u can download from the Mask 2 website. And then the performance vid will come on and then everything will go repeat. And i swear (and u can see from the pic above), everyone will stop watever they are doing and stare at the screen everytime the performance comes on.. ahha, and a few passing by the cafe will stop to look too. (And it is when they did that that i whipped out my cam to steal a shot) Ahaha, the POWER OF T&T. The dance is 
TRULY AMAZINGLY KAKKOII (that's not even English...lol), not to mention complicated.. ahhaha... how the hell are we gonna learn it for the concert??? We gonna get all our arms and legs tangled..
So anyway, i sat there for i dunno how long, but i think i watched about 7-8 cycles of the vids before FINALLY tearing myself away... and i noticed a single sakura tree next to the cafe too. Seems like that's the mark for T&T... hahahha... *totally whacked out brain*.
So that was it for the Mask 2 Cafe Hunt. Spent the entire Sunday afternoon on it. And it was worth every single step and second. hahaha~~~
So anyway my Study Tour started the following day and i went to Kinugawa, and ohhhh, the sakura was in full bloom there!!! SO pretty!!!
Sakura tree-lined road... This is the whitish species.. and with the mountainous backdrop... kireeeiiii~~~~ The weather was pretty darn cold too. When the wind blows, the white petals will fly everywhere... uwaaaahhhh~~~
This is the pinkish species. It is already midst of full bloom and the flowers are starting to drop off, but still, with the blue sky... pretty~~~
It is 子供の日 on 5 May (Children's Day) in Japan, so pple will put up those carps decorations, (i forgot what they are called) in celebration for it. They are pretty big and seeing a whole string of colourful carps fluttering in the wind, quite a sight i must say!
I got to stay in a hot spring hotel for one night and we each got a HUGE 和室 (Japanese-styled room) to ourselves. hahaha~ And mama mia, when i went outside to the balcony and saw the view, i was totally squealing away... The sound of the rushing water, the cold COLD weather (i kept thinking about the cold waters in Titanic.. ahhahaha.. baka!) I was just AMAZED. Everyone should just stay in this hotel, Kinugawa Onsen Hotel... The view is so nice!!! And i got to know the manager very well, hahah.. he even knows i like Takki now. *whacks* And i went to dip in the hot spring late at night by myself... so that i wun run into any pple i know.. ahhaha... there's an open-air bath... uwaaaa..... LUXURY!!!
The next day, we went to a few other places, including this Tulip Farm at a place called 佐倉, coincidentally also read as Sakura (confusing eh?) There's even a windmill there. Nuttin if u've been to Holland to see the real thing but still nice i tot. The never-ending stretches of colourful tulips.. ano... tulips right??
I actually even went to Narita-san Temple... And i din realise it is THAT NARITA-SAN TEMPLE (The one that Takki went to for Setsubun, that bean-throwing ceremony!!!) until i left!!! So i din take any pics of it... *stab myself* But it's a pretty HUGE temple. Its compound is as big as Kiyomizu or bigger i think...
And then i also went to tour the Roppongi Hills area, all the time thinking that this is where T&T hung out once, thou i forgot when and for what... hahah~
And oh, lastly, but most importantly, after my business meetings, we got a chance to visit the Tabi Fair (some travel fair) at Makuhari Messe and HOHOHO, imagine my ECSTACY 
when i found this!!!!!!!!! It's TOTAL BLISS when Takki appears in the course of your work... naturally.... ahahahahhahahhahah~~~~~~~ URESHII~~~~~~
It's some Chiba Prefecture booth i think, i dunno why Yoshitsune is the theme, but who cares!!! IMMEDIATELY HOPPED OVER AND TOOK A PIC WITH YOSHITSUNE-SAMA... And i wonder, is Yoshitsune/Takki really this tall??? hahahahhha... This could well be the closest i can get to taking a photo with Takki!!! (i tot i will get a chance to don that costume the lady is wearing but noo... oh well). Which reminds me, at Kinugawa/Nikko area, there is some Heike no Furusato 平家の故郷 place which is where the Heike pple fled to and stayed in after they lost to the Genji. Can't rem if it was a recreation or original thou. Hahah, i so want to go there if i haf a chance. I'm living Yoshitsune!!! 
There was also someone dressed in the samurai gear... oh... if only it was Takki. FAT HOPE!
Then just when i think this is IT, i discovered something else!! There is actually a YOSHITSUNE BOOTH at the FAIR!!!!! Wakakakkakakkakakakakakka... *floats to Heaven* They were playing some Making of Yoshitsune video and u wear this special glasses which will make the images become 3D!!! Kyaaah!!! i wanted to GRAB Takki when he appeared.... ahhahah, but of cos i din, pple will think im nutz groping air!! I was sooooo high i couldnt register what was being said in the clip, but i rem Takki laughing and there was a guy holding an umbrella over him... to keep him fair ne, hahahha.... STAR treatment indeed.
I was sooo darn excited like a little rabbit i jus went straight up to one of the guys in the booth after watching the vid and UNBASHFULLY told him i am a HUGE FAN. He just smiled at me, and while i was snapping away at the booth, he waved me over and took somethiing from behind the counter and gave it to me!!!
A special Sutera publication for Yoshitsune!!!!!
TOTALLY IN HEAVEN. Who would have guessed that a trade fair would be THIS exciting??? LMAO~~~ And he just guessed that i am a BIG FAN of Takki (and not just Taiga dramas)... hahah, but it must be so obvious. Which Taiga fan will get soooooo excited like me? muahhahahha~
They were also selling some special Yoshitsune omiyage sweets (thou i din buy) and had like pictures of Yoshitsune and the other cast all over the booth... i am thinking this is part of the Yoshitsune display at NHK... which i will go NEXT MONTH!!! Yeaaah~~~~ Anyway, some of the pics i took of the booth...
Oh dear, i realised this is a very graphic intensive entry... haha, i wonder what's the limit of photobucket. So yeah, this is what mainly happened for my trip this time... hohoho~~~ Packed with Takki Essence yeah? Such a looong entry... yet i can't write a single word for my official report. haaa~~~
okok, shall stop here and work on my super delayed Yoshitsune synops.
