Thanks for reading guys! Thanks for understanding :D

Anyway, I was kinda hrmph. Though I noticed there were purikura stands where you could get “pictures” with your favourite members (not the real people, just background images with them in it). I hopped in the B booth and got one with Amina and Kyan. :3 Also, while looking around, I noticed a certain ride…
…which may or may not have been the same one that a certain Akimoto had to ride twice. Or a certain Gon didn’t have to ride… Also, I may have ridden the same ride that a certain couple of girls did on Shukan AKB.

Anyway, none of these things were what I wasn’t ready for.

So, me and sis are walking around when suddenly I hear Mendokusai Aijou. Little do I know, I’m walking by the Tokyo Dome City Garden Stage. “Oh, a stage! Maybe a DJ’s playing it or something.” I think to myself. Then, I see a familiar face on stage… “o wut, no, it can’t be…”

Actually, it was.
She was promoting her 2nd single which just released. I bought it because it sounded pretty awesome. So I go up to the CD stand and then they tell me to go and stick my hand in a box. I pull out #667. I had no idea what it was for. I was thinking it was for a bonus gift, poster, whatever.

Oh wait, it’s for a handshake.
So what do you tell an idol when you only have one thing to say? “KANADA-JIN DESU!”

She kinda stepped back for a second and put on the cutest :o face and said “SUGOOOIIII” then “Arigato gozaimasu!” and then really cutely “Thank you, very, much!” and did the little hand pose to her cheek you see above.

HUUUUUURRRRRGGGGHHHH.

Wasn’t ready for that. :3

We landed on Saturday, the 7th, at Narita.The airport was impressive and humid. There, my sister and I got our rental mobile phones and talked to the JR people to exchange our rail passes and got the 3500y deal for a N’EX ticket + 1000y suica deal. Pretty sweet deal. The N’EX ride was fun and the food cart guy spoke english. That’s where I had my first legit onigiri. It was delicious.

We arrived at Tokyo station and found our way to Yotsuya station which is the closest station to where our hotel is. We check in and have to meet my friends in Shibuya to pick up the tickets and eat dinner. We get to Shibuya at about 20:30 when we were supposed to meet at 18:30. GOMEN >_<. They forgave us and proceded to guide us across the scramble into the busy commercial area. We start down this small path which would resemble an alleyway back home except that there's an arcade to the right and 'hole-in-the-wall' kinda places to eat along the left. We duck down into one of them and my friend proceeds to order a bunch of little dishes, along with some beers. Good eats. I'd tell you what it was if I knew. I asked at the time but can't really remember now. The on-going joke was that everything contained chicken.

As we were heading back to Shibuya station, I managed to snap the pic you see on the left. If you live in Toronto and know of the Yonge-Dundas scramble, this is pretty darn impressive – practically incomparable. My friend got the idea to check out Tsutaya and sells pretty much everything popular in music, movies, books, magazines, and comics. We looked around for about a half hour. Team Dragon was in the new releases section in CDs as well as 4minute, soshi, and KARA. I lulz’d. 1st and 2nd floor were all music. 3rd, 4th, and 5th (I think) were all rentals. I saw “Sweet Donuts” available for rent. I wanted to buy it. :/ Anyway, on the 6th floor was the book and magazine section. I found a magazine with Watarirouka Hashiritai and wanted to buy it… maybe towards the end of the trip. I also saw the AKB Election book and some other books I couldn’t figure out which they were. They also had the visual books there. I eyed down the B book. The 7th floor was the Manga floor. I didn’t bother much with looking since I wouldn’t be able to read it anyway… So, we proceeded back downstairs then said our goodbyes and headed home.

On the way back to the hotel, we stopped by a 7/11 and I found me some AKB Cup Noodles. I bought them, of course. We get to our room and I click the TV on. O hay, it’s Mariko :3! We’re also greeted by a bunch of fun gadgets in the room. Firstly, when you enter the room, there’s a place to put your room key that turns on all the lights. The toilet is one of those super toilets with seat warmer, deodorizer, and oshiri spray, etc etc. I tried it. It was funtiems. I can’t remember what else we did that night other than sleep.

So, we started off early the next morning. We stopped by the 7/11 to get some eats and my sis noticed the AKB onigiri :3! Tasty stuff. No joke. We stopped by Harajuku really quickly so sis could stop by the ticket resellers to get tickets to the evening H!P Summer concert to compliment our afternoon tickets. I saw a baby Nacchan trading card. I should’ve picked it up. I’ll probably grab it Friday if it’s still there. After, we headed back to Shibuya thinking we could find the H!P store without any help. We failed. Oh well, off to Nakano.

We find the Sun Plaza without much trouble and line up for goods. I pick up the s/mileage t-shirt that comes with the photocards of each of the girls wearing it. We get into the venue for the show at about 14:00. There, I buy more goods: the tour bag and the s/mileage fan.

Ogawa Saki comes on. Sings a song I don’t recognize. Then comes Lilipri. I haven’t listened to their song enough. Y’know, if you want to know the rest of the songs they played… here it is. Thanks, Hello!SayuNii! Everyone already knows about the recent Morning Musume graduation news. I kinda had my hands pressed against my cheeks the whole time Tsunku was on stage. Either way, the concert was fun :) I feel like I should pay more attention to H!P… or at least s/mileage. I should get their latest single since it’s really adorable and fun. After that, I head back to the hotel and change into something new since the clothes I was in were kinda damp from the humidity and the concert.

I jump back onto the JR and head to Akihabara to catch B5 on the screen. I was a bit late and just caught the last chorus of Theater no Megami. Just in time for the MCs. Since like everyone was absent, Harukyan did the opening greeting. All I really remember from the MCs was that Amina took Mayu’s intro since she wasn’t there and said that the greeting she received from the crowd felt good. or that the greeting feels good to do. I’m no good. lol. Then, Kitarie also stole Mayu’s intro, except that then she stole Erepyon’s by saying Kitarie Power Zenkai *arm circle*. etc. etc. Everything else happened as usual. I ducked out of the theater cafe area during “Yokaze no shiwaza” to go buy things at the store. It was then I bought B5 and K6. I went back upstairs to “Shiokaze no shoudaijou” and I stayed until the end. When the stage was over, I went back into “the hallway” and take pictures of my favourite girls and my friends’ oshimen. After, I went back to the store and proceeded to buy my Seishun no Flag flags and WatariRouka wristbands. I met up with sis who came down to Akihabara after the H!P Summer evening concert. We went to the arcade in the Donki on 6F. I played some DDR X2 and DMV7. After that was hometime.

Monday was all shopping in Shibuya. First, we went to the H!P store since we had some friends help us out on where to go. Then, we found a nice place to eat lunch on the cheap. I can’t remember what it’s called though I do remember where it is. I had an udon something. Forgot to take a picture of it. Was really good. Tried my first raw-egg-on-rice side dish. Taster than I thought it would be. Then, we hit up the Apple Store for my cousin. Then, we walked around for a bit. Heavy Rotation started blasting through the speakers on the lamp posts. It would repeat about every half hour. I enjoyed it profusely. We eventually ran into a Book Off where I splurged on Iiwake Maybe CD+DVD, MEG albums (BEAM, STEP, and BEAUTIFUL), and m-flo’s EXPO EXPO and BEAT SPACE NINE. I actually wanted to pick up Watariouka’s Akkanbebashi but forgot what came with which version. I’ll go back and get C and the DVD. I wanted to grab Seishun no Flag too but all they had were the CD only’s. Ah well. Waked to HMV, Heavy Rotation played in the street again. Bought the PB/YJ Special Magazine. Went to Tsutaya. Bought the Team B Visual Book. Called it a day.

Tuesday. We visited Kamakura which is South West of Tokyo. It’s a beach town as well as a shrine and temple town as well. While there, we visited the Myohonji Temple, the Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gu Shrine, and the Daibutsu (Great Buddha). I’d put pictures up but they’re all on my sister’s camera. The Myohonji Temple wasn’t busy in the slightest and was very serene. The Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gu Shrine and Daibutsu, however, were really busy though the ground’s population didn’t hinder the experience. We got our fortunes at the Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gu Shrine and entered the (actual) Daibutsu. I felt pretty cool.

On the way back, we stopped by the hotel and we headed back to Akihabara for the 2nd B stage. I watched it on the screen again, except this time, I ducked out after 100m combini to shop. Came back at the same time as last. This time, I bought my warota towel and the Lovetan folder. Finally, on the way home, we stopped by the 7/11 again and this time, on top of more AKB onigiri, I found some Pino. I ate it. It was just as awesome as I thought it would be.

Today, Wednesday, we travelled to Yokohama. There, we first walked down Chinatown a bit. Reminded us of Spadina. After, we ate lunch at another place I couldn’t read but could show you, outside of Chinatown. The waitresses were adorable and in traditional, yet modern, Japanese wear (think Momoiro Clover but a bit more formal). I ordered a pasta dish, “Peperonchino”, just because of Mayu. I also had a Chocolate Parfait (I think? lol).

From there, we checked out the Yokohama Marine Tower. Quite the view. I only took a picture of the glass floor though. Why? I don’t know XD.

We continued down the harbour line, passed the Red Brick Warehouses, to Cosmoworld: home of the World’s Largest Clock that is also a ferris wheel. We didn’t ride anything but it was just fun to be in. We headed back from Yokohama to another place which I’ll write about in this next post…

Point-form version:

Landed 15:15 Aug 7.
N’EX’d from Narita Airport to Tokyo Station
JR’d from Tokyo to Yotsuya
Got confused since maps are weird in Japan.
Checked in to the Grand Arc Hanzoumon at about 19:00.
JR’d to Shibuya to meet greet and eat with friends (also, collect H!P tix) from 20:30 ~ 22:30
Tsutaya’d
JR’d back to Yotsuya and 7/11′d and found some AKB cup noodles.
Slept ~ 02:00 Aug 8.

Woke up ~ 09:00
JR’d to Harajuku to visit the ticket reseller.
JR’d to Shibuya to try and find the H!P store but failed.
JR’d to Nakano to the Sun Plaza where the H!P summer 2010 concert.
Watched the concert (and H!P history being made) at 15:00.
Got out at about 17:00 and JR’d back to the hotel.
JR’d to Akihabara at about 18:30.

GOT TO THE DONKI AT ABOUT 19:15. Caught the last bit of Theater no Megami (the song) and watched the stage on the screen in the cafe.
Went to the AKB Shop during yukisolo and learned how to buy things. lolol.
Bought B5 and K6 Albums.
Went back to the theater to finish the stage.
Got kicked out while they were setting up for high touch.
Bought some warota merch.
Played some DDR X2 in the DONKI. (there’s an official more more more stepchart? it kinda sucked)
Went back to the hotel.

More details when I have time for it xD

I’ve failed getting any B stage enpou tickets. People have been saying that super enpou exists but others says no. I don’t know who to believe but there’s nothing about super enpou in the ticketing site from what I’ve seen. If anything, my region says “Overseas” in my profile… I’m still in the running for the 11/8 K enpou and 8/8 19:00 B General. I’ll apply for the 8/10 B General… HOPE I GET SOMETHING. :3

Other than that, I already have tickets for the H!P Summer 8/8 14:00 and Buono! opener in Osaka. I have a dinner date set up with old friends from University in Shibuya. Gonna check out Akihabara and the AKB Theater regardless of ticket status. Gonna hit up all the popular districts. Check out a couple of shrines. Head down to Nagoya on the way to Buono and check out Sunshine Studio. That’s the quick and dirty version of the trip anyway.

As for in-flight entertainment… I’ve got the macbook (probably chart 4MINUTEs I My Me Mine…), PSP (Gran Turismo, Silent Hill: Shattered Dreams), DS (Picross 3D), iPod touch (music and stuff…), and a book (Chuck Palahniuk’s Survivor). We’ll see if it lasts.

Next time you’ll hear from me will probably be in Japan… or if you’re following my twitter, the airport.

later >_>

I haven’t been writing much here, mainly because I haven’t really done much to show for in the past month or two. Lots in the works; nothing complete xD. One thing is for sure though: I’ve got a plane ticket, and H!P Summer Concert ticket and a Buono! Concert ticket with my name on it. I’d say something about having an AKB stage lottery win but the schedule for the week I’ll be there isn’t up yet :(

Update: THEY’RE UP. I need to talk things through with my travel buddy (aka my sister) first though.

I’ll be landing in Japan on August 7th and leaving August 14th. If you live there and wanna hi-five or know of any good places to eat / shop, drop me a line through the contact me section or just follow me on twitter and talk to me there!

I’ll be documenting everything I do here on my blog since the hotel I’ll be staying at has internet included. I’ll be talking about something I want to do for each of the days leading up to the flight so stay tuned and give suggestions on what else I should see while I’m there! FAIL.