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Author Topic: AKB48 x STGCC 2010  (Read 21309 times)

Offline maliciel

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AKB48 x STGCC 2010
« on: December 18, 2010, 12:38:52 PM »
On the 10th and 11th of December 2010, AKB48 continued on their rampage through Asia, and visited the Singapore Toys, Games and Comics Convention (STGCC)!

Unlike the last time with Anime Festival Asia, JPHiP was prepared and maliciel, kohilist and polyrhythm were on hand to capture the action as it happened! A lot of things happened, and I'll go through them one-by-one! But firstly, massive props to STGCC and Reed Exhibitions for making it all possible. They're a veteran in the business and definitely deserve the props for listening to the fans to make an awesome event.

Day 0: Thursday 091210

Thursday is the day before the first appearance by the girls. We (SGP48, what some of us fans in Singapore call ourselves) had already ruled out Wednesday because the whole of AKB48 had to attend the 5th anniversary commemoration event. So pretty much the whole of Wednesday night, Thursday morning was stalking all the girls' blogs to see if we could find a clue when they were leaving Japan and arriving in Singapore. We had spreadsheets set up, and there really was no way to tell when they were coming even with the date of departure pretty much set in stone.

8am. No news. No one even mentioned Singapore, much less talked about going on a plane. We were getting worried. Would we actually have to camp the airport and hope to spot them coming in? There are daily flights from Japan in the morning, afternoon and night/early morning, so no one was relishing that idea. But that pretty much looked like the only way. The event on Friday only had 3 participants (Uchida Mayumi, Nakatsuka Tomomi, Ishida Haruka), but we were convinced that they'd come as a group. After all, it's not like the girls coming were bigshots and had stuff they couldn't afford to skip, right?

Apparently, we were proven wrong after Harukyan tweeted:


Quote
今日は諸々撮影`・ω・´のあとはシンガポールへ旅立ちます!イベントのため3人だけさきにいくんだけどなにぶんシンガポール初なんでwktkします`・ω・´
Today I'll be participating in a bunch of photo-shoots `・ω・´ After that a trip to Singapore! It's for the event, so only 3 of us will be going. But it's the first time I'll be in Singapore, so I'm nervous still `・ω・´

This was around 9am, which meant that we had no idea just how close she was to departing from Japan. It was unlikely they'd arrive at 5pm, but entirely possible. The cogs started and we began panicking a little. Some of us didn't have work or school, so we'd be camping at the airport from at least 4pm while waiting for the rest of the cavalry to come. There were 2 arrivals at 11pm and another at 1am. The only real problem? The two arrivals were in different terminals and getting back home after that 1am flight would mean dropping serious cash. But hey, if not us then who else, right? The girls deserved a welcome, whatever the time.

We found a spot in McDonald's (the same one we sat at the last time AKB48 came) and settled in. Got some food, we brought our boards (mine was a 滝川クリ○テルよりクリスがいい! board) and sat down. We were mostly inconspicuous, but there was a group of Japanese boys who came as well. They played AKB music really loudly for some reason. Maybe they saw some of the guys taking out their Chance no Junban CDs. We sat there for hours. Hotel California and My Way now holds a special place in my heart. I will fucking stab anyone who plays that shit. 5pm came and went. The few of us there knew it wasn't going to happen at 5, it was way too early. But better safe than sorry.

11pm. The group grew larger. We were joined by a few people. Some of us ordered AKB waffles and got trading cards, so there was a trading card frenzy at that point. I managed to trade Yukirin away for a Mariya card (it's worth it!). We were joined by richardthebrave, who flew in from the Philippines, and the AKB48 Indonesia Forum were arriving around the same time we were speculating AKB48 to be. The group was now mobile. There were 2 flights arriving with only a 30 minute gap, and a scheduling change then meant they were arriving within 10 minutes of each other! The problem? They were at different terminals! There was no choice, we had to gamble on one. We decided it was best to stake out terminal 2, and then move to terminal 3 swiftlike. Which is what we did. Turned out that was no issue at all, because they arrived at neither! So it was left to the 1am flight. The indonesians arrived not long after we were waiting for the 11pm flight, and we introduced ourselves and whatnot. I met arsencoffee from AKB48 Journal and she's pretty cool. But we parted ways as the Indonesians left to have a meal and we waited at the belt for another 2 hours.

Crunch time. All of us were certain it was this flight, and when people started disembarking we all raised our boards and kept a lookout. We had our AKB t-shirts on, so we stuck out. A lady came over and asked us who we were waiting for. I saw that she had an AKB48 manifest on her clipboard, so we knew we hit jackpot. So we waited patiently, sizing up any potential girls. Most of the people coming out were Japanese, so I'm pretty sure it was weird for them to look at a bunch of people wearing pink and behaving really weirdly. We waved at some random people to brighten their day. We had seen some photos of what they were wearing, but Japan being Japan, everyone pretty much wore the same shit. But oh wait, that girl in the beige cap..

HOLY SHIT IT'S KRIS! KRIS!

Everyone naturally thought it was just some other chick, but I was pretty sure it was her. Then she waved back. Holy shit it was her! They arrived! The fans went bonkers. Imagine a group of 30 people just going crazy and making a din at an airport. The other two showed up and they went to collect their bags. Unlike in November, they didn't come up-close. Probably because being only 3 girls, there was very little to wait for in terms of luggage, so that was settled pretty fast. Now, this was the new Terminal 3, and we thought similar to how they arrived the last time, they were going to walk straight out to the bus. Apparently not. The new terminal doesn't have pick-up bays, so they walked the length of the terminal (their belt was on the other side) with no barriers and 30 people around them!

It was pretty fucking crazy. There were about 10 people with cameras, and some of them talked to the girls. They seemed pretty weirded out, because it was 2am and there were a bunch of people treating them like stars. Kris saw my board! I gave her a letter too! Well not her, the manager. But it was great. She smiled a bit for the cameras. We walked along, I snapped some photos. The distance was so close that basically you could carry on a conversation and walk side-by-side with the girls. Some of them did do that, and a few got to talk with their idols. Then I realized that the girl walking next to Kris (who wasn't actually as tall as I thought) was actually Harukyan! She didn't have makeup on, but she looked pretty still. Mayuchi was chillin' in the back and interacted with the fans.



The heat of the country hit them when they walked out. All the girls went 'Atsui atsui!' and Harukyan took off her jacket as she boarded the bus. The bus was being loaded and we got about 10 minutes of interaction time with the girls. On my side were Harukyan and Tomochan, while Mayuchi sat on the other side. Two of the AIF people were going 'Haato, Peace! Haato, Peace!' while doing the actions. Kris looked pretty bewildered at first, but she imitated, to the cheers of everyone who saw it. She looked in amazement and snapped some photos. I would like to think she got a photo of mine, but she has been silent about Singapore on her blog. Harukyan took some photos as well. She took one, said 'mou ikkai' and took another one. She showed us her cellphone screen and the whole place erupted in cheers. After about 10/15 minutes, the bus began to move, and the was the end of Day 0 (or was it Day 1?).



The rest of the photos I took. Kohilist is still processing his, but they will be up, in due time.

Offline daigong

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Re: AKB48 x STGCC 2010
« Reply #1 on: December 19, 2010, 07:24:47 AM »
OBILIR!!!

:bow: :bow: mal

Offline maliciel

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Re: AKB48 x STGCC 2010
« Reply #2 on: December 20, 2010, 06:49:25 PM »


Day 1: Friday 101210

Friday was the start of STGCC, and we showed up pretty early at around 10. Trade hours were at 10, so we wanted to be there for the media preview of the convention. Arrived at the Suntec City Convention Centre. A bunch of people were already there! Amongst them, some AKB48 fans who were going to queue for the handshake event. The handshake event was a limited-event, with only the first 50 able to shake the hands of the 3 girls that were going to be there. From the experience of AFA X, the persistence of Singaporeans should not be underestimated. Collected media passes and walked around like bigshots while chatting with the other guys. Some came early, at around 8am. They were lumped together with other guys who wanted to enter the convention early to do some shopping and whatnot.

Keep in mind, we were all at the airport mere hours prior, so some were quite the walking zombies. The media preview was uneventful. Paul Lee (from Reed Exhibitions) demonstrated his savvy for social networking, answering questions pretty well, even if the questions were kinda crappy. We went to check in our stuff at the media village, talked to some people, and walked around the convention to take a look at some booths. We wanted to get a chance to talk to Paul Lee, but alas, he is a busy man. He mans STGCC's facebook page personally, which was pretty surprising. We reached the stage, and noticed some poles on the left of it:



The time was now 12pm. People started streaming in. We had the choice to queue for the handshake event, but decided not to. We were there to cover the event after all. Not long after the people from the SG AKB fanbase came up and the queue started filling up. How long was it going to take to fill?!



These guys would be there for 4 hours, which was when the handshake event and performance would start. We had a short chat (nearly all of those guys were pink shirts, which means we knew them one way or another). We decided it best to have some lunch before we collapsed too. 2 hours of sleep is not enough when you have to be on your feet. We came back at 3-ish, having had lunch. The queue had now moved nearer to the center of the stage, to facilitate movement as well as give the fans a glimpse of their idols while they were performing (the previous queuing position had a shitty view). We talked to some media people to clarify some issues about the interview. Good news: It was going to be in a pretty small room. Bad news: Group interview, and it was pretty close to the stage (where of course there would be really loud music). Talked to some of the guys again. They were rushing straight to the airport to welcome the rest of the girls who were arriving at 5pm after the handshake event. Ah, the rush. Kohilist and I debated about doing it, but we knew it wasn't possible. +1 to taking one for the team. We had some time before the start of the handshake event, so we pondered the camera set ups and equipment. Media village dude could not help us much, the girls would be resting in that same room from the time they finished their handshake to the time of the interview. That meant no prior set-up time.

4pm. The time had come! But first, a few minutes of watching game promos from Asiasoft, STGCC's gaming partner. There were a lot of them. Someone spotted the girls behind the screen! The fans went crazy and started calling out names. Soon after, a lady stepped up and introduced herself as the MC. Crowd goes wild when she announces AKB48. First song, Zannen Shoujo! Overture played, and the fans MIXed. The girls came out in Tsundere outfits. It was kind of weird. But then the realization sank in, they were singing live! That was awesome. Everyone was snapping photos and taking video despite instructions that they were not supposed to. Damn it, Singapore. I was right smack in the middle behind a fangirl. Good spot for photos, but there was no way to squeeze to the front. I had to make do.



After Zannen Shoujo, it was time for Tsundere! The girls turned the heat up. Of course, Harukyan was no Tomochin, but it was a great performance nonetheless. The MC came up on stage, and a translator materialized from thin air! They were asked some standard questions, and the security team carried in some tables for the handshake event.



Back when we first found out it was going to be a handshake, we thought 'man, we'll probably only get like 5 seconds each'. But that wasn't what happened at all! There were no Japanese staff around, so some people got to shake the girls' hands for at least 15 seconds, and some even had the time for a short conversation. Mayuchi actually looked pretty confused when the first girl came up to shake her hand, but once she realized it had started, it was all smiles and business. Practically the whole line was pink shirts; they had filled the queue up hours before the event was slated to begin.



The girls waved goodbye as the tables were carried away, and disappeared back into the curtains. I was already feeling pangs of regret for not queuing up for the handshake. I really wanted to shake Kris' hand. As the girls went off, I looked for the pink shirts. Already gone to the airport. While they were doing their thing, we had ours. The interview was only 2 hours away, and we needed to do all the prep. And that's all for the first part of Day 1!

Photos from the handshake event

Offline infzer0

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Re: AKB48 x STGCC 2010
« Reply #3 on: December 21, 2010, 08:05:46 PM »
Thanks for the detailed report and pics  :twothumbs

Offline maliciel

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Re: AKB48 x STGCC 2010
« Reply #4 on: December 29, 2010, 05:19:58 AM »

Resuming the report!

We last left off when the handshake event finished. The pink army was now at the airport, welcoming the other 9 girls. The JPHiP team would've been there, but we had something bigger in wait; an interview with the girls. Now, the handshake event ended at 1630. Just after it finished, the girls were walking to the room through the convention. We decided not to bother them. Went back to the media village to think up our strategy. We were a team of 3, and we had two cameras. So there was intense (one-sided) debate on who was going to ask the questions. For some clarification, the only person who didn't have any media training at all was me (damn you, engineering education), so the onus fell on me to ask the questions.

So while the other two were testing out the cameras on the tripods and setting up, discussing how to frame shots, I was sitting there being nervous. It was pretty nerve wracking, and to be honest pretty damn scary. Kohilist laughed at me. At 1800, my phone rang.

"Hi, is this (name here)? Yes, you have an interview with AKB48 schedules, yes? We've decided to move it up a little bit, so could you be here soon?"

That was our cue. Packing our stuff up, we walked to the interview room. Talked to the PR lady, seems like the interview format was changed. All the media were going in at once for a 20~ minute interview. That was sort of a relief, but that also meant we were going to have to fight for our questions to be asked. We had prepared quite a few. We waited for one of the print media outlets to finish their interview. Once they walked out, it was go time. I placed my camera right in the center, while kohilist booked the right side (the closest spot). The manager was stuck between the camera and the girls now, hee.

We spent some time asking questions, and got to ask most of the ones we planned. There was one where we wanted Harukyan to demonstrate how she took her blog photos, but I didn't ask that for some reason..I regret that decision now. But we got really decent footage, and that is now compiled into a 20 minute long video for your perusal!

Offline MayuchiOshi

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Re: AKB48 x STGCC 2010
« Reply #5 on: December 29, 2010, 05:29:50 AM »
thanks for the detailed report,it bring back the moment again  :twothumbs

Offline maliciel

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Re: AKB48 x STGCC 2010
« Reply #6 on: December 29, 2010, 07:55:15 AM »
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, Kohilist's photos are up as well!

So check it out. I'll tell him to get off his ass and post something.

Offline daigong

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Re: AKB48 x STGCC 2010
« Reply #7 on: December 29, 2010, 08:13:42 AM »
^ :lol: I've seen kohilist in IRC now and then, nice fella!

Welcome to :hipheart: MayuchiOshi!!

SHIT!! DLing the footage now, the pics are really amazing.

Seriously. GJ Guys! DIS BE LEGENDARY  :shakeit: Fo reals, kohilist, polyrhythm, maliciel - really felt the rush y'all got from airport to Convention! The girls are really nice :heart: Way to rep :jphip: in the most EPIC manner, dats how we ROLL!!


 

Offline maliciel

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Re: AKB48 x STGCC 2010
« Reply #8 on: December 29, 2010, 04:41:58 PM »

Offline Trickfew

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Re: AKB48 x STGCC 2010
« Reply #9 on: January 09, 2011, 12:20:10 PM »
Thanks for the cronichle, you´re a lucky guy¡

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