^ dude you're taller than me 
Ssssshhhh, don't tell anyone who hasn't met me yet!
And yeah, I found out about Satoda and Tanaka in attendance shortly after the concert, though I don't remember if it was right after the concert or the next day that I found out.
And now to continue with my recap!
Day 2Still on west coast time at this point, I woke up around 9-ish and coordinated with dai about flight updates. He was on his way to JFK a lot sooner than I was; knowing about the day's flight delays and how getting through customs can take a while, I gave myself some time to get some quick hotel breakfast and collect my bearings regarding the part of Queens I was in. Hopped on the subway to Jamaica, got to the AirTrain junction about half an hour later, then eventually reached Terminal 1 of JFK to meet up with dai. We briefly discussed the possibility of another flight from Japan being relevant, so I swung by Terminal 7 to check things out and make sure, but he called and assured me that Terminal 1 was the right spot, so I rushed back. We also met Al Kusanagi of MM-BBS and Hiro of 2012 Berryz t-shirts fame, as well as a Harunan wota whose name I didn't catch. Waiting right outside the arrival exit, we were eventually joined by Slack and his crew, as well as Flyp, and we all sat idly as the flight status updated and the customs wait began. Any remaining doubts about the right location were squashed when I spotted Yaz waiting several yards away, and Slack and dai were able to solidify some upcoming plans with her.
Noon time rolled around, and passengers from Narita started trickling in. My hunger and fatigue were getting to me, and at least one person in the group kept joking about how every Asian female that walked out the door got his hopes up.
Around 12:30 was when we finally hit the jackpot: the infamous "bald guy" was spotted, same black jacket and all, and everyone scrambled for their cameras!
Many thanks to Slack for getting this on video; I thought I could take still photos while waving at the girls, but alas, it was not meant to be.
First one to show up was Zukki, who actually paused and smiled for us as she noticed our welcoming party and the special sign daigong made! Right next to her was Eripon, and they were followed up by Duu and Ayumi who had a big letter A on her shirt. A few staffers followed, then the rest of the group came in: Sakura and Maachan together holding hands, with Sakura taking off her mask and waving at us, then right behind was Fukuchan towering over them.
Haruna and Sayu were next, and bringing up the rear was Riho, who, compared to the innocent charm and simple politeness the others displayed, smiled and waved at us with a clear "Yeah, I'm here for y'all, I know I'm awesome" vibe...at least that's what it felt like for me.
Also notable was how Sakura kept looking back at us after she walked past; maybe it was because of the purple shirt I was wearing.
Once they all walked past, the last Up Front staff member, who I like to call the "Yabe-clone" (because of his resemblance to Hiroyuki Yabe of Ninety-Nine), stopped and took a quick photo of all of us.
I was in a bit of a daze as we left the airport because of that experience (Zukki's smile is definitely more powerful in person
), leading to some slight confusion when trying to help the others access the subway line.
We went back to Times Square, waited for people to check into their hotels, met up with CKD who joined in on our group, then hit up Shake Shack for lunch, which was pretty damn good, especially with my appetite going crazy at this point. We then worked off those calories by walking our way to the Empire State Building and lined up for the observatory deck; realizing the wait was 2 hours, I was seriously considering leaving the group behind so I could explore the city, but at that point I was getting tired and thought I might as well give this a shot. The weather at ground level was pretty warm, but cold and windy when we got to the top!
Still, it was nice to get treated to yet another good moment of breathtaking views.
Afterwards we all walked back to Times Square and chilled at our respective hotels while dinner plans were up in the air. We eventually decided to meet up at the lobby of the Times Square Toys R Us at 8:30. daigong and I showed up there first, and while I was on my phone trying to get in touch with other HiPstas who were just arriving in the city, this random dude just walked up to me and give me a big bear hug while I was talking on the phone!
It was pikapikapika, whom I recognized right away but obviously couldn't say anything at first.
Then some other folks trickled in: Chibs, Slack and company, Manamin...we then settled on John's Pizzeria on the same block as Best Buy Theater. Boykun, Tenkei, Flyp, and Ping showed up while we waited for tables, and we settled on separate-but-close tables rather than waiting a bit longer for one big table because people were hungry. We were then joined by Amped of JPLOP, then a bit later kitaoji, followed by Rayle, Rokun, Yuuyami and her lurker friend (I believe her name is Mimi?). Beers were had, food came in a bit late because it took us a while to finally order some...then kuro strolled in late to join our already loud and intimidating crowd. Overall a pretty awesome gathering to cap off an eventful start to this vacation.
After dinner some of us strolled around Times Square for a bit, checking out other theater locations and taking in the sights; we also hung around Best Buy Theater at one point due to a K-pop group, B1A4, having a concert there and tons of their fans waiting for them to leave the venue.
At this point it was starting to get late and many of us were getting tired, so we headed into the subway station and went our separate ways, but not before I tried to make suggestions for Saturday plans, as rain was expected to keep most of us indoors. Unfortunately not only would I end up underestimating the weather forecast, I would end up underestimating my own fatigue and bad habits as well...
Topic: [10/05] Morning Musume。'14 Live Concert in New York (Read 76448 times)