[10/05] Morning Musume。'14 Live Concert in New York

[oaxiac]

Interview: Morning Musume。’14 in New York
http://selective-hearing.com/interview-morning-musume-14-in-new-york

Selective Hearing: Sato-san, if given the chance to go overseas again, where would you want to go?

Sato: The country I want to go to is the country Santa lives in, Finland! I want Santa to come to the concert too! [She said this with a completely straight face.]

[Slack]

I just want it known that we are still waiting for photo approval to publish JPHiP's coverage of the concert and our interview with Morning Musume.

Furthermore, our media relations contact told me today that UFA has not approved any media photos as of yet.

After looking at other sites' coverage, I leave the conclusions to you.

If it sounds like I'm pissed, it's because I am.

[kuro808]

I just want it known that we are still waiting for photo approval to publish JPHiP's coverage of the concert and our interview with Morning Musume.

Furthermore, our media relations contact told me today that UFA has not approved any media photos as of yet.

After looking at other sites' coverage, I leave the conclusions to you.

If it sounds like I'm pissed, it's because I am.

They probably looked at the name... oh god

Hopefully soon Kind of dickish though...

[OpsMonkey]

I just want it known that we are still waiting for photo approval to publish JPHiP's coverage of the concert and our interview with Morning Musume.

Furthermore, our media relations contact told me today that UFA has not approved any media photos as of yet.

After looking at other sites' coverage, I leave the conclusions to you.

If it sounds like I'm pissed, it's because I am.

.. and i would like to make it known that we received approval from Yaz on site. So if you're bitching because you have to wait that's just too bad for you. We went through the same process as everyone else. So seriously. grow up and wait for the approvals to go through.

Also, I don't appreciate your disrespectful tone towards our coverage. Who in the hell made you the authority? Not that I'm starting a fight, but that's not cool man.

[Slack]

I didn't even mention you, did I?
Yes, I was pissed off, but I didn't even say who or what I was pissed at.
For all you know, I was pissed at UFA for taking so long, maybe I was pissed at myself for not getting on-site approval like you guys did.

But yes, for the record I'll admit that part of my anger was directed at you. I'm honest enough to at least say that.

What made me jump to conclusions was what you said at the end of the NSK podcast on the trip:
"Wait for the interview. Still waiting for clearance. As soon as that thing is cleared, I'm hitting the publish button."
At the time, I assumed that meant the photos, but now I see I was mistaken since it seems clearer now that you were referring to something else.

I'm actually happy for you guys for getting an interview.
Earlier today I was even asking someone we both know to tell you that I didn't want to be your enemy anymore.
After hearing you guys talk about the trip on the podcast, I felt like perhaps it was the time to bury the hatchet.

Most of all, I want to apologize for directing my ire in your direction.
As I said in the chatroom earlier tonight:

<Slack> I need something to make me less pissed off
<J-Triumf> because of the interview photo stuff?
<Slack> yeah
<Slack> I don't even know who I'm upset at anymore
<Slack> which is why I need something to distract me
<Slack> I want to be happy for a fellow fan for getting an interview
<Slack> I want to be happy at their answers to the questions
<Slack> but most of all, I want to have our stuff published too
<Slack> it's like having a broken leg and watching your classmates playing on the playground while you have to just sit there

It's just a super frustrating feeling just waiting for something this big and knowing you're being left behind.

This trip is full of happy memories, let's not ruin them by bringing in anything we might have between us.

[JFC]

Looks like the Japanese news media are still talking about it. This clip even has a shot of Mai and Ma-kun in it.

141014Morning Musume 14[Super News] Live in N.Y.

I spot rokun at around the 50 second mark of this one.

[OpsMonkey]

I didn't even mention you, did I?
Yes, I was pissed off, but I didn't even say who or what I was pissed at.
For all you know, I was pissed at UFA for taking so long, maybe I was pissed at myself for not getting on-site approval like you guys did.

But yes, for the record I'll admit that part of my anger was directed at you. I'm honest enough to at least say that.

What made me jump to conclusions was what you said at the end of the NSK podcast on the trip:
"Wait for the interview. Still waiting for clearance. As soon as that thing is cleared, I'm hitting the publish button."
At the time, I assumed that meant the photos, but now I see I was mistaken since it seems clearer now that you were referring to something else.

I'm actually happy for you guys for getting an interview.
Earlier today I was even asking someone we both know to tell you that I didn't want to be your enemy anymore.
After hearing you guys talk about the trip on the podcast, I felt like perhaps it was the time to bury the hatchet.

Most of all, I want to apologize for directing my ire in your direction.
As I said in the chatroom earlier tonight:

<Slack> I need something to make me less pissed off
<J-Triumf> because of the interview photo stuff?
<Slack> yeah
<Slack> I don't even know who I'm upset at anymore
<Slack> which is why I need something to distract me
<Slack> I want to be happy for a fellow fan for getting an interview
<Slack> I want to be happy at their answers to the questions
<Slack> but most of all, I want to have our stuff published too
<Slack> it's like having a broken leg and watching your classmates playing on the playground while you have to just sit there

It's just a super frustrating feeling just waiting for something this big and knowing you're being left behind.

This trip is full of happy memories, let's not ruin them by bringing in anything we might have between us.

So let me clear some stuff up here. First, when I mentioned I was "waiting for clearance" on the NSK Podcast I had to wait a week for UP-FRONT to clear the content of the interview and the pictures (again) before I could publish it. It was ready to go last week but I had to go through the motions until I got the e-mail to go ahead and post.

And you're frustrated over 2 weeks?  Try 5 years of waiting. Ever since AX 2009 I have had to deal with a bunch of red tape with UP-FRONT every time one of their acts has come to America with little to show for my attempts to play ball and be nice. And I will become very defensive over this particular interview because it took a LONG time to get that point in New York. You don't think I was pissed off when your Kikka coverage in Atlanta got immediate approval and I had to wait 4 months after her appearance for UP-FRONT to even tell me I could publish anything? Of course I was, but I wasn't going around dissing others who were lucky enough to get past the gatekeepers at UP-FRONT.

I will not have all the hard work and effort I put in to even get this interview dismissed and disrespected because someone isn't happy with the promptness of the approval process for their own work. I find that to be an unfair and immature reaction.  We all want to share the experience with other fans and unfortunately there is a waiting period when it comes to dealing with these Japanese agencies.  I'm still waiting for my concert pics to be approved by the way and I don' t expect a quick response either. I'm in the same boat as everyone else who was allowed press access.

Now as for burying the hatchet? Well I'm okay with that. I'm willing to let the past be the past for the sake of not tainting what was a great experience in New York.

[shirenuファクトリー]

As much as I love drama that doesn't involve myself, maybe this could have been handled more privately? Looking at both of you... Whether or not your issues taint your memories is one thing, but now they're tainting this thread. FOREVER!

[Slack]

Point taken, shirenu.



...
So how about that さうさげ？

[Sacul097]

I'm personally fine with drama *eats popcorn*

[J-Triumf]

LOOKING EAST / Morning Musume triumphs on Broadway
October 14, 2014
By Takamasa Sakurai / Special to The Japan News

FULL ARTICLE LINK - http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0001626921

I found myself in that article's photo!

The lone green lightstick raised up in the middle belongs to my arm, and you can kinda see my head in that crowd...and Rokun is right there to the left closer to the stage. Anyone else spot themselves?

And here's daigong's recording of Momusu arriving at JFK:


Also, I feel like this is a good time to point out: one of the things I really enjoyed about this New York trip was that there were so many people, from here and elsewhere, that I wanted to meet and spend time with, that any potential individual issues were pretty much overshadowed by being able to seek out more positive vibes so easily. Of course, it also resulted in a dilemma of maybe having too many people that I wanted to meet and spend time with that I was overwhelmed by how to split my time!

A very appropriate intro for the next chapter of my post-by-post recap!

Day 3

So...my plan for Saturday was to have lunch with whoever, do karaoke in the afternoon, then maybe dinner, then Hello Party and whatever other afterparty at night. Yeah, I kinda messed that one up.

Woke up early-ish and ventured out into the rain-soaked morning, heading straight to Times Square to meet up with daigong and pika to figure out what their plans are. We swung by Kinokuniya for a bit, in which I felt little motivation to really buy anything cuz I got this store at home (plus music selection was just as sparse in NY as it is in SF). Then I remembered I needed to check something back at my hotel; took care of that, then went back to Times Square while trying to contact kitaoji and Rayle/Rokun/Yuu about their lunch plans and also contacting Slack and daigong about what they're about to do. Three separate groups, all full of people I wanted to spend time with, all doing their own things...yeah, I got pretty damn indecisive. So I just settled for having lunch with Slack and his people and just catching up with my original planned karaoke group after. Went to a diner on 49th Street, ended up doing the split tables again because other people were hungry, sat with Chibs, CKD, and Amped, and had a relatively quiet lunch. But whatever talks we did have were good, and the chicken sandwich I had was pretty tasty.

Rain eased up as we left, then I split from that group to head south on the subway and meet up with another group that I thought would be meeting at Duet35...but it turns out they were all still at their hotel in SoHo! So I got back into the subway to make my way there; I was a bit confused on which route to take, so I settled for a familiar transfer pattern (which turned out to be the exact set of trains/stops I took with H!P fans two years ago!) that would dump me near where I needed to be...except I found myself waiting forever at the brown line transfer. Getting impatient, I was about to leave the station but ended up running into HashirePomeranian and her friends just as they were getting in! Our brief moment of catching up ended when the train I was waiting for finally arrived, so we said our goodbyes and I ventured my way to a hotel in East Village.

The planned karaoke group had decided to stay indoors for concert DVD viewing instead! It was Rayle, Rokun, Yuuyami, Yuu's friend Mimi, and kitaoji trying to set things up; also there was kitaoji's friend Madara of MM-BBS, who I was meeting for both the second time and first time--he was present at the Berryz NJ event and even had some photos of me on his blog, but this was our first time actually talking to each other. The attempts to get an HDMI cable into the appropriate TV port was quite a struggle that spawned a very JPH!P-esque conversation throughout the whole thing (that Rayle already covered in an earlier post)...y'all just had to be there. We watched a bit of the H!P New Years Countdown from this past winter and took a few group photos before finally deciding to hit up Duet35...except we forgot to call ahead for reservations. We got to the place only to be told that the kind of room we wanted wasn't available, so Rokun called a related karaoke place, Duet53, to make reservations for tonight under the assumption that Hello Party would be close to wrapping up by the time we had to get there.

Some of us were hungry and some of us weren't, so we left Duet35 and ventured down 5th Avenue to work up an appetite and see the sights of the city, as the rain had completely gone away by then. We swung by the library behind Bryant Park for a bit, and it was around this time that I found out that some other people had encountered Momusu wandering the city streets! No such luck for us, though. Madara then led us to a diner on 44th Street; I had some beer and split a fish & chips plate with Rayle while everyone else chowed down on full meals (though I think someone had cereal? ). Then it was off to Hello Party!

The Hello Party crew definitely stepped their game up from two years ago! Last time was a loose party setting in couple of hotel convention rooms, this time the organizers secured a really fancy venue (that kinda reminded me of a GoldenEye/Perfect Dark arena ) with a dedicated staff, organizing lines and carrying walkie-talkies and shit! We got in line and I had some brief reunions with fellow 2012 NYC adventurers who were working as staff. After I checked in, got my kickstarter contribution shirt, and filled out my name tag (no oshi dilemma this time!), I checked out the free merchandise table but couldn't find anything I was interested in, then went into the main stage room and took a seat in the middle of the Zukki row while most of my group filled up the seemingly-empty Riho row in front of me. The games were fun to watch, but I never got called up to participate--I probably should've stood up right away when they called out empty seats since the hosts ended up picking random people when that happened. Slack was pretty good with the song intro game, kitaoji nearly fell off the stage doing the kendo spin game, Madara drew some kind of bear mouse thing in the telephone drawing game. Nobody in our group got picked for the last game, so we took that time to take care of our raffle tickets and cheki photos with a lifesized cardboard Sayu! We went back in just as the games wrapped up, and chilled at the venue for a bit during the intermission waiting for the dance party to start up (while watching the #helloparty4 Twitter feed get trolled on the big screen). Unfortunately because everything started late we didn't stay long once the music started up; still, I made sure to at least get some stage time in with a brief rendition of the Chappelle's Show robot dance.

Madara split from us as it was getting late for him, then I reluctantly followed my group out the venue as we high-tailed it 12 blocks to Duet53. I did my best to contact daigong and Slack to invite them to join us, but the karaoke place was underground and I didn't have signal, so our group held down the fort for a bit. Lots of silly renditions of J-pop, K-pop, and American songs ensued, and I remembered quickly how difficult it was to read furigana on the fly. I got my scream on with "Shabondama" and dueting Beastie Boys' "Sabotage" with Rayle; Slack and his people joined us for the second hour of our booked time and got a bit of singing in as well.

We wrapped things up at midnight and hit the subway, and I split from the group at the Times Square station to head over to daigong's hotel for some late night drinking, where apparently a rum/coke mix was waiting just for me! Finally got to meet Kimuuu, JFC and Hart for the first time! BigFreaky and a bunch of NSK peeps/associates were there too, and lots of drunken noise was made; we even got a few calls from the lobby warning us. Someone was also giving away free AKB "Labrador Retriever" CDs, which served as convenient coasters for us. Around 2 AM we all decided to head outside into the cold night to see who's lined up at the Best Buy Theater already, and got treated to a bit of wotagei demonstration by the brave souls camping out there. But it was getting late and cold, so I cut out at 2:30 to head back to my Queens hotel, as the big day was ahead.

So yeah, a bit of a clusterfuck on my end--really wanted to stick around for the dance party, but also wanted to do karaoke as well--but lessons learned; I'm determined to be more organized and on top of things next time. Still, don't get me wrong, Saturday was still pretty fun.

[rokun]

Hey I keep appearing in pictures here, even terms of use-breaching placeholder pics I hear we still have many J-news reports to come, as well as of course more independent interviews such as Slack's. I look forward to everything still to come!!!

I still need to do that concert run-down sometime... I'll need at least a setlist in front of me though if not the actual video in order to be well-detailed although... I wonder if there would be any point then? lol

In the meantime, thanks J for your day-by-day rundown it almost matches UF-Link's update timing, lol.

[JFC]

A whole whackload of stuff today.


Firstly, a "Live" report...which has been posted nearly 2 weeks after the concert took place.

MTV81.com - Super Idols Morning Musume。’14 Make Unforgettable New York Debut
- http://www.mtv81.com/features/live-reports/super-idols-morning-musume14-make-unforgettable-new-york-debut/



Next, another translated blog post (this time from Tsunku himself) courtesy of the peeps at blog-project.net.

Morning Musume。’14　New York Performance Ended without a Hitch！ (Tsunku♂)
Special Translations | By Skoban | October 17, 2014

For Morning Musume。, this is their 2nd time on the American mainland、
But compared to last time, I think that the crowd was thicker with fans。

And、 I really felt、
That they were looking forward to the current, new type of Morning Musume。’14。

I may be singing my own praises、 but to for my music to be booming in the heartland, America itself、
Seeing the enthusiastic response with my own eyes、
It let me confirm my belief that I wasn’t wrong in what I had done so far、 what I had created。

The moment the concert started、 as the members appeared on-stage, the venue was filled with screams of encouragement。
There were also many female fans、 and the feeling of everyone cheering them on, Japanese-style
It was great, it was truly heart-warming。

Having said that、 it’s like something new will begin from now on、
That’s the hunch I have。

Until Michishige Sayumi graduates、 and for Morning Musume。 beyond that
I humbly beg for your kindness！

TRANSLATED BLOG LINK - http://blog-project.net/special-translations/211623
ORIGINAL BLOG LINK - http://ameblo.jp/tsunku-blog/entry-11935296841.html



Thirdly:

From UP-FRONT LINK'S Twitter:

[EN] Morning Musume。'14 report in New York Day 1, check it out!
~snip~

Follow-ups from UP-FRONT LINK'S Twitter:

[EN] The part 1 of Morning Musume。'14 report has also been updated with new pictures and comments!
- https://www.facebook.com/notes/up-front-link/en-morning-musume14-live-concert-in-new-york-part-1/763353087056944

- https://twitter.com/UpFrontLink/status/522697259134107649
- https://www.facebook.com/notes/up-front-link/en-morning-musume14-live-concert-in-new-york-part-1/763353087056944

[EN] Morning Musume。'14 report New York day 2 is there, do not miss it!!
- https://www.facebook.com/notes/up-front-link/en-morning-musume14-live-concert-in-new-york-part-2/763899693668950

- https://twitter.com/UpFrontLink/status/522696292489641985
- https://www.facebook.com/notes/up-front-link/en-morning-musume14-live-concert-in-new-york-part-2/763899693668950

[EN] Here is the day 3 of Morning Musume。'14 in New York, a must read!!
- http://tiny.cc/mm14ny-part3 

- https://twitter.com/UpFrontLink/status/523156561393225728
- https://www.facebook.com/notes/up-front-link/en-morning-musume14-live-concert-in-new-york-part-3/766644246727828




And last (for today), from H!O's Twitter, a magazine featuring a photo of the girls taken during the trip on it's cover.

Morning Musume '14 grace the cover of CD Journal
- http://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B00OABTLO6

- https://twitter.com/hello_online/status/522413772527648769
- http://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B00OABTLO6

[J-Triumf]

Holy shit I can't believe it's been two weeks since the concert already! Fittingly enough I just finished writing up my recap of the day's events, although it's a long one! But I do this as a way of helping myself remember and re-live the stuff that's happened, and maybe it'll help some of y'all too with remembering what you guys were doing at the times I quote. Feel free to harass me if this kind of shit is too much or if I got any details wrong.

Day 4

Maybe it was the combo of excitement and nervousness for the day ahead...maybe it was because of all the alcohol I had the night before...but I only got 3 hours of sleep Sunday morning. Tried my best to go back to sleep, but anticipation got the best of me, so I got out of bed a bit earlier than planned. Stayed in contact with peeps about the status of the Best Buy Theater line, which apparently had wrapped around to 45th Street already!

Stepped out of my hotel, and yeah, it was kinda cold outside. But I was expecting it, despite my wardrobe choice, and I've been through worse, so it wasn't too bad; the only regret was the jacket I brought for this trip--I wanted to wear something green for the concert, which I expected would involve lots of movement and sweating, so I brought my really thin windbreaker instead of my fleece one that got left at home. I probably should've brought both, but oh well. I hopped on the train to Manhattan, but my first stop would be 34th Street because I had to stop by Party City for some glowsticks. I was also about to get breakfast from McDonalds at that time, but I wasn't quite hungry yet, plus I wanted to see if anyone else (who wasn't in line) was gonna get lunch somewhere, so I skipped it for the time being. Got back on the subway to Times Square, headed straight for the Best Buy Theater entrance just to see who else showed up early, then walked around to Broadway to see just how deep the line went! Definitely some hardcore peeps out there, but luckily my VIP ticket spared me from needing to camp. Said hi to some familiar faces in line, worked my way past the construction on 45th, then found the rest of the line, where Bryan and Jen Veloso were slowly meeting with all the other fans and letting everyone take pictures with the cardboard Sayu! I explored the rest of the line to see where it ended at the time, then I went back to Broadway for some sunlight and to figure out my lunch plans; daigong was off at Grand Central and I didn't feel like going all the way there for food, so in another bout of indecisiveness I settled for a hot dog from a food cart.

With the VIP folks scheduled to be split from the rest of the ticket holders later on, I spent the rest of my outdoor time hanging out with kitaoji, Rayle, Rokun, Yuuyami, and Mimi; in order to combat the cold they decided to play some H!P music to dance along to. One of the linegoers near us, who apparently was 15 years old, shocked us when she revealed her lack of familiarity with "Romantic Ukare Mode"...that's when it hit me: has it already been this long since I became a fan??? Those five years have certainly gone by quickly, it seems. HashirePomeranian and her peeps eventually went around to hand out all the pink glowsticks (with instructions), and more and more passersby were inquiring what our line was for. Also, while we were waiting, Rayle got word that she won a King Blade from the previous night's raffle! The Velosos came around to give her the prize, and Rayle decided to let me borrow it for the concert since she was already prepped for lights and I was gonna be down in the mosh pit near the stage anyway! So once again thank you for that.

Venue staff then started to round up all the VIP ticket holders, leading us through the Minskoff Theatre breezeway (entrance for the Lion King musical) and into our own special line to enter the Best Buy Theater through a side entrance. The amount of clumped up bodies we packed into there wasn't quite enough to counteract the cold breeze, though. During our two-hour wait we saw people with cameras rolling by, but Rokun and I were tucked away near the back wall so I don't think we were recorded; also some people were giving away CDs for Lyrical School, which we never got since it was also mainly the people on the outer parts of the line getting everything. Venue staff slowly started working through our crowd to hand out VIP bonuses, getting each item one at a time while they did mere quick looks at our tickets for VIP status. It was awesome to see how our autographed lanyards were actually signed one by one by the girls themselves rather than having their signatures printed on.

3 PM rolled around and we were eventually let into the venue; I left my backpack at the coat check, but then a bit of confusion happened when everyone was trying to figure out which lines were for merchandise and which lines were for the concert hall. I decided to pass on merchandise; I already had a CD, wasn't too interested in photosets or towels, and while I kinda wanted the shirt, I wasn't sure if they were going by Japanese sizing, in which case I wouldn't have liked the fit anyway (I like my shirts big and loose). When I got to the concert hall I made sure to get as close as possible with as good a stage view as possible, which meant being in front of the right (or is it left) side of the stage. Talked a bit with other fans around me, including someone I hung out with two years ago who helped me and a couple others navigate the subways to Penn Station back then...and there was a random singing of Happy Birthday to someone named Melissa (I think that was her name). I looked back at the rest of the concert hall as it slowly filled up with everyone else, and it seemed like I (with everyone else) were gradually shifting to the left for better viewing...which I didn't realize would actually be a detriment for me later. I also kept an eye out for any important people up in the side balcony seating, but I didn't recognize anyone.

The venue music quieted down and the lights dimmed...IT WAS SHOWTIME! The girls came out in reverse seniority order...then ONE TWO THREE!

Highlights of the show for me, since it was simultaneously memorable and a blur:

• Compared to Berryz two years ago, this concert was nominally longer yet seemed to go by faster. The difference? I actually knew by heart all but two of the songs going into this one!
• Remember how I said the gradual shift to the left would be detrimental? There ended up being a big guy, red shirt with Maachan-colored glowsticks, diagonally in front and to the left of me; he didn't block the view in front of me but he did interfere with my view of the other side of the stage...THE SIDE OF THE STAGE ZUKKI WAS PRIMARILY ON AAAJDGL;J;DKLF WHYYYYYY : Well, at least it wasn't as bad as trying to find a viewpoint between two tall guys during the Berryz concert...and with the amount of energy I planned to expend for this, I made sure to jump whenever feasible for better viewing, which was actually pretty fun in itself (and I didn't land on anyone's foot this time!).
• Speaking of Zukki, that had to be THE highlight for me, being part of the huge pop she received during the English introductions! Seeing her stumble, unable to finish saying her own name, that huge grateful, surprised smile on her face...I'll admit got choked up for a bit. But yeah, the English introductions from everyone were pretty fun; it seems that they've all worked fairly well on their pronounciations. Ayumi giving a special shout to all the people in the back seemed fitting. Eripon's Spider-Man bit was great, and the fact that she played along with the "eeeeeeeehhhh" call (which upon further video review it was definitely Rayle/kitaoji/Yuu/Mimi who tried to start it first). And of course Riho was adorable trying to remember her lines. YOU CAN DO IT!
• I'll also proudly admit I almost cried while trying to sing along during the "I Wish" performance...it really is that kind of song, and being able to see the girls perform it in person meant a lot.
• On the other hand, I'll shamefully admit that there were times where I just couldn't keep up with the concert due to poor physical preparation. The lack of sleep and food from earlier were catching up to me, and there were a couple times when I thought I would have to leave to sit down and take a break from the energetic atmosphere. But I managed to hold it together as well as I could...really thankful I didn't have to camp outside in the early morning. Remember to eat and sleep well for these kinds of things, people!
• Looking back at the sea of pink lights during "Lalala no Pipipi" was awesome. Many thanks to HashirePomeranian for pushing for it!
• Speaking of lights, having a King Blade was pretty cool. It was much brighter than the Party City glowsticks I bought, and being able to change colors was a plus: I kept switching to the appropriate member colors during the English intros, switched to pink during Sayu's solo, and made sure to switch to red for "Password is Zero" because WATSUGOZARA KAMOZALAND. I also tried skywriting Sayu's name during the encore call.
• With so many songs in Momusu's discography there only so many they could perform for us, but the ones I was most disappointed in not seeing were "Do It! Now" (which I believe is part of the autumn tour), "Egao no Kimi wa Taiyou sa" (my favorite of the recent A-sides and an all-time favorite as well), and "Kimi Sae Ireba Nani mo Iranai" (because 2000 PEOPLE ON THE DANCE FLOOR). But hey, they did "Kimagure Princess", the first new single after I became a fan, so that was a nice moment of things coming full circle for me.
• As for people with their cameras out and taking photos/videos, as long as they're not blocking my view I actually don't mind too much. If they wanna gimp their own live experience by looking through a tiny screen that's their prerogative, and I'll admit being thankful they're sacrificing themselves while I concentrate on my own live experience, because being able to see pics and videos online right away is admittedly pretty cool. Personally I've taken photos during concerts in the past, but I kept it at a minimum and made sure to only do it when it was safe for myself or my equipment.
• Lastly, during the first half of the concert there was this middle-aged woman to the left of me who clearly wasn't a fan, I think she was only there because of her son who was standing in front of me. I couldn't help but notice in the corner of my eye that she was looking at me a few times in shock, or at least it felt that way, because of how loud and crazy I was and how crowded and smushed together the whole place was. Eventually I did say something to her, asking if she was fine and not too freaked out by us H!P fans, and she told me it's okay and that she understands; she eventually left with her son in the middle of the concert.

Exhausted and coming down from the emotional high of the concert, I found myself doing a little dance as I made my way through the dispersing crowd. Rokun caught up with me, and we took our seats in the upper seating area as the venue prepared for the handshake portion of the show. Being as tired as I was, I tried to think of what I wanted to say to each member but I just couldn't come up with anything good, so I decided to just relax and wing it. We were in the third row, so we were amongst the first to go; in retrospect, we probably should've sat further back for more time to see the girls.

I got to the table, the bald guy checked my wristband, then it was handshake time--I know I already posted about this, but I'm going into a bit more detail now. Sakura was first; I didn't know what to say to her, so I simply said "otsukaresama deshita" and "welcome to New York". It was the same thing for Duu, except I also managed to throw in "空港で見た" (I saw you at the airport) for good measure, and yeah, I was proud of myself for getting the right word this time (I had said "飛行機", meaning "airplane", to Saki Shimizu two years ago). Then there was Maachan...who I ended up calling "Sato-san"! Yes, this was the first sign of me losing my mind from being both exhausted and starstruck, but in retrospect I think it's pretty cool that I had my own Maachan moment when meeting Maachan herself! Ayumi and Haruna were admittedly a blur for me, in that I know I shook hands with them and said something, but I can't really remember how Ayumi's went, and Haruna's felt a bit rushed because...it was time for Kanon! Being able to see that great smile up close again, all I could manage to say was "ICHIBAN DAISUKI"; anything else I might've wanted to say would've took too much time. But I was so happy to finally meet her that Riho, my second favorite in the group, ended up being a blur as well; I know I said something to her, but I can't remember at all. And, because I was pretty much mentally reeling at this point, I got to Eripon but nearly forgot what her name was! I kept things basic with Fukuchan, but being so tired and excited at this point I was starting to get a bit physically numb, so I have no idea if she gave me the famous Fukumura Lock. And lastly there was Sayu; I should've said something about her graduation, but I stuck with the basic stuff. So yeah, the handshakes were fun, but went by way too fast for my liking. I think I prefer a live autograph session; no guarantees for handshakes but at least we get to spend more time admiring and talking to the girls that way.

I left the concert hall and retrieved my backpack from coat check, returned the King Blade to Rayle, and we all (well, most of us) headed upstairs to leave the venue. We stuck around outside while I inquired about dinner plans, which were still more than an hour away. I also found out that kitaoji and Yuuyami were still inside; I would later find out that it was because Yuu was trying to redeem a free prize for possessing a Samsung phone while in the venue...I too have a Samsung phone and regret not knowing and taking advantage. As soon as I found out where the dinner place was, I found myself running back and forth in a bit of confusion over who took care of the reservations! But eventually daigong and Slack emerged and led most of the group to the restaurant to take care of things; I ended up sticking around Best Buy Theater with kitaoji (who secured personalized autographs from the group), Yuuyami, Mimi, and CKD, and we waited for Momusu to come out, a bit of a role reversal of Friday. Venue staff barricaded a path for them, and eventually they did come out, back in their Tiki Bun outfits, to take a group photo with themselves up on the marquee behind them.

Afterwards they went back into the venue, and we finally went over to the restaurant while kitaoji stayed behind. After a brief bit of confusion over seating I ended up sitting with daigong and several others for an 8-person booth setup meant for 6! But there was enough food for all to go around. We had to cook the meats ourselves on the grill in the middle of the table, which led to lots of messy attempts and flames flaring up as we flipped the strips over. Also managed to get two servings of asparagus because the waiter thought it was fish, and at one point t3hDave came over and served as a temporary "waiter" serving us our own rice! I don't know how the other tables were, but we were pretty loud; we made sure to tip the waiter well for putting up with our shit. After a few group photos with everyone (who was done with dinner anyway--I think Slack and company were still chowing down) we all headed down to 42nd Street, as some folks needed to get on the F train while the rest of us were heading to daigong's hotel for more drinking; kitaoji reunited with us along the way. We said our goodbyes to Yuuyami and Mimi (who had trouble standing up at this point) who were both leaving early in the morning, then headed upstairs for another drinking party. kitaoji left early because she had morning plans, then other peeps rolled in. I think this was when I finally found out that JFC and Kuno Thunder were brothers, a fact that flew right over my head the whole time I've been on this forum! Some guys decided to leave around 1 AM to get stuff, and I decided I needed to leave too after an exhausting day and having my own morning plans; went back to Queens accompanied by another fellow concertgoer who lived in that direction. Got to my hotel, promptly beat myself up mentally for my goofs with both Saturday scheduling and the handshakes, but simultaneously reflected happily on everything else that's happened...

Another American H!P event all wrapped up! But my vacation with other HiPstas wasn't over yet!

[kitaoji]

I'd like to make a few quiet notes while you guys go step-by-step with your recaps.  Occupational hazards, whoops.

1) DAIGONG IS AWESOME.
Seriously, I've never seen someone who's so generous and happy and an outgoing guy to be with.  We got JPH!P wristbands and he bought extra tickets for us to give out while in line (sorry man, we failed) and gave Yuuchan his handshake ticket... yep, all in all, awesome guy.

2) NEW YORK IS INSANE.
... or I now realize how much of the provinces San Francisco really is.  I can give you all sorts of work-related reasons (the traffic lights are lousy! There's no traffic law enforcement! Too many one way streets! etc.), but really, the first time I went to New York I was with the aging parents and fell sick (plus interviews), so being able to explore and walk more of the city this time was a great touch to some much-needed downtime.

...Although you'd have to cattleprod me into going back to Brooklyn (and you can't use the transit museum as an excuse).

3) BEST CONCERT EVER.
Not getting VIP meant that I didn't even try to make our way towards the front as I did for Lovendor and Kikka last year, and hanging out in the back with Rayle to be as obnoxious as possible (yes, we instigated the Eripon-Ehhhh and Yuuchan's friend totally started the Sayumi call and Rayle and I will be the instigators of the Zukki and Maachan calls if you ever hear us) was frankly one of the gold moments of my life.  I'm not a rowdy concertgoer.  My definition of live music is still "sit politely in a chair and listen to ensembles/small quartets play", other than H!P.  So being in the back really let me be as outgoing as possible.

4) DAMN LUCK KEEPS EXPIRING.
As a contact wota, though, this trip failed on so many accounts of my bad planning.  I took long enough of a vacation and managed to
a) overstay in Boston as MM were flying into JFK
b) give up on the handshake tickets too early (but my initial calculations were TOTALLY RIGHT; score one for being a field engineer!)
c) jump the gun too early with seeing MM off at the airport (and then restrained by J-Tri on Tuesday)

If it totally weren't for Yuuchan's phone I would have never gotten that A5 photo, so thank you muchly Yuuchan! :DThat said, I'd still like to see the girls face to face, so it's time to i) save for a smorgasbord of handshake tickets; ii) plan for more theater opportunities because JFC there's going to be more Lilium-related shows oh yes pretty please

5) MORE MOBS AND LINE UP TIME PLEASE.
Out of all the times I've had to excessively queue, this really was the best time ever. I left my ipod at home on Sunday, otherwise we would have sung much more, and it was great talking to fans lined up for such a long time.  Even when waiting for the girls to be done with their post concert interview (so I could collect my damn photos), I basically chatted up every single staff member and fans who were milling about.  The BBT staff admitted that they were a bit frazzled by all this crazy lining up and lack of communication this time round; but you'll be surprised that security just went meh and thought it was a great gig compared to the stuff they've done before.  As bizarre as it sounds, just being able to talk to more people this time round made the trip better.

And that's all that I really have to say.  I converted to TIKI BUN finally after watching it live, and the rest of the performances were great. 

And Duu totally saw my Lilium T-shirt as I was waiting with the other diehard fans for the girls to leave, so good for you kid for having such good eyesight in the dark.

[pikapikapika]

I'll just do a little cut down version and blog it later on xD

Friday was a lot of travelling, 2 planes, fog delays, 2 hours of sleep, waking up early and standing in the immigration line for close to an hour, eventually I was free! and took the air train over to the 5th Terminal, where I was going to wait for boy & ten to appear in a couple of hours, but either from being late or time differences confusing me, they were actually still there, so I walked outside and met them, which you can see on their video! Then we took a crazy taxi ride to times square where the driver was pumping the gas so much he made boykun feel sick and screamed FUCK 500 times and went in all these crazy directions, which I thought was excellent because we got the authentic shitty driver treatment, I also seemed to find the only other scottish person there who we drove past.
Then we got back to their hotel for a while, before wandering around for a while in times square (some guy liked my totoro shirt!) and taking some 2 shots, looking at jeans and going to several places like the Cake Boss Cafe (the whole place reeked of sugar) ~GOGO CURRY~ and Muji to go buy several tote bags and pink socks, then Flyp was back at the hotel so we totes went to get him.


GOGO CURRY

boyten swarmed him with hugs and there wasn't really a place for me to go hug him too, so I just cupped his boobs and rested my head on his shoulder from behind, he seemed to enjoy it! I needed to meet up with Daigong at some point since him, JFC and me were staying together, so I left to go meet up with Dai since he was at toys R us. As J-Tri was saying, I was the random dude that hugged him, which was totally on purpose because I saw him from outside and snuck up to him I finally met dai YEAH!!! he chest bumped me into OUTER SPACE so I almost fell over, I dropped my stuff off at the hotel, then after meeting with Manamin, Chibs and some others we crushed into John's Pizza where I finally met YUUYAMI yeahhhh!! but I was trapped inside a booth and couldn't talk to her for hours after we were all done eating, but it was nice meeting her finally after playing 500 different games with her online over the years
I'm not entirely sure what happened after this, maybe the B1A4 stuff happened and we took some more Times Square pics but I was pretty tired after all that travelling and no sleeping so I went to bed pretty early, even though that was still like 5am in the morning my time.


Times Square at night

Saturday I slept in, but since it was New York time, this was really 8am XDD the rain was crazy on this day and J-Tri eventually came over and we went to Kinokuniya, which had SO much stuff I wanted upstairs, eventually J disappeared and me and Dai spent a lot of time looking at magazines and pens in the basement \o/ I ended up buying 2 magazines and none of the stuff I wanted... haha.


It really was raining a lot!

We headed back to hotel for a bit since it was raining so much, then later we headed to Muji and Dai got a raincoat. Then we heard the others were in Nintendo World, so we headed up there and saw this awesome statue.


It's some copper statue wrapped up...xDDD

Nintendo World was so cool! I've never seen so many Mario plush toys, I was really close to getting a Cat Mario but they also had Tanooki Luigi and I couldn't decide, so I ended up buying neither... whoops, haha. But I did get 2 Tshirts, classic Zelda and SUPER NINTENDO. When I went up to pay for them, the clerk noticed my tshirt and called over his coworkers to look at it "woah! it's a Pokeball death star!" My T-shirts got noticed 2 out of 2 so far


This Zelda treasure chest opened with the Zelda music!! da da da daaa~~~

We headed to Lego world and looked at all the cool Lego sets, but by this point it was past lunchtime and Dai and I were starving because we hadn't eaten all day so we split up and headed to Grand Central for some food, there was so much to pick but dai got a croissant filled with tuna salad, and that looked good so I got the chicken version, and it was! Kimmu was in the city at this point and we were kinda struggling to meet up with her. I know now that her hotel literally is just around the corner from there but at the time we couldn't really find her and both of our phones stopped working so we just kind of wandered around and went to midtown comics which we bumped into.


Kind of warm today!

Then we wandered up 3rd avenue for a good while and I just took some random pics of stuff. Daigong had been looking for Subways all that day and yesterday to get his Taylor Swift cup (I have no idea why we only saw 2 the whole time we were there) so we go in and Dai buys it, pretends to pour ice and just walks out XDD eventually we got around to 34th/Park Ave and took some shots of the empire state, Daigong ate the building and I zoomed in to the top and swore some guy just waved at me (he didn't) then I used one of my ill advised mobile data checks and got a line message from Kimmu, then we got up to 35th, where Kimmu was!


Thx to Kimmu for letting me use this

After some waffle & ice cream eats and a root beer float explosion, Hart found us too and it was time for karaoke at duet 35. We sung for an hour in English because there were no spare Japanese language machines so we had almost a 90's revival with Green Day, Wu Tang Clan, Snoop, Garbage and others. Also I sung Judas Priest's Painkiller for a joke song... I broke my voice screaming the words! then we did Bohemian Rhapsody at full volume, then Hart rickrolled us perfectly at the end with Never Gonna Give You Up XDD We walked back to Times Square and on the way passed a Tim Hortons, then Kimmu spotted this place, which we had no idea what it was, but it had the Vivid logo and looked like a club, and it was next to a sex shop... what could it be!?


We were very confused!

Well I couldn't tell at the time on my camera screen, but looking at the pic it says "Vivid Cabaret" and it's actually this place, with a 25 foot stripper pole? haha wow, it was a strip club after all!
I'm kind of fuzzy about this part, I know we went back to the hotel first because my friend from Quebec had arrived and I was trying to meet with her. The Hello Party had started but it was pretty late before we even thought about going lolol. JFC came around this time too I'm sure, he's so nice!! Along with a bunch of others like Big Freaky \o/ Eventually we headed out to the Hello Party but I think someone said the magic words ~GOGO CURRY~ along the way and we just skipped the whole thing and ate there instead (totally worth it).


yeahh!

We went around the back and waved to Johpan before security got mad and escorted us out of there, haha
We went back to the hotel to begin drinking the large amount of booze ping and tenkei brought with them, have 2 actual bartenders at a party really is the best thing ever, I think we sat and watched Django Unchained for most of it? or was that earlier? who cares I don't know xDD Daigong gave us an epic speech and we got our HEART SHAPED JPH!P WRISTBANDS 2K14!! YEAHH this was so great, even if there was a chance that we would get thrown out of our hotel, hahaha


JPHIIIIIIIIP


Behold, wall of drunk


"Hey, everyone say hi to Almond!"


Handy Coasters!

Eventually we headed out at 3am to go look at the people who were actually waiting outside for the concert in the morning, and again, I bumped into Afro Stud who I had met in Paris for Berryz/C-ute. He was apparently first in the line, and he was telling me about how the TSA pulled him aside and wrecked his phone... glad that didn't happen to me, lol. If you check out Kimmu's pics or Dai's video later you can see a bunch of the wotagei Flyp and some others did out in the street. Some guys walked past and shouted "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOIN!?" then later came back over, and one dude got really close up to someone, I thought there was going to be a fight, hahaha. Not sure what happened after that, but eventually we were back at the hotel and it was time for Kimmu to go back to her hotel so I walked her back then came home to mine, which was a bit scary by myself, especially with the old dude wandering around with his pants around his ankles and swearing at everyone XDDDDDDDDDD


Bryant Park, where dudes don't wear pants

I slept in again but, hey hey this is New York, so it was 8am again so I just played with my phone until the others woke up, Ping stayed too and woke up first because he got a phonecall to go watch Chelsea? play at a pub with boytenflyp I felt so sorry for him, he looked so tired then walked out ^^;; by this time there was already a sizable line for the concert, but we just took our time. Eventually everyone was up and JFC and Dai went off to eat at Grand Central again, I split to meet up with my friend Andie from Quebec who was already lined up, I had never met her before and because of my sucky mobile data situation, we just communicated by text messages, so it was hard to find her in the line because it was already split into 5 long lines by this point, stretching around the block to the Lion King at the other side of the block, I saw lots of familiar looking faces everywhere while I was searching for her, I talked to Slack's friend, then CKD who I gave some JPH!P stickers to pass out, then as I was going down the line I was seeing more and more people I felt like I knew from somewhere, it was really weird. Eventually I got a text that my friend was in the Lion King area/Juniors line, then I bumped into Yuu/Rayle/Kitaoji/Yuu's friend again who were at the front of the line there, and of course Yuu was so SMALL AND ADORABLE AND REALLY CUTE (since I should have said that in person!) so I had to hang around for a while. At some point a girl and her mom came up to us and asked if it was the end of the line, I thought she looked really familiar and the girl looked right at me and was dressed up with a wig and makeup, I thought she was cosplaying... I didn't find out until later but this was Wotachan and her mother, I'm so sorry! If I knew it was you I would have said hello ^^;;


Not a bad place to line up, though!

After a little while I found my friend Andie! and she ran over and hugged me, then I met her friends and one of them went "Attack on Titan!!" to my T-Shirt and showed me her survey corps bag and I shook her hand xDD Tshirts noticed 3 of 3!!!! Andie and I walked off to her hotel as we were going to pick up her other friend who I assume just slept in, or was packing for later on or something, lol. We caught up with each other on the way up there, it was really nice to meet her finally \o/ She told me about all the stuff she had been doing while we were struggling to meet up with each other, and she had been either really near to where I was or was there just before or at the same time at Duet 35, Nintendo World, and a bunch of other places, even when walking from her hotel she passed ours several times when I was in there XDDD oh dear. Eventually we got to her hotel....which was Kimmu's hotel XDDDDDD good lord, I was there only hours before. So I sent Kimmu a message that I was at her hotel and she was like "outside?" and I said "no on the 9th floor" and that freaked her out, hahaha. Andie and her friend still had to pack some stuff so I came down to the lobby to hang out with Kimmu for a while, eventually Andie and her friend came down so we walked back in the direction of the line. We split at my hotel so Kimmu could come up for a bit and leave her bag, and I think Dai and JFC were back by then? I totally forget! After a while we went back to the line so we could wait forever for the thing to start, I had to stop off and get Manamin some water as she was suffering a bit in the line ^^; so I gave it to her on the way along, as well as seeing Andie for a little bit, but not for as long as I would like, then we met up with Jayson and Flyp and I thought people were going to follow me to the end, but no-one did and I was stuck at the end xDD I don't know why I stayed but I just figured someone would come along .. and they didn't Eventually Afro Stud showed up and showed me his after party wristband, but also there was a Japanese fan and his friend handing out extra copies of singles that he had and didn't want to go waste, so nice! I got a copy of Wagamama Ki no Mama Ai no Joke regular B, since I have limited A that was fun, sealed copy and everything! Kimmu was leaving at this point so I messaged her saying I was further back and she came to see me and say byebye so we took a pic too! Aw! I was really sad, I'll miss Kimmu a lot!


See you again Kimmuu!!! ;o;

Later boyten came around with a box of the Sayu pink glowsticks and gave me a ton of them, haha, tenkei wondered why I was on my own then later on I followed him back up to where JFC, Hart, Flyp Jayson and the others were, and I chat n' cutted for a few seconds XDD we waited for a good long while, not moving for hours, I streetpassed with Jayson and and Hart (I think I got up to 5 with Hart xD) and got some of tenkei's leftover carrot cake cheesecake slice from Juniors because he couldn't finish it, and I couldn't finish what was left over either, even though that was the only thing I had eaten so far that day, that's some thick stuff, haha. After what felt like forever we finally moved in the line to get in, which itself still seemed to take forever, my legs were already sore before the show even started JFC and me were both trying to suffer through it with being the designated old guys in the line . Eventually we got in, and Hart, JFC and myself joined the LINE FROM HELL for merchandise.


ARGHH

This pic is only a part of how long it was, we were stretched all the way from one entrance to the hall to another and the line didn't move at all for god knows how long. At one point, I don't know how, I managed to drop my wallet on the floor and a Japanese fan found it and gave it back to me, thank god, I would have been in big trouble! But... to be honest, maybe I was falling asleep again and dropped it?! I found myself just randomly passing out a lot for a few seconds on the trip so maybe it happened again!? D: Anyway, after a bunch of time had passed they told us that they were no longer selling merchandise, just CDs for the handshake event at the end, not that this made the line move particularly faster, but it did actually move.. a bit...orz I wasn't having fun at all. They had a separate staff member handing out CDs for exact change, I had 27 but JFC gave me a dollar, thanks!! so I got mine a little earlier, but just ended up waiting for Hart and JFC anyway. Why it was suddenly 28 dollars and not 25, I have no idea, sales tax? I went into the packed hall with Hart as it was just about to start,  it got dark before he came in, but reading his report he went to the seating, which might have been a good idea because Hart and me were kind of in a sucky place in the middle area, stuck behind a lot of people. I could barely see myself, but Hart is shorter than me so I hope it wasn't too bad for him, we were under one of the TV monitors so it wasn't so bad when people got in front of us. The concert was aweeeeeeesome, Like I'm sure you've probably heard lots about it before from others so I won't bore you too much, but I really, really enjoyed myself, the formation dancing was super impressive, not a step wrong, even when their dresses got stuck and someone ran off stage for a minute (happened twice ) they covered it quite well. Zukki's reaction to her big cheer was priceless, there was even a sizeable sea of green for her too, which was really sweet! because of my crappy view I kind of lost sight of her a lot, and my other favs, but that's okay. We all broke our lightsticks at Lalala no Pipipi because this is Sayumi -> break! and I struggled to get them all into one hand, so I just doubled them up like Wolverine. The hall was so pink! Sayumi later on said "Sugoi! pinku!" :DD There was a girl next to me who didn't have any, so I gave her about half of mine, although I regret that a little because mine started to die towards the last part of the concert, haha.

Afterwards I saw Flyp and we double high 5'd then a whole bunch of us with the handshake & JPH!P wristbands held them in a circle like The Shield from WWE xDD I don't know if anyone got a pic of that, it was pretty cool.



We got moved to the seating area eventually to wait for the handshake for a good long while, I was sat next to Kuro and Greg and some others. Dai and Yuu were behind me and Dai said I kept dropping off asleep while I was waiting I totally don't remember. Andie was here somewhere but I couldn't see her at all, later on when she was going to get her handshake I tapped her on the shoulder so I could say byebye to her, I was really sad! Anyway eventually it was my turn, and I had no idea what to say! Unfortunately for me I was in the line when the security people were really rushing people and I was getting shoved along quite rapidly D: At other handshakes I've forgotten a lot of what happened because it all happens so fast and I'm really star struck and overwhelmed, but in this case I was really rushed I got less than a second in some cases. I remember speaking to Sakura in English, then it's a blur, I was being pushed along and could only really shake hands say thank you with many of the girls before being moved, during this part Zukki was one of the people I barely got to speak with and I was so sad about that! All I really got to say was her name in an excited way then I got moved along, the next thing I remember is shaking Eripon's hand, she's so cool XDD she gave me a cool expression and said thank you Then I remember shaking hands with Fukuchan who said "Shingeki no Kyojin" because she saw my Attack on Titan shirt, so I excitedly said yes and I got her special 2 handed handshake, haha. I ended up spending more time with her than anyone else because the person who was with Sayumi was talking a while. I say more time, but I mean 3 seconds instead of 1 lol. I got to Sayumi and my brain broke, I just don't know what happened, my voice got really soft and quiet and I hope I said congratulations to her, I think I did, and just a few things in Japanese before the staff got rid of me again. I think maybe because she looked really tired out from the concert I felt sorry for her or didn't want to take up her time? idk I was broken, completely, haha.


My concert view, and also why I didn't bother taking any pics XDD

I met up with JFC and some others outside, then eventually everyone came out, I got a streetpass from Manamin who had been bugging me since the beginning of the trip about it. I'm Scotland, so I'm special I guess? we then headed down to have Yakiniku with everyone. There were so many of us there, spread around the whole place, I was at a table with Freaky, Chibs, CKD, Ping & Jayson and we had the meat feast and some other things, which was gooood, apart from this chicken that Ping scared everyone about and I ended up being the designated chicken eater because no-one would touch it, hahaha


Cooking all that meat

Now this part I'm not entirely sure about, I know we took some group pics at the end, and I hugged Yuu goodbye twice outside our hotel since they were all leaving early to go to school the next day, crazyness! I know we were drinking too that night, but my memories are all mixed up with the night before and I forget what people were there and not there on each night lol. I do remember some people going to Halal Guys and bringing back a bunch of chicken & rice, and Flyp couldn't finish his so I had the rest of his, along with a bunch more great drinks from ping and tenkei \o/

Eventually everyone left and we didn't even get a noise complaint this time, great night (from what I remember, haha) then it was bedtime.


The sign in our hotel window after the airport :DD

Dai and JFC had an early flight back to Canada in the morning so we just hung out until check out time, then waited for their cab, it was time to say bye, so we took a couple pics!!


Yeaaaah

Haha we did The Shield thing too! Thanks for being such great roommates!! YEAHHHH JPH!P!!!!


my hand looks gigantic

I was at a bit of a loose end since my flight didn't leave until the evening, I did ask in the Line group if anyone wanted to do anything but no-one replied, so I just wandered around and did my own thing for most of the day. I went to a few places like the Hershey's store, Empire State, Central Park, found a 7/11 for a Slurpee and I basically wandered around and took a lot of pics. I even dropped by the Ghostbusters firehouse and the apartment building.


Who you gonna call?

I had intended to go to Videogames New York, but I went the wrong way on the Subway line and had a lot of trouble actually getting to JFK, I fell asleep on the train and ended up in the wrong Jamaica, oops D: Well, I made it in the end after a bunch of panicking, 2 flights later, I landed and went to work, hahaha...ugh.

Oh and the TSA lady, then the British Airways clerk both noticed my Batman & Joker shirt on the last day, 4 out of 4!!! \o/

Anyway, awesome trip, awesome friends and I'll see you all at the next one!! 

JPH!P!

[JFC]

asianbeat.com - [Pop Culture Chronicles] #11 Interview with Morning Musume。'14 After Their Concert Success in New York – How New York Changed Us and Our Plans From Here on
- http://asianbeat.com/en/popculture/011.html

[JFC]

From UP-FRONT LINK'S Twitter:

[EN] Morning Musume。'14 report in New York Day 1, check it out!
~snip~

Follow-ups from UP-FRONT LINK'S Twitter:

[EN] The part 1 of Morning Musume。'14 report has also been updated with new pictures and comments!
- https://www.facebook.com/notes/up-front-link/en-morning-musume14-live-concert-in-new-york-part-1/763353087056944

- https://twitter.com/UpFrontLink/status/522697259134107649
- https://www.facebook.com/notes/up-front-link/en-morning-musume14-live-concert-in-new-york-part-1/763353087056944

[EN] Morning Musume。'14 report New York day 2 is there, do not miss it!!
- https://www.facebook.com/notes/up-front-link/en-morning-musume14-live-concert-in-new-york-part-2/763899693668950

- https://twitter.com/UpFrontLink/status/522696292489641985
- https://www.facebook.com/notes/up-front-link/en-morning-musume14-live-concert-in-new-york-part-2/763899693668950

[EN] Here is the day 3 of Morning Musume。'14 in New York, a must read!!
- http://tiny.cc/mm14ny-part3 

- https://twitter.com/UpFrontLink/status/523156561393225728
- https://www.facebook.com/notes/up-front-link/en-morning-musume14-live-concert-in-new-york-part-3/766644246727828

One more!

[EN] Morning Musume。’14 Live Concert in New York Part 4, the final one!!
- https://www.facebook.com/notes/up-front-link/en-morning-musume14-live-concert-in-new-york-part-4/768975326494720

- https://twitter.com/UpFrontLink/status/525633499420569600
- https://www.facebook.com/notes/up-front-link/en-morning-musume14-live-concert-in-new-york-part-4/768975326494720

[J-Triumf]

I can't believe I forgot to include this in my concert recap, but one more awesome thing about the "I Wish" performance: you know how a lot of people raised a stink about how Riho sang the last line in the album version? At the concert she sounded amazing and sang it perfectly! It further fuels my theory that she's a much better singer live than in the studio.

2) NEW YORK IS INSANE.
... or I now realize how much of the provinces San Francisco really is.  I can give you all sorts of work-related reasons (the traffic lights are lousy! There's no traffic law enforcement! Too many one way streets! etc.), but really, the first time I went to New York I was with the aging parents and fell sick (plus interviews), so being able to explore and walk more of the city this time was a great touch to some much-needed downtime.

...Although you'd have to cattleprod me into going back to Brooklyn (and you can't use the transit museum as an excuse).

Come to think of it, this was also my first real visit to New York; my first actual visit in 1994 I was too young to really appreciate and was stuck getting dragged everywhere by family, and for my second visit in 2012 I simply didn't have enough time to properly explore beyond Midtown. But visiting as an adult, witth more time, on my own terms, and with friends, made a huge difference...now all I need to work on is more solid agenda planning. And yes, you saw how reluctant I was to leave on Tuesday, because damn the infrastructure makes our own big city look like such a backwards mess.

And on that note, here's the last part of my recap!

Day 5

If the first four days were dedicated to my current passion/interest in H!P and Momusu, the remainder of my trip would be dedicated to exploring a few of my older passions and interests. But hey, this trip happened because of Momusu, so it's still relevant.

Woke up at 9-ish and made plans to head into Manhattan again, except this time I took a detour: instead of going straight to the nearest train station for the yellow line, I took to the streets and walked my way to the Queensbridge housing projects! As hip-hop is my music background I had to swing by at least one of the culture's early hotbeds, although I didn't really explore too deep or for too long (besides not having enough time, I was also a lone tourist ). From there I took the subway into Manhattan and headed for the Lincoln Center--which, fittingly enough, was where I decided to end my NYC exploration in 2012--to meet up with Rayle and Rokun, and from there we went into Central Park. Lots of grassy areas were closed off, so we stuck to the paths, checking out the different lakes, park structures, statues, rock formations, sunbathing turtles...and of course had a "little" fun with my shrinking ability perspective photography. Around noon we got to the Museum of Natural History and hung out at the lobby for a bit; that's when I got in contact with kitaoji and found out she was at JFK looking for Momusu! Made plans to meet up with her later, then said goodbye to Rayle as she had to catch her flight.

But instead of going into the museum, Rokun and I went around the park some more, swinging over to the other side to check out the Metropolitan Museum, swing by the Guggenheim and around the Jackie Onassis Reservoir, then hopped on the subway to head south because Rokun needed to get his stuff from the hotel as it was his time to leave. We parted ways at the 34th Street stop, then I headed back to my hotel to grab my portable charger and then did some solo exploring of Long Island City as I pondered what to get for lunch, except I ended up skipping lunch completely to soak up the scenery. Got another call from kitaoji about meeting at the High Line park later, then got on the subway back to Manhattan.

First stop was Grand Central Station, then I walked the streets aiming for Rockefeller Plaza, except I got kinda lost and ended up in Times Square again. Stumbled upon a suspiciously-fonted lounge again, as well as a more finished version of that weird phallic statue pika found, then made it to Rockefeller Plaza where I FINALLY FOUND NINTENDO WORLD! I had completely missed it in 2012 (as well as on Thursday) because it's tucked away from the main Plaza. I really wanted to stick around and play all the demos and everything, but I was on a rushed schedule; I also didn't want to leave empty-handed, so I simply bought a manga version of Legend of Zelda: the Minish Cap. I'm strictly a PC gamer nowadays, but my roots as a Nintendo loyalist had to be honored.

Next for exploration was the southern half of Manhattan: I took the subway to 14th Street, learned that kitaoji was still an hour away so I took to the subway again to hit up Greenwich Village for THE CAGE! It's a very famous basketball court known for streetball tournaments and attracting the best players in the city, but it was just local pick-up players running the court at the time. I watched for a bit until kitaoji called, then we finally met up back at 14th Street to catch up on each other's shenanigans for the day and check out the High Line park, which was a former elevated train track that got converted into public walking space. We got indecisive about where to eat dinner, so I settled on picking Lombardi's Pizza, where their "small" pizza is still kinda big. Then we walked all the way from there to Wall Street where she was staying, going through Chinatown and the Financial District along the way. We also swung by the World Trade Center and 9/11 Memorial...

...and I gotta admit, being that close felt pretty heavy for me, realizing that it's been 20 years since I visited the original twin towers... Maybe someday I'll have enough courage to enter the Memorial.

After discussing potential morning plans we parted ways, and I headed back to Queens, getting back to my hotel just in time to catch a rerun of the Simpsons/Family Guy crossover; I've been too lazy to keep up with either show in recent years, so this was a good way to cap off a day of re-exploring my pre-H!P world.

Day 6

My flight was at 3:30 PM, so I woke up early to give myself time for whatever plans I could squeeze in before I had to leave. Got word from kitaoji that Momusu was still in the city (based on their blog activity), so for sure they were heading back home today! But we didn't bother seeing them off; instead I went over to kitaoji's friend's apartment to temporarily store my luggage for the morning.

c) jump the gun too early with seeing MM off at the airport (and then restrained by J-Tri on Tuesday)

In retrospect, I think that if we were gonna say goodbye to the girls we should've hauled ass to JFK the moment we both woke up; by the time we met up at your friend's apartment it would've been too late to make it there in time, especially after taking time to contemplate whether to actually go or not. But like I said, let this be motivation fuel for the next time H!P comes our way! (or for any future trip to Japan to see them there)

So yeah, after some deliberation we decided to stick around Downtown Manhattan for the rest of the morning. We checked out Battery Park, came across some other small parks and the Wall Street bull statue (which was completely engulfed by tourists ), then had one last NYC meal at Bill's Bar & Burger (a place that I need to remember for next time I'm out there). Then it was time for me to leave. Got my stuff and rushed over to JFK, where I almost was late for my flight due to one final bit of train confusion along the way.

Conclusion

Man, 5 1/2 days is still not enough time to explore New York City, there's just so much to see and explore! I really wanna check out Uptown and the other four thoroughs more boroughly boroughs more thoroughly someday. And meeting all the H!P fans and JPH!P regulars, whether it be those I've seen a bunch of times already or those I'm meeting for the first time, made all the big city adventuring even more fun.

And of course, the whole reason all this happened: MORNING MUSUME. As some of you might know, I completely missed out on their 2009 Los Angeles appearance, becoming a fan two months too late, so being able to at least see Sayumi Michishige in the flesh before she graduates meant a lot...and while I missed out on seeing the Platinum Era lineup, I still got to meet a newer batch of awesome young talents carrying on that legacy, and it was great to be part of such an important milestone for the group. The girls themselves seemed happy to see such a passionate reception for them, so hopefully we'll get something again next year! (preferrably in California, though I really wouldn't mind visiting New York again) And this time I swear I'll be more prepared for sure!

And to think, it was looking like I wouldn't be able to go at first...

[CrypticShadow8]

I can't believe I forgot to include this in my concert recap, but one more awesome thing about the "I Wish" performance: you know how a lot of people raised a stink about how Riho sang the last line in the album version? At the concert she sounded amazing and sang it perfectly! It further fuels my theory that she's a much better singer live than in the studio.

That is the exact same thing I thought during the concert! Watching it live right before they got to that part I started thinking about how much people complained about it so I was like unconsciously cringing, but then when she sang it was flawless. Some people do just sound better live than in studio recordings.