Halloween Party 2012

Another concert report, yup.

(Block E, ticket number 2265)

Last Saturday, I got the chance to go to one of VAMPS acclaimed Halloween Parties, thanks to my friend's SUPER NICE AND AWESOME friend! It took place in Makuhari Messe Halls 9-11. I don't know the exact capacity of these halls, but it's definitely at least 10,000.

My friend and I got a bit of a "late" start; we wanted to get there around 1, but we took a bit longer getting ready than we thought. We dressed up as bunny girls (inspired by BREAKERZ' "Bunny Love")! We were a bit embarrassed about wearing costumes all the way to Kaihinmakuhari Station, so we held off putting on the bunny ears and makeup until we got there. Getting there was actually pretty funny, because we had to transfer at Tokyo Station and omg that station is so big and confusing. Our strategy was to follow any and all people who had VAMPS/Acid Black Cherry bags, lol. It worked!

When we got to the station, we were planning on storing our stuff in coin lockers, but they were all full. This was around 2 or 2:30. Doors for the concert opened at 3:30. Our schedule was a bit tight, so we just decided to put on the rest of our costumes in the station. It's not like we were the only ones - the station was full of people in costume. It's a huge event. When we finished getting ready, a couple of girls asked to take a picture with us, haha.

It took about 5-10 minutes to get there from the station, but we stopped at Lawson to get food beforehand. We ate outside of the hall. A pair cosplaying HYDE and K.A.Z walked by us and smiled at us, then walked away playing fake guitars. xD

To be honest, I didn't get to do nearly as much as I wanted to do. In Hall 11 (open at 10am), there were a bunch of activities: exhibitions of past Halloween Party concerts, themed food stands, lots of goods tables, a karaoke contest, picture booths, and costume contests.

When we stepped into the hall, it got at least 20 degrees warmer. It was pretty chaotic in there. We barely had enough time to grab stuff from the merch table, store our stuff, and get to the doors to line up. We got there and only waited about 10 minutes before our ticket numbers were called to get into the hall.

Oh my god we were so far from the stage it was hilarious, haha. Here's my super professional-looking diagram of the hall:

As you can see, E block is the furthest one back, yup. Thankfully, they had several screens up in front of some of the sections that showed you what was going on. My friend and I snuck up to the front of our section for a bit, but peoples' hats/height got in the way and we ended up not being able to see much. Even if we could, everyone looked like ants on the stage. It was easier to watch the screens.

Anyway, enough complaining!

(All of my setlists come from this Tumblr post...because I have a bad memory and didn't know a lot of the songs for jealkb and VAMPS, whoops)

I thought the first band up would be jealkb, but it was actually BREAKERZ!...or, should I say, Momoiro BREAKERZ. Yep, they all cosplayed like a girl band. They lipsynced this song by Momoiro Cloverz (complete with matching costumes!)

There was a lot of panty-flashing, hahaha. It was great.

They opened their ACTUAL setlist with BAMBINO.

BREAKERZ setlist:

1.Z伝説～終わりなき革命～
2.BAMBINO～バンビーノ～
3.SUMMER PARTY
4.絶対!I LOVE YOU
5.灼熱

jealkb was next! But before they came on, they announced the winners of the costume contest by holding a fashion show. Winners got to walk down the catwalk while the other bands were setting up. It was kind of boring, but there were some really interesting costumes.

jealkb's costumes were from Studio Ghibli! There was Kiki, Nausicaa, Porco Rosso, that kid from Grave of the Fireflies (lol), and the lead singer was No Face from Spirited Away! He made the costumes really tall (part of it was on his shoulders), and he had this hole in the middle for his face to show through. He ditched the tall part after the first song, haha. I don't really know jealkb at all, and neither did the audience... The singer asked "How many people have never been to our concert before?" cue audience raising hands "Okay okay okay we get it." They were really fun, though. At one point, they started a chant. It started off with just "VAMPS!" and then went to "VAM-PU-SU!" -> "VAMPS ABC" -> "VAMPS ABC BREAKERZ" -> "VAMPS ABC BREAKERZ JEALKB" so by the end it was just a jumble of everyone yelling everything. They also had a song where they sang "学校に行け！” (Go to school/let's go to school) and the audience is supposed to say "行け行け！" (Let's go let's go!), but we missed the cue the first time, so he actually stopped us, scolded us for not getting it right, and started the song over, lol.

jealkb setlist:

1.誓い
2.How much is your love
3.super special summer
4.killss
5.shell

Next was Acid Black Cherry! I was having a hard time seeing anything (even the screens) because, well, I'm short. So I summoned up my courage to ask the girl in front of me if I could stand in front of her to see Acid Black Cherry, and she was suuuuper nice and let me do so as long as I moved when it was time for VAMPS. It was as close as I could get to the stage. The fashion show between sets this time included surprise guests: Kanon Wakeshima and Hitsugi from Nightmare! We knew they were performing later, but they just sort of ushered them in to the fashion show without letting anyone know. They were in their Halloween Junky Orchestra outfits.

So YAY ACID BLACK CHERRY OMG. I've never seen them live before and this was basically the reason why I wanted to go to Halloween Party so badly, so I was stoked (even though I was so far away). ABC cosplayed as....Final Fantasy VII characters! My past gamer nerd self was ecstatic. Jun-ji was Barrett, Shuse was Cid, Yuki was Sephiroth, Akihide was Vincent, and Yasu was (you probably guessed it already), Cloud! They opened their set with a fake sword fight between Yasu/Cloud and Yuki/Sephiroth and ended with them hugging or something weird like that, haha. Jun-ji was HILARIOUS - every time the camera was on him, he stared at it with a completely deadpan Barrett face.

Acid Black Cherry Setlist

1.1954 LOVE/HATE
2.少女の祈り
3.so…Good night
4.シャングリラ
5.ピストル

It was a goooood setlist. It was also the only band whose songs I knew all the words to, so that was fun, too. Being so far away from the stage and having them play such a short setlist makes me want to see them again, though...I can feel my bank account emptying already. :(

 After ABC was done, they switched to the karaoke contest. Winners chosen by a panel of judges got to perform on the catwalk. The first pair performed Bunny Girl and made it all provocative (I think the girl took off her dress at the end, lol), then some awesome guy did a really overdramatic version of SPELL MAGIC by Acid Black Cherry...then someone did something by VAMPS, I think? The last performer was Tatsurou from MUCC! I didn't expect him to be there, so when I saw him on the screen, I sort of yelled out "What??? Tatsurou?????" a few times in the audience before I realized it actually was him. He was in his normal hobo outfit, as my friend likes to call it. :P

It was time for VAMPS! I only know a couple of songs by them, to be honest...I know who HYDE is and how famous he is, but I haven't had the motivation to check out his music too deeply. I moved towards the middle of my section so I could stand next to a screen and be able to see, and I'm so glad I did. I don't know exactly what their costumes were supposed to be, but HYDE was dressed as the prettiest Gothic lolita princess in the land.

(picture courtesy of Tumblr - WHY YES THAT IS INDEED HYDE. AND A MAN.)

Since I don't know VAMPS, I've obviously never been to a VAMPS live, even though they were the entire reason for this Halloween Party. I sort of stood there and watched the screen in awe when they started performing, though. His voice was so perfect and he has such a strong stage presence omggg.

VAMPS setlist:

1. EUPHORIA
2. SEX BLOOD ROCK N’ ROLL
3. HALLOWEEN PARTY
4. DEVIL SIDE
5. ANGEL TRIP
6. MIDNIGHT CELEBRATION

I haven't been able to stop listening to EUPHORIA.

For HALLOWEEN PARTY, HYDE just sat in the middle of the stage and sang it in his best little Lolita Princess voice...and played a kazoo. He tried to make it look sexy, but it just ended up looking funny to me.

During one of the MCs, HYDE's wig got stuck in his mic for a solid 15 seconds, and it ended with him just making a grumpy face at the camer, hair still half-tangled in it. lolll.

I want to see VAMPS again, too...

So, after this, they brought out everyone for the Halloween Junky Orchestra.

They started off with everyone except for HYDE and Yasu playing "Halloween Party" on different instruments - HYDE was the conductor and Yasu had some fog machine gun thing. HYDE kept changing up the rhythm (his nickname by the end of this whole ordeal was ドSのHYDE), and every time someone messed up (the singer from jealkb, mostly), Yasu would blast them with the fog machine.

Then they introduced themselves and HYDE acted like the goth-loli princess that he was and everyone played a Rhythm Game. Everyone had a drum. The first person chose a rhythm pattern, then they had to complete one beat of the rhythm one-by-one. Whoever messed up had to play the batsu game (basically a version of truth or dare - if you lose, you have to do something embarrassing). The first one to lose was Tatsurou! He had to perform X Japan's X in front of everyone. (This is sort of a pun - 'batsu' is another way of saying 'wrong', which is symbolized by 'X') Everyone on stage was hilarious - some people headbanged like crazy, and when the cue for everyone to say "X!" came, everyone jumped and screamed it. The next one to lose was Kanon Wakeshima. She had to perform the same song. Everyone was cracking up because her voice was super deep and powerful, even though it's normally high and girly.  Last one to lose was Princess HYDE! He had to perform X omg big surprise.

After the rhythm game, it was one big long funny MC. A lot of it was HYDE, DAIGO, and Yasu making fun of each other. After a bit, Tommy February6 came out! We were all surprised, because she wasn't supposed to be there that night. She was a bit "mad" because the staff kept telling her it wasn't her turn to go out on stage yet, lol...so she made everyone apologize to her.

The best part of the MC, in my opinion, was when HYDE announced he had rewritten one of ABC's songs Shangri-la. He even had a video! It was called ジャングルだ (It's a Jungle)! Basically, he rearranged all of the lyrics so that they had to do with animals. I thought it was hilarious, but non-ABC fans probably didn't get it. The music video HYDE made was just a bunch of animated animals running around a sparkly jungle.

Finally, everyone got together to play "Halloween Party," and before we knew it, it was time to leave. The train on the way back was literally full of people in costume. It was pretty cool to know I got to be a part of such a big event that a lot of people looked forward to. My only wish for the night was that I could have gotten closer. Maybe some other year, huh?

So, now you can see why I put this report off for so long. This is probably my longest entry to date. I hope you enjoyed reading it, and if you have questions, feel free to ask me!

The only merch I bought: ABC's Halloween Party shirt/dress

Some of the flyers I got:

 Happy Halloween!

Daily Dorm Life

It's hard to believe I've been here for almost 2 months already. It feels like I've been here forever, but there are still a ton of things I feel like a complete newbie at.

My dorm had a little potluck dinner/party in order for people to get to know each other better and just to hang out.

I actually forgot the party was happening last night, so I made myself a filling dinner (pancakes, lol) beforehand and ended up not eating very much. Everyone's cooking was awesome, though.

After eating, we played Fruits Basket (if you don't know what it is, look it up). If you ended up in the middle 3 times, you had to play the 罰ゲーム (batsu game), which was pretty much like Truth or Dare. It was a good way to get to know everyone's secrets, haha. I didn't end up in the middle more than once, for the record.

I also did a lot of shopping yesterday. There's a lot of stuff I've been putting off getting just because I hate spending a lot of money at one time. The changing season has really beaten up my skin, though, so I decided to stock up on skin care yesterday.

 (face masks, oil blotting paper, BB cream that doesn't match my skin tone as well as I thought it did, whoops, blush, lotion, face wash)

I used one of those face masks and the new lotion last night and my skin is already 10x better today, yesss. Just in time for my concert on Saturday!

I also came across this:

IT'S A LLAMA TEA SET.

Anyways, on to today.

In the Japanese spirit of taking pictures of what you eat, here's my lunch from today.

tuna and avocado salad wooooo.


I put off a lot of work, so I've been spending today catching up. I wrote a speech that I'm presenting tomorrow. I also write three articles for S-T (and we're not even halfway caught up yet!). I still have a lot of reading for other classes, but I decided to take a break.

(tea and soup! It's cold today.)

I guess I'll get back to my homework now. I'm trying to finish as much as I can before the weekend, because the concert I'm going to on Saturday is definitely going to take up all of my energy for this weekend (and possibly all of next week).

Ueno Park and Ameyoko

My daily life hasn't been exciting to blog about. The days feel really long, but the week feels really short. I stayed on top of my homework this week, and, as a result, didn't go out very much. I finally managed to get to my バイト(part-time job) in Nishiogi without getting lost this time, though! :D

Today, I went with a couple of friends to see Ueno Park and Ameyoko, a well-known shopping area. We didn't get there until about 3:30pm, so we decided to go shopping first because we didn't know when things closed.

There were TONS of tiny shops everywhere. Produce, seafood, shoes, clothes - whatever you can think of. I actually only ended up buying a pack of grapes, even though there were a lot of really cute shoes. Must...resist. I'll definitely have to go back when I feel like spending more money.

After that, we went to the park. I didn't take nearly as many pictures as I wanted to because it was almost 5pm by the time we went there. The sun sets around this time now, since it's almost winter. Ueno Park is a lot more than a park - there are a few museums, an art school, an agricultural garden, and (most famously) Ueno Zoo. Admission is only ￥600 for adults, but, unfortunately, they admitted the last people at 4pm. I guess that means I have to go back! :P If you want to see the few pictures I did take, you should check my Facebook. They're not very good, though. I'll make a Part 2 when I get a chance to go back.

We ate dinner and headed back to Musashisakai. My friends wanted to shop at やおさん (that really cheap produce store I talked about a while ago) before we went back to school. We got there literally as they were packing up to leave, and I got a bag of 4 apples for ￥128. No, I'm not joking. It's almost like I'm back in America! T_T

My bounty for today: apples (￥128), and a crap ton of grapes for ￥300.

Tomorrow, I'm visiting a few places with my class, so stay tuned!

exist trace @ Kichijoji club SEATA

Okay, I know it seems like all I do is go to concerts (because I do), but I'm not going to another one until the end of this month, so maybe I'll start writing about other things after this. Maybe. :P

Yesterday, I went to Kichijoji (only two stops away from ICU on the Chuo line) with a friend to attend an event called METAL DIVA FEST 2012. It was an event exclusively for all-girl bands. I think about 5 or 6 bands played that night, but my friend and I only stayed for 4.

This concert was a little different from the other two I've been to (maybe because it wasn't fade again, lolol) for a few reasons.

First, the way I bought tickets was different. I used the Loppi kiosk thing at Lawson's in order to buy tickets to previous concerts, but the only way you could reserve tickets for this event was by reserving tickets via e-mail directly to the band. On the day of the concert, I was told to go to the venue early (around 2pm) in order to pick up my tickets. The woman at the desk was a bit confused when I told her my name (because I'm foreign, obviously), but she understood after a few seconds, haha. Awkward gaijin moments. Doors opened at 4, so we got there around 4:05 and were let in right away because we reserved tickets.

Second, the venue was a lot different. The bar and the stage were in separate rooms. I liked the set-up of the actual stage, though. It was pretty roomy in there. The only big problem I noticed was that there wasn't a lot of ventilation. It got hot in there pretty quickly.

Third, the demographic was REALLY, REALLY different. At previous concerts I went to, the audience was probably 10% guys, if even that. At this event, because all-female bands were playing, it was completely reversed. There were maybe 8-10 other girls besides me and my friend. The guys there weren't exactly young, either. My friend and I were pretty creeped out at first, but we realized they weren't all that creepy as the show went on. We started out in the middle and ended up front and center for exist trace because someone in the front row moved for us. :D I'm pretty sure I'm a pro at getting to the front of concerts now.

The first band to play was GANGLION. I remember checking them out a bit before the concert and I didn't think they were all that special, but they put on an AWESOME show. They definitely have potential and I'm definitely going to look more into them. I wasn't at the front for this show, so I couldn't see very much (I'm short...in case you don't know me that well), but I had a clear view of the vocalist the whole time.

Next was Mary's Blood. I wasn't as impressed with them as with GANGLION because they had a much more vkei/androgynous feel, I think. Mary's Blood was a lot more feminine, I think, but they still had a really good performance.

The third band was called METALLIC SPIN. This band is HILARIOUS. You need to go check them out. They're a girl band that acts like they're in an 80's-like metal band and they pretend they're not from Japan and they have really horrible accents and do crazy things onstage. Here's an idea of what they're like:

Finally, exist trace! The last time I saw this amaaazing band, they played their first Boston show ever at the Middle East Upstairs in Cambridge. It was a really small, close live with a few technical difficulties, but lots of smiles (I'm so cheesy, wow, lol). I had a small fangirl hope that they would remember me from Boston, but if they did, I never really got that feeling. I don't really care. I was just happy to see them again.

 Setlist:
1. WONDERLAND
2. DAYBREAK
3. DECIDE
4. be Naked
5. GINGER
6. HONEY
7. シグナル (Signal)

I only remember the setlist because I could see it taped on the stage from where I was standing, haha. There wasn't a way for me to take it with me, though.

WONDERLAND is one of the tracks on VIRGIN that I really like, so that was cool to see performed live. I'm glad they included it on their short setlist. It's one of their more choreographed tracks, I think. Speaking of choreographed, exist trace has an entire group of fans that choreographs their own "dances" to shows. One of them was a guy who I remember seeing at the show in Boston. Hardcore fans are dedicated, man. Overall, I think the band chose a good setlist. I always like to think the bands I come to see get the most energy from the crowd, but I wasn't paying attention to what everyone else was doing because I was in the front.

My friend and I were kind of tired and really sweaty after exist trace, so we decided to leave. We headed back to Musashisakai, got a cream puff, and sat down with yummy drinks at Starbucks. It was a pretty good night, overall.

(Beard Papa's makes the best cream puffs omg. Get the クッキー kind)


Sorry this post has so much text. Pictures aren't allowed in most venues.

Man, now I actually have to plan my weekends. What should I do? lol

fade @ Shimokitazawa GARDEN

It's been a while since I updated, but I'll report on happenings in my life later. This post is reserved for a "live report" (still not meant to be professional, but I have a better idea of what I want to write now)!

Last night, October 11th, fade performed at Shimokitazawa GARDEN.

They played with two bands that night: white white sisters and ATOM ON SPHERE. I had never heard of these bands before, so I went and checked them out on YouTube beforehand.



white white sisters





ATOM ON SPHERE
 
If you like either of them, definitely go check them out on Twitter or Facebook!

Without further ado: fade!

In a rare turn of events, fade was slated to play first! I should have been excited, but for personal reasons, it irritated me a tiny bit, haha. I have a class that meets on Thursdays from 3:10-7:00pm. I was planning on fade playing 2nd or 3rd, so I wasn't intending on skipping class, but since they were performing first, I had to be there when doors opened (6:40)...accounting for travel time, I would have had to leave class around 6. The only thing that counts for attendance is a comment sheet that's collected at the end of class, so there wasn't really a point in going if I couldn't even prove I was there, haha.

But, I digress.

Here's the setlist:
1. Born Ready
2. One Reason
3. Inside Out
4. REIMEI~黎明~
5. From the Heart
6. So Far Gone
7. Ten
8. In the End
9. Beautiful
10. Close to You (Eng)
11. コズミカリズム (Cosmicalism)

The first thing I noticed about this live was that the energy was totally different compared to Chelsea Hotel. The vibe I got from CH was that everyone was just happy to be there and it was really fun. At GARDEN, they were definitely giving their all. Jon's stage presence was a lot more intense and emotional. He even had the crazy eyes going on for a bit, haha. He had a white jacket with a t-shirt underneath, but he ditched the jacket after the first or second song (I can't remember). I really like being near Kansei during lives, because he tends to put himself closest to the audience and interacts with us a lot. Godo had a couple of wardrobe malfunctions (his hat falling off and his sunglasses almost doing the same), and nori was as chill as ever. I don't know if I should even mention Rui anymore, because he's always in his "drummer's zone." I never see him looking at the audience.

This was the first time I heard Ten performed live, and it was really uplifting. The vibe was just so positive and you could feel it radiating from the band, as cheesy as that sounds. Also, I guess the English version of Close to You is going to be the standard now?

When fade was done performing, they did their usual throwing-of-things. I almost caught a pick, but Kat got it instead. Yay for her! Actually, it landed on the ground, and no one even jumped to pick it up. I was astounded. I can't believe how polite fans are sometimes. At some concerts, fans would be physically fighting over it. I didn't catch anything, but I did notice that no one had done anything with the setlists, so, being the really obnoxious fan that I am, I went over to the side of the stage and waited for someone to come out. Jon and a staff member came to pick something up, so I proceeded to say loudly, "PSST PSST JON HEY JON HEY SETLIST HEY SETLIST" and he motioned for a staff member to hand it to me. Score!

(lol, Beautuiful)

After all of the performances were done, Jon, Kansei, and Noriyuki went out to the merch table as per usual. I got my setlist signed by the three of them. I guess I could have asked a staff member to get Rui and Godo to sign it, too, but I left really soon after because of reasons.

Some final personal observations I noted were that I felt a bit closer to the fans this time. I even had a conversation with a few of them in Japanese! They're really nice people. My friend and I also met the singer of a band called MIDNIGHT SUNS, who is playing at the GARDEN in a couple of weeks. I haven't decided yet, but I might drop by to see them. Check them out if you're interested (the lead singer is French)!

That's pretty much all I have to say about fade.

white white sisters was really interesting. They're a unique combination of electronic music and rock. Their performance style was really interesting, too. white white sisters is a 2-member band with support drums (according to Wikipedia, anyways). yuya matsumara is on vocals, guitar, and programming, while kouta tajima is the VJ (video jockey) and in charge of artwork. I honestly thought they were only a 2-member band, because kouta tajima wasn't on stage, unless I'm blind. yuya stayed on the right and the drummer was on the left. In front of the stage, there was a really thin black curtain that separated them from the audience. Behind them, there was a projector. The performance was definitely as much of a visual experience as it was a musical one. I actually enjoyed watching it, though I wish it was on a bigger screen. Maybe when they get more famous, eh?

I hadn't heard of ATOM ON SPHERE prior to GARDEN, either, but a little research told me that Ken Lloyd (Oblivion Dust) is the vocalist. They had a lot of fans and their show was really fun even though I didn't know any of the songs. Ken's performance style was kind of cheesy sometimes (winking at fans, random boy band dance moves, lots of crouching to the ground), but he had a really good stage presence otherwise. Most (if not all) of their songs were in English.

Overall, the night was fun. I like experiencing new bands as well as enjoying the one I came to see. The next time I'm planning to see fade is in December for their Tokyo oneman tour final! I would try to go to their FC event, but I'm already getting a little out of hand with concert tickets, haha. Here are the shows I have lined up in my personal queue:

October 13th (tomorrow): exist trace, GANGLION, G∀LMET, HEADPHONES PRESIDENT, Mary's Blood, METALLIC SPIN (an all-girls event!)
October 27th: HALLOWEEN PARTY 2012 - jealkb, Acid Black Cherry, DAIGO, VAMPS
December 15th: All Night Nippon (featuring Golden Bomber, GACKT, etc.)
December 28th: fade!

It might not seem like a lot, but the tickets for Halloween Party and ANN are kind of pricey, lol.


Anyways, hope you enjoyed my sort-of "live report!"

(view from Shimokita station)

Midterm

This is just a post to let everyone know that I'm not ignoring this blog. I actually have a few things I could post about, but this week, I have my Japanese midterm. I feel horribly unprepared for it.

It's worth a whopping 25% of my grade, so I'm going to 一生懸命 (isshoukenmei: basically, with all of my MIGHT) study.

See you later!

Guess What

I'm still busy, lol. I haven't been doing anything particularly exciting, so I'll just talk about normal, everyday things.

I just finished my Japanese homework. I'm finally settling into the pattern of the schedule, even though there's still a lot I don't know.

(I've been working hard during class, as you can see.)

Today was reading. Tomorrow is writing. It's pretty thrilling. /sarcasm

I experienced my first typhoon ever on Sunday night. There were warnings posted on our school site that classes would be cancelled if the Chuo-sen (the main train line that runs to the station closest to my school) shut down. There was a lot of rain and A LOT of wind, but I felt safe as long as I was inside. Buildings in Japan are built to withstand that sort of stuff a lot better than houses around where I live in the US.

The Chuo-sen never shut down, so we had class. It was peaceful outside except for some branches and leaves scattered.

The day after a typhoon usually has really clear, nice weather. In Japanese, this is called 台風一過 (taifuuikka).

I might make another post about this, but I feel like Japanese people (especially young people) pay a lot more attention to their appearance than in the US. I feel really under-dressed if I wear a t-shirt with jeans and sneakers. What people would normally think of as dressing up is sort of an everyday thing here. As a result, I've been wearing a lot of skirts and dresses.

Heels are also a staple, but I haven't been clothes/shoe shopping very much, to be honest. So far I've bought one shirt/dress for a concert, one dress for everyday wear, and one skirt that I forgot on the bus and never bothered trying to get back. Sometimes, girls in my dorm will leave some of the clothes they don't want anymore in the hallway, which is how I acquired that cute skirt in the picture.

This week is the Dorm Fest, so there are events planned almost every night this week. Tonight was some sort of scavenger hunt, but I lost track of time and decided my homework was more important. Tomorrow night, we have 演芸会 (engeikai), which is basically an event where dorms perform skits for each other. If I can get someone to take a video of it, hopefully I can show you my dorm's performance. I'm the voice of the Chuo-sen, lol. I love imitating it when I'm riding the train.

Today, we also had an event called アイスじゃんけん (Ice cream Rock, Paper, Scissors). A bunch of people gathered outside of the main classroom building (Honkan). It's like normal rock-paper-scissors, except the final loser had to buy ice cream for everyone, haha. I was super disappointed when I went to claim my ice cream prize and there was no ice cream left, though. :( I wasn't the only one, so we went to the campus store with some of the event organizers and got to pick out what we wanted. Then I felt better. :D

Besides that, I think there's a dodgeball event on Thursday that I can't go to because it's during one of my classes, then there's a dinner on Friday where the winner of the engeikai event will be announced. My dorm is pretty awesome, so I'm sure we have a good chance of winning. :P

On Friday, I'm planning on going to a visual kei bar with my friend. Japan has a lot of themed bars...visual kei bars are just one type. It should be interesting. I'll make a post about it if anything exciting happens.