Day 25

Halway there! I've never been able to keep up with a blog for this long. I guess it's different with a traveler's blog. Anyway, I took the 9:06 Furano Express train from Sapporo, which was nice with seats higher up near the roof and large windows. Also a few TV screens showing live feed from the front car.

Furano is famous for their colorful flower beds. I was about a week late, and most colors had faded. Still tons of tourists, especially from Korea and China. Saw some school girls on the local train, and I must say it can not be that fun living there during the peak season. That goes for any big tourist attraction, really. Below is one of the flower beds. During peak, you can't see any greens - just flowers.

I finally got a good shot of a (small) sunflower bed - something I've been wanting to do for a long time.

I tried the lavender flavoured soft cream. It tasted, well, flowers.

Made a brief stop at Biei for lunch - Biei soy-flavoured ramen. Hokkaido ramen is supposed to taste a little different from normal ramen, but I couldn't feel much difference. Biei got some gorgeous views as well, but it's too far to walk, and I didn't have too much time. Next time I'll rent a car.

Train back to Sapporo from Asahikawa. First stopped by at Naebo for an AKBINGO shot.

AKBINGO Episode #34 (090520)

Then off to Hitsujigaoka for another shot. It actually got chilly and I didn't bring any extra layers of clothing at all. Bought a t-shirt for myself as a souvenir, and put it on immediately. Hitsujigaoka means "The sheep's hill" and there were a few sheep still around when I got there. The statue is of William S. Clark, with the words "Boys Be Ambitious". He was hired by the Japanese government to establish the Sapporo Agricultural College (now Hokkaido University), and succeeded in making a lasting imprint on Japanese culture. His parting words to his students is a nationally-known motto in Japan today.

AKBINGO Episode #34 (090520)

On the way back to Sapporo I wanted to check out Sapporo Dome closer, but it wasn't lit up at all, so instead I took some night traffic shots.

Finished the day with dinner, Una-don, at Sapporo station and night shots of the old government building and the famous clock tower.

Day 17

After a really long day yesterday, and trying to set up my newly acquired iPod, I only got 4 hours sleep before I had to wake up 5am to get out to Yomiuri Land. Got there 7:30, but had no idea what way to take from the station. I spotted some guys who I immediately knew were going to Yomiuri Land too. They're not hardcore wota which you would notice right away, but most of them they still got some kind of special dress code. To me it's like they're trying to be fashionable but totally fail. A few of them are cool though.

So, it's a small bus ride but definitely faster than walking and when we got to Yomiuri Land some people started running so I just went along. It was the first time I was there, so I had no idea where in the line I was. One guy had prepared lots of small birthday cards that he handed out to people in the line to write a message on and then give to Rena. Her 19th birthday is on the 27th.

But I got a seat ticket on the 15th row in the middle, and handshake ticket for the first round. They were gonna do the handshakes in six rounds until 7:15pm. Wow.

Got everything I needed at around 9:30, so the waiting wasn't that bad. Only 2 hours. I was only gonna do one handshake.

Went around the park a little and was tempted to ride something, but I figured I should just come back some other day and take it easy. The park is kinda big and they got a couple of rides I want to try.

I forgot that TV screens aren't vertical.

AKBINGO! 091125

They opened the gates to the stage at 10:30 so I just went there and waited at my seat. Both yesterday and today was extremely hot. Only five minutes after being in the first line in the morning I could feel the sweat run down my chest and back. Good thing I had a typical wota muffler towel with me.

All members showed up at the stage around 11:30 to check out the stage, where to stand etc. Started at 12, with the members doing the usual talking about the new single, what they wanna say with it, how they've been doing the same stuff as in the lyrics themselves etc. Since it's soon Rena's birthday, the host asked the audience if there was any birthday kids (only today, tomorrow didn't count). There was like 5 guys and 2 girls who, after showed their ID to prove it, got to go on the stage and do a long handshake with their favorite member! That's not all, they were gonna get birthday presents sent home to them! WTF! Some people are just too lucky. Anyway, the mini live started soon after with Pinokio-gun, then Hazumisaki and Shouja wa manatsu ni nani wo suru? Gomenne Summer was last.

Since I was only gonna do one handshake I wanted to get it over with quickly so tried to find the line and waited for about 5 minutes after it started. I felt kinda bad for some of the members who's table was completely empty for a long time. Most people were of course doing Jurina or Rena. I went with Rena. I just said that I like spicy food jus tlike her (even though I'm ver y weak compared to her), and that I'll see her again tomorrow. She was really nice and I totally felt that my message got through. You know you only got 5 seconds at events like these.

The reason I only did one handshake is because I didn't want to line up again, that would take another hour or even more. And Watarirouka had their "private handshaking event" today too. No songs or talking though. Got to Ikebukuro at around 3pm, did Rabutan, which was abit of a dissapointment. She didn't really smile or say much. The guy who was taking the tickets said something about her throat being bad and she could speak too well. Oh well, it was on my way home anyway, and I got the ticket for free, so it's not like I spent anything.

Day 15

Went to Odaiba around 2pm to get some Mendol and Shukan AKB shots. Got there around 3pm and forgot that the Music 10 location is on one of the other islands, so didn't have time to get there today. Also forgot my telezoom lens. It was a very hot day, and the water was probably the hottest water I've experienced at a beach. Too bad it's very dirty. I took off my shirt for awhile and when I was about to put it on again, I felt how soaking wet it was from sweat. Anyway, let's start with the shots.

First off, two shots from Cliff Edge's music video Saynoara where Yukirin appears. Was very hard to find the exact spots since the beach is long. I blame lenses for not being entirely accurate… No Yukirin but instead you get two school girls.

Screenshot (Cliff Edge - Sa-yo-na-ra)

Screenshot (Cliff Edge - Sa-yo-na-ra)

Then it's from the Shukan AKB episode where they try to write lovey-dovey poems. Odaiba is a famous dating spot, so that's why they went there to write them. I remember Komori being awesome in this episode. It was low tide when I was there, so it's slightly different with the rocks in the background.

Screenshot (Shukan AKB 100409)

Then it's a couple of Mendol shots. Again, lenses… Looks like I need 10mm. These are all at the Shiokaze Park in Odaiba.

Screenshot (Mendol - Episode 6 - 09:34)

Screenshot (Mendol - Episode 6 - 15:40)

Screenshot (Mendol - Episode 9 - 11:59)

Screenshot (Mendol - Episode 4 - 02:09)

On the way back to the beach, I pinned down one AKBINGO shot.

AKBINGO Episode #31 (09/04/29)

It wasn't part of my plan, but I figured I might as well eat dinner there. This is from the Girl's Talk Shukan AKB episode that everyone thought was boring. I ordered the wrong shake, but the only difference is the fruit on the glass, and the price - 250 yen more expensive with the fruit. The food wasn't special at all, and the meat/rice ratio could have been better.

Screenshot (Shukan AKB 100423)

Screenshot (Shukan AKB 100423)

Screenshot (Shukan AKB 100423)

Screenshot (Shukan AKB 100423)

Screenshot (Shukan AKB 100423)

I talked to one of the staff members about the girls, he said he wasn't there at that time. But customers did increase since. And he then showed me the surfing board at the entrance with their signs. I totally missed it upon entering.

Mayuyu

Yuko

Takamina

Kojiharu

As you saw in the episode, the Rainbow Bridge night view is gorgeous. This shot taken from my seat at the resturant. They had moved around the tables a little, I guess they did that just for the filming to get the background.