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 24

The night train was horrible - old and bumpy. I think it was some kind of antique train, because lots of people were taking pics of it. I only got a few hours sleep here and there. Got to the Community Dome, where the event would be, around 7am and started lining up. Sapporo was actually pretty cool, almost chilly, in the morning. But that changed quickly when the sun got out from the clouds. I was so tired I lay myself down in the line using the backpack as a pillow and tried to sleep abit.

Got my tickets around 10:30. They divide the space by blocks, with a walking passage between them, and distribute the tickets somewhat random. I got a ticket in the back block (duh) but got in early so I could stand at the rail. In order to not lose my spot I had to wait there until it started at 2pm. Same songlist as yesterday, but different members. Tomochin, Miichan, Sayaka and Sae was at Sendai and Sapporo, the rest were others than yesterday. The sight was good, but kind of far. I could just barely make out who was who. During the Nemousu play, I think one girl in the audience collapsed. Two staff members were leading her away, then she just fell to the ground. Not sure if she really collapsed or did something not good and just refused to move. Kind of scary, but the event wasn't affected by it at all - I don't think the AKB girls even noticed. Sorry I don't remember anything about the plays themselves now, only that I laughed alot about something Sayaka did. Miichan was leading everything most of the time.

I had seven tickets for today. Did three rounds of Harukyan/Mayuyu. This line was always the longest one, so it was pushed extra fast. Two rounds of Sumire/Yukirin. Yukirin is awesome in person. I pointed out my Team B t-shirt and that I would cheer for her from oversea, and she got really happy about it. Then one round each of Nacchan/Tomochin and Sayaka/Kitarie. Sayaka remembered me from yesterday and asked me how I got to Sapporo. I was too focused on that I wanted to say that I liked today better than yesterday and didn't have time to answer. Kitarie had an eyepatch, they said something about it being bad. She didn't wear it during the minilive though. "Kitarie nara daijoubu!" I said to her, and she showed me her great smile. Oh, and Togasaki, the theater manager, hanged around there. Didn't bother shaking hands or take photos since lots of other people were doing it and resting their dicks on his shoulders. Also, there were two Majisuka cosplayers - Shibuya and Nezumi. Both two really young and short school girls, and kind of cheap cosplay. Not even a real sukajyan. Money is probably an issue. And one guy with Black's (real) sukajyan.

Overall the event was just OK, but the handshakes best so far. There was a load of people, more than SKE had at Yomiuri Land (have not seen AKB there yet). Both here and in Sendai, it seemed ok to cut the line, hold places for friends who would come hours later, and take turns standing in the line. WTF. I seriously got pissed of. The lines were very unorganized and cones placed badly.

Was tempted to buy 3 more shushus, but managed to hold back. I have no idea how much money I've spent already :/

Before checking in at the hotel I went up to Sapporo TV Tower, and on the way back to the station when I took pics of the tower, a Japanese hobby photographer asked me if I wanted to use his tripod. Nice! Didn't turn too well though... I think my handheld pics turned out better. (These are all handheld.)

I had no idea what the hotel would be like. I just booked whatever was available and somewhat cheap. I didn't even know if I was gonna have my own room or share with others. Turned out to be the latter, but that's not a problem for me fortunately. Talked about AKB with one of the guys I'm sharing room with. He's from Nagano, and went by road bike/bicycle all the way to Niigata, then took the ferry there to Otaru (19 hours), to continue on the bike to Sapporo. Cool!