Day 47

Headed out for Nakano with a friend from the house for some final AKB shopping. I couldn't resist more bearbricks and ended up buying three more, plus some expensive photos to complete a collection. This is the guy who had all the bearbricks on sale that I talked about earlier. You rent these glass boxes and put in stuff you want to sell, then you just go to the clerk who works there and say what you want to buy. The sellers can come back any time to collect their cash and put new stuff in. You can also see what each glass box currently have on their website. The one on the picture below is number C-199. I'm not sure how often they update the photos, but I think once a week or so. As you can see, this guy has a few new items like the Yuko daruma and 5400secs micro SDs, but still plenty of bearbricks.

Then we meet with another friend of mine who I met in Japan three years ago. As with many other people I know, we don't really stay in touch, but still make sure to meet whenever possible. Had dinner at an Italian resturant which means pasta and escargots.

And these are the bearbricks and pictures I got this time. Some of them were expensive, but I want to have 6 of each set so they take up a full spread in the binder. Still want more of the election posters.

Day 44

Today was the yearly held Cave Matsuri in Akihabara. Matsuri means festival, and summer is the season for alot of different festivals - cultural ones like obon, omikoshi, hanabi and tanabata, as well as popular cultural ones like Comiket and the Cave Matsuri. I decided to sleep it out and not line up for anything this time. I got to the Cave festival around 12:30, and was handed a ticket to the shop for 16:30. Let's take a look at some of the stuff they got for sale this time.

The new bath house door covers, called "noren" in Japanese. The one to the left says "women's bath", and the other one men's.  

And Evac emblem you put on your belt.

5 chip pillows, which felt nice, but a little bit too expensive for just one. If it was 2200 yen for all five of them, then I would get them without thinking twice.

I thought I was gonna be able to just walk through and get my stuff, like two years ago when they had the Rakuen Baby festival at the same place. When I got there, there was an event going on at the stage - Wasshoi 5.5. The players in the newly released Mushihime-sama Futari Black Label & Death Smiles Mega Black Label Super Replay DVD was there to show the people some live playing.

I went there with a friend to show him some of Akihabara, so we went around to a few weird shops. In Akihabara you can find just about anything. If you can't make out what this is, don't bother.

Also checked the regular AKB stuff that I always do when in Akihabara. At the official shop I got the B3rd DVD, Ucchi's t-shirt and a CinDy clear file. In the hallway of the theater floor there is a big MVP frame with nicknames of people who have been lucky enough to get to see their stages a hundred times. And you can see the member's pictures being mirrored in the glass.

The Liberty near the big crossing is starting to sell more pictures. Prices are slightly more expensive than Trio 2, but you can find some cheaper ones here. I will stick to Trio 2 though as you can browse freely there.

Before going back to the Cave festival we paid a quick visit to Yodobashi Camera, to rest in their massage chairs, look at electronical dictionaries and iPod protection, and to meet up with a guy who wanted to sell one of his bearbricks. When we got back to the Cave festival I could buy the stuff that I wanted, and soon after there was another event going on - Midnight Live 360, which was being broadcasted on the Internet live. It was a continuation of last year, so not sure what it was all about, but I think IKD was there to talk about how it is working as a producer. And they were gonna take their time to listen to their fanbase to see what kind of shooting games they want.

Near the wall they had a bunch of framed artwork and sketches. People who wanted to, could write or draw something in the visitor's sketchbook. They also had the Ketsui helicopter 3D-pixelated inside a glass box.

Before heading home I met a friend there who I met at the same festival two years ago. I got to try the Daifukkatsu on his iPhone, which was great for being handheld and with touch pad. If I had an iPhone/iPod Touch, I would definitely get their games. I don't have enough interest in games anymore to hang around for longer, so decided to call it a day after this. Before jumping on the train home we had dinner at the nearby sushi-go-round.

This is the stuff I got today. First the Cave stuff, which is the men's noren, that I will put outside the shower or something, the new History Book with lots of data from all of their titles and events, Guwange chopsticks (called "ohashi" in Japanese), and a B2 sized poster of their latest title Akai Katana. I actually managed to not spend too much money on shit this time. Then it's the AKB stuff that I was talking about earlier in the picture below.

And this is what the bearbricks looks like unboxed. I will get a third one before I go back home, just because I'm thinking three of them will look good together on the shelf. I might get Ishida's, but not sure. I need to go to Nakano Broadway again.

Day 42

Another slacking/shopping day. Of couse it's Nakano Broadway again for more pictures. When you go by train, there's a train change guidance sign on the platform you can look at, to understand where on the train you need to be in order to step off near the exits, stairs, escalators, elevators, and train change. So smart. Also, right next to it is the big yellow sign with a level map of the station. Popular spots are also pointed out so you know which exit to take.

At Nakano I met up with a friend to buy and trade more pictures and look for bearbricks. Had udon with two deep-fried shrimps for dinner. Udon is thick noodles. At this place, you can add pretty much anything you want to your choice of udon. You also get to choose size, and often if you want it hot or cold. Cold udon and soba is very popular in the summer. Knowing Japanese really helps when you want to eat "real" Japanese food, the kind that every office worker eat at their lunch break, as everything in this kind of resturants is in Japanese.

And I finally got myself a bearbrick. There are small glass boxes that private person can rent, and that's where I found one I wanted. The same person also had the full complete 7 Eleven bearbrick box for sale. Price? 200,000 yen.

Day 19

Not much going on today since I seriously need rest. The blisters on my feet are a disaster. Just went to Akihabara to book more Shinkansen tickets and get some new schwag.

Also had dinner at Pepper Lunch. At Pepper Lunch, you buy a food ticket from the vending machine at the entrance (all in Japanese), then hand it to the staff behind the counter. They will ask you what size you want for the rice. You can even ask for free rice refill if you need to. After awhile the food comes on a hot plate where you need to turn the meat around yourself, steaking it the way you want to. There's also spicy and sweet sauce free to use.

Yukirin version of the Dragon Ball single and SKE 2nd Stage. Have not seen any SKE stages so just bought this on impulse.

Day 8

I could finally take out money today so went on a little (uninteded) shopping spree. Nakano Broadway is a dangerous place for your wallet. They had tons of stuff. Spent a few hours in there.

Also tried to do some Sakura no Shiori PV shots while in Akihabara to pick up the Yokohama DVD-box and B4th DVD. Didn't turn out well since it wasn't early in the morning.

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Pics! Rena was the most expensive one, but too awesome to miss. Somehow I bought four SKE kenkyuusei pics. Don't know how that happened.
Moeno, moe~ As you might be able to tell I love Team B, until they shuffled. With the current teams, K has most members I like. So I bought that Yokohama box. The pocket book is so-so, but Team PB vs YJ Special Mook is highly recommended! It has a fold-out poster as well.
The stuff in the right corner is from 7-11. The cups contains chewing gum, and the bag candy. Pretty lame plastic bag but the candy choice is good. Oh, and they have tissue boxes too now...

Day 7

Went to Ikebukuro in the morning to pick up my Majisuka Gakuen DVD-Box. Played some beatmaniaIIDX and Death Smiles (arcade games) at the biggest game center in Ikebukuro. Might try Lord of Vermillion II later, I liked the first one. Then checked out the number 6 ranked Shukan AKB resturant, but they open at 5pm. I won't go to this one alone though.

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The food they ate has AKB in its name now.

Instead I had cold udon which is cheap and nice in this hot weather.

Sunshine City. Didn't bring a screenshot from AKBINGO so didn't know from what angle to take. But it's a really common place anyway.

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Bought the latest issue of Shonen Champion which has a poster of Watarirouka Hashiritai!

Maid and dolls... loitering around. The other maid starting running away when I took pictures! Bitch! If you try to take pictures of the ones Akihabara they usually do the finger cross sign, turn around or run to their papa.

Hanged around till past noon to go back and rest. Been pretty tired from all the walking.

The Majisuka Gakuen DVD-Box. Akicha!

Probably won't be able to go to this weekend's concerts, but will go there anyway to see if there's loot to grab. I need t-shirts!

Day 2

Had AKB Team A "melon bread with whipped cream and strawberry jam" and the Kagome juice from 7 Eleven for breakfast. The bread was awesome but that juice tasted awful. Next, I went to Akihabara to loiter around before hopping on the train to meet zabitan. Found a nice showcase in a store called Liberty, and couldn't resist the 30 trading cards (the new ones) for 1000 yen. I got to browse the cards beforehand, and when I got to see Chikarina's smile I just said I'll take it. No senbatsu members but I'm cool with that as I love all the members!

Then went to meet zabitan for some chatting and trading. Really nice and cool guy! Afterwards it's back to Akihabara. Paid a quick visit to the AKB shop and theater before going to get the laptop. Since my old one is 3 years old and really slow with Vista, I didn't bother to bring it. I had already decided to get the Macbook Pro 13", and looked at kakaku.com for the cheapest store. Went there, but they were out of stock. Saw another similiar shop but they were also out. I asked if they could check kakaku.com for another store, which would have it in stock, and then it's off to buy it. I'm talking about really small shops, outside the center of Akihabara and its Sofmap/Yodobashi/Laox/etc. The small shops are wholesale, so you can get the same item for thousands or ten thousands of yen cheaper then at a normal store.

Back at the lodging there's a birthday party going on and a mongolian guy showed us something awesome. Left like 10pm to go to Shibuya and get the Seishun no Flag singles. I had already called to make sure they still had first press, but when I got there they were being assholes and said the only first press bonus is the event ticket. So I just bought the Akkanbebashi DVD, because it had another card with it. Was still pretty disapointed, so decided to hang around and take pictures. Got my first shot down.

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If you ever wondered who designed the senbatsu posters, they're inspired by the politicians election posters.