Giri giri! Hey!Say!Jump LIVE in Taipei
I was thinking what should be the title of this blog post and the first thing that comes to my mind is GIRI GIRI (ぎりぎり) which means barely, just or at the limit.
I can't count how many times I said ぎりぎり in this trip because it was indeed ぎりぎり!!! Looking back, I remember talking with Ekai while we were in Ueno looking for the nearest Don Quijote store and I told her I wanted to see Jump someday too. They are a younger group than NEWS (members are around my age and half is younger than me). They are my sister's ichiban group and I collectively call them my babies >< Ever since I joined the JE fandom, they were like everyone's babies. They just debuted and the youngest member, Chinen was just around 13 or 14 yrs old that time! My sister and I really adored them and doted on them and we literally saw them grow up. I just didn't know that after seeing NEWS, kami-sama will drop something big again when I just got home from my Japan trip.
One day, I just woke up seeing my twitter with HEY SAY JUMP TO HOLD A 2-DAY CONCERT IN TAIPEI AFTER 7 YEARS! I had to read it again just to make sure because this reminds me of how eito announced their taipei tour right after I just spent all my $$$. It took me an hour to finally swallow the news and I told myself that I had to go! God is answering all my prayers and I just have to work for it !
7 years ago, they went to Taipei and also 7 years ago, I was still in fourth year in College, broke AF. I remember how I prayed they'd go out of Japan again ... when I'm ready. For Taiwanese fans, it was 7 years of waiting but for me it was 12 years. I don't know what brave ghost possessed me because I decided to go right off the bat even if it means I had to travel alone! I really wanted to see Jump so much I didn't even care about my single brain cell who is so bad at directions and that I might get lost ! I told my sister about my plans and she wanted to go with me. She was very hesitant at first if we could really travel together (thinking about the expenses) but because when I focus on something, I am pretty good in making things happen! I carefully planned our travel- religiously checked for seat sales, discounted accommodation, everything. I still can't believe up until now that I was the one who prepared everything for this trip. ROFL. So now, what's left is the concert tickets. I had two friends helping me out to get the tickets, one here in Manila and the other in Japan who will also go with me in the concert. As expected, nothing beats Japan's internet connection, Yannie was able to get us tickets for Day 1!
After a few days, I wanted to get tickets for Day 2 too thinking when will this chance come again. I can't always go to Japan or out of the country for them so I thought I need to seize the opportunity while its there so I desperately searched for tickets for Day 2 on twitter. It was a very taxing search until finally I was able to get tickets for a discounted price!LUCKYYYYYY! And now we are all set. We are really seeing Hey!Say!Jump soon.
Just when I thought everything is going smoothly, 4 days before our flight I acquired a fever and it didn't go away. I had fever for 3 days that I had to see a doctor a day before my flight and they were suspecting I had Dengue fever. I was so stressed, I cannot put it into words. There's no way I would ditch the concert, just NO. I prayed so hard and I know I always say this but GOD IS REALLY REALLY AMAZING. The result for the dengue test was negative but I was diagnosed with Urinary Tract Infection that's why I had fever for days. I know it is not good but I can live with antibiotics while traveling than be admitted for dengue. I got some IV drips before leaving the hospital and going straight to work to finish all the reports before I go on my most awaited vacation leave. After getting off work, I took a grab car going home and opened my Jump playlist and I swear I was suddenly crying. I just went through a lot but finally I am seeing them!
A few hours before our flight I still feel so weak and have intermittent fever. I brought all my medicines and told myself I need to get a hold of myself specially its my sister's first international travel, I need to take care of her. We landed in Taiwan on October 4, 11AM with no problems and was able to check in early on our accommodation but I was so tired, I wanted to sleep.. lol. I had to stop myself because I need to atleast show my sister around so I really pushed my ass and showed her around Chiang Kai Shek and went back around 6PM to fetch my friend who traveled all the way from Dubai to Taipei as she will be staying with us too. We also met up with my other friend and the 4 of us had dinner. We then decided to visit Shilin night market afterwards to try the milk tea Jump tried before- Jenjudan!
I don't drink much milk tea but this brand has a lot of bobas, little ice (which is good!!!) and very sweet even if my sugar is 25% I should have made it 0% . After trying the milk tea, we hurriedly went back to our accommodation to meet my other friend from Japan, Yannie as 4 of us will be sharing the accommodation ( me, my sister, Sharmaine (Dubai) and Yannie(Japan) ). Tomorrow is the concert day so we had to plan what time we will be lining up for goods. For Japanese concerts, fans line up for goods not for seats unlike what we see on Korean/western artist concerts. Concert goods for JE idol groups like NEWS, Eito or Jump gets sold out in a matter of hours! Goods were sold out during Eito's concert and if you have read my previous post about it, I was so damn frustrated I cried after the concert hahahahaha! I don't want that to happen with Jump! We agreed to line up for goods as early as 6AM. When we arrive, a hundred fans were almost in line!
Fans lined up early even if the selling of goods will actually start at 10am. It was so hot that day, we were literally drenched in sweat. We were waiting under the scorching heat. There were 8 stalls that accommodated the fans so it didn't really take long before we were able to get our concert goods. As expected, Japanese are so efficient. We decided to eat our lunch and head back to our hotel to freshen up before the concert.
I am so happy I was able to buy the penlight and Inoo's uchiwa!
Finally just a few hours before the concert, I suddenly felt ok! My fever was gone like a miracle ( the power of JUMP! ><) I was really not nervous at all until they announced that the concert will be starting in a few minutes, it finally sunk in, I am going to see my babies.. I am going to see Inoo, my favorite jump member.
For those who don't know Inoo, his full name is Inoo Kei (伊野尾 慧). He is 29 years old with the same birth month as me (I just have to say that LOL). He is the pianist in Jump. He also graduated with a degree in Architecture at Meiji University. Yes, my boy is a fvcking architect who helped in the rehabilitation during the great Tohoku earthquake in Japan. :)) I am just always so proud of him! He is also a great actor and was casted in several dramas such as Lost ID and Kaseifu No Mitasono and has his own lead movie role for the live action adaptation of PEACH GIRL. He is also a regular host in a Japanese morning program Mezamashi TV.
After a few minutes, the lights finally went off and an intro video started playing.. and I am starting to feel funny, I feel like I'm going to cry! Each member was shown on the screen, of course I screamed the loudest for Inoo. They were wearing the clothes they wore when they arrived at Songshan Airport on the video so did they film this right before flying to Taipei or after landing in Taiwan??? and after the video there was a countdown which started from 10 to 1 and a big led board of letters which says HEY SAY JUMP appeared and the lights were all over the arena and they were slowly being lifted on stage!!! Yamada screamed "ARE YOU READY?" and God knows, I was already trying to grasp the handles because I feel like I'm going to pass out anytime due to so much excitement and they finally appeared on stage and Yamada asked again, " ARE YOU READY TAIWAN ARENA?" and the whole arena shouted back "YESSSSSSSSSSSSS" at him and they started the concert with "Arigato Sekai No Doko Itemo", you gotta be kidding me, to be honest I thought they will start the concert with Ultra Music Power or Banger Night but that's what I love about Jump, they always always surprise me. They started the concert with a song that has "SALAMAT PO" in the lyrics. I had to hold back my tears. It's just the first song for christ sake Jenpi. Then they sang WEEKENDER! I jumped right away and danced the chorus like everyone else. I guess its every Tobiko's happy song along with COAMH (Come on a my house). By the way, Jump fans are called Tobiko (tobi= to jump and -ko is added mostly to names to signify female gender).
Hey!Say!Jump wearing prince outfits in their member colors
Inoo looks like a prince!!
My sister and I were actually very excited for the unit songs especially for Hey Say BEST because our favorite members are from BEST (Inoo and Daiki) I was actually expecting there will be a usual skit (like Hikaru beating Daiki for the craziest reasons ROFL) and them singing their happy songs like Sunda Dance or Suits days? but I almost choked when they suddenly appeared on the extended stage with chairs and performed SETSUNA SUGIRU a fvcking RnB ballad. I hate you jump. I hate you for always surprising me. They looked so cool.
Next was HEY SAY 7 singing Ganbarretsugo! Oh god. Memories flashed back. It was an old song back when they were still kids. I was so hyped up. Reminiscing Chinen was singing it when he was like 15 and now he is 25. Crazy.
Then they sang Star Time. Everyone was into the song because its like the first fan song we had from Jump. And just when everyone has calmed down from the ballad, they suddenly performed BEAT LINE!! My sister and I went batshit crazy. Funny story, before the concert we went around the arena to look for a place to eat and we heard someone playing drums and we were joking that maybe its Yuto and they will perform beat line and this happened! Who knows, it might really be Yuto who's practicing. After beat line, FANTASTIC TIME was next and that was it for me, I just cried there jumping with my penlight and uchiwa. It's one of my favorite songs but they've only performed it once - during their DEAR concert tour in 2016 and never again so no matter how much I wanted to hear this live, I never put much hope that they'll perform it in Taipei but they did. Then RIDE WITH ME started playing and I was almost on my knees crying harder because yes, its my fav jump song back in 2014 and I said it in facebook.. I'll really punch someone if they don't perform it in Taipei!ROFL. Then they asked the fans to clap and I knew it... Banger Night is coming up and I was right but I was still not ready, not when they were wearing their costumes from their Sense or Love concert - that one concert I regret not attending because it has the best production and best set list among Jump concert to date. They are amazing dancers and singers and Banger Night just showcases that <3
Inoo look so damn amazing even when he was drenched in sweat during Banger Night
Yamada too was kira kira TT
Then it was MC time. All members greeted us in Taiwanese and they also introduced themselves in Taiwanese. My boys studied the language. Yuto was also speaking in English for the international fans like me. *sniffs sniffs* Though I can understand them a bit speaking Japanese, I still appreciate Yuto's efforts to convey the group's message to international fans like me. He said he's so sorry it took them 7 years to come back to Taiwan. *gets some tissues because I'm so fvcking emotional right now* He also said it was their dream to meet international fans again so they worked really hard in becoming better (and popular) so they could go back and meet us again proudly and now their dream has finally come true! *more tears.. I'm just...*
They also noticed that whenever a member introduces himself, we change the penlight color to that member's color. Example, when it's Yamada's turn, we turn our penlights red, for Inoo, we make it blue :)) they were so amazed. LOL.
They also talked about the pop-up store and that their CDs were already sold out (we are really great spenders ne? lol) but we don't have to worry because they will restock it by Monday. Yamada also advertised Lachesca ( a skincare line from Kose) which he is endorsing. They also talked about the Lachesca Ads and Poko Poko ads scattered all around Taipei ( Yes, Jump is literally all over Taipei!! #proud)
Then Yuto suddenly appeared on stage with a Taiko ( Japanese Drum) and started playing it. Yuto really shines when he's playing the drums! Then Hikaru joined in and played the shamisen (A Japanese percussion instrument shaped like a guitar). It was the coolest thing ever! Then Chinen appeared and did a Whip Back ( a back flip without using the hands) from the top stage to the ground! (it looked so dangerous but Chinen did it so smoothly!!!) and the other members appeared too, they are all wearing a Japanese Kimono with half sleeves revealing their right arm.
Look at that beautiful aesthetics!
This was the kimono and my fav costume of them ! Inoo looks so beautiful my heart cant take this beauty.
I thought this was going to be just pure japanese aesthetic performance until they started singing OVER! It was OVER traditional japanese enka version, it was so fvcking lit!! Then they sang GIVE ME LOVE. I don't know how Jump is able to create such unexpected setlist, its so fvcking gold I was just so speechless. Yamada and Chinen did some acrobatics without any harness! As much as I was so proud of their skills as performers who can literally do trapeze, acrobatics and gymnastics I was also very worried that they don't have any harness on especially they were far off the ground! But as usual, they nailed it like a piece of cake.
After the jaw-dropping performance, they did a medley of all their singles starting from 2007- their debut!They sang everything I wished for I am so thankful.
Ai No Arika started playing and they started flying and I just got all teary eyed again. The last time I saw them flying like that was in their 2011 Summary Dome Tour in a DVD and I just thought now they are all grown up, I would never see them do these acts again but they did it again for fans like me who will just see them for the very first time. I am eternally grateful. *insert ugly crying*
I will never forget this view. Thank you for letting me experience this Jump!
They are wearing their costume during their 10th Anniversary Concert I/O. Oh god. All the memories.. they tried to bring it all to Taipei!!
Guess what is the last song of the concert? I thought it would be H.Our Time but no, Jump will never let me predict their fvcking setlist... it was WHITE LOVE. I know I have been crying a lot in this concert but I guess I got so much tears saved for this day.. unexpectedly, my sister was crying too. This was the first time I saw her crying in a concert and she looked back at me and said : " Ate, sobrang ganda parang panaginip lang.." (translation: Neechan, it's so beautiful.. it feels just like a dream) and we both cried harder because there were no better words than that... it all felt like a dream and we know we'll wake up soon. :'(
They did 2 songs for encore and that's the end of the first day of the concert.
After the concert, we decided to have dinner in Liaoning night market and headed back to our hotel. Our next day was more giri giri as we are also trying to tour the city. We decided we'll be going to Ximending in the morning then proceed to Jump's pop-up store in Huashan Creative park and go straight after to Taipei Arena for the 2nd and last day of Jump's concert.
Second day of concert.
Same set list.
Same feelings.
I know this will be the last day I'm going to see them so I really tried my best to remember all the details of the performances. We also got a lot of fan service from Hikaru, Yuto and Inoo. Yabu was also always waving at our side >< I just really tried to absorb it all in- the music, the performances, and the crowd. There are a few things that were different from Day 1. One of them is during WHITE LOVE, all the fans changed their penlight color to WHITE. *wipes tears*. After the encore and they announced that concert is already over, some fans already left but we kept on chanting JUMP! and then they came back on stage. I was sure they would just say goodbye one last time but they freaking asked if we still want one more song. Of course we said yes and they sang ULTRA MUSIC POWER and here I was already crying. I was trying to stop myself because my eyes were really getting blurry now but I want to see them all clearly one last time. After that song they left messages one by one and what struck me the most was Yabu's and Yuto's message. Yabu said that he really feels sorry for making us wait for 7 years (in my case its 12 years) and promised that they will come back and assured us it will not take that long again. :'( He also said that no matter where we are from, they are thinking of us. Yabu asked Yuto to give the final message and Yuto said in english:" Thank you for coming today!We really really had a great time tonight. Did you have fun?" and we all said yess!!!
Yuto: THANK YOU FOR ALWAYS FOLLOWING US .We will never forget about today. You and us,here in Taiwan.
Hearing this from Yuto just pressed all my emotional buttons and I truly felt loved.
Then Yabu suddenly said, " We brought Okamoto's feelings with us here!"
And that was it. Jump went over the line of my emotional control. Thanks I didn't wear any mascara that night. My sister and I cried to our heart's content.
After the show, me and my sister along with our 2 other friends decided to eat at 711 and continued our crying fest. LOL. We were all so fvcking emotional, crying at 711 in the middle of the night.
Our last day in Taipei was spent in Shifen and Jiufen. We made sure we'll be able to go back at 6pm in the hotel to get our luggage and catch our flight back to Manila at 2AM. I felt extremely sad leaving. I miss Jump already and I don't know when will I be able to see them again. We even walked the park near our hotel just to bid farewell to the happy place (Taipei). Yannie was so sweet and asked us to have dinner before we leave at Ootoya which is Inoo's favorite Japanese restaurant.
Thank you Yannie. See you again!
And as we bid our goodbye, I can't help but tear up again. It's like I'm leaving a sister behind. I've known Yannie since we were still in university and now she's already working in Japan, I feel so happy seeing her again and spending a 4-day vacation with her watching our favorite group but its also double the sadness to actually say goodbye again. Let's make our dreams come true ne? See you soon.
Thank you for the wonderful show, Jump. It was the best 5 hours of my life. Please keep your promise to meet us again soon!