UEDA-sightseeing
Can you believe that I was so excited for my trip to Stratford that I couldnt fall asleep the night before, and when eventually I did, the next thing i know is me waking up a bit too early >______<
WARNING: Here's below is a VERY detailed report of our day (and lots of photos of us posing like Ueda did in his shop photos lol) I wrote it not only for a record for what i did but also for the sake of those who're going to visit Stratford later in Easter (hopefully u guys will get to read this hehe)
And very image-heavy !
Travelled on the train for 2 and a half hours to get to Stratford and meet up with two fellow KAT-TUN fangirls <3It really made my day when Kel ( rinareechan) told me that she could make it to this trip, along with her other friend~ fangirling is always more fun when there's someone with you haha. (though again I couldnt recognise her at first TT) All three of us are new to Stratford so it's a miracle that we managed to wander over to Shakespeare's birthplace first. It's then I caught sight of the jester (aka JOKER xD) statue a bit farther away and had a nice lunch in a cafe nearby, while we tried to picture Ueda taking photos under the statue<3
Next, we continued to wander around through the town searching for places Ueda had been ( for once I am glad I did some serious & detailed research about the town & the attractions before the trip ~ HINT: the stratford town website is great help *clickie*) New place (aka nash's place) is the next we came across to, Ueda's UK trip report does mention this place but I cant recall him taking any photos here. The large anicent church in front is the Guild Chapel (which has nothing to do with ueda xD). Walking on there's a row of 16th century almeshouse, where you would definitely recognise from one of Ueda's postcards.
A few more steps along the road we walked past Hall's croft - correct me if there is but I cant recall Ueda taking photos here so we just took a few snapshots here and there and made our way to the most important place out of the whole trip - Holy Trinity Church. (sidenote: the road signs are actually quite clear so you just need to keep look out for them)
It's indeed quite a gorgeous church looking from the outside (plus, thanks to the clear blue sky^__^ screw the weather forecast for saying the day would be cloudy haha) The entrance fee for Shakespeare's grave is 50p for students and after a good long look at the grave and the coloured strained glass - here's the exciting part! SEARCH FOR THE VISITOR BOOK~~~~ we're panicking so much when at first we couldnt find the book anywhere near tthe grave , glad the man that stand at the entrance (collecting money) came to rescue and pointed us to the visitor book^________^
Another panick attack when I started flicking through 13/1, 14/1, and 15/1..........
<<< and OMG HERE IT IS !!! 15/1 - Tatsuya Ueda - Tokyo Japan - "I am a Japanese Romeo"
*did a little victory dance*
All three of us went crazy snapping photos in all kind of angles (honestly people behind us were like staring us and wondering what the hell were we doing xDDD)
<< signed by me and Kel
<< Kel and her friend
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And at this point, all of a sudden Kel thought of something absolutely AWESOME - "I guess the man there collecting entrance fee must have seen Ueda before" ^____^ OMG we all became excited and stood a few feet away from the entrance, thinking whether we should ask or not (coz it's just TOO random) Finally I decided Kel should be the one who ask and I'll be the one who showed the man one of Ueda's shop photos in my ipod nano
HINT #1: save all 45 shop photos in ipod and take it anywhere with you, so you can pose like him or show the man,
HINT #2: that is a tall old man coz I am not sure whether the other man seen ueda before (yes they do swap rounds) by the way we went there at around 2- 2:30pm I think.
Kel (quite reluctantly) asked the man (at the entrance) whether he has seen this guy *me showing Ueda's photos* and OMGOMGOMG HE SAID YES!!!
I literally bounce in excitement (even feel like fainting lol)
He said there's a group of people with Ueda at that time, including 3 camera men and their assistants (even one funny enough holding several umbrellas). The man knew about him acting as Romeo, so we explained to him that Ueda was actually holding a R&J stageplay in Japan at the moment. The man said he thought Ueda look more like a pop idol (which is true we told him) and he did try to ask Ueda for his autobiography but the staff said no (duh! Ueda's autobiography would cost a fortune ><) so that's the real reason why Ueda signed the visitor book instead^________That man seem so surprised that Ueda is actually really well-known when me and Kel explained to him that who he actually is.
The man was actually more than happy to answer our questions, perhaps *obviously* it's not a everyday thing when a group of girls asked about a certain guy he has seen before, and actually gone crazy over this simple fact. I even asked him how old do he think Ueda is, that man said 19 xD but the sad thing is that the man said Ueda actually remained the same expression throughout the shooting in the church, as if he's under control or something *cries* maybe he's too tired or feel too uncomfortable being surrounded by all the staff >_<
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The next stop is Anna Hathaway's cottage which is actually 1 mile from the town centre - not as far as we imagined as we chatted and fangirled over what happened in the church throughout the journey - (I swear I would NEVER walk that far if Ueda hasnt taken several lovely photos there ><) (HINT: road sign kinda disappear for a while but just need to keep walking straight ahead) This is the only Shakespeare's property we paid to get into, since most of the photos ueda had taken there are in the garden^^
Finally - the last last stop - another long walk from the cottage back to the town centre ---> River Avon & Bancroft gardens (sadly when we went there there's this mega big reconstruction going on, which hopefully gonna finish by April 2009) Bancroft Gardens is where Ueda hugged those black statues <3 We didnt dare to actually climb onto those statues though haha
And that's the end haha *take a deep breathe*
If you havent seen Part 1 of this, clickie here