D'espairsRay in Taipei
Get yourself comfortable because this is long, I warn you.
I arrived in Taipei on Thursday evening and stayed at the Caesar Park Hotel. They gave me a twin room -- 2 queen-sized beds, jus for lil'ol'me...
The following day we were scheduled to meet at the Imperial Hotel at 3pm. I checked out and then went there to drop off my bag. The concierge was Filipino and helped me figure out what to do that day (ie, good places nearby for shopping). I got back around 2:30, still a little early, but the tour manager was there already and he gave me my ID pass thing.
I found out through Christy the flight number the band were going to be on, and that they were arriving at 9:30 that night. So in that time between I ended up getting my nails done
At around 8pm I took a bus to the airport and found that they had landed early. I stood directly in front of the doors and had to wait probably only 20 minutes for them to come out. First was Tsukasa then Hizumi and Karyu and Zero. I got a bit of video but its short and wobbly.
I ran like mad (in my new heels) to the other end of the arrival hall where they were headed. There were about 30 other manias waiting there and most of them had presents -- mostly for Karyu! I have competition in Taiwan!! So we walked with them outside to where we waited about 5 minutes for a van to pick them up. I took only one picture of Karyu cos its so awkward bringing out a camera. Oh hay I'm stalking you and being a paparazzi right in your face
After that I got back to my hotel and tried to be as quiet as possible cos my roommate was sleeping. She had arrived late that day so it was the first time we met. Her name's Yoshie, 28 y/o, Hizumi mania. She didn't speak a word of English, so she had to put up with my horribly limited Japanese. It wasn't as bad as I thought -- after all, I could still carry out a conversation in Japanese while drunk! (more on that later) Its just that my vocabulary is still limited, but grammar-wise I'm doing okay.
I showed her the pictures from the airport and she gave me her Karyu cheki!! She has a lot of Hizumi cheki but only one Karyu one because she always gives them to her friend.
The next day we had a sightseeing tour of Taipei. Mr. Tour-manager spoke a little english, but that was about it. Ms Tour-guide spoke Japanese and Chinese, so I didn't have any clue of the places we visited and what significance they were, but it was pretty,
In the afternoon we got back to the hotel to change, and then went to the live house and were given our tickets for both nights as well as a ticket for the handshake event after the live. On Saturday my ticket no. was 235 and Sunday it was 201. I think they put that extra 200 in the number to distinguish us from the tour from everybody else. Which means, I was really #35 and #1!!! In the line I ran into Asami-san from the EU tour and for whatever reason she wanted to swap tickets, so we did and I ended up being #15!
They let us in 2 at a time, one person from our group, and one person from there. So being #15 meant that I was the 30th person inside.
I got to 2nd row between Karyu and Hizumi, but a little closer to Hizumi. Got a perfect view of Tsukasa but could hardly see Zero. Karyu seems the most popular here; not only did he get the most presents but his side filled up the fastest.
The setlist is very messy and only the 1st 2 songs and the encore are in order;
Abel and Cain
Death Point
Garnet
Hollow
Love Is Dead
Falling
Going On!
Redeemer
Abyss
PIG
Angeldust
-13- Thirteen
Mirror
Devil's Parade
Dope
Fuyushita Risou
Lost in Re:Birth
en
Born
???
Forbidden
Bullet
There were 4 songs in the encore but I can't remember which one the other one was
I had a bit of a delayed reaction when they played PIG. By the time I recognised it and went "whoa fuck, PIIIIGGG!!!!!" I already got whipped with a faceful of hair
Hizumi wore black happy pants (yes I'm calling it that now) and a long black jacket/parka that was unzipped from both the top and the bottom. On the side it said, "Wolf in Sheeps Clothing" or something similar. His makeup was simple -- just black panda eyes with red on the bottom eyeline. I spent the 1st half of the live going, "awww poor Hizu, he's tired or sick..." but then figured out it was just eyeliner ^^ He had the left side of his head braided and it looked so good on him! :D
Karyu wore "interesting" brown jeans with rips and tye-dye looking design and a black sleeveless top with vampire collar. His hair was straightened and longer at the front than at the back. His makeup wasn't as atrocious as I was expecting -- that red lipstick wasn't so ARRRGGHHH MY EYES!!! as I thought it'd be and it actually looked good on him. I couldn't help but think he's finally decided to be a woman. He looks like an attractive woman, but PLEASE for the love of me, STAY A MAN!!
Zero wore the same as in the EU tour -- black shiny t-shirt and black pants and side skirt. Tsukasa had a black sleeveless top and fancy black leather pants with zips and buckles on it. He keeps making faces at the audience and its just so cute to watch him! The drumset was kind of low so I don't think the people in the back would have gotten to seen him. AND HIS HAIR!!! Omg its like he fell asleep on a pair of scissors. The front part had me staring at him the whole time he talked (more on that later). its long at the front but the left side was really short and looked like a 5-year-old did it
And Hizumi is back to wearing underpants again. It wasn't like in Paris AT ALL
There were a few instances of Hizu and Karyu bumping into each other; and the whole Hizu and Zero thing. I know for sure now that at least Zero recognises me from all those other times. He's always flirting with the audience and I always dismissed those looks he gives me, but this time he stared, smiled and winked at me so many times
When they came back for the encore, Hizumi spoke some Chinese that he was reading from a piece of paper and smiling as if he's thinking "I sound like such an idiot". LOL!
He was just so cute and playful and embarassed. He said for Karyu to say something and he did but again I didn't understand. After that he also pointed at 3 random places in the audience and said "wo ai ni" xDD!!! THAT, I did understand. The audience went and lost their collective shit over that one (me included~!) I'm so happy because thats the first time Karyu had ever said "I love you" at a concert that I was at.
Then Hizumi started to talk but then everyone interrupted him and called on Zero to say something in Chinese. Zero looked surprised and so damn cute, probably thinking "what the fuck am I gonna say??!". The crowd was going louder and crazier, so he raised his hand to shut us all up and then..... he smiled and waved. we all laughed so hard!!
AAARRRGGHHH HE'S SO DAMN CUTE!!!
Then Hizumi continued to talk in Japanese. He said something about the part of the stage in front of him was unstable and wobbly and he though he might fall. Zero must not have been paying attention because during the encore he went there and slipped -- how I wish he'd fallen flat on his bum! LOL *sadist*
For the encore they all wore the same tour t-shirt and Karyu did his thing of cutting out a big collar so it slides down his shoulder, and Tsukasa wore it without sleeves. Zero wore is olive parka and it was unzipped at the top and the bottom so that you could see his belt and HIS CHEST!!!
'scuse me, but... *DROOOOOOLLLLLLLSS*
As usual they did the throwing of picks/sticks/water & bottles. Karyu threw one my way and nobody caught it, but afterwards I managed to find it ^^. Got totally drenched from both Hizumi and Zero. Usually I like this kind of thing, (yes, I do) but this time there was a handshake event after the live so I didn't want to be so damn smelly and wet. I must've smelt of 6 different people that night.Eww, very ewww.
After the live we just went to the side and brushed our hair (lol) and it was then that Christy found me.
For the handshake event my ticket was no. 30 and the closer I got to the table where they stood behind, the more freaked out I got and wanted to run away. I wasn't sure if pictures were allowed but I tried to be discreet in taking this one.
First was Tsukasa and idk, but maybe I made him uncomfortable with the huge stupid awkward smile on my face that he just held both my hands and talked and talked and just didn't let me get a word in edgewise! Being the ignorant foreigner, I didn't understand a word he said, or maybe it was because of that Yamagatan accent??? Since there was no way at all I could speak (and I didn't even know what to say) all I did was stare at his hair. THAT DAMN FRINGE!!! and try not to LOL in his face :D
The staff lady behind me had to usher me along because we (he!!) was talking for too long and the line needed to keep moving. LOL Tsukacchi, shut up
Next was Zero who greeted me with that cheeky ero smile of his. Gently took both my hands and that was it!! I couldn't take it anymore, there was no way I could spend a couple of seconds looking right into the face of the most gorgeous human being on the planet --- so I asked for a hug. Maybe I was too quiet or he wasn't expecting me to speak in english so he leaned forward and I repeated my request. To which he happily obliged. He hugged me so closely and tightly that the table between us moved. AARRGHH!! MOVING TABLES!!! D: thats not what I meant
So then next was Karyu. I was just about ready to run away but was weakened by that warm nd fuzzy hug from Zero. Karyu looked nervous as if he was thinking the worst; "omg its that crazy stalker fan of mine *backs away slowly*". LOL! I bet he wanted to run away too, but thank goodness he didn't. We shook hands and I also asked him for a hug. I could hear the other manias behind going "ooaahhh". I'm so proud of myself to get over this fear of actually being face-to-face with Karyu, just him and me (well, for a few seconds anyway). Previously its just been like "here, Karyu! Present!" *runs away*
At this point I must've left this world. I was in heaven. I was euphoric. So whatever Hizumi said to me was not received into this brain. Still in la~ la~ land because of that hug from Karyu. I must've looked like this
but I do remember Hizumi saying "mata ashita" to which I replied the same and then had to walk away. He watched me as I walked away -- he must've been pretty freaked out or wondering WTF's up with this girl?? Or maybe he was nervous that I was going to ask him for a hug... OR, wondering why I didn't! LOL okay Hizumi, next time I'll hug you
After that we went by tour bus back to the hotel and then four of us went to a night market for dinner.
The following day we slept in and only got up in time before they finished serving breakfast. Yoshie found a massage parlour in her guidebook and we spent about 3 hours getting pampered. We were vigorously poked, prodded, rubbed down, put in weird positions, walked on and had hot towels thrown on us. Best massage ever! Later on, I found out that was the same massage parlour that the band had been going to!!
We then had pudding and bubble tea for lunch ^_^ and then had to get ready and back on the bus at 3:30. Being the 1st person in line is fucking awesome! We went straight to the centre in front of Hizumi but Yoshie was like "you should be in front of Karyu!" but no, I wanna see everybody too! Its going to be my last live in a while so I wanna take it all in, and not just drool over Karyu the whole time (that would have been good too!) After all, how often does one get a ticket number one??!
Setlist is again very rough wih only the first 2 or 3 songs in correct order.
Bullet
Marry of the Blood
Garnet
Death Point
Dope
Subliminal
Progress
Hollow
Medicine
Abyss
-13- Thirteen
Kogoeru Yoru ni Saita Hana
Mirror
Redeemer
Devil's Parade
Love is Dead
en
Horizon
Reddish
Fuyushita Risou
Way to address my neck problems, guys. I got whiplash from the 1st night and the massage didn't make it go away
Starting off with Bullet and Marry of the Blood, Garnet and then Subliminal and Fuyushita Risou later on, jeebus guys!
I spazzed with Subliminal. Honestly went absolutely APESHIT. I love that song from their DVDs and its the first time I've seen it live. Fucking broke my neck! :D
There was a song they played on both nights which had me worried -- I thought, "oh dear God they're going to play HEAVEN's COLOR" DDDDDD: I'm sorry if you like that song, I really am. But it such a relief when they ended up playing something else that kind of started similar-ish.
One time Karyu went up to Hizumi and motioned for him to take the right of the stage but Hizumi knew better and ended up staring at Karyu with a huge cheeky "what are you upto this time?" smile. But the next minute he went there and Karyu crept behind him and bit him on the shoulder. LOL.
Hizumi was wearing the red happy pants from Love is Dead PV and a long black vest thing (helloooooo Hizu chest! I spend quite some time admiring his skin that night
). Zero wore pretty much the same as the night before, so either he did his laundry the previous night or he has a complete wardrobe of those shiny t-shirts. Karyu had a white top with a weird, twisty black vest thing and Tsukasa wore a grey and white tank.... ok I suppose I didn't really pay attention to what they were wearing the second night... too much time spend ogling Hizmi's chest. LOL! And Karyu. I kept watching Karyu's performance. He's really into it and jumping, whirling, thrashing about, making faces and just being cool and awesome. I love the way his hands move when he's playing the guitar. He has elegant fingers
Something else happened between Hizumi and Zero but I must've been busy drooling over Karyu to have seen it -- I only caught a glimpse, but something DID happen!
They played Love is Dead and Devil's Parade back-to-back which was freaking amazing. However, note that one should not wear a loose-fitting t-shirt because said t-shirt goes up when you jump and sometimes stays up. Therefore, especially front-rowers who do not want the band seeing your jiggly bits should refrain from wearing loose fitting garments. Okay!
Hizumi MC'd about how the previous night, the front of the stage was wobbly. And his night it wasn't so he jumped around on it. At the very end with the usual throwing of stuff, Hizumi ran from Zero's side to Karyu side emptying his bottle out on us. God, that smile is just too gorgeous. Its fun and goofy and I just want to tickle him!
These 2 days his voice was absolutely perfect -- and it wasn't playback either. He sounds so good that its making me hopeful that they won't be on hiatus for long.
Anyway I think Hizumi has a thing for boobfucking with feet
. By that I mean that this is the second time he's shoved his foot right in between my boobs (in London 2009, and now Taipei). When he has one foot on the stage and one foot on the barrier, why does he choose to put his foot RIGHT THERE?! How is that meant to be fun? Not that I mind having his body parts in my face with all dangly bits within groping distance. Nope, I do not mind at all.
Rest assured I did't grab anything. Except for holding him steady while he reached across and touched the hands of other fans. I don't think I'd have been able to face him at the party had I done anything ~uncivilised~.
Zero stood right in front of us and very strongly spit his water in our faces. *feels special*
When it was over I got my 2nd poster (free when you show the merch guys your ticket) and headed straight for the bus. Everybody else got there quickly as we all needed to get ready and had only an hour to do so. I originally thought it wasn't going to be enough time but with Yoshie and I taking the quickest showers of our lives (except maybe the one after the concert in Paris), we were ready with 15 minutes to spare, but Yoshie had to finish writing her letter to Hizumi so I went up to the banquet hall alone.
Inside there were buffet tables, a bar, and 4 tables labelled A, B, C and one without a label. I was the first one there and felt so embarassed. Ms. Tour-guide was all like "kirei~" and I asked if the dress was okay becuase I'm insecure like that and need to know what other people think. She said it was really nice and the ticket guy from before (the one who gave us our concert tickets and stuff) came over and said that all the guys are gonna be getting nosebleeds over me. LOL! ok... awkward ^^o
I'm glad I had the courage to wear that dress. At first I was like "its so slutty!" but at least I stood out (even more than before). Apart from being the only non-Japanese person in the room, pretty much everybody else was dressed rather conservatively and in plain, neutral colours.
Anyway, I suppose I was a little disappointed at first that it was a DINNER party... I was expecting disco balls, loud music and basically as if it was a nightclub. But err, no. It was a buffet dinner and then later on the band arrived and did a talk session and then signed our stuff.
While we were eating, they played their CD in the background and we were like, "I wanna have another live!" I wasn't really hungry so I just ate a little bit, besides I didn't want to bulge out of this skin-tight dress.
When the band arrived we cheered and clapped as they walked through to the front of the room and sat down on this small stage thing. The ceiling was very low and Karyu almost hit his head. Tsukasa was the first to talk and we all laughed because he introduced himself "I am Tsukasa the drummer", as if we didn't know! But then the others followed suit and introduced themselves the same way. When Zero got hold of the mic he said, "ni hao" and we all laughed as well.
Tsukasa got the mic again and proposed a toast, he said "Kampei" and everyone laughed at him again and went "kampei!" back. I think everyone just loves to laugh at him. Poor guy!
The guys went around each table and we said "kampei" again and clinked our glasses together. I had wine and they had beer except Hizumi who I think had cold tea. The image of Karyu's hot sexy awesome gorgeousness will forever be ingrained in my mind. That night, omg his smile!! He's not scared of me anymore. It's like he's found out that I'm harmless after all.
I appreciate none of them running away from me. In fact, save for Tsukasa, we all had some very fun flirty moments. Especially with ZERO!! Everyone whose spent 2 minutes in the same room as him knows how much of a dirty, slutty flirting machine this man is. So don't worry I'm not gonna be all like "omg Zero likes me!!", besides there were only 32 people in the room to look at anyway! So I should really be asking, "why didn't Tsukasa look at me??" LOL!
I can't really say much about what they talked about. Stuff about the Europe Tour, food (of course) and places they'd like to go. Karyu said Iceland and Australia, but he kept talking on and on about Australia -- I wonder, since he knows I'm from here, did he keep talking about it because he wants an invitation??? (don't worry, thats all taken care of in the letter I gave him). Even if they weren't going on hiatus, I'd already emailed James about it almost a year ago and he's been in contact with Bloodpuppies and its just not realistic right now.
Either I can't remember or I didn't understand what the others said. Hizumi mentioned a place in Japan where he hadn't been to but would like to visit because of some temple or shrine. Tsukasa said Africa because he'd like to see the pyramids -- you guessed it, we LAUUUUGHHHED!!!
The host guy pointed out to him that the pyramids are in Egypt so then Tsukasa went all like "well maybe we have African mania and we can do a live there for them". Ah, so funny... but he's not entirely wrong because Egypt IS on the African continent.
Another lulzy Tsukasa moment was when he was talking about his stockings fetish (LOL!) and he said his favourite is 40 - 60 denier, black stockings.
Hizumi wore loose red pants and a tank and jacket. The neck of his shirt was really low and you could pretty much see his whole chest. He also kept his hands in his crotch a lot of the time. Karyu wore a purple and black striped long-sleeved shirt and Zero had a brown leather jacket. Obviously I wasn't really paying attention to their clothes -- much prettier things to look at; such as their faces, the location of Hizumi's hands (that was very good viewing, VERY!) , his chest... etc etc.
Its so much fun to just watch them together, and its extra special to be there with them. I am thinking of now joining the FC just so that I can go on the next FC-trip. But.... would they still have them while on hiatus? or is it a once-a-year only event?
After the talk they went near the exit and sat behind a table to sign our stuff. I got them to sign my copy of Askew magazine and each time they said "arigatou" and shook my hand and then I gave them my presents. First was Zero, Tsukasa, Hizumi and then Karyu.
Hizumi keeps looking at me as if he knows something
I'm afraid he might have read one of my letters to Karyu. He's so mischevious-looking and looks a little too interested for comfort. Karyu, after signing my magazine, took both my hands and looked me in the face and said so sincerely, "thank you" (in english). DAAAAWWWWWW!!! He was so cute!! Time must've stopped for a while because I felt myself going to heaven again
! And then I snapped out of it and panicked as to what to say next so I went "hai purezento desu!" and gave it to him and left.
These 2 days have been simply THE BEST!!
The fourth table I mentioned earlier, was most probably where they ate after all the fans had left. We went and waited downstairs in the lobby and for whatever reason I sat on one of the low-set couches (yeah completely forgetting that the dress rides up with you sit down!) and then Yoshie came up and sat with me and we decided to compare our shoes and swapped our left shoes -- it turns out we're the same size. Anyway, at that point the elevator opened and Hizumi came out. We hurriedly tried to get our own shoes back ....and in that shuffle to get my shoe, I had stretched my leg across, having a trashy-hollywood-celeb moment and completely flashed Hizumi!!! *dies*
ok, I was wearing underpants and stockings, but still... having my legs wide open in front of Hizumi....
By the time I got on my feet it was Karyu in front of me. I didn't even have to say anything and the next thing I know he's got his arms around me and was patting/rubbing my back saying either 「また直ぐ」 or 「まだ次」 or something that may have sounded similar. I can't remember because I was drunk and not entirely able to comprehend.
Maybe I had this kind of face, thats why he didn't hesitate to hug me a second time -->
After a staff person dragged him away, I followed them outside where their van waited and waved them goodbye.
Then about 6 of us went to a bar and drowned our sorrows before getting more alcohol and drinking back at the hotel and exchanged gossip and stories. It was a miracle I was able to participate in the conversation but eventually was just too tired and had to go back to my room and sleep. Unfortunately I was tired and my vocabulary is still limited so I wasn't able to get any juicy gossip *sad* times like this, I really wish I was fluent in Japanese!
I woke up alone the next day because Yoshie had left early for the airport. She left me a note and I felt so lonely. I ended up crying and just wanting to stay in bed the whole day and cry some more but thought I should probably get breakfast (it was getting late and I didn't really eat much) and I was still drunk from the night before. Its good, I guess, that I finally cried. It felt so weird to not be sad before. But I think the reason I cried was because of what Karyu said and the fact that he went and hugged me.
Later on I met up with Christy again and we went to the hotel where the band stayed. It was just about 2 or 3 blocks down the road but they had left already. The mania network really is amazing :D!
I arrived in Taipei on Thursday evening and stayed at the Caesar Park Hotel. They gave me a twin room -- 2 queen-sized beds, jus for lil'ol'me...
The following day we were scheduled to meet at the Imperial Hotel at 3pm. I checked out and then went there to drop off my bag. The concierge was Filipino and helped me figure out what to do that day (ie, good places nearby for shopping). I got back around 2:30, still a little early, but the tour manager was there already and he gave me my ID pass thing.
I found out through Christy the flight number the band were going to be on, and that they were arriving at 9:30 that night. So in that time between I ended up getting my nails done
At around 8pm I took a bus to the airport and found that they had landed early. I stood directly in front of the doors and had to wait probably only 20 minutes for them to come out. First was Tsukasa then Hizumi and Karyu and Zero. I got a bit of video but its short and wobbly.
I ran like mad (in my new heels) to the other end of the arrival hall where they were headed. There were about 30 other manias waiting there and most of them had presents -- mostly for Karyu! I have competition in Taiwan!! So we walked with them outside to where we waited about 5 minutes for a van to pick them up. I took only one picture of Karyu cos its so awkward bringing out a camera. Oh hay I'm stalking you and being a paparazzi right in your face
After that I got back to my hotel and tried to be as quiet as possible cos my roommate was sleeping. She had arrived late that day so it was the first time we met. Her name's Yoshie, 28 y/o, Hizumi mania. She didn't speak a word of English, so she had to put up with my horribly limited Japanese. It wasn't as bad as I thought -- after all, I could still carry out a conversation in Japanese while drunk! (more on that later) Its just that my vocabulary is still limited, but grammar-wise I'm doing okay.
I showed her the pictures from the airport and she gave me her Karyu cheki!! She has a lot of Hizumi cheki but only one Karyu one because she always gives them to her friend.
The next day we had a sightseeing tour of Taipei. Mr. Tour-manager spoke a little english, but that was about it. Ms Tour-guide spoke Japanese and Chinese, so I didn't have any clue of the places we visited and what significance they were, but it was pretty,
In the afternoon we got back to the hotel to change, and then went to the live house and were given our tickets for both nights as well as a ticket for the handshake event after the live. On Saturday my ticket no. was 235 and Sunday it was 201. I think they put that extra 200 in the number to distinguish us from the tour from everybody else. Which means, I was really #35 and #1!!! In the line I ran into Asami-san from the EU tour and for whatever reason she wanted to swap tickets, so we did and I ended up being #15!
They let us in 2 at a time, one person from our group, and one person from there. So being #15 meant that I was the 30th person inside.
I got to 2nd row between Karyu and Hizumi, but a little closer to Hizumi. Got a perfect view of Tsukasa but could hardly see Zero. Karyu seems the most popular here; not only did he get the most presents but his side filled up the fastest.
The setlist is very messy and only the 1st 2 songs and the encore are in order;
Abel and Cain
Death Point
Garnet
Hollow
Love Is Dead
Falling
Going On!
Redeemer
Abyss
PIG
Angeldust
-13- Thirteen
Mirror
Devil's Parade
Dope
Fuyushita Risou
Lost in Re:Birth
en
Born
???
Forbidden
Bullet
There were 4 songs in the encore but I can't remember which one the other one was
I had a bit of a delayed reaction when they played PIG. By the time I recognised it and went "whoa fuck, PIIIIGGG!!!!!" I already got whipped with a faceful of hair
Hizumi wore black happy pants (yes I'm calling it that now) and a long black jacket/parka that was unzipped from both the top and the bottom. On the side it said, "Wolf in Sheeps Clothing" or something similar. His makeup was simple -- just black panda eyes with red on the bottom eyeline. I spent the 1st half of the live going, "awww poor Hizu, he's tired or sick..." but then figured out it was just eyeliner ^^ He had the left side of his head braided and it looked so good on him! :D
Karyu wore "interesting" brown jeans with rips and tye-dye looking design and a black sleeveless top with vampire collar. His hair was straightened and longer at the front than at the back. His makeup wasn't as atrocious as I was expecting -- that red lipstick wasn't so ARRRGGHHH MY EYES!!! as I thought it'd be and it actually looked good on him. I couldn't help but think he's finally decided to be a woman. He looks like an attractive woman, but PLEASE for the love of me, STAY A MAN!!
Zero wore the same as in the EU tour -- black shiny t-shirt and black pants and side skirt. Tsukasa had a black sleeveless top and fancy black leather pants with zips and buckles on it. He keeps making faces at the audience and its just so cute to watch him! The drumset was kind of low so I don't think the people in the back would have gotten to seen him. AND HIS HAIR!!! Omg its like he fell asleep on a pair of scissors. The front part had me staring at him the whole time he talked (more on that later). its long at the front but the left side was really short and looked like a 5-year-old did it
And Hizumi is back to wearing underpants again. It wasn't like in Paris AT ALL
There were a few instances of Hizu and Karyu bumping into each other; and the whole Hizu and Zero thing. I know for sure now that at least Zero recognises me from all those other times. He's always flirting with the audience and I always dismissed those looks he gives me, but this time he stared, smiled and winked at me so many times
When they came back for the encore, Hizumi spoke some Chinese that he was reading from a piece of paper and smiling as if he's thinking "I sound like such an idiot". LOL!
He was just so cute and playful and embarassed. He said for Karyu to say something and he did but again I didn't understand. After that he also pointed at 3 random places in the audience and said "wo ai ni" xDD!!! THAT, I did understand. The audience went and lost their collective shit over that one (me included~!) I'm so happy because thats the first time Karyu had ever said "I love you" at a concert that I was at.
Then Hizumi started to talk but then everyone interrupted him and called on Zero to say something in Chinese. Zero looked surprised and so damn cute, probably thinking "what the fuck am I gonna say??!". The crowd was going louder and crazier, so he raised his hand to shut us all up and then..... he smiled and waved. we all laughed so hard!!
AAARRRGGHHH HE'S SO DAMN CUTE!!!
Then Hizumi continued to talk in Japanese. He said something about the part of the stage in front of him was unstable and wobbly and he though he might fall. Zero must not have been paying attention because during the encore he went there and slipped -- how I wish he'd fallen flat on his bum! LOL *sadist*
For the encore they all wore the same tour t-shirt and Karyu did his thing of cutting out a big collar so it slides down his shoulder, and Tsukasa wore it without sleeves. Zero wore is olive parka and it was unzipped at the top and the bottom so that you could see his belt and HIS CHEST!!!
'scuse me, but... *DROOOOOOLLLLLLLSS*
As usual they did the throwing of picks/sticks/water & bottles. Karyu threw one my way and nobody caught it, but afterwards I managed to find it ^^. Got totally drenched from both Hizumi and Zero. Usually I like this kind of thing, (yes, I do) but this time there was a handshake event after the live so I didn't want to be so damn smelly and wet. I must've smelt of 6 different people that night.Eww, very ewww.
After the live we just went to the side and brushed our hair (lol) and it was then that Christy found me.
For the handshake event my ticket was no. 30 and the closer I got to the table where they stood behind, the more freaked out I got and wanted to run away. I wasn't sure if pictures were allowed but I tried to be discreet in taking this one.
First was Tsukasa and idk, but maybe I made him uncomfortable with the huge stupid awkward smile on my face that he just held both my hands and talked and talked and just didn't let me get a word in edgewise! Being the ignorant foreigner, I didn't understand a word he said, or maybe it was because of that Yamagatan accent??? Since there was no way at all I could speak (and I didn't even know what to say) all I did was stare at his hair. THAT DAMN FRINGE!!! and try not to LOL in his face :D
The staff lady behind me had to usher me along because we (he!!) was talking for too long and the line needed to keep moving. LOL Tsukacchi, shut up
Next was Zero who greeted me with that cheeky ero smile of his. Gently took both my hands and that was it!! I couldn't take it anymore, there was no way I could spend a couple of seconds looking right into the face of the most gorgeous human being on the planet --- so I asked for a hug. Maybe I was too quiet or he wasn't expecting me to speak in english so he leaned forward and I repeated my request. To which he happily obliged. He hugged me so closely and tightly that the table between us moved. AARRGHH!! MOVING TABLES!!! D: thats not what I meant
So then next was Karyu. I was just about ready to run away but was weakened by that warm nd fuzzy hug from Zero. Karyu looked nervous as if he was thinking the worst; "omg its that crazy stalker fan of mine *backs away slowly*". LOL! I bet he wanted to run away too, but thank goodness he didn't. We shook hands and I also asked him for a hug. I could hear the other manias behind going "ooaahhh". I'm so proud of myself to get over this fear of actually being face-to-face with Karyu, just him and me (well, for a few seconds anyway). Previously its just been like "here, Karyu! Present!" *runs away*
At this point I must've left this world. I was in heaven. I was euphoric. So whatever Hizumi said to me was not received into this brain. Still in la~ la~ land because of that hug from Karyu. I must've looked like this
but I do remember Hizumi saying "mata ashita" to which I replied the same and then had to walk away. He watched me as I walked away -- he must've been pretty freaked out or wondering WTF's up with this girl?? Or maybe he was nervous that I was going to ask him for a hug... OR, wondering why I didn't! LOL okay Hizumi, next time I'll hug you
After that we went by tour bus back to the hotel and then four of us went to a night market for dinner.
The following day we slept in and only got up in time before they finished serving breakfast. Yoshie found a massage parlour in her guidebook and we spent about 3 hours getting pampered. We were vigorously poked, prodded, rubbed down, put in weird positions, walked on and had hot towels thrown on us. Best massage ever! Later on, I found out that was the same massage parlour that the band had been going to!!
We then had pudding and bubble tea for lunch ^_^ and then had to get ready and back on the bus at 3:30. Being the 1st person in line is fucking awesome! We went straight to the centre in front of Hizumi but Yoshie was like "you should be in front of Karyu!" but no, I wanna see everybody too! Its going to be my last live in a while so I wanna take it all in, and not just drool over Karyu the whole time (that would have been good too!) After all, how often does one get a ticket number one??!
Setlist is again very rough wih only the first 2 or 3 songs in correct order.
Bullet
Marry of the Blood
Garnet
Death Point
Dope
Subliminal
Progress
Hollow
Medicine
Abyss
-13- Thirteen
Kogoeru Yoru ni Saita Hana
Mirror
Redeemer
Devil's Parade
Love is Dead
en
Horizon
Reddish
Fuyushita Risou
Way to address my neck problems, guys. I got whiplash from the 1st night and the massage didn't make it go away
Starting off with Bullet and Marry of the Blood, Garnet and then Subliminal and Fuyushita Risou later on, jeebus guys!
I spazzed with Subliminal. Honestly went absolutely APESHIT. I love that song from their DVDs and its the first time I've seen it live. Fucking broke my neck! :D
There was a song they played on both nights which had me worried -- I thought, "oh dear God they're going to play HEAVEN's COLOR" DDDDDD: I'm sorry if you like that song, I really am. But it such a relief when they ended up playing something else that kind of started similar-ish.
One time Karyu went up to Hizumi and motioned for him to take the right of the stage but Hizumi knew better and ended up staring at Karyu with a huge cheeky "what are you upto this time?" smile. But the next minute he went there and Karyu crept behind him and bit him on the shoulder. LOL.
Hizumi was wearing the red happy pants from Love is Dead PV and a long black vest thing (helloooooo Hizu chest! I spend quite some time admiring his skin that night
). Zero wore pretty much the same as the night before, so either he did his laundry the previous night or he has a complete wardrobe of those shiny t-shirts. Karyu had a white top with a weird, twisty black vest thing and Tsukasa wore a grey and white tank.... ok I suppose I didn't really pay attention to what they were wearing the second night... too much time spend ogling Hizmi's chest. LOL! And Karyu. I kept watching Karyu's performance. He's really into it and jumping, whirling, thrashing about, making faces and just being cool and awesome. I love the way his hands move when he's playing the guitar. He has elegant fingers
Something else happened between Hizumi and Zero but I must've been busy drooling over Karyu to have seen it -- I only caught a glimpse, but something DID happen!
They played Love is Dead and Devil's Parade back-to-back which was freaking amazing. However, note that one should not wear a loose-fitting t-shirt because said t-shirt goes up when you jump and sometimes stays up. Therefore, especially front-rowers who do not want the band seeing your jiggly bits should refrain from wearing loose fitting garments. Okay!
Hizumi MC'd about how the previous night, the front of the stage was wobbly. And his night it wasn't so he jumped around on it. At the very end with the usual throwing of stuff, Hizumi ran from Zero's side to Karyu side emptying his bottle out on us. God, that smile is just too gorgeous. Its fun and goofy and I just want to tickle him!
These 2 days his voice was absolutely perfect -- and it wasn't playback either. He sounds so good that its making me hopeful that they won't be on hiatus for long.
Anyway I think Hizumi has a thing for boobfucking with feet
. By that I mean that this is the second time he's shoved his foot right in between my boobs (in London 2009, and now Taipei). When he has one foot on the stage and one foot on the barrier, why does he choose to put his foot RIGHT THERE?! How is that meant to be fun? Not that I mind having his body parts in my face with all dangly bits within groping distance. Nope, I do not mind at all.
Rest assured I did't grab anything. Except for holding him steady while he reached across and touched the hands of other fans. I don't think I'd have been able to face him at the party had I done anything ~uncivilised~.
Zero stood right in front of us and very strongly spit his water in our faces. *feels special*
When it was over I got my 2nd poster (free when you show the merch guys your ticket) and headed straight for the bus. Everybody else got there quickly as we all needed to get ready and had only an hour to do so. I originally thought it wasn't going to be enough time but with Yoshie and I taking the quickest showers of our lives (except maybe the one after the concert in Paris), we were ready with 15 minutes to spare, but Yoshie had to finish writing her letter to Hizumi so I went up to the banquet hall alone.
Inside there were buffet tables, a bar, and 4 tables labelled A, B, C and one without a label. I was the first one there and felt so embarassed. Ms. Tour-guide was all like "kirei~" and I asked if the dress was okay becuase I'm insecure like that and need to know what other people think. She said it was really nice and the ticket guy from before (the one who gave us our concert tickets and stuff) came over and said that all the guys are gonna be getting nosebleeds over me. LOL! ok... awkward ^^o
I'm glad I had the courage to wear that dress. At first I was like "its so slutty!" but at least I stood out (even more than before). Apart from being the only non-Japanese person in the room, pretty much everybody else was dressed rather conservatively and in plain, neutral colours.
Anyway, I suppose I was a little disappointed at first that it was a DINNER party... I was expecting disco balls, loud music and basically as if it was a nightclub. But err, no. It was a buffet dinner and then later on the band arrived and did a talk session and then signed our stuff.
While we were eating, they played their CD in the background and we were like, "I wanna have another live!" I wasn't really hungry so I just ate a little bit, besides I didn't want to bulge out of this skin-tight dress.
When the band arrived we cheered and clapped as they walked through to the front of the room and sat down on this small stage thing. The ceiling was very low and Karyu almost hit his head. Tsukasa was the first to talk and we all laughed because he introduced himself "I am Tsukasa the drummer", as if we didn't know! But then the others followed suit and introduced themselves the same way. When Zero got hold of the mic he said, "ni hao" and we all laughed as well.
Tsukasa got the mic again and proposed a toast, he said "Kampei" and everyone laughed at him again and went "kampei!" back. I think everyone just loves to laugh at him. Poor guy!
The guys went around each table and we said "kampei" again and clinked our glasses together. I had wine and they had beer except Hizumi who I think had cold tea. The image of Karyu's hot sexy awesome gorgeousness will forever be ingrained in my mind. That night, omg his smile!! He's not scared of me anymore. It's like he's found out that I'm harmless after all.
I appreciate none of them running away from me. In fact, save for Tsukasa, we all had some very fun flirty moments. Especially with ZERO!! Everyone whose spent 2 minutes in the same room as him knows how much of a dirty, slutty flirting machine this man is. So don't worry I'm not gonna be all like "omg Zero likes me!!", besides there were only 32 people in the room to look at anyway! So I should really be asking, "why didn't Tsukasa look at me??" LOL!
I can't really say much about what they talked about. Stuff about the Europe Tour, food (of course) and places they'd like to go. Karyu said Iceland and Australia, but he kept talking on and on about Australia -- I wonder, since he knows I'm from here, did he keep talking about it because he wants an invitation??? (don't worry, thats all taken care of in the letter I gave him). Even if they weren't going on hiatus, I'd already emailed James about it almost a year ago and he's been in contact with Bloodpuppies and its just not realistic right now.
Either I can't remember or I didn't understand what the others said. Hizumi mentioned a place in Japan where he hadn't been to but would like to visit because of some temple or shrine. Tsukasa said Africa because he'd like to see the pyramids -- you guessed it, we LAUUUUGHHHED!!!
The host guy pointed out to him that the pyramids are in Egypt so then Tsukasa went all like "well maybe we have African mania and we can do a live there for them". Ah, so funny... but he's not entirely wrong because Egypt IS on the African continent.
Another lulzy Tsukasa moment was when he was talking about his stockings fetish (LOL!) and he said his favourite is 40 - 60 denier, black stockings.
Hizumi wore loose red pants and a tank and jacket. The neck of his shirt was really low and you could pretty much see his whole chest. He also kept his hands in his crotch a lot of the time. Karyu wore a purple and black striped long-sleeved shirt and Zero had a brown leather jacket. Obviously I wasn't really paying attention to their clothes -- much prettier things to look at; such as their faces, the location of Hizumi's hands (that was very good viewing, VERY!) , his chest... etc etc.
Its so much fun to just watch them together, and its extra special to be there with them. I am thinking of now joining the FC just so that I can go on the next FC-trip. But.... would they still have them while on hiatus? or is it a once-a-year only event?
After the talk they went near the exit and sat behind a table to sign our stuff. I got them to sign my copy of Askew magazine and each time they said "arigatou" and shook my hand and then I gave them my presents. First was Zero, Tsukasa, Hizumi and then Karyu.
Hizumi keeps looking at me as if he knows something
I'm afraid he might have read one of my letters to Karyu. He's so mischevious-looking and looks a little too interested for comfort. Karyu, after signing my magazine, took both my hands and looked me in the face and said so sincerely, "thank you" (in english). DAAAAWWWWWW!!! He was so cute!! Time must've stopped for a while because I felt myself going to heaven again
! And then I snapped out of it and panicked as to what to say next so I went "hai purezento desu!" and gave it to him and left.
These 2 days have been simply THE BEST!!
The fourth table I mentioned earlier, was most probably where they ate after all the fans had left. We went and waited downstairs in the lobby and for whatever reason I sat on one of the low-set couches (yeah completely forgetting that the dress rides up with you sit down!) and then Yoshie came up and sat with me and we decided to compare our shoes and swapped our left shoes -- it turns out we're the same size. Anyway, at that point the elevator opened and Hizumi came out. We hurriedly tried to get our own shoes back ....and in that shuffle to get my shoe, I had stretched my leg across, having a trashy-hollywood-celeb moment and completely flashed Hizumi!!! *dies*
ok, I was wearing underpants and stockings, but still... having my legs wide open in front of Hizumi....
By the time I got on my feet it was Karyu in front of me. I didn't even have to say anything and the next thing I know he's got his arms around me and was patting/rubbing my back saying either 「また直ぐ」 or 「まだ次」 or something that may have sounded similar. I can't remember because I was drunk and not entirely able to comprehend.
Maybe I had this kind of face, thats why he didn't hesitate to hug me a second time -->
After a staff person dragged him away, I followed them outside where their van waited and waved them goodbye.
Then about 6 of us went to a bar and drowned our sorrows before getting more alcohol and drinking back at the hotel and exchanged gossip and stories. It was a miracle I was able to participate in the conversation but eventually was just too tired and had to go back to my room and sleep. Unfortunately I was tired and my vocabulary is still limited so I wasn't able to get any juicy gossip *sad* times like this, I really wish I was fluent in Japanese!
I woke up alone the next day because Yoshie had left early for the airport. She left me a note and I felt so lonely. I ended up crying and just wanting to stay in bed the whole day and cry some more but thought I should probably get breakfast (it was getting late and I didn't really eat much) and I was still drunk from the night before. Its good, I guess, that I finally cried. It felt so weird to not be sad before. But I think the reason I cried was because of what Karyu said and the fact that he went and hugged me.
Later on I met up with Christy again and we went to the hotel where the band stayed. It was just about 2 or 3 blocks down the road but they had left already. The mania network really is amazing :D!