Korp's Travels

[korp]

So I have no idea where to post this thread. I need to brag. Badly.

So I just arrived late last night in Tokyo and this morning I decided to go out and do some shopping. Also, I got a new camera lens so why not take pictures of my surroundings like a dumb-dumb.
Later on, I played games and managed to snag some SKE48 two-shot tickets. *****IN'.

First of all, it's hot as hell outside.

No problem spotting AKB48 as soon as I step out of the door.
Japanese people have no idea how to be secure. I could have jacked that person's bike if I wanted to.

My goal this morning was to get new shoes. YEAAA SKE48

Decided to stop by Tower Records and see if they had any AKB stuff. Come to find out, AKB48 has their own friggin corner! Amazing!
Look at how dumb those dudes in the background look. I bout AKB ga Ippai at this point. It's so freaking pretty.

The city. Or whatever you call it. PRETTY BILLBOARDS OMG CHIYO RUSH

What I do from this point on don't really matter.
But here's something cool.

You know that idol group Momoiro Clover? There's this place in Akihabara where they are using a clip from their concert to show the 3D effect of this TV. It was pretty freaking amazing. It's better than the 3DS.


Will update tomorrow when I go to AKB48's handshake event.

But first..I went to the SKE48 two-shot event aswell. I managed to win some tickets unintenionally. I was surprised that there were any left, because their handshake event started days ago. But surprisingly there were actually some members that I liked there and I decided to go. Surprisingly, both Matsuis didn't show up. SOrta dissapointing, but oh well.

The place the actual event sucked and reminded me of an office or something.

So going in order, here are my three pictures with the girls. I was afraid that i'd look like ****. And it turned out that I did so just...yeah.
You get korp points if you can identify the members lurking in the back. Honestly, I only know their names from the tickets. Other than that, I honestly couldnt tell you anything about them.

TAKADA!!! nosebleed.

Matsumoto. I think I'm in love. Also, these Japanese girls act really surprised when they see a white girl their age coming in to take pictures with them.

LAST BUT NOT LEAST MY SKE48 GODDESS ISHIDA ANNA PLEASE KILL ME NOW

Seriously had a good day today. Maybe it will be better tmrw? Will update.

 

[Luigidude64]

Aw! How freaking awsome! I'm going to Italy next week, but I probably won't take pictures (i'll be too busy eating pasta at my sisters wedding )

 

[amaterasu]

i've never been out of country. or, left the eastern coast for that matter. : P
lucky luigidude. i'm half ittalian so it makes me 50 % moar jealous!

 

[theothernavi]

These are pretty good photos! Can't wait for updates!

 

[ケンジ]

Nice to see you had fun in Akiba.

Here's a bit of tips to avoid the heat, wait, no you don't, you can take it XD
Just grab a towel and wipe your neck, Buy some Biore tissues, it works wonders gets rid of the sweat and makes you feel fresh for awhile.
Hrmmm Also Since your in Akiba, or you visited it, By the loks of the TV, you went into the Yodobashi appliance center. It's a sweet place to buy some gadgets,

You can win a lot of stuff, and guys are not shy on their fav idols lol.
And it's in an office, there ain't exactly a large spot where one can line up, not with the busy train stations that connect to Chiba and to Central Tokyo.

If you need tips, I can give you, unless you know what to do. Feel free to ask. Skype or Chat

Bet you can't find where I live, I will never reveal myself. lol Honestly glad you had fun.
=w= I wish I was a Idol-type Person, but meh. I'm more into the Scene of Vocaloid.

Speaking of Vocaloid, Going to the Live Viewing of the Mikupa Sapporo Concert on Aug 17. Tickets are almost sold out. I need to get one dammit.

UPDATE: Nevermind, Got 2.

 

[kitty]

awesome! u should try to see a movie while ur there!
i saw a pokemon movie when i went to japan XD

 

[Wolf Sage]

Awesome! :yes: I wish I could go to Japan. I have been out of the country before - to Canada - but it isn't that special, since I live right next to it, in Michigan, and I've been there a million times. :yes:

Anyways, after you've finish chronicling your travels in this thread, you should really place your adventures and photos in your blogs. This is an awesome idea for a blog. :yes:

 

[amaterasu]

^ looks like your location is no longer a secret to everybody! xD

 

[Wolf Sage]

^ looks like your location is no longer a secret to everybody! xD

...oops.

 

[korp]

MOAR PICTURES!!!

Date 08/08/2011
Today's Objectives:
-AKB48 Everyday Kachuusha Handshake Event
-Trade AKB48 swag and krack with other crazed fans

Here's my breakfast. All bought at a vending machine in the train station LOL. I have Kagome Vegetable Juice, some sort of sandwich (which was good, btw), a riceball, and Aisu no mi sponsored by AKB48. You should also get yourself a can of Wonda Coffee for a morning shot of energy.

The fastest way to get to Tokyo Big Sight is more than likely by taking Yurikamome Monorail that runs from Shiodome. But me and my friend took the Rekai Line from Shinkiba since it's way cheaper. You get off at this station. Kokusai Tenjijo Station

Once you step outside, this is what you see. You'll spot Tokyo Big Sight right away. All you have to do is follow the greasy wotas that are all heading in the same direction.

You will eventually end up at the main entrance, which looks like this. I've never actually been in the rooms that are shaped like pyramids, and I don't even think they are used for events, anyway...

Finally arrived at the corridor between the eastern halls 1,3 4, and 6. This particular event used halls 1 and 3.

This is the entering area to Hall 2. There's no walls separating the halls between 4 and 6.

When you aren't shaking the girls' hands and chatting with them, you are free to mingle and rest in the 'free space' area. In this area, the SRS BSNS AKB STAFF won't bother you, but if you **** around in the handshaking area, they'll shoo you away if you try to rest or even sit down. You aren't allowed to take photos inside, but I did anyways because I'm a rebel. I had to take this photo at a low angle to avoid being spotted. Look at all these AKB nerds! So greasy!

There's also a little AKB shop. But things sell out super quick and are way expensive so it's almost not worth looking at. Then, there's a trading area where AKB nerds like me and you trade their pictures for pictures of another girl that they like more. If you want to be able to set up your own 'space' I suggest arriving to this event very early, like 9 am. Otherwise, you'll have to walk around looking for pics you want and pics you want to trade away. Most of the time, the smart people who grabbed their own spot have a sign up stating who's pictures they are looking for and who they have that they want to trade away. The SRS BSNS AKB STAFF doesnt like it when fans use money to buy and sell their pics among others. So we speak in code. K as in thousand is asking wether the buyer or seller can use money. Usually, the other person would just use a number, for example, if I went up to someone and they had a pic of a girl I liked, I'd be all: "K?" and then they'd reply with "2". As in, 2000 yen for the picture. It's very easy to start up conversations with people here, about AKB48, oshimens, events, experiences, and so on. We are all here for the same thing after all!

Anyways, I went off track about how these handshake events work. When you bid on tickets, you can bid on three tickets at a time. However, you can bid as many times as you want to. There are 6 time blocks during the event, and when one time block ends it means the girls are going on break. You have to get away from the greasy wotas every so often to keep yourself oil-free. Here's an example bid:
Maeda Atsuko- (9/10)-block 5, Maeda Atsuko (9/10)-block 6, Maeda Atsuko (9/10)-block 7, and so on.
That's one bid. If you want to add more time blocks or more tickets, you have to make another bid. They really know how to profit!

The trick is that if you actually WIN these things, (Kenji has told me how hard they are to get), you have to go through another process which is putting everybody's winning bids in a lottery. Because AKB is so big at the moment that not everybody who bought a single can't come at once. The lottery goes in rounds, so once Round 1 ends, everybody gets to know who gets tickets and who doesent. By the time Round 2 starts, all of the popular members are sold out so you best be having an undergirl favorite! Anyways, this is the time you shoot for unpopular members. So if you put in 1 or 2 tickets of a girl you like, your chance of winning is very slim. So that's why everybody flips out and puts in a bunch of bids. But if you actually win, like I did, you really gotta pay up. Each handshake is 1000 yen. ;__;

Then, the winners will get their CDs with tickets. To actually shake a girls hand, you have to show the SRS BSNS AKB STAFF your reciept to PROVE all the trouble you went through just to see your waifu for 10 seconds. You have to show them your ticket, the receipt, and an ID card. If youre a foreigner like me, you have to show them your Passport and your life history. It's like an act of congress, god!

You can also trade tickets with other people if your girl is being a ***** that day, so trade up in the queues if you can!

For each time you get in line, you have the chance to use up to three tickets at once. Each ticket is 10 seconds, so if you use 3 tickets you can talk to her for 30 whole seconds! Amazing! The SRS BSNS AKB STAFF has a stopwatch and once their clock hits 30 seconds, they physically drag you away.

Some people still hang around after closing hours. (Including me.) Here are a couple of greasy nerds performing wotagei.

~Will continue~

 

[amaterasu]

THEY LOOK LIKE STAR WARS FANBOYS WAVING AROUND LIGHT SABERS! XD

but anyway looks like you be havin' fun.

 

[ケンジ]

Fun fact:

Tokyo Big Site is the gathering of many fandoms at different days.
Nice job getting there. I tend to go there for....Comiket. Don't hate me, I like doujins and freebies. And I like to blow off 100,000 yen as a minimum amount. Deal with it. I still remember Idolmaster Doujins being sold there, Ah those were the days, =w= and a few doujin artists are well mannered. Of course, most fans during that time are, riled up, which causes problems. Not to mention photographers....

And the fact it's super packed than people in a shinkansen leaving for other prefectures on a popular holiday.
Your lucky you didn't get pest controlled. Any little trouble in tokyo big site = kicking you out. It's anime heaven, and other fandom paradise.

I tend to leave for Tokyo big site at 2 AM in the morning.
Reason: People will flock to it as early as possible to get in line. But there's a rule to not loiter around Big Site until present day.So I leave early and wait around in a nearby place and walk fast to get myself in line. Timing is key I'm hardcore, but most people I meet up are more hardcore, like 8 PM.

Fans are always dedicated. They will stay there, even after the event has finished, for fun and chatting, then they go to either MIXI, NND, or other Japanese blogs or on Twitter. And those must be AKB Glowsticks It's common for them to sell that stuff. It maye be a mini-concert where they may sing one song, or just to meet and greet and bla bla bla Korp knows what I'm taking about.


=w= It's basically
Announcement = Lottery = Lottery within lottery = Sub groups lottery = prize.
So Korp is lucky. And to those sending me PMs that I'm joking, I am not.

Visit odaiba is you can, it's a bit far, but the sights are great, not to mention the large Ferris wheel. There's also some shops there.

 

[Dark Princess]

Oh, I am soooo jealous. DX It sounds like a lot of fun!

 

[ケンジ]

Oh, I am soooo jealous. DX It sounds like a lot of fun!

The term Fun is an Understatement.

It's, beyond the epicness of Epic and Awesome. It's paradise.