OMG.

Today's horoscope was right. It said that today would be the best day for me... and it is.

But I don't have enough money in my bank account to make the transfer... HAHAHA

I have to go to the bank in person with cash + my dwindling bank balance.

Please let this work out somehow. I need to see Jin again.

YamaP's hair looked hot. And Jin's aviator sunnies are sexy. He looked like a total rockstar with his hair pulled back like that.

( In case you don't want to know any more without having seen it yourself. )

Just watched YamaP on HEY! HEY! HEY! MUSIC CHAMP. He performed LOVELESS and omg... when did YamaP become so sexy? He sang really well live. I have this habit of avoiding listening to online versions of songs I want to buy but now that I've heard it and absolutely love it, I'll buy it tomorrow.

A few actors including (actress) Ryo, Toda Erika, Hannya and Aikawa Sho (who played the cop in Kurosagi). I was trying to watch the TV show and check the cranberry muffins I had baking in the oven at the same time so I missed a bit but managed to catch a few facts I didn't know before:

• Toda Erika said that he has a habit of adjusting his fringe (bangs). He also has really smooth skin, like a baby's. Also, if likened to an animal he would be a cat because if he is not interested in something he doesn't pretend to be. She did this great impression of him too!
• Ryo said that his biggest problem is that he's too nice. He's nice to both men and women and is a great listener. She said that girls probably get the wrong idea because he's so nice to them. She said she'd liken him to a lion.
• Hannya (Kanada and Kawashima) said that he has awesome pecs and abs. Also they said that he is a big drinker and doesn't just drink beer and sake, he drinks hard liquor like whiskey and doesn't change a bit.
• Aikawa said that when he drinks alcohol he eats a lot. Maybe even twice as much as Aikawa could eat.
• YamaP said one of his close friends just gave birth and he was the one that set them up (cupid) so they named their kid Tomota, taking the 'Tomo' from Tomohisa. Awww.

At one point, he pulled out his glasses and put them on and all the girls in the audience went mental. He did look smoking hot. Gah, I wish I had balloted for his solo concert now, but I wouldn't have been able to afford going to Yokohama. Argh.

Meanwhile, Akanishi is on next week's episode! OMG. I must watch it.

Now for Tokyo Dogs...

So I brought my Wii back to Yamada Denki this afternoon to get it repaired. They had a whole book full of Nintendo repair slips and said that because of the O-Bon holiday, there was a chance that repairs could be backed up and could take up to a month. :O But I was thinking... do I really have a choice? *sigh* so I am without my Wii for the next month and all I can do is read the booklet of the game I can't play. HA HA HA.

In other news, I got my Macbook successfully hooked up to my Sharp AQUOS LC-20D30 LCD TV with audio, which proved to be no small task.  Getting the picture to display was simple, but getting the audio to work was such a pain in the ass. First I tried using the 3.5mm to RCA but that was no good... because the picture was connected with a Mini DV to HDMI cable, so my TV was expecting audio input from the HDMI slot... so then I got the 3.5mm to 3.5mm cable, found this audio-in jack at the back of my TV, separate to the headphone jack and fiddled with the menu on my TV and got it working! Searching online proved fairly useless as most people said that you'd have to do it via VGA, not HDMI or connect external speakers, which I don't have. Clearly, I'm a technical genius.

Oh, I'm a little sad because I didn't pre-order Arashi's All the BEST 1999 - 2009 LE album and missed out. I was half-expecting there to be a few copies left because this IS Nagasaki and stores never seem to sell out of LE's until about a week after release. IThe release date wasn't supposed to be until tomorrow, but stores often get the stock a day earlier. I guess it goes to show just how amazingly popular Arashi is here. They still have LE copies of 悪魔な恋 / NYC (Themesong to 'Koishite Akuma') and that was released a month ago! Tower Records still had copies of the RE but I just don't buy RE on principal. CDs are already so expensive so you may as well pay 1000 yen more and get one that could be a collector's item one day. I am tempted to go out and buy Kobukuro's new album 'Calling', because I love me some Kobukuro. But I guess it can wait until pay day this Friday.

Well, I thought about how broke I've been in Japan despite having lived here for more than a year on a decent salary and realise that I need to prioritise what I want to see while I'm in Japan or I won't have enough money to buy new shoes (which I actually need). I've travelled a fair bit this year, including going to Tokyo, Osaka, Okinawa, Hiroshima and even Korea.

So I've decided that I'd fly to Tokyo to see Arashi (if flailinginlove hits tickets), KAT-TUN (although I already did see them twice now), flumpool (my current favourites) and even NEWS (because I missed the Winter Diamond Party Concert last year because I was going to Singapore) but as much as I like Hey! Say!, the furthest I'd travel to see them is to Fukuoka, which is a 2.5 hour/4000 yen bus ride away. Besides, I am going home to Australia for Christmas this year, because it'd be another year before I got to see my family again and I miss them. The flight to Australia isn't so expensive, but flying back will be pretty steep.

I renewed my membership to You&J (the fan club which includes KAT-TUN, Kanjani8 and NEWS) and I'm hoping there will be many more concerts between now and the same time next year. Come on, NEWS! At least release a new single or something... oh, and I'd really like to see Kanjani8 again, but they only just finished touring so it'll be a while before their next one.

On Thursday July 30th, I went to Kyocera Dome in Osaka to watch the final show of the Kanjani8 (関ジャニ∞) 'PUZZLE' tour. Honestly, I was never that interested in Kanjani8 because I hadn't listened to much of their music. But when flailinginlove got tickets and invited me to go with her, I couldn't resist because I'd recently become a Nishikido Ryo (also a member of NEWS) fan after watching him act in the fairly recent drama series Ryusei no Kizuna (Bound by Shooting Stars). She managed to hit Arena seats, which were absolutely amazing as we were literally one metre away from the moving platform that went around the main stage. I was so close to Nishikido Ryo and as he went by on the stage, I felt like we made eye contact. Or it could've been with the girls behind me or next to me, but well... it was pretty amazing. His gaze is even more smouldering in real life!

I sneakily took a photo of the main stage (mobile phone usage was prohibited inside):



This girl sitting in front of me had this ridiculous palm-tree hairstyle which was totally obstructing my vision during some moments, but I was too chicken to say anything *sigh*.

The concert was great! I actually bought their latest album in preparation so I would know some of their songs and not look like a complete idiot.  I was also familiar with the other members names and faces by the end of the concert. One member, Okura Tadayoshi reminded me a lot of Kamenashi Kazuya from KAT-TUN. I'm not sure why but possibly because they both have sharp facial features.

Because it was the last concert in their home city of Osaka, the concert went for more than three hours. They also recorded the concert and are planning to release it on DVD in the future. I feel pretty fortunate because they sang a new song and had the audience sing part of it for an actual recording for release. We couldn't actually buy any concert goods because they had already sold out by the time we got to the stalls... that was kind of a let down.

... but possibly a blessing in disguise because it means I'll have more money for the next KAT-TUN Summer Concert I'm going to in two weeks. I managed to get Arena B block seats for a daytime show in Fukuoka. I'm hoping my seats will be as good as or better than my Kanjani8 seats because if I could see Jin up close, I'd probably cry (like the girl next to me in the Kanjani8 show did when she saw Yasuda Shota go past). Here's hoping!

Thanks flailinginlove! I had a great time. Let's go and see HSJ together next time. We can be old audience members together... ; )

Yesterday I got on the bus and headed off to see flumpool live in Fukuoka. The bus ride from Nagasaki to Fukuoka is a little over two hours. I go there early, so I went shopping and bought a new dress from my favourite boutique Heather. I wish I had the capital to open one in Sydney because I know it would do well. The designs are great, it's reasonably-priced and everything is really well-made.

At 4pm, I went to the venue to buy concert goods and there were so many scalpers asking if I had any spare tickets or if I wanted better seats. They were so dodgy-looking. I bought a sports towel, tour t-shirt and pamphlet. The pamphlet is really well-made. It's really small, about the size of a CD but a bit thicker, but made to look like a magazine. It has interviews, facts and pictures of the band. They are definitely my current favourite!

Anyway after buying the concert goods I had more time to kill before the actual show so I wondered into Mandarake, a kind of otaku superstore. I was actually feeling kind of uncomfortable walking around in there because it was filled with shady-looking geeks. They had one section with retro games, which was pretty cool. I was really surprised to find Nintendo Game & Watch handhelds going for 20,000+ yen a piece... which is crazy since I am pretty sure I have two lying around at home in Sydney, both in working condition. I remember when my mum gave me Super Mario Game & Watch one Christmas. It was probably the start of my love for video games. (My sister got 'brick game', a Tetris imitation)

I was in the middle, 14 rows from the stage, so I was pretty close to the stage and could see their faces clearly. Genki (bass) is so fashionable... all the girls kept screaming 'kakkoii!' (COOL!) from the audience. Ryuta's voice is excellent, even performing live. He even hit all the high notes with ease. I was totally blown away by their performance. It was flawless. The funniest member is probably Kazuki (guitar), he kept cracking jokes and got hit on the head by a large (1m) paper fan by Genki. Before his solo during the encore, a male voice from the audience called out his name and Kazuki was like: "Awww, why is a guy calling my name?" It was so funny because shortly after the same male voice shouted "I love you!". At the end of the concert, Kazuki threw guitar picks into the audience and I CAUGHT ONE. Well, it was really dark so when he threw it, nobody knew where it landed. I heard it hit the ground softly behind me, turned around and there it was! SCORE!!

Oh well, I'd better go. I'm off to watch a baseball game! Fukuoka Softbank Hawks vs. Orix Buffaloes. Gooooo Hawks! Tomorrow I leave for Osaka and Kyoto to meet up with Kara (a friend from Sydney), who is visiting Japan for the first time. I'm really excited to see her. : )

I got paid today, thank goodness. I had 4000 yen in my bank account and I thought I'd get charged an overdraft limit if one of my bills got deducted automatically.

It's another long weekend, so I can't complain too much, but I am freezing. I had no idea Nagasaki could get this cold. I've been abusing the crap out of my air-con/heater every morning; I just can't get out of bed otherwise.

The point of this post is really to whine about how badly I want to buy 街へいこうよーどうぶつの森 (Animal Crossing for Wii), but I don't actually have a Wii yet. It's on my list of things to buy, along with a kotatsu, printer/scanner and DVD recorder. The problem is, I'm broke! I really don't know where all my money goes, because I have nothing to show for it. Also, it seems like I've been wearing the same old clothes (desperately need a new wardrobe).

Anyway, back to the game... I've been watching the commercials on TV for it and you can get a bundle which includes WiiSpeak so you can talk to each other when playing!

I also bought NEWS' new album, 'COLOR'. I'm kind of disappointed with it, because the only songs I really like on it are 'weeeek', 'SUMMER TIME' and 太陽のナミダ (taiyou no namida), which I've already heard! NEWS' 'pacfic' album was so much better. Meanwhile, I am totally loving 'Beautiful days'(嵐) and admit to have totally enjoyed singing 真夜中のシャドーボイ (mayonaka no shadow boy - Hey! Say! JUMP)　at karaoke.

My 3rd year students told me that KAT-TUN would be on Music Station tonight (Thaaaaanks, kids!). :D They performed their new single, 'White X'mas', which I really love, even though it was kind of a dodgy performance. I already pre-ordered the LE edition as soon as I knew it was coming out. Jin looked smoking hot as usual, but what surprised me was seeing Junno's jet black hair. It makes him look so pale. I definitely prefer brown hair on him. I wonder if he's had it for a while and I've just been really out of the KT loop. I used to check the community everyday, but lately I've been so busy with karate and studying for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test. Ergh. I need to study right now!

Oh... my... god. KAT-TUN's new CD, due to be released on 4th June, has been leaked! I'm listening to it right now and it's so unbelievably good. So much better than Cartoon KAT-TUN. I've already ordered the Limited Edition off YesAsia. I can't wait for it to arrive, now that I know how awesome it is. I'm so happy they re-opened pre-orders to the Limited Edition too. I hate buying normal editions of Japanese CDs.

Like I couldn't get the LE of Arashi's Dream "A" Live, so I don't love it as much as my other LE CDs. I am so particular about the stuff I buy, or things I own. To give you an example of something that happened recently, my $150 silk blouse got snagged on something and it has a tiny pull in it invisible unless you look really closely, but I've stopped wearing it since it happened. Just knowing that it isn't perfect anymore really irritates me and I've sub-consciously rejected it.

Track 13, 12 o'clock made me LOL because the JINgrish is so terrible. But I still love him.

Oh wow... I just heard a radio rip of KAT-TUN's new single 'DON'T U EVER STOP'. It's really catchy! I was kind of worried when I heard reports that the sound of their new single would be more 'dance' than 'rock' but it's totally KAT-TUN-rashii yo. I can't wait until my CD arrives! I ordered the first press limited edition with the (no surprises for guessing) Jin + Koki solos.

Oh... my... god. The 'Hell yeah' towards the end of the song is so freaking sexy. It's Jin right? RIGHT?!

I just took got my blood pressure taken. It's 110/66. Isn't that on the low side?

I finally watched Crows Zero (without subtitles), starring Oguri Shun and Yamada Takayuki. I'm embarrassed to say I only understood about 10% of the whole movie. Oh my gosh... I failed. They were talking so gangsta (literally) that I had no idea what was being said. But visually, it' was stunning. The fight scenes are absolutely brilliant. The blood and gore made me nauseous towards the end, but being able to ogle Oguri Shun in such a bad-ass role was totally worth it. I have also taken a liking to the blonde guy in CZ (I forget his name but the actor is Takaoka Sousuke) and couldn't remember what movie/drama I had seen him in before but then I googled him and it turns out he had a minor role in Battle Royale (2000) as Boy #11. He's also in the movie We Shall Overcome Someday (2004), which will be showing at The Japan Foundation on May 28th. I must remember to go and watch it. I signed up to become a Japan Foundation member but haven't done anything with my membership since joining.

Work has been quiet the past week, probably because everyone has already gone on holiday. I'm leaving to go to the Blue Mountains with my family tomorrow, which should be fun. I haven't been there since fifth grade, so I don't remember much except for the Three Sisters (famous rock formations, for the non-Aussies). Well, I better go to bed now.

To my fellow Aussies... I hope you have a nice, relaxing ANZAC long weekend.

EDIT: I just realised that SARS have subbed the first episode of Zettai Kareshii! OMG... this is the best weekend ever.