karened

Back from Bangkok

I'm safely back in the comfort of my room!

It wasn't as bad I had imagined it to be...and we got to see the Red Shirts' protest live.

I was quite amused by this big panel advertisment for a beauty clinic at the street corner of my hotel.


I recognised Kim Joon right away. But the other 2? Are they from Tmax? *shrugs*

I think kpop is very big in Thailand. I see endorsements by K artistes (official or unofficial) everywhere. When I go to shopping malls, I hear korean songs broadcasted through the sound system. And on the second day, I came across this road show selling tv sets.And yes, Korean PVs were playing (thank god no Nobody!) - Shinee and SuJu. A small group of girls gathered behind me and one even took out a Siwon uchiwa (lol she carries it everywhere?).

Not much Jpop, but on my final day, I did spot this lady, dressed in office wear, carrying a backpack with a certain Johnny boy's photo keychain hanging from the bag.

And guess who the boy is?

My darling junjun!

Oh, shopping was really cheap there. But the most no-value-for-money (it costed a total of 300 plus baht) were these.


But I had to buy them.

My Girlfriend Is A Gumiho

My Girlfriend Is A Gumiho ep 11

You know how crazy I was for You're Beautiful. I'm currently watching another drama written by the Hong Sisters, who were behind that manaic kdrama. It's named "내 여자친구는 구미호" (My Girlfriend is a 9-tailed fox). And I have to say that although I don't feel the crazy fangirl emotions I felt for YB, I thoroughly enjoyed the drama. If the next 3 episodes are at least as good as the previous 13 were, I'll definitely put it above YB. Because, while it was not as silly fun as YB, it did not drag and feel too angsty like YB did it its later episodes. I feel that the Hong Sisters had improved in their writing, and the angst is always resolved in a light manner that remains true to the spirit of the drama. And without giving an awkward, contrived feeling. It's rare, I tell you.

Here's a scene from ep 11 that's going into my list of memorable quotes.

Feeds? I've just downloaded Feedreader...but have no idea where to find the rss feed url for the dashboard.

Anyone knows how to?

Arigatou, matsuzy

I haven't been posting much lately, because work is taking up all my time, and what's left over is spent on transfering my vox posts over to lj. T.T I still have  3 years' worth to finish by month year.

But I had to post this.

(Click on the post title to read full post)

Music Station 10/09/2010 - Love Rainbow

I was distracted from the whole MiniSuite Talk by the very obvious Ohmiya bullying on the left side of the screen.
Nino pushing Ohno into the background by leaving no gap between himself and Aiba.
And the look Ohno gave Nino when Nino finally let him into the line.
 

Aiba's hair is SOOOO working for him in here. He looks very young!

 

And yes, seeing this cap, you know you're in for some JUNTOSHI RABU RABU right?!
Here's what I imagine Ohno's birthday message to Jun looks like:
おめでとう
僕がプレゼントだよ
(Congrats -on your birthday-
I'm the present)


So this was what the picture is about! I saw this floating in my friends page...
Ohno sent this photo along with his birthday message!!!!
How cute is this!?

And the next part of the talk won Jun even more points from me.

They started off talking about whether Arashi can see the audience from the stage in Kokuritsu. And apparently, the view from the stage is different from the view from the audience and from the stage, everyone looks very close up!

Then Jun moved on to talk about this very kind person they met during the concert.
There was this lady who brought with her a handmade Aiba uchiwa, and she was waving it right in front of Jun. Then halfway, she realised that it was an Aiba uchiwa and immediately turned it over. That side of the uchiwa read:

いつも五人に元気をもらてます (I always receive energy from the five of you)

And he made the comment which made my day night! That there are many people who like all five!

And then, still on the uchiwa topic, Sho brought up this perculiar uchiwa for Ohno that they saw.
And now, it's Ohno's turn to score points!

On the uchiwa was the picture of a fish and a question was written on the uchiwa "What fish is this?"
When asked by Sho how he answered her, he said that since he couldn't use the mic, he just did this
(pointed her her and then mouthed the answer).

And of course he had to mention the many uchiwas that read "Fish me up!"
His answer to those is to make the big gesture of fishing them one by one. LOL
 

Oh, and from the sales ranking! Arashi's 33th position and they count down to the top 3 singles sold.


At 3rd place we have Monster (why did it lose to Troublemaker I cannot fathom), the cool, slick Arashi


At 2nd place we have Troublemaker, the cute, fun-loving Arashi

At 1st place, to everyone's horror (mainly Arashi's) and delight (mainly fans and audience's, as you can hear from the noisy background upon the playing of this footage), we have A.RA.SHI, the chikubi-baring Arashi chibi-chans!










Of course they had to show this hit debut single ne! Look at the shamed Arashi! <3
 

As for the performance...it's nothing WOW, but I did enjoy very much this particular shoot:




Oh, this is actually random screencap. I had wanted to screencap the "Oh, Why'd you have to be so cute? It's impossible to ignore you" and when I clicked the snipping tool, it caught Jun too! By chance!

Video from anj 

Booked a hotel

I've just made a booking.

Had wanted to book the Tokyo Dome Hotel, but it was full.

Proceeded to check for other hotels, and found a few nearby ones. In the end I narrowed down to two hotels.

One was only 200m from the Dome, the other...perhaps 500m away.
The nearer one was cheaper by about $70.
The further one had more reviews and more pictures.

So...I decided on the further one.

First time booking a hotel by myself!

Arashi makes me learn things!

Pre-concert preparations
Book airtix
Book hotel
Get ticket
Prepare uchiwa
Get fangirl buddy
Borrow bino
Prepare concert attire
Narrow down con goods
Plan timing
Learn songs

 

Translation of Over lyric

x-posted at my lj.

Over lyric translation
I like this song better than Love Rainbow, because it showcases the boys' voices more clearly. The melody is very soothing too, and the lyrics quite meaningful.

Do not repost without permission. Kharma will follow you.

Over (Coupling song for Love Rainbow)

頼りなく色付いた　薄紅の空を見上げた
やけに遠くに響く　いつもの電車の音
I looked up at the light crimson sky that has changed colours unsteadily
Resounding violently in the distance is the usual sound of the trains

上書きされ日々も　読みかけの愛も　幾つも
捨てられない切なさも　「丁度いい」 と呟いた
All the days that are written over, love that is seeking reciprocation
Even the great deal of pain that cannot be cast away. I whispered "That's just nice"

この手に （この手に） 触れたのは
こんなにも （こんなにも） やわらかな風
What caressed these hand (these hands) was
Such a (such a) gentle breeze

誰もが願う明日へ　叶えたい思いを強く強く
重ね続けてる今を　この胸にいつまでも歩いて行く
Towards the tomorrow that is hoped for, everyone strongly, strongly send the wishes they want be fulfilled
I'll keep walking in this heart the present that continues to grow

変われない迷いの中　綴った手紙の　あの言葉
何処かの街角で見かけた　見知らぬ誰かの歌
Those words from the letter I wrote in the midst of unchangeable hesitations
I came across them at a street corner somwhere, from a song of a stranger

もう今は（もう今は）違ってても
そう今も心の中に
Even though it's already different by now (by now)
Yes, (they're) still within my heart now

行き交う人の波に　立ち尽くすときが来るとしても
譲れない願いを　いつの日かこの腕に掴み取るまで
Even if there comes a time where I stand still among the crowd that comes and goes
(I will continue) Until I've seized the unyielding wish in these hands someday

夢の後先の傷跡に残す誓い　大切なもの
消えぬ思い　またひとつ見えた　言葉では足りないから　求めて
全て見てみたい
The vows left on the scars resulting from dreams are precious things
Wishes that don't vanish, another one came in sight. It's not sufficient (to describe it) with words so I seeked
I want to try see everything

誰もが願う明日へ　叶えたい思いを強く強く
重ね続けてる今を　この胸にいつまでも歩いて行く
いつか掴みたい
Towards the tomorrow that is hoped for, everyone strongly, strongly send the wishes they want be fulfilled
I'll keep walking in this heart the present that continues to grow
I want to seize it someday

Member love and more in Love Rainbow Making Of

x-posted at my lj.

Watched the PV Making Of finally, and I totally loved it. Even more than Troublemaker and Monster!

Here are some flail-worthy moments:
 

• Aiba falling off the track.
• Nino fooling around with Ohno's clipboard.
• Ohno spending his free time looking up fishing info so that he can fish up his beloved tuna.
• Sho and Nino trying to take over Jun's job of introducing the PV by pretending that the song's the theme of their drama instead!
• Aiba worrying about finishing the job too smoothly this time and having his (clumsy?) character ruined, thus having to take on the "able-to-do-too-much-kun" character in the future.
• Sho acting as Ohno's manager, telling him the concept of the PV.
• Nino asking Ohno to wait since he hasn't finished his part, and having heard that, Ohno asks him to work hard. Why the sudden change in behaviour? We soon find out. Ohno says that although Nino's last, most likely they'll go back in the same vehicle. Nino acknowledges that he knows that! Everything ends when he finishes his part. At that, Ohno rushes to push Nino out of the greenroom! And they have great fun pushing and pulling, because Nino knows what Ohno's thinking and refuses to bulge! It was only when Ohno said he'll wait that Nino moves. Maybe Ohno wants to go home fast and pack his bags for another fishing trip!
• Ohno joking that since they're filming the whole thing with the green backdrop, he can't imagine what the final product would be - it could have all kinds of trees behind them, or it may just be a plain green backdrop. HAHA since when did Ohno become so lame.
• Sho putting up 7 fingers (in the Japanese way) at every mention of "7 coloured"/"nana iro" in the lyrics, and then Ohno taking over the baton (in Sho's words!) by singing "phrase"/"no furesu". Kawaii.

Notice I didn't mention a thing about Jun? Well, there was plenty of member love (Yama, Ohmiya, Sakumiya, how come no Aibaxsomeone ?!) but the best best best (and I'm biased haha) was this:



I don't know, I can imagine Jun as the wife going "what happened? what happened?" to the husband (Ohno) who came home in low spirits. But I can also imagien Jun as the husband returning home and finding the wife (Ohno) resting after a long day of housework! Jun understood Ohno so much, wondering if he was lazing around coz he was hungry/tired....The ease!




Who would have expected Jun to gesture to Ohno at this part?!

風の通る坂道　木漏れ日の階段に
想い出を刻んで　全て君にする
The hilly road where the wind blows past, the stairs where the sun filters through the canopy onto
I'll carve memories there, making them all about you

And Ohno returned a kiss, so instantaneously!

Having said all these, I need to say that I prefer Over over Love Rainbow. I like the boys' more mellow voices in there, and the calm melody.

New lodging at typepad

I've been following Jen since I entered fandom, so since she's making this her new home, I guess I'll stick around more. Am starting to get used to Typepad, but it's still not my top choice. Guess I'll post both here and in lj, depending on the type of content!

For now, I'm keeping the typepad unlocked. But ex-vox-n-locked posts will remain as drafts. In the future, in order to keep my typepad unlocked, I'll post sensitive posts over at lj, so ex-neighbours, please add me there if you want!

vox neighbours, please go to http://karened.livejournal.com/4769.html and add me as friend! If you need a bait....come and get your 10-11 Group translation! lol. Let's keep in touch ne...