Posts in Category 'Article'

GIVE ME FIVE!

The spring single with a twist 30 January, 2012 by

As the new year comes along, fans await with bated breath for the yearly spring season single. Fans colloquially refer to it as the Sakura single; every single released at this time has had ‘sakura’ in its title. So imagine the surprise of many, when it turned out that 2012′s spring single had a title that wasn’t even in Japanese: Give Me Five!
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Fairies

Avex's answer to K-Pop 27 January, 2012 by

While Tokyo Girls’ Style continue to sway indecisively between their serious and idol images, Fairies emerged just 4 months ago as avex’s true successors to SPEED. In the short time since they’ve debut, Avex has not been shy to proclaim Fairies as their answer to the K-pop wave sweeping the rest of the world.
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JKT48

AKB48's first overseas-based sister group 25 January, 2012 by

Near the end of 2011, AKB48 staged its own singing contest prior to the perennial NHK Kouhaku Uta Gassen. Aside from being the first time such a singing competition was staged by the AKB48 family, it was also the first glimpse many Japanese (as well as the overseas fans through Google+) caught of the Jakarta-based AKB48 sister group, JKT48.
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Tokyo Winter 2012 Day 10

Almost missing our flight back 24 January, 2012 by

Today was the last day of our new year’s trip to Tokyo. The last minute nature of things meant that we would neither plan nor think through on a lot of decisions.

As it turns out this second Monday of January was the annual Seijin no Hi or Coming of Age Day in Japan. A day typically marked by women turning 20 flocking to temples and shrines in elaborate furisode. We would also learn during our concert visits that SUPERGiRLS were holding a free live and high five session at Yoyogi Park in the afternoon.

Our flight was at 5.10 PM, which meant that we had ought to reach Narita Airport by at least around 4. Considering that the live event started only at 1 and that it would take us a combined 2 hours to get back to our hotel for our luggage and to travel to the airport, we knew we were cutting it close. Still, I was sufficiently intoxicated by their catchy tunes to give it a crazy try.
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Tokyo Winter 2012 Day 9

A leisurely stroll through Odaiba 23 January, 2012 by

This morning we’d make one final attempt at Akihabara before making our way over to Odaiba. It’s been a while since my last visit to the man made island and was looking forward to returning to the peaceful, spacious shopping arcades there. We first returned to Ueno’s Ameyoko in the morning though, since I had promised Wilson a carton of Pocky from there. Only continuing on our day’s adventures after we had dropped off our purchases back at the hotel.
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Tokyo Winter 2012 Day 8

Appreciating both natural and manmade wonders 22 January, 2012 by

Today we’d headed down to Ueno Park to visit the Ueno Zoo. Fortunately, for us our hotel Candeo Hote Ueno-koen was named precisely because it was located beside the park. So far we had only explored so far as the JR train station around the corner of our street, but the park was just behind that. This gave us an excuse to sleep in till rather late.
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Tokyo Winter 2012 Day 7

Another day with the rainbow stars 20 January, 2012 by

This Friday would be our second and only other day this trip spent idoling or so we thought, as we made our return to Harajuku in the early morning to pick up the leftover tickets for this evening’s last SUPERGiRLS New Year concert. Thanks to Gorakudoh’s convenient website that was updated at multiple times each day, we learned that the two back row tickets we had seen from yesterday were still available. After yesterday’s amazing live, I was eager for another chance to enjoy their performances.
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Tokyo Winter 2012 Day 6

JUMPing on board the SUPERGiRLS bandwagon 19 January, 2012 by

First up, I would like to apologize for today’s lack of quality and quantity of photos. Today we made our way down to Shinjuku BLAZE for the awaited SUPERGiRLS concert. Most of the day would be spent indoors and I didn’t want the trouble of carrying such heavy shooting equipment or figuring out how to store it away during the show. Before the concert though it was first to Harajuku, where we had an appointment with the AKB48 Official Shop Harajuku.
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DisneySea Winter 2012 Day 5

Returning to the happy place 18 January, 2012 by

Since the rest of our weekdays would probably be taken up, today was to be the last remaining advisable day to visit DisneySea. While technically really in Chiba, the Tokyo Disney Resort was close enough by train (just 15 minutes away) to not nitpick. All the walking in past days gave us trouble when waking up, so we ended up reaching Maihama Station later than planned.
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Tokyo Winter 2012 Day 4

More must see places in Tokyo 17 January, 2012 by

We had initially wanted to visit the Disney Resort this Tuesday but couldn’t find the energy to wake up early enough this morning. Instead, another day was spent within the city, this time visiting more of Tokyo’s must see sights. The first destination would be Asakusa, for the famous Sensoji Temple.
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Tokyo Winter 2012 Day 3

Shopping for novelties, obsessions and necessities 14 January, 2012 by

We would alternate between sightseeing and shopping for most of the trip and having already visited Hakone yesterday, decided to stay in Tokyo with hopes that the shops would begin to reopen today. Woke up fairly late before making our way down to the nearby Ueno station for Ameyoko Market.
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Hakone Winter 2012 Day 2

Revisting the giant volcano 12 January, 2012 by

Woke up early this new years morning feeling unusually refreshed. There was something about a warm room in this cold climate that was rather comforting, that and a peace and quiet that we had come to miss.

In an attempt to miss the city crowds today, we decided to head somewhere outside the city but still within a day’s trip. It was a choice between Hakone or the nearby Kamakura and Enoshima island. But being a clear winter day we opted for the former, with hopes of viewing the elusive Mount Fuji.
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Tokyo Winter 2012 Day 1

A quick impulse excursion to Tokyo for the new year 11 January, 2012 by

To explain the lack of updates in quite a while, I had been away in Tokyo again the past couple of weeks for an impulsive getaway. As with all the previous years, I’ll be uploading a day by day walkthrough of the journey over here.
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PlayStation Vita

The traditional gaming industry's new hope 23 December, 2011 by

Sony’s latest portable gaming system, the Vita was publicly launched last Saturday in Japan. As luck would have it, I had the chance to get a hands on on this new piece of technology. Impressions within.
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Diablo III Preview

Prepare to face hell all over again 17 December, 2011 by

The next installment of the popular Diablo franchise will be returning soon to wreck havoc on our social lives. We were fortunate (or unfortunate) enough to get a sneak peak of this most anticipated game. Within you’ll find a detailed but spoiler free run through of what Diablo III has to offer.
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6%DOKIDOKI

Harajuku's explosion of colors 10 December, 2011 by

6%DOKIDOKI is a famous Harajuku fashion boutique responsible for much of the “kawaii” fashion looks that you see in magazines like Fruits. The creation of fashion designer Sebastian Masuda, 6%DOKIDOKI basically provides (barely) toned down decora-styled clothing and accessories to the masses.
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Banana Inn Hotel & Spa Bandung

Affordable 4 star hotel in Bandung 09 December, 2011 by

Not too long ago, I spent a few nights over at Bandung for business and ended up staying at the Banana Inn Hotel & Spa. It took a while to follow up but here are some more shots of the hotel and some details of the accommodation for those looking to visit Bandung any time soon.
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Baby, The Stars Shine Bright

The Chanel of lolita fashion since 1988 06 December, 2011 by

As a culturally rich nation that has brought us some of the most intriguing arts, culinary and technological innovations, over the years Japan has had plenty of other cultural exports that have had to take a backseat in recent years to more penetrable media creations. This side of Asia, fashion often takes on a secondary importance to practicality but I’m going to take a chance anyway and make it a point to take some time to write about another matter of interest, Japanese fashion.

To ease viewers in, many of the following articles will reference other pop-culture topics that you should be more familiar with. This first one skims on lolita fashion, something that has lent itself well into otaku culture, especially in the West. And when mentioning lolita fashion, the first brand that comes to mind would be the illustrious Baby, The Stars Shine Bright.
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Cool Japan Forum 2011

Japanese businesses continue to work toward globalization 03 December, 2011 by

Along with the staging of Anime Festival Asia, an event named the Cool Japan Forum was held as well. Cited as an event that brings the top minds from various industries under one roof, we visited the Forum to hear them speak.
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Sundown Festival 2011 Impressions

Singapore's largest outdoor music concert battles the weather 29 November, 2011 by

Thousands braved the strong rains and made their way down to the Marina Promenade last Saturday for what was perhaps the largest outdoor concert in Singapore this year, Sundown Festival 2011. Despite the rain, approximately 10,000 turned up (3,000 more than expected) with many arriving hours in advance.
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