Japan Trip ~ Osaka 2

Day 2 - Freshed!!! Had a filling breakfast in the hotel and we came to, Umeda Theater!! We are so excited!! Cast from our favorite show, Elisabeth from German(original performing theater) happened to be in japan for a concert with some of the Takarazuka OG! With the help of my dearest jap frd's brother, we got tix for it!!!
We came early, coz Im not sure of the place and we have to be here again on xmas day to watch another show.. So I thought coming early to check the place so tt i know where to collect my show tix from the fan club on xmas day.... Anyway, a surprise came in for us.. We happened to see a grp of ppl there waiting for some stars(but we dont know who) we jus walk over, n a lady asked, r we Aran's fan club member? We replied yes n she told us to join in n wait for Aran's arrival too.. I kept saying no no, today we not watching Aran's show, it be on xmas day, but she kept saying its ok... In a state of mess, Aran san came!!! N we saw her... *GASPS!!!* CUTTTEEE!!!!
Anyway, we ran off soon after she went into the theater..

Then we hanged ard a bit n who we saw, MIDORI!!!!Another Takarazuka OG whom we quite liked too!!Shes here for the Elisabeth concert show.. Shes one of the guest.. At first we didnt dare to go up to her coz Aran's fan club members were behind us..(hahaha scare wait kenna blackmarked!) But when she walked past us the 3rd time, we couldnt be bothered and said hi to her.. N ah mai, said out tt "We r from Singapore!" She was surprised n said, Oh!!
Some Takarazuka OGs, though left takarazuka, but still wouldnt take photo wif fans, but when we saw tt shes fine wif it n taking wif another fan, we two went up to her n ask to take together. Shes so cooled bot it n said yes! 2nd pix was how she looked like in 2005 while still in Takarazuka. So gal gal now!!!! Anyway we said goodbye to her n wished her the best for the concert.

We went off but mulan stayed there for a while, n u know whom she managed to see? Elisabeth's Music composer and conductor, Sylvester Levay!!!
Hes the main character behind the success for Elisabeth play throughout Europe and Japan!!! The music he composed, simply wonderful!!!
Hes here for the concert too!!
Ok ok.. Time to enter into the hall for the concert.
For this concert, 1st section is a talk show tts in German n Japanese. Its a talk show between the Takarazuka OGs(whom performed in this show b4) and the German cast.. eh... I understood maybe 60%, while other 3 frds not so well.. So i have to translate abit but zunko chan had quite strong Osaka Accent tt even the translator couldnt understand at times. The German cast were asking the OGs, how did they act as men on stage n singing in men voice n wonder do will they fall in love wif their partners or not.. The audience roared in laughter.. 2nd section was singing by the german cast n OGs! The songs that they sung were so wonderful tt we stood up n clapped at the end of the show!! We liked the duet sung by Zunko and Lukas Perman.N Lukas sang in Jap wif Zunko!!

At the end of the show, we had encore like 7 times i tik! The audience jus refused to leave! After, We went back to the backstage entrance. There was a crowd waiting, hoping to catch a glimpse of them. So we joined them.(I hope to see Midori san again!! while mai hoping to see Mr Levay.) Yes, I saw Midori san came out, she saw us, n waved to us! She stopped and said sayonara to us and we told her tt the performance was wonderful. She smiled and told us to take care on our way home.. Sweet!!!!Ok ok, everyone was looking as us n Im so proud of it.. :p

Next,German cast Ms Maya acting as Elisabeth came out but left in a hurry. Soon, Lukas(Acting as Rudolf) and Mate(Acting as death god) came out. Everyone went crazy and could see tt Mate was so pleased.They shook hands wif us, n ah mai shouted out, "We r from Singapore!!!" N Mate was surprised(expected), he said, "Wow so far!!"

Then they went in, n after half hr, only left a few of us, these two fellows came out again n said they have time n would want to autographs and take photos together..
From left, Mate Autographing with my book- Mate n us- Lukas n me- Zunko hurrying off(as usual),but shes really pretty!! Its the first time I saw her in person!! - Program Book

Japan Trip ~ Osaka 1

Osaka. Been there previously and well, quite nice n cooling.

This time round, we checked ourselves in Shin Osaka Hankyu Hotel and theres, Takarazuka channel, Skystage!! Specially just for Takarazuka Programmes.. Yeah, so we watch n watch all night long...Trying to keep our eyes open till last prog ends at 3am...(But pss psss... we all failed... hahaha)..

Anyway... On day 1, we went to Hankyu International Hotel.. Why?? Coz, our favorite, Kouju tatsuki is having a dinner show there.. Well.. We thought we could get a chance to see her, but i guess nope, we couldnt... But, we were there early n u know what, shes having rehearsal in the function room, though we were outside the room, but we could hear her sing.. So 3 silly + 1 forced to = 4 were sitting at the hall listening to her singing.. We didnt buy a ticket for the dinner show coz its very expensive! Oh, n we saw her good frd (Takarazuka OG, Someone we liked too!) sent her good wishes too!! So sweeeeettt!!!

We went to Osaka town center, to Hankyu shopping center... For wat?? To Quatre Revue to buy official takarazuka goods of coz... We nearly went crazy with so many things, but control control.. Coz there many more days here for us to shop...
The view from here overseeing Osaka is wonderful too!!!
Ok ok.. Time to go back to hotel n hugged our Takarazuka Skystage liao!!!!

Japan trip ~ Kyushu 2

Day 3 in Kyushu-- We visited a museum on Olden Hakata. It display how the culture of Japan like, in the past n present.

Next we walked into an the old embroidery wooden making center.. I was asked to try on the process.. I was very nervous at first coz i didnt know how to do it and being afraid tt i might spoil the thg.. haha!! But the kind old man kept telling me its ok, its simple.. The rest refuse to try coz they say they no understand wat he talking bot...

We went for afternoon boat ride in Yanagawa. Along the ride, we took some scenic pictures. A nice and peaceful river flow experience.

We were super hungry liao by the time we reach back hakata.. but hor.. haha.. We still went to 博多座.. Y? Coz, its a performing arts center and takarazuka and Taka OGs often come here to perform.. So we here to take photo!! :p See the large poster behind, its a new performance by one of the taka OGs....
Hahaha ok ok.. Time for dinner la.. Super hungry, we split up for dinner.. Xiaomei n i had omu rice then ah mai n mulan had some stone bowl thgy for dinner...
As we were at canal city shopping center, once again, the xmas lightings were super nice.. So take photo again!!!
The big carriage reminds us of Oscar n andre during the last act in heaven haha.....

Time to say good bye to kyushu n off to Osaka!!! We took shinkansen instead!Its the first time we took Shinkansen n its really fast! As the trip is bot 3hrs(again!) We bought bento set lunch on the train, n bored? play with bear again lor!!!!! To Be continued...

Japan trip ~ Kyushu 1

Actually nothing to eat on the domestic flight, so, we had our own biscuits!!! This one i bought earlier at the Shiroi Koibito. Then see see this air stewardess pretty? I got to know her on this flight, coz i manage to converse with her in japanese n she quite surprise.. So we start to yak yak in jap n exchange contacts... Hahaha!!!! (but some of my frds say chey not steward leh.. hahah!!! Nah i dont need anyway..). She then wrote a postcard for each of us, n wrote in jap for me... N in return, i gave her a orchird bookmark(which actually meant for my idol, but its ok!)
It was quite late by the time we reach our hotel so jus had dinner n walk ard a bit b4 head back to our rooms...
All fresh n ready for the day! We took a quick breakfast n dashed for Beppu. One of the famous spot, Hell of Onsen. Its a near to 3 hrs bus journey, on the way, the sceneries were beautiful!
There were total 8 "hell" to visit. One of us quite sensitive to the word hell n wouldnt take photo of us wif the wd hell together.. but hmm, xiaomei n i quite alright wif it.. so.. we took wif it... :p

Well well.. time for lunch!! I had this dish,(forgot the name) but its the special dish there.. Its hell sometig.. cant remember.. haha... Anyway, i quite like it coz theres light scent of lemon in it!

After lunch shall continue with our journey of "hell". Though its called hell, but no doubt the sceneries are wonderful, n maple leaves still could be seen... We happen to come across the statue of "The Eight Immortals" which was a gift from China to Japan in 2005.

At the 2nd last "hell" we ran into a bunch of singaporean with tour grp which were so rowdy!!! Hai yo... They shouted out loud! "Hey free onsen leh, come come, must use ya Oie Ah boy!! Got free one to use!!!!" Hai yo so Pai say!!!! All other jap stared hard at them.. 4 of us, hurry ran off....so pai say leh!!!!! ARUGHH!!!

Forget bot them... Time to go back hotel... Sighh.. Another 3 hrs bus trip.... Went back to the bus terminal to wait lor..

Too hungry liao.. so bought bento set n eat on the way back...
ZzzzZZZzzz... ARughh.. cant sleep.. nvm... play wif the bear....

Japan trip ~ Hokkaido

After 8 mths of planning, mths of waiting, finally, we r off to Japan. Our first stop is Hokkaido.As no direct flight from Sg to Hokkaido, we change a domestic flight from Osaka.This pix is taken from the airplane when flying over Hokkaido.. The scene is so beautiful..

We were fortunate that we happen to be there at the same time with The German Xmas Market that held only once a year during xmas time.The things were very pretty but too bad not suitable for us coz mainly xmas items.. But we tried the food n drinks.. Its nicee!!!

As its near xmas time, there r xmas lightings all over.. Of coz not to forget, snow, n it had been turned into ice.. Its so slippery tt we had a hard time walking.. But its seems to be a piece of cake for the locals.

My 1st target for this trip is to eat Hokkaido Crab! So we went to a restaurant n ordered a full set, oh, this is the one!! Its huge!!! We were so full at end of the meal..

On the 2nd morning, I was washing up when xiaomei scream out saying, its snowing!!!!!!!

We went out to feel the first snow we had for this trip. We went to shiroi koibito(White lovers chocolate factory).

We had chocolate ice cream!! Its freezing cold, but we dont care, we all jus wan to have ice cream!! Hey, at least it doesn't melt in this weather!! We bought gifts n watch the "chocolate parade".

We sprung to Sapporo beer factory.. But tik we missed some events... But nvm, its still nice n amazing to see how the machines operates to produce beer.

3rd day, as planned earlier, we went to Lake Toya. We decide to go for bus. On the way, the sceneries are really wonderful. N we get a resting pt n took photos there.. The journey is bot 2 hrs odd... But darn, we didnt know most shops closed on sunday.. Its a small town n its so quiet... But nvm, at least the ice cream shop was opened. Ice cream again!!!! But this time round its really freeeezzzziiinnnggg cold....My hands were numb!!!!!!

Lake Toya is a big lake, but the current to us goondus, it looks more like sea current!!! Too cold!!! Lucky theres onsen ard for us to use... But ah mai refuse to go into it coz she scare of cold air... So.. We left her alone n we 3 used it!!

Sigh... soon its time to bid goodbye to hokkaido n to our next stop...

But we really hate to go!!!!!!!

Must i leave here?????

Our plane to Kyushu..