Teru

truly the stuff dreams are made of...

oh cool, both are great cities to explore (I'm in Tokyo now myself, I've visited Osaka briefly before but I'd really like to go back and see more of it properly). taxis here are super expensive tbh but if you can afford it and it gives you peace of mind, go for it. just be warned in advance that they can be pricey especially for longer journeys. I got a taxi from the airport this time (I normally get the train but I had so much luggage this time, and I was super exhausted) and it cost over 8,000 yen (about $76/£62/€69). obviously airport transfers always cost a bit more anyway but Haneda is fairly city-central so it gives you an idea of the kind of rates to expect. lol the bad thing about the NYC subway is that trains suddenly go express with no warning... it happened to some friends of mine, and one of them was a native resident of the city who used public transport regularly! other than that I didn't have any problems with it when I lived there, but I can see how it'd put people off public transport. it's messy and dangerous too. the only positive about it is that it runs 24 hours, the trains here and in London don't.

in which city are you planning to attend a concert? Japanese trains are honestly great, they're so clean, safe and easy and outside of peak hours they're not crowded at all despite common impressions of them haha (I've only had to do the squeezing on thing like... twice ever). that goes for both the underground and above-ground systems. the only challenge is being absolutely sure of your route, but if you plan ahead it's no problem. all the stations have signage in English and the ticket machines have English options as well. if you have any wonderings about getting around in Japan feel free to hmu because it's basically all I spend my time doing now, lol. actually I've been intending to write some OH blog posts about things in Japan of interest to hallyu/jpop fans once I'm settled properly here, so hopefully they'll be useful for people coming to visit in future...

congrats and god speed all

thanks for all your hard work! damn so many old school OH staff leaving, an era is ending and another beginning anew... *gets deep*

cool, I haven't attended a Japanese concert yet (besides western ones/punk bands who don't play arenas) but I'm anticipating the discharge era, I'll definitely be first in line come the day. I want to compare it to the Korean concert I attended, out of curiosity. I couldn't buy those tickets myself (my friend spoke to Korean fans and helped me find them) but I'm confident I could manage to get tickets on my own here, especially as I'm surrounded by convenience stores lol hej thanks! it's pretty nice, no braggo. the only downside is that he hogs the futon and that I need a job soon... got a nice response to an application I sent the other day so here's hoping (but not too much ofc, it's early days) it's Snufkin from the Moomin series, he's one of my favourite characters of all time. I have a tattoo of him

holla

congrazzles all

omg... (that's me at a loss for words for the best Head Mod and friend) I didn't know this day was coming so soon but I wish you the best of luck in all aspects of your life, Coyee! also hmu

good luck with it. I believe larger Japanese concerts are usually lottery based so maybe your cousin can help you with ticketing as well

oh I also forgot to mention the reason I own WWW despite being a confirmed Jaejoong Hater (I'm not really but hey, gotta live up to the rep right?) is because Modem Beat was composed by Takuro from GLAY. it really sounds like a GLAY song with a different vocalist. I could identify a tune of theirs from a mile off tbh, their sound is very distinctive if you like Utada Hikaru he also composed her song Time Limit and has composed for other artists like Misia, Nakashima Mika, Himuro Kyosuke and Amuro Namie among others. Hisashi featured as one of the guitarists in Utada's song Letters as well. Teru has also appeared on other artists' songs... they get around. GLAY factz

right? his skills honestly blow my mind. he has to play guitar every single day, so I was used to hearing him around the house. it's a compulsion for him, haha. I really hope he finds wider success someday because he deserves it. it's sadly difficult to stand out as an independent musician these days, especially in large cities like London where everyone is trying to become a star... I haven't been to the bar yet because it closes fairly early during the week - I'm gonna go this weekend and see what's up then because they're holding an acoustic music night so I'd like to check that out as well. hopefully he can give me some advice, if anything. haha yeah, when I first joined OH I tried to join the jrock threads but my taste is too outdated. all the bands I liked are old and, with the exception of a few greats, mostly irrelevant now, and I have no clue about current acts (and tbh, I don't like current jrock much in general anyway - a lot of it sounds too samey to me). I just stick to my old faves out of nostalgia and with GLAY, a general love that will never die. I've been with them way too long to stop now even if I think they're long past their best era. I'll always have respect for them and their work. the song you mention is probably 誘惑 (Yuuwaku) which is one of their more popular ones. it's from their 1998 album pure soul which is one of their best imo - their peak was the late 90s - and I always have fond memories of it and its ridiculous video featuring awkward dancing white girl: because it was so much more difficult to download music in the early 00s, it took a long time for stuff to get listened to, so there was a significant delay between the actual release and when you'd get to hear it (usually months later, as I'd order the album online and have to wait for it to arrive - I had dialup until 2006, so I couldn't really download anything besides the odd song now and then). yup, my journey to kpop is essentially the same as yours. I was into anime and manga as a young teen (beginning 90s) so I got interested in Japan from there, as a typical weeb, and then I discovered jpop and jrock and was hooked from there. like I mentioned, it was difficult to get music, so I didn't really get to hear much back then beyond the most popular artists. Ayumi Hamasaki and GLAY remain my favourites to this day. I knew about some Korean groups at the time, like H.O.T., Shinhwa and Click-B, but kpop wasn't as popular as jpop back then so they kind of took a seat at the back, haha. with the exception of BoA of course, who was huge... I'll always remember the endless Ayu/BoA/Hikki/Namie/Kumi comparisons, lol I knew about SNSD around 2009 when they got big, but I didn't get into kpop until 2012 when I fell for Big Bang, just like you, haha. it was actually Knock Out by GD&TOP that piqued my interest when a DJ friend linked it to me (along with Nu ABO by f(x), and they're my favourite girl group now). I also saw them in concert in London that year. it was really fun. I still like them now, but I'm kind of underwhelmed by their recent releases, so TVXQ quickly surpassed them as my favourite group. it's a pity, because I think BB are a really entertaining and cohesive group with a brilliant line-up of members who all have their own unique appeal, so it's kind of disappointing that it kind of feels like they're resting on their laurels after the huge success of Alive (imo, anyway). still, I live in hope that they'll return to form eventually, even if I have to wait til after their military service. of course I can hook you up with GLAY. I have a dropbox with most of their albums in it, I'll PM you with the link sometime and give you recs for what are imo the best albums to listen to. yeah we sound a similar age - I'm 30 at the beginning of next year, so I'm adopting official ahjumma fan status from then. awww yeah I don't think boycotting SM will do anything, because SM isn't the reason they don't appear on TV. they're just easy to blame. but I'll stop there, because I don't want to start an argument with anyone, and enough people around here dislike me for talking about such things in the first place because the whole SM/JYJ thing seems more personal to them than it is to me. all I want to say is like what you like, don't feel pressured into pretending otherwise or avoiding music that appeals to you just because other people pressure you to feel that way. music is personal and it's nobody else's business what you like to listen to and why. if you like it, you like it. that's all that matters

it was daunting, but I'm really glad I did it. I would be struggling a lot more in Japan if I didn't. you gotta bite the bullet if you really want something, haha tbh we actually kind of do... our conversations are liked mixed Japanese-English most days, we meet in the middle, hahaha true. I actually know an amazing guitar player back in London who also teaches, but I never took the opportunity to learn from him even though we lived in the same house for years... smh. maybe in future. his name is George Frakes, you can search him on youtube - he plays a lot of different styles, he's really accomplished. I'm so envious lol lol yes, TMR is a classic and yep, the Teru is after Teru from GLAY. I've been a fan of GLAY since 2001 and while they're past their peak, I still have a lot of love for them. I saw them live in San Francisco in 2008 and it blew my mind. I hope I can see them here in Japan sometime just for the experience. Jiro is actually my favourite member... yet I became Teru... thank you, and goodnight! i'd like to go to an SMTOWN concert to see other groups as well, it seems like it'd be fun. I've seen f(x) at an outdoor festival but that's all... I really want to see SHINee especially. you know me lol, I'm not interested in a DB5K reunion at all, so it makes no difference to me. I'm sure others here will feel otherwise though

lol trust me I feel you. I've got so many obsessions and passions, kpop is just one of them. "none of my phases ever go away they just get dialed back by another phase" is exactly it. I also love Big Bang and own almost all of their albums... tbh, I'll probably end up selling some of my kpop stuff, because I'm trying to live a more liberated life with less belongings, and I simply don't need it. I should just keep the stuff I REALLY love. for now, they're just going into storage until I have the space to keep them myself. yup, even just going out for lunch and ordering at restaurants is a push toward better understanding. my bf is Japanese so he helps me too, but he likes to speak English with me as well to keep on top of his own language skills (he's really good but not completely fluent) because he gets rusty sometimes as well. since he's at work during the day, I have no choice but to talk to shop assistants and etc myself, so it's good to have that push tbh, I was just a weeby otaku nerd when I was a young teenager, so I taught myself basic katakana and hiragana and a few kanji when I was about 12-14 (this was back in *coughthelate90s/early00scough*) and I used to sing along to anime songs which helped with pronunciation, so I never really lost it. ofc it's kind of impossible to learn a language all on your own as a kid so I only knew basic stuff that most similar people knew. going to classes wasn't possible in Ireland, especially as I lived in a really rural area. when I came to London in 2012, even though I'd lost interest in anime and such, I had free time there as well (I was still writing my master's thesis for college at the time) so I thought I should take language classes since I now had the opportunity where I didn't in Ireland. I chose Japanese simply because I already had that early foundation in it and I thought it might be interesting and different from any other languages I'd been taught before (Irish and French) so I signed up for beginner's Japanese and did adult classes every weekend for 3 years. it was a small class with only about 4-6 people in it, and my teacher was very friendly and helpful (this reminds me I gotta contact her to tell her I moved lol). it really brought up my skills from almost nothing to an intermediate level. I would definitely encourage people to attend classes if they can. anyway, that was all before I even met my boyfriend, who by pure coincidence happened to be Japanese (we met through a mutual friend - she was his coworker) so it worked out well for me hahaha learning an instrument is another thing I'd like to do (especially as my bf is a musician and plays guitar all the time istg I can't move in our flat for the guitars) but I'm really bad at it, lol. I did learn some chords in school and I was okay at it, but playing music has just never been my forte. in the future I'd like to try again, just for fun more than anything.

I like collecting stuff a lot... I have all of the duo albums and a couple 5 member albums, Yunho and Changmin's solos, WWW as well, some singles, a couple duo concert DVDs, and some misc stuff. they're all boxed up back home though, too heavy to bring with me and nowhere to keep them, haha I moved on September 20th, had to move out of my room in London and quit my job and etc in one week... it was so stressful, but I made it, phew I'm living in Ikebukuro in Tokyo now which is quite a built up and happening area so there's definitely a lot to see! it's too easy to be tempted to buy stuff though, since there's so much to indulge in, be it food, nerdy otaku stuff, Pokemon (the Mega Tokyo centre is just around the corner from me lol), cute things, Moomin items (so much Moomin in Japan and I'm a big fan so I have so much stuff already...) it's definitely fun just walking around and exploring to see what I find. I gotta savour it while I can until a job takes up my time, haha well the obvious one is being an assistant English language teacher so I'll probably apply to schools around here for that, and then I'm just gonna look for the usual retail/service work as well. I have a friend here who is Japanese but grew up in Ireland and now owns an Irish bar (which just happens to be on the other side of my neighbourhood!) and he said he could help me out, so I'm gonna go there possibly later tonight and chat to him and see if he can help me find something. even if he can point me in the right direction that would be great. I understand spoken Japanese fairly well but I'm still very rusty when it comes to my own response time because I've had no one to speak to for the past year (my bf and I were in contact long-distance since March) so I'm slowly regaining my confidence again...

lol yup, Changmin's album is big too... they're great for display, but difficult to store, hahaha. Ti Amo is huge as well... and so heavy... I'm from Ireland but I live in Japan now, just got up a while ago. it's 11:53am currently. trying to think of what to do with my day until my boyfriend finishes work and we go out for dinner... I just arrived 2 weeks ago and I'm starting jobseeking soon, so my days are free currently. it's the middle of the night back home now, haha

yup, it looks so happy and carefree lol. I wanna buy it but it's quite big, I'm not sure where I'll keep it in my tiny flat... might hold off for a bit and get it eventually there's still 14 mins of morning left, so good morning

I'm here...

echoooooooooo choo choo cho cho cho ho ho ho o o o o o o

I am an android user this post is about me seriously tho, nice one dude

thanks for posting so many pics, I've been busy lately so it's been hard to keep up - gonna enjoy backreading now

Tohoshinki are to release a remix album in Japan on October 5th. rather than dance mixes intended for the club, the tracklist consists of songs from their recent previous Japanese albums reworked with completely new sounds including surf music, Philly soul, bossa nova, "lover's rock," (not sure what this genre is but this is SM/Avex, I'll go with it), etc. the intent of the album is to give the songs a new "colour" ---- Two of Us price: ï¿¥2,778 (base price) + tax lyrics and liner notes included in booklet tracklisting: 1. Intro ~The Dawn Sky~ 2. Baby don’t cry -Two of Us ver.- 3. Believe In U -Two of Us ver.- 4. Sweat -Two of Us ver.- 5. Interlude ~This Dear Ocean~ 6. 逢ã„ãŸãã¦é€¢ã„ãŸãã¦ãŸã¾ã‚‰ãªã„ -Two of Us ver.- 7. One More Thing -Two of Us ver.- 8. In Our Time -Two of Us ver.- 9. OCEAN -Two of Us ver.- 10. Interlude ~Sinking Sun~ 11. Duet -Two of Us ver.- 12. Interlude ~Blue Moment~ 13. One and Only One -Two of Us ver.- 14. Time Works Wonders -Two of Us ver.- 15. Chandelier -Two of Us ver.- 16. Weep -Two of Us ver.- 17. Outro ~Silence of The Night~ Specifications: digipak, tall size Further jacket/product info TBA once determined source: toho-jp.net trans by me, T-t-t-t-teru ---- eh, I'd prefer original material, but I'll take what I can get

Tohoshinki are to release a remix album in Japan on October 5th. rather than dance mixes intended for the club, the tracklist consists of songs from their recent previous Japanese albums reworked with completely new sounds including surf music, Philly soul, bossa nova, "lover's rock," (not sure what this genre is but this is SM/Avex, I'll go with it), etc. the intent of the album is to give the songs a new "colour" ---- Two of Us price: ï¿¥2,778 (base price) + tax lyrics and liner notes included in booklet tracklisting: 1. Intro ~The Dawn Sky~ 2. Baby don’t cry -Two of Us ver.- 3. Believe In U -Two of Us ver.- 4. Sweat -Two of Us ver.- 5. Interlude ~This Dear Ocean~ 6. 逢ã„ãŸãã¦é€¢ã„ãŸãã¦ãŸã¾ã‚‰ãªã„ -Two of Us ver.- 7. One More Thing -Two of Us ver.- 8. In Our Time -Two of Us ver.- 9. OCEAN -Two of Us ver.- 10. Interlude ~Sinking Sun~ 11. Duet -Two of Us ver.- 12. Interlude ~Blue Moment~ 13. One and Only One -Two of Us ver.- 14. Time Works Wonders -Two of Us ver.- 15. Chandelier -Two of Us ver.- 16. Weep -Two of Us ver.- 17. Outro ~Silence of The Night~ Specifications: digipak, tall size Further jacket/product info TBA once determined source: toho-jp.net trans by me, T-t-t-t-teru ---- eh, I'd prefer original material, but I'll take what I can get

these are questions to which there is no specific answer because neither side will ever confirm 100% exactly how they feel or the precise details of what transpired and why. you're left to speculate on your own, so there's not really any "wrong" interpretation, just what makes the most sense to you.

I still haven't heard the songs yet but I really want to like them just to have another group to enjoy... I haven't really been feeling any of the newer groups at all, so I'm grasping at straws here