Arashi Around Asia 2008, Shanghai! Part 3

The funny thing is, half of this entry was written in 2008 and completed only now. Most of the details have already become fuzzy, but thanks to the AAA 2008 DVD we get to live through their wonderful Kokuritsu performance again and again. Written because.. I owe myself -_- and it wouldn't make sense to write about 5x10 if I haven't finished this.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

16 November - Concert Day 2

In the morning I had a hard time waking up, very obviously because of the day before. I had plans to visit 七普路 (the bargain heaven haha) and other places to show my mum around, but then for convenience's sake we had lunch and dropped by People's Square, somewhere near D-mall to shop.

This is the hotel card I mentioned about; A-live Design Hotel printed on a purple card. (what's up with using "A-live"? I can't tell which is the right way to pronounce it haha!) And yes that's my new pink scarf which I got for 10rmb!


I dared my mother to wear the bunny ears hair band to the concert, if she wore it then I would definitely join her. Hair bands and exaggerated hairstyles were so common among the fans! There were the Maou people (glowing devil horns, haha), cat ears people, bunny ears people, bombastic (but in a fashionable way, from the Japanese fans) hairstyles, funny hats and whatnot. In any way, they would be easier for Arashi to spot, at least if they're near enough, and hopefully garner some attention or better still, fanservice! I really wanted to wear the bunny ears, but I figured the fans behind me would be unhappy about it, so we both didn't lol. Instead, we had some fun with the hotel mirror and the hair bands >:D

I donned a beige spaghetti strap, short purple cardigan, grey cotton jacket, pink scarf, black skirt and black knee length socks (none of which were bought in Singapore T_T) for the big event. The weather was considerably colder than the past few days and I kept getting the chills from the cold wind by the time the sky darkened. The last time my dad visited during osip, we went to this Macau Street Restaurant for dinner and this time he made sure I also brought my mum there. The restaurant was a long way from our hotel because it was right at the end of the red MRT line in the vicinity of Lianhua station, but not exactly there either. We took at least half an hour by cab to get there, but it was supposedly worth it because of their most popular dishes like roasted pork and skin, which was sold out previously, and the curry fish and stuff we ordered last time. My mum and I sat at a corner table away from larger round tables occupied by families and groups of people, and we ordered the roasted pork, curry fish and prawn balls (or something, I don't rmb). From the time we placed our orders, 5.30pm, we waited till near 6.15pm for the stupid curry fish even after telling the waitresses to hurry the cooks several times. I mean, the service was so bad this time round and after all that wait and also slowly savouring the two other dishes to stall for time, when the fish finally came I couldn't eat at all. What a waste of time and cash.. =/ Food was quite good, nonetheless.

Because it was already evening, there was a possibility of being caught in a traffic jam along the way to the stadium, so we thought that taking the train or bus might work. But then again, I got confused by the different directions the waiter, waitresses and passerby gave, hence we ended up in a cab! By the time we arrived at the stadium at around 6.30pm, the place was flooded with people, as I had expected. Ticket scalpers desperate to sell their tickets approaching just anyone getting down from a cab or walking in.. A lady selling huge coloured light sticks came by, I insisted that my mum get one too as I stressed the importance of penlights but she didn't really want it. Haha.

My legs kinda froze due to the cold! Brrrrrrrr!! Because the skirt was short lol. I got to walk around the stadium area properly and while my head and heart went ドキドキ *thumping very hard!!*, I was continually awed by the endless crowd of female fans and by observing uchiwas too. We got to queue at the main entrance to the arena this time! OMG long queue but it was all a blur to me, because it seemed like time passed very quickly and we were let in at 7pm. The lobby felt different from the one upstairs, I vaguely remember maroon marble walls and floor and washrooms were at both ends, which my mum and I immediately queued for. Even the people were different. Different because I would say 90% of them were Japanese! I suppose they got the most of the good arena seats through their own fan club ticketing system, boo hoo, whereas we poor overseas fans had to pay such a price for similar tickets. Can't we join the fc too? Pretty please??

Following that, came the waves of SUPER SUPER HEART ATTACKS as we finally entered into the stadium!!! IT LOOKED VERY DIFFERENT ZOMG LIKE A BLOWUP OF THE ENTIRE STAGE AND EVERYTHING ELSE!



LIKE A DREAM.. I walked past the rows of fans seated on maroon seats behind black railings, I walked past the back arena, I walked across the middle section, I walked near the stage and saw our seats! ZOMG the last row of the front arena! And I was in total denial hahahaha, unbelievably close to the stage!!!! *squeeeeeeals*



The stage! STUNNING purple backdrop, huge yellow logo and starry effects!!





When I looked up towards my left I could see one of the screens which was the one we turned to very often for closeups =D The backdrop of the main stage also worked as a huge projection, so we would be focusing on that and of course the real jumping and singing figures of the stormy boys on stage hurrays!



Lots of Japanese fans deshou??? Like I said. Anyway, the entire front arena's chairs were placed on the ground evenly, which means that if you are really short or if some tall fans in front of you happen to block your vision, then it's really too bad, you have to find a way to look past their heads. Conversely, the middle arena started from the row directly behind ours and from here all the way to the back arena each row was elevated a little more than the row in front. In this way, the first few rows of the middle arena had much better views than the last couple of rows of the front arena. And I noticed they had much more spacious seats.



Note that the corner of the stage was where the boys loved walking to; they would wave madly to those fans on the balcony and arena, although seated at the extreme ends, and get up close with the fans very often :3 A Chinese Nino fan sat on my left, with whom I discussed a bit about ticket prices.



Let's take a goooood look around the entire stadium..



(2010..)

Arashi no raibu hajimaru yo~ CONCERT START! 8D If my entry on the first the concert was any indication that Arashi produces better results than high-inducing drugs, then right from the beginning this was 10x mindblowing because it caused every cell in my body to implode into sparkles and rainbows. 目の前に、嵐５人がいた。それだけで十分だ。The boys were right in front of our eyes (oh yes the sparkles trailed them everywhere too lol) when they magically appeared during "Love So Sweet" *cue for insane screaming from a stadium-full of girls*. Watching their pretty faces and dance moves had me constantly on high, grinning like a twit and not feel embarrassed about it.

I thought their neon yellow with black and grey costumes looked smart and superfresh ;) "Oh Yeah!" gave off a certain nostalgic feel (it pricked my eyes slightly watching this perf on DVD) especially when they sang 「両手高く上げてこの★を支えて。。"」which I'll attribute to the sudden burst of energy in their rhythmic hand waving from side to side, and Sho trying so hard its too dorky ^^ I love the freedom the song conveyed just like in the lyrics「二人だけの朝と自由」.

Right after "Kitto Daijobu", Arashi's "Step and Go" formation on the T-stage was instantly recognisable; it kick-started with all of them dancing, spiraling outwards *OH SO HOT* and in the middle I remember liking very much the lineup that created interesting silhouettes when the boys moved in turns. The song was complete with awesome Sakurap <3 and Ohchan's solo part, voice crisp and piercing through the pulsing piano chords in the background; very futuristic and it implies so, about stepping ahead into the future, 「いつかまあね、交点の先で」where someday we'll all cross paths on that certain point of intersection.

The boys first greeted the audience with "We are~ Arashi" in Mandarin, and continued mostly with Sho-chan on the mic, and Aiba stood facing our side smiling shyly as he naturally brushed his fringe aside with the back of his left hand. Sho's solo was near the top of the set list; the back dancers held the radio bouncing down the stairs on the main stage and Sho traced their steps. For being able to handle complicated raps with dance moves, his sense of rhythm is amazing! "Clap your hands everybody, everybody clap your hands" XD A whole lot of member rabu <3 when they flashed footage of the 4 other members grooving, each in a single column, on the main screen. Lyrics flashing to the "Hip-pop" beat, ad-lib resounding to the strings of raps flying from Sho's lips that more than certainly boogied its way out and rocked the world.

The image I had of "Jidai" was sexy glistering black, silver and tints of red, with springboards (well, hidden) from which they sprung into view one by one on the stage high up. The boys held what I thought was skip ropes but could, more logically, also be two neon-lit ropes that they held in each hand, swinging them in circular motions in pitch black halfway into the song, probably at the monotonous Sakurap of "Yes? No?". I would say it felt intoxicating to glance around because throughout the concert hall, the entire starfield of fans' penlights danced to the up-beat techno music in the dark.

"Carnival Night pt.2" was simply written for the purpose of fanservice XD We would know when they were going to do that; all of Arashi would spread out along the main stage, stare into the audience and do wondrous things ^^ How could we resist responding heartily, besides scream-spelling out CARNIVAL on cue, to their enthusiasm and bright smiles? At one point Riida and Aiba came to our side fanservicing to the arena, and I didn't hesitate in jumping and waving madly at Ohchan, hoping he'd catch sight of my uchiwa at all. Just when I thought they'd been there long enough to move on, OHNO SUDDENLY SMILED AND POINTED TO MY UCHIWA (decorated with the kanji 'Satoshi'). HE SAWWW OMG AND IT TURNED MY LEGS INTO JELLY ☆★ major happiness overload ★☆ Oh Riida is so kind <3 I also made a peace sign at smiley Aiba which he probably returned :D

We were able to take a breather as the ambiance quietened down with introduction of "Niji" played lovingly on the piano keys by none other than Nino's cute hamburger hands, a black and white close up reflected on the screens faded into colour when the song ended, at which Nino removed his necklace (or glasses?) and sang his thanks, a slightly quivery quality in his beautiful voice. KAZU IN GLASSES IS UNRIVALED. I can't stress more on this 83.

Lights out, our attention was directed at the T-stage where Ohno, clad in gold and black, emerged when the spotlight came back on, along with four back-dancers in white and chairs as props. "Take Me Faraway" had been one of my most anticipated performances; the song heavy and heartbreaking, its intense imagery by the lyrics was greatly contrasted with Ohno's slick, almost effortless dance routine. Pre-recorded footage of Ohno dancing against a white background was also projected. And that rounds off the very Ohno-ppoi ballad.

"La Tormenta 2004" and "Lucky Man" also made for more audience response; from echoing their names (oh that got me real high) to unanimously shouting "man" alternating with Sho. The bouts of electric guitar and mic stands handed to the boys on the T-stage signaled for "Hadashi No Mirai". Nino and Aiba paired up facing the other side of the arena, Sho right in the middle and Riida and Matsujun facing our side; their positions literally fixed throughout the entire 4:43 mins of the song. In other words, eye contact with <3 Ohchan and Jun was so frequent my face kind of heated up in embarrassment from looking into their faces and shuttling between awkward waving and following the hand movements. (^///^)" Have I mentioned how.. good-looking they were? かっこ良かったね〜

Arashi in bright orange costumes combined with the staccato rhythm of "Happiness" equal, well, double happiness! The light dance sequence looked really cute with the boys lining up diagonally doing a fun version of can-can and hand signs at the parts where we all sang "yeah yeah yeah" and of course the wave movement with their right forearms stuck out horizontally adjoining at the fingers and elbows.

Despite the chilly November weather, everyone was heated up by the high テンション - for the boys, bathed in perspiration like on a scorching summer day - by the time they had us take a break for the [MC]. I honestly cannot remember for the life of me (nor did I quite understand) most of the conversation that went on save for the highlights. Fanning themselves repeatedly, they commented on the congratulatory flower stand from Zhang Yi Mou, Chief Director of Beijing Olympics which Sho was sent to do a coverage on for News Zero, saying we might have seen it outside the concert venue, at which everyone went "Ehhhhhh...?"

Then the boys spoke what little they had learned of Shanghainese; Riida's a simple "Hello", followed by the rest, asking if we all understood. Afterward they rattled away in Japanese (I have no impression of the translator for that day) and voiced out that it was great we understood the language. As expected they stood on the T-stage for the MC, and that was when I saw mostly Nino and Jun because they faced this way. Jun called Nino "Kazu" at some point XD That was uber cute. The night before the boys had lots of hairy crabs (大闸蟹), oh what wonderful insight, which totally called for a demonstration by none other than Ohchan, who was seated in the center, the rest of Arashi accredited with the efforts of pulling his head and limbs back in all directions. With the camera zoomed into Ohno's chubby face..

「どんな感じ？」How do you feel?
「恥ずかしい。。」Embarassed. *audience erupting with squeeeals*

Lighthearted, melody akin to a fresh breeze washing over our faces, "Kaze no Mukou e" was performed on the main stage. It's the very song I played over and over again while in tears, quite alone working in Shanghai, over the fact that I didn't manage to secure a concert ticket on the Superdome online system, like a long battle lost after months. But there was a 'glitch', I discovered I HAD a ticket after all for the 15th. Anyhow, listening to this brought back those memories.

A.B.C.-Z's and Kiss-My-Ft2's performances were the next in line. Kawai Fumito from A.B.C.-Z is famous for his monomane, a few of which I saw on youtube but never expected to see live! Everyone shifted to the edge of the stage, members and juniors alike, squatted with their butts backs facing us so as to draw all focus to Kawai and his antics. He impersonated Matsujun for the ending part of "Love So Sweet"; snaking around in the most exaggerated manner, but not entirely unlike Jun's ;) The poor man was in denial, so to prove his point they were made to dance together. At this utterly hilarious comedic act the audience couldn't help but wish for more.

"Mou ikkai mou ikkai!" What song, they asked.
"WISH~~~~" was chanted in unison, and thus granted. Oh mine, all the jiggling XD

The Arashi Around Asia 2008 video consisted of each member’s speech and ended with Matsujun making a suggestive gesture (wait, tell me what in the world was that for, Mr エロハンサム), spilling from his mouth was the word "Re[mark]able" and somehow the screaming in the background didn't seem to end. Light up, did the highest stage together with the red backdrop and sofa and five solid silhouettes. I had not heard "Remarkable" at that time, hence, the raps and lyrics scrolled by in a blur. HOT, nonetheless, and I think the confetti was fired at some point during this song.

To tell you the "Truth", that was one of the BEST of Arashi's BESTS. Ohno's alluring voice and the distinct melodies from the piano flooding my senses overlapped with stunning visual effects extremely befitting of the intense theme and mood. ぴったり, I would say, be it their choreography or costumes. There's nothing better than a live visual gratification for my obsession over solemn faced Maou-Riida <3 I love the beginning and end, where they raise their hands and swiveled about stiffly like broken toys. Also, the rectangle they drew with their fingers reminded me of Nino's DS, thanks to some crack fansub XD. (sidetrack: and speaking of fanworks, there's an unfinished Maou fanart treated to more than a year's worth of molds and mushrooms in my art folder since dec 2008 that I really ought to feed some light to.)

One of the reasons I like "A Day in Our Life" is because this song appears to be roots to the true blue Sakurap, and also because it's flexible, allowing for much audience response and fanservice XD I kind of rapped along mostly for repetition made it easy. Watching Jun and Riida synchronising was fun!

"Yabai-Yabai-Yabai!" had my jaw constantly dropping, heart thumping in my ears when Matsujun did his highly dangerous moonwalk across the ceiling suspended from wires and falling all the way down till he was only about a meter from the ground. I lost track of the number of times he spun forward, 360-degree. Donning a sparkly green sweater and cute beanie, Jun danced like a kid who just got an ice-cream truck to himself ^^ His smile emitting so much warmth I was melting.. キュンと来た！

Arashi's costumes for "Ichioku no Hoshi" had been of colours accordingly across a palette of pastels and creams; Ohno's was baby blue, Sho's pink, Nino's light yellow, Aiba's pale green with a drape across his waist, and Jun joined them halfway on the highest stage, in purple. It's yet another new song to me then, but gazing at the billions of stars reflected in the backdrop - also across the entire hall- the boys were standing still against had me tearing a bit. A story as beautiful as the voices behind it sung to us as shooting stars glided across the wide expanse of space:「あの時僕らが出会わなかったら、今もきっと始まらない」"If at that time we hadn't met, certainly, nothing would have begun even now.." Altogether, the subtle visuals brought about an overwhelming effect; I knew I was falling in love quick.

Nino came over to the extreme end of the main stage and was elevated, greeting the fans in the arena and balcony during "Sirius". "Hello Goodbye" was exactly like always-genki-Aiba-chan, uplifting with plenty of sunshine and the occasional appearance of his harmonica. Bouncing about in checkered purple and pink bermudas, Aiba was the epitome of cute and happiness, tripled when he did that "Hello Goodbye" wave <3<3

The second round of [Introductions] was led by Nino first, who went to sit with Riida - chatting among themselves - on the stairs on the left side of the stage a while later when Sho and Aiba took over on the right. Following the juniors, Matsujun flashed an unreadable, peculiar stare at the camera during his turn. Nino, introduced as うちのマジシャン Arashi's in-house magician, confidently transformed a different card into an Ace at the top of the deck he held. When called, Ohchan threw an imaginary fishing rod and wound it in in a frenzied pace just for laughs :D Sho.. probably did something normal, because I have no idea. -_-" Just when I thought the quirky "Theme of Dream 'A' Live" was getting addictive, it was made remarkably more dynamic when remixed with each of the members' solos, all of which led up to a very mind-blowing moment of Arashi and the juniors dancing in sync to a freaking cool choreography!

They sang part of "A.Ra.Shi" in Mandarin :O Though it's not like I can recall (or make out) those lyrics lol. "Kotoba Yori Taisetsu na Mono", oh the initial days of my getting to know Arashi's songs <3 and watching Nino in STAND UP! XD

Arashi made everyone say their name together, hands linked, bowing deeply as the music went on like a movie's ending credits. Their [Thank you speeches] were presented in Mandarin, starting from Sho. Nino flubbed his line somewhere; he had meant to say something like “..才走到今天这一步 we are here today because of...” and Jun stepped in to correct him. After Aiba, Ohno spoke gently into the mic: “..会努力再来看你们 ..we'll work hard to return to see all of you again.” Matsujun's one liner weighed the most: “我爱你 I love you.” *hides snicker*

We knew it was going to end when it came to "One Love"; it sounded like ending credits again haha. The boys spread out on the T-stage professing undying love; well I wasn't usually a person to be won over by ideas like this, yet I found myself teary, like a mirror of the screen of water raining down around the stage. Boys are but boys, I caught them cheekily making remarks at the front row of fans who got slightly wet. 8D

[Encore]

All of them were in their AAA tees *oh the time I spent swooning over Sho's musclesssss* when they returned to sing "We Can Make It", then "Kansha Kangeki Ame Arashi", riding on the gondola that hovered and moved above the arena. I thought it was really sweet they sang in both Mandarin and Japanese, and somehow Riida always sounds choked up when he says the line “Smile again, I'm smiling again.” Nino squatting on the gondola was damn, too cute XD "Sakura sake" upped our テンション once again; the image of Aiba shaking his wrist in the air bouncing across the stage is forever imprinted in my head <3 Here they thanked dancers, audience and members' greetings with the background music of "Sakura Sake" rolling, remixed with their respective solos (I LOVED IT). I recalled another gag of Ohno's - the one of shifting his gaze from a finger at one side of his face to focusing on his nose, cock-eyed, then rolling his eyes to the other finger - but I couldn't place it anywhere above so it should most probably go here. Omg if Ohchan kept on POUTING LIKE THAT *SQUISHES* his face would have become a perfect circle.

Hand in hand, they bowed and disappeared into the highest stage, only to emerge again after a second round of the audience chanting "Arashi". "Beautiful Days" was their new song, a fabulous treat to the ears, that I made sure I familiarised with and it really grew on me afterwards. I find my eyes welling up at the memories of my unforgettable AAA08 experience wholly encompassed in this very song; 「もう一度会いたい」「いつまでも忘れないよ、君といつか空に描いた未来」. The performance was less of bittersweet and made slightly more cheerful because it was interjected with moments to die for. Apparently Nino had been eying Sho's biceps for a while, and decided to go ahead and give it a couple of pokes, but Sho was a little less than receptive (probably embarrassed at the unforeseen move) XD The other three on this side of the stage looked at the pair on screen; Jun and Aiba conveniently had Ohchan squashed in the middle and proceeded to smother his cheeks with their palms (ouch the ring the ring), garnering louder squeals than before. Still eying, Nino. Even when they have changed sides, and that I got a good view of Sakumiya singing shoulder to shoulder, Nino jabbed his finger into Sho's arm and this had him flinching away grinning to himself. HOW CUTE WAS THAT! AWW MAN.

Arashi gathered in the middle and exited when the song ended. Despite the announcement indicating the concert was 'over', the hall erupted in a birthday song for Ohchan <3333333 And the lights and drums pounding to the beat of "Fight song" came on! Everybody was jumping in excitement! Yatta! For the first half of the song I was so happy Ohchan stayed on this side, then Nino came to meet him in the middle; both facing each other, Ohmiya did a little dance before moving on (while Sho came jogging over) to the T-stage making peace signs at all of us *SCREAMS INCOHERENTLY* It was also evident Nino had gotten off-key somewhere again, squawking over the loud music hahaha.

This time Riida came back onto the stage alone amidst the cheering which turned into a birthday song once more ^^ It's like a dream come true, to be able to sing it to Ohchan <3, himself responding by holding the mic towards the audience, and shouting out our congratulations! The rest of Arashi returned and while the topic hovered on his birthday, Nino spotted an uchiwa that said "Happy 48th Birthday to Ohchan", pointing towards the back of the arena LOL; another opportunity to make fun of him.

... "It's unforgettable. Thank you all!"
Nino: "Is it okay to leave it at that?"
Ohno: "Ehh"
Nino: "Is it okay to leave it at that?"
Ohno: "Iya, then shall we return the favour?"
Nino: "Then please decide!"
Ohno: "One more song. Yeahh let's go.."
Jun: "It's the last one ne!"
Ohno: "The last song will be.." *laughs*
Jun: "You're slow."
Ohno: "Let's go for the last song?" *pointing mic at audience - YEAH!*
"Ready?" - YEAH
"Ready?" - YEAH
"Music!" *music played for a split second and stopped; timings clashed ROFL*

Last on the list, "Gori Muchuu"! TENSION AT THE MAXIMUM XD Out of the blue Matsujun leaped high and far out into the arena (sasuga Johnny's..) so quickly we were shocked! All were in chaos as we rushed towards the T-stage, and I got right to the front of the railing, where Ohchan Aiba and Sho were on <3 *in a state of incoherence*

And I shall leave it at that :) Last but not least when the members finally exited, Riida, last in line, did a little skip and a gesture that meant something like ‘follow me’. Awwwwwww <333333



This was the congratulatory flowers they mentioned during the MC.



A walk through the premises after the concert.



Waiting to send Arashi off! The entire area was jam packed where at my eye level I couldn't see a thing; so I let my camera do the work ^^ Apart from the first picture, the rest are screencaps from the short video clip.

















17 November

On the flight back home I found this :)



My loot of Arashi concert goods and other randoms.









Well that ends off an amazing Arashic experience!