YG Family Concert in Japan

Okay anyone who follows me on twitter, tumblr or facebook will know that on the 21st I went to see the YG Family Concert in Saitama Super Arena. I have been super excited about this ever since I first heard about the concert which was months and months ago. I may not be as crazy as I used to be about k-pop but I am still all about YG, especially Big Bang and 2NE1....and did I mention Big Bang? I'm crazy about Taeyang especially.

Why aren't you?

So I thought for awhile about what I was going to wear for the concert but still ended up being unprepared. I only put my hoody in the laundry that morning so I was trying to speed things up drying it with a hair dryer >.<

My OMG hat was in reference to 2NE1's "I'm the best", the hoody is part of Big Bang's uniqlo collection, the shirt and the jacket are d.i.a and to complete the outfit a Big Bang bag I got free in Shin Okubo when I bought my penlight.

I was nervous I wouldn't get there in time to get goods but it actually turned out to be the shortest queue ever. Big Bang brought out a new penlight which is totally different from the old version so I wanted to get that (I was worried it would be like a Johnny's concert where old goods are a no go) and of course I wanted a 2NE1 penlight.

Wah they're so pretty!!! Me and my friend waited inside some random building with loads of other fans while waiting for the doors because of course it would be that day of all days when it would rain for the first time in nearly a month.

On the way in we were stopped by two guys who were doing street snaps for their magazine. Apparently it's a relatively new k-pop one (I already forgot the name so I doubt I'll ever find it, there are a lot of k-pop mags here) and they took our pics and asked who we were coming to see.

I snuck a quick pic of the stage before the concert started. I had to be sneaky because photography is banned and they were watching like hawks. Ah but my memories shall live on forever. We were pretty close so I didn't need to look at the screens most of the time.

2NE1 opened the concert and they were just...amazing. They put on a great show and a lot of the crowd seemed to be there for them. I judged this by the colour of the crowd. Everyone had different coloured penlights but there was a lot of pink among them for 2NE1. After 2NE1 Big Bang came out....and I started crying. I mean it's one thing watching their MV's or watching fan cams but to physically see them moving about on stage and being their stupid awesome selves was just...too much for me at first. After the first song I composed myself and was grooving along. Japanese fans are all about TOP, I'm not sure why because he can barely speak to them in Japanese....maybe that's what they like. In fact, barring Gummy who is fluent everyone else had very cute MC's with adorable mistakes. Especially Bom, I wanted to take her home and be fail with her! There was this couple a few rows behind us and the guy kept shouting out for "YoungBae" (Taeyang) which was kinda funny. Yay for male fans!

The running order gets a bit fuzzy in my head after this. Because it was a YG Family concert they all did fun collabs together (like Big Bang performing "I'm the best" complete with dance routine and Jinu Sean, GD and Seven singing "Fly Gentlemen"). All the acts sang a few tracks before they left (except Jinu Sean and Tablo) and Big Bang ended the show....with LIES!!!!!! they also sang Haru Haru before that. I cried AGAIN. Oh and Taeyang GAVE HIS TOUR HOODY to some girl. The jealousy was extreme let me tell you.

An finally an awkward pic of the large banner of them all together. Sorry for the rubbish quality pictures in the post, they were all taken on my phone. To conclude, this was my best day in Japan to date and I want to spend every day like it.

109 Sales and Gets

On the 2nd of January 109 began their massive 7 day sale. I'm sure by now everyone knows the drill with New Year sales in Japan; most stores put out 福袋 or lucky bags in English. These bags could contain past season goods or clothes created just for the fukubukuro. This year most of the bags were open, as in their contents had already been relived in store blog posts, magazines or by shop staff. I kind of hate this because in my opinion it really takes out the 'luck' aspect of it, but I guess with people having less money to play with it's a safer bet to let them know how awesome the bargain is that they're getting. One brand that doesn't reveal their contents however is D.I.A and it's their bag I wanted to get.  The D.I.A fukubukuro is notoriously hard to get your hands on. Last year they sold out in 3 hours so I knew I would have to get to 109 early. Early as in before 5am that day to queue in the underground station with all the other crazy people (who also all wanted the D.I.A bag as I worked out from....well eavesdropping).

People with their bags outside getting ready to trade stuff

We were finally let into 109 at 7am. The D.I.A bags being as coveted as they are had a whole special procedure to get them. I had to go to the 8th floor (people were running up the escalators) only to go down the stairs until I met the end of the queue. This was at the 6th floor when I got there...going down! I had to go down 6 flights to go back up 8 again to get my bag...and I arrived early! This year the bag sold out before 8 I heard...that's 1 hour. Mental. I can see why though, for one bag it is packed with goodies:

So much D.I.A goodness :Q____

There were 16 items in total, including jeans, several hoodies, tops and one pieces. All the stuff isn't pictured in here, some because I traded with Chriss (the jeans and a one piece) for her Real Mars fukubukuro jacket and some just because I couldn't fit it into the picture. So yeah, getting the bag was madness but it was definitely worth it and I got to strut around 109 feeling like I won at life. 

Other sales gets were this JSG one piece (it's so soft and moku-moku I just love curling up in it...in fact I'm wearing it as I write this) and this Glad News under top. It was super cheap and it's so useful to wear under things. It goes super well with the JSG one piece so I'm wearing that atm too. Chriss got a top from D.I.A in the sale which meant I had to stand outside with all our bags for awhile. I wanted to go in too but there was just no way with it being so busy. We had to take it in turns, waiting outside with all the bags like all the other  overworked looking boyfriends and dads. D.I.A was crazy.

My shop staff isn't actually in this pic but somewhere inside the crush of the store

I went the next day too when I was less shattered and the crowds had died down a bit and my D.I.A shop staff had totally lost her voice. She still went up on the step ladder to attempt to shout to customers though. Wah she's so adorable I love her. Also I realised how mistaken I was thinking people would be buying less considering the economy. People were buying shit loads, it made no sense to me how they could afford it. Clearly they were blowing all their お年玉 or New Year money on 109. There were so many boyfriends laden with bags while their girlfriends shopped. My friend went that evening and saw guys waiting around with D.I.A bags which is how you know they've been there since the early hours >.< One woman brought her whole family (including her two young boys) to make them carry the bags. I know this because she was bragging about it to reporters when we were queuing underground in the early hours. Now I like to shop and all, but some people have some messed up priorities.

I also bought some stuff with wasn't on sale. I got the Real Mars one-piece which I adore. Totally ageho! The D.I.A jumper is lovely and Emmie ended up getting the same one so now we can twin. The belt I wanted for a while and basically all the staff wear their's constantly. I got it in the end and I think Marie might have bought the same one too.

All in all, New Year is such an awesome time to shop in Japan and I don't think I will forget the madness that is 109 on the first day of sales for the rest of my life. It was some next level shopping!

On another note I'm super lonely now because Chriss and everyone have GONE BACK TO LONDON. I started tearing up in grammar class when I suddenly remembered Chriss wouldn't be back at home when I returned. We spent so much time together having so much fun. waaaaaaaaaaaah

Oh and I've started a new tumblr which I've been trying to update regularly. Check it out if you wanna see daily snapshots of my usually mundane life as a student in Tokyo here.