キムぶろ、久しぶり！

Woah! I realise it's been quite a while since my last entry. I guess it's because I've been busier than usual. I suppose I could do a quick run-through of what has been going on...

11/3 (Thursday)
Day one of 明大際 (Meidai Festival). I plodded down to the station to meet Hiro before I jumped on stage to perform. I had my first ever ukulele solo, playing and singing Paramore's  "The Only Exception" whilst Hiro sat and recorded it. I was so nervous my legs were shaking and my hands were slippery with sweat so changing chords was rather difficult. It was the better of the two performances though. My second was Tokyo Jihen's "Killer Tune" where I provided the vocals to circle-mate Ryoma's guitar playing....the only problem was that his guitar was totally out of tune and that he seemed unaware of it...blegh.

明大際＠明治大学和泉キャンパス

Hiro and I wandered about the festival for a little while, exploring the stalls and watching the cheerleaders などなど。He hadn't brought his guitar so we just hung out and had to make do with my little uke. I cooked my 'nabe-ramen' thing, went to do some much looked-forward-to karaoke and got pretty damn drunk....(end of the day as far as my memory goes..*ahem*)

Karaoke with Hiro

11/4 (Friday)
We leapt out the door and headed down to Yokohama for a Musical Instrument Fair. Yokohama was a breath of fresh air. It felt so good to be out of Tokyo's suffocating streets and smellin' that ocean breeze....

Yokohama

The fair was indescribable. There were musical instruments of all shapes and sizes, some that I'd never encountered before and the event featured some very talented musicians on stage. I'm so grateful for Hiro for taking me along. It was MAGICAL.
After the event, we wandered around Yokohama's harbour area and eventually took a train to China Town for nosh and touristy fun.

Just one of the guitars...

A visit to China Town

11/5 (Saturday)
Back on the stage for me. Despite being really, really faint, I think I pulled it off. I provided the vocals for a rendition of Paramore's "Misery Business" and Tokyo Jihen's "Marunouchi Sadistic", both of which went down very nicely with the audience - mission accomplished. After the event finished, I went to my first 飲み会 in Japan (a sort of drinking party...). I left earlier than most as I was SUPER tired and ill. Fun though...

11/6 (Sunday)
Went to a Rock 'n' Roll gig with my housemate Miriam. Some of the music was to my taste...some not. NEVER in my life have I taken in so much cigarette smoke that my lungs ached. I got so used to the smoking ban in the UK, coming to a Japanese club was a total shock. Still, I like to experience new things so I agreed to go along. "The Bunny Tail" was the best act of the night and ultimately the one we went to see. Their bassist was so charismatic!

11/8 (Tuesday)
Crappy morning...and then BAM!!! My new uke arrives and it's the most beautiful thing in the world ever and kfgildbbfgawilufgcuhlwg!!!!

There she is...

11/15 (Tuesday)
EEEVEEEE!!!! I had the opportunity to meet one of my closest friends from senior school again and it truly made my day perfect. Eve, Alicia and I wandered around Harajuku, in toy shops, clothes shops and ate wonderful Harajuku crepes. Glorious. I had no idea Eve had missed me so much. I'm so gonna make it up to her and stay in close contact from now on. She's a true friend and I love her to bits! xxxxxx

Crepes at Harajuku

....So, that about brings us up to date...right?
Not too much happening until my birthday. I am planning, however to go and visit Mount Takao and take in some fresh air at last with my friend Todd. I really hope the weather is good!