Despite not knowing anything about L'Arc～en～Ciel (Laruku) except for their famous band name and the famous name of their vocalist, Hyde, I decided to watch L'Arc～en～Ciel 20th L'Anniversary World Tour 2012 in Singapore, last Saturday, April 28, 2012.

Why?
Because I wanted to experience a Japanese live music concert. 
Because L'Arc～en～Ciel is really famous (I had heard about them ever since forever, even before I've known or liked any jpop or j-fandom related things).
Because the world tour visited Singapore & Jakarta, which is very rare for a famous Japanese band!
So at that time I was convinced that it was the best choice for the Japanese live concert experience.

Before buying the tickets on the presale day, I made sure I like the music by downloading the albums "The Best of L'Arc～en～Ciel 1994-1998 & 1998-2000". I only listened to the album once, then I decided to buy the tix for me, my bro, and 2 friends! xD
And turned out, that was the only time I listened to their songs... until the day of the concert! So to be honest, I didn't know 90% of the songs at the concert *hides*  |･ω･｀)

And so, I came without any expectation... and was totally blown off by the magical experience Laruku had to offer at Singapore Indoor Stadium! I didn't expect the concert would be oh sooooo beautiful, with great effects & lighting! I didn't expect that Hyde is so charismatic & his voice is OH SO GOOOOOD it touched my heart, seriously. I was totally captivated and in awe of Hyde and his amazing talents! (and his beautiful looks *cough cough* xD)

I got home from the concert totally lovestruck 〜(￣▽￣〜)(〜￣▽￣)〜
Obviously I crave for more, so I started browsing for Laruku till morning almost came =P

The next day (Sunday), I went to Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition at ArtScience Museum, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore. It was about 7pm when I stood around the ticket counter on the lobby and was getting ready to enter the exhibition.... when suddenly my brother (who also had no idea who Laruku was, but liked them from the previous night's concert experience) pointed, "Sis! Look! Look!" at  someone (a Japanese guy who was with another guy). I was like... "Who?" while thinking that the face looked familiar. My bro said, "From last night!", then it struck me. OMG, IT WAS TETSU! So my bro told me to hurry up & approach him & ask for a picture.

This is what happened next:

• Me *approaching Tetsu, with my bro following behind me*: "Sumimasen... Tetsu desu ka?"
• Tetsu *looking at me*: "Hai..."
• Me: "I came to the concert last night...!"
• Tetsu: "Yes..." while handing out his hand for me to shake... xD (which I shook right away)
• Me: "Do you mind if we take a photo...?"
• Tetsu: "No."
• Me: "Um..."
• Tetsu: "Photo, no."
• His manager/staff: "No photo."
• Me: "Oh, okay. Thanks..."
• My bro: "Sorry."

Because we were kinda nervous & didn't know what else to say... we walked away after half-bowing to them.

Oh, I was wondering why nobody seemed to recognize Tetsu. No one looked at him or gathered near him. I guess, to the general public, he's just a nobody and thus could blend well with the crowd xD He dressed very modestly, too! Had I not known the faces of Laruku members from the previous night's concert & browsing session, I would've thought he was just an ordinary (Japanese) guy, to be frank.

I tweeted about it right away. When I told hemisofia about it, she said (her friend said to her) that I should've asked for a banana! XD Oh my, yes... I really should've! I just totally couldn't think of anything at all, coz it was all happening in a flash, no time to prepare what to say, etc. And because in general, I'm just a cool (or cold? xD) person, especially with celebrities! LOL

But with Japanese celebrities, handshake is considered good enough already, so I had to be content with just that. Although, to be honest, it didn't mean much to me, for I'm just a new fan, and I like Hyde, not the other members xD Obviously, a lot of people told me I'm so lucky... so I guess I should thank my luck in this case! Ｏ(≧▽≦)Ｏ

The concert in Jakarta is today (Wednesday), May 2, 2012. Despite my still craving for their performance, I decided not to watch for mainly these reasons: outdoor venue (and Jakarta is still raining a lot these days. If it doesn't rain, it will be hot and sweaty!), festival-only arrangement (no seats at all, even in the VIP section), and Indonesian crowd (lotsa guys, too!) makes me somewhat discouraged & afraid.

Have fun to anyone who's going to the concert! Be ready and be blown off by the magical experience! ||| ＼(￣▽￣)／ |||

And I have one more person I can fangirl about, yay! (☆▽☆)


The view from where I sit!

Here's my upcoming dorama watchlist download list this spring!
(from Jdrama Weblog & DramaWiki at D-Addicts)


Dorama:

• Kagi no Kakatta Heya (Ohno Satoshi, Toda Erika)
• Mou Ichido Kimi ni, Propose (Takenouchi Yutaka, Wakui Emi, Yamamoto Yusuke)
• Mikeneko Holmes no Suiri (Aiba Masaki)
• Mirai Nikki (Okada Masaki)
• Kaeru no Ojousama (Amami Yuki, Ishida Yuriko, Tamayama Tetsuji)
• Toshi Densetsu no Onna (Nagasawa Masami, Mizobata Junpei)
• Houkago wa Mystery Totomo ni (Kawaguchi Haruna, Mokomichi Hayami)
• ATARU (Nakai Masahiro, Kitamura Kazuki, Kuriyama Chiaki)
• Cleopatra no Onnatachi (Sato Ryuta, Kitano Kii)
• Tsumi to Batsu (Kora Kengo, Mizukawa Asami)

Tanpatsu:

• SPEC ~Sho~ (Toda Erika, Kase Ryo, Fukuda Saki, Shiina Kippei)
• Nazotoki wa Dinner no Ato de (Sakurai Sho, Kitagawa Keiko, Shiina Kippei)
• Meitantei Conan SP ~ Kudo Shinichi Kyoto Shinsengumi Satsujin Jiken (Mizobata Junpei, Kutsuna Shiori)
• Shichou Shisu (Sorimachi Takashi, Kimura Tae)
• Blackboard (First Night): Mirai (Sakurai Sho, Miyazawa Rie, Oshima Yuko)
• Blackboard (Second Night): Ikiro (Sato Koichi, Shida Mirai, Kanjiya Shihori)
• Blackboard (Third Night): Yume (Matsushima Nao, Kamiki Ryunosuke, Kato Shigeaki)
• Alice in Liar Game (Ashida Mana, Makiko Esumi)

Lotsa detective dorama this season yaaaay! ＼（＾ ＾）／

Just saw Ivan Jacobs version of The Phantom of the Opera at Nusa Indah Theatre, Balai Kartini. This New York-based musical is brought by Big Daddy Entertainment.



My brother & friends said it's not so good, boring, etc. It's because they expected this to be similar or very close to Andrew Lloyd Webber version of The Phantom of the Opera. As for me, because I knew that it's a totally different production (with of course different music, lyrics, storyline -although based on the same source-, characters -although some of the main characters are the same-, decor, etc.), I came without any expectation. I actually was rather thinking whether I could've seen it till finish, without wanting to go home at the intermission =P Thus, I was pretty surprised I wasn't bored at all. I kept looking at the stage most of the time (and also at the orchestra xD).

Here's my review:

• Stage, decor, property, costumes: all is well & world-class, especially for a travelling show. Costumes could've been better though. I saw one (important) dress of Christine's got a big noticeable hole on the bottom right side! xO
• Cast: in general they're good & sing very well. Only I wish Raoul were more masculine, and the Phantom were younger & not that... ehm... chubby :P Raoul felt like Christine's teenage stalker and Phantom like her over-protective and possesive dad, with their built & appearance! I especially like Carlotta, Richard, and Charles, they're funny & they act very well （＾Ｏ＾☆♪
• Music and lyrics: not bad at all! At least there's one catchy song that I like. Of course, this is not Andrew Lloyd Webber production. Don't expect to be anything like it, especially music-wise.
• Story: this version stays true to the original novel by Gaston Leroux, which presents a somewhat darker Phantom. It also mentions Phantom's name: Erik, while ALW version doesn't.
• Orchestra: 15-piece solid orchestra, with a great Asian violinist & a cute pianist... ehm... ♪───Ｏ（≧∇≦）Ｏ────♪ One normally can't see the orchestra (should be hidden below the stage), but due to space limits, the orchestra is very visible (which is a blessing for me as I could glance their way anytime I wanted to! xD).
• Sound system & lighting: I heard the sound at the balcony section isn't so good. It's not so bad for the orchestra section, although not perfect (I can't really hear what they said sometimes). Lighting is fine, I think.
• Ballet: I like the part where they do a real ballet (which is supposed to be a dream). It's a wonderful ballet!

Bottomline: Watch this with no expectation, like you would when you see a new musical. I know most people would compare it to ALW version, and honestly it's a big mistake. To be fair, without comparing the two, I would give this a score of 6.5~7. I gave ALW's Phantom a score of 9 (the highest in all musicals I've seen).

Do watch it if you like musical & theatre. It's a good & different experience, watching a world-class musical in Jakarta! I hope, with this, more world-class musicals will come here :D

Quoting from Jakarta Globe:

“A show of this level has never been seen in Jakarta before, so we find it very exciting,” he said. “It’s not like you see a show here every day with a full cast of New York actors. We hope that Indonesians will say ‘Hey, can you bring some more?’ ”

Promotional video: 

Articles:
The Rise of the Phantom
Backstage at The Phantom of the Opera

Euh... ehm... err... 
1,000,000,000 times? xD

Hellooooo~~ I have BlackBerry, where the red notification light will BLINK every time a new email (or other new anything) comes, trying to get my attention (always without fail)! And it happens like 278341282 times a day yo! 

I'm doing this meme again this year! This will be a yearly thing~ xD

Rules and Guidelines:

o1. I (try to) watch 100 movies & dorama or more in 2011.
o2. I keep track of how many I watch in this post.
o3. I only record first-time movies or dorama.
o4. If you want to recommend any movies to me, go for it. (I'll pin this entry on the top of my LJ until 2011 ends ^^)


Movies & dorama watched in 2011, including my notes and ratings:

( The final list! )

Edit: I'll stop doing this... too many movies to list, so little time >___<;
So this list won't be updated anymore, per July 2011.

Here's my upcoming dorama watchlist download list this winter!
(from Jdrama Weblog & DramaWiki at D-Addicts)


Dorama:

• Hungry! (Mukai Osamu, Kuninaka Ryoko, Tsukamoto Takashi)
• Seinaru Kaibutsutachi (Masaki Okada, Nakatani Miki, Kato Ai)
• Saikou no Jinsei no Owarikata~Ending Planner~ (Yamashita Tomohisa, Eikura Nana, Sorimachi Takashi)
• Lucky Seven (Matsushima Nanako, Eita, Matsumoto Jun *meh*)
• Renai Neet~Wasureta Koi no Hajimekata~ (Nakama Yukie, Nagayama Kento)
• 13-sai no Hello Work (Matsuoka Masahiro, Yokoyama Yu, Kiritani Mirei)

Tanpatsu: 

• Hanayome no Chichi (Yanagiba Toshiro, Kanjiya Shihori, Mukai Osamu)
• Mou Yuukai Nante Shinai (Ohno Satoshi, Aragaki Yui, Sato Ryuta, Kanjiya Shihori, Narimiya Hiroki)

Hmm.. not many interesting dorama this season *sobs*

Pasta aglio olio e peperoncino with smoked beef or ham! 
(A lot of red chili, please :D)

My favorite pasta is fusilli, gemelli, or penne. But if none of those are available, spaghetti is also good.

Here's my upcoming dorama watchlist download list this autumn!
(from Jdrama Weblog & DramaWiki at D-Addicts)


Dorama:

• Watashi ga Renai Dekinai Riyuu (Karina, Yoshitaka Yuriko, Oshima Yuko)
• Nazotoki wa Dinner no Ato de (Sakurai Sho, Kitagawa Keiko) 
• HUNTER ~Sono Onnatachi, Shoukin Kasegi~ (Yonekura Ryoko, Kiritani Mirei)
• Runaway ~Aisuru Kimi no Tame ni~ (Ichihara Hayato, Ueda Tatsuya, Tsukamoto Takashi, Fukuda Saki)
• Sengyou Shufu Tantei ~Watashi wa Shadow (Fukada Kyoko, Fujiki Naohito, Kiritani Kenta)
• 11 Nin mo Iru! (Kamiki Ryunosuke, Hirosue Ryoko, Hoshino Gen, Mitsuura Yasuko)
• Nankyoku Tairiku (Kimura Takuya, Ayase Haruka)
• Boku to Star no 99 Nichi (Kim Tae Hee, Nishijima Hidetoshi)
• Zouka no Mitsu (Tamayama Tetsuji, Kuninaka Ryoko, Dan Rei)
• Mitsu no Aji~A Taste of Honey~ (Eikura Nana, Kanno Miho, ARATA, Mizobata Junpei)

Tanpatsu: 

• Marumo no Okite SP (Abe Sadao, Ashida Mana, Suzuki Fuku)
• Freeter, Ie o Kau. SP (Ninomiya Kazunari, Karina)
• Kaibutsu-kun Shinsaku SP (Ohno Satoshi, Yashima Norito)
• Chouchou-san (Miyazaki Aoi, Ito Atsushi, Noda Hideki)
• Shiawase no Kiiroi Hankachi (Abe Hiroshi, Horikita Maki, Hamada Gaku)
• Ranma 1/2 (Aragaki Yui, Kaku Kento, Hasegawa Kyoko)
• Shimei to Tamashii no Limit (Ishihara Satomi, Tachi Hiroshi, Hayami Mokomichi)
• Suteki na Kakushidori ~Kanzen Muketsu no Concierge~ (Fukatsu Eri, Abe Hiroshi, Takeuchi Yuko)

Oooo so many interesting dorama this fall! This must be my longest dorama watchlist download list so far xD

Here's my upcoming dorama watchlist download list this summer!
(from Jdrama Weblog & DramaWiki at D-Addicts)

Dorama:

• Meitantei Conan ~ Kudo Shinichi e no Chousenjou (Mizobata Junpei, Kutsuna Shiori, Otsuka Nene) Ｏ(≧∇≦)Ｏ
• Ouran High School Host Club (Kawaguchi Haruna, Yamamoto Yusuke)  --> blah cast, but I love the manga, so I'll watch & see if it's any good
• Hi wa Mata Noboru (Sato Koichi, Miura Haruma)
• Don Quixote (Matsuda Shota, Takahashi Katsumi, Narumi Riko, Uchida Yuki, Kobayashi Satomi)
• Bull Doctor (Esumi Makiko, ishihara Satomi, Inagaki Goro, Shida Mirai)
• IS ~Otoko Demo Onna Demo Nai Sei~ (Fukuda Saki, Gouriki Ayame)
• Zettai Reido 2 (Ueto Aya)
• Jiu (Kuroki Meisa, Tabe Mikako, Shirota Yu)

Tanpatsu: 

• Saigo no Kizuna: Okinawa Hikisakareta Kyodai (Sato Takeru, Kaname Jun, Mizobata Junpei)
• Kono Sekai no Katasumi ni (Kitagawa Keiko, Koide Keisuke, Yuka)
• Unfair the Special (Kitano Kii, Abe Sadao)
• Aishiteru~Kizuna~ (Inamori Izumi, Mukai Osamu, Okada Masaki, Mizukawa Asami)
• Suna no Utsuwa 2011 (Tamaki Hiroshi, Nakatani Miki, Sasaki Kuranosuke)

A bit disappointed, coz I was expecting for a more exciting dorama with great cast this summer! （￣へ￣）
And HanaKimi 2? MEH!

But Meitantei Conan! YAY! *dansu dansu* ♪┌(★o☆)┘♪└(★o★)┐♪┌(☆o★)┘♪

Although I've written about my recent trip to Europe on twitter, I haven't mentioned it on LJ at all~

Last month, my mom and I joined a tour (owned by an acquaintance) to France & Italy. We took a different airline than the tour, so we could extend in Paris and Singapore after the tour itinerary is done. Singapore Airlines A380 rules! xD

There were so many of my mom's friends and acquaintances who joined the tour, so it was almost like a private tour, which is pretty nice. Everyone got along pretty well :D

The itinerary includes: Paris, Lourdes, Nice, Padua, Loreto, Lanciano, San Giovanni Rotondo, Rome, Vatican.

Some of the photos taken by iPhone are already uploaded to this Flickr set.
I still have to select from 2000+ photos (both iPhone & Canon S90) and upload 'em! *gasps*

My favorite photos from the Flickr set:

  


        


Until now, I'm still so tired & jetlagged from the trip although it's been a week since I arrived in Jakarta  （_ _;） Must be age factor! LOL

If you could only live in one season for the rest of your life, which would you choose, and why?


First answer: FALL
Why?
Because I totally love the weather, the foliage color, leaves falling from the trees, and how the color of everything around you turns brown orange yellow & red ♥♥♥
And I totally love Fall fashion! xD


(photo from google)


Second answer: SPRING
Why?
Because I love the color of flowers blooming... the world looks very colorful! The weather is perfect and I also love Spring fashion xD


(photo from istockphoto)

I've known Elie Saab since a long time ago, but never really paid attention to the collection much before.... Until I have to search for a dress model for a friend's wedding. I and 7 more ladies are gonna be bridesmaids. So the hunting begins!

When another friend mentioned that, looking from the dress styles I like, I must be interested in Elie Saab.. In a sudden that name rang a bell :D Thus I began to browse for Elie Saab dresses... and I can't stop! LOL

Here are some of my favorite Elie Saab Spring/Summer 2011 Haute Couture dresses from Paris Fashion Week.
(taken from here)





( more dresses! )

I've started to watch dorama again lately... Starting with Keizoku 2: SPEC, I'm hooked to Ryo Kase's acting! OMG he's so good (although face is so so).

Here's my upcoming dorama watchlist download list this spring!
(from Jdrama Weblog & DramaWiki at D-Addicts)

Dorama:

• BOSS 2 (Amami Yuki, Takenouchi Yutaka, Tamayama Tetsuji, Toda Erika, Mizobata Junpei) --> OMG I'm so happy! Ｏ(≧∇≦)Ｏ
• Good Life~Arigato, Papa. Sayonara~ (Sorimachi Takashi, Eikura Nana)
• Shiawase ni Narou yo (Naohito Fujiki, Meisa Kuroki, Shingo Katori *meh*)
• Shitsuren Hoken (Fukuda Saki, Shirota Yu)

Tanpatsu:

• Saigo no Bansan SP (Sato Koichi, Narimiya Hiroki)
• Meitantei Conan SP3 (Mizobata Junpei, Kutsuna Shiori, Otsuka Nene)

Seriously... only those 4 dorama & 2 tanpatsu! ＿|￣|○

I'm so excited about BOSS 2! OMG FINALLY! *jumps up and down in excitement*
*dansu dansu* ♪┌(★o☆)┘♪└(★o★)┐♪┌(☆o★)┘♪

Here's my upcoming dorama watchlist download list this winter!
(from Jdrama Weblog & DramaWiki at D-Addicts)

Dorama:

• Taisetsu na Koto wa Subete Kimi ga Oshiete Kureta (Miura Haruma, Toda Erika)
• Control ~ Hanzai Shinri Sousa (Fujiki Naohito, Matsushita Nao, Yokoyama Yu)
• Quartet (Fukuda Saki, Matsushita Yuya)
• Misaki Number One!! (Karina)
• Diplomat Kuroda Kousaku (Oda Yuji, Shibasaki Kou, Katase Nana)
• LADY～Saigo no Hanzai Profile～ (Kitagawa Keiko, Kimura Tae, Kaname Jun, Hiraoka Yuta)
• Guilty Akuma to Keiyakushita Onna (Kanno Miho, Tamaki Hiroshi)

Tanpatsu:

• Akai Yubi ~ Shinzanmono Kaga Yuichiro Futatabi (Abe Hiroshi, Kuroki Meisa, Mizobata Junpei)
• Toilet no Kamisama (Kitano Kii, Ashida Mana, Iwashita Shima)

Hmmm... not many interesting doramas, to be honest.

I spent Christmas & New Year holiday in Singapore & Vietnam.
Nothing extraordinary there, mostly just having delightful culinary sessions! o(≧∇≦)o

In Vietnam, I visited: Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vung Tau, Hue, Hanoi, and Ha Long Bay.
Some photos are uploaded to my flickr in this Vietnam 2010 set.

My Vietnam experience: excellent food, the best coffee in the world, the best soybean sauce and fish sauce in the world, and everything is so cheap! If you're looking for cheap/budget travel and love cultural sites, definitely go there. But it's a third-world country, so don't expect modern civilizations there!

 If you could spend one summer anywhere in the world, where would it be, and why?


I have two main destinations: 

1. Japan, Korea, China
I wanna go all over Japan, Korea, and China! o(^▽^)o

2. Europe
This would require a lot of money, but I wanna go all over Europe with this itinerary (more or less):

• France: the beautiful towns in Provence & Côte d'Azur, Paris
• Italy: beautiful towns in Tuscany & Sicily, Amalfi, Naples, Venice, Florence, Rome
• Switzerland: Zürich, Geneva, Bern, Lausanne
• Austria: Vienna, Salzburg, Innsbruck
• Spain: Barcelona, Madrid, Sevilla, Salamanca, Granada
• Belgium: Brussels, Antwerp, Brugge, Ghent
• England: London, Royal Tunbridge Wells (because I used to spend one summer there, it's nostalgic!)

Will those be covered in one summer? o(≧∇≦)o
I don't think so! LOL

I've been to some of the above destinations... but it's been a long long time ago, I forgot already!

 If you were to write your autobiography, what would be the title?


"Eclectic Slices of Life" 

In fact, I've used that title for some of my sites xD
I've loved the title since college, actually.