★★★

While hanging out with some friends, I was informed that Music Circus, an annual EDM festival, was letting non-Japanese attendees in for free. Not one to pass up a little free, I snatched up a ticket for myself, a few for my friends, and set out to have a rather intoxicated afternoon.

About

Music Circus is a dance music festival that takes place in Tokyo and Osaka every year. This event features famous DJs from all over the world (this year's headliners were AFROJACK and Nicky Romero) as well as famous Japanese DJs and producers (Nakata Yasutaka played a set this year!).

Official Site Here (JPN Only)

 Access

大阪泉南・タルイサザンビーチ
Osaka Sennan Tarui Southern Beach
Nankai Tarui Station


[From Osaka City]
Board the Semi-Express Nankai Train bound for Wakayama City or the Rapid to Nankai Izumisano Station, then change to to the local or Semi-Express for Nankai Tarui Station. The rapid route is only 10 minutes faster.

Though the venue is 1.5 hrs outside of Osaka City, it's fairly easy to find if you follow the young people dressed for a music festival. Also, you'll have to walk 10-15 minutes to the venue, so wear comfortable shoes!

Main Stage

Tickets

1 Day Ticket - 10,000 yen
2 Day Ticket - 18,000 yen
Music Circus '16 International Invitation - FREE (1,000 yen drink ticket purchase required)

Food and drinks are served with tickets and cash. You do get a set of tickets with your 1000 yen drink fee (separate from the ticket fee), but once those run out, using cash is fine. If you want to drink alcohol, be sure to bring your ID so you can get a wristband. Also, this year, non-Japanese attendees were able to enter the event for free except for the 1,000 yen drink purchase. That's a pretty good deal to see some of the biggest DJs in Japan.

Nakata Yasutaka Set

Impression

The only other music festival I've ever been to is Summer Sonic ('11 and '12), so trying to compare the rock vibe of SS to the dance music scene at EDM would really be an exercise in futility, but I can say that the people at this fest seem more laid back. At SS, it's a bit of a rush trying to see bands as there are a LOT of stages and good international acts tend to overlap (while Japanese acts seem to get better timetables).

At MC, it was easy to bounce between the two main stages and even the food and drinking areas. The bathrooms aren't the cleanest and the line the ladies fluctuates like crazy. If you think you gotta go, and the line is short, GO.

Area closer to the beach

Overall

This fest was a lot of fun, though my opinion of it may be skewed for quite a few reasons (limited dance fest exp, free tickets, good compny, etc.), but if a ticket happens to fall into your hands, I would definitely recommend that you check it out. Don't forget to bring your towel (always bring a towel), a little sunscreen, and maybe a little liquor if you can sneak it in. ;)

Check out more event photos here!

★ Peaces★

Fashion, anime nightclubs and s&m shows!!

Happy February folks! Today's post is all about the events left in February as well as a few events going on in March! I would like to keep this type of a post as a monthly deal, showcasing local events spearheaded by the entrepreneurs and business folk based in Osaka. While I do enjoy some large-scale events (my love for USJ's One Piece events will never die), I think the smaller, local events are always better and I'm always happy to offer my support!

February

Designer Nadia Mendjime

TCHELI MEKA Fashion Show

FB Event Page:
https://www.facebook.com/events/851523808325742/

Date: Feb. 19th
Time: 7pm - 9pm
Price: 1000 YEN (incl. 1 drink)

<<Info from FB Event Page>>
LAUNCH & FASHION SHOW
TCHELI MEKA invites you to it's first ever exclusive fashion exhibit in Japan. Come and discover the colourful and enchanted world of elegance to the African.

http://tchelimeka.com/ 
@tchelimeka on Instagram and Twitter

Place: Vanity
(Address:2-7-20-B1,Chuoku,Higashi Shinsaibashi,Osaka,542-0083)

Date: 19th February, 2016
Time: 7-9pm
Entrance fee: ¥1,000(With one drink)

Event Features:
Entertainment
20% discounted sale

Featured Designs:
Accessories by IJLW (I Just Love Weekends) http://ijlw.theshop.jp/

ANIMExROCK

Venue Website:
http://www.kandylion.com/index.html
(This venue seems to host anime events often, so I would haunt their site if you're in search of an event to attend)

Date: Thursday, February 25
Time: 6:30pm ~
Price: 1200 YEN

Location: KANDY LION
530-0016 Osaka Prefecture, Osaka, Kita-ku, Nakazakicho 3-5-14

DJs:
Janne
TENBA
MISKAING
SEIKING
KANAME

ANICOSCRATCH Flyer

ANICOSCRATCH Vol.14

Date: Sunday, February 28
Time: 7:00pm - 11:30pm
Price: 2500 YEN

ANICOSCRATCH FB Page:
https://www.facebook.com/AnicoScratch

Location: Minamisenba Cell
542-0081 Osaka Prefecture, Osaka、Chuo-ku, Minamisenba 1-16-2

500 YEN discount for cosplay, those with flyers or reservations made via Twipla.

DJs:
Yokocchi
Ryo-jiDAC (ANICOSCRATCH)
Ahiru (ANICOSCRATCH/AWGP)
Miichan (ANICOSCRATCH)

March

Farplane Flickr for Varplane Night Vol. 11 Click to scroll!

FARPLANE NIGHT vol.12〜Spring festival!!!〜

Date: Saturday, March 19
Time: 3pm - 11 pm
Advance Tickets: 3500 YEN
At the Door: 4000 YEN

FB Event:
https://www.facebook.com/events/563185000497767/
Official Event Website:
http://www.farplane.jp/farplanenight/
Twitter Account:
https://twitter.com/farplane_japan













【LIVE】
・浅草ジンタ

【Suspension Show】
・BONZIN　[BABYLON Body Art's Osaka]

【New-half Show】
・Oh! Boobee Baabee!

【S&M Show】
・witasexalice(ウィタセクスアリス)

【Fashion Show】
・Hades×FARPLANE  Special Collab

【Magic Show】
・Mr.Kei

【Pole Dancing】
・P.L.D
・KURO

【EROTIC ART SHOW】
・きんらんどんす
(Kinrandonsu)

【Champagne Time】
・シャンパンボーイズ＆ガールズ
(Champagne Boys & Girls)

【KINGAI Time】
・ケミーキラー
(Kemi Killer)

Assassins Creed Cosplay from Street Festa 2015

12th Annual Nipponbashi Street Festa 2016

Date: Sunday, March 20
Time: 11am - 5pm
Price: 1500 YEN for Cosplayers
Free to attend

Location: Sakaisuji and the surrounding area
Map (Jpn only): http://nippombashi.jp/festa/2016/access.html

Pamphlet with the cosplay rules and regs.

Official Website (Eng/Chn/Kor avail. maybes):
http://nippombashi.jp/festa/2016/index.html 

You can check out my translation of the rules from last year here:
http://welovekansai.blogspot.jp/2015/02/11th-nipponbashi-street-festa-cosplay.html

If I noticed any major updates to the event, I may write a new post for it. Otherwise, please refer to the post from last year!

I also made a video about these events, so listen along if your eyes are too tired from all the reading!



As always, leave any questions, comments, or concerns below! Also, let me know if you plan on attending so we can meet up!

★Peaces★

Note the silicon wristband.

11th Nipponbashi Street Festa & Cosplay Festival 2015

The street festival is back for 2015! This time, it will take place on a Saturday, March 21st!

Originally, I wasn't going to post information in regards to the festival, and then I realized there is almost no information on sooo.. I'd better get to it.

If you're looking for a place to get some cosplaying done in Japan, this is it! Nipponbashi Street Festa is an annual festival that takes place in Osaka's Nipponbashi area (not to be confused with the Nihonbashi area of Tokyo). This area is commonly referred to as Den-Den Town as it used to be filled with electric shops, though now it is the anime and gaming hub of Osaka. Here, you'll find maid cafe's, maid and cat cafes, and garcon (butler) cafes! OH, and shops stocked with all the latest new and used anime and video gaming goods.

During the festival, a section of Sakaisuji is closed to automotive traffic, and participants and sightseers are allowed to roam the streets and through shops freely. There are also many booths set up by various companies and at the main stage of the festival, there is a super sentai show. I won't translate everything going on (there is A LOT of written info), but I'll try to hit on the important points.

When
Opening Ceremony is from 12pm
There will be booths for changing into cosplay, as wearing cosplaying in public comes very close to breaking Japan's obscenity laws, where staff members will check cosplays for appropriateness. I would assume these are open much earlier than 12, but the headquarters is only from 11am so... be ready for a queue if you plan on cosplaying.

The changing rooms for cosplay will be open from 10am until 5pm.

Showing up to the festival already in cosplay is not allowed, so please use the designated changing areas to change into your cosplay.

Where

Sorry, I couldn't figure out how to put in the map widget! ;n;

大阪市浪速区日本橋5-8-21NTT日本橋ビル1階
Osaka-shi, Naniwa-ku, Nipponbashi 5-8-21 NTT Nipponbashi Bldg. 1F
TEL　06-6655-1717
Hours of Operation: 11：00～19：00
Official Website

Here is the address of the area that will be operating as the headquarters for the event. The festival itself is pretty easy to find from any of the nearby stations, like Nipponbashi Station or Ebisucho Station, as it covers most of Sakaisuji and its surrounding blocks.

Events

The 3 main events are divided between the Higashi-hiroba Schedule (東広場スケジュール), Parade Schedule (パレードスケジュール) and Stage Time Schedule (ステージタイムスケジュール), which you can see highlighted in orange on the map above (Jpn only). Most of the events will occur between 12pm and 3pm.

Higashi-hiroba Schedule Page (東広場スケジュール) (Jpn)
Parade Schedule (パレードスケジュール) (Jpn)
Stage Time Schedule (ステージタイムスケジュール) (Jpn)

There are also tons small events going on in the cafes, clubs, and event spaces in the area, which you can view under the Route Event Page. These events are divided into areas A through J.

Route Event Page (沿道イベント紹介) (Jpn)

I think these events are by far the most interesting, and include things like voice actor events, so you'll definitely want to go through these pages.

Cosplay Festival Participation Rules

Though this event is all about having fun and experiencing anime and gaming culture, there are some important rules in place to make sure things run smoothly and that the event can continue in the future.

Cosplay Participation Wristband

• Those interested in cosplaying or taking photos of cosplayers at the event are required to buy a Cosplay Participation badge. It's a red silicon wristband that can be purchased before the event from a number of stores for 1500 yen, and is to be worn on the day of the event.
• As mentioned before, cosplayers are required to use the changing rooms set up by the event so that staff can check that costumes are suitable for being displayed in public. If your costume is deemed unsuitable for the public, you will not be allowed to leave the changing rooms with the costume on, so dress accordingly! (Also, there a ton of kids at this event to see the sentai performances so let's just be nice and spare their parents the birds and bee convo for now).
• Don't put on make-up or fix wigs and such in the changing rooms (too many people obvs).
• Do not wear your cosplay to the event, please use the changing rooms for changing into your cosplay.
• No taking up space at places of business (don't make a photoshoot out of your cafe visit). It happens.
• There are a lot of cameramen at the event, but if you feel like someone is being icky or creepy, feel free to report them to a member of staff .
• No costumes that play music.

Rules Regarding Costumes

• The following are considered indecent exposure (and thus not permitted to leave the changing rooms): Not wearing underwear, Short costumes with no undershorts or drawers, Costumes that are just like swimsuits or underwear, Costumes that are just body paint, Swimsuit or bloomer-type shorts that don't have tights underneath.
• These items are also prohibited: Costumes that could hurt other people, costumes with powder, costumes that haven't dried completely, bloody costumes, costumes that emit strong lights or smells.
• No costumes that look like police officers, nurses or doctors, security officers, or other uniforms designated by law. Obviously, cosplays like MGS or Trauma Center are fine, but don't come in with an exact replica of an actual police uniform, and expect to be let outside.

I have seen Silent Hill cosplays before, so I think as long as the blood isn't dripping across the ground everywhere, you're safe.

• Fake weapons (buster swords, staffs, etc) are allowed, but they ask they you stay aware of your surroundings and not flail around.

Rules Regarding Photography

• Always ask for permission from the cosplayer before taking photos.
• Taking photos without some kind of recognition from the cosplayer (via eye contact, etc.) is prohibited and staff may ask to check your photos (to make sure you're not an creeper perv).
• Do not take photos that may cause trouble with traffic. If staff decide that your photoshoot is disrupting traffic, they may ask you to stop.
• Taking low-angle photos are prohibited. If caught taken these kinds of photo, they will check your data and report you to police. Also, the use of any lenses that can peer up skirts will be subject to the same rule (basically, don't be like those creepy train molesters).
• Erotic photos of the chest, etc., even if OK'd by the cosplayer, are prohibited.
• If they think you've broken any of these rules, they can confiscate your electronic devices for a content check. If caught will illegal material, you'll be handed over to the police.
• Please wear the silicon wristband during the festival.

Rules Regarding the Changing Rooms

• It's gonna be pretty busy, so please change as quickly as possible. No exchanging business cards or hanging out in the changing rooms.
• Please change between 10am and 5pm.
•  Any items stolen will be the sole responsibility of the owner. There is a space for placing luggage near the changing rooms, however keep all important items on your person.
• Changing rooms close at 5pm, and at the time of closing, there may be a long line, so please change as soon as possible.
• Please do as instructed by staff.
• After changing, waiting around the changing area is not permitted.
• Not photography is permitted in the area around the changing rooms.

The street will be closed to traffic from 12pm until 3pm. Photography in the streets outside of that time frame is prohibited. Because you could be hit by a car (let's be smart).

It seems like a lot of rules, the event is still pretty laid back. Just be smart about what you wear and what you do, and you should be fine!

Also, this is my third year going and I'm finally cosplaying. So excited!! :D

Questions, Comments or Concers? Just ask below!
I'll get back to you ASAP!

★Peaces★

So a couple weekends ago, I went out to a fashion show put together by the alternative fashion magazine KERA. I've been a fan of KERA for a while now, probably since I feel in love with Harajuku back in '02 when I first visited the place. That's going to be 10 years ago this summer, HOLY crap.. I feel old.. 

*wanders off with a cane*

Anyway, they were working together with the fashion department of a local technical school (think Art Institute). I wish my Art Institute had done some equally as cool.. even though we don't really have alternative fashion mags stateside :x..

KERA caters mostly to VK and Lolita styles, so brands like Angelic Pretty, SEX POT ReVeNGe, Super Lovers, PEACE NOW, Metamorphose, HELLCATPUNKS, and ALGONQUINS, but sometimes you'll see more casual brands pop up like Glad NEWS. Now, I don't own anything from these brands except a HELLCATS bracelet, but I still love looking at the outfits and what's for sale. I'd love to dive back into the more colorful brands like Super Lovers, but I feel kind of silly about it at my age. Especially when I'm usually the oldest person browsing around the shop for stuff. ;w; Plus, these brands are kind of expensive.. D:
So the show was a fashion show of those previously mentioned brands as well as some work from the fashion school. It was all run by the KERA Shop Arena manager AITO who turns out to be something of a net VK idol? She's one of the boy's style bloggers, but she seems to make jumps from girly styles like to Lolita as well. You can check out her blog here.
She also has a live stream on niconico video but I don't have an account for that, so you'll have to pull the link from her blog. :)　She's really nice and accommodating and was the one that ordered my horns for me..! >:D

Most of the pictures are the same as the ones I've already posted because I wasn't getting their early to wait for seats lol So I'm going to bunch them all together and throw them onto the We♥Kansai tumblr, Check them out if you are so inclined :)

And then some video I took of the event:
PART 1: VANTAN's Fashion Show (the tech school)
PART 2: KERA Brands

If you've like more close-up pictures of the outfits worn, they are all posted on KERA Shop Arena Osaka's staff blog..! How lucky..!! I'm probably going to go through them later :3

I'm still working on a Kansai-ben post, but it's really hard to think of words instead of phrases, so please bear with me for a moment longer. Also, if you have some words or phrases you'd like to know, I'd love to help you out if I can :)

Take care!
★Peaces★

Last week, I got a freebie phone-mail from the blogging service DECOLOG. They needed bodies to fill the pit area of the Kansai Collection, and me, working on my professional pit participation career, decided to shoulder up and head on in.

Unfortunately, I forgot about the fine print that says free for the first 2,000. Oh...

Well, we went anyway~


We got there around 12:30pm since Shota wanted to get there early. There was already a crowd in the freebie-line, so we hunkered down against the wall for the wait.
I didn't count on wind-chill turning this into painful endurance test. Also, double-damn for wearing a skirt and hi-sock instead of tights. Bad, bad idea. D:

A lot of other people had blankets, and a few lucky groups were able to grab some warm food from the McDonalds before the line got crazy, and then there was just to wait. Basically until 2:30.... Bad, bad idea.
SO after the excrutiating wait, we went into the foggy (or at least it seemed so) stadium greeted mostly by booths and some energy drink freebies. They knew their crowd~

We got four bottles. :)






This was the area toward the stage. Lot's of lights and probably some music. I can't actually remember if there was any playing. I might have been concentrating on my toes thawing. :P







A booth for circle lenses. The girls had cute little dresses and huge hair. Perfect for grabbing attention :)

I wanted to check out the items, but they had a pretty long line so I couldn't check anything out. Dang :/





Guess who had a short line though?? The cupcake shop!! :D Shota and I got our snacking on~ Two a-piece. ;)

They were.. so-so. Not sweet enough, but that almost goes without saying in Japan when you have as vicious a sweet tooth as I do. >:)




A wig booth..! I think I've seen this brand once or twice in a magazine, but when I think of wigs, I usually think of Priscilla. Is that not the "it" wig brand anymore?? I can't keep up~

This line was pretty long too. It looked like they were trying on wigs in the booth, but I'm not sure since I was probably shoving cupcakes into my mouth~ :D Next time, next time.



The actual show seemed to be combination of live performances, commentary and modeling. The modeling mostly secondary I would think since there wasn't much effort put into the music (like no mixing whatsoever. Just playing tracks one after another, and fading them out after a brand was done).

This photo was actually of an opening act called GEM. A dance troupe I believe since there was no singer. They were cute~

After this opening act, the crowd surged forward, and the OPA Stage began.

And despite the number of people there, it was sooo quiet. You could hear a pin drop is there was space for it. There were little cheers for the more popular models or talents.





That DJ who was running his OPA Stage playlist. I think he was a pretty famous DJ though.→→









As the OPA Stage was winding down, Shota and I headed over to the photo opportunity booth.
I thought there would be more person and less balloon, but the photo is still pretty nice. :)











I don't know what time it was, but we decided to head out (to OPA actually lol) so I snapped this photo on the way.
I thought the crowd was pretty impressive, and I did feel kind of bad for leaving early, but if I decide to go again, I'll definitely buy some tickets so I can see the models and clothes. :)





Fashion Show Post-mortem

The real main even for Sunday, Fig & Viper shopping..!!

I picked up their catalogue when I was out with Yuu a few weeks ago, and pretty much fell in love. They're not helping me add color to my closet, but I just really love their styling. An interesting kind of hyper-urban hipster.

Plus spikes. Just can't get enough ;)



I also picked up one of their asymmetrical skirts. The fabric is lovely and the cut is extremely attractive.

I want to go back and get some tops too..! :) They're stuff goes really well with the stuff I got in the Monkey Bite lucky bag. Summer is gonna be awe~some.


Speaking of Monkey Bite, I picked up this Beatles tee a few weeks back too. :)

At least this has some color..! Right...?







Continuing my obsession with round sunglasses. These have been the most popular pair yet..! Gotta pick up two more for my mum and best friend. I call them 'Janis.'







Mum-dukes also sent out the Revlon Lip Butter I've been hunting for in vain in Japan. An awesome orange shade for more up-beat styles, and a wine red for darker stuff. :)












I forgot to mention food..! Delicious India curry~ I probably go to March Masala way too often..
But it's so good!! :D










Freebie Bag
I think it's seven tenths ads and flyers, but I'm excited about that massage roller. Oh yeah~~ :P
I got an extra bag I don't know what to do with though D: Any body want one? There's no energy drinks though~ Lol

ALSO Maha over at Kansai Gyaru also wrote about the Kansai Collection. Check it out for a more stylish P.O.V.! :)

I really did enjoy the event, but I think standing in the cold for 2 hours kind of ruined my stamina for the day. I may try to go again for the Autumn/Winter collection. Also, I did take some video, but I haven't put the clips together yet. Hopefully I'll get around to that sooner rather than later. When I do upload it, I'll be sure to share it in this post. :)
All that's left now is to wait for spring..!!


☼Loose Ends☼
I actually forgot to post my outfit from that day. Oooops. You can't see the whole darn thing anyway, but hopefully I'll get back into being more photogenic as the weather warms :)


★Peace★

So this past Thursday, I had a meet-up with my Japanese partner in crime Aki~ Our schedules rarely coincide, so our hangouts are pretty far between, but she's still one of my closest and best friends I've made since I moved to Japan.

Anyway, she was heading out to a Simple Plan show in Osaka, and invited me along, and I, never turning down an opportunity to listen to live music, eagerly agreed.

I feel bad for consciously neglecting to tell Shota until the last minute but I really just wanted it to be a ladies day/night type of thing, which Shota absolutely doesn't understand. He put up a little fight, but in the end agreed to remain at home. He still took my outfit photo for me though, for which I was grateful :) (he got his man-night this Saturday though, so we're even :P)


Since I knew we were probably going to end up walking a lot and jumping around, I opted out of any kind of elevated shoe and put on my trusty Dr. Martens. They also wear drink stains and foot prints so well..! :D

I kept it cute with the big, plastic bow. And surprisingly, most of all to me, I received a lot of compliments while we were out. That definitely helped reaffirmed my decision to stick with my street fashion roots :3 (though I still long to be tiny and cute like all the other tiny gurls here~~ lol). A lot of people form the shops like the black Micky and Minnie sweatshirt Lol






We started our day at March Masala, gorging on curry and nan until we felt like we would pass out.

I feel like the guys who run this place will eventually get sick of seeing my face and will one day just turn me away, but until that day.. more for meeee :)

←Aki messing around with my glasses~~ She's totally obsessed with union jack and skull items. She was also my partner in crime when JSG was still around. We both don't know what to do now that it's gone D:


Another awesome thing about Aki, she's as obsessed with karaoke as I am :DDD So after lunch and a little shopping, we tried out the newest karaoke place in Namba, カラオケ館 'karaoke kan' (karaoke building/hall/house. nice and straight to the point ;D).

This is my new number one for karaoke..!! No only is it brand new and completely lacking in the old man smell so rampant in most other karaoke dens, they got crazy-awesome stage lights and a laser box. LASER BOX. And the lights all coordinate with the music and singing. I think Karaoke Rainbow near Dotonbori is supposed to have the same thing, but it didn't work D:

This place was top notch. And relatively cheap at 80yen for 30 minutes, but you have to order an overpriced drink too. But even then, for our hour it was only 1080yen for both of us. Yeah, the drinks are really overpriced. I'm definitely going to try freetime next time I go..!!
The show was at Namba Hatch (excuse the God awful design of that site, the venue is really nice..!), which is located on the other side of the JR Namba station, away from the main streets. You can actually see it from the bridge near Dotonbori street (the opposite of Glico Man), but I thought it was some ice cream cone-shaped stadium. It's actually a radion station and concert venue, which admittedly makes more sense :x

Anyway, this pyramid isn't Namba Hatch. We just thought it looked nice and snapped photos of it. I didn't take any photos of Namba Hatch..!! 'Cuz I'm a dunce~ :/
I didn't bring my camera into the show either DD: But Aki said they weren't allowed, and I was NOT getting my brand new camera taken away. I should've used my smartphone, but of course that bright idea came along after I had already stuffed my things into a locker. Genius.

So I just snapped this photo while we were leaving. See how happy the people were?? It was a pretty good show, for a band I don't listen to. The three glasses of bourbon helped too (but they didn't have any else worth drinking D:). I sang the three songs I remembered from my angsty high school days, and just jumped around to the rest. They also broke out Black Eyed Peas and LMFAO covers in an effort to get the crowd dancing. HAHA that didn't work. The Japanese don't dance. But I did..!!
The band told the crowd, in English, that they were heading over to RockRock after the show for drinking and just hanging. I passed the info on to Aki, who didn't seem to have caught it even though her English level is pretty high. So I told her if she didn't catch it, most of the crowd probably missed it too, so we should head there if she wanted her photo opp. Aki, always eager for a photo opp and bar trips, eagerly agreed.

So we carried out tipsy behinds down the street to Ame-mura and RockRock :)

We had to pay a cover charge of 1000yen, but we did get a drink ticket, so it wasn't so bad a deal. I don't remember what I ordered.. maybe something with gin, while Aki went with a Tequila Sunrise (she ALWAYS has one of those when we go drinking. Strong girl~~). It was already after 10pm when we'd arrived, and it was still pretty empty, but we ordered some french fries and decided to wait until 10:30 before heading home.
We ate our fries as slowly as humanly possibly, complaining about the fatness we were gaining in winter and planning future barbeques for warmer seasons, when both our drinks and fries ran out. I went back for a kaluha and milk, and we checked our watches. By now it was nearing 11pm, and Aki lives out in Nara. But I was sure the band was coming, so I told her to just crash at my place tonight, and if they didn't show, we could just go to karaoke (AGAIN), after the bar. She agreed (karaoke fiend), and was about to order her next drink when Simple Plan and 10 Second Epic (their opening act), walked in, followed by a meager, but boisterous crowd.
I've never seen Aki's face light up as much as it did af that moment. It was adorable..!! :3
So we lined up behind a couple others for some photos. All the members were really gracious about it, though it was obvious that they really wanted to just drink and hang out.
My favorite photo from Simple Plan was this one with the bassist. He was super friendly and approached us while we were just drinking off to the side, giving out kisses, hugs and compliments.

Us married women surely do appreciate the compliments when we can get them..!♥ (husbands really don't do it often enough D:)

Or Maybe he was just really drunk already?? The world may never know~~

We also chatted with a couple members from 10 Second Epic, and they were all just really cool people. This photo I snapped with the bassist (AGAIN. I think I see a trend), who is literally the chill-est band dude I've ever met~

It was a little after 12am, and a couple more drinks later, before we decided to make our exit.

And headed over to karaoke.

We go hard. All day. And night :D
But seriously, after all the excitement and drinking, we were not ready to go home. We had to just go scream it all out.

This time we went to 804 Karaoke, which you can find all along the Ebisubashi and Shinsaibashi shopping streets. They all look really nice on the outside, but the rooms are really dirty and the equipment kind of old and ...janky LOL




But we were too high off of life to care..!! We sang our little hearts out for 2 hours before finally catching a cab back home around 2am. We would've stayed all night if I didn't have to work 11 to 8 the next day DD:

SO!! Here's the break-down  (in yen) of what a night like this will cost you in Osaka. I think this is one of those really important things you should keep in mind, especially if you're trying to be financially responsible and all. And as much fun as it was, I could probably only do this once a month. At the most :/

Maybe some of the ballers out there are like "pfft, pocket change~~" but I think for average young person, buried in student loans, that's a lot of money to just fart around with in just ONE DAY. I just can't ball like that~~ Lol You do just have to let yourself go and have fun sometimes though :D

So I hope this was informative or even a little entertaining to read. I think going to concerts and bars like this are quite unique to Japan, or at the very least, different from D.C., where I did my party-ing. I hope you guys get to try it out sometime..! :)

★Peaces★