Super Junior Super Show 5 in Tokyo Dome (Saturday, July 27, 2013)

On Saturday, July 27th, 2013, I went to Tokyo Dome to enjoy a concert performed by the Korean boy band group called "Super Junior".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Junior 

http://superjunior-jp.net/index.php 

This is a group that was formed in 2005 with initially 13 members.
However, one member has quit the group and another (Ki Bum), even though his name is still listed as a member, is now only acting and not singing with the group at all. Also, currently, three of the members are serving in the military under Korean law. One is the leader (Lee Teuk) of the group, the other (Ye Sung) just joined at the beginning of July and the other (Hee Chul) will be discharged this August and will rejoin the group.

The group was created based on the idea of having each member being able to do other things besides just singing and dancing. Some are models, actors (TV, movies, and on stage), and TV hosts and radio DJs. 

Not only do they sing in Korean, but they have released songs in Chinese and in Japanese as well. To tailor to the Chinese market, they have added two other members (Zhou Min and Henry)  to form a Chinese unit along with some of the members from the main group. This group is called Super Junior M and they have released their own albums as well. Also, there is another group called Super Junior K.R.Y. which is made up of three of the members (Kyu Hyun, Ryeo Wook, Ye Sung) who are very good at singing, especially ballads. Lastly, there is also a duo from this group made up of two members named Dong Hae and Eun Hyuk. The other members are Shin Dong, Sung Min, and Si Won (I really love this guy!!).

Shin Dong, Ryeo Wook (frost blue hari) , Siwon, Dong Hae, and Eun Hyuk in the front and Kang In (silver hair) and Kyu Hyun (peace sign) in the back. (missing Sung Min)

They are popular throughout South East Asia and around the world. This year, they have gone on a world tour and have performed in Europe, North and South America and in South East Asia as well. 

Also, every member of the group have their own Twitter account!! However, not all of them tweet all the time. But some members tweet a few times a day and upload photos or videos!! This was another reason why I wanted to start studying Korean too, along with wanting to understand their songs and interviews.

Well the concert itself was amazing as you can imagine (my personal bias, of course)!! It was supposed to start at 5:30 PM but didn't start until 5:45ish. Plus the concert ended around 9:45ish PM!! But mind you, there were some technical difficulties with the video monitor so there was a bit of a delay. But overall, they were on the stage for most of the time entertaining us!!

All together, they sang about 27 songs, including the encore, plus special videos they've taken, MC talk and dance performances. They sang songs in both Japanese and Korean and they sang 3 Chinese songs!! They sang only three songs from their new Japanese album but that's okay. The singles they've released in Japan were of course sung in Japanese.

Their first "Japanese" album

 As for the videos, one of the videos was a "dance lesson" for the audience so that we could dance along with the members as they sang the next song (song title is "Sunny"). The moves were only for our hands but when we were all doing it, there was a sense of unison and brought the whole Dome and the members of the group together. It was really fun singing and dancing together!! The other videos were short movies of some members and they were all "heroes" or "spies" or "professional assassins". Some were serious, one was just sheer comedy and spoofs, and another a love story but was a bit confusing...  

Members dressed up as super heroes!!

The concert was full of energy and full of laughter and screams of excitement. What was really fun were the girls who sat (stood?) behind us. They knew almost all the lyrics to each song and knew what to say (shout?) in between each lyrics!! For example, after one member sang their part of a song, the girls would shout out his name in the same rhythm. Or, they would repeat the last part of what was just sung. They are die hard fans!! But because of them, my friends and I could sing along and had so much more fun like a "real" fan would. Thanks girls!!

When we entered the Dome, we each got a pen light which we can use to cheer for the group. Their color is a sapphire blue. Every fan lit up this pen light and waved it when the group was singing on stage. Also, during some of the breaks, the fans started to do the wave from one end of the stand to the other making the how Dome look like one big ocean. It was quite beautiful!! This happened at the TVXQ concert too but their color is ruby red so it was a different feeling.  

As for the concert goods they sold, everything was almost completely sold out!! Plus the lines were incredibly long so I just gave up... I ordered a face towel on-line but the tote bag and small pouch I wanted were already sold out... I should have ordered them when they were first released... I hope they will make some more and have some ready for the A-nation event at the end of August or for their concert in November in Osaka!!

The face towel I ordered!!

I hope they will release this concert as a DVD or Blu-ray some time later this year!! But first of all, I shall look forward to seeing them again on Saturday, August 31st along with TVXQ at the A-Nation Festival at Ajinomoto Stadium and hopefully, I get tickets to either their CD release event or their fan club event. Keep your fingers crossed for me!!

Official poster for this tour but this one is for the Seoul concert

Physio 8

So I went for my 8th treatment on Sunday. Due to my physiotherapist's schedule, I went 4 weeks after my last treatment. I should have scheduled one for an earlier date...

This time we focused on my sacrum bone again. This is causing my spine to curve irregularly and as a result, causing my muscles to stretch, tighten and restrict my movements.

You can see the vertebrae near the middle are not overlapping

This is what my spine looks like from the side and from above. Curved more than it should be. So, I don't like sleeping on my back for too long and I tend to favor sleeping on my right side.

Pretty freaky, eh?

My left bone of the sacrum is titled forward and the right is in its normal position. This makes the base of my spine jut out and to balance that, the rest of my spine curves and pulls the muscles out of place to maintain this hyper extended spine. As my spine hyper extends, the joints no longer overlap so movement becomes restricted. That is why I can't curl my spine so that I can get into a curled ball position.

As my spine is stretched out, the muscles supporting are also stretched out. But the muscles layering on top of it show a different story. As you may know, the body has a layer of muscles. In my case, the inner most layer along the spine is all stretched out. But the next layer of muscles above it on the right near the top and base of the spine are tight. Whereas the ones on the left are loose. The center muscles on the right are loose and the ones on the left are tight. So, my left shoulder blade moves more than my right and my left side has a bit more mobility than my right side. My left shoulder is at a normal height but my right shoulder is pulled upward.

So not only are the muscles on my back not in their right positions, but as a result, my muscles in my neck and the ones attached to my skull are being pulled. I mentioned this in my previous entry (Physio 7) but I didn't have a photo so here it is. The muscles on the right side in particular are pulled tight so the left side of my neck bones are compressed and my the right side of my skull is a bit shifted (apparently, my laugh line on my right is higher than the left...). 

So if my muscles are tight and pulling upwards, obviously the muscles connected to my rib cage are also pulled tight and upwards. So, my rib cage is in a higher position than normal so my lungs can't expand as largely as they should be able to and because I depend on my lungs so much I don't know how to use my diaphragm when breathing... As a result, I have an enlarged and cramped upper body cavity with a shorter neck and hunched shoulders...

To think this all started with the problem in my sacrum bone...
This isn't going to get better over night or in just two treatments. For the next half year, we plan to work on these areas and work on the arms at the same time. We'll get to the legs maybe later in the year!!

First half of 2013

I can't believe the half of 2013 is over...
Time sure does fly!!

So what have I done in the past 6 months?

Well, January, not much but I did start studying Korean officially with a language partner and I started to go to physiotherapy. I also started to cook more.

February, the same and didn't catch a cold!! I went to Gong Yoo's TV drama fan event!! I was really happy to see him on stage again. Plus my seat was really close to the stage!! I didn't need to use any opera glasses. I also went to my first Super Junior KRY concert!! This was really exciting for me!!!! Our seats were dead center and we were in the 10th row from the front!! No need for opera glasses at all!!

March, the same ol' same and I went back to Kansai to attend my Aunt's 3rd Memorial Service. I got to see my "nephew" for the first time though!! He is so adorable!! I also watched a Kabuki performance. I was also able to meet up with some friends whom I haven't see for about 20 years!!

April, the same but I did go to the 2PM concert at Tokyo Dome with a friend. Actually, she got some free tickets for us from her company. Lucky!! It was a very fun concert!! Also, I went to Disney Sea with good friends and to celebrate one of their birthdays. This was another very fun day!!

May, my friend from Canada came and together we went to visit her hometown in Aomori prefecture. We also spent a day in Akita prefecture and then moved to Aomori by train. This was my first trip to Northern Japan so it was a very exciting trip for me. I was just surprised by how cold it was still when compared to Tokyo. I should be used to it since I'm from Vancouver in Canada...  I also another friend from Canada who is now living in Singapore. Plus, I went on a yakatabune dinner with some good friends. Also, I started to add enzymes to my daily diet.

June,  I went to the Tohoshinki concert at Tokyo Dome. It was amazing!! Now I know what fans want to go to more than just one concert during the concert tour. I can't wait to go to the next one in August!! I also got to go to the Arashi event called "Exciting School" at Tokyo Dome. I didn't think I would be able to go this year so I was surprised and happy about going. This was fun too!!

So I did do a lot so far... I have definitely been having fun!!
Of course, I went out to eat a lot and spent some very good times with very good friends too.
Not much shopping for clothes though... I went to Uniqlo a few times this year but only shopped there twice so far!!
But I have been buying used magazines and DVDs at Book Off. Oh, I did buy a Kindle from Amazon in May so I haven't been buying any novels at the book store since then!!
Another "big" purchase was a new digital camera that was on sale...
Other than that, I've been spending a lot on concert tickets and CDs...

One other good news I have for the first half of this year is that I'm physically doing much better now because of the physiotherapy treatments and because I've started to take more enzymes into my daily diet. In other words, my body feels lighter and I've gone down in size!! So, I plan to continue with these two for sure in the second half of 2013. Also, try to cook more...
My understanding of the Korean language has increased considerably but I'm still a beginner. I hope to take the level 5 (lowest level) proficiency test in November... Well, let's see about that...

Now, the second half of 2013 has started and I have quite a few concerts to attend. Other than that, no big plans. My goal? Basically, stay healthy, study hard, and have tonnes of fun!!

I shall keep you posted!!