Physio 13

I had my 13th treatment on Friday, November 22nd.

The last one was in October and it was about four weeks ago...
Yes, as you can imagine, it was painful, again!!

But it was because I was so stiff, bloated and cold...

What she worked on this time was realigning my hip again. Ithough I had regained some weight but actually, I was bloated and my hip was out of place again... How sad...

But my therapist says, "Kahori, remember, before this was normal for you. Now you can tell the difference and how stressful it is."
So true!! I can't imagine going back to a body like that!!!!

I want a healthy and active body!!!

My next treatment is on November 8th.
Hopefully it won't  be so painful...
Right... What am I saying?!
It's always painful!! Lol!!!

Big Bang 6 Dome Concert Tour 2013 - 2014

On Saturday, November 16th, 2013, I went to Seibu Dome to watch the K-pop group called Big Bang perform. It was the kick off gig of their "6 Dome Tour 2013 - 2014".

Big Bang was the first real K-pop group that I started to really like. Of course I love TVXQ, but I only knew their Japanese songs to start off with. But with Big Bang, I only knew one Japanese song called "Let me hear your voice" and the rest were all Korean or English.

I have almost all of their albums except for their solo albums. I hope to start collecting those too!!

What do I love about this group?

Well, first of all, their voices. All 5 members sing and they all have distinct voices that all harmonize beautifully when they sing together. But even alone, they are very charismatic and powerful.
Second of all, their dancing. It is very cool, stylish, and very professional. Their energy level is very high and powerful.
Third of all, their fashion sense. It is very distinct, eye catching, stylish and hip, and original.
Lastly, their professionalism. They like to have fun and fool around on stage but only during their MC time. Other than that, everything is very stylish, professional and very entertaining. There is no room for mistakes!! Their professionalism is what makes their stage performance so fun, powerful and entertaining.

Another factor that I like about them is that their English pronunciation is perfect and their English lyrics are all grammatically correct like a native speaker. That's why they are so popular in English speaking countries as well. Their Japanese is perfect too in their songs. Two of the members, V.I. and D-Lite can speak Japanese fluently now too and they don't use interpreters any more when they are on Japanese TV shows. Amazing!!

from front left = V.I., Top, G-Dragon, Sol, D-Lite

My two faves, V.I. and G-Dragon

The next concert will be in Osaka from November 29th to December 1st. 

After that, in Fukuoka on December 7th and 8th.

Next, in Nagoya on December 14th and 15th.

Then, in Tokyo on December 19th, 20th, and 21st. (I'll be going on the 20th!!)

Next year in January, they go to Sapporo for a day on January 4th.

Finally, they go back to Osaka on January 11th, 12th and 13th for the final leg of the tour. 

I'm so glad I got tickets to two performances!! 

But I'm no longer a member of their fan club so I don't think I'll ever be going to their concert again, at least not in Japan... Unless I try for the regular sales through the ticket agencies or get tickets through another fan. That's okay though. I really love their music but it's not as though I want to "see" them. I'm very happy with just "listening" to them!! So, I'll be buying their albums and their DVD's instead. 

Proficiency Test Level 5

On Sunday, November 10th, 2013, I took the Level 5 Hangul Proficiency Test.

This test is set up by the Hangul Association of Japan and is like the Eiken Test in Japan.
It's a test for people living in Japan to take to evaluate their proficiency in the Korean language but it's only recognized in Japan. It consists of two parts. The first is the written part (multiple choice) and the second is the listening part (multiple choice).

Basically, the test is held in Japanese and the instructions and questions are all in Japanese for most of the levels.

There is another test called the Korean Language Proficiency Test and is recognized by the Korean government and it's needed to enter schools in Korea. This one is recognized internationally.

As I have written before, I had only started studying Korean since January this year and mostly on my own. I have a language exchange partner but we don't meet that regularly nor do I speak to her in Korean at all. Well, that's because I don't have any confidence in my ability yet...

I think my reading and writing skills have improved and I can understand the basic and simple phrases now. But my vocabulary level is still quite low... I guess this is due to the fact that I don't speak it at all and the only output I have is my diary and some sentence writing...

This year, my New Year's Resolution was to start studying Korean and I have succeeded with that. 
Plus I tried the proficiency test, regardless of the result. This was definitely a huge challenge for me and quite reckless... But I did what I had set out to do!! 

Next year, I shall try to go over to Korea at least once and try to use the language!!
I shall try to speak more with my language exchange partner.
I am listening to a lot of Korean, such as phrases, stories and songs, but I don't look at the words at the same time. So, from now on, I shall listen and follow the words with my eyes as well. This way my vocabulary level should increase as well. I hope...

I am determined to improve my proficiency level so that I can have short conversations with the local people and get by on my own when I go visit Korea (for shopping and ordering at restaurants).
I also want to be able to understand the interviews of my favorite stars when they are on Korean TV shows or when their articles are printed in some Korean magazines.
And of course, to be able to understand the K-pop songs when I listen to them. I also want to be able to understand what they are saying on stage during their MC when I go to the concerts or fan club events.

Another huge dream would be to be able to be one of the volunteers at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics as an interpreter!!
I'd be able to speak English, Japanese, and Korean!! I guess I should brush up on my French too... Hmm...

Well, I'll get my result sometime in December.
I'll write about that when I get my result!!

Until then, annyonhaseyo!!

Belated birthday party with friends

On November 4th, a few of my friends got together to enjoy an Autumn Feast. 

My friend loves to cook so she always goes to several different cooking classes and learns how to cook several kind of dishes from around the world. 

This time, it was a mix of European, Japanese, and Chinese.

Sparkling white wine to start off with.

Tossed green salad with a plate of h'orderves. 

We started with a bottle of sparkling white wine and a plate of h'orderves. Pears with blue cheese, fig with cream cheese and prosciutto, cheese sandwiched between a fruit jelly, a samosa, and edible ground cherry (Chinese lantern plant or hozuki, in Japanese).

Next came the Japanese rice dishes.

These are "must" dishes every year. We always look forward to eating them every year!! We usually race to see who can get a second helping of which. Lol!! 

Sanma fish with ginger and thin leeks.

Chestnut rice.

After that, the two main dishes with two other side dishes.

Stir fried cilantro stems with garlic and cilantro leaves with thinly sliced tofu.

Pork with Chinese herb (sorry, forgot the name...)

Chicken with a Chinese vegetable which name I've forgotten...

All the dishes were so yummy and more of a Cantonese taste than a Northern or Szehuan spicy taste.

I much prefer the Cantonese taste so my friend catered to my taste since it was my birthday party. Yeah!!

Then came dessert!!!! 

Yes, it was a belated birthday party for me too and the left is the cake which one of my friends got. The other is the apple pie my friend baked plus a Chinese almond pudding. Dessert was definitely the icing on the cake for the evening!! 

Baumkuchen cake with pumpkin custard, home baked sour apple pie and  homemade almond pudding.

It was an amazing dinner as always and we were all so stuffed!! 

Can't wait for the next dinner party!! 

Events, events, and more events Part 3

On Saturday, October 26th, I went to Tokyo Dome to enjoy the SMTOWN Concert. 

SMTOWN is the entertainment company which TVXQ and Super Junior are members of. 

This is a concert where all the singers who belong to this company come together to perform. 

Each singer or group sang about 2 to 5 songs of their own and then there were collaboration songs. 

The concert itself was about 4 hours long too!! Amazing!! 

However, not all of the singers are so well known in Japan yet so those singers only sang a few songs.

Whereas such groups as TVXQ, Super Junior, or Girl's Generation sang more than 5 songs for the audience. Plus they have songs in Japanese too so they mostly sang those instead of their Korean songs. 

Other popular groups are SHINee  and f(x). 

Another hot and upcoming group is EXO.

It was a very fun concert and it was great to see all of them.
I usually only go to watch TVXQ and Super Junior so it was great to be able to see the other singers and to hear them live. 

Fortunately, I'll have the chance this December 24th to go see SHINee perform but I hope I can go see f(x) 

and EXO perform live some day too!! 

I guess I should be lucky that there are so many groups that I like from this one entertainment company.
But at the same time, I've lost count of how much I've spent for this company too!! Lol!!

Physio 12

Had my physiotherapy treatment for the second time in October.
I had a long blank last time so I decided to go for a treatment twice in October.
I'm glad I did actually.

The latter half of October was a very busy month for me so my body was physically quite stressed out.
I went to Amagasaki, my Mother's hometown in Hyogo prefecture to attend my Grandmother's 3rd memorial service. I also wanted to see my cousin Keiko's new baby boy named Hayato (8 months old). I was there for 4 days and for all 4 days my "nephew" was all over me!! Plus I carried him around a lot too!! Heavenly baby bliss for me and a break for my cousin and her husband from taking care of the baby (lol)!!
On top of that, I worked as soon as I came back and attended three events, one of them being a 4 and a half  hour concert!!

As you can imagine, my body was very tired...
It showed too, especially in my legs!!

So, my therapist focused on my legs and did I ever scream!! It was so painful!!
Circulation in both my legs were so poor so it caused a lot of bloating... There are some special socks out on the market I can wear at night called "medicute". It is pair of open toed socks that applies just enough pressure on the legs to help circulation flow properly. I wear them almost every night when I go to bed to prevent bloating. You can also find pairs that separate all your toes and spreads them out widely to help your feet stretch.
http://drscholl.jp/hosiery/mediqtto/products/index.html#relaxAnc

Luckily, my chest area isn't as stiff as it used to be but my shoulders are still very much stiff... Of course, better than before, but far from normal...

So basically, legs and neck and skull this time with a little bit of the chest area.

I screamed my head off when she worked on my legs, as you can imagine. 
She focused on my calves especially. You have no idea how painful this can be!! Then of course, she worked her way up to my thighs... 
I swear, I was twisting and squirming on the massage therapy bed and she literally "pinned me down" to do her work. Yikes!! It was a battle of screaming fits and laughing fits. Yes, it's so painfully absurd that all you can do is laugh after a while... If you've ever seen an eel being pegged down and ready to be gutted, that's how I looked like!! 

After that bout, she gave me a breather and then let me relax a bit by working on my upper chest and arms. Like I said before, these parts aren't as painful as before.

Now that I've calmed down and not in much pain, she started to work on the base of the neck and the skull. Apparently, the muscles on the right side of my neck are so tight that it's pulling my either face backward so the right side of my face is higher than the left... That's why it's easier to raise my right eyebrow more than my left. Lol!!

As she worked on my neck and skull, I was finally able to completely calm down and fall asleep for a bit. This is the best time during my treatment!!

I've come a long way and my body condition has improved considerably over the months. I plan to continue to get these treatments once every 3 weeks or so. 
I have gone down in size for clothing a lot this year and I hope next year I'll be able to have a body that will metabolize food, fat, and calories better.

Events, events, and more events Part 2

So on October 24th and 24th, I attended my favorite Korean actor, Gong Yoo's fan club event at the Tokyo International Forum. 

The last time he held such an event was 2 years ago and it was held at the Budokan. He had come to Japan this Spring to promote his last TV drama series but that was a joint event with all the cast members. Of course I went to this event too and it was fun but it wasn't "just HIM". But this time it was "JUST HIM"!! Lol!! So, all the fans were very happy to see him!!

In Japan, the fans are not allowed to take photos or short videos of any events or concerts. We can often see such photos on the web taken by fans in other countries and I was always amazed about that, as well as being a bit jealous. But this time, there was a short photo session at this fan club event. This has never happened before at any of his past events so all the fans were very ecstatic!! 

This is a photo I took with my mobile phone but not very good quality. I have better photos in my digital camera but haven't gotten around to downloading them into my PC...

This was the stage and the title of this fan club event.

The image of the event was a night club that has entertainment, drinks, and a casino. 

Gong Yoo is the owner of this night club and there to serve his guests (fans). 

First of all, he mixed a special mocktail for some fans. His fan club image color is blue so he tried to make one that had a blue hue. However, because he mixed the blue liqueur with some citrus drinks it ended up being a green color instead!! Lol!! He had mixed 7 drinks and one was for the emcee, one was for himself, and the 5 other were for the lucky fans who were chosen to go up onto the stage and play a card game with him. The way he chose them was really great too!! They had a box full of our mobile phone numbers and he chose 5 randomly and called them. If we were in the event hall at that time and we were the one to receive the phone call, we could go up onto the stage to join him. After the lucky 5 were chosen, they played a card game and if they won against Gong Yoo, they got a special prize. One of the prizes they could win was a kiss on the hand, being carried like a princess, or running towards each other and embracing each other. The other options were a photo take with him (this is good!!) or getting a gift from him or having your ticket refunded in full by him personally out of his own wallet. Hmm.... 

Another game he had readied was a roulette. It was divided into 8 sections and labeled A to H. I was in section C. Depending on which section the roulette stopped, that section would receive a special photo postcard with his signature and the date of the event. Amazingly, my section was chosen on the day of my birthday!! How wonderful can that be?!?!?! Then our section had the right to play a "rock, paper and scissors" game with him and if we won, we could get some of the items he had personally chosen for us. Unfortunately, the entire section I was in lost against him so he spun the roulette again. But luckily we were able to keep the photo postcards, thank goodness!! 

My birthday present!! 

Then there was an intermission of a bit and when he came back out, there was a Q & A session. He was asked several questions and one of them was about the kitten he had recently started to take care of. It is a white, long haired Scottish Fold and her name is "Kon Kon". She is so adorable!! He has another kitten too but he said he'll show us photos the next time he has a fan club event. 

The other question he was asked was about his latest movie. It is due to be released in theaters in Korea in December this year. He plays the role of a North Korean spy who is framed for the assassination of one of the political figures in South Korea. He flees in order to clear his name. There is a lot of action and acting with his eyes alone since he has so few lines. He worked very hard to beef up and he had an amazingly shaped body when he was filming this movie. He did most of his own stunts too!! We don't know when the movie will be released in Japan but when it is, I'll definitely be going to watch it!! 

http://news.kstyle.com/article.ksn?articleNo=1981464&categoryCode=PU

Finally, there was a singing section where he sang a couple of his favorite songs. He isn't an awesome singer but he really enjoys singing so it's nice to hear him sing. He sang songs from his first mini album, his latest TV drama series and for his encore, the song from his first movie he shot right after being discharged from his military service. On the second day, the fans went crazy and none of us would leave and demanded (lol) a second encore. He really didn't expect it so he and the staff didn't have anything prepared!! But we didn't care. All we wanted was to see him on stage again. So, he sang the encore song again for us and we all sang along. 

Both nights were fun but the last night was the best!!

I hope he'll have another fan club event next year!! 

Until then, I shall just have to be happy with the desk calendar I got and the DVDs of him that I have.

Photos from the first day. My seat is directly behind him in the 15th row... 

Flowers his fans got him

Dinner with good friends

Went to the Korean restaurant called "Seoul House" in Shin Ookubo.
It's one of my favorite haunts in that area.

I went with 3 other coworkers and for one of them, it was her first time to eat Korean food!!

Boiled salted pork called possam, and seafood pajyon

Squid and veggie spicy stir fry and toppogi with cheese

Chapche noodles

Hot pot with octopus, beef, veggies and noodles

Yogurt smoothies, sundae, and cake set

As you can see, we ate a lot for just 4 girls... By the end of the meal we were so stuffed that we couldn't move and we could hardly speak... All we did for a while was just watch the TV that was showing a Korean variety show. 

But believe me, we were so satisfied and blissfully happy!! 

We had an outing last month too but only 3 of us could make it.

We hope to have another one and hopefully more can attend. The more people there are, the more variety of dishes we can order!! 

Events, events, and more events!! Part 1

I can't believe it's already November!!
Time sure does fly!!

So an update of the several K-pop events I've been too.

First of all, this summer I went to two Super Junior events.
The first was to their CD album release event on Friday, August 30th. 
I had bought their CD album called "Hero" and inside was a serial number I can send in to see if I can win a chance to attend a special event to celebrate the release of their first Japanese CD album. I tried before to go to such an event when they released a CD single but didn't win a ticket. BUT THIS TIME I DID!!!! I got to go to a very limited event for free!! Well, I did buy the CD album so I guess it's not technically free...

The event was held at Makuhari Messe Event Hall. Quite a bother to get to since it's far from city center... Plus we don't know where our seats are until we get there. All seat tickets are issued just before the event starts (well, 2 to 3 hours before). So, I was praying all the way there that I'll have a decent seat. My seat was on the first floor (not in the arena but in the stands) to the right of the stage. I was close enough that I didn't need my opera glasses (but used them to get good close up looks at them though!!). Plus the monitor screen was next to me so I could see it clearly too.

As for the event itself, it was about an hour and a half long and it was a mix of talk, games, and singing. They talked about the album and which songs they liked in particular. They also talked about what they have been doing recently and used a Japanese phrase book to say funny things in Japanese. The game they played was a drawing game and they had to draw each other. Some of them drew terrible yet hilarious pictures while two of them drew very good ones. Then the pictures where autographed and seat numbers were drawn so that fans can get the pictures as memorabilia of this event. Finally, they sang three songs from their new CD album and blew kisses to the audience as they left the stage.

I had a great time watching and listening to them!!

The second was the Super Junior fan club meeting at Saitama Super Arena held on Friday, September 27th. It was called 「さわGO!はしゃGO!盛り上がりまSHOW!」(Let's party, let's go crazy, let's hype it up show!). Here, the member that had been serving in the military and was discharged this summer, joined in. We fans were so excited and thrilled to finally see him on stage again!! At this event, the members played games, spent some time to answer questions and sing some songs as well. There were many hard core fans who had dressed up in costumes as well as the same outfits as the Super Junior members from several different music videos. Just watching the fans was fun too!!

Again, for this event, we didn't know where our seats would be  until the day of. I was praying this day too all the way to the venue that I'll get a good seat. Luckily, I did get a good seat again!! I didn't use my opera glasses this time too!! Plus the secondary stage was right in front of me and I was sitting dead center for this stage. I got to see my favorite members so up close I thought I would faint!! Yes, I was drooling!! Lol!!

As for the games they played, the members divided up into two groups, Red team and Blue team, and competed against each other in several games. What was really funny at the beginning is that BLUE is Super Junior's image color and RED is TVXQ's image color. So obviously, even though TVXQ is their senior and very good friends, they didn't want to be on the RED team. Lol!! But they divided up nicely and had fun competing against each other.

First they had a ball tossing game where they would toss plastic balls into the audience and the fans had to toss it into baskets. The team with the most balls won.
The second game was a popular video arcade game called "Taiko no Tatsujin". Basically, it's a game where you have to hit the Japanese taiko drum in rhythm to a song. It's a very fun game and depending on the song, the difficulty level differs. Of course, they chose the more difficult songs to make it more interesting and of course funnier for the audience.
Lastly, they had an obstacle relay race. Now this was hilarious!! Some members are very athletic but others are only "somewhat" athletic. Even though they are a singing dance group, it doesn't mean they are good at physical activities. Some members had a terrible time with all the things they had to do. For example, they had to toss a small basketball into a basket, skip rope to the next person, or carry a ping pong ball on a spoon and run to the next person. All the fans cheered them on and were laughing so hard. Of course, me included!!
In the end, the BLUE team won and each member recorded their voices into a stuffed toy animal and these were given away to some lucky chosen fans. The RED team autographed some T-shirts and these also were given away to fans chose seat numbers were chosen. Lucky them!!

I didn't have a chance to go to their fan club meeting last year which was held in Yokohama but I did buy the DVD version and unfortunately it wasn't so interesting to me. So, honestly speaking I was worried about this one. But surprisingly, this was a very fun event and I'm glad I went. I regret not going to both days now. I had won a ticket to both but chose only to go to one... Bad choice!! Never again will I make the same mistake. Actually, I had applied for the TVXQ fan club meeting which will be held in November and I only got a ticket for the first day in the first lottery draw. But luckily, there was a second draw and I got a ticket for the second day too!! Yeah~!! Yes, I will be going to both for sure!!

So that was August and September for Super Junior.
As for October, I had three events to go to. Well, technically speaking, two, since two out of the three were fan club meetings for one Korean actor I love. 
Like I said earlier, "never making the same mistake again of not going to all the fan club meetings"!!

Anyways, let me write about October in another entry.
Stay tuned, please!!