大失敗

"Daishippai" translated means "Big Failure", and that's what today was. Long story short, I missed the whole reason why I came to Osaka. The money for the shinkansen, the hotel room, all of it has come to naught.

失敗第一 First Failure: Golden Week
I knew that Golden Week was serious business for the Japanese, but I made two mistakes. The first is that Japan's population is the tenth largest in the world; even if half of the nation had decided not to travel, there would still be a lot of people milling about. The second thing is that there are two popuation centers in Japan, one of which is the Kyoto-Osaka-Kobe area (the other being the Tokyo Capital Area). There are simply so many people everywhere you look. They crowd the trains, fill up the sidewalks, and are just unescapable. When I got lost and began to rush, there were times when I simply could not move faster because there was simply no space.

失敗第二 Second Failure: Double Checking
First of all, I should have checked the area surrounding the event location for cd sellers where I could have reserved my cd. There was a Tsutaya a block away, and I should have reserved my cd there. In Saijo, we normally go there for the used products, so I didnt think about it. A quick look at their website would have set me straight. The store I did reserve at, Tower Records, has two stores near each other, and that's what threw me off. When I checked Google Maps, it didnt mention that there were two stores, so when I passed by one yesterday, I assumed that it was the one I wanted. It wasnt, so I wasted time going to that store, and because I didnt plan on going to the other store, I got lost heading there. Furthermore, when trying to head to the event location, I got lost again, so I ended up being an hour and a half late.

失敗第三 Third Failure: Picking this Event
Today's fan meet event for MBLAQ's Japanese debut is one of five events. It is the first, being held on the day their album became available for sale. For these reasons, I shouldnt have picked this event. Tower Records, where I reserved my album, opened at 11:00 AM; the 受付 ended at 11:30 AM. Even if I hadnt gotten lost and all, I would have had only half an hour to go to Tower Records, pick up and buy the cd, and then get to the place. That thirty minutes made little space for error, which (LOL) happened. While Sapporo and Tokyo are far away and would have cost more money (transportation and lodging), Fukuoka is not as far away. And while I would have sacrificed a Monday and/or Tuesday, I wouldnt have been in such a rush. I would have made the ハイタッチ会 and maybe even the 超限定ライブ.

After being turned away, I am a bit proud to admit that I didnt lose my shit in the middle of the street. I did hang out a bit, just to watch what kinds of people would show up. Because there were only three ladies ahead of me at the (wrong) Tower Records and the fact that it was the day the album was released, I was really surprised to see how many people had shown up. There were people all over the street, and it was a very long street. Another thing that surprised me was the age of the people. I'd say the majority of people were in their late teens or twenties, which is pretty normal, I think. But there were a few girls who were definitely in middle school, and accompanied by their mothers. But I was amazed that there were a few older women too. Not grandmas, to be sure, but I'd put their age at late fifties or sixties. Definitely the kind that are known to watch KDramas. However, no matter their age, they all acted the same. The sighing, the laughing, the "Ohmygod they're so amazing!1!11!". Maybe it's just as well that I didnt get in. I would have been so conspicuous and nervous.

I thought about waiting for the whole thing to finish, and then maybe seeing if I could watch them walk out the building. But my legs were tired (I literally ran today), and I was feeling shitty, so I decided to leave. While lost, I had walked by 大丸 Daimaru, which is a department store, as well as the ポケモンセンター Pokemon Center. I headed in that direction. For a bit, I got pulled off track by a game center, and I played some games, but eventually, I made it to the 大丸ビル.

Like I mentioned above, there are so many people here in Osaka, and the area I was walking through is a major shopping and transit center, so it took me a while. To get to the Poke Center, I had to head up to the thirteenth floor, which is no small feat. The elevator would have been packed and stop on every floor, but the escalator was not that much better. It too was full of people, and took forever and a day. But I finally made it to the Poke Center. Predictably, the majority of people there were either children or with children, so it felt a little strange to be by myself and looking at things. Since I dont have any of the Pokemon games with me, I didnt stop to watch people aquire special, new pokemon, and I also ignored the kiddy games where you could win Pokemon prizes. A friend of mine asked me to buy him some things if I happened to stop there, so I started looking for his stuff. I picked out two file folders, which I think he'll use. But also for sale were a multitude of things. There were pencils and pens, scissors and erasers, and bento boxes and much more. There were shirts too, but they looked the size of a child, so I didnt look too hard. There was also candy and other snacks imprinted with Pokemon characters. I did look through the Pokemon Card section, but they were all the new cards, which I have no interest in. After taking about ten minutes to wait through line, I made it out of there.

Tomorrow is Boy's Day, so even though it'll be late, I wanted to buy something for my nephews. I suppose that's one good thing for having three nephews; it's easy to find their Boy's Day gifts. 東急ハンズ Tokyu Hands, a department store I like, took up the three floors beneath the Poke Center, so I checked it out next. Predictably, there were quite an assortment of things on sale. I particularly enjoyed looking through the cookware section. In the housewares section, there was an apron you use when hanging out clothes. I really wanted to buy it, because it looks somewhat useful. It works like a kangaroo pouch: the front part has a pocket in which to place clothes in, to hold while to hang it out. 結局、買わんかったけど。 I'll think about it, and maybe I'll go back for it. But it's doubtful, because I imagine that it'll be very crowded in there. I dont do well with crowds.

簡単というと、今日は大失敗だったのよ。 The whole reason why I decided to come to Osaka during Golden Week was to go to MBLAQ's Japan debut and I completely missed it. Thankfully I didnt start crying in the streets, but I am bummed that せっかく大阪来たのに会えんかったんじゃ。 But there is a small part of me that hopes that this isnt the end. They're going to open their Japanese fan club soon, and I plan on joining it. Secondly, I've bought their last two albums, and isnt that the best thing a fan can do, support the artist? I heard that their album debuted at number two on the Oricon chart, so maybe if their sales are good and fan club support strong, maybe they'll come back to Japan. They already made another fan meet even in Shibuya 突発的に, so it's not impossible. Hey, I can hope, cant I?

In any case, this day is over, and I should start planning what I'm going to do tomorrow. I'm thinking of heading into the Denden Town, which my friend said is kinda like Akiba. If not, I want to go to Kyoto again, for some things I missed the last time. In any case, I must make the next few days worthwhile, if only to offset my failure today. この休みを失敗しないように頑張るよ！！