191. muzic fourteen

13 shows, 4 music festivals, 37 bands, that's 2014 in music for me.

This year was way more eventful for me because I didn't only stick to going to mostly lynch. shows, like in 2013. Also, because of the new people in my life I've been more open-minded about music once again which makes me happy. I haven't been looking for new bands to listen to in a long time because I was so satisfied with just 2 bands in my life. I wouldn't even be writing this entry if I didn't feel like it was an awesome year with music. Here's my top (personal) list of  bands I really loved this year.

5. Arctic Monkeys at Summersonic Tokyo

I've never really been a big fan of Arctic Monkeys, I stopped listening to them after Favourite Worst Nightmare. Little sis is the one who has always been in love with them but she even agreed that Humbug and Suck It and See were bad albums. Their 2013 release, AM saved them for me. It's not as good as their first two albums but I can listen to AM on repeat for nights. It's the kind of record you want to just chill out to late at night.

Their set at Summersonic was really long, I think it was over an hour and they played my favourites like - Knee Socks, Old Yellow Bricks and 505. I screamed when they played 505. Alex Turner has the smoothest voice I have ever had live and never missed a note, of course, they are not like my typical hardcore/heavy bands with lots of energy on stage or moshing but I enjoyed their set so much, singing along to most songs and just getting lost in music. If I can say that, they're that good. Plus, I was actually eating chicken rice watching them, lol. Eating my favorite thing ever and watching a band? Yes Please.

4. A Fire Inside at The Epsy, Melbourne

AFI has been my favorite band since I was sixteen and nothing can change that. The day I saw them for the first time in 2010, they blew my mind like no other band has ever had. With their release of Burials in 2013, I was excited to see them again after 4 long years. Their show at The Epsy was a good one, to be honest it was not as good as the first time I saw them but them opening to The Leaving Song Part II really did brought me back in time and I felt really nostalgic seeing them play. Their set at Soundwave in Melbourne was good but Davey had vocal problems that day and some of the songs were out of tune (I actually recorded it, lol.) I think it was just one of those off days for him.

3. Crossfaith at Summersonic/Across The Future at Club Citta

I am cringing a little writing this band's name down. Until this day, they have failed to make me fall in love with their music but they were successful enough to make me fall in love with watching them live. The first time I ever saw them was at (also) Summersonic in 2013. I wasn't a fan of them either was just in the crowd for such a stupid reason.

But... seeing them play at Summersonic with songs like Countdown To Hell and The Evolution (the only song I like from them), bought me over. Wall of Death, circle pits? Yes please. Even little sis till also this day, have no interest in them agreed with me that they are really good live and we could actually see why they're becoming bigger internationally. 

I got invited to their Across The Future (Tour Final) at Club Citta in Kawasaki later on, a month later. The lighting for this show was seriously impressive, the band was even better. I didn't know any songs but enjoyed their set... also maybe because I enjoyed staring at the bassist a little too much, haha.

2. Crystal Lake at Daikanyama UNIT (CUBES Tour Final)

This band unlike the last one has been very successful in making me go head over heels for their music and even more so for their live shows. If I wasn't biased at all, this show would have been my #1. Ironically, the reason why I started listening to Crystal Lake was because someone from the band above told me to listen to Beloved. Instantly fell in love.

This show though, it was insanity. I have never seen a crowd that wild for any band in such a long time. Everything about this show was A+, the band, the fans, the venue. Everything. Circle pit, mosh pit, crowd surfing, mic snatching, 2 step, stage dives, everything. As soon as they opened, everyone went crazy. I still have goosebumps thinking about how fucking good this show was. I didn't even know most songs and my mind was blown. It's not even AFI blown anymore, it's mind blown 2.0.

My love for this band has been growing rapidly and they are my second favorite band right now. I guess one of the reasons why I have fallen in love with Crystal Lake is because they kind of bring me back to the person I once was. Going to underground shows, in that scene. I used to be at a lot of shows like theirs (not the live performance but that scene) back when I was younger in Melbourne and Singapore but stopped ever since I was with my first boyfriend (he's too indie) and loving lynch. I still love lynch. so much and they are still my favorite band. But it's refreshing to go back to my roots (kinda) but in a new place where it's become my second home that I love so much. I will definitely be going to see this band a lot in 2015, I promise myself this.

1. lynch. at Shibuya AX ( TO THE GALLOWS -absolute xanadu-)

This was my actual view, lol.

Who else did you expect? Well, out of the 6 times this year I have seen this band, this one was the best one emotionally and live for me. TO THE GALLOWS #2 -SHOUT AT THE DEVIL- in Osaka comes at a close second, followed by The 10th BIRTHDAY.

lynch. never fails to make me happy. There's just something about their music that I connect with emotionally, they hit all the right spots for me musically, live, so many things. Also for this show, I was so excited to see them play their latest album GALLOWS. It's so much heavier than their previous stuff when it was already heavy to begin with. This setlist was the best for me, all my absolute favorites which they play sometimes and some not at all. Like EXODUS, GUILLOTINE, ENVY, an illusion and THIS COMA. 

Also after not seeing them for 4 months and coming back to see them play an illusion and THIS COMA made me all teary eyed because those are my absolute favorite songs from them and I have never seen them play it ever.

The crowd for this show was one of the best too, Osaka was the best followed closely by Nagoya then this. The energy for the band this day also was the highest I've seen them. Probably it's because it's the last at Shibuya AX (it closed down in May) and excited to play new songs. 

I loved their Osaka show because I had little sis with me and I just got another lynch. tattoo and they chose to play an illusion then. It was such a nice way to remember that crazy week and tattoo. The 10th Birthday was because they played another two songs I've been dying to see live, MAZE and LIE. I was so freakin' happy.

Hazuki still is my favorite vocalist. I'm just biased down to the core and will always side this stupid band. They've been holding the number 1 spot for me for the past three years and I don't think they will move away anytime soon. Like I always say, I love them no less. 

Also, other mentions - I finally got to see Bring Me The Horizon after so many times of missing them but they disappointed me. 

Panic! At The Disco did really bring me back to the days when I was still with my first boyfriend because he used to tour with them. Weirdly, Brendon Urie is doing way better without bandmates, their set was so fun~ singing with so much nostalgia honestly.

Lastly, Girugamesh. I've been wanting to see them for so long, and stopped listening to them for quite some time but their latest EP made me like them again. They are a pretty fun band live but not something I would want to go to all the time. 

I honestly don't think 2015 can get any better than this, but I hope at least I can see my two bands - lynch. and Crystal Lake a ton next year. My plans are all up in the air right now but I'm already thinking of ways to see all these bands (and new bands) again.

190. overcome, crystal lake

On Sunday, there was a small heavy music festival in Shibuya. I met up with Laura first for lunch at Silkream, then we made our way to Shibuya THE GAME for the show. When we walked in, Ryo from Crystal Lake was performing with INFECTION. We both agreed it was good timing, since I was there for only Crystal Lake anyways.

We stayed for the next band called Say Hello To Sunshine which was softer sounding and went off to get coffee because we didn't bother about the next couple of bands playing and there was about a little over two hours to kill. I was really sleepy, tired and sore from lynch.'s show the day before. So we chilled a bit and waited for Anzu to arrive and headed back to the venue.

We got back to the venue and watched Castaway for a little bit and continued with Blindside, the mosh for this show was really brutal because most of the bands were really heavy, metalcore, grindcore, hardcore etc. After Blindside was an acoustic set by Kensuke Yamamoto and we all walked out to the smoking area since I wanted smoke.

Some of the guys in the other bands playing later on were outside smoking as well, and Laura introduced Anzu and I to some of them. The acoustic set felt like forever, everyone was complaining about how long it was. We didn't bother going inside for it because we didn't wanted to get sleepy, it also fucked up the schedule for the rest of the night.

Next up was A Ghost of Flare, I only know about them because they're on my suggested list on Youtube. They were really good live and had a lot of energy on stage, I really enjoyed seeing them. The only downside was maybe all the weird interludes to their songs, like whispering, musical box playing, kids crying and some I don't even know what it is? I don't know if I'll listen to them but will definitely watch them again.

Numb was next and they aren't really the type of band I would listen to but they were pretty good live, mosh was brutal again. At this point I was already counting down to see Crystal Lake because my back was aching and I was getting tired and sleepy again.

Crystal Lake took the stage about almost 9-ishpm when they were slotted for 8.30pm (the acoustic set really messed up the schedule), they opened to Rollin', followed by to my surprise Mahakala, mine and Laura's favorite song from CUBES. She was busy moshing, I just stood somewhere in the front at the side headbanging away. Overcome was next and then Beloved, which I recorded the entire song because the crowd was crazy. Ryo got pulled into the crowd, so he was singing on the ground for a little bit. They closed to The Fire Inside and even if it was such a short set I enjoyed myself and was happy I went because I was pretty hesitant at first (wanted the last show of 2014 to be lynch. cos I'm just crazy).

The last band of the night was Loyal To The Grave, though they also played music I don't normally listen to, I thought they were really good live and had fun. The mosh for them was the most brutal I guess because it was the last band? I fell down a couple of times and I wasn't even in the moshpit. Some girls literally fell over and the guys were helping them up. Also, I almost got kicked in the face by someone who crowd surfed. Have never been to any show that brutal in a long time.

After the show ended, Senta (vocal of numb) was asking Laura and I if we were okay because he saw that the crowd was really violent, lol. We went to look at merch and actually A Ghost of Flare's merch was really nice. We stopped by Crystal Lake's table for quite some time before heading out.

I'm happy I went to this show, it was such a good way to end the last weekend of 2014. lynch. + Crystal Lake on the same weekend? For me, that's perfect. Especially since my love for Crystal Lake has been growing rapidly. I'm not sure what shows or which bands I'm going to see in 2015 but I hope it'll be even better than the ones I saw this year.

189. the 10th birthday, lynch.

27th December is lynch.'s anniversary date, yesterday was their 10th birthday. For the first time, I had company to their show (other than my sister). I met up with Anzu, Laura introduced us, at Shinkiba Station and we walked to Studio Coast following the group of people dressed in all black in front of us, haha.

Even though I have seen lynch. so many times, this was my 11th time, they never fail to make me feel so excited each time I'm go to see them. I was especially excited for this show since it's their 10th anniversary special, I had a feeling they would play rare songs. Also - anytime  I can headbang to INVINCIBLE or pulse_ is a win for me.

They started playing at about 5.40pm and opened to my surprise, LAST NITE.  I've never seen them play it before and was so happy. They played behind a sheer curtain for LAST NITE,  I think to ~feel~ the song, the next song was I'm sick, b'cuz luv u. This part the curtains already dropped and I was glad they were playing their usual fast songs because the last time I saw them in Osaka they didn't (but that was a nice change). Followed by GREED, -273.14 C and DEVIL. The effects for today were exceptionally pretty and well thought out because the backdrop videos playing really suited all the songs. For DEVIL, they played their music video! It definitely had more impact.

The next couple of songs were my least favorite actually. I never enjoyed them playing a couple of songs all the time and they chose to lump my least favorite songs today, but I most certainly enjoyed the next couple of songs because they were all my favorite slow songs.

They started their slow part of the show with BALLAD (!!!!), they have not played it since The Fatal Experience #3 -Final Hour Has Come- and that was last year, when I saw them for the first time. After that was MAZE (!!!!!),  I missed the last time they played it with a joint show with BORN because I couldn't get tickets, it sold out so fast and was so freakin' bummed about them playing it, they hardly ever play it. So I was so freakin' happy they did.

I really love the effects for MAZE because it was just simple with a couple of fire stands (what do you call it?) behind them burning. So so so happy. an illusion followed and you know, it's my favorite song. I didn't expect them to play it but they have been playing it a lot this year. UNTIL I DIE was next, and I just laughed to myself on how fitting it is because I have those two songs tattooed on me. This band never fails to make me happy.

EVILLY was fun as usual, the background also played an important part for impact this time. They played some visuals but when it came to the chorus, there were actually lyrics on the screen.

EASY MUZIC, EASY SUICIDE, EVILLY MUZIC, EVILLY NEW LIFE

Definitely the most fun I have had with all the times I've seen them play this song. Next up was melt, oh melt, melt, melt. Such a dirty song. 

They had another section for slow songs this time, it was really surprising to hear so many slow songs played in one show. Though they are kind of my least favorite slow lynch. songs, it was nice listening to them live, definitely better. Hazuki's vocals always.

I really liked how they thought of their setlist because every song seemed to be well synced into each other, where you could blend in slowly. That's another thing I'll always love them for. AMBIVALENT IDEAL was the indicator that the speed of the following songs will be faster. Seriously, AMBIVALENT IDEAL is so good live, I always feel empty when I listen to the recorded version. 

I only started getting pumped up again when they played GALLOWS, INVINCIBLE and VANISH in a row. There was a little fireworks for GALLOWS, which actually gave me a shock haha. The next couple of songs were their usual stuff again and they closed to ADORE before the encores. 

MC was funny this time because each member got to talk and Hazuki was funnier than usual. But as usual, Hazuki talked forever... I was actually texting my sister and she was laughing saying "have fun listening to him talk again..." hahaha, we always complain about him talking. But, he was actually talking about upcoming tours and documentary and live dvd, also a best of album. Fuck, so much money to spend on them again. They're robbing me at this point but I can't complain.

They started their 1st encore with LIE (!!!!!), another song I've been dying to see them play. The rhythm guitar sounds so good live, I wish they would play it more. I was also glad they played a grateful shit, I haven't seen that since the first time I saw them too. They closed their first encore with LIGHTNING. 

Their second encore I could predict they were going to play NIGHT and finally close to A GLEAM IN EYE. I always love the live version of A GLEAM IN EYE too because they mix it with their single version and album version and it's so much  better. Gotta love this band.

Setlist :

00. SE

01. LAST NITE

02. I'm sick, b'cuz luv u.

03. GREED

04. -273.15C

05. DEVIL

06. THE FATAL HOUR HAS COME

07. I BELIEVE IN ME

08. 59.

09. THE BLASTED BACK BONE

10. JUDGEMENT

11. BALLAD

12. MAZE

13. an illusion

14. UNTIL I DIE

15. EVILLY

16. melt

17. forgiven

18. prominence

19. from the end

20. AMBIVALENT IDEAL

21. PHOENIX

22. GALLOWS

23. INVINCIBLE

24. VANISH

25. MIRRORS

26. ALL THIS I'LL GIVE YOU

27. unknown lost a beauty

28. pulse_

29. TIAMAT

30. ADORE

ENCORE 01.

31. LIE

32. discord number

33. a grateful shit

34. DAZZLE

35. LIGHTNING

ENCORE 02.

36. NIGHT

37. A GLEAM IN EYE

photo : music natalie

That's 37 songs in 3 hours. The longest show I have been to in my life. Thank god it's lynch., if it was anyone else I would have complained to no end. I wished they played GUILLOTINE, RING and EXODUS actually, but I can't ask for more because I've seen them play those a couple of times already. Also, even though its a special live, I felt like they played way better in Osaka and at their ABSOLUTE XANADU last at Shibuya AX. The crowd for this show was pretty mellow compared to the ones in Osaka and Nagoya. I enjoyed those way more. For some reason, absolute xanadu was crazier as well. I prefer the opening setlists from TO THE GALLOWS tour, maybe I'm crazy and just love all their really fast paced songs with crazy headbanging with a possibility to break my neck, haha.

 But I love them no less.

This band never ever fails to make me happy, they always play songs at the right time I want them to. I've grown up this year partly because of them too, but they are still here and I will always have their music for company when bad things happen. So, I will continue loving and supporting them. Everything their music is suits me almost too perfectly, their anniversary date - 27th, twenty seven is my favorite number. Them forever playing songs at the right time... so many times.

Sometimes I think they're just made for me. 

188. caves and christmas

This Christmas was really different again compared to the usual of staying at home and counting down, last year's one was pretty special and this year's was no different. I cooked dinner on Christmas eve and counted down and had cheesecake again because someone bought a really huge one. 

Christmas afternoon was spent showing mom around Kamakura. She was excited looking out the window on the train on our way there because I told her about a huge Goddess of Mercy Statue at Ofuna Station. Once we got to Kamakura, we had lunch at a nearby restaurant and after that I brought her to Hokokuji Temple and the bamboo grove to have matcha, I'm glad she liked it. After that, we took the bus back to the station and walked to Zeniarai Benten Shrine because I saw it on Laura's blog and wanted to go since I haven't been there. It was about a 20 minute walk through the residential area and up a steep hill before getting to the mouth of a cave.

You have to go through it to get to the shrine, once we got to the shrine, mom wasn't really in the mood to do anything so we just looked around. We didn't wash money in the shrine either, haha. Now when I think about it, we kinda went up for no reason but it was still nice to see something different in Kamakura because I have been there 4 times. 

We went to Daibutsu, Giant Buddha last. I got a marron and vanilla mixed flavored ice cream. So gooood! She spent quite a while at the Giant Buddha. Once she was done, I took a couple of photos for her then we went to through the shopping street. There wasn't much to look at, I still only like the Ghibli shop there.

I slept on the one hour train ride back to Tokyo. I was more excited about dinner than going to Kamakura but we'll save that for later.

187. the secret of kells

 

I've fallen madly in love with The Secret of Kells. The opening of this film was already so breathtaking I just sat in front of the screen fully immersed in this world. Each frame of this animation is heavily detailed, sometimes I would re-watch parts just so I can study everything in that particular frame.

The story is based on Irish folklore, which also is another win for me because I love folklores, especially Scandinavian ones because you don't come across it very often or maybe - not at all. So anything from it makes it more special for me. 

My favorite parts of this film is when Aisiling, a fairy living in the woods, shows Brendan where to get the berries he needs to make ink and when she turns Aidan's cat, Pangur Ban, into spirit form to retrieve a key. Those parts were absolutely dreamy and I wish I was part of that world.

The story somehow reminds me a little of Attack on Titan because it is "dangerous outside these walls". It is a little over an hour and worth every second of my time. It's so beautifully animated that I'm in such awe of all the artwork in this, also you can see traces of watercolour paint used in certain backgrounds. 

This is another reason why I love animated films and choose watching this anytime over some sappy love story that probably gives girls false ideas of love. Believe me when I say I'm not interested in romantic films, the most romantic one to me is Moonrise Kingdom. 

I'm probably going to watch this 98443783278 times and re-fall in love with it every single time.

186. winter lights

 

Yesterday I brought my mom to Hamamatsucho for lunch, it was pretty nostalgic as usual. I always love the area around Hamamatsucho Station because it always reminds me of all my trips to Tokyo. It also was pretty nostalgic for her since she stayed at Tokyo Prince the first time we were in Tokyo. I showed her Zojoji Temple and we went to the cafe next to it for lunch. Little sis actually suggested I bring her there because I'm always buying jam or bread spreads for her from that cafe. She's a sucker for anything pastry related.

We spent quite a while at the cafe because she was picking out jams and spreads for my aunts. In the end, she spent almost $70 just on freakin bread spreads. Well, at least our shopping for relatives are done now. After that, we slowly walked to Roppongi from Tokyo Tower as the sun was setting. I wanted to bring her to Tokyo Midtown because of the Christmas Illuminations. She has been asking me to bring her to Nabana No Sato but that is too far... it's actually near Nagoya, in Kuwana. So, I thought this was a good alternative. 

The illuminations were actually prettier than I expected it, obviously it's nowhere near Nabana No Sato's beauty, but it was good enough. The light show called "Starlight Garden" was rather impressive and I'm glad she enjoyed herself. I recorded the whole show to send it to my little sis and dad and they were jealous, haha. 

After the light show, we went shopping in the galleria area and she ended up buying a pair of sunglasses and earrings. We didn't know what to have for dinner, so I googled some restaurants nearby and Hainan Chicken Rice came up on the suggested list and I was so excited because I haven't had chicken rice in forever and if you know me, I'm always, always eating chicken rice in Singapore. It's my number go to dish whenever I'm back there. 

We followed google maps and actually, the restaurant was just next to the Starbucks we usually go to in Roppongi Hills, it was hidden though, behind a parking lot. But still, I was so excited for it and it was actually really good! I'm impressed that it could be that standard and they were generous with the sauces. I was so happy. 

After dinner, we went to Starbucks because I wanted their Snow Maple Toffee Latte, it's a Christmas special. Mom agreed that it's pretty good for Starbucks standard, my whole family are snobs when it comes to coffee. Finishing off our cheesecake, we went to walk around Roppongi Hills and there were some more illuminations. There was a cute Chritsmas Market in Roppongi Hills and we went to look at some of the ornaments because it was too cute, we didn't do much but just walked around until it was late enough to head home. 

So far, it's been pretty fun to bring mom around Tokyo and show her places little sis and I usually go to. I've already brought her to Silkream, Shirohige, A to Z, Wired Cafe, Coco-ichiban Curry House, Coffea Exlibris and The Roastery and even had beef rice bowls the other day for dinner and I'm more the relieved she is loving everything.

Tonight I will have a little break and hang out with friends. I can't believe it's gonna be Christmas in 2 days. I have some nice plans and hopefully it'll fall through but other than that, I'm so stoked for lynch.'s 10th birthday at Studio Coast!♡

185. amélie

       

Without you, today's emotions would be the scurf of yesterday's.

~

Le fabuleux  destin d'Amélie Poulain(2001)

After years of seeing this film pop up in my suggested lists, friends and even my lecturers back in art college telling me about this film, I finally sat down to watch this a couple of weeks ago just before December arrived. 

Immediately - the opening of this film already caught my attention. I like how the narrator tells you about the eccentric likes and dislikes of Amelie's parents, I was sold the very moment they were describing little Amelie. The whole film centres around Amelie who spends most of her time alone, but developed an active imagination and fantasy to cope with her loneliness. 

I could relate in some sense because I always do that when I'm alone for too long. 

I think the part I enjoyed most of this film was when she talks to an old man with glass bones living in the building next to hers, the part where he talks about paintings and how it is so very (very) difficult to get the right expression out of the characters in his paintings. Also, I love the little "scavenger" hunt she did for the guy she is interested in.  I thought it was funny that he liked collecting torn up photographs from machines and putting them back together, I guess this was what made Amelie like him too. 

A lot of things I love about this film, each character has a depth and is well thought of and acted out. I'm definitely going to buy the Blu-ray once I get back home. I think another thing that makes this film so delightful to watch is because it's in French and the language is so foreign to me that it's actually so pleasant to my ears, oddly.

I have been discovering a good number of films when H was on tour, his favorite film is Little Miss Sunshine but I've yet to see it. It also looks like I won't have time for the rest of the year to actually spend time watching films, I'm trying to post all the good things about 2014 and actually am having a hard time collecting each memory because too much has happened this year. Hopefully I can squeeze in some time to write my personal notes on another animation film that I've completely fallen in love with.

 Next week looks like it's pretty packed and going to be crazy. The last weekend of 2014 is going to good, I can feel it. I really hope I will continue writing good things until the year ends.

184. fifty-nine

My mom arrived in Tokyo in the evening of 15th December, just in time to celebrate her birthday. On the 16th, which is the eve of her birthday, I brought her to Odaiba to go to the onsen since it was pouring. We didn't expect it to rain so hard but it did and it was really hard to walk around. We still managed to go to most of the places I wanted to show her and I'm really glad she liked Venus Fort and my favorite shop, Strange Love. Also... why am I always in Odaiba when Dir en grey is having a show?

We went to the Oedo onsen later in the evening and you could tell she was happy. She's like any other girl (in this case, lady), she loves spa treatments and such. She hasn't been going to an onsen for a couple of years now since hasn't been in Japan for 3 years. We spent a couple of hours there, she especially liked the foot bath.

On the actual day of her birthday, I brought her to the Totoro Cream Puff Factory for lunch but unfortunately, the cream puffs were already sold out by the time we got there. So we just had salad and pasta for lunch. I really love the pasta there and am glad she did too. After lunch, I brought her to get amazing coffee that little sis loves in Shimokita. She was so funny saying she trusts my sis's judgement. She got Brazilian coffee while I got Costa Rica. And... yes, she loved the coffee. This is proof :

After coffee, we made our way to Shibuya and since there were no cream puffs, I decided to bring her to silkream! She instantly fell in love with the parfait (like everyone else), she was so happy nibbling the mille-feuille together with the soft cream. We actually sat at the same sofa I did for my birthday. Since it was so cold and windy outside, we decided to stay at the cafe for a long time. Once we got ready for dinner, I brought her to Wired Cafe in Tsutaya for taco rice! She liked it too so I was happy. I kept asking her after that if she enjoyed her birthday and she said she did because of food, hahaha. 

My mom is going to be here for the next month and honestly I am worried of how it would work out, especially when I want to go out with friends because she doesn't speak the language and there's nothing to do at home. We'll see how things go. 

The last couple of days have been really busy and chaotic, I actually find the difference between the chaos and the quiet time with mom pretty hilarious. It's like I'm with her and it's all peaceful but my mind is still stuck on Sunday at Crystal Lake's show, the contrast is funny. Thankfully we are planning to stay in today. I'm so happy that she's going to cook dinner!

Lately I've been listening to FKA Twigs while painting and it's been the most peaceful feeling ever.

183. mahakala, crystal lake

14th December was Crystal Lake's CUBES Tour Final show at Daikanyama UNIT. I met up with Laura at a cafe near the station before we headed to the venue. It didn't take long at all to get in, we got our drinks and waited around before the opening band took the stage.

Crystal Lake took the stage at about 7.30pm and opened to Ups & Downs, followed by Mahakala. At that point I was kind of freaking out because they hardly play Mahakala and also because I wanted to record a video, haha. I'm kind of bummed that I didn't record the first verse because it's my favorite part of the song,  forever you will rest in peace.

Since I've only recently started listening to them, I've only listened to their latest EP, CUBES. They played quite a number of old songs like Openwater, Overcome and Endeavor next. I honestly enjoyed watching this band so much, their fans are insanely awesome as the band. So many stage dives, circle pits and crowd surfing. I especially enjoyed fans running onto the stage and doing backing vocals for The Fire Inside. "We are not the fucking dead!" Fans pulling the vocalist into the crowd, snatching his mic and screaming into it. I haven't seen anything like this in such a long time because I only kept going to see lynch., so it was such a nice change of crowd, scene and music.

I was actually really surprised the crowd was 90% male, I could actually count the number of girls there. That's a first. They played for a little over an hour, with 15 songs. They had a couple of special guests performing with them on certain songs also like Rollin', Matrix, Daylight and Into The Great Beyond which their former vocalist performed with them.

(okay I'm cheating, I only know all the song titles because I got the set list lol.)

But even without knowing any of their old songs, I really enjoyed them. I think this is one of the rare times that a band can buy me over so easily, but they are fucking amazing live and I think their fans also add up to why this show was so good. Both the energy of the band and fans are incredible. I was really surprised they played See This Through the non acoustic version. I love the acoustic version but hardcore version is wayyyyyyy better. The last few songs were Beloved and The Fire Inside. The encore songs were Cubes and Twisted Fate.

It's been a long time since I've written about a band like this, that is not lynch. , haha.  I think the only other band I did was AFI but they have been my favorite band since I was 16. I think Crystal Lake is slowly sliding into the number 3 spot of my top favorite bands. I'm really glad I chose to come to this show as well. I was pretty hesitant at first but decided I really wanted to after seeing them at knotfest. I'm also glad I had company with me at the show. Because honestly, going to shows alone all the time is kind of boring.

So many great bands I've seen this year. There's still one show left for this year and I'm so excited to see my ultimate favorite band at their 10th anniversary show.

182. hate to see your heart break

I can't believe it's already December, this time last year I was going around Tokyo in the cold air with my heart, empty. The only thing that kept me alive was my best friend and my favorite band. This year is a little different, actually a lot different. During the entire year, there were so many ups and downs. As the seasons changed, I did too. It's weird now thinking back on all the things that have happened this year. All the amazing experiences, places and people I have met.

If you told me then, I would have someone I truly cared about, someone I could wake up to and someone who would be keeping my hands warm in this cold air, I would have laughed at you. Believe me when I say I am the last person on earth who thought these feelings were impossible for me to have again. I don't know how long this is going to last, but for what it's worth, I'm just really happy he happened. I'm glad I got to spend my first few days of December with him, even with everything is still so unclear for the both of us, I am happy that he's with me.

This song has been on loop since we both were talking last night, and it's going to repeat until I fall asleep tonight...

And I, I hate to see your heart break

I hate to see your eyes get darker as they close

But I've been there before

181. totoro hunting

Yesterday Laura and I went hunting for Totoro Cream Puffs in the rain.  We met up at Shindaita Station and let goolge maps guide us. It didn't take too long to find the bakery, it was only a 5 minute walk from the station. The only thing was that you'd have to be observant and keep a look out for a small Totoro sign. The bakery is located at a really secluded area of a residential area, at the corner of the street. Luckily, I could see the sign peeking out of the corner so we didn't have to get more lost (and wet) in the rain.

The place is actually a two-storey house turned into a bakery on the first floor and cafe on the second. It had a warm welcoming feeling, the kind that you would get when you visit your grandma because of all the wood interior. The entrance of the house also was decorated with a ton of cute Totoro things and frames of Shiro Hige's mascot on the walls. Couldn't resist taking photos. 

The lady at the bakery told us we could eat our cream puffs at the cafe since we reserved them a couple of days earlier. So, the both of us climbed up the stairs to the cafe and decided to have lunch at there because the pasta smelled so good. The cafe was pretty crowded for a place that is so hidden. We both ordered the same pasta, I'm not sure what exactly it's called now but it was really yummy and it came with a drink on the side, I got hot tea.

They served us our cream puffs after we were done with our main course. The brown leaf ones are maron flavour, and the green leaf one is custard. The maron one is an autumn special and was so good, there were bits of chestnuts in them and they were generous with the filling. I felt a little bad to slice open the cute little Totoro but had no choice, haha. How else would I eat it? The custard one had a very strong vanilla flavour which I really loved, I was so full by the end of our meal. We just stayed at the cafe for a little bit since it was still pouring outside.

The rain wasn't lightening up anytime soon, so we just decided to leave at about 4 and went down to the bakery to check out other flavours they had and also, take some more photos.

There were Chocolate Cream and Raspberry & Cream Cheese (in photo) flavours as well. I didn't manage to get good photos of the framed drawings on the wall. Some of the drawings were signed and drawn by Hayao Miyazaki himself, and there was a really cute Catbus clock hanging as well. They sold cookies too but it was all sold out by the time we got there. 

We spent some time taking a ton of photos and left when we were done. The rain was unforgiving as we walked to Shimokitazawa station. Initially, we planned to hang out around Shimokita but since it was more of an outdoor kind of thing, we decided to go to Tower Records in Shibuya to hide from the rain (also because I needed to charge my phone lol). We didn't do much for the rest of the day but check out some shops along Harajuku and migrated from place to place, talking too much.

We had dinner at the Madosh! Cafe because the last time I went I couldn't read the menu, was happy this time with all the avocado. I was so hungry yesterday because it's that time of the month and it was really cold. We shared an onsen egg and I had a tuna rice bowl, after that we moved to Starbucks (because me and my matcha tea latte) where I ate more, haha. Seriously.

We stayed out till 11pm and the rain finally stopped when we were going on home. -__- I'm really happy when I find new places to go, cafe hunting as I call it have been fun in Japan so far.

180. a suspenseful tale, tim burton

I finally went to The World of Tim Burton exhibition yesterday, it was everything I thought it would be except for the lack of displays for The Nightmare Before Christmas and of course, no photos were allowed. But other than that, I really enjoyed it.

It was quite crowded but it didn't take too long to get in, the first exhibition room held sketches and drawings by Tim Burton himself, on notepads, napkins and such. You could see he was playing with ideas in these sketches. I enjoyed the napkin sketches a lot and was standing in front of that exhibit for quite a bit. 

The second room held different series of drawings with different themes. There was a number, carnival (this one was one of my favorites), Trick or Treat, clown and some random drawings mixed up in there. I really liked Little Dead Riding Hood because I love the little note he wrote under it A Suspenseful Tale of Torment and Demon Possession. He wrote little notes alongside half of the drawings he makes which I thought was smart, to let the viewer understand what he was trying to portray. Also, some of them had poems which I had fun reading, wonder how many of the Japanese actually read them? This one guy next to me was so cute because he would look at the english words and try to find it in the dictionary on his phone. I wish my Japanese was better, so I could have helped him, haha. 

I really enjoyed his Unrealized Projects and thought they were one of the best drawings. Maybe because I haven't seen them before so there was a sense of "Ooohh!" in that.

The next room had all the film characters, this part I was the happiest at! The first thing you would see are the Frankenweenie models used in the film. I really love his claymation works a ton so I was really happy to see the figures in real life. The walls would be lined with drawings of the particular film. They also showcased Big Fish, Alice in Wonderland, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Corpse Bride, Charlie and The Chocolate Factory, Beetlejuice, Mars Attack, Batman Returns, Edward Scissorhands... basically all the films he made. There were even some drawings of his short films like Pee Wee's Big Adventure, Vincent, Stain Boy and Oyster Boy. (Yes, I remember all this because I took notes and used to be a really really big Tim Burton fan when I was a teenager.)

The was some sculptures as well, they had Oogie Boogie and Lock, Shock & Barrel (my favorite characters ever!) from The Nightmare Before Christmas, a character from his short story, Robot Boy (it could actually move, gave me a shock), Oompa Loompas from Charlie and The Chocolate Factory, some characters from Corpse Bride and Beetlejuice in his skeleton form. 

In between his Film Characters rooms, they were also showing some videos he directed or made. Such as Hansel and Gretel (a weird short film), The Killers music videos and Stain Boy. I didn't bother watching The Killers and Stain Boy because you can find them easily on youtube.

Next to the Film Characters room, the showcase of drawings continued. He uses ballpoint pen, ink, acrylic, watercolour, oil paint, colour pencils and markers on most of the drawings. There were also another three sculptures called Three Creatures (series) that I have never seen before and instantly fell in love with these creepy all-black monsters. They had sharp teeth, weirdly proportioned with long tails and more than a pair of eyes. 

My favorite part of the exhibition was actually the Polariods section. He would make oversized  Polaroids out of photos he took with themes from his film. I loved the lighting in the room and how macabre some photos were. Seriously thought it was well done.

The final room had more drawings and by this time I was a little tired of looking at so many drawings that I just glanced through them because I wanted to go to the shop! The shop sold Willy Wonka Chocolate Bars and specials for the exhibition. In the end, I bought 2 postcards, 1 washi tape (it had the number series drawings on them) and a set of stickers of the characters from The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy & Other Stories.

I was really happy to go to the exhibition because I'm running low on inspiration again, always. I want to paint but my mind can't seem to focus. Hopefully going to the exhibition helped. Can't believe it's already December next week. Oh, how time really flies.

179. fall

It's already fall in Japan and I can't be any happier. There's something magical about fall to me, everything seems dreamier, and don't even let me get started on winter. It's my favorite season of all.

Got up earlier than usual to meet up with Laura because she wanted to go to Moominvalley in Saitama after reading about it on my blog. We met up at Ikebukuro Station and got on the Seibu Ikebukuro line to Motokaji Station, it took about an hour.

Once we arrived, I was happy because the weather was so nice, cool but sunny. Some of the trees are turning red and I can't help but to feel like this is the best time of the year. It was much easier to get to Moominvalley this time since I've already been there before, so we just slowly made our way there.

The first thing we did when we got there was explore the house, I was happy that she got all excited about how cute the house was! I could actually slowly look at things this time because there weren't much people. It's cuter than I remember it to be. We climbed all the floors, exited through the little door and entered into another littler door to get back inside and explored some more. We didn't take much time in the house, once we were done, we went to walk around the pond. 

Taking photos and just enjoying the weather. The trial led us to the Moomin library, so we just went in to look at some of the exhibits, there wasn't much but it was still cute. After that, we just slowly went around and got a got view of the whole place and took more photos. We walked around the pond another time to get a good photo of the blue house and was on our way back to the station, at this time, it was closing in the 3 in the afternoon when we got on the train to Shibuya.

We both were hungry, so we had an early dinner at that cheap sushi place. Went to Tower Records right after and had dessert at Silkream and talked for hours. I'm glad that she liked the parfaits at Silkream too, everyone I bring there automatically fall in love with them. Since it was still quite early to head back, we walked to Harajuku and went to Starbucks at Tokyu Plaza, there was already a winter illumination installation set up outside, and heaters nicely placed to keep customers warm. 

I ordered a small cup of matcha latte and we continued talking.

We parted ways at about 11pm and plan to hang out again soon. I had fun with her so I'm looking forward to see her again.

I can't help but to think back to around this time last year, this time last year I was so happy in Nagoya with my best friend. We were talking about silly things and we experienced so many firsts on that trip. I miss her so much. It's strange, life. I feel like a lot has happened for me this year and I'm not sure if I want it to end just yet.

178. maggots, knotfest

15th November was the first day of knotfest, I couldn't really get much sleep the night before so I was worried about how I was going to last the entire day. Slowly made my way to Makuhari Messe in Chiba, it took about 2 hours but still didn't manage to get any sleep on the train.

rare selfie, on top of it in the morning.

I was so excited for today because I finally got to have a girl to talk to! I was meeting up with Laura, who found me on blogspot and I've been following her tumblr for a while. I met up with her while waiting to get into Messe. We were talking so much right away about music, I guess because she's from Australia too, so it made it easier.

We went to look at the merch first because I wanted to get something but the line was insane, it looked like there were more than a hundred people in line. So we just passed up on that and went into the venue. The first band I got to see for the day was Crystal Lake. I was excited to see them since I've (finally) started listening to them. They only played stuff from their latest album, CUBES. They played Ups & Downs, Rollin', Beloved and The Fire Inside. They were really good live and I actually want to see them again because I had fun singing along to their songs (even if their songs aren't really singable?).

After Crystal Lake, we got to the other stage for coldrain, this time I didn't enjoy their set that much. They played No Escape, Six Feet Under, Aware and Awake, The War Is On, The Revelation and some other songs I can't really remember now. I wished they played Stuck again, like at summersonic because I really enjoyed that.  We went back to the other stage after coldrain ended. It was a continuous cycle of going back and forth stages because we both wanted to see almost the entire line up.

Next up was Miss May I, I was pretty impressed with how good they sound live because I don't really listen to them but had fun watching them. I only know they closed to Hey Mister and played Relentless Chaos since they announced it. The backing vocals were really good live, I wished he sang more. I was trying to take photos of the stages throughout the day but the stages were so smoky most the time that my photos all came out blur. (so much for wanting photos in this post.)

After they ended, we took a short break since we both don't listen to MEANING. The crowd was mostly made out of people decked out in black (surprise surprise) and I would say three quarter of the population today were male. Some were wearing Slipknot jumpsuits with the masks which honestly, sometimes when I'm walking too fast, freaked me out a bit because I was tired and would think I just walked pass a zombie, haha.

We both tried to get good spots for Bring Me The Horizon because I've been wanting to see them for so long and have missed them so many times already. They played mostly stuff from Sempiternal, opening to Shadow Moses it was fun singing " This is Sempiternal!",  the mosh for BMTH was pretty chaotic and I got almost pulled in a couple of times, also got pushed to the side which actually offered a better view of Oli Sykes, haha.

They continued with Go To Hell For Heaven's Sake, The House of Wolves, Sleepwalking, Alligator Blood, Chelsea Smile, Can You Feel My Heart and closed to Antivisit. I had fun singing along to all the songs and was happy they played Alligator Blood! Wished they played Fuck and Anthem though. After Bring Me The Horizon was Crossfaith.

I don't listen to Crossfaith at all and I only like Evolution but I know they are really good live, so I wanted to see them and because the bassist is really cute, haha. Laura also went to the mosh for them so I just stood at the left side of the stage to see them. I enjoyed their set but I don't really fancy their new single, Madness, that much. Too much of the DJ sounding thing. The mosh for Crossfaith was pretty chaotic too, I almost kept getting pulled in.

After they ended, the both of us met up at the side of the stage and went to see Lamb of God. They sounded good but I had a hard time enjoying them because I was texting away. I shouldn't be so interested on what's on my phone but I couldn't help it.  I texted throughout the entire set, bet people must be thinking I'm stupid to do that, lol.

It was SiM next. I listen to a couple of their songs but I'm not a big fan of them. The only reason why I wanted to see them is actually an inside joke, lol. They opened to Killing Me and continued with Who's Next. They were pretty good live and had good energy on stage but the singer's japrish was really hard to listen to. I couldn't make out what he was singing half the time, also I got annoyed when it went to the auto-tune bit. That was when both me and Laura decided to walkaway.

We went outside for a bit to get some air, and chilled outside while talking about a ton of stuff. We went over to the stage where One Ok Rock was going to perform while Papa Roach was still playing. They were playing Last Resort and I couldn't help but to laugh a little because people used to make fun of that song when it was just released years ago.

One Ok Rock took the stage at 6 and opened to Deeper Deeper and it was the only song I really enjoyed it. Taka's voice is really good live and never missed a note. After that I got bored because I've never been a fan of One Ok Rock, I only like Deeper Deeper and Liar. I was bummed that they didn't play Liar. One Ok Rock's crowd was pretty much a huge dancing/jumping party. They played a couple of songs which I obviously don't know any of them except Mighty Long Fall, Clock Strikes and  The Beginning.

Next up was Limp Bizit and I was never a fan of nu-metal, so the both of us just sat somewhere at the back, resting. I was so sleepy by this time. I tried to nap for a little bit but failed miserably. Luckily Limp Bizit played for about an hour so there was enough time to rest up for Slipknot.

The final act of the day and the main reason why everyone came to this festival anyway, Slipknot, took the stage at exactly 8pm and opened to their new song from The Gray Chapter, Sarcastrophe. The stage setup was so pretty, everyone kept saying やばい. I was also saying suppperr やばい lol There was a giant devil head in the middle of the stage which had blinking lights, as well as fire blowing out every now and then following to the beat of the songs. I wish I could have taken a photo but I took videos instead.

The second song was The Heretic Anthem and honestly even though it is my favorite song from them, I was pretty bored. I preferred the time that they performed in Australia for Soundwave 2 years ago. There was more anticipation to it because before the song would even begin, Corey would get the crowd excited by whispering "If you're 555, then I'm..." first before continuing to perform. Or maybe it was too early that they played that song?

I didn't really know most of the songs they played since I only listened to the new album once but The Devil in I and Psychosocial was fun to sing to~ The later part of their show was more fun since they played older stuff. Everyone went crazy when they played Duality. I had the most fun at Before I Forget, Duality and Spit It Out. Corey also was talking and thanking people for coming out and apparently there were 24,800 people at the festival. O___O

For their encore, I had fun singing to People = Shit! Didn't get the chance to see them play that the last time and they closed to Surfacing. I was pretty bummed they didn't play The Blister Exists. I had fun at the festival but can't help to feel that there was something missing. It wasn't the same feelings I got after Soundwave or Summersonic.

Laura and I decided to get supper in Shibuya since she got locked out of her place, so we went to Wired Cafe in Tsutaya and had Taco Rice! I haven't had it in forever. We were just talking about a ton of things and she actually reminded me of myself back when I was 20 and touring with my boyfriend's band at the time. The things I wanted back then. I was surprised she had the same piercings as me on the right ear, that was pretty funny. Since Wired Cafe closed at 2, we migrated to the bar and stayed there till the first train.

It was nice hanging out with her because we have a lot of things to talk about, Australia, being Southeast Asian, music and the like. I'm glad I got to meet her and can't wait to hang out with her again.