This post was going to be full of pictures of anything and everything that I considered interesting while I was in London but my USB decided to maul my photos five minutes after I had deleted them from my camera's SD card *wibble* so no pictures other than the ones I pulled onto my desktop before thinking I could give the SD card a clear out.
Last week my sister, a friend and me went down to London to see Gackt at the HMV Forum.
We got the sleeper train down for the day of the gig and got it back the day after so we had two days and a single night in London. The only problem with this method is that we couldn't get a bed berths on the train and so we had to get seats... not the best night of sleep ever but at least there are plenty of places to get coffee at Euston station.
Our hotel check in wasn't until 3pm so we had to kill several hours and what better place to do that than Camden! (okay it's a little pricey but still awesome!)
It was kind of surreal wandering around Camden when none of the shops are open and there's almost nobody on the streets and in the markets. The best thing about this was as there was no people about I was able to be as trigger happy as I wanted with my camera in the markets.
These are the ones I saved.
 |
| I have no idea what this shop sold but the sign was cool |
 |
| Can you blame me for this one? |
 |
| Within a minute of this boat passing through the duckweed had covered the entire surface of the canal again (scary). |
We went to Camden for a certain few shops and so our friend could see the place. I wanted to go to Sai Sai. There's always something rather expensive that catches my eye in there and I didn't want to run out of money before I got there (which with my magpie tendencies is a serious issue). There was an amazing jsk in the sale (it had a hem print and was red need I say more?) but it was too small and it was the only one in the shop so I didn't buy it. I did however buy a pink, crown shaped handbag.
We then went to our hotel to drop off our bags, get something to eat and get ready for the gig. The doors opened at 7pm so we went to queue around quarter to six. Even with over an hour until the doors opened the line was HUGE it stretched round at least three corners and every time we turned one thinking we were going to see the end we ended up laughing at the length.
 |
| I like to think the planter exploded because it couldn't get tickets for Gackt. |
|
There was plenty of time to kill while waiting so we started taking VSPs (very silly pictures) like this one (Unfortunately, the rest have been lost).
 |
| I'm a little teapot... |
There was no photography while inside the venue but my friend managed to take a really good one during the concert of Gackt on her phone (I got her to bluetooth it to me the next day).
 |
| Gackt <3 and Jon <3 (what a pair of posers) |
I was a little confused and angry that it wasn't just Gackt singing at the concert and there was another guy prancing about on stage without any introduction or greeting. I felt a lot less hostile when I got a name for him.
Jon Underdown is an American vocalist from the band
fade touring with Gackt for Yellow Fried Chickenz, he translated Gackt's song "Mind Forest" into English for his last tour and there has even been rumors of him permanently joining GACKTJOB.
There was a girl at the gig who just
had to get closer to the front never mind anybody else. this in itself is not very annoying other than the fact there was a six foot something guy helping her in this crusade. I don't know about anyone else but when I go to a concert I go to
see the band not hear them while staring at somebodies back. That girl really didn't get that a short, ill-tempered blonde is not the person whose toes are for stepping on. So ever single time her or the guy tried to push pass me I would subtley shove back with just enough force to keep them where they were out of sheer vindiciveness.
The two main things that have stuck in my mind about the gig was the amount of time Gackt and Jon spent posing (while not blinking!) and when they ditched their shirts and ties into the audience before playing Vanilla (with almost fanservice!).
The souvenir haul between the three of us included...
A vest top with the tour logo on it (not pictured)
 |
| A Live in Europe CD for his last tour |
 |
| A towel (I think it's a hand towel) |
 |
| the best piece of Gackt's tie (almost got a bit of Jon's too) |
 |
| an awesome doodle my friend did on one of the tickets |
 |
| and our tickets themselves |
There was several hours of panic when our friend missed the last tube back to the hotel as she stayed to wait for the band to come out so she had to get the bus. I found out in the morning that she had gotten a bus that took her on a hugely winding route from Kentish Town to Waterloo where the hotel was.
The next morning we checked out of the hotel and walked to the Pier beside the London eye. As we had oyster cards we didn't have to stand in the huge que for tickets for the boats from the pier. We got the Thames Clipper down to the Tower of London pier. While we were on the boat we saw cadets of some sort going down the river on launches.
We waved at them and some people on one of the boats waved back which made us far too happy for just that.
After we got off the boat we wandered around outside the Tower but decided that it would be too expensive to go in and so we got lunch from subway and watched a children's outdoor demo by people in medieval clothing.
We got the tube to Piccadilly and went to Tokyo Toys. My sister and I already knew a large amount of what Tokyo Toys sold was fake but as our friend is a huge fan of figmas she was able to identify that all the figmas in there were fakes as well as being sold for hugely inflated prices when compared with the official ones. So nothing in Tokyo Toys is official merchandise but you have to admit they do know how to advertise.
 |
| the poor guy we took covert pics of |
We hunted for the Japan Center at it's last known location but couldn't find it so set off down Shaftsbury Avenue to find Forbidden Planet. Along Shaftsbury Avenue there was a small cafe selling bubble tea. I had heard about it from Americans and Canadians I've met and seen it in manhwa but I had never tried it and so I dragged the other two into the shop to get some. It was pretty good (but I'm crazy for peach tea) and slightly strange having the balls of jelly come up the straw every so often.
In forbidden planet I wandered round looking at the figurines, books, and DVDs before going and spending a lower than expected sum at the till. I got two DVDs (Hetalia) and a manga (Nura: rise of the yokai clan)
We were so close to Covent Garden at this point that we walked along and sat down on some steps and watched the end of a performance and then another guy came on.
At first it seemed like he was doing an impression of Mr Bean but we soon were amazed by him. he put together a pole that was maybe six or seven metres long and put a flower in one end so that the bloom prevented it from going farther in. He then selected four men from the audience who were around the same height as each other, a bit taller than him and well built. He produced four straps from his case and clipped one end to the flower end of his pole and gave the other ends which ended on a loop to the the four men. He set the pole upright and had the men step into the loops then lean back balancing the forces in each direction and causing the pole to remain upright so long as the base didn't move.
He climbed up and down the pole a little to test the stability of it before pulling a woman from the audience. He then climbed about on the pole striking poses then climbed all the way to the top, retrieved the flower, slid face first down the pole and gave the flower to the woman.
After he had finished the show we decided that it was time to get something to eat. Our friend had never been to Wagamama so we walked to the one in Leicester square as we were close enough. Wagamama serves huge portions and I can never finish their ramen bowls so this time I ordered a plate of yaki soba and I finished it long before my sister had gotten her ramen down to just broth whereas usually I would still be struggling to finish the noodles by that time. All three of us very much liked the waiter and spent a large amount of the time trying to read his name tag. We had a couple of false starts reading the name as we were looking for an English name before we realised that it said Endika.
After we left Wagamama we saw a bar near the tube station and our friend fantasised that if we went in there would be the four guys sitting having a drink together despite the fact three of them were not going to be anywhere near the place at that moment in time.
After eating we made our way back to Euston where we got snacks for breackfast on the train. It was kind of funny trying to find or carriage on the train as it was hugely long and in the wrong order so carriage A was in the middle of the train rather than at the beginning of the train.
And that was the trip to London!
Gackt, Jon, Derek, and Endika we love you guys and you truly made or trip worthwhile.
