Welcome to Berlin

Day Fünf


It seems that this summer, my trip was full of early mornings. With yawns, I woke up and packed the last of my things in order to move from Munich to Berlin. It wasn’t really an early flight, but the time was needed to get from the hostel to the airport, get through security and all those delightful things, wait around and so on and so forth called for small digits on my alarm clock.

However, it would be the first time in over a year that I would be seeing my dear friend Virginie, whom I traveled to Japan with last year and who had almost reluctantly agreed to meet me in Berlin for the concert.


Aren't we cute together? We had such a good time in Japan together T___T


Getting through with almost no problems (I was told off by airport security for having too many liquids according to German standards), the flight was a short one and soon I was in Berlin, wondering why the meeting point was literally in the middle of a crowded hall.

Yet soon I spotted my beloved Swiss girl and after some hugs and some squeaks, we got underway, both having little idea of how to find our hotel (hooray for printed instructions).


Now I must say I love public transport. It is so simple, and so convenient and both the tram, underground and bus systems in Germany are very easy to figure out. Transferring from bus to underground, we soon arrived above the surface at our hostel (which was admittedly a lot worse than the one in Munich) but was satisfactory nonetheless.


Not the greatest area

Checking in, I was forced to drag my heavy luggage up four flights on stairs X____x but we got settled in quickly before leaving in order to find the venue so we would not waste time the following day looking around for it.

This was a good thing because we would have probably spent at least another hour looking around the nearby square if Vivi and not spotted a girl wearing a YFC shirt (and I identified her as a fan from Munich).

Venue located, we set off to get something to snack on, having arranged to meet with Iris for dinner and to do some devious shopping for the next day.


OMNOMNOMNOM DELICIOUSNESS


Isn't she the cutest thing ever? I missed you so much, darling.


I can be cute too!


The amazing buildings of Potsdamer Platz


I love it when modern architecture is beautiful...

We met with Iris and her dad and went for dinner.


THIS IS NOT THE ICED COFFEE I ORDERED, WHY IS THERE ICE CREAM IN IT, GERMANS ARE SO WEIRD! T____________T
Yeah, I had no idea "ice" coffee meant... ice cream coffee. Iris, her dad and Vivi laughed at me.


And this wasn't meatloaf... I was so confused.


Since the Berlin concert was being filmed, for a live broadcast and for a rumored DVD, we wanted to make it special. And since Gackt had declared on his Twitter a few days before that girls should not wear underwear and that it was flattering to have it thrown onto the stage, we decided to do just that.

After some quick shopping around, we found two matching, lacey and padded red bras (one for Jon and one for Gackt) while Vivi got a pair of red panties to throw to You (one of the guitarists), whom she has an eternal crush on.

But you get a photo of a Lego Giraffe instead.


That night, suffering from a little bit of illness, sleep evaded me completely. I laid awake, worrying and fretting, dozing off on occasion only to wake up quickly again…

Which meant reflection time on my trip thus far…

Munich was beautiful. And drunk.

Seems German drinking can rival the Russians. Beer gardens, pubs, people drinking on the streets… However, at no moment did I feel unsafe because of it. It seemed as though everyone was there simply to enjoy themselves and to bond with their companions over a couple (or more than) pints.

The city was gorgeous, clean and rich. It felt warm and welcoming and I really wish I had spent more time there, looking at its beautiful churches, museums and learning more about its history. It is definitely a place I would like to return to one day and properly explore.

Yellow Fried Chicks in Munich

Day Vier


[Photo from last year's YFC lives]

My alarm clock went off at five am and I rolled out of bed, ready to take the millions of bobby pins out of my hair and make myself look as fabulous as possible for the day ahead. As fabulous as one can for being a fan that flew almost 7,000 miles in order to see a band called Yellow Fried Chickenz.

I tried my best not to disturb my sleeping roommates, heading out to catch the metro for the industrial part of Munich where the club was located, arriving about fifteen minutes to seven at the Backstage Werk to see some fans had already beat me to the chase.


The grey morning


At too early in the morning

However, I was happy with my position, ready for the almost thirteen hour wait for the concert…
(I never thought I would be one of those crazy fans).


Numbers! Actually, they worked quite well in Munich. Maybe because it was a smaller club.



I introduced myself to everyone that was there, starting conversations and dismissing statements of “Well, that’s a looong story” by reminding everyone just how long we had to wait. Thirteen hours in silence goes by a lot slower than thirteen hours socializing, sharing stories and shouting at any and all cars that happened to drive by us.



We joked amongst each other, harassing a lovely old gentleman that happened to be passing by (faking squeals of delight when his jacket said “G” on it) and insisting he keep his gloves on for the photo that we snapped. Apparantly, he asked if we were models XDDDD and was surprised that we were all just waiting for a band, refusing our insists that he join us.


He was awesome. We all fell in love.


Slowly, a few more people arrived (I got to practice my Japanese with a Japanese fan that had also come cross-continent for the concert) made fun of our beloved by imitating his full-body “head”-banging….


They did a really good job!

… and tagging the signs put up outside the venue which had obviously not realized that this concert was for Yellow Fried Chickenz , making coffee runs.


Who is this Gackt fellow? We’re here for the Yellow Fried Chickenz!


That’s much better!


Ain’t we cute?

Upon returning from our coffee run we saw… *gasp*!

The red buses!!!

Having been moved twice, we finally settled down to form a lax line, Xia writing down numbers for everyone that joined us, playing guessing games and discussing band members…


She was Magnum… hehehehe. “Am I popular?” … “YES!”


A couple of the girls decided to teach me some German (swear words) and giggled continuously about how cute I was (I need to go to more foreign concerts, all the love I get from people ^___^)


They were so sweet.

Actually, I had been a little concerned going to Germany for the shows. But just about everyone was so amazing, so friendly and so happy to be there, so welcoming and the time really did fly by…


The sign grew and grew… Got tagged more and more.


All of us are going to….


#FreeJon!


A familiar face! We all cheered for Crazy D~


My new family. We really had a fantastic time together, I think…

The line kept growing…


And growing



Someone went around filming video messages... Mine starts around the 2:00 mark...

Soon we were being let past the first round of security and then waiting for a short time outside the venue doors, cheering when the film crew came out and before we knew it….

We were inside.


Of course, being inside just meant another an hour and a half wait, alternating between sitting down and standing. I talked to a Russian fan that was near us and chatted with the security guy behind the barrier, who said he was shocked that so many people came for a band that he had never heard of~

People starting to come inside the venue...



Seven-thirty came around and the announcements from the motha-fukkin’ press secretary got us riled up, shouting “Ous!” and then cheering loudly as Shinya led the very-much-on-time band onto the stage (and making sure my hair was tied up properly before it began).

To be honest, I don’t think I could write up a report of the actual concert. But I was immersed like never before in both the new and old music, shouting when called to, singing the lyrics and screaming at all the fucking fanservice, Ughhhhh~♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ Damn skippy it was a hot show.


There was a bra thrown onstage (that got caught on Gackt’s sound equipment), squeals whenever Jon and Gackt decided to put their hands (and groins) all over each other, making sure that Iris was still hanging onto my shoulders, breathlessness at the sweetness of the Show Your Heart ballad, heart-hands exchanged with You-san, starting chants of “Aniki” and “Daisuki” with Xia, being the only group of girls that knew to be silent when Gackt shouted for his brothers, holding hands with other fans high above our heads, fighting for a tie, singing the chorus of Uncontrol, laughing, crying, screaming, smirking, worrying and everything in between.


At the end of the show, once the band had left but Chacha was still getting the crowd to cheer, was our misfortune. Iris had been struggling with her health now but toughed out the concert in the second row by clinging onto me. I moved her to the front, Xia and I guarding her from the still-pushing crowd and when the security came over, he lifted her over the barrier and took her to the back of the venue.


A bit too worried about her to even notice that the concert had finished, once the crowd cleared up I ran up to talk to the security to find out what had happened, waiting until they let me through and sending one of the other girls to find her father who had left the concert halfway through.

After a lot of worry and talking to the medical staff who insisted she would be okay, waiting to make sure, we went off to gather up our things and head back to the venue, sending texts to Iris so that she could respond to them when able to. Finally leaving her to the professionals, we headed out; needing showers, food and rest, very very slowly coming off the high of being pumped to the brim with Vitamin G ^_~

And finally…

The damage that night.

But you know what. It was very much worth it.


(The Berlin report will be filled with all my Dears community insight/reflection)

Driving Towards a Fairytale

Day Drei


Upon researching my trip to Munich, I came across a location I knew I had to visit: Neuschwanstien Castle.


[photo from online website]

Built in the 1800s by Ludwig the Second, it was the inspiration of the famous Disney Land castle centuries later and stands proudly near the Austrian border. Originally, I had planned to take a tour up to the castle, but Iris and her father said they too had wanted to see the castle and thus I elected to tag along with them for the day.



The car trip that we had originally predicted to take about an hour and a half lasted over three due to some directional confusion, but I sat happily in the backseat, listening to their Dutch banter and enjoying the view of driving along the German countryside (even if I did start nodding off a little toward the ending on the trip).




Cows….

After passing through many tiny towns, we finally stopped the distant form of a castle up in the mountains and quite quickly, it grew larger and larger.


OMG, looooook~

Although I had seen a few photos of the castle, it really is a wonder to witness in person. We parked and decided to eat (all hungry from the long journey and deciding it was best before the hike up) but the lunch lasted longer than expected too.


I think we were all sleepy from the drive and needed some caffeine.


Not as delicious as they looked T____T Sadness


I had wanted to take a tour of the inside of the castle, but it was already well past noon due to our time delays and thus decided to put that off. However, it was probably for the best since when we completed the hike and got into the courtyard we saw that there was incredible number of people waiting to go inside… Perhaps, it could be an excuse to return in a few years in order to properly tour the castle.







But even being outside the extremely tall walls and seeing the view from around the castle was incredible. Inside the courtyard, we saw a bridge not far off and trekked up to see if there was a good view from there.




The other nearby castle

It was quite a drop from the top of the bridge and sweet Iris and her father were both a bit nervous about it, a little to my amusement (Sorry)



Then again, I’m not afraid of heights. We got back down and then walked around the nearby lake, driving out to the nearby town of Füssen before leaving.


Cute little German town.

Back in Munich, Iris and her father dropped me off at the train station and we said our goodnights to each other, exhausted but already mentally preparing for the following day.

It was slightly past eleven when I finally got into my hotel, not normally late, but I planned a five am wake up the following morning was the reason I had planned my entire trip… I went to bed a little after midnight, ready to rest but eager to awake, knowing that in the morning, I would have to be ready to become a little yellow fried chick ^_~

Arriving in München

Days Eins und Zwei

I realize that I have gotten to be quite spoiled. Not everyone is able to take major vacations every six or so months, and I really had planned to spend the entire summer slaving away, hard at work. But that really is not my ideal, so at the beginning of summer I planned a short vacation to Germany.




As always, I began my journey in San Francisco, prepping to leave the country and buying gifts for the friends I would see. The plane ride was a long one, four hours to Chicago from which I had an hour and a half delay on account of the airplane requiring to be fixed (worrisome in anything situation) and then another eight to Munich.



While I have traveled abroad often this was my first time being truly alone. The summer before, I met a friend in the Tokyo Narita airport immediately after going through customs and all other times have been with exchange groups or family. But finally I was alone, following German signs for the underground train line into the very heart of the city to find my hotel.

Upon my arrival, I was informed that I was too early for check-in but if I left almost immediately, I would be able to make it in time into the city square for a free tour.

The tour was just a walk to some nearby recognizeable landmarks, starting in Marienplatz, the city square, by the beautiful new town hall.



From there, it was a roam around, each stop containing history lessons about the city.



One of the stops was the church Frauenkirche that was said to be built with the help of the Devil as it took a mere 20 years and the inner columns create the illusion that there are no windows.


No windows! Except the one in the back, but that was added on after the church was built.


Oh look, a window.


The footprint of the Devil! Who was supposed so furious when he found out there were actually windows that he stomped his foot and left that imprint.
Not that big, probably a size 10... Genuinely, it it most like the footprint of the architect.

We stopped by what is supposedly the most famous pub in the world, the Hofbräuhaus, and were told about how customers used to urinate outside on the street between beers (O_____<), the site of Hitler’s Beer Hall Putsch in 1923, the opera house and such.
Hofbräuhaus. On the second day, Iris, her father and I tried to go inside and get a table but....


Too many people. And there are three floors that we saw, an outside garden, a patio... all full. Noisy like you cannot imagine.


The inner outside garden...

So we went to a smaller pub/cafe just across the building, got a table right away as a group left...


They left their glasses behind so I snapped a photo.


Black current juice~! Not too bad, being a non-drinker in Bavaria then..


Cannot read German menus... At all. Luckily, Iris and her father translated things for me when we ate lunch together. So nice of them *____*
I will buy them dinner even if it kills me...


Area around the pub.

The tour stopped by the Royal Residenz building and the rain clouds that had been building all day finally released their hold after a loud clap of thunder, soaking the streets heavily. I walked back to the city square station in the rain, getting rather wet in the process but without an umbrella.

I went to sleep early (having been awake for almost a full two days because of the travel) set to meet a friend from the Netherlands the following afternoon.
Unfortunately, my phone turned out not to have switched time zones properly and when I awoke at what I believed to be seven am, it was actually ten. I did not realize this until I checked my watch an hour later and saw, to my severe shock, that it said it was actually eleven in the morning O___O

Getting everything together very quickly after that, I went for a quick and rather delicious pastry breakfast and then headed out to find my Dutch friend, Iris.



The interesting thing was that Iris and I had actually met only a year before, while we were both visiting Osaka, Japan. We happened on each other by chance at a concert and in truth, we were both planning our trip to Germany due to the same musician touring in Europe. A silly dedication, some might say, but it is what has brought me to have so many friends around the world.

The day was spent by walking around the city casually, visiting a couple of places I had stopped the day before, eating German food and then some very non-German food, stopping by stores which purses that cost as much as the cost of my entire trip, and chatting… a lot. Then again, I am a very talkative person and the day went very quickly.


Lots of cute tourist shops


The metro! Which is actually extremely easy to use, goes everywhere, not too expensive... I love a good metro system.

Lot of construction but...

They covered a lot of the buildings in tarps that look like the building? So it's kind of cool. Not unsightly, at least.


Market area


Hehehehe, seems excessive, doesn't it? I mean, really? One was not enough?


*________________*
Meeeeeeeeeeat.



Beer garden. O____o Does the beer grow on trees?


More stalls


Totem pole thingie... I forgot what it is called.
But apparantly towns steal them from each other. The last major was stolen in 2006 (?) from the airport. The airport called the police. The police cracked up because... they were the ones that stole it >_____<


During WWII, a lot of graveyards were destroyed. And after, matching gravestones that survived to their sites was almost impossible. So they put the tombstones on the church walls.

UND!

The most expensive street in Munich!

Not too many photos because it was rather intimidating... and we were too *___* Looking inside the stores, wandering inside LV, Gucci, a couple others. Iris got starry eyed over wallets while I looked at fur coats. So Russian of me.


There were a few of these..


And food!


Salad and....


Wiener Schnitzel!
I had to try... Pretty good. Although the potatoes were really the best *___*

For dinner (took us quite a long time to find a place that was not booked)

Guilty pleasures... We found a very small but very authentic Japanese restaurant.
I missed ramen so much so.....


Iris and I got to practice our Japanese with the waitress. So exciting~
*needs to remind self that I am in Germany*

Also, over the day and a half I have been in Munich, I have heard about and seen more beer than I have ever before in my entire life. Yet, I do not drink so while I do feel like I am missing out a little bit, it is rather more fun to see the young men having their bachlor parties, so drunk that they almost cannot tell that their friends have dressed them up as women.

(Photos will be added later)