text:
Moulmein (Mawlamyne)

Day 25: Back in business

It was a 3,5 hour drive in a wobbly bus that was packed with mostly locals. They have this wicked middle row system, to make sure 5 people fit in one row. I could hardly move my legs. I am not the bus type at all. Half ways we had a stop in a shocking dirty place were a few vendor ladies tried to sell us their stuff. Like in Kinpun, the people here at Thanton are not friendly and of a totally different kind then all the other people we've seen during our travelling through Myanmar. Everything was covered with mud and the garbage was laying everywhere. For us, it is totally shocking to see that everybody just throws their litter in the streets and obviously don't care at all.

Some bitching vendor ladies:

We were so glad the bus stopped and dropped us off at the bus station of Moulmein. Nightmare ride was over. We took a tuktuk that brought us the the Sandelwood (1.000K each). We called them this morning to make a reservation because our reserved hotel for the next two days, the Cinderella, is full today. The Sandelwood is okay, not really charming, but spotless and the room is very well equipped, a drying! I love that, the first I've seen in Myanmar.

We took a long hot shower to wash off all the dirt and negative vibes we collected in Kinpun and in the bus. Because the wifi works really good here, I took a look on Tripadvisor for food suggestions. Not many. When we went downstairs to go out, we met a Dutch guy Gerrit who gave us many tips for exploring town and her surroundings. He rented a scooter, which he thought was totally safe here, and showed us the place where we immediately booked one for the next two days.

We had a lovely dinner at Ykko a very modern and clean place next to the river. They have an extensive menu, also one for coffee. So this is the place where I hang out for some decent cappuccino tomorrow,..yeahhhh!
The food was delicious. We both liked it a lot. It's not Myanmar style (I am a bit done with Myanmar food), more Japanese. Truly a highly recommended restaurant and very affordable, slightly more expensive then the other places we've been to (between 2.000-4.500K per dish).

We went to bed early. Both exhausted from the hell journey and the awful place called Kinpun. If I had known all this....well what we say in Holland: Looking back, you look a cow in it's ass hole. What a ridiculous phrase,... now I think of it, hahahaa.

Day 26: You are so nice Moumein!

We had a quick breakfast (don't bother....the usual tasteless bread, eggs and fake orange juice). Why do they feed us this? We pay 40$ a night, I guess a proper breakfast with a little more choice must be possible for this amount of money? I can't stand eggs anymore.
We checked out and went to the Cinderella. It was still raining, what a bummer!

Our room wasn't ready yet so we killed some time in the lobby using their wifi, which is super fast at the Cinderella.

When they showed us our room, 45 minutes later, we were indeed very pleasantly surprised. It comes with a laptop, an iron, 2 bath robes, a fridge full of drinks (and Heineken beer), wet cold refreshing towels (all cheaper then outside), complimentary fresh fruit (every day) as well as fruit juice. Really amazing, what a service. The beds are also very comfortable and for the first time in Myanmar we had a real duvet instead of a sheet and a blanket. What a treat! No more nightly hassles.

I like to say to all the Myanmar hotel owners, take the Cinderella hotel as an example how well quality/service versus price level can be achieved. Why is the Cinderella able to provide a fantastic service for such a decent price (35$ for a room, the cheapest rate we had in Myanmar) and all you (greedy) hotel owners are not able to provide at least half of this service and comfort but you charge so much more. This kind of misplaced greediness works now, because there are not enough hotels, but eventually will turn against you (at least that is what I hope).

We quickly unpacked and jumped on our scooter.

First stop, the train station for our train tickets back to Yangon. The place looks totally deserted (trains are the worst way of transportation in Myanmar, but we thought to give it a try anyway).

This is how it works:

After this old skool train ticket adventure, we hit the road for the second destination of the day: the declining buddha. Half ways we saw a Thai restaurant were we had a (same same but different) Myanmar style pad thai with a real Singha. When we arrived at Yadana Taung we were pretty shocked...this buddha, wow this is buddha is really biggggggggg! If you thought you'd seen some big old buddhas, just wait till you get a load of this one (quote from the bible). Draped across a couple of green hillsides at Yadana Taung, and surrounded by a forest of other pagoda's and shrines, it's recently constructed 560ft-long reclining buddha is easily one of the largest in the world. Many other stupas and standing buddhas dot the area , including 500 (!!) statues lining the road to the Win Sein Taw Ya.

The whole place looks a bit, well how shall I put it, like Monks Disneyland? We walked all the way inside this big guy, while Klaas noticed that the construction is poorly done and that soon the whole thing probably will collapse because of rotten concrete. We thought it was a strange 'building'. Inside there were many sculptures of people representing daily life back in the days? It looked rather like a deserted prison. Not really something to spent a lot of time. We took the scooter again and went all the way up the opposite mountain for some good snapshots of this large (almost to collapse) buddha.

Back in town we explored lovely Moulmein. The town has several monasteries with beautiful pagoda's. The first one was lovely (it inspired the English writer George Orwell who lived in Moulmein for a while). It was covered with mirrors, rubies and diamonds named 'Mahamuni Paya'.
The second one we visited, 'the Kyaikthanlan Paya', was taking our breath away. We didn't expect this place to be so cool.

The view from this pagoda was breathtaking. The pagoda itself is so well maintained, we were very impressed.
We went back to the Cinderella and took the bottle of wine, we bought at the beach, and headed for the viewpoint, the place for sunset. I read in some reports that this sunset is the best of Myanmar and I agree!

Of all the sunsets I saw, this is definitely the most authentic one. And there we sat, on a concrete bench, with a chilled bottle of white wine enjoying the view. It was a fun place to hang around because the local youth eats their food here (there is a vendor who was so smart to start a small BBQ stall). We are still some kind of attraction. Everybody stares at us (secretly) and giggles nervously when we try to start a conversation.

When the sun disappeared we were already quit tipsy.

The BBQ stall made us hungry so we decided to go to the beer garden 2, a BBQ place, according to the bible the place with truly talented grillers and indeed: truly talented! BUT, the place looks dreadful. A big concrete garden with plastic chairs and along the sides big see through refrigerators stuffed with all kinds of vegetables, meat and fish. You just point out what you want them to grill.

We took some squid, chicken, cornflower, small eggs, which all comes wit a separate delicious spicy sauce. Klaas is a BBQ lover so he had the time of his life. I am more sensitive for the way things look, so I wasn't really impressed, though the grilled items were very tasteful. It wasn't dirt cheap though. We paid 16.000K which I think was a bit too expensive for what we had.
Social life in Myanmar stops around 8/9pm, so we went to bed early and read for some time in our e-books. Still so happy with the 400 books I brought with me :-)

Day 27: OOOH NO! NOT AGAIN...!

And there we are, climbing a huge mo.. fuc.. mountain: 4 hours up, 2 hours down, counted in Dutch tempo. Outside temperature: at least 40 degrees. After we had breakfast, slightly better then what Sandelwood offers (extra: papaya and chicken soup) we jumped on the scooter and headed for the other direction, 'The Nwa la bo Pagoda'. In the jungle-cloaked hill to the north of Moulmein the Tolkienesque side of the country comes to life in an extraordinary fashion at the Nwa la bo Pagoda, a local pilgrimage side. Very few foreigners make it out here, which is surprising because the pagoda is a smaller but, geologically at least, far more astonishing version of the Golden Rock in Kinpun (quote from the bible). Since we missed the real Golden Rock for all the wrong reasons, I was convinced never to visit any other Golden Rock in the whole wide world, but while we are here and still feel a bit tricked, we decided to hike all the way up to the second best Golden Rock Myanmar has to offer.

We scootered 12 miles north (lovely to drive across the bridge out of town) and parked our scooter around 10am near the entrance of the path that leads to the golden boulder. The first truck to the summit of the mountain didn't leave before 11am so we decided to start walking. One of the vendors told us: 'Two hour up and two hours down'. Okay we thought, we can do this with two fingers in our nose. Water: check. Biscuits: check. Sneakers: check. Camera: check. Suncream: check.

Off we go. After 45 minutes we were already totally out of breath (read: death). The path was so so steep, hallelujah. We stopped for a while to take some pics of women carrying big bundles of grass on their heads. While we gave them some Dutch souvenirs (they all love the lanyards from my former employer) a 4-wheel drive passed us. They stopped asking us if we wanted a lift. Oooh yes...we want a lift! So the both of us were squeezed in the back of the vehicle with some peasants, their tools and a tourist. We drove at least 20 minutes (fast tempo) to the summit.

Want to join our ride?

Can you imagine how long this would have taken us by foot?? Yes we can too..this would have taken us ages!! My god, this vendor lady almost killed us with her 'only two hours to the summit' story. Our bum was totally fractured after the bumpy ride, but we made it. The other tourist, a French lady wasn't feeling well. She suffered from food poisoning and run straight to the bushes to take a .. When she returned she was white as a sheet! When we asked her if she was okay, she rushed to the bushes again where she couldn't stop vomiting. Poor poor woman!
We left her (her own wish) and climbed a few stairs that lead to the Golden boulder. And this is what we saw:

Another Golden Rock under renovation.

I just couldn't stop laughing. This is Myanmar playing with us! But why? We behaved ourselves, we were good travellers? Weren't we?
Anyway, we pulled ourselves together and started the hike back. We calculated a 2 hour walk. And it was.

I was worn out. Death. Not able to speak anymore! My legs were shaking and I already suffer from major muscular pains. But I did it. (Klaas had no problems what so ever, grrrrr). We had a coca cola, which gave me some of my strength back so I could sit on the scooter again. We went back to Moulmein and had a quick lunch at the Mothers & Fathers help restaurant. Nice view but incredibly dirty and smelly place. The rest of the afternoon we stayed in our air conditioned room just doing nothing.
For diner we went back to Ykko and ordered many small dishes. Again delicious food and the view from our seats was also really good.

Day 28: The train....never ever ever again!

So here we are, for the last bit of my travel journal. I am sitting in a fantastic place in Bangkok, called 'The Legacy Suites' writing an end to my Myanmar confessions, and specially about our last day in Myanmar. And that day was...well how shall I describe it, kind of special. I wish now, that this day wasn't going to be our last travel experience in Myanmar, but it was, so I tell you all about it. Before you start reading, I really can't think of anything good of this particular day, so be prepared: this is going to be a dreadful story about a train journey. Great book title by the way :-)

The morning of our departure by train to Yangon, a tuktuk brought us to the train station. So far so good. When we arrived at the station a guy hand pointed at us to follow him. While I was walking a saw two Dutch blokes (you can see it from miles distance). I knew one of the guys so I told him: 'Hey I know you, but I can't remember from when or where!'. The other one said: 'Maybe from AT5 Television?' 'That might be true', I replied, 'I work also often for television companies'. Six hours later I figured out he was one of the anchor man of that broadcast company... that's why he looked so familiar. Stupid me!
Anyway, we arrived at our carriage and I just could not believe my this an upper class carriage? Seriously? Yes seriously.

I just could not believe that we were about to sit in this dump for at least 8 hours (this is what they told us at the train station, but you know Myanmar people by now...). The chairs were all loose and wobbly, not to mention the (lack of) hygiene of the cushions. Disgusting. How many people vomited on my chair or worse, did other things I just don't want to know....I wasn't feeling very well that morning and entering this train didn't make it any better.

We shared the compartment with 14 other white (French) travellers, the rest was all Indian or from Myanmar.
When the train departed it went verrrrrryyyyyy sloooooowwwwwwwww and it made a hell of a lot of noise....hoooooooooonkkkkkkk hoooooooonkkkkkkkkkkk. We thought that this was because of start up problems but I can tell you now, the speed of a Myanmar train will not go higher then 20 km an hour. Seriously? Yes seriously!

So after 1 hour we found out that:
*The train driver basically honks all the time (and this is a really horrific loud sound which sets your teeth on edge);
*that the train doesn't go fast;
*stops every minute or so;
*millions of vendors walk up and down the carriage to sell their stuff CONSTANTLY! (And other strange species...)

Like this holy ghost:

All these kind of annoying things were still pretty 'do-able' but what wasn't, was this guy, our neighbour:

He was constantly (!) rasping & spitting, making a hash sound so loud and filthy, all the non-Myanmar people in our carriage were disgusted by him. When he was done, the lump of spit went out of the window. I think there are at least a thousand lumps of spit along the Moulmein-Yangon route. I wanted to say something about his viscous manners, but Klaas made me promise to shut the f...up. The French people already made annoyed face gestures to him, but this guy just didn't give a shit. He's what I believe the embodiment of a true governmental ass hole. I think they all look like him, the people who oppressed the inhabitants of Burma for such a long time, just because they were in power and thought they deserved it to be greedy and selfish at the expensive of the majority of the Burmese population. I might be painfully wrong, (my apologies) but I doubt it.

Klaas and I weren't feeling 100% fit (understatement). I suffered from diarrhoea along with many cramps and I felt sick the whole time. Klaas felt awkward too. We couldn't eat and when we saw the toilet, we decided to stop drinking as well.

There is one positive thing to tell, and that are the views from the train. You see so many kids waving at the train. Very cute, but their living circumstances are far from good. We've seen so much poorness, brrrrrrr. So I threw all the amenities I collected from the hotels we stayed in, like brushes, shaving kits, toothpaste, shampoo etc., out of the window. No idea if this is a wise thing to do?

But we also saw incredible amounts of litter, everywhere you look you see garbage and litter!

Anyway, the 8 hours became 9 hours, 10 hours, 11 hours and exactly 12 hours after we left Moulmein we entered Yangon. I have never been so ready to jump out of a train. This was the most ultimate disaster ride in my whole life.

We pre-booked our previous hotel in Yangon 4 weeks ago and did a down payment. From the station to the hotel was only a 15 minutes walk. They didn't raise the price of our room (!) so everything was the same as how we left it: still no working wifi (despite the 150 wifi stickers covering all the walls), no attentive staff, a camphor smelling room, but a comfy bed an air con and a hot shot shower. What more do I need?
I felt really sick and low on energy. The idea to eat something did not appeal to me at all but we figured out that we had to eat something after this hell journey. Around the corner of our hotel we found a lunch room were we ordered some take away sandwiches. Good choice, I managed to eat one and went to bed at 9pm.

Day 29: Bye bye Myanmar!

When I woke up I was a new person. Me happy, back in the land of the living! We packed our bags and decided to have breakfast at the airport of Yangon. We had an appointment with May (Peacehouse Travel) at 10am and waited for her in the lobby. She came with a colleague, both very funky dressed!

May explained to us how bad she felt how things with the aircraft companies are going at this point in time in Myanmar. She thought choosing KBZ was the best option for us since they have the most air planes and so are the most reliable company. A wise thought, but unfortunately that didn't work out for our flight from Thandwe to Yangon. May understands that she can't sell this to her customers, so she called the boss of KBZ. Again, wise thought. He agreed upon a 15$ administration fee instead of 30% of the full ticket price. We were very thankful to May that she managed this. I was also happy that we saw her before we left. She is such a sweet lady and I highly recommend her travel agency Peacehouse Travel.

And that was it. We kissed May goodbye and took a taxi to the airport. The four weeks travelling in Myanmar are over. But a week Bangkok was waiting.

MisterXulita said...

hey i love your site, i wrote also a blog with some info about myanmar and i wonder if we could share the put it in your site and i do the same. Check it if you like it

Snap said...

So glad I found this post on Myanmar. I've been researching it for an upcoming trip. I'll be going over your information with a fine tooth comb...thanks for sharing :)

Elles Paijens said...

@snap, thank you so much!!!

Anonymous said...

Such an interesting read! Definitely taken note about the Cinderella hotel!

Dawa Tsering said...

Wow. That's really cool. I had been to Burma in April and stayed there for month. Any plan to visit again?

Elles Paijens said...

No Dawa, I've been there now, seen it twice and this was it!

Thanks anyway. Bye

Kevin Hayden said...

The negative undertones throughout your blog are a little unfair. You should keep in mind that these people have been living under a murderous regime for decades, they live from hand to mouth yet will walk miles to return your wallet or purse. They have very little or no formal education, yet they are the most resourceful people I know. They recycle much more than us in the so called "land of the living". The Burmese are still human beings, we are human doings. Because of our needs BP caused more pollution in five minutes than the Burmese have in 200 years. Pity the tourists have to step over plastic bags hein. And I am an environmentalist!

gonewithewind said...

I am glad to read your post in June. It was my 10 days trip in Burma.

I stayed at Cinderella when travelling to Moulmein. The hotel service was really good. Love beautiful temples and some deserted churches.

I have some photos taken during the trip.

aleena rose said...

Great details here, better yet to discover out your blog which is fantastic. Nicely done!!!
vietnam holiday

aleena rose said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

I have to agree with Kevin Hayden to some extent. I feel like quite a few of your posts about Burma have negative undertones that are based on very Western expectations. I've watched your video of the train and honestly, while the guy spitting is pretty gross, it really doesn't look unclean or cramped. I think you might have found it different if you understood/respected Burmese history/culture a bit more as a frame of reference for what you experience out there.

James Evans said...

Wow. Having never met you I could be wrong but you do not come across a a nice person.

Elles Paijens said...

Hi James Evans,
Thanks for your lovely and inspiring words.

Elles Paijens said...

@Kevin Hayden
What a pity that you haven't really read what a wrote (or you haven't been there).
But fair enough, freedom of speech. Anyway happy travels.

dewa arief said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Traveller's Board Myanmar said...

Even though I feel bit harsh about this article ( for me, who come from Myanmar), still I like to point out what went wrong for a traveler from the west in Myanmar.
Since I have living in the Netherlands for quite some time, I know how direct they can be and how please you are when you find out it is not personal, it is just someone’s point of view.

Anonymous said...

Hi, I am 65 from the uk. I do not wear white socks, stay in upscale hotels and I have been to south east asia 11 times and 12 to india. I have also been to amsterdam twice. I actually knew that all dutch people did not wear clogs as I do not stereotypy people unlike you have in your blog. as soon as I read that I lost all interest.

Whatelles said...

Anonymous (easy complaining without a name),
You don't have to read it. Actually, please don't.
Happy travels anyway.

Whatelles said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Alleghe said...

This is great revealing content. Thank you I really appreciate the unique articles you write. provide this Alleghe

Anonymous said...

I'm sorry but the negative vibe, high and unreasonable western expectations, lack of knowledge and historical awareness let you paint Burma what i would call 'wrong'.

I would not take this as gospel, Burma can be a lot better that this with the right attitude. One of my favourite countries actually. I do not agree with the picture painted here.

Elles Paijens said...

@last Anonymous. Safely complaining without mentioning your name, and posting comments that makes me wonder if you have read my blog at all. I am in love with Burma.

Dream said...

I hope all the hotels, transport companies and travel agencies of Myanmar read your reviews and upgrade their service.

Louisette said...

Een mooie post voor een mooie plaatje, groetjes uit Belgie

Michael said...

Hi Elles. I found youre blog very interesting and informativ. My wife and me, we are traveling since 6 years from Germany to SEA with bicycles. We went to almost all SEA states and Myanmar will be one of the last one on our long tour. Our son is born on the way in Cambodia and we wrote a lot about our storys in different forums. It was one of my worst expirience. People just dont know. They think they read something about a country and travel maybe a few weeks an then judge others for the experience stated in blogs etc. I think i know exactly what you encountered on this sh..ty train. And for this. We decide to take a bus this time. Because sometimes it is impossible to cycle all the way with a 2 year old boy. Dont give a fu** what the Anonymous people write. Keep on writing the truth. Thanks and best regards. Michael, Sybille & Maximilian (The Khmer) from cycle-for.a-better-

Elles Paijens said...

Hi Michael, thanks for your lovely post. I am very very impressed by all your (I feel tiny now). Happy travels and thank you so so much! Elles

GonzalezRevo said...

So glad I found this post on Myanmar. i came to your for the first time.I've been researching it for an upcoming information by you. I'll be going over your information with a fine tooth comb...thanks a ton.. for sharing :)

Elles Paijens said...

Thanks a lot Gonzalez!!

Jess Rowe said...

I find this to be a damaging write up on Myanmar and to be frank, racist in parts. To put a photograph up of a man you were disgruntled with on a train ride? The mind boggles at such behavior. There is truthful writing and then there is cultural insensitivity. As a tourist, I hope you will consider the latter when posting a public blog such as this in the future. As a foreigner living in Yangon, I certainly hope Myanmar people do not believe we all think like you.

Elles Paijens said...

Thans Jess for your comment. I totally disagree, but I do not feel like getting in a discussion with you. I've received hundreds of private e-mails of people all over the world telling me how happy they were with my blog. Also from travellers after they returned from Myanmar. They said it was exactly how I described it. Any how, thanks for your post. I hope it helps other travellers.

Great Journeys said...

You had a really nice blog.Thanks for the post and if you love to visit different places then you may go and visit Cambodia. It is simply an amazing place to visit and enjoy. You can also join the Cambodian Language Course to get some more help.

Jackson said...

Everyone has their own opinions & views
Your criticisms of some of Myanmar's problems may be founded but you do sound selfish & self centered
Nice comment on kids ” crying little monsters"
To bad your parental units didn't feel that way,eh

Keep your crappy attitude out of California

Whatelles said...

Hi Jackson,
Thanks for the comment. It's very informative and helpful towards other travelers.

Thanks again,

myanmar tours said...

Exclusive info.. thanks for sharing.

Elles Paijens said...

Thanks Myanmar Tours, appreciate it! Elles

travel to myanmar said...

Ultimate information.. Thanks for sharing.

Myanmar Tours said...

Exclusive !!

jasmin jew said...

Informative post.. Thanks

Burma Travel

sirking said...

Wonderful article, thanks for putting this together! This is obviously one great post. Thanks for the valuable information and insights you have so provided here. scooterbanden

myanmar travel and tour said...

nice post..thanks for sharing.

Gonzalez Revo said...

Very nice info for new traveller to Myanmar. I took help your site and Myanmar based travel site like Oway to do all travel planning and booking for my family. Thanks

Whatelles said...

Thank you very much Gonzalez!

Myanmar Tours said...

superb post.. thanks

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Gonzalez Revo said...

Old, but excellent post. I recently traveled to Myanmar. Lot of things have changed. Lot of hotels and facilities. Online booking was earlier not avialbale, but you can do that now with sites like Oway

Elles Paijens said...

Thanks Gonzalez. Good to hear that. It goes (super)fast there in Myanmar I see. Wow.

vindiesel1245 said...

Can truly relate and retain this outstanding post. Very well written.
Myanmar travel agency

myanmar tours said...

Myanmar is a legendary holiday destination in south-east of Asia, attracting visitors from around the world to gaze in wonder at iconic sights such as the timeless shwedagon paya

Karen said...

Woow zie er geweldig uit, zou ik binnekort samen met mijn verloofde ook wel eens willen doen. Ik blijf je volgen,

Alvast dank vor de inspiratie !

Elles Paijens said...

Karen, dank je wel. Erg leuk te lezen!

reno silaban said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Arjun Nepal said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
jesi k said...

Phenomenal Blog! I should thank for the endeavors you've produced in composing this post. I'm trusting exactly the same best work from you later on too.yangon city tours

imageofmyanmar said...

Great Help.
Your content is really amazing. Keep up the good work. Thank you so much.
Travel Myanmar


Content-Type: application/http; msgtype=response

WARC-Identified-Payload-Type: text/html

WARC-Type: response

text:
Jan 122014

While hiking in the mountains in Romania, I walked into a field of leafy plants with a path down the middle. I got about half way across when I realized I was surrounded by thousands of these massive, alien-looking things. Thankfully, they weren’t very active.

Ugly ciccada bug on green leaf in Romania

Dec 312012

I’ve had this idea for a little while of Macro Mondays. The problem is I haven’t been taking very many macro shots… they’re pretty fidgety and I really need to get a flash to pull it off properly! So, I’m not officially rolling out macro Mondays, but I took today’s photo with my macro lens and it’s Monday.

This was taken in a small pond in the Sensory Garden of the Botanical Gardens right next to my house. I don’t think I really got close enough to call it macro, but it’s pretty cool just the same.

Small goldfish in a pond, taken from above the water

Oct 192012

I mentioned a while back that I managed to stretch my insurance money for the stolen equipment pretty far by purchasing second hand items as much as I could. This meant that I added a macro lens to my arsenal. I’ve always been interested in macro photography but never really given it a try. It’s definitely not easy and I’m already learning that shooting macro in natural light is incredibly difficult. I’ll be purchasing some sort of flash as soon as possible.

One bonus I’ve got is that one of my windows functions like an ever changing terrarium. It’s got a load of leaves and vines over it and all sorts of little creatures turn up, including today’s photo of a lizard. This guy was about 4 inches long.

Macro closeup of green and yellow Bermuda lizard with protruding eye on a leaf

Jul 112012

I admire photographers who notice the little things. I’ve got an obsession with capturing sweeping vistas and the vastness of the world I encounter. It makes me miss a lot of the small details. It’s nice to spot something small and carefully figure out how to capture it. Tonight’s photo was taken in a stream in Romania. I lay down in the stream and got very wet for this shot. The focus is a little soft, but I like it none the less. It’s a good reminder to remember the little things when I’m out with my camera. One day I may even invest in a macro lens.

Wild yellow mushrooms with raindrops in a stream in Romania.

warcinfo:
robots: classic
hostname: ip-10-143-72-160.ec2.internal
software: Nutch 1.6 (CC)
isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2018-22
operator: Common Crawl Admin
description: Wide crawl of the web for May 2018
publisher: Common Crawl
format: WARC File Format 1.0
conformsTo: http://bibnum.bnf.fr/WARC/WARC_ISO_28500_version1_latestdraft.pdf


text:
November 23, 2010 > Movie Review: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1

Movie Review: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1

By Jennifer Gau

Expect the movie to be a long one; all the clues point to it. The previous movies, directed by David Yates, were a minimum of two hours. "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" is also the thickest book (with 759 pages) of seven that J.K. Rowling wrote. J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series are popular for their magical action-packed mysteries. In this installment, the old crew - Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson) - embark on a journey to find and destroy the last horcruxes. They are constantly teleporting from place to place because Lord Voldemort's (Ralph Fiennes) hooligans are hot on their tails. Finding the horcruxes are not easy, but luckily Dumbledore left them some small clues in his will.

We see Harry barely holding onto hope with his comrades who become fugitives with him. The weight of the world is on Harry's shoulders. Only he or Lord Voldemort may survive in the world, and eventually they will face each other for the final battle. Harry needs to avenge all those innocent lives that Lord Voldemort has taken the in past, and preserve all those that he might take in the future. Good friends are priceless and there to help through even the toughest of situations. Harry, Ron, and Hermione are still teenagers with raging hormones. Although Ron gets jealous and lets his emotions affect his decisions, he comes back to his senses when Harry needs him most.

Sound and music amplify the magical events in each scene which is important for its fantasy genre. For example, the locket horcrux sends out a small scream every time Harry or Hermione tries to cast a deadly spell on it signifying some hidden enchantments on the item protecting it from destruction. The characters are panicked and rushed through many scenes which Yates does well with transitions when necessary. Whenever Harry gets a glimpse at what Lord Voldemort is up to, Yates differentiates those scenes as only moments that Harry needs to be tormented with by blurring the edges of the scene and changing the colors to a grey tone.

Anybody following the Harry Potter series gains a little confidence within themselves. Harry Potter, as a character, is popular because he sends the message that no matter what role you play, as long as you fight for what's right, you can be a hero. Lord Voldemort represents evil in pure form. He is always searching for ways to become immortal and kill all the non-magical people in the world. This time, he is collecting the Deathly Hollows to solidify his existence and defy death. The audience will have to wait until "Deathly Hollows Part 2" comes out next year to see the outcome.

Runtime: 2 hour 30 minutes
Rated: PG-13

Home        Protective Services Classifieds   Community Resources   Archived Issues
About Us   Advertising   Comments   Subscribe   TCV Store   Contact

Tri Cities Voice What's Happening - click to return to home page

Copyright © 2018 Tri-City Voice


text:
was successfully added to your cart.

Bedroom Design Trends

By September 30, 2015Whats New

Luxe room shotNo room should be more intimate and luxurious than your bedroom. It takes extra thought and effort to create the perfect space that provides you with the feeling of having your own private sanctuary. Designs trends are ever changing, but here are some ideas to create a fantastic upscale bedroom.

Make a Multipurpose space

Your bedroom can be a great place for more than just sleeping, so include some extras that allow you to do other things with the space. Add in some amenities from other areas of the home and make this area multifunctional.

  • Add in a coffee bar and mini fridge to make your favorite morning beverage.
  • Comfortable chairs and a table to relax and get a little bit of work done.
  • Luxury baths and multi-head showers make it feel as though you’re at the spa instead of at home.
  • Build yourself a reading nook to curl up with your favorite book in your own secluded library.
  • Washers and dryers make it easy to tackle laundry at any time.
  • Lots of built-in storage space keeps furniture from getting too cluttered.

Large Wall Décor

There are several great options popping up recently to create a dynamic accent piece or wall in the bedroom.

  • Wallpaper is making a comeback with large prints and designs.
  • Put up an inspirational mural above the bed to create a focal point in the room.
  • Large or full-wall mirrors are becoming a big hit in many bedrooms.
  • Accent walls are more than just a different color these days; have a planked or stone wall on one side of your room.
  • If you are worried about committing to a whole wall, try adding in a large furniture piece instead, such as a planked headboard.

Bold Colors and Textures

Neutrals have been a long-term favorite for bedroom color palettes, but bold colors are making a comeback this year when it comes to linens and furniture.

  • Bright oranges, blues, greens, and pinks are big this year.
  • Large, eye-catching patterns on fabrics are a huge hit.
  • Textured quilts and comforters are all the rage instead of fluffy duvets.
  • Lots of natural sunlight from large windows or skylights can help lighten up the room and also allow you to look at the stars at night.

At Thief River Linen we are committed to utilizing quality fabrics and offer outstanding customer service for retail, interior design, and hospitality industries. We are able to accommodate customization orders and have a wide variety of fabric designs, colors and textures. We would love to work with you on your next project. Contact us at (336) 474-8014 or 800-569-8105 for your fabric needs.


text:
East StratCom disinformation claim:

According to Anna Soroka, representative of the Luhansk separatists, it is necessary for the EU to realise that the prevalent rhetoric in Ukraine is that of radical nationalism.

Documentation for claim

Period/date: 18. November 2016

Debunk claim:

Repeating a myth about “radical nationalists governing Ukraine” that has already been debunked many times. The vast majority of Ukrainians want peace, stability and democracy, as witnessed by the democratic and inclusive Presidential elections held in May 2014, and confirmed by Palriamentary elections held in October 2014.

Documentation for the debunk

Additional information

This information is reported by Oleksandr Nykonorov, journalist for Depoua, blogger, researcher in Disinformation Review issue 50. The item is located at row number 3 in the report.

Click to view the source material, or here to view all reports from issue 50.


WARC-Truncated: length

text:
Virginia building roanoke consolidating

26-Sep-2017 12:49

Our state-of-the-art fusion bond epoxy facility in Birmingham, Alabama allows us to prepare all orders to our stringent specifications.

Our Industrial Division provides high-quality industry-standard piping, valves and components, specialty products, coatings, and more with a full range of specialized support services to meet the needs of any industry.

Consolidated Pipe & Supply is a fully integrated manufacturer and supplier of pipe, valve, and fitting products and services to the industrial, utility, and energy industries.Our Piling and Structural Pipe Division offers a complete inventory of prime and structural carbon steel pipe from our storage and fabrication facilities in Bessemer, Alabama; Houston, Texas; New Orleans, Louisiana; Burlington and Newark, New Jersey yards.


text:
Californians are surveyed each year to gain insights to the housing market from their persepective.In case you are a member wanting to solve a minor dispute or communication difficulty with Yet another REALTOR®, a C.A.R. ombudsman may be able to assist!Residences with a Make Me Shift® price tag suggest the amount the owner(s) will be prepared… Read More

It absolutely was just on an incredibly small cerebral ectopic blip that I decided to websearch the firefall. My father was merely a person that came all-around some situations a 12 months. He really wasn't serious about me or my future oldest brother, but with my oldest brother and sister.It really is Mom's Working day nowadays, May possibly 12, 2… Read More

No person in this article stated everything about complete support vs discount/flat cost/customer rebate or nearly anything like that. They simply stated The reality that commissions are negotiable and never to pick agents entirely dependant on Fee.An correct illustration with the requested useful resource couldn't be observed on this server. This … Read More

It's been an excellent transition because of every one of the helpful and helpful employees.” Alison is seeking ahead to building relationships with residential agents, industrial brokers, and real-estate attorneys with the objective of introducing value to their business.“I like connecting persons and acquiring options for his or her needs and… Read More


WARC-Identified-Payload-Type: application/xhtml+xml

text:
Sunday, April 25, 2010

Perth & the Eggman

I've been invited to exhibit in a group show celebrating the launch of a youth culture television series called "This is how we roll".

The exhibition is to be held in Perth in June.

My Mum and Sister Kim are both from Perth and we all lived there for a little while so it's going to be nice to exhibit one of my pieces in a group show over there.

This is a piece i've been meaning to finish for some time, it's kind of an experimental work because it mixes some different media, something that i've wanted to try for a while.

It's Gouache, Blue & Red Biro and Coloured Pencil.

Here are some progress photos.

I'll post a full picture once it's finished.

Cheers, Troy


text:
Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Early Birthday!

Look at what hubby got for me early this
year for my birthday!!!
So happy to get a slight upgrade compared
to what I was using before.
I am looking foward to mastering all there is
to know about this one.
It was within budget on sale of course.
My next camera hopefully will be
the kind where different lens types can
be used. Those puppies cost a nice chunk.
For now I am very grateful and
want to thank my care bear
for caring about my passions.

                                My little Lani got first dibs on an edited picture.
                                She is such a ham for the camera.
                                Thanks for stopping  by and be blessed!!!

  1. Congrats Candy! I know you'll be putting that to good use!! Your daughter is beautiful! Happy early birthday! :)


text:
Experts Warn Diet of ‘Disturbing’ Cotton Balls to be ‘Extremely Dangerous’

There are a number of YouTube videos giving tips, recipes and instructions on this new fad that has rapidly gained popularity, and happens to be growing cause of concern to many. Termed as the Cotton Ball Diet, the videos promise easy weight loss by taking in juice soaked cotton balls. Very popular with teenagers, these videos show teens eating cotton balls. One example is a self-documentary of a young teenage boy who follows the cotton ball diet and another example being of a young woman in work-out gear who is trying out this diet without mentioning it.

Possibility of Causing Serious Side Effects

ABC 10 News analysed the diet as being “disturbing” and “extremely dangerous.” The major problem is that these cotton balls carry neither minerals nor vitamins and become stagnant in intestines and the stomach. As per statements of a registered dietician, this can be dangerous as the digestive system gets blocked, which gives rise to a number of gastrointestinal complications. The main purpose of swallowing cotton balls is to subdue hunger, but this kind of a diet is bound to have side-effects.

When looked at from the point of view of the big picture, what is even more alarming is that, the diet itself is not as big a problem as easy access to fad diets promising unrealistic results. People, especially adolescents happen to trust the media way more than they should; as such, a video on YouTube is considered to be a strong fact.

Sadly, this is not the first kind of fad diet that has been put out with strange rules. Some more crazy diets have been pointed out by a popular blog, Hello Giggles, and some of the examples are as follows.

One fad diet suggests eating eggs and consuming wine alone and nothing else throughout the day. Yet another popular one advises on drinking a lemonade type of concentrated concoction that is followed for a period of two weeks. Another one suggests eating cookies, grapefruits, and baby food. There is yet another strange one that promotes meals based on World War II rations.

WebMD states that fad diets are famous for the reason that they offer quick solutions to tough problems which otherwise, are painstakingly uphill tasks. As much as a car will need proper dose of gasoline in order to make it run, the body requires a healthy diet in order to develop properly; therefore the body is not going to work properly when deprived. This means there must be a right balance, which includes carbohydrates, fat, protein, vitamins, and a number of other nutrients. These fad diets, regardless of how popular they happen to be, can never offer proper nutrition to render long lasting results!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


text:
Trypticon Strudel.

Cyber Figure ARis

Main site is

Getting the software:

The software does require a serial number to install. It also appears to support multiple figures, so I guess we should expect to see more figures in the future.

Hidden English version?

I was digging around in the program install directory.

On my system it has installed to:

In there, there is a file called ArFigureUpdator.exe.config which has a "bug" which prevents the app from correctly detecting the locale and using the English resources, which -- amusingly enough -- do exist!

Unfortunately there are multiple of these arfi...exe directories at the same level (one for each time the software updates?) so it will be trial and error until you find the right one, but if you modify it like this:

    <LoadFiles culture="en">
        <LoadFileInfo FileName="lang\en\Updator.lang.xml" />
    <LoadFiles culture="ja-JP">
        <LoadFileInfo FileName="lang\jp\Updator.lang.xml" />

Well, the web pane up the top still points to the Japanese web site, so naturally that will still be in Japanese, but everything else looks fine:


text:
Trypticon Strudel.

MikuPa and Kanshasai Final

This page chronicles the main goal of the trip which was to attend Miku no Hi Daikanshasai. The event consisted of four concerts over two days, with the concerts on each day being repeats for the benefit of allowing more fans to see the concert.

With two Hatsune Miku concerts over two days, allowing people from outside Japan to see two concerts for the price of a single trip overseas, this was a perfect chance. Of course, the Sega side being termed "Final" was a concern as well - I would have regretted not seeing Sega's last show, if it really turned out to be the last.

March 8 - Hatsune Miku Live Party ("MikuPa")

The first concert, Hatsune Miku Live Party ("MikuPa" for short), was held on the 8th of March.

We rocked up to the venue shortly after the goods corner opened.

Mass Media

Within a minute after joining the goods queue, Reuters are on top of us with a huge video camera. I guess the hair works at attracting attention (both of us had attention-grabbing hair.)

Reuters' female reporter asks us why we came to the concert and what we like about Hatsune Miku. I try to answer this while the queue is shuffling along at a constant rate (Japanese efficiency!) but the first answer to their first question goes to waste. The second answer to their first question was a bit rushed so it came out different to what I intended, so I regret it a bit (it ended up sounding as though I thought the concert was Miku's last instead of Sega's last.)

My answer to their second question ("She gave a lot of people that didn't have a voice, a voice to express their feelings and thoughts") was fine (to be honest, I had thought it up well in advance of the event, but I was hoping it was to be said to some official concert reporter) and ended up being printed in the media.

BBC wound up running a video story which included my answers to Reuters' questions, though for some reason Reuters themselves didn't use the footage.

Furinkan's answers to the question appear to be unused, which is unfortunate as I think the Vocaloid community is also worth liking. One will never be able to predict what the reporters will like on the day.

Note for next time: don't get rushed. Show up earlier and get mass media out of the way before the queue is moving. Preparing the answer in advance helped a lot, so if you ever think you might get hit by a camera somewhere, it can help to be prepared. I think in my case, I should have practiced saying the lines out loud so that it would be even easier to rattle them off in front of a camera. As someone mentioned afterwards, the line was spoken relatively eloquently (I realise I'm saying that myself... orz). I think that lines which are smoother and waste less time probably also take priority when a reporter is choosing what to use, so more practice should increase the chance of getting used. Of course I was lucky that the question they asked was one of the ones I had an answer for. :)

Goods Fail

Once Reuters were back on their way to hassle people in a less troublesome location, the goods queue started moving again. But we started to hear what they were saying over the megaphone, which was announcements of what was sold out. Once we got within one bend of the megaphone it was fairly audible, but I regret that my Japanese listening skills are still not up to par... In any case, we figured out by the time we got in (just after people from the previous concert were making their way back out) that most of the things I really wanted were already sold out.

The queue behind us wasn't any shorter than it was when we joined, so everyone behind us is going to have the same complaints which I am about to make here.

Concert organisers, this is what you must realise. Merchandise are not just products people buy at your events, but form part of their memory of those events. So if people can't buy what they want to buy, you are effectively depriving them of precious memories of your events.

I really wanted a t-shirt. I will for the moment forgive the lack of XL size as an option (L does actually fit me now, though I prefer XL for the additional length.) I wouldn't wear it very often. It would be saved for important occasions where it's relevant (perhaps including future concerts) but otherwise be cherished as an important memory of the concert. But by the time we got in, all black t-shrits were sold out. Not just one size, but every size. The LED light would have been nice too, but it sold out as well.

By the way, practically the entire rest of the list was sold out as well, including some of the glow sticks, which means that there were people in the audience who weren't swinging a stick because they had planned to buy one at the venue and couldn't. These things are so cheap to make, and I'm sure there is no difficulty in getting rid of them at the end, yet they ran out.

I do realise that these things are hard to predict, but the numbers seem to be off by so much that it wasn't even funny. Actually, it was extremely upsetting and still causes me grief. I'm sure others are in the same boat, because of the huge queue still behind us at the time.

Also, while we were on the way in, there was megaphone chatter about maximum quantities (3, right?) If the goods were so limited, why did the concert organisers let people ahead on the queue take 3 of each? That just makes a bad situation even worse. At least limit people to one each before the concert and let people buy the multiples to their heart's content after it. Or, you know, actually produce enough goods that letting people grab 3 of everything doesn't pose a problem.

What I did succeed in buying was a handful (literally, grab as many as you can with one hand) of pin badges and the official concert pamphlet. Among the pin badges, the Daikanshasai 2012 happened to be in there, so that was lucky. The pamphlet is also quite nice. Maybe a bit pricey for what it is, but in the absence of the things I really wanted to get, I will take it.

Time Gap

On getting out of the goods queue, we found ourselves with a few hours to burn so we wandered around Tokyo Dome City to check the place out.

Nearby there was a Miku Flick demo going on, but the queues were kind of evil and given what I had heard about the game, it didn't seem like I could have actually tried it without failing in a huge way (it effectively consists of a rhythm game where you input Japanese to the beat.)

I spent a bunch of time gathering Miis via surechigai, as there were really a ton of people with 3DS in the area. I got over 100 in a day, all at the concert and the only thing limiting me was that stupid limit of 10 Miis per collection.

Eventually we wandered back and went looking for convenient coin lockers for a bit (finding none at the time.)

There was a girl standing alone and looking quite sad, with a sign in Japanese basically reading "can someone spare a ticket to the concert?" I felt bad for her and got all kinds of bad ideas about how to exploit this situation.

There was a takoyaki stand nearby with what looked like a temporary price marker for "negimayo" takoyaki. "OK," I thought, "this feels exploitative but I will buy it anyway!" It was quite delicious and helped stave off the cold a bit.

Right Before

After eating, the queue had already formed and it was raining... good job, our favourite ame onna, Hatsune Miku!

Concerts in Japan (or even events in general) seem to have this thing where they force you to pay 500円 for a drink. I'm not sure what that's all about (there are more than enough rants about it on the Internet, so search for it some time when you're bored.) We knew it was coming so the 500円 coin which was already readied was exchanged for their drink token. Feeling like I had to make the most of it, I got a gin and tonic with the token. Well, I wasn't the only person getting alcohol, so why not? It was a nice touch that the menu at the venue had English written along under each line as well. Not that I can't read drink names in Katakana, it just takes some of the effort out.

Introductions were done by Fujita Saki (voice provider for Miku) and Asakawa Yū (voice provider for Luka.)

They introduce StylipS, a four-girl idol unit which (by coincidence? I suspect not) has three motion capture artists for Project Diva in it. Ogura Yui's voice is still really cute but I wonder how real it is now. They do their song. The microphones seemed to be up a bit too high but other than that it was fine. Some extreme wotagei crazies came out during it though. Watching those guys do OAD at full power like that makes it hard to call anything during the concert itself wotagei at all. In fact, let's just say it isn't.

Saki and Yū return to chat a bit more before switching into talking about the concert. They check to see which colours of stick we have on us and give out various rules, such as "no long light sticks like light sabers" and "no raw negi" (eeeeeeee?)

This leads into the concert itself.

The Concert Itself

I won't complain, but this MikuPa was very similar to the MikuPa concerts of 2011. Roughly the same music line-up was used and even some of the effects were very reminiscent of previous ones.

The Miku model being used for MikuPa has all the neat frills like lighting on the costume and animated lights on the skirt. Occasionally they do some neat tricks with the rendering to make it look like Miku is being lit from the back or standing there, glowing in the dark.

The entire show was good, but here were the things which stood out for me:

  • E? Aa, sou. this time also had the "fuck" uncensored in the lyrics. I think I probably made an XD face when it came out. It feels childish to react to this, but wow. It was amazing.
  • The light show used for Hatsune Miku no Gekishou is even more amazing in person than it was on the 2011 Bluray.
  • Time Machine is still a great song.
  • Every song Ryo ever made is still amazing.

For some mysterious reason, the two seats immediately to my right remained unoccupied for the entire concert. When we arrived, there were bags holding the spot. The bags were picked up later and the owner vanished along with them. So there were seats which sold but weren't actually taken? What's up with that? Still, it was good to have a bit of freedom to not worry about the person on one side.

Nobody in the row behind us stood up for the entire concert so it wasn't possible to stand up. Seeing as I had a gin and tonic at the start and didn't bring anything except an energy drink for rehydration (which I downed immediately as Len appeared, since I knew I could reduce my power output during Len songs) it was probably a good thing that we didn't stand up during this particular concert.

On getting out of the venue, it was a pretty uneventful walk back to the station, although my 3DS was chiming about picking up more Miis...

March 9 - Kanshasai Final

The second concert, Kanshasai Final, otherwise known as 39's Giving Day (pronounced, of course, "Thanksgiving Day"), was held on the 9th of March, which any Miku fan knows as Miku no Hi. Only the evening concert had the Final moniker attached, with the concert earlier in the day simply being called Kanshasai.

Right Before

This time around I learned from the mistakes of the previous day. I had stocked up on energy jelly and made sure to buy a real drink with my drink token instead of booze (most overpriced bottle of Aquarius ever, though.) It mostly lasted the concert but taking a second one would be a good idea. For both concerts they give you a strap to hold the drink but I had nothing to strap it to so next time, some kind of lanyard would be useful.

On this day, due to various reasons, we showed up just in the nick of time to see the opening act starting.

This time around, Fujita Saki was joined by Shimoda Asami (voice provider for Rin and Len.) They seemed to have much more fun than the previous day's pairing for some reason, acting out their respective characters a bit more in some amusing ways.

They quickly introduced DANCELOID. Well, I know DANCELOID pretty well already, having paid attention to them from the days when they were a trio, and it was great to see the current incarnation even though Minka Lee is long graduated from the group (Minka was my favourite. Kozue is my second favourite though, and she is still cute.)

DANCELOID got time for multiple dances, which was fantastic. They had the entire crowd standing up, even people in the row behind us who would later on turn out not to stand up during the concert itself.

Their stage time ended, and Saki and Asami returned to do the same drill as the previous day. Unfortunately there is still a ban on raw negi (eeeeee?)

The Concert Itself

This concert was just amazing. It did share some similarities with previous productions but it all felt quite unique and fresh. It's a shame that this half is the half which is most likely going to disappear, but we can hope that Sega will change their minds.

The Miku model being used for Kanshasai is definitely my preferred one. The skirt lights still move, only much more subtly (we couldn't see it from our seats but it's visible on the recording.) The model as a whole just looks better though. If only they could combine the strengths of the two...

The entire concert was pretty amazing, but as for what stood out for me:

  • Tell Your World as the opening song. The net was murmering something big about the opening song but I managed not to spoil myself so it was a pleasant surprise (even if we knew it would appear at some point for sure.) And damn, the song is good.
  • Po Pi Po was used at MikuPa as well, but for Kanshasai it was a full version and Lamaze-P seemed to be going off even more on his harmonica.
  • Hatsune Miku no Shoushitsu was super high energy as always. After it, I was drained of energy so I took a moment to chug my supplies (sorry, Meiko... but it was effective. :3)
  • SPiCa was superb and the giant explosion of streamers nearly reached our balcony. A few people were grabbing for them and nearly got some. :D It was the one song where it would have been nice to have more cyalume to work with...
  • Every song Ryo ever made is still amazing. I realise I said this for MikuPa already, but it's so important that I thought I had to say it twice.

Melt got used at both concerts but Koi wa Sensou was used at neither, which felt unfortunate.

During the encores I had a huge excess of energy so I tried to burn it all up. I was definitely above the floor a few times when cheering during those last few songs.

The schoolgirl duo to our right were doing their best the entire time. The girl immediately to my right only had a single green cyalume and I felt bad for her. Next time I should bring spares in case it happens again. :3 She was particularly emotional at the end. "I love you, Miku! Come back again! I'll definitely come and watch you again!" My sentiments exactly. I'll be back.

At the end of the concert, people near the front of the arena were standing around, waving up at the balconies. I figured I would wave back with the cyalume in hand. Hi guys, I'm the weird, green-haired foreigner. :) It seems that the camera for the stream was being pointed at them the entire time.

Some radio reporter intercepts us on the way out asking how we enjoyed the show and what we would like to see happen. In the future. We said it was great, of course, and that we hoped Miku could one day have a concert in Australia.

I ultimately failed to burn off the rest of my energy and by the time we got to the train station I was still overflowing with it. It took a good hour or two to realise that it was over.

It was over.

The set list for both concerts concerts can be found here.

If I have the chance, I will definitely do it again. I'm not sure if I would go anywhere other than Japan for it, but if they do another one in Tokyo I will be fighting for tickets all over again. Next time, I will take electronic light sticks and a few more supplies and maybe try to get off the floor a bit more. :D