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Alright guys, I spent all day writing this post and tried to recount everything I experienced in as much detail as I could so that you could feel like you were in my shoes during the trip. In addition to mine, I've also used pictures from:
Rachel: Picture 20 and 24
Jade: Picture 2
Eddie: Picture 6 and 22
Yuyan: Picture 25
Mark: Picture 26
Carlton: Picture 17
SCANDAL: Picture 10 and 16
Sam: Picture 12
This entry is almost forty five paragraphs long so if you're up for the full Hawaii experience, enjoy!
Rachel: Picture 20 and 24
Jade: Picture 2
Eddie: Picture 6 and 22
Yuyan: Picture 25
Mark: Picture 26
Carlton: Picture 17
SCANDAL: Picture 10 and 16
Sam: Picture 12
This entry is almost forty five paragraphs long so if you're up for the full Hawaii experience, enjoy!
- Spoiler:
It all began on May 31st, the day of my flight. I fit everything I needed into one carry on and was ready to roll. While waiting to board my plane, I could see someone walking up to me and when I looked up it was Jeido! I met her and the others here in SoCal a couple weeks back. She had previously told me her flight was earlier than mine and arrived later which didn't make sense but she was guessing then, lol. She said she immediately noticed my orange hair and concluded that it was a Mami fan. She was right, but I don't think she knew it was me until she was actually standing in front of me. What a conincidence that was. I sat next to her and we talked about how excited we were about the trip until her row was called in to board. During the flight, I prepped myself up by listening to SCANDAL and eventually took a nap since I didn't get much sleep the night before for obvious reasons. It was a smooth flight and I was delighted to know that Hawaiian Airlines was the only airline carrier that served complementary meals and drinks. It was decent food too and wine was even included! When we landed, I checked my social media to find out that I arrived too late to greet SCANDAL at the airport and what was worse that the people already there missed out too. They waited hours for them at which turned out to be the wrong gate and found out they overlooked another possible one which some other members were able to find. By then, it was too late to communicate anything so the majority had to accept a tough loss. As a constellation, Rina retweeted the picture they posted of them and the banner!
They headed to a restaurant down in Waikiki and since I thought they were still going to be at the airport, I cancelled my shuttle the day before. Jeido and her grandmother had one ready for them already so they left ahead. I was fortunate enough to rebook my shuttle on such short notice although there was a bit of a delay. One thing that I didn't understand about the hotels in Waikiki was why a lot of them have similar names. That just spells out disaster. My hotel happened to share a similar name with two other hotels and I was dropped off at the wrong one. I didn't realize it until five minutes of sitting in the lobby and finally looking over to the sign. Fortunately, it wasn't too far away from my actual hotel but I wasn't able to check in since they needed the primary card holder of the room and he wasn't set to arrive until a couple hours later. I texted Jade for the address of the restaurant and after about walking a quarter of a mile in the hot sun with my luggage, I quit. I called her and we decided to just meet up at the lobby of my hotel. Pieter, one of my roomates, messaged me shortly after and said he was on his way to the hotel. What perfect timing. As I was approaching it, I heard cheering and it was none other than our SH group who, like Jeido, spotted me with my orange hair. I was so glad to see them.
The ones I hadn't met yet introduced themselves and we all talked for a little while. Little did I know, one of my roomates was among them! I tend to either forget the names of people that I'm mass introduced to or just unconsciously sail my way through the entire thing without paying as much attention as needed, haha. We then split up since some people wanted to go to the beach and others to their hotel room. I needed to meet up with Pieter still and found him checking in at the front desk. Mark, the one who booked the room, arrived early! Pieter was from Holland and had traveled twenty two hours to meet our idols. What a guy. He had a Dutch accent too, pretty exotic. We went up to our room to find Mark and a hotel staff member trying to configure the PS3 our room came with. The room was beautiful and Mark had paid extra to get both an oceanside and city view. It had a kitchen, counter with stools, sofabed, balcony, and two beds. We unfortunately didn't get to make use of the kitchen. We sat down and got to know each other before heading out to eat. Apparently in Holland, their meal portions are much smaller than that in America so Pieter begged me to help him finish his chicken katsu which went on to be an inside joke later.
After we ate, we met up with Don back at the hotel and had wine to celebrate the completion of our group. We headed down to the beach after further introductions. It suprisingly looked like sort of a mixture between Venice and Malibu back home. Because we weren't too familiar with public transportation around there, we decided to walk to the place dinner was going to be held at. It took us about forty minutes but I felt like it was worth it since we got to do some sightseeing and witness a marathon. One girl quit and hopped into one of the cars behind the runners, lmao. We reached the restaurant and our groups became one! It was nice to see so many SH members gathered together and sharing this experience with one another. We walked over to a korean barbecue place where we actually had dinner and I was able to get more acquainted with the others, namely Hubert. He was our self-sacrificing chef for the night and did almost all the cooking. He's a good guy in a cruel world. He also talked about how he walked there and as a result, got several blisters. Shortly after we began eating, Erich and Jade noticed a bug on the table. One bug turned into two, then two to five, and so on. Erich wasn't going to stand for that! He went up and negotiated a discount with what looked to be the manager who didn't look too happy either. It got to the point where they had to move to the other table because they just kept popping up. There were two because the biggest table wasn't able to hold all of us. It coincidentally ended up with all the veterans at one table and all the newbies at another. It was a good opportunity though since I met most of the others at the other table back home.
Jeido's hotel was farther away from all of ours and she needed someone to escort her to safety. A good number of us volunteered and before she knew it she had her own mob guarding her. And again, since none of us were used to public transporation there, we walked her to her hotel and walked back to find a bus stop. A bus arrived at about 12:10 P.M. and we all rode it back to our hotels. Mark was still ancy and went out to explore a little more while the rest of us stayed in. Don always has a story to tell and they were all pretty interesting. The guy can talk for hours and although I tried to stay up to listen, I eventually passed out. I woke up early in the morning and no matter how many times I tried to go back to sleep, I couldn't. I then realized that it was three hours ahead back home and I was used to the time there. I spent the morning talking with my roomies and going over the schedule until I got a call from Jeido. She told me that while eating breakfast, she said to her grandmother that SCANDAL could just be walking around and guess who she saw at the lobby shortly after? SCANDAL! What dumb luck! She was able to talk with the members and Tomo even called her kawaii. I was so jealous! I even scolded her for having a hotel so far away from all of us, how ironic. It was great that she was able to get that opportunity though! It was the day for the Honolulu Ekiden Expo and the Fan Meeting Check-In so we headed there right after.
At the Fan Meeting booth, we signed up and received a bag filled with everything we needed for later in the day and the day after. The yellow Honolulu Ekiden shirt was our ticket to the runner's banner signing and that along with a priority pass was what we needed to get front stage spots at the concert. We also found out that the seating at the fan meeting's acoustic live would be determined by a lottery so that it's fair to everyone. Me and luck don't usually get along so well so I worried a bit. After that, there was about a two hour time gap between then and the introduction of the bands on stage but most of us decided to stay in order to secure front row seating. We had our own table with the SH banner that daisukiscandal designed and used a good chunk of the time having people sign it. I got a great spot on Mami's neck, started a petition for a live Koe, and drew Funassyi since Mami-sama adores it. Tomo had the biggest fan base there so she was covered in writing. We also wrote songs each member was prominent in on their drawing. Daisukiscandal came later to sign the banner himself and few new faces showed up to sign it too. These included Jerry, Rachel, Nami, and Takahiro. What I wasn't expecting was many SCANDAL fans that didn't seem to be a part of SH or SM stopped by our banner and wanted to leave their mark as well. It turned out pretty well and was definitely ready to shine it's brightest for the girls.
The Ekiden Relay consisted of six legs measuring about twenty six miles and up to six members on each team. I had thought that either the fan meeting package came with an entry to the marathon or I could use the six unoccupied spots that Glenn had entered. Neither one became true. I found out that the members that were registered in the marathon did so prior to paying for the fan meeting package and Glenn had told one of the coordinators that his team wasn't going to run resulting the removal of the tracking chip from their sash. I knew they were accepting late entries so I had to recruit quick. Although I gathered six people, three dropped out because of financial and attire reasons so I had a solid three members. Me, Pieter, and Hubert. Pieter had no running shoes and Hubert had several blisters so I made sure that they knew what they were getting themselves into before signing the death pact. Their resolve didn't waver and a team was born. We went over to the desk, split the fee, and were able to enter with the regular fee. We named our team Runner's High to honor our idols and even nicknamed ourselves. I was the Human Torch, Pieter was the Flying Dutchman, and Hubert was the White Shadow. We each came up with our own pose and pre-battle cry which solidified our bond. None of us trained for it but we were determined to do our best, for SCANDAL!
On stage, a couple musicians were doing covers of songs and hula girls were dancing to warm everyone up for the main event. The girls were really good, they were so coordinated and had big smiles on their faces that you couldn't help but smile back to. Me and Neil were talking about cosplaying big so we were both saving our unveil for when the girls arrived. When the time came, Kimaguren was introduced followed by our one and onlies. It was my first time laying eyes on SCANDAL in person and they were beautiful. I took my cosplay out of my pocket and put it on. It was a tanktop that collaged several different outfit's Mami wore in her videos together. They included Playboy, Scandal in the House, Departure, Scandal Show, Best Scandal, Dobondobondo no Theme, Kagen No Tsuki, Pikachu x Canta x Funassyi, Standard, Taiyou Scandalous, Queens are Trumps, and Baby Action. Neil's cosplay was awesome though, he made a Doraemon costume with Rina's drumsticks! Props to him, he must've worked really hard on that. They were so tiny! Rina, being the tallest, was only 5'3! I spent a majority of the time looking at Mami-sama though. Her bold outfit, her hair, and her smile, it was all so much to take in! The people I listen to religiously and idolize were standing right there in front of my eyes. It was incredible. I briefly turned to Monkey Majik as they were being introduced and were surprised to see that two of their members were white before turning back to SCANDAL. Their time on stage was so short but the impact was still huge.
After the expo, I decided to rest back at the hotel with Don and Mark while the other two members of Runner's High went to buy running shoes for Pieter. At first, I wasn't sure if I was going to attend the banner signing since I'd be basically writing a message to myself but then it was announced that SCANDAL was going to be there as well and I also realized I could write something for my teammates along with the other SH group that was running so that sealed the deal. Before we knew it, we were in line and guided to the location of the banner where SCANDAL would soon meet us. I wrote something to cheer on both our SH teams including Glenn's even though they weren't running, haha. I think the words "SCANDAL will be watching you" was enough to fuel our athletic spirit. After everyone had signed it, we all waited patiently for the girls to arrive. A loud cheer was given by both the SH and SM fans as they walked out of their van. They waved for a bit and proceeded to sign the banner themselves. I thought it seemed a bit awkward and the girls looked a little bit serious because a group of fans were watching their every move. I think it would've been better if they signed it first and they watched us but that's just me! Their messages gave us all more inspiration to run what was sure to be a demonic path. While other people got to split the painful 26 miles onto six members, we had to split the nightmare three ways and take on two legs each which is roughly about 9 miles per person.
We walked over to the other side of the park to take a group picture that was said to be only for SCANDAL but I knew Rina wouldn't let that happen so I wasn't bummed about it. We all tried to line up accordingly but it was a bit more hectic than it should've been and the HIS staff didn't seem very experienced at taming a fan mob. Me, Erich, and Mark were in the back and were covered by people in the front. With a little pep talk from Hubert, we asserted our way into the middle and got decent spots in the picture! Jeido was moved to the front to make the picture's composition better and got to sit next to Mami-sama, that girl! It's like she ate four-leaved clovers for breakfast. After the girls waved goodbye, they walked away as fans screamed their favorite members' names. The Mami and Tomo fans were neck to neck and I heard a couple Haru calls but sadly no Rina. While Pao said he yelled her name, it was probably drowned out in the calls for the others. Me and a couple others felt horrible when I pointed it out so we were all determined to shout her name at the concert! Rina's my second favorite so I was more than happy to comply. While I could be wrong, I believe it was Mark who started to sing happy birthday to Tomo and the rest of us quickly joined in. She looked ecstatic! Haru whispered something to Tomo that probably was something along the lines of "they sang to you so go say something!" I'm not proficient in Japanese so I'm not sure what Tomo said but I'm sure she was expressing her thanks and everyone clapped afterwards. We walked back to our hotel rooms and waved goodbye to the Japanese fans as we went our seperate ways.
Our group split up as well and decided to meet up again for dinner which was in an hour. With so little time, the four of us headed back to the hotel room and were set to leave right after. Pieter began to feel the effects of Dutch jetlag and Don wasn't feeling up to it so they decided to rest for the remainder of the day while Mark and I ventured to the top floor of the mall where the restaurant was at. We finally began to familiarize ourselves with public transporation in Hawaii, lol. We thought we were going to be late but we happened to arrive at the small the exact same time the others did and made our way to the top together. The place was a buffet and I felt kind of hesitant to eat there because it was pretty expensive and I had a marathon to run in a couple hours but I pushed through anyways. Halfway through my first plate I saw Alan, Neil, and a couple of others head out to eat somewhere else. At that moment, I immediately regretted not waiting a little while and seeing if others felt the same way as I did. I was barely able to go through three plates before I got full and stressed over that fact that I spent almost fifty dollars for that. I shortly brushed it off though cause my motto is "what's done is done."
When it came time to pay, the waiter was taking the cards of all those that wanted to pay with card and everyone else threw their cash into one big pile that Hubert was so desperately trying to organize. Jeido wanted to pay with a card too and was unaware that the waiter was collecting them earlier which resulted in chaos. Instead of giving everyone a seperate check, our waiter tried to make things easier on himself by trying to jumble everything together and making the process last half an hour longer than it should have. Knowing that I put my share in, I went out to escape the madness and met up with everyone who didn't eat at the buffet. My regret resurfaced when they told me they only paid five bucks for their meal, lol. We walked over to the bench at Bubba Gump's that SCANDAL took a picture at and tried to take similar pictures. Me and Mark were able to get a shot doing Haru and Rina's pose! I walked back to the buffet with Bill who wanted to check on Allie and it appeared that everything was resolved. We gathered the rest of the troops and walked over to a quieter place in the mall. There we turned in our fan letters and distributed all the shirts that no one claimed yet. My fan letter consisted of a drawing of the girls as Bleach captains, a picture of me with a banner of messages to all of them, and a small letter written in Japlish on the other side that I hope to God they don't have trouble reading. I feel like Mami's tweet that said FULL ENGLISH was out of rage after trying to read my letter, lmao. Afterwards, me, Mark, and Jeido, all the the same bus back to our hotels. Upon reaching the hotel room, I started to prepare for the marathon and went to bed right after. I was able to get a good five hours of sleep until it was time for the big event.
I woke up at 3:40 A.M. and wore my entire cosplay with the exception of the gloves. If my hands were sweaty from wearing the gloves at the expo, imagine the marathon. Me and Pieter went ahead of the other two and saw some runners along the way. The fewest members we saw on a team was four and our anxiety began to grow but our resolve did not waver one bit! Mark, Don, and Hubert met us at the benches in front of the stage where we participated in the opening ceremony. We sang the national anthem and listened to a Hawaiian prayer that felt somewhat empowering. When the formalities were over with, our trio gave one last pre-battle cry and split. I took a bus to the third leg station and realized that I would be running something similar to that entire distance traveled. Not only did I not train for this marathon, I had never run a marathon in the first place! I made myself feel better by comparing the distance I had to run with other distances I've traveled. Like how it's basically four times the length of what we walked to get to the restaurant on our first night here and that it's much shorter than the distance from the mall a couple towns over from my high school that I had walked with my friends to. When I arrived at the station, I tried to look for other SH members but weren't able to find any. I spent my time stretching and looking around, mainly at the ocean. There were a lot of interesting people, both young and old. Some looked like they were in high school and others looked like they were about to retire. Quit a bit of people were in costumes. I saw some in tutu's and a couple with minion themed outfits. After about an hour, I was able to find Pieter then run into Robert and finally Alan. Since the fourth leg is the turnaround point, I just realized that I would have to run the exact same leg twice which seemed bearable at first until I found out that it had many uphill and downhill paths.
Alan was wearing Mami's Runner's High outfit and until now I salute him because I would never even dream of running in that. He had a wig and a long sleeved shirt on which I would absolutely die in. We stood at the sash exchange and waited for our respective team members while talking about the race. Erich was said to have breezed through the first leg and Neil was on his way. Hubert finished the first leg shortly after Erich but struggled after the second one. Neil came in and handed the sash to Robert while I kept on the lookout for Hubert. At about forty minutes before the halfway cutoff, I saw him coming! He looked exhausted and I was happy to take the burden off him. I took off with optimism and kept a steady stride until about halfway when the uphill portion began. My right leg began to cramp up entirely and in an effort to push on the way down I stumbled onto the railing. I basically had to limp jog the rest of the way and the worst part was the clouds finally subsided releasing the harsh rays of the sun. I could feel myself dehydrating as people began to pass me and tried desperately to keep up with the Japanese lady who was behind me for a good portion of the race. I stopped for only one cup of water because I didn't want to lose time and proceeded. Upon approaching the fourth leg station, I began to have thoughts of quitting. My legs were giving out, I was out of breath, dehydrated, and frying underneath the sun. I couldn't imagine doing it all over again. Then I realized that Hubert pushed his way through and left the rest to us. Pieter was waiting at the fifth station ready to bring us to the finish. I couldn't let them down. On top of that, I was running for SCANDAL so there's no way I could quit on them. I guzzled down three cups of water at the fourth station and a man rushed over to me to hand me a gatorade after the staff witnessed my limp jogging, potassium!
In my condition, I knew very well that I could end up sinking us down to last place so I pushed as hard as I could to avoid that but reality was slowly catching up to me. Suddenly, a Japanese guy started slowing down behind me. Misery loves company so I decided to befriend him. He spoke little English so I busted out as much Japanese as I could and he did the same with English. We didn't talk much but having him there kept my spirit from breaking completely. We ran together, stopped together, and walked together. We then saw a couple of the girls bunched up together in the distance so we knew we weren't too far behind. One person passed us and two police motorcycles started approaching so it was certain we were in last place. They said aloha and we said aloha back. Don't know if it was friendly or condescending but neither of us really cared. We caught up to the guy who had passed us earlier and I befriended him as well so we all began to walk together. I made a last place squad and we stuck it through together. When we saw the arcs of the fifth station, I told my two fellow runners that we should finish with a bang so we each sprinted to the end of the leg. Being a burst runner, I was able to put a good amount of distance between me and them to escape the clutches of last place. Upon reaching the station, I found no one there was scared that the cut off time had passed and I began to slow down. That's when I heard Pieter screaming for me and the second I saw him it was FLAME ON. I borderline strangled him with the sash and sent him off to finish what us two had started. I finished two legs in a marathon. I was so proud of myself and Hubert. I drank several cups of water and congratulated the two that ran beside me, we all did it. We got on a bus and we all celebrated our accomplishment, the guys and girls. I was drenched in sweat but I was so glad it was all over with and hoped the best for Pieter.
When the bus took us back to starting line, I saw many people finishing the race. I knew it'd be a while before Pieter finished so I decided to go look for the others. After a good twenty or so minutes of searching, I couldn't find anyone. Again. A food tent was passing out free food so I decided to head over and recharge. For something mass served, the food was really good! They had curry with rice, a stuffed cherry tomato, baked goods, bacon, and a drink. I had one of each and filled myself up with just that. After eating, I walked over to the finish line and froze. SCANDAL was there taking a picture with Monkey Majik after they finished the race. I was starstruck, I couldn't call anyone since I gave Don my phone so I just decided to capitalize on the opportunity. They and their bodyguards walked over to the beach so I dashed across to see them. I said hi to all of them and tomo called me kawaii! I went back to see if Pieter had finished and to look for the others but still no dice. I decided to just sit on the curb and wait for Pieter to finish. After about five minutes, I see someone coming but couldn't tell who it was because I'm near sighted. I thought to myself, it couldn't be Pieter cause that was way too fast and to my amazement it was him! I joined him in a dash to the finish. We ran like ninjas in Naruto for a while but our arms gave out and we began to sprint as hard as we could in a very awkward fashion! Pieter was actually running faster than me while still being on his leg, sugoi. Those long legs man, those long legs! Everything soon came into place after. We ran into Richard, then Hubert, and finally all the others back at the food tent. Hubert went back to the hotel to recover which was why he was absent for the finish dash but it was okay, he deserved it. We all began exchanging stories and celebrated our victory.
Pieter and I headed back to the hotel room to recuperate from the brutal leg torture we endured where we hoped Don and Mark were waiting since we had no key. Luckily, they were. Mark was sleeping and Don was just coasting. We talked about the race and other things that happened until I got a text from Hubert saying SCANDAL was doing a sound test. Although we really wanted to rest, we would be insane to pass up that opportunity so we headed out as soon as possible. When we reached the music festival stage, SCANDAL was already on stage and all the SH members were lined up against the railing staring in awe. Hubert and Erich warned us not to make any noise and to make it seem like we weren't there since we were requested by the staff not to bother the girls. Pieter and Don didn't hear about that so they called out to them once before being silenced by the rest of the group, haha. They did sound tests for DOLL, Runner's High, and I think one more. Their sound test for Runner's High was actually the entire song! What a treat. They were all nice enough to wave at us after the sound test was over though. We decided to chill on the beach until it was time to line up so we can secure the front row which rightfully belongs to us! I think it was Erich and Jade that brought umbrella's, mat's, and beach chairs. We all relaxed after a long day. A long day that was far from over. Me, Alan, and Hubert were dozing off while the others were conversing about all sorts of things. It was one of the most peaceful times I had there. I got to meet Glenn's niece and couple other members that I hadn't had the chance to meet yet. The sun's rays were piercing at the time which caused a lot of us to complain and we would wait for the momentary relief the clouds would provide but shielding us from them. Monkey Majik and Kimaguren did their sound test while we were coasting which made it all the more soothing. I even developed a huge appreciation for both bands while listening to them.
Although the message on our priority pass told us not to line up until 3:45, our fandom could not be contained. We started to line up about a quarter passed three after seeing a lady camp out right in front of the entrance. We were then told by HIS that we had to follow the rules and disband while the lady received no warning whatsoever. Jade pointed her out and the staff member promptly shoo'd her away. We then assembled into a "pre-line" and were warned by HIS again. They reasoned that if one person were to get a heat stroke, the entire event would be cancelled. Within seconds after that, it started to rain and no one moved an inch. Their silver bullet melted and at that moment they realized they were powerless so we continued to wait where we were. At exactly 3:45 they announced that they were going to begin admitting people into the closed off square in front of the stage. We all rushed to line up so we could secure our spot on our favorite members' side of the stage. When the first few were admitted in, they guided us to the front in a single-file fashion and upon releasing us they told us not to rush but we did. We found our bodies being sucked into the rails like a bunch of magnets. I got to stand right in front of Mami's spot and was so stoked. We had to endure tedious babbling from two radio DJ's but it gave us the opportunity to cheer as loud as we could everytime they mentioned SCANDAL in hopes that they would hear us in the back. After all the chatter subsided, the opening act was set to play. It was a local band called EMKE that I've been hearing a lot about. We watched a cover of Shunkan Sentimental by them earlier in the hotel room but I wasn't really impressed by it and therefore wasn't expecting much from them. Their first song was a cover of a song I knew the words to but didn't know the title or artist and they killed it. I couldn't help but rock out to them and there second song wasn't bad either. They admitted to be SCANDAL fans as well and as a tribute to them, played Shunkan Sentimental for their final song. It sounded much better live! The lead guitarist may have seemed like a bit of a diva during the sound test but man can she can sing and play. They're manager was on the side rocking harder than everyone else there, it was pretty funny.
Following EMKE was the awards ceremony for the Ekiden Race. They awarded the fastest male and female team, the fastest oldest and youngest team, the fastest team with the best costume, the fastest team period, and there may have been some other categories that I can't recall at the moment. I think the high school team was one of the teams that had a two-hour time which was insane. The one who won the best costume contest didn't have that intricate of a costume but I guess it was cause they finished faster than others who did. When that all the awards had been given out, it was time to set up the main bands. Monkey Majik came out and I finally confirmed that two of the members were white and that I wasn't just seeing things earlier. It was a bit odd since they were the lead vocalists but it was a bit refreshing too. As they played their first song, I couldn't help but tap my feet and bob my head. They had an easy listening summertime style that made the beach a perfect setting for their songs and it all flowed so smoothly. One of the vocalists messed up and sang the second verse first so they had to start the song over but they brushed it off like nothing. I didn't mind at all either. Even though they were between us and SCANDAL's performance, I genuinely enjoyed listening to them and am definitely going to check them out soon.
When Monkey Majik wrapped up their performance, four people came out to test each of the girls' instruments and the one setting up Rina's drums wasn't quite sure it was the way she wanted it so Rina was asked to come on stage! Everyone cheered and we were able to yell her name like we all planned to earlier. It was perfect. She did her own mini sound test while everyone watched and basked in her cuteness. Pao had me right RI on one hand and NA on the other so he could rep Rina and right before she went to the back, she saw Pao and gave him a smile. I can imagine how he must have felt. One of the DJ's went on stage and we immediately knew that it was time. He called SCANDAL to the stage and we all lost it. While there are a lot of people who said that SCANDAL should have been the last act, I disagree. Whether it was intentional or not, SCANDAL played right before sunset and played into the night. That was awesome and I would have much preferred that over a night performance. They had an amazing set list which included (in order): Satisfaction, Taiyou to Kimi Egaku Story which is Pieter's favorite song, Runner's High, Awanai Tsumori no Genki De Ne, Departure, LOVE SURVIVE, and DOLL.
Last edited by fredrickfx on Sun Jun 08, 2014 9:50 am; edited 1 time in total
) after this. She just looks so cute and happy in the private meeting and she kept looking my way during the game 
. When she was commenting on the game and how great we all were and how much the members were taken back and how much they enjoyed our participation, she was smiling SO HARD!
The one way to make Haru happy seems to be to give her food. x)
