When I return from Europe I will be more sophisticated, cultured, enlightened, and most importantly, much poorer

Unfortunately, I just returned poorer.

And fatter (Italy’s fault).

After I detox from the excessive food, I’ll finalize my Tokyo trip which will be from July 30 – August 11. When I was in London, GEM and READY TO KISS were added to the Tokyo Idol Festival lineup, so TIF 2014 has been officially redeemed.

Predia also uploaded the video for “Kowareta Ai no Hate ni,” which is their major label debut. Please give it a like and buy ten copies when it’s released.

Ireland: June 23 – June 29

(^ The above photos are the region of Ireland my great, great grandparents lived before immigrating to America.)
Trinity College in DublinPeace Bridge in Derry. It was legend-wait for it-derry.

London: June 29 – July 3
Windsor Castle
A canon strategically positioned…

to attack trees.
The National Gallery
Globe Theater

Tate Modern Gallery
London Eye
Piccadilly Circus
Paris (July 3 – July 5)
First glimpse of the Eiffel Something Something
View from the first floor
View from the second floor
View from the top floor
…
Actually I… umm… didn’t go all the way up, so instead here’s a photo of scary-looking hot dogs in a jar!! Bon appetit.
I watched France lose to Germany at this bar
Walking to the Louvre
Cool looking building at the metro station
Arc de Something Something was a 3 minute walk from my apartment (you can just barely see it at the end of this street).
Rome (July 5 – July 9)
Monument to Vittorio Emanuele II
Pantheon during the day
Pantheon at 2AM
Vatican City
Visitors aren’t allowed to take photos of the Sistine Chapel, but there was a lot of impressive ceiling art leading up to to the cathedral. When we finally arrived a staff member yelled “Silencio! No photos! Quiet!!” every few seconds. The room was completely quiet… with the exception of the guy yelling “Silencio!”
Trevi Fountain
…
was drained, walled-off, and under renovation. Let us never mention this again! Trevi Fountain? More like Travesty Fountain!
Spanish Steps was under repair as well.
Mouth of Truth (yes I am a huge Roman Holiday fan)
The Colloseum
Trastevere Piazza
Navona Square
The Baths of Diocletian
Weird looking trees
Forum ruins
A typical day in Rome
The end

Kana Nishino: Love Collection Tour ～pink & mint～

Two days ago Kana updated her website with the details of her annual Spring tour. My 2014 Japan trip will be based on her tour, so her schedule will determine how I plan my trip. This years tour is called Love Collection Tour ～pink & mint～, named after the greatest hits albums she is releasing on 9.4.

Tour Dates
◆ 2014/03/08 (Sat) Nagoya
◇ 2014/03/09 (Sun) Nagoya
◆ 2014/03/15 (Sat) Fukuoka
◇ 2014/03/16 (Sun) Fukuoka
◆ 2014/03/21 (Fri.) Miyagi
◇ 2014/03/22 (Sat) Miyagi
◆ 2014/03/29 (Sat) Hokkaido
◇ 2014/03/30 (Sun) Hokkaido
◆ 2014/04/05 (Sat) Osaka
◇ 2014/04/06 (Sun) Osaka
◆ 2014/04/12 (Sat) Yokohama
◇ 2014/04/13 (Sun) Yokohama

With only 12 dates this is going to be tricky. For comparison her Spring 2013 tour had 26 dates.

My Spring Break is 3.22-3.31, so it’s either Miyagi or Hokkaido. I’m pretty sure Hokkaido is impossible.  I like traveling, but Kana + Hokkaido is kind of a weird combination. Miyagi is much closer to Tokyo, but the dates could be a problem depending upon my class schedule. If I have a class on Thursday, I wouldn’t arrive in Japan until Saturday afternoon. If that is the case I would have to fly to Tokyo and then take a domestic flight to Sendai. When I flew from Tokyo to Fukuoka last year it was somewhat confusing, but the only other option would be to fly to Tokyo and then take a train or bus to Miyagi, which probably wouldn’t get me there fast enough. All of her concerts are on Sat + Sun, except for the Miyagi dates which are Fri + Sat, so that is also a little unlucky, since that automatically cuts the Friday concert. The tour dates aren’t ideal, but at least I have a few options.

Update 11.14: I’ve decided to go to the Yokohama concerts in April. I’m only taking one class that quarter, so I can take random vacations whenever I want muhahaha. In fact I can skip a class during a random week and take a two week vacation right in the middle of the school year! Not like I condone ditching class. One time when I was in high school I ditched the last period of the day and drove to the beach with three of my friends. I ended up crashing my brother’s car. Anyway, now that I’ll be going to the concerts in Tokyo I don’t have to stress about going to Sapporo, which is what I was going to have to do if I went during Spring Break (Sendai wasn’t going to work because I have a Thursday class next quarter).