“How can it be not fun?”

Idols? AKB48?? Momoclo??? I used to firmly say I hated idols. I like Ska, Rock, Punk, and had no interest in J-pop, especially in idol music. Rather, I detested it.
But someone like me went as far as crossing the sea to go to an idol group (JKT48) handshake event. Of course, this was my first handshaking. What I felt by going there was “How can it be not fun?”

October 3 – Arrival in Jakarta –
I arrived in Jakarta the day before the handshaking. That day, the JKT48’s schedule consisted in:
①iClub48 recording
② Some members going to Bandung
③ Theater show (Trainees)

I watched the trainees’ show. After the show, I went to QQ, where fans usually gather, and chatted with other comrades. Rica, Ghaida, Yona, Noella…the members who had gone to Bandung came back to FX one after the other at that time.
After chatting, I went to look for a taxi to go back to my hotel, and D-kun (Ghaida oshi), who was with me, said “Iga-san, there’s Ghaida behind you” so I looked back and…GHAIDA!!!! “I’d like to talk to her…” I whispered, and D-kun said “It’s OK, try to talk to her in Japanese”, so I did.

(I = Iga / G= Ghaida)
I “Ghaida, good evening”　→　G “Good evening”
I “I’m going to the HS tomorrow. I came from Japan”　→　G “Ooh really? Amazing!”
I “I’m going to all sessions too”　→　G “Woow great…I’m happy.”
I “I brought you a souvenir. A wristband of Yokai Watch.”　→　G “I love Yokai Watch!”
I “OK, see you tomorrow then.”
This conversation marked the end of the day. I couldn’t believe this could have happened, and boasted about it on Twitter and the other Japanese friends staying at my same hotel :p

– October 4 – Handshaking Day –
　(Before it started)
That day, we chartered a taxi and moved with it. Once we arrived at the venue, many Indonesian comrades started gathering too. Nice to meet you, my name is etc, repeated several times.
I met D-kun again there, and heard the following from him.
“I talked with Ghaida after that. She knew about you Iga-san! She asked me “who was that person?”, and after I told her your name, she said “Oh, that person with the **** Twitter icon? He often mentions me.”…. I was just…ecstatic to know that she knew about me already. And…she reads the fans’ replies! As I thought, Ghaida is kind to her fans…I was happy to realize that again.
While on cloud 9 like that, I left the basecamp the other fans had prepared and headed for session 1. After entering the venue, I felt it was “cool, huge, clean”. I lined up in the lane queue after that. I was just there feeling always more excited, and Overture started playing loudly. The members suddenly appeared on stage. From the lane queue, the stage was far….can’t see anything….so regrettable….but I didn’t know then that many awesome things would happen and make me forget about this regret….

That day, I had planned to meet 14 members, for a total of 32 sessions and 34 tickets. (Melody, Veranda, Rica, Sendy, Dhike, Jeje, Beby, Ghaida, Lidya, Yona, Natalia, Rona, Ikha, Nina)

(Session 1)
Session 1, start. I line up in Dhike’s lane, 3-4 people in front, right next to Ghaida’s lane. No one lining up there. No one…I was just watching thinking like that, and Ghaida notices me. She waves at me to go there.
I was happy, even just with that. Because she knew I had tickets for her HS. She remembered we talked the day before. I left Dhike’s lane and entered Ghaida’s, arriving before her in no time.
I give her the souvenir, and a stamp with her name on it (in Japanese), sweets from Japan, tissues. Lastly, a letter with my self introduction, in a small envelope. These are souvenirs I gave to everyone; I prepared others fit for each member, and Ghaida’s was a portable “Youkai watch”.

I “Good morning~this is a souvenir from Japan.”　→　G “Yay~thanks.”
I “This is a stamp with “Ghaida” written in Japanese”　→　G “Wow~~”
The conversation went like this. I didn’t need to shake her hands really. I had decided to give out souvenirs in the first session, so I thought I could do without it.
The first handshake with Ghaida was through gloves… (She was wearing gloves without the finger part)
“Aw come on!!”…couldn’t help but reacting like that.

(Between sessions)
Between sessions, I visited the other booths, watched the talk shows on stage, etc.
In other words, when not doing HS, the members were somewhere in the venue. For Japanese JKT48 fans especially, a dreamlike world. No one knew who would be in which booth. Or when stage events would start. It was like a treasure hunt. Oh!! Rica’s giving out chocolate fondue. Ah!! Someone’s on stage now. This situation went on until the end.

(Session 4)
I went to buy more Ghaida HS tickets before session 4, but it was sold out.
I then bought 4 more tickets for her last session.
I lined up in Dhike’s lane again. And looked at Ghaida again. She was wearing the Gingham Check costume. She notices me and shows me her right arm. She was already wearing the wristband I gave her! I had put it into a small bag…it means she had opened it already, and put it on….as a fan, that’s a wonderful thing no?
All excited, I line up in Ghaida’s lane. I don’t remember what we talked about. I think it was something like “there are a lot of fans that like you in Japan”.

(Between sessions)
In the booth I happened to be close to, Ghaida – Sendy – Uty came. I was in front…only the security staff between me and them. They sang and danced Kokoro no Placard. She was still wearing the wristband… I like Sendy too, so it was a fantastic present for me. Ghaida and Sendy are 1-2 metres from me…Uty was real cute too. I was just speechless watching that…

Then I bought some hot snacks at the Lawson booth, and received a Lawson original can badge. I filled my stomach with hot snacks and oden, they were pretty tasty too.

After a few more sessions, I was kinda tired so I sat down to take a rest, but hear someone saying “Ghaida”. I look up and see Ghaida, wearing a Jinbei, heading to session 7.
I “Ghaida~”　→　G “Ye~s, Iga-san?” Wow…couldn’t believe it, she remembered me? She was still wearing the wristband too…

(Session 7)
She was wearing a Jinbei during session 7. I had more tickets, 5 in all. I used first 1, then 2 twice. When I first used 2 of them, I asked her if she knew that in Shonichi’s lyrics, the “only one who could not dance” was Harugon. It seems she did, that it was a famous episode. I was wondering about that, so I’m glad I could ask her.
Last 2 tickets. I get easily moved, you see, so I cried. It was the last time I would meet her…well I think that everyone that likes Ghaida would cry, that’s how kind she is.
To all members I shook hands with, I said “make sure you get into the next senbatsu”. For some reason only to Ghaida I said “you must be the center!”.

(Other stuff)
Up till here, my report was focused on Ghaida, but Jeje remembered me too, even though I only had 2 sessions with her. Of course, in the first one I gave her the presents and explained about them, with a quick handshake. In the 2nd I told her that I was the one that in Yokohama (Jam Expo event) shouted “Jeje!!” and she waved to.
She said she remembered, but I couldn’t believe it. Later, looking at a certain person’s Google+ account, though, I noticed they were talking about me. Saying that the Japanese guy who came to the first sessions was also in Yokohama. When I heard that, I had shivers down my spine.

It might seem surprising, but Jeje’s handshaking style is really amazing. When I went to the 2nd sessions she told me she had used the stamp already. I was so happy. Many many other fun things happened, but I’ll spare you the long details .

(Minilive)
The minilive was very very good. The “surprises” left me ??? though. There was nothing really big. After the minilive, we all went our separate ways.

– October 7 K3 show – Seishun Girls –
I was hanging around in front of the theater, when 4 K3 members, who had just bought some juice, passed in front of me. Among them was Ikha, whom I had shaken hands with. She saw me and “Ah, Iga-san!”. I asked “Remember me?” and she nodded, heading to the changing room.
After the K3 show ended, during the hi-touch, Natalia was first: “Iga-sa~n!”; the 2nd member, Ikha: “Iga-sa~n”; the 3rd, Rona: “Ah, Iga-san!” and here I was just…KO. Can’t remember anything else.
I was thinking that the members were too few, when I saw other 2 and Yona near the exit, and Yona was carrying a megaphone.
I “Ah, Yona!” →　Y “Hello, Iga-san!” . She remembered too….and that greeting was picked up by the megaphone….(lol)

■■Conclusion■■
Being so close to the members, and them remembering about you, “how can it not be fun?” is my most honest impression. Honestly, I didn’t speak properly at all during the HS. But it was fun, it was the best ever.
I wrote mainly about members (esp. Ghaida), but I became friends with many Indonesians too. I value them as my life’s treasure.
I thought that the HS was an event where you shake members’ hands and talk with them, but actually it’s a place where fans’ hearts can connect .
To all JKT48 members, all friends who helped me during my stay, let me say it here one more time.

“How can it be not fun?”

Thank you all so much.

～best regards～

Hello everyone!
　The reason why I participated to the Jadilah Nekad tour is because I met Da-chi san via Twitter! I met him in person at @JAM EXPO, heard many fun stories from him until the morning of the next day, so I thought that I just had to go!
　
~ About the theater show ~
　The first day of my stay, I watched the Trainees’ Red Team Pajama Drive, with a Super Far ticket. During the team songs I followed Feni, my oshi. During the self intro MC I shouted “FENIII!!!” and she laughed; anyway, she was as energetic and lovely as I had expected. During the unit songs (maybe I’m biased because I like her) Michelle stood out as Junjo Shugi BD, even more than the main dancers. After the show, Feni wasn’t amoung the hi-touch members, because she was handing out pamphlets in front of the theater. I told her that I called her name a lot during the show, so she recognized me and we talked a little.

~ About the TV show recording ~
The 2nd day, Djati-san invited us to….iCLUB48’s recording!! We went to the Net.TV studio with Ryand-san, in the car he had prepared. We could even sit on the bottom (first) row of the spectator seats! As recording started the KnP senbatsu members came out one after the other and performed Flying Get. We were so close we could even trip the members if we extended our legs….it was too exciting!! After that, my eyes met with my oshi Rona (who was there too as substitute), I waved at her a little and she waved back with a big smile…I was so happy…she was so cute….that I cried….
　But my good fortune wasn’t over yet! During a break in the recording, the male host said to me “Hey Japanese guy, come here!” and I was made stand up in the middle of the stage, right in front of the members!! From that moment everything went white in front of me….the host asked me to say something in Japanese, but I only remember saying “Konnichiwa” and “My name is KouxFeb, I came from Japan” (in Japanese), nothing else….
Anyway, Da-chi san said he would write about the details, so I’ll leave it to him (lol)

~About the Handshake ~
　The 3rd day was…the much-awaited Handshake event day!
I can’t speak Indonesian at all, and my English is below average, but I dared to shake hands with more than 20 members….all of them, though, spoke in a way that I could understand, tried all they could to understand what I was saying….I was moved so many times by their kindness and beauty. Furthermore, all members that participated in the iCLUB48 recording said “You’re the one from yesterday!” when they saw me….aaah, just too fantastic!!!
The member who left the strongest impact on me was Naomi. Her eyes were like sucking me in….beautiful face, and splendid behaviour! Just perfect!!! I was so taken by her that, as if possessed, I went to buy more tickets.
To Rona, I gave a G-SHOCK mini as present. I hope she uses it…
Other than the handshake ones, there were all sorts of booths in the venue; in the OXY booth I received Rona and Lidya’s signed tumbler in the ADVAN Karaoke Booth I sang Gingham Check in Japanese and received an applause (lol), in the sweets booth Grace made a marshmallow chocolate fondue for me. (If you buy 5 of them the members would feed them to you….but I only knew it later…..*cries*)
At the end there was a mini-live, I was so happy I could see Utsukushii Inazuma live…

~ Meeting fans ~
　As meaningful as the idoling I did, or maybe even more, was meeting with other fans. I could write much longer about it, but let me just do some greetings.
To all Jadilah Nekad tour partecipants, JKT48stuff members and their mates, people I promised to meet through Twitter, people I met in the theater or the HS venue, to Japarta-san and Da-chi who brought me to Jakarta this time….I met many people for the first time, but everyone treated me as if we were friends for the longest time. It was so fun, I feel like crying every time I think about it!
Thank you so much , everybody!
If it’s OK with you, let’s meet again!!

October 4 (Sat)…
The first handshaking in 5 months…
Luckily, I was there from morning until evening this time…
Alongside old friends , from Japan I met some first-comers too.. (as usual, it feels like we’ve known each other for long from the first meeting…)
The venue was the JIExpo this time; it was a bit hard(ちょっと辛いですが), but the venue itself was really spacious, there was more room for all people, and you could feel the AC was working too (lol). In all, it felt more comfortable.
As effect of that incident in Japan, the curtain partings disappeared and visibleness (?) was emphasized.
Thanks to that, while queueing I could reverently admire other members’ gracious faces too, it was quite the bonus.

Anyway, I will try to be concise this time.
I wrote in chronological order, so the same member will appear multiple times.
In the end I went to 15 sessions, so the report ended up long all the same…

Veranda (Session 1)
Above all, elegant…she gives ya the chills, I mean it…
　　　　 Nothing else needs to be said…
Dhike (Session 1)
　　　 This is one pretty girl…really really pretty…
and, as she saw my face, she said “Nihonjin?” (and also “Mikan Daisuki”….) as expected (when I took a 2-shot with her, she asked the same “Nihonjin?”) , so after calling her out on that I explained about ”K→I→D→A”⇒”K←I←D←A”, trying to have her remember my name….but, alas, time up…

Beby (Session 2)
　　　 No matter how elegant Veranda is, or how pretty Dhike is, Beby’s the bestest ever!! No buts!
　　　 Her wedding dress figure……
As usual, she was all like “Kida-saaan!”, waving both her hands….
　　　　 2 months passed since last time, but she remembered me
　　　　 Honestly, that’s all I need…
　　　　 Moreover…
　　　　 ”How long are you staying in Jakarta this time?” she asked…
It means she remembers me telling her “I live in Bangkok and am always going back and forth from there to Jakarta”, right??
　　　　 ”I started living in Jakarta, it will be only for 2 years though. So I can come to the theater more often”,
I said, and Beby replied with “Isn’t that great!!” (We were talking in Indonesian, of course…. the word she used was “Asik!”)
　　　　 And that’s where time finished. I left saying “see you later!”.
From the “Gingham Check” senbatsu members I received a special DVD called “A Special Thanks to You” (seems you could receive it by shaking hands with a Senbatsu member)
　　　　
I walked away, and happened to meet Beby’s mother.
Mother: “Did you go to the handshake already?”
Me: “Yes, just now”
Such a normal conversation…
Such a abnormal feeling…

Dena (Session 3)
　　　 Another pretty girl…
　　　　 But with a different kind of beauty than Dhike’s…
　　　　 I explained about “K→I→D→A”⇒”K←I←D←A”, trying to make her remember my name…
　　　　 Time over came right away, but there was no one behind me, so I tried stalling a little.

Sisil (Session 4)
　　　 M-kun gave me a ticket (it was G-kun’s, who couldn’t come that day), so I went to her lane too.
　　　　 It was her first session of the day.
　　　　 I went as soon as the session started, but there was no one lining up…
　　　　 I could see her face, kind of lonely and worried.
　　　　 As soon as I entered the lane, she jumped up, looking all happy, welcoming me with a big smile.
　　　　 I introduced myself, and when I explained about my name, she said
“Wow! Pintar ya!?” (aren’t you smart!?) …
　　　　 We just talked a little, but I could get a taste of her MC prowess.

Dhike
　　　 As usual, she repeated “Nihonjin!!” and “Mikan daisuki!!”
　　　　 Me: “What about my name?”
　　　　 D: “…………….” (Of course she doesn’t remember….)
　　　　 Me: “*explains about KIDA＝K→I→D→A⇒K←I←D←A＝ADIK* Remember it~”
　　　　 Seems it might be easier to pronounce as “Kyda” (similar to Ghaida?)….
　　　　 And, time over….
　　　　 but she said “a little more!” to the staff guy, we talked of this and that a little more, and “I’ll come again”!
　　　　
Sinka (Session 5)
　　　 What a cutie….but she didn’t feel as fresh as last time….I think…
　　　　 She doesn’t really talk much, so I explained about my name, and time over.
　　　　 I said ”I’ll come again later” and she replied, in Japanese “Mata ne!” (see you later)
　　　　 Her pronunciation was very natural too!
Yona (Session 6)
　　　 Her eyes are really charming!!
I introduced myself, explained about my name, and suddenly she asked “how many years have you been living in Indonesia?”
In the end, I said “I have small eyes, so you can give me some of yours?” and she pretended to take them out and throw them at me♪
　　　　 It was really fun!!
　　　 I received a DVD and letter from her too.

Sinka (Session 6)
She said “we meet again” right after seeing me, so even if I thought she couldn’t remember, I asked “well, do you remember my name?” to which she replied with “………….”
　　　 　I explained again about my name, and parted saying “Remember it~”
　　　　 Well, not that I think she did remember it…

Dena (Session 6)
　　 I first said ”I’m back~” and then asked if she remembered my name right away.
　　　　 But as expected all I got was “………..”
　　　　 I explained about my name again, and time up.
　　　　 It was fun to tease her.

Beby (Session 6)
　　　 This time she was dressed as groom (Later I learnt from Ri-kun that the suit was of her deceased father’s!)
　　　　 She was so handsome!
　　　　 Yes…very very manly.
　　　　 I said “next time are you going to be half bride and half groom?” and she laughed heartily♪
　　　　 ”I’ll come again later”
　　　　 I received DVD and letter again.
　　　　　
Nabilah　(Session 7)
　　　 Maybe she was sick, but the session started 20 minutes late.
　　　　 She looked tired even during the handshake with the fan before me…
　　　　 We just talked a little about her condition, and time up.
I was looking forward to my first handshake with this energetic and bright girl, but I was worried instead (she was doing her best in the mini concert later…)
　　　　 She also gave me a DVD and letter.

Dhike (Session 7)
　　　 As soon as she saw me “Nihonjiiiiiin!!!”…..
　　　　 Me: (while being suprised)…….”and, my name is?”
　　　　 D: “Ka….Kai?”
　　　　 Me: “No, it’s Kida~~~” and I explained about my name all over again, and time up!
　　　　　　 (I think these 3 tickets lasted too little….)
　　　　 D: “Already over??”
　　　　 Me: “Remember my name, ok? I’ll come to the theater!”
　　　　 And off I go….
　　　　 Oh well, it’s probably useless….
　　　　 I went to all 3 of her sessions, and can say I was very satisfied.

Beby (Session
　　　 She was back to a normal girl.
　　　　 Once more…
　　　　 No matter what happens…
　　　　 For me….
　　　　 She’s the first and best….
　　　　 Me: “You didn’t do your face half bride and half groom, huh.”
　　　　 B: “It’s too hard, I can’t do it~”
　　　　 Me: “By the way, when are we going to see your photo album?”
　　　　 B: “There are so many members still, I don’t know…”
　　　　 Me: “How’s your study of Japanese going?”
　　　 B: “Japanese is so hard~~. But I plan to study it by myself.”
　　　　 Me: “OK, I’ll be your teacher then.”
　　　　 B: ”Yay! So what should I teach then?”
　　　　 Me: “Sundanese.”
　　　　 B: “Hatur nuwun”
　　　　 (Here time ended, but…)
　　　　 Me: “What does it mean?”
　　　　 B: “Thank you”
　　　　 Me: “Oh really!” “OK then, see you in the theater.”
　　　 　I received abother DVD and letter. I thought to refuse for a second, but took them in the end.

Shafa (Session 9)
　　　 I introduced myself, then asked “Compared to when you did the audition, haven’t you lost weight? ,
I asked, and she said “I gained weight actually…”. After a little more chatting, time up.
　　　　 What a nice girl she is….
And so….I left, to see that there was a group of girls waiting: “thanks for shaking hands with Shafa”, they said, and gave me a card. Interesting♪

In the end, I went to all sessions that day….I was exhausted….but so happy…..bliss…..

I met A-kun, M-kun, U-kun, Ry-kun, D-kun, L-kun, Re-kun and Ra-kun after a long time.
Others too, I met them for the first time I think, but some called my name, shook hands, greeted me….I was really happy.

I rested a little, then it was mini concert time….
Next time, I’m not going in front
Can’t see a thing!
And it kinda smelled like sweat….
I had memorized “Papan Penanda Isi Hati”, so I sang it too (lol) I was satisfied!

This time, there weren’t real special announcements.
As expected, they talked about the “2015 calendar senbatsu election”
With the 3rd gen in, rivals have increased a lot….
Yet again, something that requires spending money!
An unexpected thing was the “3rd anniversary concert” announcement!
I want to go too!!

Jadilah Nekad tour -5, Gingham Check HS event report. Here you go!

Venue
The Gingham Check HS event was held on October 4th, at JIEXPO D2 in Kemayoran that was the biggest venue ever. It is an indoor exhibition place where “Jakarta Fair (PRJ)” has been held in every June to July. It’s inside was huge enough, and in front of it there were so many restaurants and cafes that it was not hard for us, JKT48Stuff, to find the place for our base. It was quite comfortable.

However, Kemayoran is a little bit far from f(x) in south Jakarta area and it is obviously hard for us to catch a taxi after the HS event there. So, we chartered a bus of Big Bird (Blue Bird Group) so that all participants took it together, and then “Yossha ikuzooo!” We started form f(x) at 8am, arrived at the venue at 8:30am.

Participants
We welcome 4 new participants, and 3 participants who had ever joined us, totally 7 Japanese participants of JKT48 fans. Let me introduce them with short episodes.
Surprisingly, YH is a female fan in her 20th. Local friends who gathered at our base were throwing elbow punches each other “Hey, I take a seat next to her!” And once she entered in the HS venue, she gathered attention from fans there. We rather wanted to sell her HS ticket or 2shot card. lol
Kouxfeb is an university student, still in his 10th. The day before HS event, he visited the TV studio to watch the shooting of new program “iClub”. Unexpectedly he was asked to be on the stage, finally his face was memorized by JKT48 members. Basically he is Haruka Oshi, but… he is gonna “Oshi-mashi (increase oshi-men)” in the HS event?
Iga provided souvenirs for members, that cost performance was good and might give good impression on members. Moreover, you know, his name “Iga” means “rib” in Bahasa Indonesia, it was pretty effective to communicate members.
Ultra7 had experience to work abroad so much, had ever been to Indonesia as well. With his fluent English, he enjoyed to meet members. However, it showed him which member is not good at English. Lol
Dachi is single-mindedly Veranda oshi. All of his tickets were just for Veranda. Now he is aiming to complete Veranda’s PP, and only 10 PPs left to complete. He has ever come to Jakarta several times, so we left him free in the venue.
Mr. Twin Tail… he is a die-hard fan. Before HS event week, he came to Malang to watch the Yupi concert, then returned to Japan to work, and came to Jakarta again for the HS event. His passion made his HS schedule be full. And… after the HS event, you know, JKT48 didn’t have any show in their theater on 5th and 6th. In 6th morning, I didn’t find him in the hotel… but… he tweeted “I arrived now!” from Yogjakarta. Unbelievable! I recommended him to eat “Nasi gudeg” there. Hahaha.
Mr. Adik, previously his handle name was Mr. Bangkok in our report, but why he changed his name? Because from the end of September, he started to work in Jakarta, it’s his 2nd time living in Jakarta. I’m sure he will accelerate his Wota activity.

Besides our participants, 3 fans from Japan stopped at our base and enjoyed their lunch, coffee and chatting.

Hand Shake
Well, my HSs were with Sendy, Rica and Ikha, as usual. But, oh my God! Rica, Sendy and Ikha was completely in the same session, 1, 4 and 7, and their booths were side by side. Hahaha. It was a big pressure for me. Do you understand what I mean…? I provided different present for each of them.

When I gave a present to Rica, Sendy was waiting for a next fan but looked into us from right side and said,
S: Oh! It isn’t for me? Hehehe
J: (Oops! Should I provide the same one for Sendy too?) Well, I saw Rica uploaded this in her twitter, then…
Hey Sendy, you always upload many photos of cloths. But I’m not a fashionable man, it’s hard for me to select one.
S: Okay, I’m gonna upload a simple one next time. Hehehe.
We burst into laughter together.

For Ikha, I gave a small bottle of fragrance that is not expensive but popular in Japan.
J: This is popular in Japan now.
I: Wow! Thanks! Hehehe
Ikha immediately sprayed it to her neck. Waaa, what a great service for me!

Viny, I thanked her for coming to @JAM EXPO in Japan, she had a big special smile.
Sisil, I talked her about Mt. Joss’s poster supporting Yupi concert that was her favorite on her twitter. She seemed very happy.
And then, my 1st HS with Kinal. I have been a JK48 fan since their 1 generation’s audition however I haven’t experienced HS with this captain yet. Oh yes, she had an imposing presence and I was surprised that she can communicate in Japanese very well.

Then I tried HS with 3rd generation members. Well, is it my personality that I am interested in members who perform in the rear position or the side position? I wanted to meet Nina, whose position is in the rear in “Alasanku Maybe” She is one of the most popular 3rd generation members among my friends in Japan.
J: Hello, Nina.
N: Hello!
J: I’m from Japan.
N: Oh!
J: My friends in Japan also can’t keep their eyes off of you.
N: Really? Wow!
J: We are watching you from Japan, Ganbatte!
N: Yes. Thanks for coming!
She reacted with big action because I said I’m from Japan. Since she is tall, I had been thought she would be adult-like before I met her. However, she is still younger than I thought. It’s nothing but her charm, and I thought she has a potential to become completely different as time goes by.

Elaine
Her name sounds like “Ellen” with local pronunciation. My friend, Djati, recommended me to HS with her.
J: Hello, “Ellen”!
E: Hello, Japarta-san! (she suddenly called my real name.)
What? Why? My time stopped for a moment… But later I was told that my friend set a play for me.
J: Wow, don’t make me surprised…
E: hahaha
J: Keep up the good work! I support you from Japan.
E: Certainly! See you again! Thanks!
She waved her both hands big and bye-bye. In contrast to Nina, Elaine is not tall but had adult-like behavior as one of senior members in 3rd generations. Her expression was quite powerful.

I had just 1 ticket for each, so all I could do was just greeting. I’m looking forward to meeting them in next HS event.

As you can see in the photo, this time the distance between and a fan become a little bit farer than that of last time. However, I didn’t feel it uncomfortable. The ticket registration was pretty smooth, the procedure obviously became faster. Yeah, of course we had to queue, but I mean it was not stressful at all.
If HS with a Senbatsu-member, we got a hand-written letter (copied one) and a DVD from her. In the letter, Senbatsu-Member wrote words of gratitude for fans, and their video messages were in the DVD. That’s pretty good service.
There was a booth where members were making and selling chocolate fondu. For a fan who bought 5 sticks, there was a bonus that a member fed him it, he just had to open his mouth widely. It got a good reputation, but just one sad thing was that members were inside the iron railing for security reason.
There was one thing that should be improved. While the events on the stage, it was hard for me and the member to hear each other because the HS booth was close to the speaker system. “Excuse me?” “Could you say again?” It was waste of time that we ask the member or the member asked us to speak loudly each other.
　
　　
Mini Concert
The set list was,
M1 Gingham Check
M2 Kilat yang indah
M3 Aku akan Berjuang
M4 Kali ini Ecstasy
M5 Alasanku Maybe
M6 Kelopak-kelopak Bunga Sakura
M7 Papan Penada Isi Hati
The stage height became higher, so I could see members’ performance well. After long HS session members should be tired, but in every song their performance was amazingly sharp. There were many fans recording video in the front area, but the supporting voice and mix chant were powerful as usual.
As you guys already knew, no big “surprise” from Jiro-san’s customary announcement. Fans in the venue were expecting something big surprise, so it was like a side step, maybe? The announcement was a little complicated and long, then fans around me looked at each other and made it sure. It might be better that just the outline of events would be announced and “further information will be uploaded in official website”
This time, the members’ costumes in each song were left so vividly in my mind as the impressions. Of course we have already seen those costumes/uniforms, but I felt something different power from them. It made me feel Cute, Positive, Sexy, Fresh, Memories, Pleasure and so on, expressing each song’s individuality. I really appreciate the great job by staffs in charge of costumes.
　　

Summary
According to JOT’s announcement, on this day 8,000 fans came to the venue. On Oct 5th, the next day of HS event, was Idul Adha. Some of my Indonesian friends were not able to come to the venue on 4th because they had to go back to their home town from 4th or they had a family event in their house. However, 8,000 fans were quite big number.
Overall, this HS event was the best ever. The system was clear and smooth, Air conditioner worked well. But, “far” and “super far” fans coming to the same venue next time, I recommend you to provide perfect transportation to and from the venue. Imagine, if it rains after HS event… It will be terrible, right? Hahaha.

It seemed that Japanese participants joining this Ｊａｄｉｌａｈ Ｎｅｋａｄ tour were satisfied with the HS event.
YH-chan, our first female participant, met her oshi-men Noella. She was a little nervous, but deeply moved. Ultra7, a senior AKB48 wota, enjoyed all session and was satisfied with JKT48’s charm. Iga, his name was remembered by some members, and on Oct 7th in the high touch session of K3 show he was luckily called “Iga saaan!” by 4 members. Kouxfeb, the youngest participant ever, was fascinated not only by his 1-oshi Haruka but some members.

It is our pleasure if JKT48Stuff played enough roles as a base in order that they enjoyed JKT48 as much as they liked.
Thanks to all friends in Indonesia, we completed our tour without any problems.

So, what will be our topic in “kokopla HS event”…? What? DON’T MISS FEMALE FANS??? LOL

Here, we upload participants’ report in following articles. Enjoy!

Ultra7’s report: Impressions of attending Jadilah Nekad Tour

At the beginning of September, I have reserved the return flights between Tokyo and Jakarta and hotel room in order to attend JKT48 Gingham Check Handshake Festival scheduled on 4 October. I had no concern about the trip itself since I have been travelling around the world. Only the thing I worried was the venue of the event. It seems to be a little far away from I will be staying, going is O.K. the thing is on the way back, how can I get a safe taxi? I could not have a clear answer for that question. I found the invitation of this Jadilah Nekad Tour at such a condition, and applied immediately.

1. From the airport to the hotel
Jakarta is a big city equivalent to Tokyo but there is no public transportation between the airport and central city area for the first time foreign traveler. Taxi is the only option a Japanese tourist can take. I decided to take so called Silver Bird limousine which is fixed charge to the destination.
After the immigration control and custom clearance there were counters for foreign exchange. I wanted to change at least money to move around today. Having heard the rate at the airport is not good, ya Rp100 for \1. I had a million rupiahs for \10,000. Silver Bird counter was opposite of the foreign exchange. Rp320,000 will take me to the hotel including highway charge.
The driver was very good to be a Mercedes driver, the cost was well justified I think.
Later I noticed this service was called as Gold Bird not Silver, anyway no problem 3.

2. Check in at the hotel
Rp300,000 for deposit paid and got a receipt. Keep it in your wallet for your check out, all the money will be refunded.
The room was not very large but good enough for just to sleep, but there was not a bathtub. Shower toilet without warming capabilities was fitted, good enough at the country the water is always reasonably warm. Portable shower toilet which I always carry was useless during this trip xD.
Mosquito, dengue fever was arisen in Tokyo this summer, so I brought a little spray with insecticide but never see one at hotel room.

3. Team Red Stage
Although I left Soekarno Hatta airport around a quarter past 5 PM, I could check in the hotel in fX mall around 8PM. No chance to see Team Red stage, so I went to f2 to get a SIM card for my SIM lock free iPhone5s. There was a shop for XL, a local carrier support globally used WCDMA 2.1GHz. It cost only Rp55,000 with 600MB 3G packets and some calls and SMS allowance. Get powered by XL, I started using Facebook, LINE, Twitter after only 15min. It is great!
I joined the other Japanese attendants for this trip after the Red team stage at the theater. Local fans joined and conversations were made in Japanese, English and Indonesian. Slow but condensed time flew around me.

4. Team White Stage
After exchanging money at fX next morning, went out for shopping around. I wanted some nice old Dangdut music but not available.
As an eyewitness of AKB48 team B 3rd setlist, original PD, I was very much interested in watching the stage. Almost 4 months after the Shonichi, the stage was much more than I expected. Michelle, having herself said, song and dance is not yet… but Michelle you were doing more than Mayuyu in my 6years old memories. Andela was shining all the time on the stage, Temodemo sung with Yukka surely knocked an old fans heart. Back dancers from Team Red was gorgeous Elaine, Feni, Chesen…

5. Handshake Festival
All the tour participants got together at the venue of the event. It was not so much crowded in the morning and see many family fans with children.
What if Haruka was not assigned to JKT48 and if she was not chosen as center of KFC, I probably had no chance to come to Jakarta any more. Haruka was not good at health condition on the day, and announced 30 min. delay to start. Well glad to see her even though she kept sitting on a chair during the session. I also met Chikarina, as a Japanese member I hope she can have her own success in JKT48.
Since 10 o’clock in the morning until 20 o’clock there were 9 sessions and I went through all sessions with more than two members at a time.
Some of 3rd gen members sold out the tickets well before so additional sessions were the last, session 9. For the souvenir from Japan to the members, I heard it is not strict to hand over gifts. Spent quite some time to choose something like tissue paper with pretty print on it unlike food never go wrong, anyway only available in Japan.

6. Mini Concert
In between sessions, there were shows on the main stage. Sendy and Novinta with trainees were really interesting one. Nice to know more about trainees. Cisca, Cia are well highlighted.
After the completion of all sessions, promised mini concert has started. All tunes from Gingham Check CD were performed in front of me. After 12hours of walking around all day. Still had power to swing the penlight xD.
Personally I am satisfied watching Haruka at “Aku akan berjuan”.
Without a big surprise from Jiro-san, HSF was over.
Since the early morning till 10 PM I walked around whole day talking to the local wota people, I have enjoyed chatting with the people who have the same oshi-men.
I often had a question, why Japanese fans are widely spread in terms of the generation? I simply showed the video in my smart phone of Candies who are the idle group at around 40 years ago. I think they understood the history of idles in Japan.
I found the DVD set of 2nd anniversary concert previously informed coming soon. Knowing the price, I bought one despite the difference of the video system ie PAL and NTSC, I can not play on my BD/DVD player at home but playable on my PC. It is OK for me if I can play on my PC.

7. Others
Due to the Islam holiday on Sunday, there was no show at the theater also nothing on Monday. With 5 nights trip I could only see PD performed by trainee team White.
On the day I had to fly at evening time, I was at the theater to upgrade my OFC membership. Listening to low key voice I noticed, Lydia was next to me and talked to a staff. She was in casual wear and no appearance in the show but the day was Via’s Seitansai.. She could be a next door girl in Japan xD ah she could speak English. Ya most of the members can speak a little English anyway.
I have to come back to see the stage done by Team J and KⅢ in the near future, I have to save money for it.
Finally local wota group made a good video introducing this Handshake event
Official announcement about the number of participants on the day was 8,000. Observing obvious Japanese were around less than 100, about 1 out of 100 was Japanese. Well color of skin and atmosphere are different so be conspicuous probably. We were spotted around 1:14.

SAMPAI JUMPA LAGI ! We keep supporting JKT48, cantik adik yang AKB48.

Day1
This was my first long flight since I was junior high school student, and this was my first trip to the Southeast Asia. During the flight at midnight suddenly the lights turned off, I was so frightened and could not sleep. Only hope to meet JKT and JKT fans was supporting me …

Day2
Although I didn’t get enough sleep, after the long flight I became excited. I checked in my hotel, then enjoyed a shopping mall in Blok M for my first time. I was impressed by Indonesian foods especially mie-goren and soto. I feel Indonesian spicy tastes fit me very much.
Then, we moved to FX, I first met JKTstuff members. Although I talked only via Line they were all welcoming to us. We could communicate in English because we all resemble in that we love JKT48.
After the talk, moved to the theater. My first show of all AKB group was … PAJAMA DRIVE played by Trainee team Merah!! Very impressed!!!
*the first sequence of the songs so cantik!
*the center andela so fascinating (On this day, Andela performed in red team)
*Jyunjyou Syugi so sexy
*the last sequence of the songs so dynamic!
I feel the trainees devoted all her life to this show…in the show there is the song how to spend their life (inochi no tsukaimichi) Then, I found. all trainees decided to spend all their youth to this show.
But i am worried about their health(because dancing is so hard) Please be careful about yourself girls, and enjoy!
My excitement was not gone after i met JKT fans at FX again, ate dinner together. How delicious the dinner was…!

Day3
Had having been excited since I arrived at Jakarta, JKTstuff members let me watch iclub48 recording. It was my precious experiment to find young JKT fun boys who are often seen in Dashat wearing red T-shirt.Very interesting. And one of my local friends drive the car very well….amazing!! I can not make a left turn in such a crowded road with bikes(*I failed Japanese driving license test many times…)

Day4
Then I went into Handshake event!!!!!!
I first saw JKT oshi members in front of her faces…their faces were so small and eyes were so big and so pretty like dolls than I had expected. However I was getting nervous in front of members because of my first Handshake event of AKB group and could not speak well. I regretted being little prepared.

Day5
I went sightseeing at Islam festival and Monas by taxi. After that, I felt dizzy… So I went back to the hotel to lie myself down. I was irritated why I had not had breakfast in that morning. After sleeping I recovered little by little, then I asked my Japanese friends and JKTstuff members to go to shopping mall to buy souvenirs. So they were willing to go together. Terima kashih banyak!!!!!!

Day6
I went back to the Haneda airport missing Indonesia…after all I could not sleep during back flight, too.