the holiday party...!

james' company holiday party this year was held at Showbox Sodo.

yea, the showbox! i had no idea you could rent out the space for private events!

it was pretty cool--the atmosphere was club-like.

dim red lights, loud music and open bar...o and they had game tables too.

poker, black jack, craps, etc.

they also had a hypnotist perform on volu

nteers and that was kind of cool.

i believe it BUT i kind of wish i knew someone who volunteered on stage so i could ask what it's like. i was afraid to go up myself, but now i kind of regret it. maybe i should've volunteered!

but i don't think i'm the "type" that can get hypnotized.

the hypnotist was saying that if you tell yourself "you DON'T want to be hypnotized" then it won't work. you have to be

willing... hmmm..

13 ppl volunteered and 5 ppl got sent back because they didn't get hypnotized.

i wonder if the others were really under his spell!! aaaa i'm fascinated!!

then towards the end of the night they had a live band performing while people mingled.

all in all, pretty cool! the venue was a cool choice.

FREE drinks all night!

hello red wine! o how i've missed you!

i felt buzzed all night and it felt

great! hehehe

but i missed Kai too much.... so we didn't stay too late.

lykke li...♥

♫little bit♫

love this song♥
it's so cute!
and i just found out she'll be playing here in Seattle...
oooOoo~ tempting...

scissor sisters ya'll...!

*my new friend Ian* -humping unicorns & rainbows...need i say more?

o, but before the show we had some sushi and drinks..!
ok, i must rave about this new sushi place♥
i got introduced to a new hole-in-the-wall sushi spot called 'musashi'.
ummm....WOW! it was so good! the fish was fresh and fatty and melted in my mouth!
so the moment i entered the restaurant i knew they were japanese ladies☺
(which means they know good sushi)
you can also buy sushi by the piece! and it's so cheap (like a buck a piece depending on the fish)
they have yaki-onigiri, grilled veggies, miso and so much more!
it felt like a japanese-home...i found it strangely comfortable!

drinks at 'hooverville', erika's hang out spot!
unfortunately i couldn't get ahold of the overly-social-gal this night!

my debut at the showbox @ sodo!!
i've heard not-so-good reviews of this venue...and they were right.
i much prefer showbox @ the market...
sodo is ...how do i put this... dirtier? and a bad layout...
i could stand anywhere and still not see a goddamn thing... :(
or maybe i should just blame my stupid height for that...
here's some 'ivy-point-of-view' shots☺
yep...just peeps heads..
but the show was awesome! i was really hoping for 'sex and violence' but they didn't sing that one ! AAARGH! i love that song! i can't believe they skipped it...
luckily i was standing next to a railing so i hopped up on it a few times to get a better view♥

after party at Dibble...!

see! Dibble avenue!

saw another show on saturday...an acquaintance's band

oof...2 shows in a week? no bueno..my weekend turned into work...

green room + chromeo nite♥

chromeo shirt! score!! @_@

check out this link: CHROMEO Live Review
it's a concert review by KEXP !

finally chromeo is here!
chromeo is a band i actually discovered through Jamus, so he gets all the credit♥
we chilled at the green room for a bit before seeing the show

o yea...and i totally lost my ticket right before entering the venue...
it was on the floor... tsk tsk...

why is her tongue so ...red?!?

yep, it's jamus posing !

(i mentioned in a previous post) before chromeo took the stage, the opening band Telephoned did a pretty awesome set list. THEN--while waiting for Chromeo to play, the lead singer Dave 1 totally walked by in front of us!!!! he is really tall...

the smell of the sidewalk hot dog stands, or maybe it was the grilled onions..
either case, it smelled soooo goood even though i don't eat hot dogs.
erika got one though

we had so much fun!
and i'm glad i asked for the next work day off because i was extremely exhausted...
i don't know why but shows take so much of my energy...
oy...

telephoned...♥

so like always, i fell in love with the opening band...!
this is Telephoned. it's just a chick and a dude and awesome music!
very electro poppy and basically a mix of popular songs out there--like a mash up!
and she's got a really great voice and cute i might add☺
i bought 2 of their cd's for $5--i love concert goodies!
purchased myself a chromeo tshirt as well but i'll have to upload my digi first

these are their 2 mixtapes--ooo!
i digg i digg!

scissor sisters ya'll...♫

holy shizz...! these guys are amazing!
i bought one of their songs years ago, "take your mama" because i fell in love with it after hearing it somewhere... and actually, i think i accidentally came upon the song on itunes or something...
anyway, i don't know how i decided to ignore the rest of the album at the time.
but alon was gracious enough to lend me their albums and woa!
these guys are totally awesome--not just electronica/disco-ey songs..they cover ballads, glam rock and it's just....sexy-makes you wanna dance-music♥
this album consists of a good variety of sounds so the whole album is an experience!

this album totally kicks ass
they'll be at the showbox this september.. i think i'm going!
yea, i'm definitely going...listening to this album, it calls for some ivy dancin! ♫

chromeo tix...!

yep! got them on friday♥
the show is in August, about a week before Lady GaGa☆
gonna be a fun month--WOOOOooOO~!

Chromeo is coming...!

EEEEEEEEEEeee!!!
Chromeo is finally coming to Seattle, ya'll!
i was introduced to this band by jamus and...they friggin rock!
AND they'll be performing at my new favorite venue, the Showbox-market.
i'm hoping to get tickets and go!
they'll be here august 12th, you + me...let's go!
♫♫

30STM...!

erika was lucky and brave enough to go see 30STM on a Monday night.
i knew i couldn't handle the next day well...so sadly, i skipped it :(
she claims it was one of the best concerts she's ever been to...that's including all PEARL JAM concerts she's seen...! must've been quite the show...
here's a photo she took...looks like she got really close!
the pink mohawk is AWESOME! and i'm jealous erika got to hear jared's version of BAD ROMANCE, lady gaga cover--acoustic/piano version. o man!! that had to be epic♥

finally...utada is here♥♥

finally...! my most anticipated show in a while♥
i'm a huge jpop fan..always have been..since i was a kid growing up in japan.
utada is popular in japan..'tis a fact.
the girl is talented...she's a singer/songwriter..from an early age.
she's also bilingual in japanese/english... and she's my age!
wow..i can totally relate♥
she released 2 US albums thus far...and to promote her most recent one, she's on a US&UK tour at the moment... and i was stoked to find out she would be performing in seattle:)
i promptly purchased tickets for myself and erika.

it being a thursday nite, erika and i were already in the seattle area.
after work, we decided to head over early...only to find a HUGE ass line of people!
woa...i mean yes, it was a sold out show..but the line wrapped around the whole block!

here's the line... lots of asians i must admit..
we even ran into erika's old elementary friend from japan, amy♥

we then found out that if you purchase a drink and chill in the 'green room' (a bar inside the showbox) they let you into the show BEFORE the line outside...
thank god i'm over 21! ♥ gotta love these advantages♥

we got in and found ourselves an awesome spot up front...
now maybe it was the few drinks we had beforehand, or the fact that we were up since 7 working... but erika couldn't take the crowd. she had to step out and watched the show from the back... halfway through the show, i felt dizzy and almost fainted..literally. it was so weird...i've never had that happen to me before... it had to be the drinks. i think we dehydrated ourselves.. :(
but back to the show, utada was amazing! i got to see her really close♥
she was cute, adorable and wow..her vocals were amazing! i thought she sounded better than on CD. she came out in a cute pink dress with thigh-high black boots.. very nice♥
she mixed her chats with both english and japanese. even performing both US and japanese tunes... (awesome)
i'm trying to remember some of the songs she sung:
devil inside, FYI, on and on, me muero, sakura drops, stay gold, passion, simple and clean, automatic, can you keep a secret, first love, hmmm... and a whole lot more! the show was a good 2 hours long♥
i felt real lucky to see her because concert tickets in japan can cost anywhere from 80~couple hundred bucks... we got to see her for $30. very lucky♥
i really hope she comes back for another show

the only thing i was bummed about was that they didn't have any merchandise..or shirts/posters/cd's to purchase :(
i usually like to purchase a little something at shows...as a souvenir

but really, no complaints♥ utada, you rock girl!

utada@showbox...♥♥♥♥

OH EM GEE !!! Utada has officially announced her US & UK 2010 tour!

and i just happened to catch the news... i've been disappointed since her album promo tour got cancelled earlier this year... but she's returning this time to tour the states!

tickets went on sale 11/14/2009 and i purchased one for me and one for erika!

erika is pretty picky with her jpop music... amuro and utada are about the only ones she appreciates♥

anyways...tickets were about $30 each but totalled to $80 for both..O_o (stupid ticketmaster fees...)

but still a whole lot less than a concert ticket would cost in japan...

so i have no complaints:)

the concert date is for 1/21/2010

so i still have a couple months....

(i just hope nothing happens between now and then... please no cancellations!!)

i've been reading the utada forums and people are trying to guess what kind

of set list it will be...

i personally enjoy her japanese songs more than her english songs...so i'm hoping she might squeeze in a couple jpop tunes in there...but she IS promoting her new english album "this is the one" so... chances are slim ;_; i'm also hoping she'll pick a few tunes from her FIRST english album "exodus"... i liked this one.. some tracks were produced by timbaland... and there were some techno-ish influences too..

i can't say, but i think the newer album is more chill and...consists mainly of ballads...

i could be wrong tho! i don't own it yet.. (must get to the store...)

but regardless... i'm very much looking forward to the concert!

o m g... this is my first jpop concert?! yikes..!!

my next mission is an amuro concert... must see her before i die or worse...

before she retires! ;_; *crosses fingers*

obama...!

obama has won the presidency...!! we went to (the showbox) downtown seattle and everyone was celebrating...! people honking and parading all around...

they closed down the street right by pike place...

wow...! interesting get-up

bumper sticker i saw on this truck...