Post YOUR London Experience when you met Ayumi Hamasaki

[Cherry Dynamite]

It's really nice and I'll miss this thread D: This thread for many of us is an update of Ayu's activities and it's sad we can't do it anymore when she's back to JP xD Well I'm happy for everyone who saw Ayu. I'm quite jealous xD

[nanakopy87]

Ianieee,you are from UK?

[AyuGAME]

video 3 - is really touching, i can feel a lot of emotion and people is crying...

[norwegian blue]

Ok, i'm finally going to tell you guys my version of this. I think I'll break it up in several posts, because otherwise it'll get really long. Here is part one: tuesday night (I originally wrote this part for the norwegian fan site on wednesday evening, this is a translated and slightly edited version).

Me and maxker arrived in central London around 9pm on Tuesday night, and went straight to Ayu's hotel, because it was pretty easy to find. There were a lot of people there who were all waiting for Ayu, and when they told us she wasn't back yet, we decided to find our own hotel. We got a little lost because we weren't sure where our own hotel was, it was in a small side street not far from ayu's hotel, but we didn't know which one Eventually, we found it, checked in and decided to go back to the Langham. Ayu still hadn't gotten back, so we decided to wait there together with everyone else.

After a while, not sure how long, but probably an hour or something, ayu came back, and signed autographs for everyone. We weren't allowed to take pics because it was getting late and she just came back from filming a pv. But at least we got to meet her^^ and everything was filmed by the camera team, so maybe we'll appear in a making of-video (hindsight-note: little did i know at that time what was gonna happen the day after!). In the end, she shook everyone's hands and said "you're so cold, please be warm", and suddenly she was gone. Everyone was really happy, and we were pretty much thinking the same thing: "OMG we just met Ayumi Hamasaki!!!" Then everyone left, and made agreements about coming back the next morning.

To be continued...

[Ianieee]

I am from UK, From Leicester... thats 1 hour and 20 minutes train ride from London... But yes this thread has been great and it was fun to be able to post your experiences on this thread... This thread is somthing i woud want to bookmark and treasure for all times sake xD

[Luvia]

^ heh Ianieee you're getting popular here. u should have joined us earlier its real fun here =]

norwegian.. what happened next >__<

so exciting to read all of u guys' posts about meeting Ayu! how i wish i was able to go there =\

[mcken200]

hey guys time for me to post my encounter with ayu on the 29th,
i got there about 8pm its was sooooo cold whilist we were waiting. i eventually went off to mcdonalds to warm up with guy called kwon. Ianieee you crazy boy i cant believe you werent cold !

I want to thank the people on the forum and those who were there on the night for their info and company. I would never have had this chance if it werent for u.
i can finally die a happy guy now... oh wait no not until i see ayu in concert!

anyways here some of my pics.

ayu in the background


me getting my, my story signed


my story signed! bit faint though but nevertheless

[AyUmIXx]

Originally Posted by Ianieee

Lol It was a little suprise when they started to sing to Ayu... No one really expected that... Plus it was like 1:30am x.x.... been waiting for like 5-6 hours... My hands were too cold to even hold my phone properly.. Plus... Let me tell you somthing.... when your soooo close to Ayu... Your mind just stops working... seriously... You just stare at her Lol

But yes Ayumi is flying back to Japan tomorrow (Sunday)... Not sure morning or Evening... most likely Evening... But she will be gone tomorrow... I dont think i will be going back there early tomorrow Give Ayu some space! xD

yeah you're right!!
i know the feeling when it's AYUMI HAMASAKI who's right next to you..
OMG.. but i really wish i could sing for her if I ever meet her ONE DAY, i don't know T__T
maybe I'll just sing for her on my fanvideo project LOL...

anyway omg..Ayu will be leaving today!!!!!

[norwegian blue]

Originally Posted by Luvia

norwegian.. what happened next >__<

well, the forum is always down when I try to post, so be patient, ok?
anyhow, here's part 2: wednesday morning.

On wednesday morning, I decided to wait outside the hotel until she came out, so that I could tell her about the big gift that we were going to give her. I arrived at the hotel around 10 am, and the people who were already there said she hadn't left yet. So we were all waiting, waiting and waiting during a period of time that seriously felt like forever. At around 3pm, people started getting really nervous, and worrying that she wasn't in the hotel at all, and was somewhere else. This was especially worrying since it was really cold outside, and lots of people were seriously underdressed for standing outside all day. But still, we kept on waiting.

Suddenly, around 4pm, some cars showed up, and her staff members started carrying lots of shopping bags and suitcases to the cars. Some were worried that she was gonna switch hotels or leaving London completely or something, so we understandably got a little nervous. But since they were supposed to film pv's, i guess those things were just her outfits for the shooting, and they just put it in the car to bring it wherever they were filming.

Then suddenly Ayu comes out of the hotel, walking towards the car, apparently not noticing us until someone called out her name. She instantly turned towards us and started signing stuff. I was at the back of the crowd, meaning i was the last one to talk to ayu. Suddenly when it was my turn, i was standing alone in front of ayu and stan, and i had to say something. Well, my job for the afternoon was to make sure that ayu would actually get back in the evening, and let her know about the book, so what I did was basically to tell her that we had a really big surprise gift to give her, and we wanted to give it to her when she got back, because she'd have more time then. I was a little nervous so i stumbled a bit when i was talking, but she listened really attentively, until suddenly Stan said they had to go because they were in a hurry. I also somehow managed to mentioned that i had travelled all the way from Norway to see her. She was probably impressed by that

I had some other stuff that I wanted to give her as well, which was from the norwegian fans. I asked Stan if i could give that to them right away. He replied "well, we could put it in the car", but i didn't want to risk those gifts getting lost or forgotten or something, so i only gave them one of those gifts. What was it? Chocolate from Norway! Me an maxker bought a box each at the airport, it was rather spontaneous, but it had norwegian flags on it, and everybody likes chocolate, right? So we labeled one box "for Ayu" and the other box "for Stan" beforehand, and Stan took them in the car with him.

As they were about to leave, with ayu already inside the car, mayumi told me she didn't get anything signed, so I said, well Stan's at the car, why don't you go ask him to fix it for you? Initially, i think he said no, because they had to leave, but I think ayu heard him or something, because he took mayumi's poster inside the car, and ayu came out with it, signed. At that point, some guy even managed to sneak over to get an individual picture with ayu. If that guy was you, please post the pic, i want to see! Then Stan promised we'd get to take more pics when they got back, got in the car, and they left. "When will you get back?", I asked. "At nine, at the earliest", Stan replied. Understatement of the year! Oh well, we'll get back to that later

[Mai82Go]

I love to read all these stories and seeing these pictures, Ayu is too cute for words. Did any of you see her off today?

*damnahskeepscrashingevery2minutes*

[LizBrazil]

Originally Posted by AyUmIXx

yeah you're right!!
i know the feeling when it's AYUMI HAMASAKI who's right next to you..
OMG.. but i really wish i could sing for her if I ever meet her ONE DAY, i don't know T__T
maybe I'll just sing for her on my fanvideo project LOL...

anyway omg..Ayu will be leaving today!!!!!

It's not really the feeling that the Japanese star Ayumi Hamasaki is standing before you... At the moment you see her you are speechless, because it's the person Ayumi standing before you. Sweet, smiling Ayu looking at you and saying 'thank you' After meeting her, you start to think again and you can't believe you saw her

[dulceku]

Ianieee your 3rd video is so sweet, those guys singing is cute... I'm sure she loved it!!
Thanks everyone for the pictures and videos

[Ianieee]

I wanted to share this with everyone on the forums because i was in it!!! haha, joking but seriously i really am in it!! lol.. Thankyou so much Hatix for posting this video... I lovee it!! xD~

The first 20 seconds of the video.. Ayu was signing my You Were / Ballad Poster... When she was done signing i said Arigato Gozaimasu!! she was like "Your welcome" and smiled and then said "Your Japanese is very good" xD.... I put this on my 2nd report before but now Hatix posted a video of it... Lovee it!! haha All Credit goes to Hatix for the Video!!

[LizBrazil]

Here are my pictures of Friday

Spoiler:

During the afternoon:





Banner made by Hatix:

Banners made by the French fans:

During the evening:


My signed CD booklets:
My first Ayu CD:

My latest Ayu CD:

[Ianieee]

Ok... Well I just got home (Back in Leicester not London)... and I was informed Ayu was out of her Hotel 5pm today and was in a rush to get to the Airport =)... Thank you ObToby for informing me AKA Mikko! haha xD. I hope both you and Christine have a safe flight home and I will be looking forward to seeing you on the forums!! (Also hope Ayu has a safe flight toooo xD) haha...

There were only 11 fans apparently and they all manage to get some things signed again and a group photo... I wanted to be in more group photos =(... Ahh well...

Ok well... This post is basically what I wanted to show you guys... I put up everything I had and everything I got signed on my little wall hehe... Just wanted to share and show everyone!! xD

My Little Wall!



My Cds/Albums/Singles =]



Last but not least.... Stan-Chans Signiture!!!! hahaha

[Mai82Go]

^So she's gone now...*sigh* Nice Doraemon Sheets.

So was it all a dream or really for real? Maybe she will return one day. And then I will go. I swear.

The Langham staff will miss you guys....haha.

[LizBrazil]

^
LOL, that one hotel staff member will not miss us xD He kept giving us dirty, angry looks We didn't care though

[jayintheclouds]

Such a wonderful week, it's quite bizarre to think it's over now - even moreso to think that it really happened! When I go through everyone's photos and videos, I keep thinking I should be pinching myself! XD

I only found out that Ayu was in London by stroke of luck; I was listening to Ayu last Sunday night and wondered what she was up to at the mo. So I did some Googling and eventually found out that Ayu was in London! Ayu was in the city I lived in! :O

So after initially being quite stunned I made plans to go see if I could meet her and get an autograph. I went out on Monday night, but it was much too cold and I wasn't really prepared for staying out too long in it! So I went back on Wednesday night and I was amazed at how many other people there were! I had never seen so many other Ayu fans in one place before! It was an awesome atmosphere and everyone was so great to chat to and laugh with that it made the wait in the cold slightly easier for me It also helped that we were allowed into The Langham for a drink and a sit down early in the evening!

I kept thinking as the night went on, "I should leave, I have work in the morning, I'll miss the tube and train home", but I stayed there because I was so sure that when Ayu did turn up, it would be all worthwhile. And it totally was! Even though it was so late (around 3:30am-ish) and she must've had a busy day, Ayu was so sweet, patient and kind! She signed my "Ayu no dejideji nikki 2000 - 2009" book, making a treasured possession even more special to me!

When it came to the group photo moment, I had my own little fanboy moment! When Stan was taking people's cameras, I held mine out but he missed it. However, when we all huddled together for the photo, Ayu noticed that I still had my camera and she actually took it from me and gave it to Stan!! That was just *so* fantastic and sweet of her! It's as though now whenever I look at my group photo, I tell myself that Ayu was responsible for it! If it wasn't for Ayu, I wouldn't have this photo!



Larger version here

Friday was equally fantastic! We didn't have to wait much longer for Ayu to show up and she seemed less tired as a result! We got another wonderful group photo and - as she did on Wednesday - Ayu held each of our hands for a brief moment and it made the week seem so real! Because really, for years Ayu was the last person I admired who I ever expected to meet! I never thought it would happen, and certainly never thought she'd come to London! And yet it really happened and whenever I look back on it, I smile. Ayu just seemed to have that effect on all of us. She's an absolute gem and I really hope she comes back (or at least heads somewhere in Europe again, great reason to take a holiday!! XD )



Thank you as well to everyone there on Wednesday and Friday night for being such a great bunch of people to hang out with! I wasn't an AHS member at the time, so I was somewhat nervous about going, but all of you were awesome - from the Amy Winehouse jokes to running down Regents Street shouting out the chorus to 'Humming' (Everybody go, everybody JUMP~!) - so thanks very much!!

[Ianieee]

Originally Posted by Mai82Go

^So she's gone now...*sigh* Nice Doraemon Sheets.

So was it all a dream or really for real? Maybe she will return one day. And then I will go. I swear.

The Langham staff will miss you guys....haha.

Damn >.> Already spotted the Doraemon Sheets. Lol... But yes Ayu has gone.. Most likely flying right now =)

And the Langham staffs.. Oh Dear.. They seriously didn't like us using their bathrooms =P lmao! i only been once.. But i manage to get in that one time ahaha.

Overall im pretty sure the Langham staffs are so happy there wont be anyone outside their hotel anymore lol

[gigipan*]

Originally Posted by Ianieee

Damn >.> Already spotted the Doraemon Sheets. Lol... But yes Ayu has gone.. Most likely flying right now =)

And the Langham staffs.. Oh Dear.. They seriously didn't like us using their bathrooms =P lmao! i only been once.. But i manage to get in that one time ahaha.

Overall im pretty sure the Langham staffs are so happy there wont be anyone outside their hotel anymore lol

At least you entered the Langham, I had to go to McDonalds or Starbucks when I wanted to go to the bathroom hahaha
I think now Langham staff will be sad not having people singing and disturbing day and night LOL

@Ianieee: So cool you got Stan-chan's signature!! haha He's a nice guy^^