Just came back from the countdown party in Meiji Shrine Stadium.
Happy New Year!

We got a free banana(!) each when we went in.  If you bring the skin to
Docomo's booth you get some souvenir.

Sakurai Tomo and Asakura Kaoru Engekidan was there.  There were about
50-60 Tomo fans down near the stage.  It was surreal to see tons of
normal people, then see the front three rows standing up and saying,
"Tomo! Tomo!" :-)

It was very cold and the stadium is open, so it was not comfortable. I
caught a cold the day before and slept the whole afternoon away.  I was
not feeling too well.  But we were right at the front watching Tomo-chan
sing.  (The stage was a bit far away though).  Also, photos and *video*
are allowed so the fan were happy. Sebestian took some video with his
camera but he didn't have enough tape, so he skipped some songs.

Tomo-chan sang for 1 hour (22:00 - 23:00) and she also stayed for the
countdown at 24:00.

Tomo-chan sang songs from her plays, Macross 7, St. Tail, Kenshin,
Rikka-chan and others.  She cosplayed Makimachi Misao and Rikka-chan.
She also wore a pink dress which I think she wore during XFL. After all
it was quite like XFL but it was only 1 hour.  She also performed some
lines from Akazukin Chacha.  Last she sang "Ai oboete imasu ka" from
Macross.

The other girls cosplayed as Misao (there were 12 Misaos on the stage)
and St. Tail.

Tomo did not call Sebestian from the stage :-)

Me and Sebestian went underground where the food stalls are between
sessions.  While Sebestian was busy talking to other people Asakura-san
and Tomo-chan walked by.  She was not 5 meters from me!  I said Hi to
her.  They were walking quite fast and I did not have time to call
Sebestian.

Tomo-chan did the countdown on stage.  Asakura-san was at the center and
he called for a cheers (we get free campagne at the stadium) after the
countdown was over.

Asakura-san and Tomo-chan left right after the countdown (there was a
car waiting for them next to the stage).  Sebestian was close to the car
and he said Asakura-san and Tomo-chan noticed him before they left.

Sebestian was popular as usual.  Lots of people talked to him.  The fan
club people, staff, even some normal people :)  He taught everyone how
to say Happy New Year 2000 in French.

It was a good event.  I am glad that I went.
Stephen