On 19th July 2011, AKB48 Cafe Singapore had its official launch, gracing the event was Maria Abe and Ami Maeda.
The cafe waitress had their day too, performing the dance they have been preparing for weeks.
As I was having my ICT, I was unable to attend it myself, below is the media release.
AKB48 concept Café to let diners bring home more
of the AKB48 Singapore experience
Close to 50 items in its menu and customer loyalty programme by
AKB48 Official Café Singapore
Singapore, 19 July 2011 – Dining in the world’s first AKB48 Official Café Singapore will now be a more memorable experience, with more menu items to choose from, collectible items personalized with AKB48 member information, and a customer loyalty programme. Since its soft launch on 25 June 2011, the AKB48 Official Café Singapore announced its full range of offerings today. To mark its official launch, the café held its first Summer Holiday Special Activity: Two AKB48 members flew to Singapore to conduct three meal sessions where selected diners got a chance to interact and pose questions directly to their idols.
Collectible AKB48 Singapore items as part of the meal
Going full swing into its operations today, the AKB48 Official Café Singapore unveiled:
· Full Menu & Special Items - Its full menu consists of close to 50 modern Japanese fusion cuisine and desserts. Diners will be delighted to hear that top-selling favourites during its soft launch, such as Omu Curry Rice, continue to be available. School bento sets and seasonal dishes will be introduced at a later stage.
· Miniature collectible AKB48 Singapore flags – Selected food items will be decorated with collectible AKB48 miniature “flags”. Similar to the very popular AKB48 pennant merchandise but smaller, each flag contains the name and picture of an AKB48 member. Diners can take home the miniature flags served with their meals. Collectible tablemats with AKB48 member information will be introduced at a later stage.
· Customer loyalty programme – An AKB48 Official Café Singapore Point Card was launched today. Stamps will be awarded for every $20 purchase, and stamps can be used to redeem food and dessert items, AKB48 merchandise and even AKB48 Singapore concert tickets.
Summer Holiday Special Activity brings fans up close with the idols
As part of the café’s official launch celebrations, AKB48 Singapore held three “Summer Holiday Special” sessions this afternoon. Diners who managed to purchase the session tickets beforehand had a chance to pose questions directly to their AKB48 idols, Ami Maeda and Maria Abe, while enjoying a special meal. Exclusive video messages from the top AKB48 members elected by their fans recently were also screened in the café for the 1st time. The diners also got to shake hands with their idols at the end of each session, which lasted one and a half hours each.
In the evening, customers who visited the AKB48 Official Shop Singapore will receive a pleasant surprise – the two AKB48 idols will take on “Shop Manager” duties for half an hour and welcome customers to the shop.
“Fan activities and surprise gestures like today’s may be new to Singapore, but these lie at the heart of AKB48’s concept to be ‘idols you can meet every day’. While fans in Singapore do not see their idols here every single day, we hope that these activities will encourage greater awareness and interest on AKB48’s presence in Singapore,” said Mr Shawn Chin, Project Director of the AKB48 Singapore Project.
Coming up, one SKE48 concert (one show only) will be held on 27 July 2011, 7pm, at *SCAPE Warehouse. This will be the first time SKE48, one of the sister groups of AKB48, is performing in Singapore.
To find out more about the AKB48 Singapore project or get the latest updates on the concerts, concept store and café, members of the public can check out www.akb48.com.sg.
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Tomorrow 27th July 2011, the cafe will be holding another event to celebrate SKE 1st "LIVE" in Singapore and it will be similar to the official launch. Limited ticket are still on sale, and there is only 1 session.
Also happening tomorrow is the SKE 1st Stage which will be celebrating Reichan [ Reika Yamada ]'s 16th birthday in advance.
