Sonos in Japan 2009

Back Stateside Once Again (Michele's Picture Post)

2010-01-06T15:34:00.000+09:00

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Sonos left Tokyo Narita airport on Northwest flight 326 at 3pm on Thurs, Dec 24. We arrived at San Francisco airport at 8:15am on Thurs, Dec 24. Yes, we are a group of time travelers! :-)

Personally, that marked the beginning of several hectic days for me -- directing at my church on Thursday night, then Christmas Day with family, then packing up our apartment on the 26th & 27th, so the movers could come & cart it all away on the 28th, then my husband & I could fly down to San Diego & meet the movers at our house in San Marcos, then I could fly back to the Bay Area for the Sonos concert on Sun, Jan 3, then I could drive back down to San Marcos. *whew* I'm exhausted just reading that! :-)

Things have settled down a bit now, so I can finally write this post.

I took a bunch of pictures with my phone while we were in Japan, and even though I did send a number of them to Twitpic, I haven't posted them here. I've been meaning to do so and now seems like as good a time as any, so here goes:

After Sunghee & I got to our hotel room at the Hotel New Archaic near Osaka, we found this in the corner:

So, we took a closer look:

We wanted to open the door & look inside, but there was a sign saying that opening the door would set off an alarm, so the mystery remains. We like imagining that it's a super slide that lands you on a big fluffy pillow thing....

Some pictures from the Osaka Aquarium:

Not sure what this blurry fish is supposed to be....

I think this is a nurse shark - why oh why didn't I take pictures of the signs?!? :-)

An octopus:

And then there are the Japanese Spider Crabs!!

They are definitely scary looking!

The guy in the background helps give a sense of scale. These crabs are LARGE!

After visiting the Aquarium, we stopped for lunch at the food court. I took a picture of Marquise:

and Tess:

Our hotel had a fitness center & this was on the advertisement poster. I think they mean bicycles....?

Across the street from our hotel was a Fire Station. We saw this very cute little truck in the garage! What could they possibly use it for?? School presentations on firefighting, maybe??

We all went out to dinner for Marquise's birthday & in the restaurant, there was a display of fish heads. I dedicate this picture to my friend Larry Sue, who likes to make (and eat!!) fish head stew. Fish heads! Fish heads! Roly poly fish heads!

We did some sight-seeing!

Sunghee, Marquise, & I at Asakusa:

A historic alleyway in Kabuki-cho, near Shinjuku (part of Tokyo):

Joel & I at the Hie Jinja Shinto shrine in Tokyo:

Taking the train out to Taka-o-san, or Mt. Takao...

... which we then climbed...

... and looked out from the vista point...

... to see some breath-taking views:

This one is Fuji-san (Mt. Fuji).

There were many photographers up on Mt Takao jockeying for space to take a picture of Mt Fuji because this time of year, the sun appears to set directly behind Mt Fuji. We didn't stay until sunset, but I imagine the sight would be almost magical!

Along the way up the mountain we saw some other things, such as the map for the mountain which included this graphic for the Monkey Park:

and this statue of a tengu. Not to be disrespectful or anything, but I think he looks like Mr. Heat Miser!

What do you think?

This manhole cover isn't as colorful as some of the ones Patti found, but it's still very decorative:

Then we rode the funicula back down the mountain:

Others have posted pics of us in the concert halls & frankly, they're better pictures than mine. However, while most halls gave us "tables" like this:

One concert hall tried to give us tables like this:

We ended up stacking other risers on top of them to make them closer to the right height:

All in all, it was a good trip. We ate lots of food:

We also saw lots of amusing or interesting signage & packaging:

I'm not sure *why* Santa is saying, "Oh my god!":

Maybe he had too much "Hot Love"??

Or perhaps an elephant was bothering him?

Perhaps eating some cheese would calm him down?

or some miso soup:

or just a nice hot cup of tea:

and then he could relax in a tub:

But not with a squash, rather with some Cow Beauty soap:

and have a nice drink while he's at it:

I mean, I know what keeps *me* sane:

Happy New Year, everybody!!

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What was happening next door

2009-12-23T20:56:00.003+09:00

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While backstage between rehearsal and performance last Friday (outside of Nagoya), I could hear another type of music coming from a nearby practice room. As it turns out, a group of senior ladies were practicing on some type Japanese viol. If you know what it is called, please let me know.

They were very sweet, letting me listen to them struggle through familiar Christmas carols. Perhaps they were a class - I don't know for sure. But I do know that they were having fun at what seemed to be a new skill.

This is the music they were using. It's sort of a tabulature. The instrument has three silk strings, tuned to C (low), G, and C (octave higher). It is bowed with a horse-hair bow, and the tension is controlled by your grip.

Being a violin player, I had to try it. They got a kick out of me, trying to put it up under my neck (in jest, of course). I managed to get through "Jingle Bells" with the other ladies. What fun!

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Rambling thoughts

2009-12-23T09:28:00.002+09:00

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So it says that I'm a contributor to this blog, but I haven't posted anything yet. I don't consider myself a very good writer, and I don't really like to do it. But I figure I should put something on here since my name is on the site!!!

This is my third trip to Japan with Sonos. In many ways I've enjoyed this one best, because my husband Brian came with me! We've had a great time. It's been really fun showing Brian the stuff I already knew about, from my previous trips. I particularly liked showing him Tokyo DisneySea and Tokyo Disneyland (of course)! DisneySea is such a great park, so many cool little details that Disney is famous for. Having grown up in Burbank, Brian visited Disneyland quite often growing up, and we go at least once a year now. So he really liked the fact that Disney was feeling new to him, not just the same thing once again. That's exactly how I have felt about it in my previous trips as well.

We also really have enjoyed the things that are new to us both. Yesterday we went up to Mt. Takao, about an hour from our hotel by train. We had a great hike, and up at the top there was a great view of Mt. Fuji. On the way there we also visited a temple, and got to see a lot of beautiful scenery. A long hike, and we were ready to be off our feet when we got back to the train!!

And of course there was the earthquake. Not a big deal for two people from California! We lay there and waited for it to end, listened for the possibility of the hotel emergency system kicking in (it didn't), and then turned on the TV to see if there was any report on the English News stations. Nothing there, so no big deal. I realized that I had never experienced an earthquake on anything but a ground floor. It was very different being on the 23rd floor. Very smooth and rocking.

Oh yeah, and then there's the concerts (the real reason that I'm here)! The halls have been beautiful, like usual. The concerts have been pretty good, some better than others. I personally have played some with excellent results, and some not so much. The last concert is today and I'm hoping to nail everything!!!

Brian, Warren and Jan are skipping the last concert and going to the Imperial Palace. Today is the Emperor's Birthday, and so it is open to the public. This is the only day all year that it is. They just couldn't pass up the opportunity, and I don't blame them.

So, another great trip to Japan. I'm so glad that Brian got to come along. I hope we'll get a chance to come back again.

It's all about the friends

2009-12-23T09:20:00.006+09:00

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Friends we travel with.

Friends we eat with.

Friends we play with.

Friends we nap with.

Friends we meet here.

Bullet train goes how fast?

2009-12-23T09:14:00.002+09:00

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Thanks to Warren's iPhone, we know how fast the bullet train was going. And in what direction.

And sometimes we perform too

2009-12-23T09:04:00.006+09:00

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These are some pictures from various rehearsals and performances so far, just to make sure you all know that we ARE actually working here too.

Quartet performing "Sakura" in the lobby during intermission.

We were joined by another handbell choir for one performance. This was the rehearsal for the combined number "Silent Night," arranged by their director.

We couldn't take pictures during the concerts, but occasionally there was an off-stage view available.

Sonos is back-stage, and ready to enter!

Setups were always interesting. We rely on whatever tables are available at each hall. As you can see, it meant sawhorses with platforms on top. These make-shift tables were very sturdy, but too wide, as well as either too tall or too short.

We found a taiko drum backstage, and got permission to use it instead of our hand drum for "Rondo alla Turca." Jeannine got to play it, and she loved it.

One hall had a cool back screen, so we took some artsy photos. I'm sure Jim has a purpose for these.

Harf & Harf

2009-12-23T08:51:00.005+09:00

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Mix Guinness and Bass and what do you get? Harf and harf, of course. Michèle loves this.

Sumo

2009-12-23T08:17:00.003+09:00

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While eating lunch at the fish market the other day, this fellow was staring down at me from a calendar posted on the wall.

Next to him, was this poster absolutely packed with small, smaller, and microscopic nano-Kanji. Yoshimichi told us that it is a Sumo ranking sheet. Once I read it, I'll be able to make some bets on future matches.

Kiriku and Hie Jinja

2009-12-22T23:16:00.004+09:00

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Last week a number of Sonosians had the great pleasure to see Kiriku, the latest ensemble started by Japanese handbell superstar Taiko Otsubo, a protege of Kodama. The concert was at the same hall (Hamarikyu) we had been in just a few days before! They had a *great* audience - their single event netted almost as large an audience as our *two* concerts. :/ We also learned from them to offer to sign autographs after the concert - brings in a *huge* crowd of people! I guess the Japanese love personalized stuff; good for us. We now sign autographs after every concert.

As always, the playing was superb and intensely personal and musical. They set an amazing standard for any handbell ensemble, small or full. This was a special concert as it was one of the first they played *without* Taiko, who had recently had her third (and cutest) baby, Yuan - she and Michitaka's first girl. Taiko did a little playing, but it was mostly entirely covered by the other members of Kiriku.

Here's a group picture after the concert:

A close-up of Taiko, Michitaka, their baby Yuan, Ryoko, Eri, Michele, and (argh!):

Yoshimichi headed us out to lunch, aiming at a fish market district not far from the concert hall. Seen on a menu:

(God knows what this is!)

After lunch we decided to head to a shrine in Tokyo (Nagata-cho, specifically), the Hie Jinja. It became the official shrine of the shogunate after Tokugawa Ieyasu moved it within his new capitol complex in Edo. Here's the main shrine building:

The shrine is home to a major festival on my birthday (June 15th)! Sorry I won't be around to attend. :/ The central courtyard contained a straw ring suspended vertically. Apparently stepping through it has something to do with my birthday ceremony. The man in white is a monk at the shrine:

The shrine has been completely surrounded by highrise buildings. I found this extremely trippy.

Note the *Prudential* building in the background. Gotta love capitalism:

Note the crane in the background - even more floors being added to these skyscrapers! Pretty soon you'll never see the sun in Hie Jinja:

And, like most Shinto shrines, they have a nice collection of Sake jugs for the festival revelries. Enjoy!

---Jason

Okonomiyaki!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-12-21T20:47:00.004+09:00

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I have friend named Lisa who used to work with me at Peet's. She decided she wanted to teach English in Japan so and applied to be a teacher in Japan and once she got accepted she quit her job at Peet's and went over to Japan. Months before she left, she knew I was gonna be in Japan and we had talked about meeting up when I came over.

So once it got closer for Sonos to depart for Nippon, I emailed her and told her I was gonna be in her city. She couldn't believe I was actually gonna see her! She had always assumed we'd be playing in the big cities and never venture down south to any of the small country/cities.

Sunday was our second to last concert in Makizono at the Miyama Concert Hall. And Lisa got to come! She brought her friend Elizabeth along. They were simply amazed! Lisa had heard me talk about handbells but never really knew what they were or what they sounded like. She was impressed by how loud we could play and how soft we could play. She definitely has a better appreciation and respect for the art of handbell ringing. Oh and apparently she enjoyed watching Joel ring...whatever

After the concert I met up with and Elizabeth at my hotel and they took me out for dinner. We went to this okonomiyaki bar. Okonomiyaki is a pan fried food that consist of a batter (cooked on a grill) topped with cabbage, shrimp, octopus, pork, yakisoba noodles and many other things if you wanted. And then it is flipped so the fillings are cooked. One egg is fried and placed on the open side.

It is then covered in something similar to Worcestershire sauce and then topped with mayonnaise and mustard. It is left on the grill and you are given a spatula to break off pieces.

Definitely the best traditional Japanese food I've had in my two weeks here! Gotta find a place like this in the states or learn how to make it myself!

Look down once in a while

2009-12-21T16:01:00.004+09:00

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Bell ringers don't hear that too often. No matter the instrument, music directors have to remind, nag, cajole, beg musicians to look up at least once in a while. In the big cities in Japan, if you look up all the time, you'll get a stiff neck from the tall buildings, and you'll miss the art under your feet. Each city seems to have its own characteristic design for manhole covers. Here are some we've seen this year, and a few from the 2006 trip (we saw some of them on both trips). Nagoya had several pretty designs, but we had no time to get pictures as we walked from the train station to the hotel in very cold weather.

Sights around Kamakura

2009-12-21T10:04:00.015+09:00

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Jan and I spent all day Wednesday at Kamakura, a town just over an hour by train outside of Tokyo. It's a rural community, which was refreshing after being surrounded by cityscape each day so far. Eric and Aleks also went, with full video camera equipment. I expect we'll see some footage in the upcoming DVD.

Kamakura is known for two things: its Zen temples and the "Big Budda." Each temple is thematic, with this one being known as a safe haven for battered women. We thought this a very progressive idea, given the culture. It also gave the women an option for divorce, provided they stayed within the temple walls for three years.

This was the temple devoted to the memory of dead babies. It sounds like a sad place, but actually it was quite beautiful. The view here was incredible, overlooking the town and a bay. That's Eric taking video in the picture.

It's kind of fun to poke around in the graveyards too. They are built above ground, just holding the ashes. Many were well tended, with flowers and burning incense.

Even though it was December, there was still a lot of bright color.

Here is a very tall forest of bamboo.

We went on the Daitotsu hiking course between one temple district and the Big Buddha area. It said hiking, and it really was. But it was also one of the highlights of our trek.

We carried the video bag, tripod, and wheelie cart through the forest trail, up and down a dirt path. The steep areas were nearly always steps created by tree roots. And we met a lot of people also hiking the trail, stopping for a quick rest with us and exchanging greetings.

As we neared the end of the trail, we met up with a Kindergarten class on an outing. They were so cute, we couldn't resist talking to them. Jan was wearing a shirt with the M&M characters, all dressed up for Christmas. One little boy pointed to Jan and called out "Apple!" Another chimed in with "Banana!"

Soon the children were all crowded around, talking and pointing. The teacher spoke enough English that we could laugh together that the children mistook the candies for fruit.

It was a perfect opportunity for Jan to learn how to count to five in Japanese. The children were energetic teachers.

Then we went on to see Big Buddha. There we talked to a group on an outing from the local US military base. They were recently stationed there, and had a week to see the sights and get a feel for the Japanese culture. We traded turns taking pictures for each other in front of Big Buddha.

They build big in Japan!

2009-12-21T00:11:00.010+09:00

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Japan doesn't have a lot of square-footage (unlike the U.S., where we have an embarrassment of land). This means that they tend to build *up* - everything is tall! Our hotel (Keio Plaza) is right across from the Tokyo Metropolitan Center in Shinjuku. Here's the Center:

There's an observatory near the top. Shinjuku is one of the richest and most impressive districts in Tokyo (in a city of nearly *40* *million*, that's saying something). Here are some shots from the observatory:

After descending from the observatory, we embarked on an odyssey of trying to find a cultural site open on a Monday (this was last week on our first full day in Tokyo). Turns that Monday is when most sites are closed for maintenance. ::sigh:: I guess it does take a *lot* of work to keep things are clean and pristine as they are throughout Japan.

Here are some random pictures while walking.

Another mega building.

No, I have *know* idea what this means. We couldn't find a storefront nearby that seemed in any way to relate to this sign. David suggested it might be Vietnamese...

Any idea what "Waku Waku Mail" is? Neither do I.

We weren't aware that the hedgehog was traditionally associated with Christmas. We learn something (usually *many* somethings) every day in Japan! :)

We came across a film crew outside of the Metropolitan building. They had nice prosumer cameras (Sony HDVs), which attracted my attention. Then we saw them doing a stunt shoot. This is the drive car.

This is the entire stunt setup. Eric commented that the camera guy was "practicing his technique." Fun!

I just liked this building.

McDonalds is *very* popular in Japan. Many restaurants have two levels - one for smoking (the uppoer one, obviously). In fact, they're so popular, even cats are getting into the act. Do you think that's milk? Maybe a Powerade?

The Japanese definitely dig "cute." Look at the posts that hold up the construction railings. Gag me.

Like I said, the Japanese do things big. The signage is just *crazy*! Plus, because every building has multiple floors with multiple stores per floor, the vertical banners are *huge*.

Nice, eh?

And, finally, some of the nightlife near the Shinjuku train station. This was along the route we took nearly every day to hop on the train to some new, exotic destination. (Notice the ever present convini (convenience mart), "Lawsons Station.")

---Jason

Fuji-san from the Shinkansen

2009-12-19T23:28:00.002+09:00

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On Friday, we took the Shinkansen (the bullet train) from Tokyo to Nagoya for a concert at the Handa-shi Hukushi Bunka Kaikan. From the train, we saw an awesome sight: Mt. Fuji on a beautiful clear day!

Here's the video!

Sorry it's sideways; I couldn't figure out how to fix that. If anybody knows, please tell me & I'll fix it! The video was taken by my HTC Fuze phone.

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Earthquake in Tokyo and the Dream to Match.

2009-12-18T10:32:00.003+09:00

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It was approximately 4:51 am on Friday December 18th and I was having a dream. The dream included me, Jim and Michele.

So Jim and I are in a hall way waiting to go somewhere. Probably back to my hotel room. I was intoxicated and it felt like Jim didn't want to bring me to my room. So Jim goes, "Just wait for Michele, here she comes now." Michele walks up to me and Jim says, "Grab her arm." I replied, "I can't grab her arm, I can't!" As I stumbled about.

I continued to reach for her arm and then I woke up and I sat up in bed. And then I sorta laughed to myself because there was an earthquake happening. So I just laid back down and waited for my "drunken state" to end and then I went back to sleep.

Yeah....

Early morning earthquake

2009-12-18T07:31:00.005+09:00

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Rated as a magnatude 5.3 in eastern Honshu prefecture (50 miles NNW of Tokyo) at 5:41am

It woke us both up, looking at each other to see who was responsible for bouncing the bed. The closet doors rattled, and we had a few more free rides up and down.

Jan said, "Wow, it's an earthquake."
I said, "Cool," and we both rolled over and went back to sleep.

After all, we ARE Californians.

Living in Small Spaces

2009-12-17T17:17:00.003+09:00

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We browsed through an 8 story electronics store today. We went there to get a USB cord so I could download photos, which is why all these blogs are showing up at once. Anyway, we came across the appliance section. Tokyo is a very dense city, and, apparently, people live in very small spaces. Check out these appliances.

Here's a dishwasher.

And a range.

And a washer/dryer combination. The silver ion feature is controversial in the US. The EPA has determined that silver emitting washers must be registered as antimicrobial pesticides.

More (less?) on Engrish

2009-12-17T17:12:00.003+09:00

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I have to say that I'm not seeing as much Engrish as I expected. It seems to appear a lot on restaurant menus, which aren't so good for photos. However, we did find this shirt today.

Oyster Nirvana

2009-12-17T16:48:00.005+09:00

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We visited the fish market the other day, escorted by our friend Yoshimichi (member of Kiriku). This particular market is not huge, but it has an incredibly good restaurant that is more than worth the trip. If you look up "hole-in-the-wall" in a dictionary, you might see this place. Our group of 11 completely took it over. We stuffed ourselves with sashimi, oysters, grilled fish and miso soup.

Here are a few pictures from around the market. This is an eel stand. They kill 'em, clean 'em and grill 'em right there.

These ladies are putting little clams on toothpick-sized sticks and grilling them, carefully turning each one several times. They gave us a sample. Yum!

Here are a bunch of shucked oysters, waiting to be fried.

This is the kitchen of the restaurant.

And, here are some lovely plates of fried oysters.

Down the hatch with one of Warren's favorite foods.

It's not all fish. Here are some giant carrots that I bought for Lois.

...and then we waddled off to the National Museum.

Three Little Pigs - Addendum

2009-12-17T07:15:00.003+09:00

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In response to my picture of the Three Little Pigs (Bu-, Fu-, & Wu-), my friend Nahomi found them on YouTube! They appear at about 1:52 in:

If you click through to YouTube, there are actually 2 more parts to the show. It looks very very cute & exciting for kids!

Thanks for the video, Nahomi!!

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More at DisneySea

2009-12-16T17:45:00.008+09:00

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This is where I try to align all the planets.

And this is where I try to prove that I am still working on my Sonos music. Notice the "Blue Danube" reference!

It's a little small, so here's what it says:

Strauss & Sons
Blue Danube Bakery

from Streudels to Pretzels
and Everything in Between

Waltz on over
German Bakery

Legend of Mythica

2009-12-16T17:17:00.013+09:00

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DisneySea's "Legend of Mythica" show in Tokyo is really spectacular. It all takes place in the center lagoon, where you can watch the show from any location. In this picture, you can see the jetskis each pulling a multiple kite.

The small "floats" were not all that small, and each had hidden surprises. The red one was based on a hawk, the green a frog, the blue a turtle, the yellow a ram, and the silver a snake.

At four places, there was designated seating for the show where wonderfully costumed performers got off the floats to entertain the crowds.

Then they brought out the BIG floats, complete with moving parts and dancing people. We got a good picture of the pegasys, dragon, and pheonix. There was also a three-headed snake and one more I can't think of right now.

Last thoughts in and around Osaka

2009-12-16T17:00:00.008+09:00

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Here are a few fun photos left over from Osaka.

L-R: Samantha, Jeannine, Cheryl, Jan at a Shabu Shabu restaurant

This funny bird character was outside the New Archaic Hotel. Evidently there was something going on, because there were also sign holders pointing the way inside to some event. Since we couldn't read the Japanese words, I have no idea what it was.

This is the view from the pedestrian bridge leading from the hotel on the right to the train station on the left. Neither are in this picture, but I liked the view here. It shows the traffic patterns, multiple layers of road/walkways, street signs, and a general cityscape.

Three Little Pigs in Japan

2009-12-16T08:55:00.004+09:00

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Monday night, a bunch of us tried to go out to dinner together, but ended up splitting up into a few small groups & going to different places. This is normal for us and actually works out rather well considering that most Japanese eateries are pretty small (some have only 5 stools around a counter!).

My group consisted of PL, Sunghee, my friend Paweł (a Polish man who used to work for our agency & was our guide the first year we came to Japan & who has remained in touch with us all these years), and me. After looking around at a few restaurants, we decided we wanted shabu shabu.

For those unfamiliar with shabu shabu, it is often called "Japanese fondue". You either get a small camp stove type of thing or the table has one built in to it. You get a big pot of water which boils on the stove & you get a plate of meat and veggies which you put into the water to cook & eat. The words "shabu shabu" apparently refer to the "swish swish" of the chopsticks in the water.

There's a shabu shabu place in Mountain View (where I've lived for the past 5 years) and I often go there with my husband and/or friends. It's yummy!

Anyway, this place here in Shinjuku specializes in pork - or "prok" as the sign outside said, but I'll let Patti blog about the Engrish - and was named "Inton" which apparently means "Hidden Pork". The place had little piggies on signs everywhere about the place and pig "footprints" on the floor & walls in a few places. It was all very cute, but what did it all mean?

And so it was we were very confused when the chopstick wrappers looked like this:

The menu also had several items marked with "Boo!". When we asked the waiter what that meant he said that they were recommended items. OK, that's cool, but still - what does "Boo Foo Woo" mean?!?

I have my personal Twitter feed set up to post to my Facebook status, so when I tweeted the picture of the chopstick wrapper, my friend Nahomi (a classmate from Foothill College who grew up in Japan but now lives in the US) saw it & offered an explanation. She wrote:

Long time ago, there was a very popular TV puppet show for small kids. The main characters were three little pigs, and their names were Bu-, Fu-, and Wu-. (I don't know how to spell it in English, though)

Now we only have the way to watch the show by archive films, but their nostalgic name is still popular among Japanese people.

Mystery solved! Thanks so much for the explanation, Nahomi!!

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Disney Sea!

2009-12-14T20:15:00.000+09:00

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Today I went to DISNEY SEA! I spent most of the day with Sunghee and Joel!

We started off the day with a lovely breakfast from the local McDonald's and then we caught the JR to Disney Sea!!!! We had a transfer at the Tokyo station and OMG!!!! THAT STATION IS SOOOOOOO BIG! We literally had to walk 20 minutes until we found the next train!!! It was a fun experience though. Lots of people bustling about! Worse than the sidewalks of downtown San Francisco!

We got to see the mid-day show and one part that was really cool were the flying kites!

Here are some pictures of Joel and Sunghee practicing their evil/happy faces!

Before:

After:

Aren't they pretty!!?

Dancing Queens

2009-12-13T23:02:00.003+09:00

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Marquise and Michele celebrating Marquise's 20th BDay... nothing more needs to be said :)

Marquise's Birthday Party

2009-12-13T22:40:00.014+09:00

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Today is Marquise Usher's birthday! Yay! As Patti commented, he's the third Sonosian *in* *a* *row* to have a birthday while on tour in Japan. First was Ben, then Kat, and now Marquise. We always joke that they get to celebrate their birthday twice - once on Japan time and once on U.S. time. ;)

We arrived in Tokyo at the Keio Plaza Hotel this afternoon, and Marquise decided he wanted to go to one of the *many* hotel restaurants (this place is BIG!) for dinner. So, we did! (It's his birthday, after all. :D)

This is the an "antechamber" before the restaurant proper. I imagine some kind of tea ceremony could be held in here.

Another simple, yet beautiful adornment on the way into the restaurant.

Warren got sushi. Doesn't turn me on, but there was universal praise for the quality of the food (and of the sake!).

Then we got the clever idea of surprising Marquise with a real cake, with candles and everything. This, however, was a major effort. See, they don't make things *big* in Japan. Apparently the cake hunters struggled to find anything much bigger than a cupcake. ;) Just to give you an idea of the typical size:

This is me pointing to a plastic mockup of a "Christmas Cake" from the hotel lobby in Osaka. Yes, it's not much bigger than my hand. But, guess how much it costs...?

Yeah, around *$38*!! Sheesh!

In the end, though, through intensive coordination (we are a handbell ensemble, after all!), we lined up a beautiful cake:

Jim had to scour the shopping district to find utensils and plates, but he persevered. Some of us distracted Marquise ("Hey, I need something from our room!") while others prepared the cake (and most of us lazy louts just hung around criticizing). After the great surprise...

...we cut the cake (there's a story about that!) and shared it around. I can honestly say a great time was had by all.

Well, some more than others... ;)

And here's to the birthday boy himself! Enjoy your first birthday, Marquise!

---Jason

The Best Birthday of My ENTIRE LIFE!!!

2009-12-13T22:24:00.003+09:00

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So today is my birthday and I got to pick the place to eat dinner. Joel and I went on a stroll over to the Keio Department Store. We decided it was better to eat at one of the restaurants in the Hotel. It was called Kagari and it was pretty dang good. I had grilled chicken with "Ponzu" sauce and Udon noodles with a side of steamed rice.

Jim leaves after his meal and is gone for almost 30 minutes. He finally comes back when we are all ready to go talk about karaoke plans and the next day. Joel and I go back to our room to grab a few things. We meet up with Michele and Sunghee and then we go down to PL's room to talk about karaoke. I walk into the dark room and there was every Sonosian with a cake! Just for me! Man I was so fooled. I had no idea that they were gonna do that!

PL got the cake before dinner. Jim left during dinner to go buy plates and forks and Lois collected our rice paper place mats from to use incase Jim didn't find plates or anything. Lois said she was collecting them for an art project she wanted to do when she got home. GRR! lol

After that Michele, Joel, Jan, Cheryl, PL, Sunghee, Samantha, Jeannine and myself went out for karaoke and man did we make a fool of ourselves! But it was extremely fun. Sunghee sung her heart out and Joel and I got to sing Brittney together!

I have never had that many people celebrate a birthday with me and I appreciate it soooo much! I thought being on tour in Japan and having a birthday away from all of my family and friends back home was going to be a little sad but the Sonosians did a great job at making me happy and making this the best birthday I have ever had. I will never forget my 20th birthday in Japan!!!

It's the little things...

2009-12-13T22:10:00.005+09:00

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Being in Japan is all about clueing in to the details. As I was practicing this morning in our hotel room in Osaka (our last day - we left in the late morning for the airport to fly to Tokyo), I watched the football (soccer) players getting ready for a game. I noticed that I couldn't really see through the bottom 1/3 or so of our window. We're on the 24th floor, so that meant I couldn't see most anything near the hotel. Hmm, I thought to myself.

Here's what it looked like:

See? That isn't water or fog or moisture in the bottom part of the window - it's simply obscured. The top part of the window is fine.

I then read this little sign stuck to the bottom of the window:

Now, tell me that isn't cool! Even Japanese hotel rooms are courteous.

Here's a complete panorama of the view from our room:

Off to Tokyo!!

---Jason

Backstage with the Guys

2009-12-13T16:16:00.005+09:00

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...some pics before yesterday's concert, backstage in the dressing room

...and the rest of us digi-geeks standing by the Wi-Fi router...

First Ramblings

2009-12-13T06:27:00.007+09:00

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Alright. Another morning of waking up at 4am, which is 11am at home. So, what better time to put my two cents in?

We've spent the last couple of days in Amagasaki, outside of Osaka. Quite urban, compact, and industrial, with remarkably few cars on the roads, but a great rail transit system, if you can read the instructions! Below is a view of the tire shop from the hotel window. As it is at home as well, store fronts are just that-- fronts. But what for us would be a parking lot in back instead holds at least four dwellings. Here, compact is key. And everything stacks. If you actually own a car here, you can park it in a tower. Just use the car elevator!

By far the most interesting viewing is of the people. Everyone I've "met" (or even tried to talk to) has been very friendly. Even the cooks wave when you leave the restaurant. They are very respectful of others, which is probably why I got busted while taking pictures of the first Sonos concert of the tour. Embarrassing! But not without some booty:

This first one was held at the Hyogo Performing Arts Center.

The audience was impressively quiet during pieces, and they waited until the conductor's arms were down before applauding, allowing us to hear such things as the extended note at the end of one of the pieces for at least 15 seconds.

The audience's musical skills were evident as they sang along with A Thousand Winds, mostly all in tune and well-timed, watching Jim and going right along with the ritard at the end. It was quite impressive to sit in the middle of it all.

But now, it's time to start the new day. Off to Tokyo!

Natto again!

2009-12-13T05:42:00.006+09:00

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Someone told Jan about natto, so he tried it. It's a sticky fermented soy bean mess that leaves thin spider web tendrils hanging from your lips when you try to eat it. The Japanese love it, and it's always a challenge each year to see who will be brave enough to try it.

Brian also got into the act. Although they both finished it off, Jan said it was like it had already been partially digested. Basically, it tasted like it had been previously digested. In this picture, Brian is still eating while Jan tried to wash away his experience with orange juice. They both agreed that once was enough.

The aquarium in Osaka

2009-12-13T05:01:00.022+09:00

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I agree with Jason that we had a great time at the aquarium in Osaka. Here are a few of my pictures.

The "king" whale shark with his entourage of small fish always looked like a rock star, with the paparazzi casting a glow around him wherever he went.

The loggerhead sea turtle was really big!

The giant spider crabs were scary, reminding us of something out of a sci-fi movie. I heard Michele say that they looked like the aliens from "War of the Worlds."

Outside of the aquarium, Jan and I walked along the waterway. There were barges and ships passing by. Jan says it reminds him a bit of Norway, where there are many fjords as well. Osaka is a port town, and there are bridges everywhere crossing the inlets and channels. This bridge's design is especially recognizable.

Our trip to the aquarium

2009-12-12T21:18:00.016+09:00

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We came in two different groups - the majority that flew on the 9th, and a small group that came a day later. For those of us who had a day off, we went as a complete group to the Kaiyukan Aquarium in the Tempozan (Big Wheel) Plaza.

(As an aside, about the only thing we all ever do en masse is perform, so it was a rarity that we *all* went.)

The aquarium is one of the largest in the world. It's built around the theme of "Ring of Life," which is a play on the "Ring of Fire" (not Johnny Cash), the many-thousand-mile-long path of volcanicically active mountains that rings the Pacific Ocean.

(As another aside, it's this feature that the famous Ring of Fire handbell ensemble was named after.)

The aquarium is organized by regions, such as "Monterey Bay," "Deep Japan Sea," "Great Barrier Reef," etc. The centerpiece is a huge four-story tank encased in plexiglass, about which the walking path circles, starting at the top and descending to the bottom. As Michele says, at each depth there are different critters. You can see all of them at once from any level, but the fish tend to congregate at a particular volume, so every turn yields a fresh vista.

Here are a few pictures from our excursion. Unfortunately, it was raining, so we weren't al that interested in the giant wheel. Enjoy!

---Jason

This is the star of the aquarium, the great whale shark. We could have paid $10 to have our picture taken with him..

Yes, otters are indeed exceptionally cute.

Here's one of the *real* whale sharks (you can tell because he isn't wearing the santa hat). The aquarium has two of them. This is the "lonely" one - the other guy has a huge entourage of hangers-on, but he only had one little shark-sucker fish.

This is a happy looking shark, although I can't remember exactly which kind he is.

My beautiful wife and fellow Sonosian, Diane, and Michele (various middle names) Sharik.

These are the (in)famous Japanese deep sea crabs. Their "wingspan" is many, many feet. Trippy!

Yes! I finally got a good shot of one of the two hammerhead sharks cruising around. These guys just look *scary* to me.

To the left is a bizarre fish that looks silver. The color is actually a reflection - amazing!

I loved the colors of these jellyfish, with their rich orange cap against the deep blue tank and their almost luminescent underbelly and long, long streamers.

To the right is santa feeding the fishies. He also tried to help a sick sun fish, but it kept throwing up its dinner. We assumed it wasn't long for this world...

This is a menagerie of teeny-weeny jellyfish. Very cute.

Finally, while not at the aquarium, this is the hotel where we're staying in Osaka - "The Hotel New Archaic." (Yes, something lost in the translation.) It's not the New Otani (our previous abode in Osaka in years past), but still quite nice.

And that's it!

---Jason

On the way back to the hotel

2009-12-12T19:43:00.004+09:00

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On the way back to the hotel from our first concert today, we passed a fire station. In it was this cute little fire truck:

We have no idea what it's for, but it sure is cute!

.

2009-12-11T17:31:00.002+09:00

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We're off! I'm sitting on BART, our wonderful public transit system that covers only about *half* of the Bay Area (::sigh::). Fortunately, we live *right* next to one terminus of the line that takes us all the way to the airport. Actually, it drops us off at the Internaltional Terminal at SFO, which is literally right in front of our check-in counter! Woo-hoo!

Of course, *getting* to the train station is a but of a hassle... **puff puff** Keep running! Aargh! I forgot something. Honey, did I bring the curling iron? My makeup? **huff huff** Ugh - I forgot the camera battery! Wait, did you lock the door? Bye, Bella! (She's our kitty.) Don't get too fat!

But, it's all worth it. This year we're *both* going (yay!). We haven't done Japan together in 6 years. That first year without Diane was *tough* for me. I bought this very laptop I'm using now so that we could video chat with Skype. And Bella came along to keep Diane company! (Yeah, I know, creative name for a cat owned by tintinnabulists...)

It's great to be together, but it makes packing and getting away just a *little* more challenging to get away. Amazingly, we managed to fit all of our stuff in *one* suitcase - concert clothes, 2 weeks of changes (uh, yeah), girlie things, shoes (don't forget the boots!), toiletries, lots (and *lots*) of kleenex, ..., all that in our one suitcase. Of course, we also have four carry-ons which are stuffed to the gills. ::sigh::

Of course, all that stuff (junk) that the bags a tad *heavy*. It's *cold* here now (mid-40s), and it's always fun to run with a heavy coat on, get sweaty, and then have to stand around in the chill waiting for the train. Then again, it's pretty durn cool to be sitting on a train, knowing that when you get off you'll be a short plane ride away from **JAPAN**.

Can't complain (too much). Signing off,

---Jason

Irresistable Engrish

2009-12-11T17:02:00.005+09:00

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Last trip I took lots of pictures of toilets and manhole covers. What can I say, I spent 12 years working at a wastewater treatment plant. Besides, Japanese toilets and manhole covers are remarkable. This year, though, I seem more focused on finding those amusing Engrish signs. There are tons of them posted on the internet already, but we keep finding more. Here is one from the bottom of the room service menu at our hotel in Osaka. I want to learn more about this "order of the drink."

Day at the Aquarium

2009-12-11T16:53:00.002+09:00

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Those of us who flew to Osaka yesterday (that is, everybody except Joel, PL, & Tess' husband Brian) had a day off today, so we all took the train over to the Aquarium. Some of us had been there before, but I hadn't & I like to visit aquariums. I've been to the ones in Baltimore, Chicago, Newport (Kentucky), and of course Monterey Bay.

The Osaka Aquarium has a HUGE tank in the middle of the 8-floor building and you descend a series of ramps which surround the tank, so you get to see the denizens at various levels and from various angles.

After the journey around the big tank, they have the "Japan Deep" tank which features the Japanese Spider crab, the largest crab species known. It's really shocking to round the corner and BAM! there are these giant crabs!

I got some video of them in action. The video is NOT slow-motion; it's real-time.

Enjoy!

.

Are we There yet?

2009-12-11T07:31:00.001+09:00

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Oi oi oi oi! What a looooooong flight! Definitely tested my patience but I am proud to say that I have persevered. 24 hours later after leaving SFO I was able to get into a bed and sleep!

Today I believe the plans are to go to breakfast and then spend sometime at this really cool aquarium. I plan to take a some pictures and if they are good I'll post them up!

2:31pm US

7:31am JP

It's all about logistics

2009-12-09T23:28:00.002+09:00

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Getting all of us and our equipment to the airport is more than complicated. It started in rehearsals when we sorted out what we need and, just as important, what we don't need. After our last rehearsal, Lois took all the equipment home and she's been packing CDs and DVDs, checking weights (gotta stay under that 50 lb limit whenever possible), and crafting handles for our cases that had broken ones. Yesterday she and I sucked and packed the foam. Warren and I dropped off our personal bags (loaded with our things, as well as with a bunch of CDs and DVDs) at Lois' house to be taken to SFO with the equipment. This morning, some friends of hers are helping us get to the airport. One of them is going with Dave long before the crack of dawn to rent a cargo van, load it up and head to the airport. The other friend is taking Lois, Tess, Warren and me to BART. Thanks to Lois, Dave and Michèle, we have a good chance of getting all of us and our stuff where we're supposed to be. And we're off!

All my bags are packed...

2009-12-09T17:01:00.002+09:00

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... I'm ready to go!

Gretchen is picking me up tomorrow morning to take me to SFO for the 12-hour long flight to Japan. (I just realized that I need to pack some books to read on the plane!!)

I've got everybody's passports, with visas attached -- except for Joel's and PL's because they're flying on Thursday, so I gave those to Joel this afternoon -- and will distribute them at the airport.

Our videographer will be joining us in a few days to tape our Tokyo concerts. This footage will be used in our upcoming documentary (to be released in the spring). I hope they get lots of great shots of the gorgeous concert halls we'll be playing in!

Alas! and alack, I've got a slight cold, so I've packed some Sudafed, Dayquil, and nasal spray. (I've also packed my immunization record so I won't get quarantined!!)

Japan, here we come -- it's our SIXTH trip! Yay!

.

Sonos in Japan 2009

Back Stateside Once Again (Michele's Picture Post)

What was happening next door

Rambling thoughts

It's all about the friends

Bullet train goes how fast?

And sometimes we perform too

Harf & Harf

Sumo

Kiriku and Hie Jinja

Okonomiyaki!!!!!!!!!!!!

Look down once in a while

Sights around Kamakura

They build *big* in Japan!

Fuji-san from the Shinkansen

Earthquake in Tokyo and the Dream to Match.

Early morning earthquake

Living in Small Spaces

More (less?) on Engrish

Oyster Nirvana

Three Little Pigs - Addendum

More at DisneySea

Legend of Mythica

Last thoughts in and around Osaka

Three Little Pigs in Japan

Disney Sea!

Dancing Queens

Marquise's Birthday Party

The Best Birthday of My ENTIRE LIFE!!!

It's the little things...

Backstage with the Guys

First Ramblings

Natto again!

The aquarium in Osaka

Our trip to the aquarium

On the way back to the hotel

Irresistable Engrish

Day at the Aquarium

Are we There yet?

It's all about logistics

All my bags are packed...

They build big in Japan!