tammeike-sanno (g-06) to ginza (g-09). transfer to the hibiya line, where ginza is h-08. seven stops away at h-15 is akihabara, where electronics meet sex. it's nicknamed electronic city, because of the sheer inundation of huge stores that line its streets. i was here on wednesday afternoon with romich, each of us in search for a particular device. dave needed some sort of bnc connector, while i was in the process of searching for a camera for my aunt diane. she really wants a nikon coolpix, and i was doing some pricing for her. turns out the camera was cheaper in shibuya, where i bought it today. but that's besides the point. after coming up from the subway, we walked into one of the giant stores and wow. it seemed to continue as far as the eye could see and had at least ten floors. even on a wednesday afternoon, it was still teeming with people. and i'm still stunned by the variety of bright colors that are everywhere here. the japanese surely are not ashamed of being bold and outspoken. outside, there were several anime characters with holes cut out for their heads. needless to say, many pics were taken - one of which is my new facebook profile pic. that pic was taken outside of one of the largest sex shops in akihabara, and dave and i obviously went in. about three feet inside the door, there was a video playing - with sound. god forbid a little kid ever unknowingly poke his head inside a sex store. but as for us, it was pretty frickin' awesome. 7 floors of literally everything you could imagine. and yet again, for a wednesday afternoon, it was pretty packed. i'll only highlight one item of interest from this store: an innocent-looking bottle of suntory (a popular brand here) green iced tea. or so you thought. because it was totally lube. we thought about buying it as a gag gift for someone but ultimately decided against it. down the street, we went in another store, where the adult section was actually underground. typically, when you see dvd's of this nature in the states, it's pretty obvious that they're porn dvd's - privates blocked out, girls flashing you, etc. something obvious. and there was no shortage of those images in this shop. however, i was particularly taken by the videos that, on the front, had a well-photographed shot of a young, cute girl dressed in a schoolgirl's outfit, standing in a park or walking down the street. the other side clearly showed what these little girls were capable of, but the one that struck our fancy had a close-up taken of her, seductively masticating a french fry. totally hot. alas, french fry girl remained on the shelf as well. but the sheer expanse of videos in just these two stores was unreal. and that was two of several dozen. just outside, there were girls dressed as maids attempting to lure you upstairs to their den for a little afternoon spring cleaning. oh man, i loved akihabara. too bad we had a show wednesday night. however, things quickly took as an unexpected turn, as i ended up in jail.
matos saw a sign close to the theater that looked like a clothing store, but the gate was always down in the middle of the day. perplexed, he happened to pass this place later on in the evening on wednesday and went inside. he came to the theatre that night and told the band what he had found. and it was the best mistake-turned-awesome finding of his life. so after the show, romich, james, saori and i joined matos at this awesome restaurant called the lock up. from ground level, you go down a flight of stairs and before you know it, you're descending into a dark underworld. you finally get to the front door, turn left and trigger a guy who is now straining to break free from his chains behind bars. loud, sudden noises are happening all the time. the floor is uneven and jagged. there are multiple doors to open, only one of which leads into the restaurant proper. behind the others, as you might expect, are varying types of aliens and mummies. there must be cameras throughout this maze, because as soon as you slide open the correct door, a hot girl dressed as a cop is waiting for you and ushers you to the side in japanese. upon figuring out how many as in the party, we end up in this waiting area that resembles the inside of a rib cage. after a minute or so, the hot girl cop reappears. WITH HANDCUFFS!!!! two members of the party must be handcuffed together and forcibly dragged through the restaurant by the hot girl cop, towards your table. the restaurant is a maze of low-hanging ceilings and walls lined with different sized jail cells. yes, you literally eat in a cell. i mean, the bars clang behind you and everything. shoes off, duck, sit indian-style and clang. you have been locked up, but with chopsticks and menus. the food is traditional japanese and reasonably priced (780 yen for fondue with 5 fried shrimp and 5 fried potato patties!), but the best part of the menu is the drinks, which are on the first few pages. drinks come in test tubes, beakers, syringes - all sorts of mad scientist containers. and in all sorts of imaginable bright-colored dyes - reds, blues, greens. you can even get these plastic capsules that are filled with some super-strong vodka, must be 100 or 120 proof, that really stings when you bite into them. but they're only 100 yen apiece! it's another push-the-button-to-call-the-waitress kind of place, and she is dressed as a fellow convict or inmate. add that to the fact that there is a wide range of music playing - r&b to heavy metal and all in all, you're probably thinking that prison ain't all it's cracked up to be. that is, until all the lights suddenly go out. black lights eventually kick in, as the music blares. intense heavy metal. gunshots blasting. sirens blaring. there's been a jailbreak! multiple inmates have broken out of their cells and begin harassing fellow inmates! yes, guys dressed in scary masks slam open your cell door, causing instant screams. the best are the ones that slowly open your door, peer in creepily, even walk into your cell and then jump out at you! this goes on for a solid, i don't know, five minutes or so, so you're always on edge until the music subsides and the regular lights return. unreal atmosphere. the entire place is a maze and even getting to and from the bathroom can be an ordeal. and once you get your bill from the waitress, you have to pay the cop up front. and if haven't counted your coins right and provided the correct amount, then they shoot you in cold blood. or so i've heard. ok, just kidding about the cold-blooded murder. instead, they reward you for having gotten out of jail with multiple 1,000-yen coupons! and you can use one per person on any return visit! in fact, matos and i loved the place so much on wednesday night that we went back for lunch between shows today (and took trevor) AND after the second show (and took cate). we told ourselves that we wouldn't go back unless we brought a new person(s). so i've been in cells 46, 45 and 47 in my first three visits to the lock up, and we're definitely going back tomorrow night. we got 8 coupons as we walked on last night, used 3 for lunch, got 4 more, used 3 for dinner, got 4 more - yeah, we've still got a whopping total of 10 coupons to use. that's 10,000 free yen that are just begging to be used. so hopefully, matos and i can round up 8 other convicts to go to the lock up tomorrow night. maybe this time, i'll commit a felony instead of a misdemeanor.
the ginza line shuts down a little after midnight every night, so the last three nights have ended in cabs. the base is 710 yen, and the price increases 90 yen every fraction of a mile. there's a cool 3 bars-2 bars-1 bar countdown that occurs right before the next hike, so at least you can brace yourself. but the best thing about cabs here is their automatic doors. that's right - when you approach a cab, the driver pushes a button, and the door literally swings open. and he closes it behind you without you lifting a finger. so convenient! last night's cab ride was priceless. well, not exactly, it was 2,420 yen. but the five of us managed to squeeze in. dave, james, dave and saori in the back. me up front. clearly, the four of them were squished but being in japan where everything is tinier, even i was squished up in the front seat with my knees banging up against the dashboard. saori was trying to explain to us all the things she does before even her boss gets in - things like purchasing tasty snacks for the green room (more on that to follow) and making coffee.
saori: "yeah, you guys really like a lot of sugar in your coffee, because i'm always buying more sugar. i like my coffee normal."
me: "oh, so you take it black?"
instant uproar in the cab. tonight's cab ride featured far fewer in the way of innuendoes, but instead a professional drummer and jazz singer in the form of our driver. he spoke pretty good english and told us about a visit to california last year to visit his uncle. when he realized we were musicians as well, he broke into a rendition of "i left my heart in san francisco." quite good for a late-night cab driver, i gotta say. ok, a couple of quick things before bed, since it's almost 4, and i've got another two-show day tomorrow before a fourth trip to the lock up in 48 hours. i went to mcdonald's a couple days ago, just because - and i naturally got something different, because i could obviously get a big mac back home any day. got a pretty tasty teriyaki mcburger for only 290 yen, with the sauce being quite similar to the tatsuya-style fried chicken sandwich i had at kfc last week. who knows when the next time i'll get to say that i had a unique sandwich at kfc japan is? also, the japanese producers are overly generous with their snacks. they're always leaving fun and exciting things to nibble on in the green room. cookies, crackers, custards. they outdid themselves today with what i called a green tea taco. it looks like a soft shell of a taco that's green wrapped around a gummi worm. so good. it seems as if they've been saying the best snacks for the end, so i'm excited about tomorrow's smorgasbord. hmmm, i'm a bit reserved about posting this now. i hope no one from the show has the time to read this tomorrow before the shows. i don't want to ruin the uniqueness of the lock up. cheesy? yes, but that's what makes it awesome. it's totally one of those places you have to experience to get the full effect of it. we were trying to compare it to someplace in nyc. perhaps mars 2112 (51st and b'way) or jekyll and hyde (57th and 6th) - two places i've never been to - but apparently, it's better than either of those. a place like this would kill in the states, especially a big market like new york. maybe matos and i should open up a chain in manhattan once this tour is over...
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
beginning of week 3 in tokyo
first and foremost, someone was a little...shall we say...upset when she realized she didn't make it into my last blog entry. so, saori will open this one. she and i had an amazing talk earlier today down in the hotel lobby about her future theatre aspirations, how upset i will be on our first day in cincinnati after a wonderful time here in tokyo, etc. gotta say, she's one of the best people we've had on tour. our show tonight wasn't until 7, but she left the hotel at 4:15 to go set up. awesome work ethic. awesome girl. just one of many i will miss when we leave. the entire local staff is so nice. just last night, mr. uji - one of the japanese producers - showed up at a large crew gathering. we went to another traditional shoes-off restaurant that was close to the theater, and if you didn't know it was there, you would never find it. but the food was scrumptious. we kept ordering rounds and rounds of kirin and sake, and i really love the family-style way the japanese approach their meals. one of the best japanese staples i've seen here that we don't have in the states is a headstopper (yes, go ahead and make your jokes now) on beer pitchers. as you pour, there is an extra extension to the pitcher that prevents the foam from ending up in your glass. why is this not available at every bar back home?!?!? i keep reiterating this - the japanese are so intelligent. well, food-wise, i had tempura eel and macaroni au gratin with shrimp and crabmeat. the eel belongs on a list of exotic things i've never had before or haven't in a long time. mackerel, tofu, eel, types of sashimi that i have no idea what they were (i think one was horse) and chicken elbow grizzle, just to name a few. and the kicker is that it's all so fresh and actually quite tasty. well, before we knew it, mr. uji had left the table, presumably to go to the bathroom, but instead came back and told us that he had just paid the entire bill. after a quick cab ride back to the hotel, our night ended with...oh yes, you know it...another ice cream waffle. man, i must have had 8 or 9 of those by now, and i'm not really a heavy ice cream guy back in the states.
my mom brought up a very good point in her last e-mail to me. as much as i dissect weather at home, i've yet to mention it here. spring in japan is pretty darn sweet. this entire week has/will average a high of 73 and a low of 61, with sun on 5 of the 7 days (mostly cloudy last monday, chance of showers this upcoming saturday). but that's not all - our first couple of weeks here did have a north american spring feel to it. there was a somewhat regular pattern of two or three days of sun followed by a day or two of rain, which is pretty much what we're used to in the eastern two-thirds of the states. even in the 70s, there is a good touch of humidity present, so i'd be shocked if a tokyo summer is dissimilar to a manhattan one. but i really wish the clouds had cleared out on monday...
but before i get to monday, i've gotta share sunday's awesomeness. only one show, a noon matinee. and it felt so great to be done at 3 and to be walking around outside with the sun out. jason had been raving about this place called pepper lunch, saying that it was the best spot to eat that he'd found in tokyo, and that i had to try it. it's close to the shibuya station, right next to scramble, where i'd had breakfast on saturday morning. so after the show, that's where trevor and i went, since neither of us had gone yet. first off, its front door has a push button on it that you have to depress before it automatically opens. most shops have this feature, which is genius - the door won't unnecessarily open (and waste the AC inside the establishment) as bustling hordes of people traipse down the street. there is no menu when you sit. it's just like the curry house that i had for lunch on saturday (which had naan that was bigger than the table). the menu is a slew of pictures on a wall or window, right next to a machine that has pictures as its buttons. you insert money, select your picture, get a ticket and the appropriate change, hand the ticket to a waiter, sit down, and a few minutes later, you have food. sweet! for only 1080 yen, i got salad, a butternut squash soup and a heaping plate of beef pepper rice. you get a wooden slab underneath a piping-hot grill set down in front of you. a huge serving of rice, cilantro, shallots and pepper is surrounded by uncooked pieces of beef. it's your job to cook the meat as much as you want before consuming. throw in the three different kinds of sauces that are at your disposal, and you've got yourself a tasty feast. pepper lunch was so good on sunday that i went back on tuesday...and know exactly where they exist in roppongi and akihabara. i love pepper lunch and wish we had it back in the states. simple, cheap, tasty. what more do you want? sunday night, trevor, romich and i went out to roppongi on behalf of matos, who was starting to feel a bit under the weather. he really wanted to buy his friend a t-shirt from hard rock cafe. so we decided to eat there and get a shirt for him. unfortunately, the shop was closed - but that didn't mean that we didn't enjoy our meals. my twisted mac chicken 'n cheese was great. if you haven't noticed, i'm a sucker for two things - macaroni and cheese, as well as salmon. throughout the tour, i've been trying both wherever i can find it. i've had mac with dungeness crab (seattle), shrimp and crabmeat (tokyo), lobster (at gordon biersch in dc during our layoff - took my mom and grandma there for mothers' day, because my cousin, kerry, was working there at the time), as the only topping on a burger (dillon's irish pub in hollywood), chicken/ham/peas/mushrooms/bacon (chicago) and chorizo (columbus), just to give you an idea. and here in tokyo, some fast-food place, first kitchen, had a 290 yen tartar salmon sandwich. it was in my belly with 7 minutes of me seeing the picture. anyway, our hard rock cafe meal in tokyo was pretty darn good. and the waiters there spoke the best english i've heard (outside of our translators on the show...right, saori?). one said that her teacher was from california, thus her accent. turns out that hard rock is the only place we've been allowed to leave a tip. actually, they included a 10% service fee on our bill. literally, the only time i've given a tip (hotel, any other meal, tip jars in little shops don't even exist) was at hard rock. even if you buy a dessert for 399 yen and you give her 400, you still get that 1 yen back. speaking of tips, i wish i could have given one to the red bull girls i saw. turns out they aren't just in boston, dc, new york or atlanta. yep, a pair of smokin' hot red bull girls pulled up to the stage door/loading dock of the theatre after a show. they had just seen it and were handing out free red bulls in exchange for autographs. needless to say, i orchestrated my swap rather quickly.
sorry this post is all over the place, but i just have a lot on the brain. down in the subway, we're so used to standing anywhere along the platform and then pick the closest car door that stops to us. well, that's what all of us do here...except there's one problem. there are either distinct lines or a recognizable color scheme that tells you exactly where to line up for the doors once the train gets there. oftentimes, we've walked into a station, stood wherever and talked while the japanese line up accordingly...then get upset at ourselves when we're the last ones to board and end up standing. who knew that lines on the ground would make things so simple. not only that, but the trains also have directional maps inside. the stop closest to our hotel is tammeike-sanno, or g-06 on the ginza line. the ginza line has 19 stops, and shibuya (where the theater is) is g-01, the end of the line in that direction. it's very clear which side of the subway platform goes is which, because of all the signs that are in english and show stops by (letter of line - number, e.g. g-01). pure genius. once you get above ground, the shibuya station intersection that i cross at least twice daily to go to and from the theatre is historic. it's the same intersection from "lost in translation," and is apparently the second-busiest one of its kind in tokyo. that's saying something for a city with a population of 13 million and a metropolitan population of 39 million. often weaving its way through that traffic is a dreamgirls shuttle (that's loaded with pics from the show), which ferries patrons from other parts of town to the theatre and back. to the best of my knowledge, tokyo is the first city that has offered shuttle service to and from the theater since new york, when people were apparently too lazy to take the A/D or 2/3 up to harlem from midtown. the producers of the show have truly welcomed us and have gone all out to make us feel welcome. and it has shown by the size and appreciation of the audiences we've had for every show. every. just last night, a true japanese celebrity attended our show and loved it. akiko wada came backstage and met us and according to the japanese, she is the equivalent of aretha franklin in japan. so dreamgirls was right up her alley, and she thoroughly enjoyed it.
hmmm, what next? oh goodness, i haven't even mentioned monday. got up at 7am to meet at 8 with trevon (cc in the show), trevor, sam and romich. the five of us were bound for hakone, a wonderful resort about an hour and a half outside of tokyo via train (http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e5200.html) that features many hot springs, museums and on a clear day, a spectacular view of mt. fuji as just a few of its highlights. we hit up starbucks for coffee, and what a pleasant surprise i got. green tea is all the rage here, and i got a matcha muffin and a venti matcha iced frappuccino. absolutely delicious. little did i know that green tea would follow us all the way to hakone. for 5,000 yen, we got a hakone freepass that allowed us to take any form of transportation offered there...and for an 850 yen upgrade (which we all did), we got to ride in the limited express romance car on the odakyu line from tokyo to hakone and back. and yes, that is the official name of the car - the romance car. a 9:27am train put us in at 11:04, and we jumped on a trolley up the mountainside to the open-air museum. it was an absolute delight - exhibits of japanese graffiti, mesmerizing sculptures, an awesome wood structure that held an uniquely-hung netting apparatus where kids could play, and a stunning picasso exhibit. a crude profile picture stood at the end of one wall, while 18 straight-on paintings lined the rest of the wall. it showed the 18 steps that picasso took to perfect this picture of jacqueline. i wish it had stated exactly when he had painted all of them, just to see how quickly he completed the process. regardless, it was clear that each step had its own character, because one slight change in approach vastly altered the overall image. and picasso recognized his own genius. the 18th and final step was definitely the best one. he knew when his work was completed. the museum also had huge orange fish that really wanted to be fed, because every time you put out your hand, their mouths would open, expecting a tasty treat. the weather managed to cooperate - high 60s but mostly cloudy most of the day. that would come into play soon enough. all my diehard wishing couldn't get those clouds out of the way of fuji. post-museum (where we had a delicious 1,980 yen buffet for lunch), we headed back to the trolley in search of the cable car. the cable car that would take us to the ropeway. the ropeway that would suspend us over 1,000 meters over the hakone valley, where we would hopefully see fuji in the distance. you know me, i'm a fan of bad weather, but for once, i was upset at those stupid clouds. but despite not sending fuji, we still passed over a valley of sulphur, where some volcanic activity still occurs. the area was very smoky and, as you might expect, reeked of rotten eggs. they were selling sulphur eggs (half-dozen for 5,000 yen) with black shells, each one apparently increasing the longevity of your life by 7 years. did we buy any? hell no. i mean, if we stood still too long around the sulphur fumes, they could have possibly overtaken us...that is, according to the guide book. but we didn't want to find out ourselves. we rode the ropeway for several minutes, watching roads snake through the mountainsides and hills disappear behind larger ones. it was an already breathtaking view. however, our adrenaline rush was soon to be met with despair. on our way down to the boat that would take us across lake ashi, we saw a gift shop that had some snacks. on a poster in the window was an ad for 300 yen green tea ice cream cones! we all leapt for joy, because it had been a couple of hours since our lunch, and that sounded like the perfect snack. it was quarter to 4. on a monday. and the damn shop closed at 3! yes, it was 15:45, and the store closed at 15:00! we were stunned silent. then exploded in an outrage. then fell quiet again. the boat didn't leave until 4:20, so we had a half-hour to do nothing but stare in the window at the workers who were cleaning up and not serving us ice cream. the five of us stood at the door in a row, staring at them, in hopes they would have pity on us. nope, not at all. our consolation prize was boarding a pirate boat that took us across the lake. gorgeous views of docks and shoreside hotels. there was even a guy out fishing in his little speedboat. since the boats run so infrequently (once every 40 minutes), joy and corinne (from the hair department), who had separately come on their own, ended up on the same boat with us. next was a winding bus ride around hairpin turns that took us further down the mountainside, back toward gora. we boarded the trolley, which took us back to the odakyu line and our romance car back to shinjuku. our full day as a fivesome concluded with an italian dinner in akasaka-mitsuke. had some tasty gnocchi and campari soda for only 1,900 yen. romich and i were the only ones to prolong the night, by hitting up a pub, 82 ale house. this place is right across the street from still, the absinthe bar we went to last monday. dave was with the chorus line tour that came to tokyo and found this bar and actually met the manager. wakaru really liked us, made sure we had a good time - even exchanged cards with us. the bar was advertising a chimay triple special that started on june 1 (and the date was in tiny print). but after i asked about it, he personally got a keg and tapped it, so that dave and i could partake. how's that for special? yet again, another situation where i wanted to tip but couldn't. after some uniquely thin but awesome pretzel sticks and three of those chimays, dave and i took the party to the hobgoblin, a british pub, in akasaka. we met four americans, my most recent facebook friends, one of which is in the marines and is stationed in japan. he and his wife (notre dame alums) were having a beer and a smoke, and she overheard us talking about theater. she's from chicago and was stunned to hear that we had just played the cadillac palace theatre four months ago. more talk about the states attracted this other couple from huntsville, alabama. 1am came and went before we left the bar, each pair going its separate way. unbelievably, it turns out that the alabama couple was staying not too far from our hotel, and we met up again. right in front of the 7-11. so yep, that night ended like so many others on this tour. with an ice cream waffle.
it's 3:20am on thursday, and i have two shows tomorrow. so i will not write about the tokyo experience that happened earlier tonight after the show. suffice it to say that it was so amazing that i know for sure that i will be doing the exact same thing tomorrow. and no, it's not sex. although, trust me, i wish it were. and wow, i didn't even mention my sex-related events from earlier today. man, this next post is gonna be something. it'll involve lube, french fries and me being behind bars.
my mom brought up a very good point in her last e-mail to me. as much as i dissect weather at home, i've yet to mention it here. spring in japan is pretty darn sweet. this entire week has/will average a high of 73 and a low of 61, with sun on 5 of the 7 days (mostly cloudy last monday, chance of showers this upcoming saturday). but that's not all - our first couple of weeks here did have a north american spring feel to it. there was a somewhat regular pattern of two or three days of sun followed by a day or two of rain, which is pretty much what we're used to in the eastern two-thirds of the states. even in the 70s, there is a good touch of humidity present, so i'd be shocked if a tokyo summer is dissimilar to a manhattan one. but i really wish the clouds had cleared out on monday...
but before i get to monday, i've gotta share sunday's awesomeness. only one show, a noon matinee. and it felt so great to be done at 3 and to be walking around outside with the sun out. jason had been raving about this place called pepper lunch, saying that it was the best spot to eat that he'd found in tokyo, and that i had to try it. it's close to the shibuya station, right next to scramble, where i'd had breakfast on saturday morning. so after the show, that's where trevor and i went, since neither of us had gone yet. first off, its front door has a push button on it that you have to depress before it automatically opens. most shops have this feature, which is genius - the door won't unnecessarily open (and waste the AC inside the establishment) as bustling hordes of people traipse down the street. there is no menu when you sit. it's just like the curry house that i had for lunch on saturday (which had naan that was bigger than the table). the menu is a slew of pictures on a wall or window, right next to a machine that has pictures as its buttons. you insert money, select your picture, get a ticket and the appropriate change, hand the ticket to a waiter, sit down, and a few minutes later, you have food. sweet! for only 1080 yen, i got salad, a butternut squash soup and a heaping plate of beef pepper rice. you get a wooden slab underneath a piping-hot grill set down in front of you. a huge serving of rice, cilantro, shallots and pepper is surrounded by uncooked pieces of beef. it's your job to cook the meat as much as you want before consuming. throw in the three different kinds of sauces that are at your disposal, and you've got yourself a tasty feast. pepper lunch was so good on sunday that i went back on tuesday...and know exactly where they exist in roppongi and akihabara. i love pepper lunch and wish we had it back in the states. simple, cheap, tasty. what more do you want? sunday night, trevor, romich and i went out to roppongi on behalf of matos, who was starting to feel a bit under the weather. he really wanted to buy his friend a t-shirt from hard rock cafe. so we decided to eat there and get a shirt for him. unfortunately, the shop was closed - but that didn't mean that we didn't enjoy our meals. my twisted mac chicken 'n cheese was great. if you haven't noticed, i'm a sucker for two things - macaroni and cheese, as well as salmon. throughout the tour, i've been trying both wherever i can find it. i've had mac with dungeness crab (seattle), shrimp and crabmeat (tokyo), lobster (at gordon biersch in dc during our layoff - took my mom and grandma there for mothers' day, because my cousin, kerry, was working there at the time), as the only topping on a burger (dillon's irish pub in hollywood), chicken/ham/peas/mushrooms/bacon (chicago) and chorizo (columbus), just to give you an idea. and here in tokyo, some fast-food place, first kitchen, had a 290 yen tartar salmon sandwich. it was in my belly with 7 minutes of me seeing the picture. anyway, our hard rock cafe meal in tokyo was pretty darn good. and the waiters there spoke the best english i've heard (outside of our translators on the show...right, saori?). one said that her teacher was from california, thus her accent. turns out that hard rock is the only place we've been allowed to leave a tip. actually, they included a 10% service fee on our bill. literally, the only time i've given a tip (hotel, any other meal, tip jars in little shops don't even exist) was at hard rock. even if you buy a dessert for 399 yen and you give her 400, you still get that 1 yen back. speaking of tips, i wish i could have given one to the red bull girls i saw. turns out they aren't just in boston, dc, new york or atlanta. yep, a pair of smokin' hot red bull girls pulled up to the stage door/loading dock of the theatre after a show. they had just seen it and were handing out free red bulls in exchange for autographs. needless to say, i orchestrated my swap rather quickly.
sorry this post is all over the place, but i just have a lot on the brain. down in the subway, we're so used to standing anywhere along the platform and then pick the closest car door that stops to us. well, that's what all of us do here...except there's one problem. there are either distinct lines or a recognizable color scheme that tells you exactly where to line up for the doors once the train gets there. oftentimes, we've walked into a station, stood wherever and talked while the japanese line up accordingly...then get upset at ourselves when we're the last ones to board and end up standing. who knew that lines on the ground would make things so simple. not only that, but the trains also have directional maps inside. the stop closest to our hotel is tammeike-sanno, or g-06 on the ginza line. the ginza line has 19 stops, and shibuya (where the theater is) is g-01, the end of the line in that direction. it's very clear which side of the subway platform goes is which, because of all the signs that are in english and show stops by (letter of line - number, e.g. g-01). pure genius. once you get above ground, the shibuya station intersection that i cross at least twice daily to go to and from the theatre is historic. it's the same intersection from "lost in translation," and is apparently the second-busiest one of its kind in tokyo. that's saying something for a city with a population of 13 million and a metropolitan population of 39 million. often weaving its way through that traffic is a dreamgirls shuttle (that's loaded with pics from the show), which ferries patrons from other parts of town to the theatre and back. to the best of my knowledge, tokyo is the first city that has offered shuttle service to and from the theater since new york, when people were apparently too lazy to take the A/D or 2/3 up to harlem from midtown. the producers of the show have truly welcomed us and have gone all out to make us feel welcome. and it has shown by the size and appreciation of the audiences we've had for every show. every. just last night, a true japanese celebrity attended our show and loved it. akiko wada came backstage and met us and according to the japanese, she is the equivalent of aretha franklin in japan. so dreamgirls was right up her alley, and she thoroughly enjoyed it.
hmmm, what next? oh goodness, i haven't even mentioned monday. got up at 7am to meet at 8 with trevon (cc in the show), trevor, sam and romich. the five of us were bound for hakone, a wonderful resort about an hour and a half outside of tokyo via train (http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e5200.html) that features many hot springs, museums and on a clear day, a spectacular view of mt. fuji as just a few of its highlights. we hit up starbucks for coffee, and what a pleasant surprise i got. green tea is all the rage here, and i got a matcha muffin and a venti matcha iced frappuccino. absolutely delicious. little did i know that green tea would follow us all the way to hakone. for 5,000 yen, we got a hakone freepass that allowed us to take any form of transportation offered there...and for an 850 yen upgrade (which we all did), we got to ride in the limited express romance car on the odakyu line from tokyo to hakone and back. and yes, that is the official name of the car - the romance car. a 9:27am train put us in at 11:04, and we jumped on a trolley up the mountainside to the open-air museum. it was an absolute delight - exhibits of japanese graffiti, mesmerizing sculptures, an awesome wood structure that held an uniquely-hung netting apparatus where kids could play, and a stunning picasso exhibit. a crude profile picture stood at the end of one wall, while 18 straight-on paintings lined the rest of the wall. it showed the 18 steps that picasso took to perfect this picture of jacqueline. i wish it had stated exactly when he had painted all of them, just to see how quickly he completed the process. regardless, it was clear that each step had its own character, because one slight change in approach vastly altered the overall image. and picasso recognized his own genius. the 18th and final step was definitely the best one. he knew when his work was completed. the museum also had huge orange fish that really wanted to be fed, because every time you put out your hand, their mouths would open, expecting a tasty treat. the weather managed to cooperate - high 60s but mostly cloudy most of the day. that would come into play soon enough. all my diehard wishing couldn't get those clouds out of the way of fuji. post-museum (where we had a delicious 1,980 yen buffet for lunch), we headed back to the trolley in search of the cable car. the cable car that would take us to the ropeway. the ropeway that would suspend us over 1,000 meters over the hakone valley, where we would hopefully see fuji in the distance. you know me, i'm a fan of bad weather, but for once, i was upset at those stupid clouds. but despite not sending fuji, we still passed over a valley of sulphur, where some volcanic activity still occurs. the area was very smoky and, as you might expect, reeked of rotten eggs. they were selling sulphur eggs (half-dozen for 5,000 yen) with black shells, each one apparently increasing the longevity of your life by 7 years. did we buy any? hell no. i mean, if we stood still too long around the sulphur fumes, they could have possibly overtaken us...that is, according to the guide book. but we didn't want to find out ourselves. we rode the ropeway for several minutes, watching roads snake through the mountainsides and hills disappear behind larger ones. it was an already breathtaking view. however, our adrenaline rush was soon to be met with despair. on our way down to the boat that would take us across lake ashi, we saw a gift shop that had some snacks. on a poster in the window was an ad for 300 yen green tea ice cream cones! we all leapt for joy, because it had been a couple of hours since our lunch, and that sounded like the perfect snack. it was quarter to 4. on a monday. and the damn shop closed at 3! yes, it was 15:45, and the store closed at 15:00! we were stunned silent. then exploded in an outrage. then fell quiet again. the boat didn't leave until 4:20, so we had a half-hour to do nothing but stare in the window at the workers who were cleaning up and not serving us ice cream. the five of us stood at the door in a row, staring at them, in hopes they would have pity on us. nope, not at all. our consolation prize was boarding a pirate boat that took us across the lake. gorgeous views of docks and shoreside hotels. there was even a guy out fishing in his little speedboat. since the boats run so infrequently (once every 40 minutes), joy and corinne (from the hair department), who had separately come on their own, ended up on the same boat with us. next was a winding bus ride around hairpin turns that took us further down the mountainside, back toward gora. we boarded the trolley, which took us back to the odakyu line and our romance car back to shinjuku. our full day as a fivesome concluded with an italian dinner in akasaka-mitsuke. had some tasty gnocchi and campari soda for only 1,900 yen. romich and i were the only ones to prolong the night, by hitting up a pub, 82 ale house. this place is right across the street from still, the absinthe bar we went to last monday. dave was with the chorus line tour that came to tokyo and found this bar and actually met the manager. wakaru really liked us, made sure we had a good time - even exchanged cards with us. the bar was advertising a chimay triple special that started on june 1 (and the date was in tiny print). but after i asked about it, he personally got a keg and tapped it, so that dave and i could partake. how's that for special? yet again, another situation where i wanted to tip but couldn't. after some uniquely thin but awesome pretzel sticks and three of those chimays, dave and i took the party to the hobgoblin, a british pub, in akasaka. we met four americans, my most recent facebook friends, one of which is in the marines and is stationed in japan. he and his wife (notre dame alums) were having a beer and a smoke, and she overheard us talking about theater. she's from chicago and was stunned to hear that we had just played the cadillac palace theatre four months ago. more talk about the states attracted this other couple from huntsville, alabama. 1am came and went before we left the bar, each pair going its separate way. unbelievably, it turns out that the alabama couple was staying not too far from our hotel, and we met up again. right in front of the 7-11. so yep, that night ended like so many others on this tour. with an ice cream waffle.
it's 3:20am on thursday, and i have two shows tomorrow. so i will not write about the tokyo experience that happened earlier tonight after the show. suffice it to say that it was so amazing that i know for sure that i will be doing the exact same thing tomorrow. and no, it's not sex. although, trust me, i wish it were. and wow, i didn't even mention my sex-related events from earlier today. man, this next post is gonna be something. it'll involve lube, french fries and me being behind bars.
Saturday, May 29, 2010
week 2 in tokyo
monday - went to cirque du soleil's zed. dave romich (sound) and kimberly marable (stepp sister/assistant dance captain) know the male vocalist in the show, kevin faraci. they worked with earlier on a tour of wedding singer. the cirque theatre in tokyo disney is the only theatre built specifically for a cirque show. cate, one of our star dressers, also came along. and wow, the four of us had a blast. kevin got dave and kim comp seats up in one of the booths, but cate and i arguably had the better overall experience. both dave and kim had seen this particular cirque show before, but neither cate nor i had ever seen one. so we both premium tickets - 15,000 yen ($170-ish). 6th row. hurt my neck staring up at the acrobats constantly flying over my head. kevin has an amazing voice, and there was no part of the show that felt like a letdown. 90 minutes, no intermission of constant, non-stop energy. vivid colors and costumes. i said going in that there was no way i could go to my first-ever cirque show and not pay top dollar to sit in one of the best seats. best 15,000 yen i could have spent. the crowd ooh'd and aah'd as one as the tightrope specialists amazed us with jump after jump. the clowns were hilarious. i haven't laughed at a clown in years, but i certainly hooted as the pair that danced around the stage, helping to tell us the story. being a musician, i thought that the band was mindblowingly good. no offense dreamgirls, but if i ever got offered a cirque show, i'd leave you in a heartbeat. the band was so well integrated into the show and was even featured in multiple moments. i particularly perked up during one chord progression that repeated a few times. it started in G minor - which is my new least favorite key. well actually, i've never had a least favorite key. but i've sure got one now, because most of dreamgirls is in fucking G minor. well, this progression soon modulated to G# minor, which made me as giddy as a little schoolgirl, before going through a modified circle of fourths and...ok, i'm boring the non-musicians who are reading this. i could go on and on, but i think you get the point. i had an absolutely amazing time. even though the house was only half-full for a monday matinee at 1, we cheered so loudly that they got 3 curtain calls. if you've never been to one, go right now. if you have already, go again.
after the show, we spent the rest of the day with kevin and his fiancee, melissa. went to one area (forgot the name of it), but it totally reminded me of being on 57th and 5th in new york. louis vuitton, bvlgari, and any other expensive shops you can think of lined the streets. we walked into one of the department stores and saw a couple of really cool items. one was a set of drinking containers that literally keeps your beverage cold while not producing any condensation. the lady showing us these cups claimed to have put ice water in there at 10am (it's now 3:30 or 4pm), and the ice was still floating around in there. pretty awesome. arguably even more impressive was the $400 dyson fan we saw. it was only a circle. there were no blades. you could stick your hand through it. and yet, there was an even, consistent flow of air coming from it. we then got back on the subway and went to omotesando hills. they took us to an oriental bazaar, where we bought little trinkets for our friends and family back home. next, my first of many awesome dinners this week. went to barbacoa grill, an all-you-can-eat for 4,500 yen churrasco place. i definitely hit up the salad bar a couple of times to balance out all the meat i was eating. our placemats were simply a picture of a cow and all the different parts of it we were consuming. the best was the picanha, or special rump cut. mmmm. we had to walk off the cow and ended up in harajuku, a really cool and fashionable part of town. tiny little shops overflowing with people. they didn't care about the light rain that was falling. after bidding kevin and melissa farewell, we stopped at this absinthe bar called still, in the middle of akasaka. had one glass of absinthe mixed with fuji mineral water. absolutely tasty, very licorice-y, and i sure do love licorice. an absolutely great day all around.
quick aside - other bullet point highlights
- at 6', i totally feel like a giant here. especially on the subway...
- ...which features overhead bag space and the comfiest cushions i've ever experienced on any form of public transportation.
- the underground tunnel is quite elaborate. turns out the entire tokyo subway system is only about 30 years old, and the amount of underground tunnel space within which to walk is staggering.
- also, the japanese have way better balance than we do. while riding, i'm definitely holding on - for fear of falling on and killing someone. but they rarely use the handrails.
- oh, and i'm super impressed with the umbrella racks they have here. you can lock your umbrella in a rack and take the key inside a restaurant. so there's no tracking of water into the restaurant, and your umbrella is safe. genius!
- waiters here don't carry around a pad and a pen. that's crazy talk. instead, the entire menu is digitalized, and they have these really cool electronic pads where they simply punch in your order. amazing!
- military time is used everywhere here. brilliant.
- unfortunately, there are "women-only" cars during morning rush hour. turns out that on the packed cars in the mornings, some of the greasy businessmen would let their hands, uh, slip. sad but true.
- the major difference i can tell between english and japanese is where stressed syllables fall. for us, typically the next to last syllable gets the most stress in a word. umm, reFLECtion. but here, it's the third to last. just listening to the way the subway stops are pronounced. aKAsaka, for example. kinda cool.
- reading menus as the japanese attempt to spell english words. i kid you not - i've seen the following on signs and/or menus: harf bowl, reopard print, sparkring water and non-smorking area just to name a few.
- for 126 yen, you can buy the best invention known to man in 7-11. an ice cream waffle! it's vanilla ice cream and bits of milk chocolate all inside a waffle. it's heaven in a wrapper.
ok, moving on. tuesday, the japanese presenters took the entire crew out for yet another all-you-can-eat extravaganza. i learned the proper way to consume alcohol. it is frowned upon for you to pour your own beer/sake, whatever the case may be. you are supposed to have someone else do the pouring for you, and then you return the favor. well, there was plenty of merriment to be had. learned a new phrase - baka saiko! - which loosely translates to "stupid but great." in other words, you're stupid for getting that drunk, but you're so much fun when you are. two shows on wednesday, then more debaucherous fun on thursday.
but before i get to that, i have to pat kim on the back. i was quite upset to not be able to watch the final 6 hours (3 of each) of 24 and LOST. turns out that websites like fox.com or hulu won't let you watch american shows in japan. i was heartbroken until kim recommended a site - ch131.com. lower def, some occasional starts and stops along the way. but the bottom line is that you get to watch the show. so because of those starts and stops, it took me longer than 6 hours - but i was able to watch the conclusions of both shows over the course of this week. i wouldn't dare reveal any details here, in case you haven't seen them, but suffice it to say that they were both well done...24 more so, i thought. and now, back to my debaucherous thursday.
this time, the japanese orchestra took trevor, jason, dave, sam and i out after our matinee. they took care of yet another all-you-can-eat affair (this time, chinese) before we stumbled across the street to a bar. they again insisted on paying the first check that came (some 40,000 yen) before we picked up the remaining 18,000. before the dinner, i was a little upset that others in the crew had gone to a baseball game. which i'm sure was a lot of fun. cate went and took pictures of my future girlfriends - hot girls in skimpy outfits with beer keg backpacks! they walk around, pull out a cup and pour you ice cold beer from their backs! and then they go get refilled at a station while facing the audience, striking sexy poses and cheering on their team. oh man, i love japan. but anyway, i was much less upset after drinking a ton of chinese wine, chinese sake, asahi beer and multiple shots of jameson mixed with a couple pints of guinness. one of the japanese trombone players either silently had a few more than we did or is a lightweight, because he totally passed out at the bar. after we told the rest of the japanese band that it's usually me who ends the night in the worst shape, they began calling him "japanese alvin." he eventually sunk to the floor, where the rest of us proceeded to put cured meats and soy sauce on his head. very mature, i know. anyway, the show ended at 4, we went straight to dinner then the bar, and didn't get back to the hotel until 10-ish. in our already hammered state, matos and i met up with some members of the male ensemble who were chilling in the lobby. turns out they were about to head out "a-gayin'," as sam put it. romich randomly showed up a couple of minutes later from the baseball game, and he and i (being the only straight ones in the group now) didn't want our night to end. so yes, we went out to shinjuku with the gay boys. if there's one thing i can say about gay men is that they're persistent. after traipsing through a couple of bars and a porn shop (where the gay boys were, uh, quick to point out the rather short japanese dildos), we ended up at a pretty cool bar where i had to play defense for a good chunk of the night. vaguely remember stumbling into a cab at 1:30am with the guys. definitely don't remember getting back to my room. a solid 9 hours of drinking. great night.
only one show on friday, at 7pm, so i definitely spent much of the late morning and early afternoon in recovery mode. did a little more research on gifts for people back home, which i put into action today (sat) between shows. but before that, i got up early this morning and went to breakfast with jarran and jason at scramble. cool little shop near shibuya station that doubles as a bar with a DJ at night. got a spanish omelette...and oh my god, banana juice. yes, banana juice. oh, it was wonderful. that on top of the curry we had for lunch...and wow. the naan was about as big as the table, and each of the 6 of us that went got our own. as for items purchased, i obviously can't reveal any of them here. wouldn't want the surprise to be ruined when i get home, right, mom? but i can say that i bought myself a new pair of sunglasses today, along with this sweet brown alligator-hide wallet at loft, which reminded me a lot of ikea, because this place seemed to have everything in it. tomorrow, only one show, a matinee at noon. then nothing until a 1pm matinee on tuesday. still in the process of putting together plans for the not-quite 48 hours we'll have off. i'm confident i'll come up with something good...
after the show, we spent the rest of the day with kevin and his fiancee, melissa. went to one area (forgot the name of it), but it totally reminded me of being on 57th and 5th in new york. louis vuitton, bvlgari, and any other expensive shops you can think of lined the streets. we walked into one of the department stores and saw a couple of really cool items. one was a set of drinking containers that literally keeps your beverage cold while not producing any condensation. the lady showing us these cups claimed to have put ice water in there at 10am (it's now 3:30 or 4pm), and the ice was still floating around in there. pretty awesome. arguably even more impressive was the $400 dyson fan we saw. it was only a circle. there were no blades. you could stick your hand through it. and yet, there was an even, consistent flow of air coming from it. we then got back on the subway and went to omotesando hills. they took us to an oriental bazaar, where we bought little trinkets for our friends and family back home. next, my first of many awesome dinners this week. went to barbacoa grill, an all-you-can-eat for 4,500 yen churrasco place. i definitely hit up the salad bar a couple of times to balance out all the meat i was eating. our placemats were simply a picture of a cow and all the different parts of it we were consuming. the best was the picanha, or special rump cut. mmmm. we had to walk off the cow and ended up in harajuku, a really cool and fashionable part of town. tiny little shops overflowing with people. they didn't care about the light rain that was falling. after bidding kevin and melissa farewell, we stopped at this absinthe bar called still, in the middle of akasaka. had one glass of absinthe mixed with fuji mineral water. absolutely tasty, very licorice-y, and i sure do love licorice. an absolutely great day all around.
quick aside - other bullet point highlights
- at 6', i totally feel like a giant here. especially on the subway...
- ...which features overhead bag space and the comfiest cushions i've ever experienced on any form of public transportation.
- the underground tunnel is quite elaborate. turns out the entire tokyo subway system is only about 30 years old, and the amount of underground tunnel space within which to walk is staggering.
- also, the japanese have way better balance than we do. while riding, i'm definitely holding on - for fear of falling on and killing someone. but they rarely use the handrails.
- oh, and i'm super impressed with the umbrella racks they have here. you can lock your umbrella in a rack and take the key inside a restaurant. so there's no tracking of water into the restaurant, and your umbrella is safe. genius!
- waiters here don't carry around a pad and a pen. that's crazy talk. instead, the entire menu is digitalized, and they have these really cool electronic pads where they simply punch in your order. amazing!
- military time is used everywhere here. brilliant.
- unfortunately, there are "women-only" cars during morning rush hour. turns out that on the packed cars in the mornings, some of the greasy businessmen would let their hands, uh, slip. sad but true.
- the major difference i can tell between english and japanese is where stressed syllables fall. for us, typically the next to last syllable gets the most stress in a word. umm, reFLECtion. but here, it's the third to last. just listening to the way the subway stops are pronounced. aKAsaka, for example. kinda cool.
- reading menus as the japanese attempt to spell english words. i kid you not - i've seen the following on signs and/or menus: harf bowl, reopard print, sparkring water and non-smorking area just to name a few.
- for 126 yen, you can buy the best invention known to man in 7-11. an ice cream waffle! it's vanilla ice cream and bits of milk chocolate all inside a waffle. it's heaven in a wrapper.
ok, moving on. tuesday, the japanese presenters took the entire crew out for yet another all-you-can-eat extravaganza. i learned the proper way to consume alcohol. it is frowned upon for you to pour your own beer/sake, whatever the case may be. you are supposed to have someone else do the pouring for you, and then you return the favor. well, there was plenty of merriment to be had. learned a new phrase - baka saiko! - which loosely translates to "stupid but great." in other words, you're stupid for getting that drunk, but you're so much fun when you are. two shows on wednesday, then more debaucherous fun on thursday.
but before i get to that, i have to pat kim on the back. i was quite upset to not be able to watch the final 6 hours (3 of each) of 24 and LOST. turns out that websites like fox.com or hulu won't let you watch american shows in japan. i was heartbroken until kim recommended a site - ch131.com. lower def, some occasional starts and stops along the way. but the bottom line is that you get to watch the show. so because of those starts and stops, it took me longer than 6 hours - but i was able to watch the conclusions of both shows over the course of this week. i wouldn't dare reveal any details here, in case you haven't seen them, but suffice it to say that they were both well done...24 more so, i thought. and now, back to my debaucherous thursday.
this time, the japanese orchestra took trevor, jason, dave, sam and i out after our matinee. they took care of yet another all-you-can-eat affair (this time, chinese) before we stumbled across the street to a bar. they again insisted on paying the first check that came (some 40,000 yen) before we picked up the remaining 18,000. before the dinner, i was a little upset that others in the crew had gone to a baseball game. which i'm sure was a lot of fun. cate went and took pictures of my future girlfriends - hot girls in skimpy outfits with beer keg backpacks! they walk around, pull out a cup and pour you ice cold beer from their backs! and then they go get refilled at a station while facing the audience, striking sexy poses and cheering on their team. oh man, i love japan. but anyway, i was much less upset after drinking a ton of chinese wine, chinese sake, asahi beer and multiple shots of jameson mixed with a couple pints of guinness. one of the japanese trombone players either silently had a few more than we did or is a lightweight, because he totally passed out at the bar. after we told the rest of the japanese band that it's usually me who ends the night in the worst shape, they began calling him "japanese alvin." he eventually sunk to the floor, where the rest of us proceeded to put cured meats and soy sauce on his head. very mature, i know. anyway, the show ended at 4, we went straight to dinner then the bar, and didn't get back to the hotel until 10-ish. in our already hammered state, matos and i met up with some members of the male ensemble who were chilling in the lobby. turns out they were about to head out "a-gayin'," as sam put it. romich randomly showed up a couple of minutes later from the baseball game, and he and i (being the only straight ones in the group now) didn't want our night to end. so yes, we went out to shinjuku with the gay boys. if there's one thing i can say about gay men is that they're persistent. after traipsing through a couple of bars and a porn shop (where the gay boys were, uh, quick to point out the rather short japanese dildos), we ended up at a pretty cool bar where i had to play defense for a good chunk of the night. vaguely remember stumbling into a cab at 1:30am with the guys. definitely don't remember getting back to my room. a solid 9 hours of drinking. great night.
only one show on friday, at 7pm, so i definitely spent much of the late morning and early afternoon in recovery mode. did a little more research on gifts for people back home, which i put into action today (sat) between shows. but before that, i got up early this morning and went to breakfast with jarran and jason at scramble. cool little shop near shibuya station that doubles as a bar with a DJ at night. got a spanish omelette...and oh my god, banana juice. yes, banana juice. oh, it was wonderful. that on top of the curry we had for lunch...and wow. the naan was about as big as the table, and each of the 6 of us that went got our own. as for items purchased, i obviously can't reveal any of them here. wouldn't want the surprise to be ruined when i get home, right, mom? but i can say that i bought myself a new pair of sunglasses today, along with this sweet brown alligator-hide wallet at loft, which reminded me a lot of ikea, because this place seemed to have everything in it. tomorrow, only one show, a matinee at noon. then nothing until a 1pm matinee on tuesday. still in the process of putting together plans for the not-quite 48 hours we'll have off. i'm confident i'll come up with something good...
Sunday, May 23, 2010
no paragraphs necessary only bullet points as to why tokyo is awesome and why i want to live here and marry a japanese girl and have many blackanese babies
- apologies for the stream of consciousness title, but it's 2am monday morning here in tokyo. and i just got home from a killer birthday party that featured lots of tasty sake (more deets below).
- before the list, must comment on the best laugh i've had in a long time
- before the list, must comment on the best laugh i've had in a long time
- during intermission of the saturday matinee, eric (the birthday boy - happy birfday!) played us a song from sex and the city 2
- yes, bear with me
- it's worth it
- liza singing beyonce's single ladies
- to be in a room of black theatre nerds who could appreciate both sides of that dichotomy was priceless
- we laughed hysterically, as i begged eric to put that link on my facebook page for me to play repeatedly and laugh later in the comfort of my own hotel room
- he obliged =)
- without further ado
- in shibuya, where the bunkamura theatre is, there are several intersections where all traffic stops and mass hysteria ensues. there are SIX crosswalks painted on the street. SIX!!!!!! if this ever happened in times square, mass hysteria would soon turn into multiple injuries or worse.
- i've heard two honks of a car horn since i've been here. and one was quite warranted - some dude was totally blocking the entrance/exit of a parking garage. regardless of circumstance, the drivers here are much more respectful of one another, which is much more than i can say of the big apple.
- the crowds here have absolutely adored us. now, are they as vocal throughout the show as a crowd in harlem would be? of course not. but they truly show their appreciation at the end.
- we were stunned that, on opening night, the entire crowd stood and cheered wildly long after we finished playing the exit music. by this time, many of the cast members were already in their robes and de-wigged. it's part of the culture to applaud for an enjoyable show until the cast returns for a second curtain call.
- they clapped for 5 minutes. i shit you not. they would not stop until they were literally told that the cast was already out of costume and would not be coming back out.
- once that announcement was made, martin (our head carpenter) came out on show and began his post-show process. dejected but not deterred, the crowd saw this white man, who clearly was not in our show, walk out on the stage and gave him a much-deserved round of applause. martin, being the stand-up guy that he is, graciously walked down center and took his bow.
- upon witnessing all of this, ray (our stage manager) put together a second curtain call for the next show, and we have been doing so (to thunderous applause) ever since.
- moving on, residents still hang their laundry out to dry
- their inclusion of english and american products into their everyday way of living far supersedes anything we do in any chinatown or similar neighborhood in the states.
- in the hotel, once you press the up or down button (and you don't actually depress it - a simple touch illuminates it and calls the elevator), the appropriate light (up or down) of the elevator that will come lights up and beeps once. upon arrival, that light flashes and beeps three times to let you know it's here.
- when you step out of the shower, there is a sizable rectangle of the mirror that is not steamed up, allowing you to perfectly see yourself in the event you want a close-up to shave or whatever
- did i mention the bidet?
- no tipping in restaurants, hotels, anywhere. totally frowned upon. they will hunt you down (i kid you not) in the street to return the extra money that you left for a tip or miscounted. there's already a 5% consumer tax added to goods anyway.
- cabs here are fairly expensive yet efficient. i must admit that though our bus from the airport to the hotel also drove on the wrong side of the street, it became a lot more personable on ground level in a cab. i couldn't ride a bike or drive a rental in tokyo for a long time to come. in fact, i'm still a little uneasy to cross the street, for fear that i've looked the wrong way and will summarily be flattened.
- walking down the street consuming food and/or beverages is also highly frowned upon.
- this is evidenced by the fact that there are not even trash cans on the street! no one litters, and if you're not eating or drinking outside, what's the point of having trash cans, right?
- in fact, even the concept of "to go" is unrealized without using the word "takeout."
- but when you do get the message across that you want to take something to go, be prepared for bags.
- i went to the grocery store and bought two separately packaged items, a sushi roll with rice wraps and a potato-y kugel-y kind of thing that looked amazing and tasted even better. the cashier proceeded to wrap each container in its own bag before putting them both in a larger bag.
- they're very neat here. even if you buy the smallest thing...i don't know, a pencil. they will insist on putting it in a bag. refusing the bag and merely taking the pencil and putting it in your own pocket/purse/bag is met with instantaneous discomfort and confused gazes.
- that's the point. they have a way of living. and they respect it. nothing gets half-assed. politeness is king.
- that is, except on the subway during rush hour. where they will push your ass into or off that train like you're a roll of sashimi.
- speaking of the subway. CLEAN. efficient. smells great. no trash. no homeless. no rancid pee smells. CLEAN! this entire city is like new york but better. more efficient. cleaner. better run. more effective at life.
- wonderful nightlife. went out to celebrate sam's birthday on thursday. area called roppongi, which i was highly recommended to see. specifically went to hobgoblin (an english sports bar) but overall, there was a very bustling bar scene, bright lights, great view of the tokyo tower. definitely going back.
- super visual culture. pictures on all the menus so that even if it's an only-japanese menu, you can have a rough idea of what you're gonna be eating.
- amorous about color. so much of america is drab with blacks, beiges, whites, browns. here, bold is the norm. orange purses and flip flops. purple appliances in department stores. lush greens dotting the landscape. neon lights seemingly everywhere. bright red hairdos.
- seven-story electronic stores that have everything under the sun imaginable. and then some.
- when you walk up to the front of a store/restaurant while it's raining, there are nifty little apparatuses that dispense bags onto your wet umbrellas. that way, whilst you walk through the store, the rainwater collects in the bag and not all over the floors. and there are trash cans in which to throw away the bags upon your exit.
- delicious crepe carts.
- ice and fruit are considered commodities. they must not like super-cold drinks, because ice is something like 3,000 yen for a few pounds. walk in the supermarket, and grapes are like 7,000 yen. cherries? let's not go there.
- because 3,000 yen sounds like a lot of money, but it's roughly $30 (the current conversion is roughly 95 yen to one usd). and carrying around 50,000 yen in your wallet or seeing prices like 143,050 yen for a watch makes you do a double-take.
- stories-long vertical banners illustrating store names and features inside on almost every building. many of said buildings have vastly differing shops on their respective floors.
- wall-to-wall people in tiny spaces. cabs meandering through narrow alleys around crazy bicyclists and unbeknowst pedestrians.
- 4'11" girls rocking 6" heels and becoming 5'5". unique styles. platforms. skinny heels. you name it, it's being worn here. and the girls, despite their average small stature, are owning them. which is kinda hot, if you ask me.
- environmentally savvy. at the theatre, we are reprimanded if we use more than one bottle/cup a day for beverages. you get one at the beginning of the day then reuse. mandatory. no questions asked. if you grab a second bottle, saori is waiting with a hattori hanzo sword.
- kudos to those of you who got that reference.
- no, there is not actually a sword involved. saori's much too sweet to harm even a fly.
- bathrooms in the theatre don't have towels or excelsior xl hand dryers. there's a communal rag. why waste paper and/or energy?
- so i've heard from the ladies, the toilet in the basement next to wardrobe is heated. super heated. hot as balls. good thing girls don't have any.
- denny's must be good here. that's the only thing that could explain the hordes of people inside and in line at seemingly the world's largest denny's in shibuya.
- can be expensive, but only if you choose so. on sunday, i split a 15,660 meal 4 ways. the following saturday, split a 20,000 meal 5 ways. so sure, i spent 40 bucks on dinner twice at chic places in akasaka, but all of my other meals have been at, say, mom-'n-pop holes in the wall on robust noodle shops and trips to kinokuniya, aka the supermarket.
- ok, maybe that's not true. tonight (sun night), i just got back from a wonderful dinner that celebrated eric (sat) and moya's (mon) birthdays. we went to gonpachi, on the 14th floor of a building only a couple minutes from the theatre. amazing view. and there were a lot of us. we did things family-style and split an 79,370 yen bill 24 ways. yep, that's roughly 3,300 a pop. but the food was so good. i had three different kinds of sake, asparagus wrapped in bacon, 5 different kinds of tempura and foie gras that was topped with strawberries. omg, that was the best daffy duck i've ever had.
- in the same vein (hmmm, i said vein...so now i'm thinking about that juicy, plump foie gras again), i'm shopping for sunglasses but don't want to buy them until toward the end of the trip. oftentimes, i buy something then see something better the minute after. so, i saw some really cool glasses. put them on. felt good. took them off to discover that the inside design was parts of the nyc subway system. i know, right? how awesome is that?!? then i saw they were 16,000 yen. looks like i'll be buying something closer to the non-special-designed yet better-fit glasses for 3,150.
- one of those chic 4,000 yen for dinner places was traditional by japanese standards. took off our shoes, put them in lockers and kept the keys until we left. our table had a button that instantly called the waiter. yes, a button. man, we americans sure are stupid compared to the japanese.
- and i've only been here one week.
- and i'm going to cirque du soleil's ZED and tokyo disney tomorrow on my day off.
- commence jealousy now.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
to saori and hiroko
today during orchestra rehearsal, i introduced myself to the translator. her name is saori, and as soon as i said my name, she asked me an interesting question. "do you have a blog?" well, if you're reading this right now, you obviously know that i do. it turns out that when she googled "dreamgirls in tokyo," my blog showed up in the middle of the first page! saori is a really cool girl - a freshman in college whose major is theatre production. she hasn't figured out what area of the business she wishes to pursue (lighting, wardrobe, etc.), but she is intrigued by all of it, which was clearly evident during our rehearsal. i couldn't believe that both she and hiroko, our escort from the hotel to the bunkamura theatre via subway (ginza line to shibuya), both think that their english is subpar! i wish i could speak a second language half as well as they speak english. i mean, really. no. really. they claim to not be professional translators, but if they ever want to do that, they are well on their way. so i promised saori that since she knew about my blog, i would update it tonight. so this is for you, saori! =)
wow, i love my life. first off, it's been a while since i've updated. the layoff was great - i spent most of it in new york and mothers' day in dc. my mom was thrilled to spend time with me and naturally, i treated her to a scrumptious dinner. i actually took both my mom and her mom out to eat at gordon biersch, down on 9th and F, across from the spy museum, where my cousin (kerry, who's about to enter year number 5 at umd) works on weekends. sounds like the perfect spot to hit up during happy hour when i'm back in dc with the show during late july and early august. my time in nyc was also exciting - catching up with friends, getting drunk on cinco de drinko (aka may 5), eating a juicy steak at the midtown palm...you know, the usual. but enough about the past. let's talk more about where i currently am. TOKYO!!!!!
went out last friday night with many friends and got pretty tipsy. started with a glass of malbec at the palm with my steak, was followed by sangria and beer at las chicas locas on 25th and 7th with michnikov and hepler, and culminated with several drinks at knewton [even though i currently do not work for them, i'm still on payroll and will return to the camera for them once the tour is over. if you know anyone who wants top-of-the-line tutoring for the SAT, GMAT or LSAT, then www.knewton.com is the place for you!] with co-workers and friends i hadn't seen since i left the big apple. woke up early on saturday to take a cab to jfk for my flight to tokyo. it was great seeing the cast again. we all seemed rejuvenated and ready to go back to work. the 13.5-hour flight didn't seem so bad...partially because quite a few of us (me included, despite my hangover) got liquored up in the lounge before the flight. free snacks. free drinks. on top of a dirt-cheap visit to duty free to get some sambuca for my hotel room. yeah, let's just suffice it to say that we were in heaven. i slept for a good chunk of the first half of the flight, then played video games for the latter half of flight 005 on JAL airlines to tokyo. we left at 1:05pm saturday. landed at 4pm sunday. and i instantly fell in love with the city.
once we got through customs, two buses were waiting to drive the 90 minutes from narita to the hotel in tokyo. i couldn't believe that everyone was driving on the wrong side on the street. and that there were no accidents! ok, i'm kidding - not stupid. but it does still feel weird to cross the street, because i feel that one of these days, i'm gonna look the wrong way and get sideswiped, lol. anyway, the ana intercontinental hotel is frickin' awesome.
two words.
BI.
DET.
do i have to go on? very chic rooms, spacious lobbies, and it's located right next to the tanneike-sanno subway stop that gets us to the theatre. and might i say that even though i've heard that roppongi is the district to hit up at night for the club scene, i'm already beyond impressed with the area between the shibuya station and the bunkamura theatre. totally feels like times square...but SO MUCH cleaner and expansive. wall-to-wall people, shops galore - even american staples like starbucks and h&m. the number of english signs is staggering - that is, in a positive way for non-japanese speakers like myself. i feel that i'm neither isolated by there being too much japanese present nor overwhelmed by the amount of english present in menus and street signs. as for today, hiroko (along with her stellar english skills) escorted us to the theatre from the hotel for our 1-7pm rehearsal. the band was quite articulate, though didn't initially possess the soul necessary (as sam had warned, since he's already done this production in korea) to play a show like this. however, by the end of the evening, some soul was found...while another soul was lost.
i was stunned to find out several weeks ago that the japanese producers were hiring a black sub to play my book in order for me to conduct once a week [read: in order for sam to get his much-deserved show-a-week off]. well, we knew we were in for a whale of a rehearsal when greg walked in, openly announcing his nervousness. turns out he couldn't read music, which felt eerily similar to the way i got this job. since he would be going on (or should i foreshadow and say...would have been?) thursday night (and each of the following two thursdays), sam and i felt best that we throw him to the wolves right away and have him play the majority, if not all, of the rehearsal. naturally, i sat beside him the whole time to guide him and to answer any questions he had. it turns out he was only reading the chord symbols and not the actual notes on the page. which would have been fine for select parts, but there are numerous sections in the score that require you to play exactly what's on the page because you're playing with, say, the reeds or trumpets. and if you're off, it's quite obvious. quite. or maybe the final straw was when he turned to me and confessed that he couldn't read music at all and was only following the chords. hmmm, i don't know. regardless, since sam had dealt with this very situation with the kid who won the july auditions back in new york to get this job...before letting him go and hiring me, he certainly didn't want to deal with that again. so it seems unlikely that i'll get to conduct in japan while i'm here. i guess that means i'll just have to come back with another show to get that opportunity, right?
this probably isn't my longest post, but i need to stop here anyway. it's almost 2am, and i'd love to wake up at 8am wednesday to watch tuesday night's 7pm ET sox-yanks game (and 8:30pm ET celts-magic game 2) before going to the theatre for an 11:30am sound check, followed by a 1:30pm dress rehearsal, a 7pm opening and a post-show reception. and oh right...two shows on thursday. but i can't leave without talking about the mackerel, caviar and sake i had sunday night...and the caviar, salmon, sake and shochu (japanese vodka) i had earlier tonight. already quite impressed with the sushi and sake, as i knew i would be. i've got a feeling there's much more in my near future. maybe i'll get saori to show me a nice place to eat that's close to the theatre tomorrow...
wow, i love my life. first off, it's been a while since i've updated. the layoff was great - i spent most of it in new york and mothers' day in dc. my mom was thrilled to spend time with me and naturally, i treated her to a scrumptious dinner. i actually took both my mom and her mom out to eat at gordon biersch, down on 9th and F, across from the spy museum, where my cousin (kerry, who's about to enter year number 5 at umd) works on weekends. sounds like the perfect spot to hit up during happy hour when i'm back in dc with the show during late july and early august. my time in nyc was also exciting - catching up with friends, getting drunk on cinco de drinko (aka may 5), eating a juicy steak at the midtown palm...you know, the usual. but enough about the past. let's talk more about where i currently am. TOKYO!!!!!
went out last friday night with many friends and got pretty tipsy. started with a glass of malbec at the palm with my steak, was followed by sangria and beer at las chicas locas on 25th and 7th with michnikov and hepler, and culminated with several drinks at knewton [even though i currently do not work for them, i'm still on payroll and will return to the camera for them once the tour is over. if you know anyone who wants top-of-the-line tutoring for the SAT, GMAT or LSAT, then www.knewton.com is the place for you!] with co-workers and friends i hadn't seen since i left the big apple. woke up early on saturday to take a cab to jfk for my flight to tokyo. it was great seeing the cast again. we all seemed rejuvenated and ready to go back to work. the 13.5-hour flight didn't seem so bad...partially because quite a few of us (me included, despite my hangover) got liquored up in the lounge before the flight. free snacks. free drinks. on top of a dirt-cheap visit to duty free to get some sambuca for my hotel room. yeah, let's just suffice it to say that we were in heaven. i slept for a good chunk of the first half of the flight, then played video games for the latter half of flight 005 on JAL airlines to tokyo. we left at 1:05pm saturday. landed at 4pm sunday. and i instantly fell in love with the city.
once we got through customs, two buses were waiting to drive the 90 minutes from narita to the hotel in tokyo. i couldn't believe that everyone was driving on the wrong side on the street. and that there were no accidents! ok, i'm kidding - not stupid. but it does still feel weird to cross the street, because i feel that one of these days, i'm gonna look the wrong way and get sideswiped, lol. anyway, the ana intercontinental hotel is frickin' awesome.
two words.
BI.
DET.
do i have to go on? very chic rooms, spacious lobbies, and it's located right next to the tanneike-sanno subway stop that gets us to the theatre. and might i say that even though i've heard that roppongi is the district to hit up at night for the club scene, i'm already beyond impressed with the area between the shibuya station and the bunkamura theatre. totally feels like times square...but SO MUCH cleaner and expansive. wall-to-wall people, shops galore - even american staples like starbucks and h&m. the number of english signs is staggering - that is, in a positive way for non-japanese speakers like myself. i feel that i'm neither isolated by there being too much japanese present nor overwhelmed by the amount of english present in menus and street signs. as for today, hiroko (along with her stellar english skills) escorted us to the theatre from the hotel for our 1-7pm rehearsal. the band was quite articulate, though didn't initially possess the soul necessary (as sam had warned, since he's already done this production in korea) to play a show like this. however, by the end of the evening, some soul was found...while another soul was lost.
i was stunned to find out several weeks ago that the japanese producers were hiring a black sub to play my book in order for me to conduct once a week [read: in order for sam to get his much-deserved show-a-week off]. well, we knew we were in for a whale of a rehearsal when greg walked in, openly announcing his nervousness. turns out he couldn't read music, which felt eerily similar to the way i got this job. since he would be going on (or should i foreshadow and say...would have been?) thursday night (and each of the following two thursdays), sam and i felt best that we throw him to the wolves right away and have him play the majority, if not all, of the rehearsal. naturally, i sat beside him the whole time to guide him and to answer any questions he had. it turns out he was only reading the chord symbols and not the actual notes on the page. which would have been fine for select parts, but there are numerous sections in the score that require you to play exactly what's on the page because you're playing with, say, the reeds or trumpets. and if you're off, it's quite obvious. quite. or maybe the final straw was when he turned to me and confessed that he couldn't read music at all and was only following the chords. hmmm, i don't know. regardless, since sam had dealt with this very situation with the kid who won the july auditions back in new york to get this job...before letting him go and hiring me, he certainly didn't want to deal with that again. so it seems unlikely that i'll get to conduct in japan while i'm here. i guess that means i'll just have to come back with another show to get that opportunity, right?
this probably isn't my longest post, but i need to stop here anyway. it's almost 2am, and i'd love to wake up at 8am wednesday to watch tuesday night's 7pm ET sox-yanks game (and 8:30pm ET celts-magic game 2) before going to the theatre for an 11:30am sound check, followed by a 1:30pm dress rehearsal, a 7pm opening and a post-show reception. and oh right...two shows on thursday. but i can't leave without talking about the mackerel, caviar and sake i had sunday night...and the caviar, salmon, sake and shochu (japanese vodka) i had earlier tonight. already quite impressed with the sushi and sake, as i knew i would be. i've got a feeling there's much more in my near future. maybe i'll get saori to show me a nice place to eat that's close to the theatre tomorrow...
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
the end of our first stretch
it's 6:48pm. tues, may 4. i'm sitting in my old apartment in chelsea, the one i gave up when i left for tour, across from greg - as we each type away on our respective computers. feels like old times. i'm couch-crashing for the next two weeks, as i (and the rest of the cast and crew) survived our first several months on tour. we just began our layoff...before three weeks in tokyo! got a flight out of jfk on sat, may 15 at 1:05pm that lands at narita on sun at 4:15pm! between now and then, i expect to conduct numerous mindless internet searches, watch as much sports as possible, dine on fabulous new york cuisine and most importantly, relax.
the last two weeks were spent in orange county. costa mesa, to be exact. the orange county performing arts center (or ocpac) was the weirdest house i'd ever played. oddly-shaped seating arrangements, including three overhanging balconies of varying size and depth. back when we were in los angeles, our last show was a sunday matinee, meaning the trucks had enough time to drive up to seattle for a tuesday night show. our last show in portland was on a sunday night. if the trucks had driven down to costa mesa in order for a tuesday night show, the crew would have had to pull ridiculous hours to get the stage ready and thus, incur a massive amount of overtime. turns out it would be cheaper for the company to pay the performers (cast and musicians) overtime for a monday show the second night than to pay the crew overtime for an overnight load-in.
so we arrived in costa mesa on mon, apr 20. had all of the 21st off. then added a monday night show the second week (the 26th). in other words, that meant we did 7 shows the first week and 9 the second. 16 shows in 12 consecutive days. at the beginning, we all said yikes. now, we're all ecstatic that it's behind us. sam was not there the second week. he began a crazy 6 weeks of life upon our arrival in costa mesa. i'm sure i'll butcher his schedule, since it's so hectic. did the first week in the oc. flew back to new york for a few days to hold auditions for this show (something required by equity, that is, to hold auditions every 6 months). he's now in cape town, working on getting the production of dreamgirls there set up. and i think he goes to london to do the same in a few days, before flying back to new york...only to then join the rest of us on the flight out to tokyo. whew. well, with sam gone the second week in costa mesa, i conducted the last 9 shows. ton of fun, even though the area right around the theater particularly wasn't. it was probably the dullest surroundings we've ever had thus far. the wyndham was right across the street from the stage door, with there mostly being apartment complexes and offices nearby. there was a gargantuan shopping mall, south beach plaza, a couple of blocks to the west of the theater. but costa mesa felt like the anti-portland, in terms of block size. portland's were so small that the entire city felt walkable. each block in the oc feels like its own zip code. aside from a local sports bar and a friday's across the street from the hotel, there really wasn't much to do. which is exactly why a lot of the bartenders knew us by name after two weeks. i highly recommend this regional fast food place that was right next to the corner office sports bar, called the flame broiler. if you're ever in the southwest, you've gotta try it. nothing fancy - just meat and rice in a bowl, but the way it's prepared is quite healthy and nutritious. and cheap. we're talking single-digit bucks.
pretty lame entry for two weeks, i know (read: sorry i wasn't bitch-slapped by a hot bartender in costa mesa). but i'm excited that after an entire day of traveling yesterday (10am flight to dfw, where we switched planes and outran a storm that was barreling down on the airport before getting to laguardia at 8pm), i slept for 12 hours last night and am about to go out to dinner with the 4 roommates and their new alvin (i.e., the new roomie, chris) in a little bit. i'm glad i'm typing this entry today, because i hope to be too drunk to type by early evening tomorrow - seeing as how it's cinco de mayo and all. if you're in nyc and wanna see me before the 15th, you know how to reach me. i'm going home to DC on mother's day (probably sat-mon) to see my momma, which'll be fun. but other than that, i'm here in the big apple. in all likelihood, my next update will be from halfway around the world. IN TOKYO!!!!!!!
the last two weeks were spent in orange county. costa mesa, to be exact. the orange county performing arts center (or ocpac) was the weirdest house i'd ever played. oddly-shaped seating arrangements, including three overhanging balconies of varying size and depth. back when we were in los angeles, our last show was a sunday matinee, meaning the trucks had enough time to drive up to seattle for a tuesday night show. our last show in portland was on a sunday night. if the trucks had driven down to costa mesa in order for a tuesday night show, the crew would have had to pull ridiculous hours to get the stage ready and thus, incur a massive amount of overtime. turns out it would be cheaper for the company to pay the performers (cast and musicians) overtime for a monday show the second night than to pay the crew overtime for an overnight load-in.
so we arrived in costa mesa on mon, apr 20. had all of the 21st off. then added a monday night show the second week (the 26th). in other words, that meant we did 7 shows the first week and 9 the second. 16 shows in 12 consecutive days. at the beginning, we all said yikes. now, we're all ecstatic that it's behind us. sam was not there the second week. he began a crazy 6 weeks of life upon our arrival in costa mesa. i'm sure i'll butcher his schedule, since it's so hectic. did the first week in the oc. flew back to new york for a few days to hold auditions for this show (something required by equity, that is, to hold auditions every 6 months). he's now in cape town, working on getting the production of dreamgirls there set up. and i think he goes to london to do the same in a few days, before flying back to new york...only to then join the rest of us on the flight out to tokyo. whew. well, with sam gone the second week in costa mesa, i conducted the last 9 shows. ton of fun, even though the area right around the theater particularly wasn't. it was probably the dullest surroundings we've ever had thus far. the wyndham was right across the street from the stage door, with there mostly being apartment complexes and offices nearby. there was a gargantuan shopping mall, south beach plaza, a couple of blocks to the west of the theater. but costa mesa felt like the anti-portland, in terms of block size. portland's were so small that the entire city felt walkable. each block in the oc feels like its own zip code. aside from a local sports bar and a friday's across the street from the hotel, there really wasn't much to do. which is exactly why a lot of the bartenders knew us by name after two weeks. i highly recommend this regional fast food place that was right next to the corner office sports bar, called the flame broiler. if you're ever in the southwest, you've gotta try it. nothing fancy - just meat and rice in a bowl, but the way it's prepared is quite healthy and nutritious. and cheap. we're talking single-digit bucks.
pretty lame entry for two weeks, i know (read: sorry i wasn't bitch-slapped by a hot bartender in costa mesa). but i'm excited that after an entire day of traveling yesterday (10am flight to dfw, where we switched planes and outran a storm that was barreling down on the airport before getting to laguardia at 8pm), i slept for 12 hours last night and am about to go out to dinner with the 4 roommates and their new alvin (i.e., the new roomie, chris) in a little bit. i'm glad i'm typing this entry today, because i hope to be too drunk to type by early evening tomorrow - seeing as how it's cinco de mayo and all. if you're in nyc and wanna see me before the 15th, you know how to reach me. i'm going home to DC on mother's day (probably sat-mon) to see my momma, which'll be fun. but other than that, i'm here in the big apple. in all likelihood, my next update will be from halfway around the world. IN TOKYO!!!!!!!
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
bugs bunny, b-3, bally's, bitch slap and breathtaking
this may be the entry i've been most looking forward to writing all tour. you'll see why in a few short minutes...
portland was a pretty sweet city. cool bar called veritable quandary on sw 1st and madison. went there wednesday night after the show, and the head carpenter, martin, ordered rabbit pate over toasted brioche. it looked super tasty and after i had a bite of his, i was sold. i instantly ordered my own - i've never had rabbit, but it looks as though i'll be having more as time goes by.
thursday night, dave romich and i went out for a night on the town (read: everyone else flaked on us). but we were determined to go hear mel brown. turns out he was the drummer for the temptations and diana ross back in the day and now has his own quintet that plays regularly in portland at jimmy mak's. that bar was probably a half-hour walk from the theatre, but it was totally worth it. we got there at about 11:10, and they ended their last set at around 11:30, but the 20 minutes of music we did hear were pretty sweet. there was no piano but instead, a hammond b-3 organ! i've only ever heard a hammond in a church, so it was quite intriguing to hear it used in a jazz setting. unfortunately, the bar closed at midnight, so we ended up on the hunt for another spot. downtown portland was pretty dead for a thursday night, but the bar next to our hotel was going strong until 2:30. as it turns out, paddy's has been voted the 8th-best irish bar in the country. well, we met some townies there that were quite hammered and quite vocal. their main topic of conversation centered around the likelihood of being able to do a line of blow off a stripper's asshole. yeah, real classy, portland.
friday's boot camp was only slightly less excruciating, only because we were in the pool. water aerobics still kicked my ass, although this time i had a better idea of what nikki would throw at us. now i could tell that nikki is an awesome personal trainer and that she is in great shape (her abs are perfect - they look as if they're painted on), but i really had no idea. i learned that she is a former national spokesperson for bally's! she used to be on several of their commercials and everything. no wonder she knows exactly what she's doing.
ok, on to the exciting part of the post. jeremy tchou (harvard '08) now lives in portland, and the two of us took a few classes together when i was a senior and he was a sophomore. he actually came to see the show twice (fri and sun nights), but the real fun happened after the show on friday. some of his co-workers had recommended a bar to him called dixie, but he had never been. so we checked it out - it was only a block or two north of voodoo doughnut. i instantly knew i would like the place as soon as we walked in and noticed several dozen bras dangling from the ceiling. wonder what those girls had to do to get those up there...? every few songs or so, the dj would announce that it was time for some girls to dance on the bar - either the professional bartenders or the drunk wanna-bes. well, the highlight of the night would come at around, oh, 1:30am - after i've already had a few. their huge tv screens cycled through the same series of ads - from thursday night being ladies night to future cinco de mayo specials. one of the frames advertised a hurricane katrina shot. both jeremy and i found that intriguing and walked over to the nearest bar to get a pair. chelsey tells us that she can't do two at a time. puzzled but not deterred, jeremy defers to me. chelsey says that i have to go down to the other end of the bar for the shot. and still brings two shot glasses, further adding to my confusion. now, the next string of events happened in a blur - had to have been 10 seconds or less. she jumps up on the bar, walks over to me, gets down on her knees, sits back on her legs and forcibly grabs my hands and puts them under her knees. my instant reaction is that i'm totally gonna get titties in the face. which would have been awesome. especially since she had nice ones and was showing them off. what happened next was even better than i had hoped. she takes my glasses off and hands them to jeremy.
chelsey: how're you feeling?
me: great!
chelsey: ever had this shot before?
me: nope.
chelsey: are you sensitive to pain?
me: no...
the instant i say no, the first shot goes directly into my face. water. and then before i knew what was going on, i had done a complete 180. she slapped THE FUCK out of me. the hardest i've probably been hit in my entire life. left ear ringing. completely spun around, since my hands were trapped under her. now, i've never cheated on a girlfriend before, but that slap felt like a "we've been married for 12 years, and i just walked in on you nailing my sister" kind of slap. i'm stunned senseless, when chelsey grabs my face and throws a shot of jager down my throat. ladies and gentlemen. the hurricane katrina shot. and i loved it. the shot cost 5 bucks, but i gave her 10. it gave me a rush that i've never ever experienced before. i totally understood the symbolism (water = flooding/drowning; bitch slap = the city of new orleans being slapped in the face by FEMA and the government), i got it. but boy, was i not expecting that. chelsey told us that all the dixie bartenders, who are female, are trained upon hire to perform that shot when asked. and here's the kicker - they slap the girls as hard as they do the guys. equal opportunity all around - gotta love it. needless to say, jeremy did not take the shot after seeing me get facially annihilated. i've had to tell this story multiple times to the cast and crew over the past few days. the best response i've gotten was probably from joy: "so if i slap you right now, will you give me 5 dollars?"
jeremy insisted that with us being former EPS [that's earth and planetary sciences, for all you non-harvardians out there] nerds (and he currently works as a wind energy consultant), i had to see the columbia river gorge. so i curtailed my drinking on saturday night (it was chauncey's bday - i had one drink, then left) in order to get up at 7, to meet jeremy at 8am to go see the natural wonders of oregon. during the drive east, jeremy tells me that portland has one of the highest suicide rates in the country. this absolutely befuddles me, because he follows that up by saying that there are the most breweries and strip clubs per capita in the city as well. hmmm, if i'm depressed because it's so cloudy and dreary, why not go grab a cold beer and see some bare-chested ladies? i know that would certainly cheer me up. although i wouldn't be depressed by the rain, i'd actually enjoy it - since i'm a weather nut and all. anyway, we saw multiple, breathtaking waterfalls up close and personal. i saw some of the world's largest sturgeon in an exhibit and hiked several miles up a mountain to see a picturesque view of the gorge, as the columbia river snaked its way east, separating washington and oregon. and all this along the same stretch of I-84, and all before lunch and a two-show day. on our way back into the city, we stopped by burgerville, which is apparently portland's equivalent of california's in-n-out. tasty cherry milkshake, yummy tillamook cheese on my burger, northwest-grown potatoes - great way to close out my week. monday was a long travel day - portland to layover in oakland to orange county - which could only mean one thing. that's right, M Monday! mimosa monday has been expanded to include any drink that starts with an m: margaritas, mojitos, martinis - those all fit! we totally had burritos and margaritas at a mexican grill in the portland airport at 10am. sweet. we're in costa mesa for the next two weeks before we get two weeks off...before three weeks in tokyo! fun times ahead for sure - seeing the boys back in nyc, cinco de mayo debauchery ahead, a trip to atlantic city in the works on the 7th, mom's day in dc, etc. our time off will be hard-earned though. we've got today (tuesday) off, since it took a while for the trucks to drive down from portland. that means we have a show next monday, resulting in 16 shows in 12 consecutive days - and i'm conducting the last 9. off to enjoy my only completely free day in the oc...
portland was a pretty sweet city. cool bar called veritable quandary on sw 1st and madison. went there wednesday night after the show, and the head carpenter, martin, ordered rabbit pate over toasted brioche. it looked super tasty and after i had a bite of his, i was sold. i instantly ordered my own - i've never had rabbit, but it looks as though i'll be having more as time goes by.
thursday night, dave romich and i went out for a night on the town (read: everyone else flaked on us). but we were determined to go hear mel brown. turns out he was the drummer for the temptations and diana ross back in the day and now has his own quintet that plays regularly in portland at jimmy mak's. that bar was probably a half-hour walk from the theatre, but it was totally worth it. we got there at about 11:10, and they ended their last set at around 11:30, but the 20 minutes of music we did hear were pretty sweet. there was no piano but instead, a hammond b-3 organ! i've only ever heard a hammond in a church, so it was quite intriguing to hear it used in a jazz setting. unfortunately, the bar closed at midnight, so we ended up on the hunt for another spot. downtown portland was pretty dead for a thursday night, but the bar next to our hotel was going strong until 2:30. as it turns out, paddy's has been voted the 8th-best irish bar in the country. well, we met some townies there that were quite hammered and quite vocal. their main topic of conversation centered around the likelihood of being able to do a line of blow off a stripper's asshole. yeah, real classy, portland.
friday's boot camp was only slightly less excruciating, only because we were in the pool. water aerobics still kicked my ass, although this time i had a better idea of what nikki would throw at us. now i could tell that nikki is an awesome personal trainer and that she is in great shape (her abs are perfect - they look as if they're painted on), but i really had no idea. i learned that she is a former national spokesperson for bally's! she used to be on several of their commercials and everything. no wonder she knows exactly what she's doing.
ok, on to the exciting part of the post. jeremy tchou (harvard '08) now lives in portland, and the two of us took a few classes together when i was a senior and he was a sophomore. he actually came to see the show twice (fri and sun nights), but the real fun happened after the show on friday. some of his co-workers had recommended a bar to him called dixie, but he had never been. so we checked it out - it was only a block or two north of voodoo doughnut. i instantly knew i would like the place as soon as we walked in and noticed several dozen bras dangling from the ceiling. wonder what those girls had to do to get those up there...? every few songs or so, the dj would announce that it was time for some girls to dance on the bar - either the professional bartenders or the drunk wanna-bes. well, the highlight of the night would come at around, oh, 1:30am - after i've already had a few. their huge tv screens cycled through the same series of ads - from thursday night being ladies night to future cinco de mayo specials. one of the frames advertised a hurricane katrina shot. both jeremy and i found that intriguing and walked over to the nearest bar to get a pair. chelsey tells us that she can't do two at a time. puzzled but not deterred, jeremy defers to me. chelsey says that i have to go down to the other end of the bar for the shot. and still brings two shot glasses, further adding to my confusion. now, the next string of events happened in a blur - had to have been 10 seconds or less. she jumps up on the bar, walks over to me, gets down on her knees, sits back on her legs and forcibly grabs my hands and puts them under her knees. my instant reaction is that i'm totally gonna get titties in the face. which would have been awesome. especially since she had nice ones and was showing them off. what happened next was even better than i had hoped. she takes my glasses off and hands them to jeremy.
chelsey: how're you feeling?
me: great!
chelsey: ever had this shot before?
me: nope.
chelsey: are you sensitive to pain?
me: no...
the instant i say no, the first shot goes directly into my face. water. and then before i knew what was going on, i had done a complete 180. she slapped THE FUCK out of me. the hardest i've probably been hit in my entire life. left ear ringing. completely spun around, since my hands were trapped under her. now, i've never cheated on a girlfriend before, but that slap felt like a "we've been married for 12 years, and i just walked in on you nailing my sister" kind of slap. i'm stunned senseless, when chelsey grabs my face and throws a shot of jager down my throat. ladies and gentlemen. the hurricane katrina shot. and i loved it. the shot cost 5 bucks, but i gave her 10. it gave me a rush that i've never ever experienced before. i totally understood the symbolism (water = flooding/drowning; bitch slap = the city of new orleans being slapped in the face by FEMA and the government), i got it. but boy, was i not expecting that. chelsey told us that all the dixie bartenders, who are female, are trained upon hire to perform that shot when asked. and here's the kicker - they slap the girls as hard as they do the guys. equal opportunity all around - gotta love it. needless to say, jeremy did not take the shot after seeing me get facially annihilated. i've had to tell this story multiple times to the cast and crew over the past few days. the best response i've gotten was probably from joy: "so if i slap you right now, will you give me 5 dollars?"
jeremy insisted that with us being former EPS [that's earth and planetary sciences, for all you non-harvardians out there] nerds (and he currently works as a wind energy consultant), i had to see the columbia river gorge. so i curtailed my drinking on saturday night (it was chauncey's bday - i had one drink, then left) in order to get up at 7, to meet jeremy at 8am to go see the natural wonders of oregon. during the drive east, jeremy tells me that portland has one of the highest suicide rates in the country. this absolutely befuddles me, because he follows that up by saying that there are the most breweries and strip clubs per capita in the city as well. hmmm, if i'm depressed because it's so cloudy and dreary, why not go grab a cold beer and see some bare-chested ladies? i know that would certainly cheer me up. although i wouldn't be depressed by the rain, i'd actually enjoy it - since i'm a weather nut and all. anyway, we saw multiple, breathtaking waterfalls up close and personal. i saw some of the world's largest sturgeon in an exhibit and hiked several miles up a mountain to see a picturesque view of the gorge, as the columbia river snaked its way east, separating washington and oregon. and all this along the same stretch of I-84, and all before lunch and a two-show day. on our way back into the city, we stopped by burgerville, which is apparently portland's equivalent of california's in-n-out. tasty cherry milkshake, yummy tillamook cheese on my burger, northwest-grown potatoes - great way to close out my week. monday was a long travel day - portland to layover in oakland to orange county - which could only mean one thing. that's right, M Monday! mimosa monday has been expanded to include any drink that starts with an m: margaritas, mojitos, martinis - those all fit! we totally had burritos and margaritas at a mexican grill in the portland airport at 10am. sweet. we're in costa mesa for the next two weeks before we get two weeks off...before three weeks in tokyo! fun times ahead for sure - seeing the boys back in nyc, cinco de mayo debauchery ahead, a trip to atlantic city in the works on the 7th, mom's day in dc, etc. our time off will be hard-earned though. we've got today (tuesday) off, since it took a while for the trucks to drive down from portland. that means we have a show next monday, resulting in 16 shows in 12 consecutive days - and i'm conducting the last 9. off to enjoy my only completely free day in the oc...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)