Earth Shaking, Typhoon-ating, Tokyo!

The next two nights I stayed in yet another section of Tokyo - this time it was Ebisu. I arrived at Kenji's place in the evening. We stopped at a couple markets to grab food and spent the night talking about couch surfing experiences and whatever else came to mind. I stayed here for 2 nights. Kenji would make me breakfast, then I would go off the spend the day discovering more of Tokyo. At night, he made me dinner. His was the smallest home I stayed in. He lived and worked out of his studio apartment. Kenji didn't have much space, but he happily shared with me what he had and made me feel completely at home. You never know when the generosity of strangers will overwhelm you. I have been very fortunate experience this many times and it never ceases to warm my heart - my stay with Kenji was no exception.

For my excursion, I headed to Ginza. I had't seen this part of town yet, but my real motivation was to go check out the Kabuki theater - I'm not gonna see that in Philly! There were no photos allowed during the performance, so I can only show you the outside, and inside before the action got started, but it was cool to get to see it. The show wasn't exactly riveting, but it did get pretty fun when a couple dozen actors started mock-swordfighting all over the stage.

I should mention that while in Ebisu, I experienced not only my second typhoon since getting to Japan, but it was also the second time I was woken up by an earthquake! The first one occurred right after I arrived. I had never been shaken out of sleep by the earth shifting before, so the first time I wasn't sure that's what it was until it was mentioned to me the next day. This time I knew exactly what was happening! It lasted a long time. I was definitely freaked out, but I figured if I didn't hear Kenji screaming, then everything was ok!

Kabakuzi Theatre

More of the outside

A view from my seat. Kabuki theater goes on all day, but
you can buy a 1 hour ticket for about $10. These seats of
course have a bird's eye view (aka nosebleed), but here
really isn't a bad seat in the house

Heading out into typhoon #2!

Checking out a weekly flea market

A marvelous system I wish we would implement in the 

states. Some places, like here, you enter then leave your 

umbrella in a slot and take the number - like a locker. 

Most other places you just leave arrive with an umbrella, 

leave it in the bin, then take an umbrella when you leave 

- no worries!

Asakusa and Beyond

After we got our fill of the temple and kimono shopping, Noel and I strolled around Asakusa. This part of Tokyo has a really cool old feel. Human taxi's cart people around and the streets are lined with small restaurants, stores and sushi stops. One of the things on my "must do in Japan" list was to drink tea while sitting on the floor. It's just how I pictured it would be done there :) Noel was a great sport, walking me around until we found just the place!

Next we jumped on the metro and headed for Ueno. There is a huge street market here and you can find foods from all over the world. Ueno is home to a large park, several temples, and is a hot spot for museums. It was starting to get dark so we walked around so I could get the lay of the land. We approached a temple just as it was closing for visitors. I had to laugh when I heard ominous music coming from the direction of the temple... it was the New Year's song! What Auld Lang Syne has to do with closing time at the temple is beyond me, but it was good for a laugh.

Our next stop was one we had been looking forward to all day. In the Ryogoku section of Tokyo you'll find Popeye - a restaurant with 70 craft beers on tap. Even better, during happy hour they serve free food with orders of beer. Hazzah! I had a super simple, yummy tofu dish here and... drumroll please... the best pumpkin beer EVER! I couldn't tell you exactly what the difference was, but it must have been some magical Japanese spice. The best was I can think to describe it is - you've been eating curry and loving it. You try all different kinds but they are all variations of Indian curry. Then you go somewhere new and again order curry, but wham, someone brings you Thai curry and your mind is blown! Something like that :P

Noel asked me if I minded making one more stop so he could meet with some collegues to discuss a few things. He is working on a project to bring new technology to Mexico, where he is from. I don't speak Spanish but I was pretty stoked that I could follow most of the conversation that was swirling around me. Turns out listening to "Spanish for Gringos" in my car a thousand times kinda paid off! It may sound strange, but I thought it was pretty cool to witness a meeting in Tokyo where the gap between Mexico and Japan was being bridged in an effort to create technology that will aid kids' education.

Sushi hut

Streets of Asakusa

You never know what you're going to see!

These guys were on buildings all over town!

Noel and my floor-level green tea :)

Approaching a temple

Had to be done

Visiting Sensoji

Asakusa was the first area my host Noel and I visited, and one of my favorite in Tokyo. One of the main attractions is a Buddhist temple by the name of Sensoji. Leading up to Sensoji is Nakamise, a long walkway lined with vendors. This is a place to do some serious shopping! It reminded me of a spot Matt Thompson and I perused for souvenirs in Moscow, but that stroll didn't lead you to the oldest temple in town! There are 2 gates you must go through before entering the temple; Kaminarimon, also known as Thunder Gate, and Hozo-mon, which also stores the temple's treasures. Visitors are not allowed to photograph inside temples, but there was plenty to capture all around the grounds. I couldn't tell you what most of it is, but it's beautiful to look at!

 

Proof I was there!

Nakamise - full of goodies :)

Thunder Gate

The incense pit. You will see these at the entrance to most 

temples in Japan. Believed to have healing powers, it is 

customary to wave the smoke toward you before entering.

Hello, fishies!

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Loudpark

Upon landing in Tokyo I found my way via the train to my first destination - a place I rented for 3 nights via airbnb.com. My host Yukki, was a friendly guy who ran a web business out of his house and chatted with me about life in Tokyo. I got myself settled in and was off to find the others at their hotel. I have found that walking is usually the best way to see a new city so I set out on foot. This was my first realization that maps written in Japanese are very hard to read! I made it close to the hotel, but with the trains about to stop running and fatigue setting in, I jumped the metro back and called it a night.

In the morning Yukki treated me to a traditional Japanese breakfast - nato, which is fermented soybeans, served over rice and splashed with soy sauce. Yum! It came in a clever package that you cracked to release the sauce onto your beans. The weird thing about it tho is the beans are in this sticky substance that leaves fine strings flying around your face as you eat it. I wondered how the Japanese kept them in control, as I was anything but graceful.

This was what would have been show day. I planned to meet everyone again and decided I would try the bus this time. Lesson number 2 - when taking the bus in Japan, its impossible to know if you are getting off at the right stop. I was at least certain that I missed my stop and left myself plenty of time to find my way. I was hungry during my search and eventually turned to a 7-11 for food. It didn't take long to see that food shopping was going to be a big challenge. I settled on some kind of harmless looking rice patty, opened the package, closed my eyes and hoped I wasn't putting anything dead into my mouth. I was relieved when all I tasted was sweet rice and soy sauce, and it was actually pretty good :)

Eventually I did find the hotel and was so happy to see my peeps! Andy, Olé, their lovely ladies and I, took a festival van to the show and it was nice to see right away how organized things were. Festival staff knew exactly how may people were going, who needed passes, and had meal and drink tickets waiting. I know that doesn't sound difficult, but you'd be surprised how often details like these slip through the cracks. 

Unfortunately, Devin Townsend, Behemoth and Three Inches of Blood all played on other days so I missed saying hello to those guys :(  I was super excited to cross paths with 2 others tho - Patrick Johannson of Yngwie Malmsteen and Sharlee D'Angelo of Spiritual Beggars. It has been too long since I have seen both these guys - truly the best part of the night!

We topped the night off back at the hotel where we met up with the rest of the KD folks who came to Tokyo - Pontus and Erling - and I finally got to meet both their awesome wives :) We were also joined by some Polish fans who had come to Tokyo to see the show. We found out later that these guys, upon leaving the hotel, lost their iPad somewhere between there and their own hotel. Talk about scary - all their flight information, everything, lost. After making a few phone calls they went to the metro's lost and found, where their iPad was waiting for them. Yep, someone on the subway turned it in. Let me repeat - someone on the SUBWAY turned in their IPAD. That's how it is in Japan! 

Nato!

Yukki explained to me that most toilets in Tokyo 

have these functions, "You should try it!"  

... I will let you guess all the options!

Lost in Tokyo... not bad when you are stopping
at places like this to check the map!

Giant Sweed towers over Japanese shoppers :P

Even tho we didn't play I got a pretty sweet swag bag :)

Away I go to Tokyo!

It's been a while since I've written. Not because nothing's been happening - it just seems that I need to have myself planted in an airplane seat before I find time to do certain things that I intend to! 

You may have seen in a post over the summer that King Diamond was booked to play Loudpark Festival in Tokyo. Talk of negotiations being in the works came out back while we were in Helsinki. I think I can speak for everyone when I say we were excited. None of the band or crew have ever been to Japan so this was an opportunity for all of us to see a new part of the world. I am always very grateful for the opportunity to travel that working for KD gives me. Japan is not somewhere I would ever plan to go on my own, and until now, didn't expect to go with the band. I don't take these opportunities lightly and have become more and more determined to take advantage of them to the fullest. That being said, there was no way I was going to Tokyo for a weekend.

Step 1. Change flight ticket for a later return date.

Step 2. Figure out the rest!

In the past year I have found some great ways to travel cheap. The downside of looking for bargains is it's time consuming. The past few weeks have been eaten up by countless hours emailing and researching places to stay. Just in time to go, I had my accommodations *mostly* figured out, but was happy that when I arrived In Japan there would be a couple days to iron out details while we prepared for, and played Loudpark - not to mention festival staff to greet me at the airport, take me to a hotel and feed me for a few days.

So the days before my departure were filled with the usual packing and preparing, and also cramming in work to launch a collaborative project that I will be telling you all about in a future post. To top it off my niece Christine, who I haven't seen in years, was in PA visiting from Arizona with her fiancé Anthony - so of course despite all I had on my plate I had to clear time to spend with them. I just wish it could have been more! I went to bed Wednesday night with a long list of things to get done the next day… you know, while I wasn't driving home an hour after seeing family, at work during the day, or in class that night. 

8:20 am Thursday. Yawwwn, wipe crust from eyes, check email. "Sorry for the result. Please stop taking flight for all crew."

Nooooooooo! Our show was cancelled due to all of our gear getting delayed in transit. (If you want to read the whole story go here: http://www.kingdiamondcoven.com/site/category/news/) Panic ensues. So begins the mental debate: Do I still go? I don't have a hotel - I need a place to stay! How much is this gonna cost? Should I still go? How will I get around? What do I know about Tokyo?? I don't know Japanese!!! Why I bother freaking out over things like this I'll never know, cause deep down I already knew I was getting on that plane.  

Which brings me to Friday - departure day. I've had 2 hours sleep and despite yesterday's mixed feelings, I am psyched to be writing from aboard ANA flight NH1. I am already loving the Japanese airline staff. Everyone is so polite and sweet and smiley. Why don't more people smile? It makes even dreadful events like stepping onto a plane for a 14 hour flight delightful - at least for a moment. I've already eaten with chop sticks and even my airline food was well decorated :)

This is going to be awesome!

Yay for leg room! Plus empty seat next to

me - bonus!

Subway signs. Apparently super hero pandas get very 

upset when their capes get caught in the doors.

Psyched to see right away that Halloween

is alive and kicking in Japan!

Always a good sign :)

Seemingly high-end jewelry store rocking the skulls

Where I will dwell my first 3 nights. 

Another bonus - no one is renting out the other beds !