The Part That Used To Be My Heart

Japan has ruined me. Either that or the honeymoon is over.

Or maybe I was just overdue to get so mad that I cried.

Whatever.

I have become an unhappy and miserable person who has been unable to be kind and generous to other people in the past two weeks. And I'm NOT pleased by that.

Thank God I sing a song called "All of Me" that has an entire finale/riff/free section where I get to do whatever I want with the lyrics "You took the part that used to be my heart, so why not take all of me?"

Because this actor needed some therapy today and decided to take it out on an unsuspecting crowd of 1489 Japanese people.

And the best part is, I was completely justified (especially as an actor) in my choices and cannot be given a legitimate note, even if they were actually brave enough to do so.

And damn, it felt good.

The ironic thing is, despite all the conversations, negotiations, arguments, and fights that have happened in the past two weeks, it wasn't until I was so mad that I was crying and visibly upset during sound check that the Japanese suddenly were worried about me. I could sing Big Band beat 15 shows a day and they wouldn't care, unless tears or steam started coming out of my head.

Nonetheless, I am a professional and did my show with full energy and a Disney smile. Until I pointed at the booth and accusatorily shouted "YOU" at the top of the coda.

Yet, as I said before, I was merely making a STRONG acting choice that is justified by the music and the lyrics and the direction, the latter of which there was none.

So.

Now I feel better. And I'm thrilled by that prospect.

Because I always see the big picture and I always see the long-term reasoning behind daily actions. Which, in this case, caused me to lose my brain, lose my shit, and be miserable for about 2 weeks.

And now, though not perfect, I feel better. Which is a necessity since I'm going on vacation in 2 DAYS! And I surely don't want to be constantly analyzing the pit of destruction that is our current work schedule.

So I'm going to attempt to just suck it up and deal with it. Not that that worked for the last 5 months (clearly). But I don't really have a lot of other options.

I've called bullshit. I've cried. I've tried to reason with unreasonable people in every way I can. I can see the solution, but I can't change other people. So in the end, I can't win.

But I surely can take out my aggression onstage.

Thank God for motivation.

Racing to the next Decade

So the past couple of days have been interesting...

First, Sunday was a rather long day of rehearsing our countdown show. In general, I really have enjoyed rehearsals in Japan up until now. But this countdown show feels thrown together whimsically. Without a lot of preparation.

And not that I mind. It's only a one night gig. But when you're dealing with 33 dancers, 10 singers, 24 band members, 18 (of the 67) gai-jin, on one stage for an 11 hour day, well, it just becomes one big clusterf***.

Seriously.

Sorry if I offended anyone there.

See, the problem is, the Japanese have figured us out. And worse yet, we've figured out the Japanese and the loopholes in their system. Throw in singers with live mics, 8 pairs of tap shoes that are amplified, a bunch of ADHD poster-children, and a language/culture barrier with only one translator?

Yeah. It's like Congress trying to pass a health care bill. It might happen. At the last minute. With a whole lot of squealing along the way.

So I'm ready for New Year's Eve to be over and done with. Especially since I will work that 14 hour day followed by 5 shows New Year's Day and yet another 5 show day on that Monday (which is my Friday). So I think I'm a bit justified logically when I get annoyed with other performers' inability to maintain focus and/or professionalism.

But, what really gets my goat, is about 8 hours in to any given rehearsal, when people start complaining. About how long we've been there, even though the schedule (and the audio repeat of that schedule at the start of the day) says we won't be released for another hour. Because see people don't pay attention or listen to announcements and then complain. Because people goof off and make the process longer, harder, and more redundant in rehearsals, and then complain.

Yeah. That's what gets my goat. And I wasn't afraid to voice that opinion at work when queried!

But the Japanese have taught me patience, and I have also learned the important lesson of leaving an overcrowded dressing room and finding fresh, clean (aurally) air to breathe.

So yeah. That was Sunday. But it was much better when Destiny and I had Monsoon and a long conversation after the fact.

And Monday, well.

Remember how I said Summer Party was like a reunion and a homecoming all at once?

Yeah, Monday was like regressing into the nightmare version of your past and realizing what a different person you are now.

It makes me wonder how people return to a show and a part they've left for years...

Seriously. We returned to the regular show and it felt so BORING. I mean, there's no more Christmas medley, no more fog, no more snow, no more reindeer, no more Japanese screaming-while-they-kick Rockettes.

Yeah. It was like returning to an old nightmare. Not a comfortable old friend.

So I'm thinking it's a good thing I'm leaving, because I still have 3 more months of this show that isn't nearly as pleasant as the Christmas version.

And, well, since I'm not doing the Valentine's show, I don't have a lot of variety to spice it up any more. I'll miss the overtime, but I think I'm glad to be done with rehearsals.

And then, today, despite my aspirations to leave early and visit some rollercoasters an hour North of Tokyo (I've chosen to delay said aspirations till tomorrow), I spent most of the day sipping a Blendy, reading my book, watching a Smallville/Weeds marathon, and prepping for Evan's return and our evening at the onsen (which has changed to the Hub).

Sometimes a guy just needs a lazy day off.

But I did find time to explore a new area of the seawall across the canal, and took an hour long bike ride. Made me feel like I was 15 again.

And that, my friends, has been my past few days.

OH.

And how could I forget?

Destiny and I went to sushi last night after work and I tried new things... Aigamo (duck) -- DELICIOUS. Scallops (which I LOVE but have never had raw) -- WAY BETTER RAW. And conger eel. Roasted. OISHII!

So, I mean, for those who wanna know... Yes. The sushi is amazing here. Especially the tuna. ESPECIALLY the tuna.

Alright. I'm off to the hub. Pray for less smoke and more booze.

OH. And my jury duty was cancelled. So I don't have to report from Japan. Or file 18 disqualification forms.

Happy New Year to me!

E.(N).T. telefonieren nach Hause

Okay. So the title of this entry is a really bad pun. Especially since it's in German. And I live in Japan.

But do you get the alien reference? 'Cause that's pretty much what I thought for a second when I saw this:

For those of you not in the know, that is neither an upside down pink V, nor a picture of the feminine nether regions, but in fact a picture of my vocal chords. (Meanwhile, I apologize for the poor clarity of the upload of a picture of a picture that was printed out).

Basically, that's what I saw when the Ear, Nose, and Throat guy scoped me today. No, he didn't creepily give me a once-over like some perv on the train... He put a camera down my throat attached to a long metal rod and it tickled!

Though I only gagged once, and that was whilst trying to breathe after holding quite a long extended falsetto "aaaaaaayyyyyy" and before having to repeat said singing... and did I mention there was a metal rod down my throat?

And everyone, keep the comments clean, my grandparents read this blog.

Luckily it wasn't one of the ones that has to go up through your nose 'cause that probably would have REALLY tickled.

But basically the amazing Japanese doctor (thanks for the recommendation, Chris!), looked in my nose and throat and chords and told me that I have acute chorditis vocalis inferior. Which I have now come to understand means my chords are quite swollen, most likely caused by a cold/sinus infection.

I'm guessing singing 18 shows this week didn't help either...

But, the good news is, despite my Gemini internal debate of hemming and hawing, Kathryn lovingly mothered me into going even though I somehow made it through 5 shows yesterday feeling better than before. The REALLY good news is I seem to have caught my problem before a polyp could have developed in the next few days.

So I'm supposed to not sing for 3 days, but well, that clearly can't happen.

The doctor is working his magic trying to get me through the special event and Kathryn's visit Friday, and hopefully clearing me to sing a day early. So I have to go back tomorrow morning, but for the next 5 days I have 5 wonderful Chinese herbs/medicines as well as a shot in the arm of anti-inflammatory today and a 2 minute session of anodization.

And did I mention 95% of this happened in Japanese?

Now you know while I felt like an alien.

But I am MECHA impressed with the efficiency and care of the Japanese system. My possible "long wait" was a mere 5 minutes, and I from the time I walked in until we had forgotten our umbrellas in the lobby was only 45 minutes. And there are like 7 nurses and you get passed from station to station and are never waiting around for your various treatments.

Bam, bam, bam! You are in and out like a fox in a henhouse.

And the visit only cost 140 bucks INCLUDING the scope and medicines, and that, of course, will be reimbursed by insurance.

And the US is fighting this kind of system... really?

In visiting news...

Kathryn is here! And we had such a great dinner at Monsoon last night, a late start in the FRIGIDLY rainy day today, and a lovely afternoon at coffee. One benefit to a fall without Pumpkin Spice Lattes?...

The Caramel Eclair Latte. Salty and sweet with little crunchies. Yeah, be jealous, 'cause none of you are getting any in the States.

And we ate at the most amazing Curry House upstairs in the Daiei and it was phenomenal. It seriously has 3 booths a bar, but it's like the Chipotle of Japanese Curry and NO foreigners go there, so it was DELIGHTFUL. And after my doctor visit, Kathryn made an amazing spaghetti, and I made garlic bread and baked cinnamon apples for Evan and Blair and ourselves. And it was DELICIOUS.

And now I should go to bed since I have to go back to the Doc early tomorrow and I have a long day of rehearsing to my sick track.

Keep me healthy, Lord!

Week in Review

Well, while I'm up and at it early, I finally have some time to catch up on some of the crazy events of last week...

See, here's what happened:

Sunday: A short day at work, and one not requiring much effort from me since I merely had to sit and watch dress rehearsals, but a bad one nonetheless watching people make mountains out of molehills. And it was all made better by a night at Outback with friends and jamming downstairs with Blair.

Monday: A long, but good day at work including our press preview, and one made much better by an unexpected compliment from our director about my performance.

Tuesday: Another adventure to Yokohama, beginning with sukiyaki on the 68th floor of the Landmark Tower and ending with a Chinese feast in Chinatown that had the most amazing crab leg wrapped in crab-meat and deep fried and then topped with tableside-grated Himalayan rock salt concoction ever. In between there was shopping, a Sea Bass ride (transliteral Japanese spelling), a visit to the Christmas store and Tin Toy Museums (which are AMAZING) and beautiful vistas of Yokohama bay. The ultimate highlight was the stunning choreography and precision of a traditional Japanese tea ceremony, and the unexpected surprise was the sweetest, softest golden retriever that somehow also was a regal as a lion and grandiose as a bear.

Wednesday: A trip in the blowing, howling rain to Ikebukuro to start on some Christmas shopping, and an evening at home cleaning.

Thursday: My Christmas show debut, a Thursday night pizza party with Glee, and a late night convo with some lovely new (and old) friends.

Friday: A 5 show day that was more exhausting than anything I've done up to this point. Followed by a night out in Akasaka getting lost in the rain for an hour and half before discovering our intended destination had been around the corner from the Citibank. Then partying at a housewarming party with lots and lots of gai-jin, catching the last train home, and being shocked and awed as a fellow cast member had his personal space violated by a Japanese business man on the train.

Saturday: The worst day of my week during which nothing in Japan seemed to go my way. However, a night of all-you-can-eat-and-drink Shabu Shabu (think fondue except the oil is just boiling water), oishii fried potatoes, and 5 ume-chu's made for a D-E-lightful evening.

Sunday: And then, as I've mentioned, a great day until my voice gave out and I came home straight to bed.

And the lesson I've learned is that our Christmas show is amazing and wonderful and hella DIFFICULT. But somehow I'll make it through this week, and I think somehow's name is my first visitor to Japan: Kathryn!

So if you don't hear from me for another week... that's probably why!

An Early Morning

Well, I'm up early, which hasn't happened since I was jet-lagged in August.

I mean, it's 8 AM, and I've already been awake for an hour, which normally would cheer me except for this sneaky, little fact that I went to bed at midnight in the hopes of a solid night's sleep last night.

See, yesterday I had a pretty WACK day on stage. It was, in fact, actually quite a darn good day full of fun surprises, not least of which was a phone call from my sister. However, when my voice closed off and my sound came out pinched onstage in the middle of the 4th show and I seemed to have lost anything above an E by the end of the day, I wasn't exactly thrilled.

More like on the verge of tears.

I've never really lost my voice or feared something was actually wrong. Even this summer when I was vocally EXHAUSTED from singing Tenor 1 in HSM.

It's never felt like this before.

Which is to say that it doesn't hurt, which is what scares me.

If my throat hurt or my chords hurt, I'd know I'm doing something wrong. But it doesn't. It literally just feels like a valve closed in the middle of the day yesterday and said "no more".

So I'm awake early. Probably because I'm worried about singing today.

Did I mention that I have 5 shows today?

And that Kathryn arrives?

And that I have my special event Wednesday and Thursday?

And that Friday is sick track recordings AND Kathryn is coming to the shows?

Yeah.

Gonna go grab that 14th pot of Throat Coat off the stove and enjoy another few hours of vocal rest.

A week of 2:30 AM

So it's starting to seem that 2:30 AM is my normal bedtime, 6 hours of sleep at night is normal, and my social life is trumping any chance I have at updating this blog.

That's just "dame" (pronounced DAH-meh). Aka BAD.

But, in the interest of somehow keeping a good blog going, I'm at least going to update now, and hope to reestablish my daily habit. Because I'm really not a fan of the "at the end of my weekend" thing.

So. Here's why I've been so busy.

Thursday and Friday were pretty simple in retrospect. Just a day of work followed by rehearsal till 10:15 or so. And then backdated emails and phone calls until 2:30...

Saturday was a really fun night out with Melanie and Scooter, my friends from Chicago. First off, I got my camera back. Secondly, we had some delicious shaved foie gras and a pretty authentic paella. And finally, some tasty drinks at a charming little English pub. Akasaka is a perfect little blend of the nightlife of Shibuya/Shinjuku with less crowds, same foreigner-friendly attitudes, and better Nihon-jin to gai-jin ratio. Aka I liked it.

And catching the last train home leads to a 2:30 AM bedtime...

Sunday night, Hiro and I went to Hiroo (notice how that extended "o" means something entirely different, yet the irony is not lost on me) for Mexican food. He said he liked Mexican, but since he's only ever made tacos for himself, I had the pleasure of introducing a Japanese to nachos, banana margaritas, and chimichangas! Making the world smaller one day at a time, folks...

So that led to drinks at the Hub and a 1 AM commute home, which then naturally established that lovely 2 AM pattern...

Monday, I worked all 5 shows, which despite my gorging of the previous night, somehow merited a superfluously necessary trip to Outback with Joe. Man, those ribs and chicken and bloomin' onion were tasty! And we had another FHE ("Mormon night") with Sina and Nikki which meant that I pretty much continued my overeating fest from Outback with blue blueberry jello and no-bake cookies.

Now I know why we Americans are fat. And I also remember what overeating 3 plates of food at Thanksgiving feels like. Which, by the way, is my favorite holiday and I'm not looking forward to missing. Though eating pains aren't particularly lovely...

But again, this all just means you get home at 1 AM and somehow force yourself to sleep at 2:30.

Tuesday, I had sworn Michael into a Costco trip (it only took me 100 days to get there!) and we had quite the adventure at Kaihin-Makuhari. First we tried out the famed Italian restaurant Capriciosa that everyone raves about. It was quite delicious, though I am a bit confused about all the fuss. Maybe it'll turn out to be like Kua'aina. It gets better the longer you're here...

Then we continued our trek (and I do mean TREK replete with 4-wheeled suitcase, 2 cabs, 1 shuttle bus, and a bunch of confusion) to the warehouse, which was wonderful and bizarre and home-y and satisfying and even slightly disappointing. I mean, I got Tilex and muffins but they didn't have tortilla chips or cereal. WEIRD. But we had a lot of fun shopping and adventuring and continued said adventure that night in Nichome, a neighborhood in Shinjuku.

It was nice to get out and about and see the nightlife everyone enjoys on a weekday. And we didn't stay out all night or take a cab home, but as I've mentioned, the last train leads to 2:30 AM bedtime.

And finally, today, Wednesday, I got my rear out of bed, found Dean & Deluca in Tokyo Station, visited the Institute of Nature Science Study Park in Meguro, and headed over to Harajuku. I got my haircut (finally, it's been since August!) and did plenty of window shopping. I didn't succumb to the 22,000 yen Marc Jacobs jeans or the 7000 yen Puma shorts, mostly because well, see,

The thing about going out every night and staying out till 2 AM and adventuring to Costco that I forgot to mention is...

I'm BROKE.

Not really. But you know you've had an expensive week when you got paid 8 days ago for the next 31, and you have HALF your per diem left. That doesn't exactly amount to budgeting.

But see, dinners out, Costco, haircuts, and multiple train trips into Tokyo (at 8 bucks a pop round trip) tend to add up.

So I window shopped and took pictures and enjoyed the STUNNING sun. It's been really beautiful ever since the typhoon Monday night blew out all the grey. And I'm thankful for that.

But I did have to make it back to work by 8:30 for sound check, and even though I got out early, by the time I made phone calls and activated my credit card and checked my e-mail, it's 2:30 AM. My apparent bedtime.

So. Those are my habits I'm looking to fix.

Early to bed, updating my blog daily, and living on a budget.

Gambate to me!

Sunny and Thankful

"The sky is clear, and the sun is bright. How could anything go wrong on a day like this?"

~You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown

Today was just a perfect day off.

I had to vacate E-Village by 11 AM unless I wanted to be forced to vacate anyway for the mandatory fire drill. Now, if I was my hysterically funny friend Carly, I would take it very seriously upon myself to attend said fire drill. (Scroll through her blog and read about her struggles with the fire codes... you'll see. And yes I'm shamelessly promoting her blog. It's much funnier than mine). But, since this is Japan and they actually have smoke detectors that work and an excellent system in place, I wasn't interested in spending my few precious hours off in the E-Village parking lot.

So I started my day with Mister Donut. And either I'm really getting used to Japanese versions of our food or somehow I missed the MisDo memo (seriously, I can abbreviate it like that. I got a rewards card from there today that had that inscribed on the top) but them donuts was GOOD! (I'm probably guessing it's due to the former).

And while I was chowing down on some delicious MisDo-ness, I went with my gut and changed my mind about heading into town because it was such a stunningly beautiful and warm fall day. Since it's probably one of the last warm days we'll have, I decided to keep it close to home and ride out to KasaiRinkai Koen for a nature day.

If, of course, by close, you mean easily put 25k on your bike today. Which, by the way, I was stoked to do.

I just began an adventure since I knew the park was the next stop after Maihama (TDR) and that people said you could ride your bike there. And I knew it had a giant ferris wheel and an aquarium and it's on the bay, so how could I really go wrong?

Again. I couldn't.

I meandered my way past Disney and along the sea wall until I found the right bridge to take me to Kasai! And soon I was merely across the canal from Disney but I felt like I was miles away. The western half of the park is a peaceful bird sanctuary with easy access down to the sea walls. After meandering through that I crossed the bridge to one of the two horseshoe shaped islands that are the southern part of the park. The other island is a wildlife sanctuary and you can't get to it, but the big one has basically a long park and beach that you can picnic and walk and play games on!

So I meandered a good 20 minutes all the way out to the point of the rocks and basically got myself surrounded by Tokyo Bay. Which is pretty frakkin' cool.

After that I had a fun self-portrait photo shoot on some posts near the water.

Then finally got to the main attraction of the day (besides the park itself): the aquarium.

Tokyo Sea Life park is by no means the best or most exhaustive aquarium I've ever been to, but for 700 yen it was a great way to spend a sunny afternoon and the architecture and layout of the building is really awesome. It looks like the dome is just floating in the bay! The aquarium has this really cool central tank with HUGE tuna in it. We're talking these fish are as long as I am tall! They happened to be feeding the fish when I arrived, and it was crazy to see the littler tuna zoom in and steal the food from the bigger ones.

The other really awesome exhibit is the 50 or so Humboldt penguins they have there. Again, I caught the feeding show, and I found it remarkable how Pavlovian the penguins were when they knew it was time to eat!

I liked it much better when they were hanging out after the fact.

There happened to be another American lady there with her grandson, and I did my good deed for the day by putting the 6 year-old up on my shoulder for 5 minutes while they fed the young (and separated) penguins. It was nice to speak some English for the day too!

After the near hour and half I spent there, I biked around some more and visited the exhibition about the forming of the park. It kind of made me realize that I spend most of my days now on land that's reclaimed from the ocean. That didn't exist 30 years ago. How unnatural is that for my day of nature?

I then caught the sunset at water's edge. It was beautiful, though the smog left something to be desired.

And this one I actually took whilst riding my bike. Hence the windswept hair.

And once it had gotten fully dark, I took a peaceful ride on the ferris wheel that we pass every time on the train. It's awesome to be 300 feet above Tokyo Bay and to look around you and see the lights of Disney on one side and the skyline of Tokyo on the other.

Then I biked home, stumbled across this really bizarre park/jungle gym/hill thing, and now am ready for tomorrow's adventures!

In other news, I survived a five show day yesterday without napping and on hardly any sleep the night before, so I have to give myself props for that one! And it was my friend Ussie's debut during the 4th show, and I was so proud of her hard work! She's so great in the show!

However, during the fifth show, something ridiculous happened. And I feel bad because it's partially my fault, but it's also ridiculously funny. After I do the "blues" speech with Mickey, I exit SR in wing zero in pitch black. And it's definitely the darkest point in the show, especially after being in the blinding spotlights, and as proof... during my debut I couldn't find the wing and Mickey's foot hit the back of mine. However, there are two little glowlights and a stagehand shining a flashlight on the floor, mostly for Mickey, but also for me to find our way. (I suspect that light wasn't there for some strange reason during my debut, or I'm just clueless. You pick).

Well, in my last-of-5-shows haze, I guess I exited too quickly after the speech, because Mickey couldn't find his way offstage. Usually he can see the back of my white tux to help guide him, but apparently the dancer boys were already onstage for the next number, and only 3 feet to their right was Mickey bumping into the wings trying to find his way offstage. With audible "Oh's" every time he kept hitting the wall.

Priceless, and terrifying. Mostly I just feel bad because I got off stage too fast and didn't even know it happened until 10 minutes later! But imagine for yourself... Mickey bouncing around like a Plinko chip. Wow.

On my way home from work, I was walking through Ikspiari when I thought, "Who are those gai-jin walking through Ikspiari? They don't work for Disney... But they look like they do... hmm." And as I kept walking by, I recognized my friends Cornelius and Melanie from the Chicago tour, with whom I have been arranging plans to hang out later this week! Turns out they had just seen the 5 PM show of Cirque and were walking back to the station. And I happened to stumble upon them! What fortune.

And I'm pretty sure I've mentioned previously how bizarre and random it is that I see so many people I know in Japan. But, when you think about it, we don't exactly look like 95% of the population nor speak the language, so we are a rarity and stick out which means we're easier to recognize. If that had been a mall in America, who knows if I would've noticed them?

Oh. And by the way, I wasn't sure, but checked later, and yes, that really was Kevin Richardson with them.

Yes. I met a Backstreet Boy last night. At my train station. A Backstreet Boy. Jealous, yet?

On Sunday night, after a long day of work, I met up with Patrick, Evan, Renee, her boyfriend, and Becky for an impromptu Canadian Thanksgiving celebration.

Yes, they stole our holiday. And yes, they celebrate it a month too early.

But I'll give 'em Canada Day. Those parties are CRAZY!

So in true Thanksgiving style, we decided to visit the Chinese Buffet.

Yes, I said Chinese. And no, I'm not unaware that that's not a traditional meal. But we're in Tokyo.

And if you can get past the quadruple negative in the sentence above, you're already doing better than we were as we tried to decipher that there are actually two different prices for the buffet depending on when you go. Before 9:30 is 3700 yen, but AFTER 9:30 is only 1131. Which is annoying and yet, awesome.

So we instinctively decided to ditch, made our way over the highway into Urayasu for sushi, and then realized we had the best plan ever. We'd hang out, eat some sushi appetizers (since it was already 8:30), and then go back and kill the buffet we'd been saving up for all day. So, I got to have my first conveyor belt sushi experience, which is pretty much exactly like it sounds. You can still call out an order, and they'll make it and deliver it right away. And, by the by, it was delicious and cheap!

And so, about 9:45, we waltzed back into the Oriental Hotel and devoured the buffet.

And by the way I ate, you'd DEFINITELY realize it was Thanksgiving. Canadian style. Wowzer.

That food was fantastically delicious and I ate fat-American-style for the first time since Outback. YUM.

Best of all, we remembered to give thanks before our evening was over, and then moved the party back to my room to watch Enchanted, for which I should probably give thanks every day for being made since it's one of my all-time favorite movies.

And so, my friends, I am very thankful today. For Canadians stealing our holiday so we could pig out at the Chinese buffet, for Mickey making everyone giggle, and for the day of freedom my bike gave me today! Another adventure tomorrow!

What a day!

So, I'm gonna assume for a second that most of you watch "Grey's Anatomy". And if you don't, you probably should.

Anyway, in the incredibly pivotal, had-me-bawling-on-my-couch, didn't-see-that-coming, amazing 100th episode this past spring, Izzy Stevens ended the episode with this voiceover:

"You never know the biggest day of your life is the biggest day. Not until it's happening. You don't recognize the biggest day of your life, not until you're right in the middle of it."

Now, let me be clear, today was not the biggest day of my life. Far from it.

But several things happened, that well, when I woke up, I had no idea such wonderful and crazy things would happen.

And I definitely wasn't prepared to have one of the most delectable meals of my life.

But it happened!

Today was my first 5 show day. Or as we called them at MGR... 5 doe shays. I don't know why. We just did. It's clever and typical of we "creative types" to constantly modify and twist and abbreviate the English language. I think it's 'cause we get bored and have nothing better to do with our over-active brains.

Anyway, it was actually quite a treat to do 5 shows and break up the monotony of so much time backstage in the dressing room.

And well, when one of our Mickeys got hurt this morning, it didn't seem like that big of a deal. We delayed the second show by 7 minutes and brought in another performer to fill in the rest of the day.

But I don't think anybody saw a second Mickey fainting on the horizon.

I mean, the curtain closed after the fourth show, and BAM! Mickey was down.

(I know. I'm a REALLY bad employee and publishing these secrets, but hey, I didn't go through Disney University so I technically don't know any better.)

Even weirder was the fact that everyone just sat there fanning Mickey... with his head still on!

Finally they got the performer to the dressing room and out of costume, but well, we had now already exhausted 2 Mickeys...

And we only had 1 more performer. Which was kind of rough, because she was actually supposed to be Marie the Cat (they're split tracked), which meant we only had the choice of Mickey or Marie.

I think you can figure out who Disney felt was more crucial to the show.

He does play the drums after all...

So we had a very sudden meeting about 6:45 (our final show is at 6:53 -- I know, who schedules shows at 6:53 and 12:23?!) to inform everyone what the plan would be.

And since, well, Mickeys were dropping like flies, we didn't have enough characters for the show, which meant the whole middle character section (Marie, Daisy, Minnie) of our show would have to be cut. And since we didn't have time to rehearse the bows without the 3 characters (who couldn't bow if their numbers were cut), that meant the bows were cut.

So, now just imagine.

You are at Disney Sea for the day. And you have decided to enjoy the last BBB of the day. You can be a fan who's seen the show a bajillion times or a first-timer. It doesn't really matter, though being a fan is probably a more relevant choice. As a polite Japanese person, you patiently wait when the show is delayed 17 minutes. Because apparently there's an "unforeseen technical emergency and BBB will start as soon as possible".

AKA we don't have enough characters to put on our little skit.

And so when we finally start, 17 minutes late, you have NO IDEA that the show is about to stop 15 minutes in. Which, guess what, is secretly planned, and all the people onstage are like "those suckers out there have no idea they're about to get half a show". And so it does stop, and you patiently wait while "an unforeseen technical emergency is fixed".

AKA Marie the Cat, Minnie Mouse, and Daisy Duck are NOT going to appear as one might expect. End of Act 1.

And so, when the doesn't-really-exist Act 2 begins and the show restarts 5 minutes later (because the rest of us had to change our clothes and get into the orchestra pit) and 5 minutes further in to the normal show, you might think, "Oh well, I guess we won't see "I Love a Piano" today", but you have NO IDEA that the show is going to stop again! And not finish! What, you say? The people onstage actually knew that?!

That's right. Just when you've enjoyed the show and watched Mickey tap dance and play the drums and NOT faint, the curtain's gonna come down, and the much anticipated bow/chaser/character-waving-extravaganza is just magically NOT going to happen. Sorry! Come back and see us tomorrow!

Seriously. That was the end of my day. I mean, wow. What am I supposed to do with that?

Now, separately, take yourself out of the fan's shoes and plop yourself into mine. I made plans to meet up with an old friend from high school in Roppongi for dinner. It is his last night in Japan after all after 2 years here, and I haven't seen him since I graduated 8 years ago. So when the Japanese decided to have a big Indian powwow last minute and get everyone's approval and opinions on the above changes to the show, it didn't really mesh well with my plans to meet him in town after work. Because now I was unexpectedly (and quite unusually) getting out of work 20 minutes late.

And see, by my own choice, I don't have a cell phone here (I quite like not being plugged in at all times). And local calls aren't free here. So I asked Beck to borrow her cell to call Todd and let him know I'd be late. Only I copied the number wrong or his phone was lame or who knows what... but it didn't work and now I was pressed for time.

So when the show came down, I sprinted to catch the bus that left four minutes later from the theatre, and RAN the whole 3/4 of mile from the employee entrance to the station, only to miss the 7:54 train by less than one minute. And that was the last train I could catch to be on time. Ugh.

And since I had RAN, I didn't have time to add money to my Suica. And it was freakin' humid. So I was sweating on the platform, the next train wasn't till 8:03, and I had sprinted for no reason.

Then, at Hatchobori, I rushed to make the connection, and for some strange reason, there were no fare adjusment machines to add money to your Suica inside the fare gates. So I went to the booth man, and rather than taking my 1000 yen and adding it to my Suica to pay for the fare, he took the 20 yen off the card and gave me 800 yen in change. RUDE.

Then when I tried to add money to the Suica before switching lines, the machine wouldn't let me do it with the change, so I just pressed a bunch of buttons and somehow got a 780 yen ticket. Which didn't work at the next fare gates. Nor would my Suica reload. So I just bought the fare to get there.

And eventually I did the same on the first leg of the way home. But foolishly, rather than asking for help or trying to add that ticket back to my Suica for the second leg, I assumed, like a bus pass, that I could put the ticket in the machine since it was more than the fare, and then get a punch or a new ticket for the new amount when I reached my destination. Especially since the Japanese will CHASE YOU DOWN if you leave 10 yen extra at a table or your change in a vending machine.

NOPE. Not the JR line. It delightfully flashed "Thank You" and devoured my 8 dollar ticket for my 2 dollar ride.

So, my rushed, miserable return trip to Roppongi that should have cost about 740 yen actually cost 1360.

All because Mickey fainted.

BUT,

I got to have one of the most delicious dinners of my life and catch up with an old friend. And who doesn't love a good excuse to splurge on a delicious meal?! Someone's last night in Japan after 2 years definitely sounds like a good excuse to me!

And so, for 10000 yen each (100 bucks), we had 2 beers each, plum wine, hot sake, kobe beef skewers, toro (fatty tuna) skewers, stuffed shiitake mushrooms, tempura, edamame, incredible grilled mushrooms, bacon-wrapped asparagus, a spicy tuna roll and a crab california roll with parmesan cheese on top. And every bite was D-E-LIGHTFUL!

Gonpachi is the restaurant where supposedly Quentin Tarantino got his inspiration for the big restaurant fight scene it Kill Bill (it sure looks a lot like this place), and it's super gaijin-friendly. Maybe a little too catered to and crowded with foreigners, but the food was delicious. And worth every yenny of my splurge.

In truth, though, what a blessing to see Todd after 8 years on the other side of the world and hear stories about how you and your friends had a positive impact on him. To be reminded that you encouraged your teacher/mentor to accept him into the next year's Expressions, and that experience helped him grow out of his shell. I guess it's a lesson that we don't always realize what impact our leadership and actions can have on others. But what an affirmation.

Oh. And I found my first gray hair today.

Or at least I think I did, and after consulting all the other gai-jin performers (both before and after it was plucked out), they seem to think so as well.

Oh. And did I mention it was an eyebrow hair?! WTF?

The best part is, I actually found the whole thing funny. It didn't really bother me. That's probably because it's not really unsettling until they're on the top of your head, receding, and there's a whole bunch of them. Hello 26, hello 30, hello old!

So, much like Izzy Stevens, I really had no idea today would be such an interesting day when I woke.

Especially when I realized something in the middle of the 2nd show onstage...

There was a point 10 years ago when I told my father in the Suburban on Kingsland one night that I just couldn't stand the thought of being behind a desk for the rest of my life. It was the exact moment when I voiced my feelings and began to believe truly that I wanted and would make a career in musical theatre for myself.

And somehow, in the shuffle of Tokyo, despite continually counting my blessings, somewhere along the line, I never realized that that kid who believed that has actually grown into the man who has made those dreams come true nearly every day for 4 and a half years. My brain stopped. And I realized that I'm really doing this. My life and my work is performing every day. And I'm so happy.

And even better? I get to do it alongside Mickey Mouse.

Even if he faints once in a while.