Sister, Sister!

Well, big surprise. It's Monday. Again. It's been a week since I last blogged. Again. I have visitors. Again. And I'm fighting something.

Again.

Ugh. I'm so over being sick. Every time I get better, one night celebrating a birthday, or one night's lost sleep and I'm fighting my darn body all over again. I'm so over it.

At least I only have two days of work left, everyone's seen the show, and I'm just gonna push through until vacation.

I just think it'd be nice if Japan would freaking help me out and turn up the temperature dial! Sheesh.

It was snowing yesterday. AGAIN!

You'd think that when my sister and Kelli booked their trip for late March during the beginning of cherry blossom season (which it happens to be, by the way) that it wouldn't be 2 degrees Celsius outside! On Palm Sunday!

Remember that whole spring thing, Japan? Apparently, not. Next week it'll likely be 95 with a 100% humidity.

That being said, my sister's here! And it's MARVELOUS!

Despite the fact that I leave this country in 96 hours, not a thing is packed or given away, and that's because I have two guests in my room till tomorrow. And so my final two days are designated only as packing up days! And that they will be...

Anyways, the girls and I have had a great time. Before they got here, I had a busy night Monday trying to keep up with the vacation planning, and on Tuesday I spent my day out and about in Tokyo before heading to Tony's birthday dinner in Roppongi Hills. Which was DELICIOUS but the copious amounts of smoke were a bit of a buzzkill.

The extreme buzzkill came the next morning when my stomach hated its life. Apparently Joe and Destiny threw up the whole night, which luckily never happened to me. But I think we all had a bit of food poisoning since we were sharing from the same set of plates at one end of the table (it was a family-style set menu). So instead of being excited about my sister's arrival, I spent the whole day with the tummy rumbles and the shakes. Awesome.

The girls arrived all the way to E-Village by themselves (good work, ladies!) and then met me for sushi at Ikspiari after work. Yum. Surprisingly, I was able to eat that and hold it down! Then we took the monorail out the Hilton where Rick and Robin were staying to say hello. Turns out everyone was early to bed (I'm sure the day of freezing rain helped that along) and Rick and Bobby came down to chat with us for an hour or so.

Pretty cool to stand in a hotel lobby in Tokyo with my sister and uncle after we all arrived here separately. Who thought that'd happen?

Then we cabbed it home because of the stupid rain, and the girls got a great night's sleep since it rained all day Thursday too. I sent them around the station and Shin-Urayasu since they weren't too keen on freezing all day after two weeks in Thailand. Rick and Robin and the whole family came to the show that day, which was wonderfully fun to see them, though it would've been nice to be able to hug the kids after the show. Mondainai, I guess.

That night the girls, Joseph, and I headed into Urayasu for some delicious food and drink at Big Mama's after we finally figured out an ATM that the girls could get money from. I'm glad I finally made it there because the food was superb, and my personal favorite was this chicken pasta gratin that tasted like Mom's Turkey Tetrazzini. Delish.

Friday the girls (and the rest of Japan) froze in the park, and only got to ride 2 rides (even with FastPasses!), but they did get to see all of the shows, including mine... twice! They came home pretty darn early, but much to their avail as it was Mexican Fiesta Night at Heidi and Renee's. Free delicious food, and Heidi was so kind as to clothe the girls with some warmer wear for their stay here.

Since, ya know, Tokyo doesn't understand that winter should be OVER by now.

Saturday we headed to Hakone for the day, which was the nicest weather we've had by far, which is saying a lot since we couldn't see Fuji, and only had partly sunny weather for a few hours of the day. We barely set foot outside on the pirate ship since it was so chilly, and we braved the wind to go get onsen eggs at Owakudani (and some really cool pics too). Though I will say that it was actually warmer up there than when I went in January!

I think the girls really enjoyed the scenery and the day, but I'm just disappointed at this crappy weather. It did make for a delightful onsen evening that night, complete with Evan on vocal rest, superb yakiniku, and the onsen specialty... soft ice cream. I know the girls were a little out of their comfort zone in the naked section, but they were champs nonetheless.

Yesterday we slept in till 9 (which still felt early...) and made it to church at noon in Yotsuya. I hadn't been there before, but wanted to try a new English mass since I really didn't like the one in Roppongi. I think we were basically at the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Tokyo since there was Mass in a different language every hour and a half and it was packed! The church was architecturally gorgeous, in an oval shape with a flower pattern ceiling, but we didn't get any pics. Unfortunately, the sound was about as atrocious as the obnoxious children, but we did get some beautiful palms for the whole Passion reading.

After church we snapped some photos of the cherry blossoms outside, and headed over to Harajuku and Shibuya to get in some much needed shopping for the girls. Sadly, my sister's feet are just too big to buy shoes or boots here, and so her feet hurt pretty badly all day. We stopped for lunch at my favorite kebab place, and got crepes in the middle of Takeshita-dori later that afternoon. Our attempts to take a picture with a Harajuku girl were met with running, dodging, and many "dame"s. Oh well.

Kelli did manage to buy some cute shoes, a new dress, and we all had a lot of fun. Oh and by the way, it was 2 degrees outside. As usual.

So we cut our plans to go out early, since I had woken up with more of my nasty Japanese head colds, Bree's feet hurt, and it was darn cold outside. We came back to Urayasu for conveyor-belt sushi and the girls were in heaven whenever they'd start shouting and auctioning off a new set of plates. Good thing I was there to let them know what was going on!

We came home early, Evan came over, and we all just rested and went to bed early, since they went to the fish market at 5 AM this morning. I, once again, had to refrain from going due to yet another sickness, so instead I happened to wake up early enough to update the blog.

And now, I must go perform the first half of my last 5 or 6 shows!! Let's hope the throat and voice hold out!

Another Week Goes By

Well, aren't I the little delinquent?

I have good excuses, I swear. But let's just get to the recap!

So I spent my final day with the family Sunday having a GREAT day! The weather finally warmed and cleared up a bit, and we decided to take it easy and enjoy the sunshine. We shipped off to Shibuya, where we briefly wandered the alleys before stopping by Yoyogi Park, which ended up being our main stop of the day, much to our surprise.

There was not one, but TWO huge food fairs going on, and we spent a solid hour or two getting free samples, trying AMAZING produce, experiencing a myriad of smells and flavors. It was really remarkable. We stopped for Yakisoba (since my aunt had been clamoring for it for the previous 10 days) and it was quite delightful. Since we weren't super hungry, we decided to keep exploring and make our way to the actual park and have a picnic and play some Pinochle.

The afternoon was simply delightful, and we headed back to the fair to get some Hiroshima-style Okonomiyaki, though sadly there were no more grilled oysters! We had some beer, chocolate-covered soybeans, sakes, oranges, and more along the way! Simply OISHII!

Then I overwhelmed them by making our way down Takeshita-Dori to get the true Harajuku experience before heading home. We had one last fantastic night at karaoke, and all too soon it was time to wrap up their amazing vacation.

Monday I headed back to work brain-dead, exhausted, and looking forward to sleeping in my bed instead of on the floor.

By Tuesday, I had another excellent meal at an izakaya (a type of Japanese bar where they make home-cooked food) called Kakaiya, for Kasi's birthday. Though the night became a bit pricey, the food was PHENOMENAL. I came home reeking of fish, but those SHRIMP! And the best miso soup I've ever had, delicious red and long fish, amazing octopus, and TUNA SPARERIBS. I don't think I can really talk about anything else for a long time. yummmmmmmm.

Wednesday was my first day off back to myself, and I had lunch at the Oriental Hotel before seeing Sherlock Holmes with a Japanese friend. We ran into my favorite supervisor after the movie and they loved it too! And then it was time to welcome Gamble back to town and to head down to the Hub for St. Patrick's Day!

It was kind of an overwhelming night now that all the new casts are here, but it really rocked when I got to play darts and won ALL 3 GAMES! That's right, kids. I can hit a double bulls-eye like no one else in Urayasu, which means I've won 4 out of the 5 games in Japan so far.

Batting .800? Eat that, Yankees.

Thursday night I got to see my Summer Party peeps for probably the last time, which really made me realize how much I'm going to miss this place. It showed me how much I've grown, how many great friends I have, and that I am moving REALLY FAR AWAY again. Whoa. Monsoon was delicious as always, but it's the memories of those friends I'll treasure forever. They really rock.

Friday night I sadly couldn't celebrate my friend Todd's birthday since I already had rehearsal for the Saturday night Kasi's birthday show (we might as well call it the BBB Senior Showcase). That was a big bummer, but I committed a while back, and didn't wanna let people down since I was involved in so much. Rehearsal went smoothly, and all was set for the next night.

And Saturday night was the day of the show y'all! We had a GREAT time putting on our little show, despite the typhoon strength winds. But my favorite part was when we full-on mischievous-high-schooler-style STOLE a piano from the practice rooms right underneath our security guards' noses... While we're not really sure this wasn't allowed, we just kind of did it without telling anyone just in case.

And by the way, pianos not mounted on real casters are HEAVY. Just fyi.

So we got the piano in the room, I danced the opening to Chorus Line, sang a Fantasticks love duet with Blair, and then accompanied Chris and Destiny in their Ragtime medley. And then it was time for a drink, honey! The rest of the show was great, and the singers made fools of ourselves reenacting the Christmas Chippendale video as a surprise finale.

And then it was time for this Grandpa to hit the hay while everyone else went to the final Ageha night of the contract. And boy am I glad I did!

Today was a normal day of work, and the singer boys went out for a final Capriciosa dinner one last time together. Evan and I made some more plans for our trips, and now there're only 10 days left. I can't believe it's really happening and accelerating towards the end, but it's coming either way!

In other news, please keep my grandfather in your prayers as he is in the hospital for some very large kidney stones and some colon issues. And luckily my niece's chipped tooth was fixed nicely after she tumbled down the stairs!

Whew! What a week!

Down Under in the Far East

G'day mate! Happy Australia Day!

Here's a query for you... where's the best possible place to celebrate Australia Day? Okay. Maybe not best possible. But how about surprisingly amazing?

That's right, folks. In Roppongi at an Aussie bar with a bunch of Aussie ex-pats wishing they were at home.

I mean, I kinda feel bad for England. We've got Independence Day... the French have Bastille Day... Canada Day, ANZAC day, Cinco de Mayo, St. Patrick's Day, Oktoberfest... the list goes on.

What day is special to Brits? Harry Potter Day?

Anyway, I invited myself along/crashed the One Man's party all you can drink and eat party since Evan happened to mention it on Monday night and it was my day off Tuesday and I was already intending to be in Shibuya. I went shopping and spent altogether too much money on stuff I don't need, but then, that's what Shibuya's for, right?

Speaking of Shibuya. How about this?

I nearly fell over in the street. I'm SURE I shouted, and I definitely turned around, followed this girl, and tried to discreetly catch her sweatshirt on film.

I KNOW that's a sweatshirt from my high school. I KNOW it. I can't prove it, but one can only see the same Blue and White with a Mustang emblem and the word Taylor in that font for 3 years before it's imprinted in their brain forever. I wish I had thought to ask her where she got it, because my guess is it's just from some random secondhand vintage shop in Harajuku and she paid 80 bucks for it not knowing or caring what it said. BUT HOW DID IT GET TO JAPAN for some short girl to claim she's a mustang wrestler?

Ah. The small world in which we live.

Whatever. I definitely had goosebumps walking down the street flipping OUT for about 15 minutes.

And then, later, I realized why the Japanese have such bad teeth!

When you advertise like this, no WONDER no one gets corrective dental care. Why would you, when Dental Labor is not just gross, but DOUBLE gross?

Back to the Aussies. So I show up, not realizing, that DUH, unlike the BBB stage which is an American-style show in the AMERICAN section of the park and therefore has quite a large majority of Americans, 80% of the ShowBase cast is Australian. They're cheaper, closer, and less problematic to hire from a Japanese perspective (except for the fact that they can party like rockstars every night, which actually is culturally acceptable here, so that point is moot).

And the temporary flag tattoos came out and the drinks started flowing!

After that, much of the evening is a blur, but I do remember Evan and I somehow wandering the streets near Hatchobori station, because we somehow exited the wrong end of the tracks and had no idea how to get to the familiar section of the transfer. Luckily a nice train attendant and/or police man told us how to walk the couple blocks above ground, and SUPER luckily, it worked.

I learned that every Aussie around the world is glued to their government run radio station to see what song will be voted #1 after every person in the country votes since the first of the year. Sounds like People's Choice Awards, only something people actually care about!

I also know that I was good about sticking to one drink for the evening, only lowering my guard to do one shot from some other awesome Aussies at one point, and making sure that I had at least ONE Aussie beer (even if it was cruddy XXXX) before the evening was over.

I'm pretty sure we were loud and stumbly and crazy (which I despise whilst sober) though I have no idea, because I was trying to be quiet and polite on the train. One just never knows how well that's working...

And for some strange reason, the guy next to Evan had a black laptop bag with a marie claire label. Which just bothered me. I'm pretty sure I mentioned it a few times since I still remember it today...

But we got home safely, quite early in fact (10 PM), and I was out by midnight getting ready for my trip to Hakone today.

Too bad I woke up at 5 AM. And felt fine.

Until I had to ride the overheated, overcrowded commuter trains to Shinjuku at 7:45 AM and wanted to die. Thank god for McDonald's, orange juice, and sleeping on the train to Hakone t0 get rid of heartburn and the shakes.

And that, my friends, is the way to celebrate Australia Day like a American-Japanese Aussie!