Oh Where, Oh Where Has My Little Blog Gone?

"Oh where, oh where can it be?"


I'm baa-aaaaaaaaaack!  You missed me, didn't ya?

No?!

I'm not surprised.  But I missed me, and thanks to my favorite dedicated reader who keeps me on top of this thing, I know some of you out there did too.  And I dropped the ball.

But now I'm back.  Floppy ears and wet nose and all.  (That was a reference to the song quote above.  I, in fact, do not have floppy ears or a wet nose, just floppy hair and some stray nose hairs (thanks, Dad, for those genes!))

So.  I missed about a month.

I'm really sorry about that.  For a couple weeks, I wasn't that great.  A little seasonal depression (I know, wrong time according to the psychologists, but I freak out when I realize that it's gonna get HOT and HUMID and gross and the days are gonna be long and brutal and boring, and I hide.  Deal with it.), a little career depression, a little "my life is really boring now that every day isn't a new adventure in a foreign country" depression, a little I-wish-I-didn't-have-wait-till-august-to-see-my-family blues, and yeah.

I dropped the ball.  And then when I wanted to get back on the horse and get moving again, my life suddenly got exciting and busy and late.

I'm writing this at 2:30 AM for goodness' sake, because if I don't, it'll be July before the habit recurs.

Which also may be why I'm mixing similes, metaphors, analogies, and other hyperboles like a dork.  Which I am.

Quick rundown (in case you really did wonder what I've done that wasn't hiding in my room (but not cleaning it!), for the past 4 weeks):

• I went to P.C. Richards and Sons and probably got ripped off, but I spent $200 on the best thing money can buy...  AIR CONDITIONING FOR MY ROOM.  Ahh.  The sweet hum of NYC humidity being sucked out of my sleeping quarters.
• I took Kate's advice and actually got the heck-out-of-Dodge (did you know that's a reference to Dodge, Kansas?) and tubed down the Delaware in my old neck-of-the-woods the other day.  Along the way, I sadly had to be reminded of something I already knew and would never do, but others in the group did not:  Never.  EVER.  Trust a GPS.  All my family on my father's side can easily say DUH! because we were taught how to read a map and think with our navigational skills, but I was reminded that not everyone knows that.  Seriously.  Do your homework before you drive to Milford, NJ instead of Milford, PA.
• I saw SATC2 with my amazing roommate and of course we walked (both ways!) the 45 minutes to the movie theatre on a whim to a midnight showing.  Best 4 AM walk home ever.
• I also saw MacGruber and Prince of Persia.  Bad idea.  Even Jake couldn't save the latter.
• I've suddenly seen 7 shows unexpectedly.  The amazing Leslie Jordan's one-man show.  Our heritage!  The stand-out surprise of the season... Sherie Renee Scott in Everyday Rapture.  SUPERB.  The great, but not as good as Spring Awakening, American Idiot with my choir VP from high school, Angie!  Guy even gave me his guitar pick at the end of the show.  WOOT.  The superb ensemble work of the casts of Next Fall and Sondheim on Sondheim and the Temperamentals.  And my college roommate's Broadway debut as Chantal in the INCREDIBLE La Cage aux Folles Revival.  SOGOI!!!
• I've had my best friends from high school AND college AND Sweden drop in for visits, making me feel very blessed and very grown-up.
• I screamed like a kid at Christmas when I ran into friends from Tokyo for a mini-reunion, including my Aussie friend who got her visa approved for the summer and suddenly appeared in NYC!
• I've been to a waiting job interview, a few auditions, even more picnics, and still haven't found the time to hang pictures on our walls in the living room.
• I finally started to feel like a human being again.

And so in the midst of all that, my life in New York has rocketed back into existence.  Every day is a new adventure (or rapture, Ms. Scott), and tomorrow's brings Japan Day in Central Park!

Today was a delightful day, though I am ridiculously sore from the Swede's dance class two days ago, and now am nursing banged-up shins because I tumbled over our big cart as we walked to the park today as well as a swollen arch because I stepped on a bee while playing soccer barefoot with Kate's nephew.  I've seriously got to get unstung, unsore, and deallergized before Monday's double tap audition madness or my body is gonna HURT!

Family Time!

Oh, what a fun and wonderful week it has been! Funderful even!

So momma, aunt, and uncle are visiting, and we are having the best time walking, sight-seeing, and laughing a whole lot at what baca gaijin they are! It's fantastic!

From the moment they arrived, we've just had a ball. From shopping for the next day's breakfast the night they flew in completely jet-lagged to tramping through Kamakura, we've just had a great time.

The first day I scrapped the fish market plan after learning from the exhaustion of Cathy and Meg, so they spent the morning at the Imperial Palace whilst I visited my favorite voice doctor in Tokyo Station. Good news, it all checks out, I've just had a nasty case of pharyngitis, so he put me on some great drugs. Bad news, the medication doesn't always agree with my stomach, but I've survived.

Then we adventured further south to the park near Roppongi to see the beautiful temple there and take a trip up Tokyo Tower. It was awesome (for me) to see the layout from the city from 400 feet up after traipsing across the whole city. It made me realize how many places I've been and what an enormous amount of the city I've seen.

That afternoon we stopped at a noodle house for lunch, but it wasn't particularly great, which was disappointing. But then we stopped at the International Forum building and wandered all the upper suspended walkways and the view was incredible! Topped off with some delicious gelato, the day couldn't have been much better. I met Evan briefly to continue planning our Thailand vacation. And of course, we were early to bed for our early wake up call for the fish market!

The next morning we were up bright and early to visit Tsukiji. 4 AM Wake-up call, and 4 people out of the house by 4:45 AM! I was so proud we actually caught the first train at 5:10 AM. Vending machine coffee has never tasted so good...

We ran into my friend Heidi and her boyfriend on the train, which was really fun because then we all got to experience the madness of the fish market together. I kept comparing it to Narnia, because the early AM tuna auctions are at the very back of the market, and you just gotta keep going "further up, and further in".

Not following? Do yourself a favor... re-read that amazing 7 book series and promise me you don't get a little emotional when you get to the final pages of The Last Battle...

Anyway, the reason I say that, is because you first stumble upon rows of Alleys and little shops selling restaurant goods and fresh fruit and vegetables and many other things... And you have to walk through that until you're in this crazy loading dock area that feels like you're in Port Authority and/or the West Side Cruise Ship port, except all you smell is fish. And this is one time you gotta follow that nose.

Further down you're surrounded by the vendors selling all kinds of fresh seafood, freshly caught, some still alive, and little carts screaming down these teeny shop alleys trying not to kill you. And still you gotta go further in. You have to cross several big streets of transport, and THEN you arrive at the one warehouse where they allow a roped-off, no-flash-photos, out by 6:15 AM visitors area. Of course, the really big tuna auctions are still further up and further in, but they have plenty of "Keep Out you Baca Gai-jin" signs preventing you from going any further.

Side story: I'm not sure why I thought the best phrase I should teach to my family in Japan was baca gaijin... aka stupid foreigner. Because now they shout it all over Japan, which is hysterical. But even moreso was watching my mother try to remember the correct phrase, and with full commitment call herself a "Danke Schon!" HA!

Anyways, this, this is where the real show takes place. Despite the fact that you are herded like cattle into an "itty, bitty living space", you have the chance to see GIANT 300 lb tuna being auctioned off. And there are like 5 auctions going on at once in this giant warehouse. So cool. It's interesting because it's run like a fancy schmancy Sotheby's auction. Where the caller is shouting out in Japanese and the bidders only bid by hand signs. And they auction those fish FAST. It's a flurry of activity, but it's by far one of the coolest places I've visited in Japan.

Once we were kicked out of the auction, we wandered around and saw a bucket of live eels, live crabs in sand, those fish that swim on the bottom of the ocean and therefore look like they've been peeled on one-side, giant tuna just roaming around on those forklifts, octopus, squid, you name it...

And then it was time for an onigiri sushi breakfast with Uncle Greg while the ladies ate Pan Jewel pastries and we all sat down in McDonald's to drink coffee and warm up. D-E-licious!

The rest of the day we wandered around Ginza, saw the incredible opening of Matsuya Department Store where everyone just stands and bows to you and says "Shaimasen" over and over for 5 minutes. You kinda feel like a rockstar. We eventually had a delicious lunch at the Shiodome, and toured the Hama Detached Palace Gardens.

We opted to try out these handheld iPhone-type audio/visual tour guide things, which ended up making for a fun experience where we were constantly saying, "Did you ding yet?" "No, I didn't ding!" "Ahhh I don't wanna hear the thing about the bridge a fourth time." Surprisingly fun.

And we spent the evening chowing down on delicious Chinese food and soaking in wonderful bliss at the onsen. Even Aunt Jan enjoyed the baths despite her trepidation, and the night ended with a wonderful conversation about Phillip and all our other family members we've lost too soon. It might have been the best onsen night ever.

Over the weekend, the family headed down to Hiroshima and Himeji, and I spent most of the time sleeping off our early mornings and hoping I was starting to get better. I finally made some decisions about Thailand and Taiwan, and by Tuesday night, Evan and I had booked our flights and our hotel! YATTA! Vacation is only weeks away!

Sunday night the family returned, and we took off to Disneyland on Monday since it was supposed to be cold and rainy Tuesday and Wednesday. Though the park was INSANELY busy and I lost the lottery for both the castle show and Evan's show yet AGAIN, we had a pretty marvelous day. I was surprised that everyone loved Space Mountain and Thunder Mountain so much, and even more surprised at how much I disliked the castle show. I thought everyone was great, I just don't really enjoy the concept of hearing WACK arrangements of Disney songs in front of Cindy's Castle. Out of place, much? A rap version of Chim Chim Cheree? No thank you.

We had a great day together, and the lines went by quickly since we had so much to talk about. I think my family was shocked at how many times I started talking to some of the Japanese in line and ended up with friends and photo shoots!

That exhausting day segued into our grossest day yet on Tuesday that ended in snow. YUCK! Isn't spring supposed to be here yet? So we spent the day sleeping in and milling around Shin-Urayasu, which turned out to be an absolute BLAST! The ladies loved shopping in Shopper's Plaza, we laughed ourselves silly taking sticky pics, and everyone's absolute favorite was drinking at karaoke! Who knew my family would enjoy that so thoroughly? We ended the day with a long overdue game of pinochle (Aunt Jan and I won!), and a trip to Yakiniku across the street. Everyone loved the food and it was a successful end to our day!

Wednesday dawned less rainy than expected, so we took off for Kamakura for the day. We visited the Hachimangu shrine, which sadly lost their 1000-year-old towering Gingko tree in the storm the night before. News cameras and people milling around everywhere made us feel like we witnessed history, and in a way we had. I only wish I had seen it the first time I visited Kamakura.

Then we walked over to the other side of town, visited the inside of a Japanese Catholic Church, and visited my favorite shrine, Hasedera. The view from the top of the hill was amazing, seeing the whitecaps out on the ocean and all the windsurfers not far from the beach. Everyone enjoyed the temple, and of course we stopped at the Daibutsu (Great Buddha)! It was so much easier to walk around town then the first time I went in August when I couldn't get money, was dehydrated, and it was 100 degrees outside! Thank goodness!

We took the scenic Enoden streetcar over to Enoshima, and then the suspended monorail rollercoaster subway back to Ofuna. The detour was well-worth the experience of interesting transportation, a view of Fuji, and the gorgeous seaside train. We had hoped to stop in Yokohama for dinner, but we needed to get to the travel agent by 8, so we stopped into Monsoon for a TASTY dinner that night. I got to eat all of my favorites, so I was more than satisfied!

Thursday the family came to DisneySea, and despite the crowds, they made the most of fast passes and my planning, and rode just about everything except the Tower of Terror. They adored BBB, and after work, I joined them in the park to finally see BraviSEAmo!, see the Mermaid show, ride the rollercoaster, and spin around Aquatopia! They had a great and exhausting day, and I know they were impressed at the sheer amazingness of that park. Heck, I work here everyday, have visited 4 times now, and I was amazed!

Now the family has shipped off to the Ise Peninsula for the weekend, and I have spent the days working and resting up. I have tomorrow (Sunday) off with them for their final Japanese day. Who knows what we'll end up doing, but I hope they enjoy it thoroughly!

Finally, I just finished our fourth show, and there was a special needs child in the front, challenged with Down's Syndrome, I believe. I couldn't believe how well-behaved he was, and how wonderful his mother was with him. It always makes me a little sad inside to see children like that, but it really got to me at the end of the show, and I walked offstage with tears in my eyes. But it wasn't a sad cry. When Mickey came over and waved at the kid, I've never seen so much joy in my life. And as Blair said, it just makes it worth it. All the 5 show days, all the scheduling BS, that dang lottery, all the B-shifts back to back (like today so the other boys could go to rehearsal), seeing that little boy in the front row makes it all disappear.

Simply for his smile. And my family singing karaoke.

I'm so blessed!

Visitors!

Well, the Olympics are almost over, I'm still obsessed, and I haven't had a chance to update my blog!

I've actually been THAT busy.

Because, well, in typical Topher-in-Japan fashion, I got sick right before my friends arrived, and had to go on drugs and vocal rest once again.

Then, Cathy and Meg arrived and we had a WHIRLWIND seven day tour of Japan. No, not just Tokyo. JAPAN.

Seriously, them girls are travelling crazy nuts, and their feet paid a heavy toll for their efforts.

The first two days they enjoyed Tokyo while I fought with management at work over sick tracking. Luckily, the girls were awesome enough to take my computer to the Apple Store on their second day so it could be repaired! YAYZA!

The night they arrived, we had a delicious noodle dinner at the station, and the oishii Japanese meals got better from there. The second night we ate at the amazing Yuuzan Yakiniku place across the street, replete with our own private room and delicious barbecuing fun! The third night we ate at the Tonkatsu place in the Atre I've always wanted to try and it was MECHA OISHII.

Monday morning we set off early (as we did most days) for Kyoto, and the girls were unfortunately at their most exhausted. We had a beautiful day for the Philosopher's Walk, though we didn't make it to Ginkaku-ji, the Silver Pavilion and final stop on the walk. Luckily, it's not the top sight to see in Kyoto and isn't actually covered in Silver like the Golden Pavilion (Kinkakuji) is covered in gold on the other side of town.

We visited the amazing Nanzen-ji, which was down the street from our hotel and got to see amazing zen gardens and a view of Kyoto from the upstairs of the main gate. We also stopped for a great bowl of noodles along the way, and visited the many Buddhist temples. I can only imagine how beautiful it is in sakura season.

But we had a fantastic stay at our ryokan, with a large, gorgeous room and very friendly English-speaking staff. Sadly, most of the guests were gai-jin, but our keiseki dinner was AMAZING. I only wish we would have had a traditional onsen with a beautiful nature view instead of an ofuro tub with no view.

After dinner, we left exhausted Meg to sleep, and I forced Cathy to take a walk with me through Gion. It was AMAZING, because we saw the old traditional street that seems like it is a glimpse back in time when geisha houses ruled Kyoto. And we walked down one of the famous streets on the canal, and I actually got to see two geisha with their patron and mama-san despite the fact that it was Monday night. Thank you, universe!

Day 2 we had the most delicious boiled tofu (a local delicacy) for breakfast and set off on our side trip to Nara. We had a great time hanging out with all the deer, seeing the amazing giant buddha (though I have to say I like the open air one in Kamakura better... something about the sunshine), and had an amazing mountaintop view from one of the temples. I had to wait 20 minutes in line behind an annoying school group to reach enlightenment, but I have to say it was worth it.

Even if old Japanese tourists are rude and cut in line.

Basically there's a skinny hole cut in one of the huge pillars holding up the largest wooden structure in the world (and it's 2/3 the size of the original one!) over the buddha and if you can squeeze through apparently you will reach enlightenment. So yeah.

I did that.

We also travelled outside of town to see one of the great temples there, but sadly the very old pagoda was covered up for construction. There were some really awesome artifacts there, but the 800 yen cover charge was a RIP OFF. Especially when your top sight was covered. Rude, Nara, rude.

The girls loved the Nara Deer Boy character we saw everywhere, but I just found him creepy.

That night we had shabu shabu at the ryokan, but I'll be honest, I liked the tofu better than the beef. Topher likes Tofu! HA!

Wednesday morning we had originally intended to hit more of Kyoto, but the girls were really interested in visiting Himeji castle, about an hour and a half side trip away. And I am SO GLAD WE DID.

It's one of the most historic and preserved castles in Japan, mostly because it never has been under attack. Most of it was built from 1601 to 1610, and it is an incredible maze of engineering and architecture. And sadly, they will cover it up in April for 5 years to do more preservation and restoration, so I'm thrilled I got to see it before it goes under.

Now, Nara should really learn a lesson, because we got in for 600 yen, and had a 2 1/2 hour FREE volunteer English guide take us through the ENTIRE complex. He gave us tons of history that we would never have otherwise learned, and pointed out some fascinating details in the complex. By the fourth gate, I realized I would never have been smart enough to successfully siege that castle. It was GENIUS in its construction.

After we left Ken, we had curry for lunch, and visited the gorgeously new garden built just West of the castle. And then it was time to head back to Kyoto, leave the girls for their last night at Yachiyo, and head back to Tokyo myself.

I had a couple hours to kill, and I thought about climbing the hill to Kiyomizudera, but I refrained, and took a trip to the top of Kyoto tower instead. It was lovely to see the city and see Kiyomizudera and some of the other sights through the free binoculars. And basically I realized Kyoto is HUGE and SPREAD out and very difficult to see in one trip. So I'm looking forward to heading back with momma in a few weeks to see more of the town.

After that I explored the amazing architecture of Kyoto station, walked through the skywalk at the top, grabbed some dinner, and jumped on my shinkansen back to Tokyo feeling like I needed a vacation from vacation!

Then back to work while the girls spent a day in Hiroshima. They came to the park on Friday and it was wonderful to have the great energy that comes when you know you have friends in the audience. For their final night we went to the onsen for an amazing Chinese food dinner, lots of wonderful soaking, doctor fish, and foot massages. Then home to pack, where the girls were AMAZING enough to each take home a suitcase of my winter clothes for me.

And now, I'm exhausted, recouping, planning my Taiwan and Thailand trips, and gearing up for 2 weeks of more wonderful guests in only 2 days! AHHHHH!

It's really happening. My guests are here, the new cast is here, and I'll be home in the states in 2 months. How wonderful!

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!