Roaming Sans Ringing

As a Sonos groupie, my duties are limited to being on time when the group travels, moving a share of baggage, and hopefully being a positive influence. When Sonos approaches the stage, I step back, and sometimes step away with freedom to explore.

For example, during our visit to Kurashiki I was able to visit the the old town Bikan area adjoining the concert hall. It contains many 17th century wooden buildings and was a beautiful find.  Here are some views...

A tree-lined, koi-filled canal and shops in the evening.

A shop dedicated to decorator masking tape. Otaku indeed. 

An army of Nippers listen to their Master's Voice. 

Quiet shopping street.

A view of modern Kirashiki. Sonos is plying their trade in the concert hall in the distance. 

Map of our route in Japan

I just realized today that we haven't posted a map of our route here in Japan, so I thought I'd rectify that situation.

Here's the map (click to embiggen):

Modes of travel:

• Airplane, Boeing 787 Dreamliner, Los Angeles (LAX) to Tokyo (NRT)
• Private bus, airport to hotel in Minato (Tokyo Prefecture)
• Private bus, hotel to venue in Yokohama (Kanagawa Prefecture), and back
• Private bus, Minato to Karuizawa (Nagano Prefecture)
• Private bus, Karuizawa to Minato
• Bullet train (Shinkansen), Shinagawa station to Nagoya (Aichi Prefecture)
• Bullet train, Nagoya station to Okayama (Okayama Prefecture)
• Bullet train, Okayama station to Osaka (Osaka Prefecture)
• Bullet train, Shin-Osaka station to Okayama station, then regular train to Kochi (Kochi Prefecture)
• Train, Kochi station to Okayama station, then Shinkansen to Hamamatsu (Shizuoka Prefecture)
• Private bus to Minato
• Airplane, NRT-LAX

Fan mail from Nagoya!

Our agency here in Japan received some fan mail on our behalf and Tamamura-san shared it with us at yesterday's concert in Osaka. The mail came from a young woman, Yuri Kato, who attends junior high in Nagoya.

She writes:

Hello, I am Yuri Kato who attends Kinjo Gakuin Junior High School.
I and my mother went to see your concert in Nagoya. I would like to send pictures of your concert and brief comments. 

I am a member of the Kinjo Gakuin junior high school handbell choir club. We have club activities three times a week. We play songs of Disney. There are twenty five members in our club. Last summer we practiced under Toshikazu Yoshida. I got to know this club four years ago, and I entered this club. I like the sound of handbell. The sound calmed me down and moved me a lot. I love handbell choir. <3  

So I was very looking forward to go to your concert. It was great. I was very moved and that was the best concert I have ever seen. I want to keep practicing it and someday I want to see your concert again. I couldn't talk to you personally in English but I hope you can understand my feeling. 

I wanted to take pictures with you all. I hope you will have great play the rest of your concerts. I will never forget your wonderful concert. Thank you very much!

She included four pictures with her letter:

Yuri & Derek

Yuri & me

Yuri & Gretchen

Yuri & Lois

Thanks for writing to us, Yuri! We hope to see you again. Keep ringing! <3

Dave's pics from the Aquarium trip

Here are some pics Dave took from the Aquarium outing.

Group shot before we went in.

All lit up after dark!

The Kaiyukan complex features a giant Ferris wheel, too!

Catching up with random photos and vids

I thought I'd share some random photos and vids I've taken in the past few days.

Japan has a special edition Coke bottle:

Our hotel in Nagoya was interesting:

Now some pics:

One of the breakfast options. No, I didn't drink any; I'm allergic to vegetable peppers.

Engrish. It was BAGUETTE slices.

You'd BETTER use this sponge for body shampoo, OR ELSE!

There's this creepy Santa in the hotel lobby. It is motion-activated and sings and dances. CREEPY!

Half-way through the tour and nowhere to be until 4pm? LAUNDRY TIME!

Osaka Kaiyukan Aquarium

Yesterday (Fri Dec 16) was a travel day with no concert, so since we were free in Osaka after 2pm, we all headed out for the world-class Osaka Kaiyukan Aquarium.

Aquariums are one of the things I like to visit whenever I have free time in a city - I've been to the National Aquarium in Baltimore twice, Shedd in Chicago, Newport (KY), Monterey Bay several times, Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, Vancouver (Canada), and probably a few others I'm forgetting right now. This was my third visit to the Osaka Aquarium, and it's one of my favorites!

Osaka was the first aquarium to feature whale sharks in captivity (beginning in 2005). Since then, other aquariums have added this magnificent creature to their exhibits, but I think Osaka has done a fabulous job with them. The sharks (and other big fish such as rays, tuna, groupers, and a large school of sardines) are housed in the "Pacific Ocean" tank, which is 9 metres (30 ft) deep and holds 5,400 cubic metres (190,699 cu ft) of water. The tank is viewable from a descending walkway that spirals around the tank beginning on the 8th floor and the other exhibits are arranged around the outside of the walkway.  The whale sharks are so majestic as they swim around the tank!

Of course, they're not the only thing I like there; I also love the Japanese spider crabs and the jellyfish! I took videos of several exhibits and have combined them all into one single vid for your viewing pleasure:

I took lots of pics, too!

The stairs were decorated for Xmas. 

Giant salamander

River otters! SO CUTE!

California sea lions, a bit far from home.

Capybara, a Rodent Of Unusual Size

"ROUS? I don't think they exist."

Japanese spider crabs - MY FAVORITE!!

It's bigger than my head, but still a juvenile. They can grow to 18 feet across their legs at full size!

jellies!

I love jellyfish!

I think this one looks like a swimming maiden.

These always seem to have tangled tentacles.

After the Aquarium, udon for dinner with Patti & Warren TenBrook and David & Lois Kail.

David's petting zoo pics from Kurashiki

Our tour manager David Kail loves the petting zoo!  Here are some of his pics from Thursday night's concert in Kurashiki.

People really love the bass bells!

Cool kids with chimes.

People were really interested in learning 4iH!

The gong is always a big "hit" in the petting zoo! (see what I did there?)

Pics from Nagoya concert at Denki Bunka Kaikan

We had another special visitor at the Nagoya concert: Maestro Toshikazu Yoshida of Kinjo Gakuen! Several of us met him when he was the conductor for the 2016 Distinctly Bronze West in Portland, Oregon. He and his wife came to the hotel for post-concert drinks and dinner, too!

Jim & Marquise with Yoshida-sensei and his wife!

Derek & Marquise with Yoshida-sensei & his wife!

Michèle & Marquise with Yoshida-sensei & his wife!