We'll always have Paris! (...***with update)

So... I'm very excited!!!

Not only I'm going to Paris - that in itself is always something worth looking forward to - but I got confirmation that two of my favorite bloggers will come and see me there and we'd spend a weekend together!

Whoa! I'm excited!!!

Now, Montchan and c-Gen, I'll do my best to arrive the Friday so we can have full Saturday and Sunday together. And Sister Mary Lisa... oh please please please, PLEASE, be there. That way we can plot our retirement hacienda plan.

See you soon!

Update... update...***
AND LISA MAKES FOUR!!!

From Kiruna

On a much happier note, I got home today and saw in the post a very nice postcard from Montchan and c-Gen!

Thank you!!!

The Ultimate Depression

I am so depressed right now. So very depressed, it is beyond believe and recognition. And I take this as a very bitter lesson for putting some things to the very last minute. Yeah, I can be that stupid sometime.

I am talking about the upcoming Earth Celebration. Still 3 weeks away, I suddenly remembered that I haven't booked the three-day-pass for their Shiroyama concerts. I quickly called the ticketing office, and they gave me the unexpected news: The 3-day-passes are all sold out. Gone.

Unwilling to believe them, I called my teacher to see how his luck had been with the tickets. He explained to me that the reason why the tickets are all sold out was because they are selling the first 1,300 seats for the potential indoors concert. As we all know since the venue is outdoors, there is always a potential that it might rain, thus the 1,300 people ceiling for an indoors venue. DAMN! DAMN DAMN DAMN DAMN DAMN!
Still reluctant to believe the horror of it all, I went online and tried to buy the ticket from the website. Not getting any response from them within 15 minutes, I called another phone number for the ticketing service and spoke to a very pleasant woman who kindly explained to me what Sensei told me merely 15 minutes prior. I finally am able to accept the truth. She then fixed me for the first two-days concert and said that if the day is fine on August 19, she is quite certain that I will be able to get a ticket for that day, considering that will mean an additional 1,700 tickets. Yeah, OK, I agree that there is light at the end of the tunnel. But I am still furious at myself.

On the brighter side: I got accepted to join Miyake Taiko workshop on Sunday at 10 am. The Kodo service has organized a special arrangement so I will be able to make it in time for my taiko troupe's performance at 1:15 pm on Sunday.

But why am I still feeling so sad...

It's HERE!!!

I am - at this very second - holding in my hand: "HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS"!!!!!



I was so annoyed because I have to work today and therefore the Amazon people wouldn't be able to deliver this to my house, but.... I changed the delivery address to my office.
A bit iffy with this decision since usually Amazon doesn't deliver to offices on weekends or holidays, but I was holding my breath to good faith. Equipped with my staff's note to bring the package into the research facility (so I will not be getting any delay whatsoever), the very cool delivery person (he was wearing sunnies like Bono) came and said to me, "It's Harry Potter, isn't it?" Hahaha!!! Yes, sir!

Yeah, I am a freak.

I'm a bit mad right now

How could he do that to my dear Antonio Sanchez?

Oh, yeah, I am talking about my guitar teacher.

So, today I hailed to my 3rd guitar class. Teacher O said that my progress is impressive that I have sailed through some months worth of training in just a few classes. If only anyone would pay attention to the fact that I am not a beginner and gave me a placement test at the beginning, maybe we could save some precious time (and my money!).
This comment came with a price, though. Teacher O simply said that my guitar cannot keep up with me. That my Antonio Sanchez could not produce the sound that is meant to be produced.
In proving his point, he handed me his guitar and asked me to play a few songs with it. And... I am officially damned, because I get what he's saying.

But Antonio Sanchez is still a beautiful guitar. And the sound that it produces is also beautiful. Yes, maybe not as beautiful as Teacher O's guitar, but still beautiful.
If Teacher O is thinking that I'd ditch my beautiful guitar just because he said I should, then he must be living in some weird guitar planet and simply is out of his mind.

I'm sticking to Antonio Sanchez. If in 6 months time I feel pulled back by it, only then, we can reopen this guitar changing topic.

Hmmph! I'm a bit mad right now.

Typhoon, earthquake and survival

What a weekend!

Obviously there is no logical explanation on why on 3 day-weekend alone one country could be attacked with so many natural disasters.

I and my drumming friend O.Div went up North to visit my Japanese family in Niigata on Friday evening. We were welcomed with a cold evening and was awaken by the rattling sound of rain on the sun-roof the following morning. The big typhoon was broadcasted to have hit Okinawa and was moving up towards Kyoto and Tokyo and eventually to the northern coast. The typhoon did not create many problems for Niigata area, except for the ongoing 24 hours of rain and wind.

Sunday was only mildly raining, and around 4 pm the coast was declared clear, so we ventured the Niigata Jazz Street festival. Some old friend's jazz band was performing at one of the hot spot at the festival, so we had to go and check it out.
We went up to one of Niigata skyscraper "Next 21" building to get a bird's eye view. We made it in time during the sunset and caught a very interesting mother nature phenomenon. the coast line was clear and blue but the black cloud was looming above the coast, with snippets of red from the sun there. The rest of the evening was pretty much uneventful. We sent away O.Div with the last shinkansen back to Tokyo and I was just hanging out with the family and chatted the evening away for the rest of the evening.

Monday came with me staring at the blue sky under the sun-roof. Yes! Finally a beautiful day!
I buzzed around getting ready and packed things and was about to undress and jump into the shower when I heard a loud noise. BANG!
Seconds later I heard my 10 yo little sister screamed from the attic. I opened the bathroom door to see what's going on and she pelted into the bathroom and clung to me, shaking. Or at least I thought that she was shaking. Moments later I realized that it wasn't her. The ground was shaking and the entire house was rocking along with it! Okasan* screamed for my little sister's name and ordered us to go the 1st floor. There we all opened all windows and ran quickly outside, together with the dog. The earth was still moving for about 10 minutes or so, and all our neighbors were out on the street - making sure that we're a significant distant away from walls and buildings.

After that, all was quiet.

Our house is located quite close to the coast of Niigata sea and we were wondering if we're going to be tsunami prone. Thankfully, our area was OK. We heard sirens coming from the coastline and some helicopters approaching as well. Otosan** turned on the TV and immediately we saw that the epicenter was indeed in Niigata prefecture, off the Chuetsu coast. The city that suffered the most is Kashiwazaki. It was 6.8 RM (Richter scale) in Kashiwazaki and was 5 RM in Niigata city. No wonder the shake was quite large and lasted a while.
The rest of the day we were still getting some after shake.
We spent a few minutes getting some emergency bags ready, as well as sleeping bags, and have all our shoes in order, just in case we need to bolt to the door in moments notice.

As of 10:30 am, all transportation systems leaving Niigata was suspended indefinitely.



For my part, I was stranded the entire day in Niigata. This is such a bad news since I had to attend 3 meetings the following day in Tokyo. Having all my my stuff packed, my eyes and ears were glued to the TV broadcast. The aim was clear: once we get news that the shinkansen service resumed its operation, Otosan would start the car and we'd be at the train station within 15 minutes.
Which was what happened at 6:15 pm. We rushed to the station, I made my way to the ticket gate and there was an announcement that the service had been re-suspended because one of the tunnels collapsed. No one could guarantee when the train will resume its service.
Fortunately the bus services had re-opened, the land authority had redirected the bus to avoid the damaged area. So, I thought, well... I guess I better line up for the 5 hours bus ride to Tokyo. Right, I wasn't the only one who needed to be back in Tokyo. All buses were fully booked, I couldn't even get a seat to go to the neighboring prefecture.
Otosan then rushed me to Niigata airport to catch the last plane out at 8:30 pm. Another failure -the plane was full.
Then we rushed back again to Niigata bus center and got me a ticket for the first bus out towards Kanto region. I was enlisted for 7:50 am bus towards Takasaki (Gunma prefecture), where I can get a train connection to Tokyo.

After one day of exhausting drama I decided to go to bed early, with my clothes on and bag on the ready - just in case there is another quake. At 5 am Okasan woke me up to say that the news has broadcasted that the shinkansen service has returned to service. And at 6:03 am I was well on my way back to Tokyo.

There are many things that I am grateful for Japan. Their swiftness in dealing with natural disaster is one of them.

p.s.
Thanks so much for the phone calls and messages. I am well and safe back in Tokyo. My loved ones in Niigata are all safe, too.


*Okasan = Mother
**Otosan = Father

Kitchen-ly dilemma

Twice a year I have my big grocery 'shopping' at my best friend's apartment. The Swedish trio always have their big fridge clean-up in mid July and mid December, right before they go back for their month long (sometimes 6 weeks) summer/Christmas vacations. The chosen person to be getting the load is unmistakably yours truly.

The problem is, I am actually going to go to spend the long weekend in Niigata. This means the rather big basket of produce containing several types of mushroom, potatoes et al is facing the harm of going bad. As well as a few containers of fresh cream, sour cream, frozen peas and a few other frozen vegetable. OK, the frozen fruits problem that I'm having is due to the very small capacity in the freezer - considering that I have just done my own fish and poultry shopping a few days prior.

At 10 pm last night, I was facing a dilemma as to what to do with them. Seriously, I have no intention of lugging them all to Niigata tonight; but I cannot possibly eat them at one sitting, I am just one small person.

So, I decided to cook them all. haha. Once cooked and kept in the fridge, the food should keep for another week. Which is kind of cool, too, this means that I don't need to fuss about cooking lunch at all for a week! How's that for a back-up plan?


In my fridge right now:

Potato and mushroom bake (completed with all frozen veggies and half of a zucchini)

Tiramisu

Blueberry and raspberry pudding

Mmmmmm.

I'm hungry again now.

*Image is of my potato and mushroom bake. yummmmm!

Earth Celebration 2007, Waraku Daiko and summer stuff of sorts!

Today is another monsoon day. The day is raining and spirits are destroyed. And my sad laundry will need to be hauled to the laundromat for a proper drying.

All had been blue until a cheerful phone call from O.Div arrived. Waraku Daiko's performance time had been confirmed for the much anticipated Earth Celebration 2007!

Excerpting from my post last year:
For those who don't know, Earth Celebration is an art/music festival hosted by world's best (my own opinion) taiko drumming group Kodo at their home island, Sado.
Every summer, musicians from all over Japan and the world gather for the three days of musical fun. Please visit the link above for more details. There are way too much fun things in the list. It is simply impossible to sum it up in a short blog entry.

That being said, per usual, my taiko group Waraku Daiko will perform at the fringe show on August 19, 2007 (Sunday). The venue is at Kisaki-shrine. It is by the Ogi port, a very short walk from the information center.
We will be on stage at 1:15 PM.



This year's Eearth Celebration is observing the 20th anniversary of Earth Celebration. Along side Kodo, there will be world-known tabla player Zakir Hussain from India, Puerto Rican percussionist Giovanni Hidalgo, French Guinean tap dancer Tamango (he was also guest performer for EC 2007), and a few more celebrated Japanese musicians.

Well, there's nothing much else to say, except for... SEE YOU THERE!!! (especially on Sunday August 19 at 1:15 pm KISAKI SHRINE).

Taiko-ly yours,
Taiko Tari -071207

11 days to go

Today is July 10, 2007. It means we are 11 days away to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows. I am counting the days. I am also forever grateful for Amazon JP.
Had it not been there, I would have had to go to Kinokuniya and line up like I have nothing better to do. Or if I'm desperate I can also camp in front of the store on Friday July 20 to get the first copy. You know, like those people lining up for at least 3 hours to buy Krispy Kreme doughnuts in Shinjuku.
Or like those people buying fresh melon bread near Mitsukoshi department store, also in Shinjuku (1 hour queue). Or Winnie the Pooh ride at Disneyland (2.5 hours queue).

I just think there is more to life than just stand around lining up for something. Well, I could bring my Harry Potter book and read it while waiting in line, that would be the most bearable scenario. That is if I ever want to waste my time and line up for anything at all that takes longer than 20 minutes max (unless it's absolutely necessary, such as boarding into a plane, or barging into a dentist office for a severe cavity case).

Speaking of Mr. Potter, I just finished re-reading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix around lunch time today. It was a triumphant 6 days process! Yeah!!!
(By the way, did you know that he was born at the end of July? That means he's got the same birthday with me. Ha! That answers why he's so cool. When he's not busy being angry, of course)

Today I'm going to start re-reading Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince. This is a part of my project to re familiarize myself with the small details upon the arrival of the Deathly Hollows.

Yupe, OK, I must get onto reading the paper outline for the Paris conference, the last 20. Can't help to think that had they been even remotely as interesting as Ms. Rowling's creation, this would have made the process a lot quicker.

C'est la vie...

On chicken pox

My little buddy is sick.

OK, let's back track a little: I have been having visitors from Indonesia (it's this couple I know from uni and their two children - 5 yo and 10 mo) these past 2 weeks.

Late two nights ago, I phoned my friends at their hotel to check in on them and see what fun activities we shall tackle on Thursday and Friday when Auntie Taiko Tari was taking her day off.
Everything seems to be fine except that the 5 yo boy was having a fever and was already sleeping. We agreed to wait one night and see if he needs to visit a doctor.

The following morning I received a call in the morning to notify that the boy's fever had gone down, but he seemed to have developed a few reddish spots all over his body.
The problem was, they're supposed to be jumping on a plane to go back to Jakarta on Saturday - none of us were entirely sure if he'd be allowed in the plane.
For once and for all, we went to the hospital to see what the final verdict would be.

At the hospital we were met by the doctor. He asked all health questions related to the boy:

"Any fever this morning?"

"Any diarrhea?"

"Any vomit?"

"Any other symptoms?"

"OK, let me have a look into his mouth."

When he pulled out his flashlights and scalpel-looking tool, the boy went ballistic. "I DON'T WANT ANESTHESIA!!!"
Nothing we could say could calm him down. I really don't blame him, getting sick in a completely foreign country while on vacation is one thing, but getting examined by a doctor with strange tools and spoke a completely different language is a completely different matter.

After struggling for a few minutes, the doctor gave up and proclaimed, "Yep, it's chicken pox."

So, the boy is now forbidden to fly home tomorrow. The poor lad and his family need to extend their stay another week. We are now searching for ways to camouflage his pox and smuggle him into the airplane, but maybe it's safer just to stay a few more days for everyone at stake.

Get well soon, Little One!

On Mr. Harry Potter...

Monday this week was a little bit somber. For several womanly reason (and by the way I am legally supported by the Japanese legal system to take my womanly day once a month) I decided to work from home. Heck, I had my PowerBook on me anyway and it had been declared 'personal information' free by the administrator, so off I went - working in my PJ with music blazing loud in the background.

After a wee bit, I decided to change the background scene. I put "Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire" on the DVD and started watching it (while working a little bit). Man, that's a good movie. Next thing I know, I re-watched all four Harry Potter DVDs in reverse order and kept on feeling petrified. Yeah, I'm a sucker for fantasy stories, and the Harry Potter series especially . Read the books a million times, and watched the movie also nearly as many times as I read the books.

Of all the characters, I adore Hermione Granger the most. She's mental, yeah, sure. She always behaves as if she knows-it-all, but the thing is, SHE DOES! And she always means well. And how cool is that to be going to school where the library has all the answer that you're looking for in the most complete book collection.

And... the Weasleys. Oh, they're fun and fab!!! Except Percy, of course, he's just plain weird and desperately pathetic. And look at Ginny!! She has grown to look prettier and prettier over the years. And Ron finally developed a strong character of his own.

And of course Albus Dumbledore just rocks. He's just awesome. The things he know! The things he can do!! I wonder why he's not married. To be very frank, I'm actually confused why all of the teachers at Hogwarts are unmarried. Surely it's not the requirement to become a teacher, right?

Of course I like Harry, but I just don't get it why he's always so mad. That kid is just darned bitter, I'm telling you. He was much more affectionate when he was only in his first year at Hogwarts.

And Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows will come out on July 21. I need to read that book and find some answers. Damn you, Snape! You traitor, traitor, traitor!!! But if Gandalf can come back and help Frodo destroy the ring, then I can't see why Dumbledore can't. After all, he is supposed to be the greatest wizard of all time.

I am waiting in anticipation for the new movie to come out on July 20. I am taking Divydoo to see that. Can't think of any better movie to take her to, since she's a fellow Harry Potter freak herself.

Yes, Harry Potter rocks.