Easter Weekend

3.22.08

Today, I had several lessons and then headed into Tokyo to rendez-vous up with my friend Johanne. It has taken us several weeks of cancellations to finally agree that we needed to spend some time with each other this weekend. We met each other in Shinjuku and then took the train to Nishi-Ogikubo. At the show I went to last week, Leah's friend Yasuko invited me to her show that was being held in Nishi-Ogikubo. Johanne and I were both interested in seeing and hearing the bands but first we had to satisfy the hunger in our bellies.

We found the studio--Uen Studio--and then walked up and down the streets in search of a good place to eat. There was a distinct contrast between the warm and bright shops and the dark, night street. Luckily, for us the weather was on the warmer side. After getting our fill of delicious Indian food, we headed for the studio.

We had missed the first band but were able to hear the four remaining bands. Each had it's own unique sound and was able to inspire a different set of emotion (or thoughts) in the members of the audience--or at least, this was true for me. At the beginning of the last band's set, Johanne and I were actually pulled off of the ground by one of the other concert go-ers. We were only too happy to join the crowd as it danced along to the band's funk-ish tunes.

My dinner: Indian curry and a gigantic piece of garlic nan.

Johanne enjoying her curry and cheese nan. The cheese nan reminded us both of pizza. :)

Evidently, I am "Made in China".

Both Johanne and I enjoyed the show.

Yasuko of The Bad Spellers preparing for her set.

Please see and listen to the videos I have added to the bottom of this blog entry. I apologize before-hand for the video quality.

3.23.08

It was a beautiful day so Lauren and I took a trip to Omodesando. We went to an Easter service and then spent the rest of the day walking down the little allies and into the shops.

They have Easter lilies in Japan too!

Lauren, kissing a very chubby hedgehog at KDDI Land in Omodesando Hills.

The newest character as well as Lauren's newest obession: Kapibara-san. Kapibara-san is a capybara or large rodent found mainly in South America.

Lauren and I went to Fujimama's for lunch. Lauren decided to order some Pellegrino with her brunch special.

Would you like some "Wafflish Waffles"? This little shop in Omodesando Hills was full of cute, earthy clothes for people of all ages.

The Videos!

The second bad was called Mamimi Folksong.


Yasuko and her husband Tony star in the last band--The Bad Spellers. In this video they are playing an original called "Diggity Densha Blues"; train is "densha" in Japanese.

Random Side Note: All of the bands I talked about in today's blog can be found on Myspace.com. If you're interested in learning more about them please let me know.

Random Shout Outs: I would like to thank Mrs. Marge for her comment/recommendation. I spent a few minutes watching the Vegetable Orchestra videos on YouTube.com and I was very impressed. Both Lauren and I were especially surprised by the sound of the carrot flute. We couldn't believe a carrot could be played with so much likeness to a real flute.