Bento Boxes, Monkeys and Karaoke

So much to talk about, so little time....

Bento boxes are the most beautifully arranged take-out food I've ever seen. Think of a tray with a whole bunch of compartments, each with some mysterious, almost-too-pretty-to-eat food morsel. We often get bento boxes before concerts, but I've also bought several to eat for lunch. The first thing that happens when people start examining their boxes is that a chorus of "what's this?" starts rumbling through the room. Animal? Vegetable? Chicken? Fish? Pork? Pickled what? Just about all of the unidentifiable meatish looking things are some sort of fish; probably some fish parts that we don't ordinarily eat in the US. However, much of the fish is obviously salmon, or mackerel and it's really good. The vegetables are really hard to identify because they are inevitably cut into strange shapes and pickled to some strange color. There are usually some sweet beans (like, say, soybeans). Often there's some deep fried meats and veggies, and there's always rice. I really like bento boxes.They're like treasure chests of Japanese food. Not all Sonosians feel this way. Ruben pretty much looks at the box and says, "I'm done; where's the McDonald's?" Jim loves it all. Others work on trading things they don't like for things they do. Many of the strangest items go uneaten. One of my favorite bento boxes was one I got on the train. It was five beautifully wrapped pieces of salmon nigiri, each about 2 x 2 x 1 inches. I ate a few for lunch then ate another after our concert and shared the others with Sunghee and Taiko (those ladies know good food when they see it).

Missy mentioned the monkeys; I will elaborate. We were riding the train from Osaka to Fukui and I was gazing out the window at the houses and rice paddies and other things, when I saw about a dozen animals roaming in a field. I looked closer and figured out that they were some kind of monkey. Needless to say I was surprised so I turned to Missy and said, "there are monkeys out there." She looked and saw them. I immediately said, "I'm sure glad you saw them because nobody would believe me." Well, nobody believes me (except Missy). So, I've done a little research. Here's a link to a website about Japanese macaques.

There are a lot of macaques in Japan. They travel in troops of 20-30, or even 100, and they are considered crop pests. Now, you can all (except Missy) apologize for abusing me over this and feel sad that you didn't see the monkeys.

Moving on to karaoke... Michele, Ben (birthday dude), Lexie, Ruben and I went to a karaoke box. That was a lot of fun. We were all crammed into a little room with a couple of microphones, a karaoke machine and a big book of songs to choose from. You pay for the box by the hour and during the hour you get as much "beer" as you want (it was the color of a lager and was carbonated, but it seemed to be mostly water). Anyway, we were quite a sight drinking beer and singing Blessed Assurance in harmony. We also sang songs by Aerosmith, Queen, Anne Murray, The Beatles, and, of course, The Monkees. Two hours of that was all the fun we could manage. Ben got it all on tape.

I can't leave without another toilet report. We've heard a lot about the really fancy toilets, but not as much about the more traditional Japanese toilets. This one requires that you squat, like when you're out camping. I'll let you imagine how that could be really unpleasant at times (concert clothes were an interesting challenge). I have no idea how older or disabled women use these things. Most places we've been to have some of these and some western style toilets, but the Yoshiro Omi Learning Center only had these.

I'll sign off with a few thoughts about what we really came here for, which is to share our music with some of the people of Japan. Wow! just about sums it up. We've played to full houses (as many as 2000 people) in some incredible concert halls. Harmony Hall at Fukui had a letter posted from Mstislav Rostropovich (cello wizard) in which he said that it was one of the finest halls he'd ever played in. The organ was incredible; we were fortunate to have an outstanding Japanese organist join us on two pieces. Hyogo Hall in Nishinomiya was spectacular. The backstage area was vast; Aida could have been staged with real elephants. During our fourth encore, Hana, many in the audience started humming along to this Japanese favorite. It was an emotional moment for me; I was inspired to make that piece as beautiful as possible lest the mood be broken. After each concert we invite the audience to come up and try out the bells and chimes and to take pictures. Interacting with the people is the most fun. The looks on the faces of the children as they successfully ring bells is priceless. The men and women are no less excited; their faces light up at the sight of the largest bass bells and chimes; they are surprised at the weight and the deep tones and they react just as the children do when they hear the sound they've made. And then many want pictures, so we pose, and pose, and pose. This all delays our post-concert polishing, packing, eating and resting, but it's worth every minute.

Now, for some sleep....

Patti