The fun never ends. Right when I got back on 3/21, I went straight to rehearsing for a concert with On Ensemble and Kenny Endo which ended up being really, really fun. The taiko world owes a lot to Kenny Endo. Shoji and I both studied with him and learned a lot, so it makes me happy to have shared the stage with him again.
Jen, Yuri, Courtney, Jason and I leave tomorrow (already!) for Lone Pine and Bishop, CA. We have some school shows and performances up there through the Inyo Council for the Arts. We'll be updating from the road, so check back!
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Friday, March 27, 2009
The Way Back Home
After the Memphis show, we spent a couple days in Texas doing a workshop in Austin. Austin seemed much more familiar to us, especially after visiting cities like Bowling Green, Kentucky and Memphis, Tennessee. Jen said it reminded her of Palm Springs. Maybe it was the desert climate? The people? (Courtney's friend mentioned that the demographics of Austin are similar to California) Definitely not the food. The saying "Everything is bigger in Texas" seemed to apply a lot during our stay. We had these super beefy bbq ribs at the Green Mesquite and a Tex Mex burrito that seemed more like a huge, sloppy piece of lasagna.
The workshops went well, and the turnout was great. For the beginner's workshop we had 30 people show up. One guy, when we told him to try kiaing, he instead went "YEEEEE HAAAAAAA" haha. I got to see Megan who used to play with Stanford Taiko. I remember watching her perform her song, "Come About" at my first Intercollegiate Invitationals, almost 5 years ago. To this day, it remains one of my favorite taiko songs.
After Austin, we headed to Santa Fe, New Mexico. The 14 hour trip wasn't all that bad. Maybe we've been on the road for too long. How do we fill up the idle hours you ask? I'm not too sure. Most of the time, we end up either sleeping in the back, making fun of each other, or singing along to the Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, or Disney songs (okay maybe that's just me and Courtney). We met up with Bryan and helped teach an Omiyage workshop for Smokin' Bachi Taiko. In order to join Smokin' Bachi Taiko you must help make your own, personalized drum. Some are stained blue, red, and orange and others have unique kan. The taiko range in size and shape as well. I thought it was a really cool idea.
The next day we had some problems backing out of Fox's driveway (our homestay) and we totally broke the front wheel of the trailer! It got stuck in the dirt and was crushed under the weight of the equipment. So, in order to get it out we had to Mac-gyver out of the driveway using a skate (that we use for our chu-daiko) and some cardboard to reduce the friction. It seemed to be working and we were all super excited until one of the wheels totally went over my foot. For some reason, however, my foot was fine! I think b/c we were in the dirt and not on pavement or a hard surface it totally absorbed most of the weight?
Unfortunately the trailer incident made us late for our last workshop in Phoenix, Arizona for Kyo Rei Taiko Kai, a youth group. That night we stayed at the Tangs, who housed and fed us. The Tangs were one of our first supporters, and let Taikoproject people stay at their house during their first performance ever in Arizona. It continues to amaze me how taiko can thrive in places seemingly cut off from resources that we take for granted in Los Angeles. I think what it takes are a few dedicated, awesome people that are willing to sacrifice their time and energy in large amounts and, in time, more and more people follow. We had the opportunity to stay with many of these types of people and it was inspiring to hear their stories.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Walking Around NY #2
Ok, so this is TOTALLY out of order...
but this is what happened on 3/4/09.
I said I'd write an entry called "Walking Around NY #2"... so here it is!
_________________________________
During our stay in Philadelphia, we had a free day where we drove back to NYC to hang out.
It was 3/4/2009.
The 7 of us drove to NYC from Philadelphia and the first place we went to was a restaurant called Ippudo Ramen. Jason REALLY wanted to go and we were all down to eat some ramen!
When they opened up their first restaurant in the US, all these other ramen places in Japan donated their ramen bowls to congratulate them!
We had to wait a little bit... but we finally sat down and ordered some delicious ramen... I must say, I'm not used to such an upscale looking ramen place...
I got mine as a set and ate this tororoimo gohan, too~ YUM!!!!
and here's our ramen!!!
After stuffing ourselves with ramen, we took the subway to visit Ground Zero.
... but it was under construction so we couldn't get close at all. There were cranes and people working all over inside the fenced off area.
We walked to go see the Statue of Liberty... but again, we couldn't get too close since we decided not to get on the ferry.
This is as close as my little p&s camera would zoom.
Jason, pondering something?
Then, we walked through Central Park.
We were so tired and exhausted after we walked ... and walked... and walked... (it felt like hours). So, we rested at Grand Central Station...
That night, we went to see Bryan's brother, Wynn Yamami, perform with his group, Happy Fun Smile.
They were SO much fun! They really made the place lively and we had a really good time.
Happy Fun Smile
Wynn
Bryan and Wynn
brothers....
After the show, we headed back to Philly.
What a fun day it was!!!!
:)
Thanks for reading!
but this is what happened on 3/4/09.
I said I'd write an entry called "Walking Around NY #2"... so here it is!
_________________________________
During our stay in Philadelphia, we had a free day where we drove back to NYC to hang out.
It was 3/4/2009.
The 7 of us drove to NYC from Philadelphia and the first place we went to was a restaurant called Ippudo Ramen. Jason REALLY wanted to go and we were all down to eat some ramen!
When they opened up their first restaurant in the US, all these other ramen places in Japan donated their ramen bowls to congratulate them!
We had to wait a little bit... but we finally sat down and ordered some delicious ramen... I must say, I'm not used to such an upscale looking ramen place...
I got mine as a set and ate this tororoimo gohan, too~ YUM!!!!
and here's our ramen!!!
After stuffing ourselves with ramen, we took the subway to visit Ground Zero.
... but it was under construction so we couldn't get close at all. There were cranes and people working all over inside the fenced off area.
We walked to go see the Statue of Liberty... but again, we couldn't get too close since we decided not to get on the ferry.
This is as close as my little p&s camera would zoom.
Jason, pondering something?
Then, we walked through Central Park.
We were so tired and exhausted after we walked ... and walked... and walked... (it felt like hours). So, we rested at Grand Central Station...
That night, we went to see Bryan's brother, Wynn Yamami, perform with his group, Happy Fun Smile.
They were SO much fun! They really made the place lively and we had a really good time.
Happy Fun Smile
Wynn
Bryan and Wynn
brothers....
After the show, we headed back to Philly.
What a fun day it was!!!!
:)
Thanks for reading!
Friday, March 20, 2009
Last Show! Last Show!
Tonight is our last show before we begin our trek back to good ol' LA. In two days it will have been exactly a month since we started our journey. And what a journey it has been....
And then there were 7....
again.
and since the super seven have their last show in Memphis, Tennessee, where else would we spend our free time other than....
GRACELAND HOOO!!!! that's right... after our last master class workshop on 3/19 we head to the home of the King where we received a tour of his mansion. It was nothing that I expected, but then again, I had no idea what to expect.
The front of Graceland
This is a whole room dedicated to all the songs that reached one million in sales.
The memorial garden of Elvis and his family. There was a sign that said that flowers come in almost DAILY. amazing....
After our lil downtime, we head back to load-in to the theat
er, eat and sleep... which takes us to the present (3/20). Our last show together in Memphis Tennessee.
stay tuned...
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Hello from Memphis!!
We just wanted to say "Hello!" from our hotel room in Memphis, TN!!
We just finished a school show at St. Mary's School and will be heading out for a Master Class with percussion students.
Tomorrow is our show here in Memphis!
:)
-Tomomi and Yuri
Monday, March 16, 2009
TP in Kentucky
Hi all!
The full TAIKOPROJECT cast has finally reached Bowling Green, Kentucky. Yesterday Bryan, Jason and I went to St.Louis to do a workshop with St. Louis Osuwa taiko.
Before we actually started our workshop, we made a quick food-stop at White Castle. Yes, we had the infamous white castle burgers. For some reason we got four extra burgers but I guess free food is always good. =] After we ate, we met up with Osuwa Taiko and began our workshop. It was a small workshop but it felt like we got a lot done within two hours. The best part was when some of the members said to Bryan, "Thanks, Daddies!"
After that, we headed towards Bowling Green, Kentucky to meet up with the rest of the cast. The drive wasn't too bad. We stopped at a Denny's to grab a quick bite to eat and headed off to Kentucky again. Thank you Daddies for driving us and bringing us down to Bowling Green safely!
Today Maz, Courtney, Yuri, Byron and Darren led a workshop in the morning, along with John and Scott. After the workshop, the cast met up at the Capitol theater where we are going to perform tomorrow night. We grabbed some food at Micki's on Main. The service was wonderful and we hope to eat there again some time soon!
Big show tomorrow! It will be our last [re]generation show, and then we have one more seven-man show. Hope everyone is well!
Thanks for reading!
The full TAIKOPROJECT cast has finally reached Bowling Green, Kentucky. Yesterday Bryan, Jason and I went to St.Louis to do a workshop with St. Louis Osuwa taiko.
Before we actually started our workshop, we made a quick food-stop at White Castle. Yes, we had the infamous white castle burgers. For some reason we got four extra burgers but I guess free food is always good. =] After we ate, we met up with Osuwa Taiko and began our workshop. It was a small workshop but it felt like we got a lot done within two hours. The best part was when some of the members said to Bryan, "Thanks, Daddies!"
After that, we headed towards Bowling Green, Kentucky to meet up with the rest of the cast. The drive wasn't too bad. We stopped at a Denny's to grab a quick bite to eat and headed off to Kentucky again. Thank you Daddies for driving us and bringing us down to Bowling Green safely!
Today Maz, Courtney, Yuri, Byron and Darren led a workshop in the morning, along with John and Scott. After the workshop, the cast met up at the Capitol theater where we are going to perform tomorrow night. We grabbed some food at Micki's on Main. The service was wonderful and we hope to eat there again some time soon!
Big show tomorrow! It will be our last [re]generation show, and then we have one more seven-man show. Hope everyone is well!
Thanks for reading!
Sunday, March 15, 2009
TP in Philadelphia~!
Ok, moving on with our tour.
MARCH 1, 2009
In the morning, we went back to the Wang Center, where we had our show, to load out our equipment. Bryan, Jen, Tomomi, and I drove from Stony Brook, NY to Philadelphia, PA. Maz, Jason, and Courtney stayed one extra day in Stony Brook to give a workshop.
When we got to Philadelphia, we met Gayle, the Executive Director of the Asian Arts Initiative. She is also Bryan's long time friend. :) Gayle is an awesome woman, for not only doing what she does with the AAI, but for letting the 4 of us homestay at her place.
We had an Omiyage workshop scheduled right when we got in, so we QUICKLY went out to get take-out pho and ate it while we waited for Kyo Daiko members to arrive.
Tomomi, Jen, and Bryan eating Pho~!
Maz came out here a while ago to workshop parts of Omiyage before, so we just started where he left off.
That night, we went to Gayle's place. She asked us if we were hungry, and of course, we said yes. She suggested this Ethiopian restaurant down the street from her place. I've never had Ethiopian food, so I was very curious. Bryan and Gayle went to get the food and brought it back... since we were pretty tired from traveling and workshopping.
This is Gayle explaining how to eat Ethiopian food. It was deeeeeelicious!
That night, Maz, Jason, and Courtney arrived in Philly. They stayed with Kathy and went straight there, so I didn't get to see them... but it was nice to know that they made it to PA safely.
MARCH 2, 2009
We woke up and were amazed at all the snow that had piled up! It was SO COLD!!!! I know, I know... we Los Angeles people say that it's SO COLD when it's like 60 degrees... but really, it was SNOWING and it was freezing!!!!
This was the windshield AFTER we scraped it off with a wrench... which is all we could find to scrape ice off.
We made our way to the Asian Arts Initiative for a quick TV media performance.
Then, we ate with some of the Kyo Daiko folks. The wonton noodle soup was so good! We were stuffed... and when we're stuffed, we get sleepy. So, we took naps.
After our nap, the girls (Tomomi, Courtney, Jen and I) decided to walk to the Liberty Bell.
This is a mural that's basically across the street from AAI. The portrait on the very right is supposed to be Gayle!
We walked in the freezing cold and finally made it to the Liberty Bell.... only to find out that it was CLOSED for the rest of the day because of the weather!!!!!! But... we were able to see it through the glass window they have on the side of the building...
So, we stared at the Liberty Bell through a window...
We heard that, out here in the East Coast... Dunkin' Donuts coffees were pretty good, so we went in to get some! We decided to get their "Dunkachinos" which was part coffee and part hot chocolate! YUMM!
Tomomi, Courtney, and Jen with their Dunkachinos!
It was perfect on this cold cold day.
We made it back just in time to workshop with Kyo Daiko again. They worked really hard to learn Omiyage for their upcoming performance in April.
We all went back to Gayle's place, talked through the school show for the next day, and called it a night.
MARCH 3, 2009
Jen, Courtney, Tomomi, Jason, and I had a school show to do at Holy Redeemer School.
Afterwards, we had lunch with the Asian Arts Initiative staff and got ready for a beginners workshop. The workshop was really fun and the people who came out were great. 95% of the people who came out have never played before, but left being able to play a mini-song with the first line of Renshu and Oroshi with Kiai's!
This is a group shot with some of the participants.
Afterwards, we decided we HAD to get a Philly cheesesteak in Philly...
MMM!!!!!!!
Tomomi enjoying her first bite...
TP eating Philly cheesesteaks!
March 4, 2009
I'll have to blog about this later... this is "Walking Around NY #2"
March 5, 2009
We had our final workshop with Kyo Daiko to put everything together for their version of Omiyage that they will play in April. They did awesome and learned a lot this week. It's so crazy to know that Omiyage will be played by a group in Philly... I think it's amazing that Shoji decided to write a piece that all groups can play and spread it across the taiko community. I can't wait to see Kyo Daiko's performance of it on YouTube!!!
March 6, 2009
Show day!! We went to the Annenberg Center for the Arts - Zellerbach Theater in the morning to tech and prep for the show.
Here's another set of pictures of us before the show!
Courtney and Jen... hair and makeup time!
Tomomi and me... ready to go!
The show went great and we QUICKLY loaded out, since we had to drive to Connecticut the very next day for another show.
And that's the end of our time in Philadelphia.
We had a great time... we experienced East Coast coldness... and ate lots and lots of food!
Here's a picture of Kyo Daiko and TAIKOPROJECT.
Thanks for reading!
MARCH 1, 2009
In the morning, we went back to the Wang Center, where we had our show, to load out our equipment. Bryan, Jen, Tomomi, and I drove from Stony Brook, NY to Philadelphia, PA. Maz, Jason, and Courtney stayed one extra day in Stony Brook to give a workshop.
When we got to Philadelphia, we met Gayle, the Executive Director of the Asian Arts Initiative. She is also Bryan's long time friend. :) Gayle is an awesome woman, for not only doing what she does with the AAI, but for letting the 4 of us homestay at her place.
We had an Omiyage workshop scheduled right when we got in, so we QUICKLY went out to get take-out pho and ate it while we waited for Kyo Daiko members to arrive.
Tomomi, Jen, and Bryan eating Pho~!
Maz came out here a while ago to workshop parts of Omiyage before, so we just started where he left off.
That night, we went to Gayle's place. She asked us if we were hungry, and of course, we said yes. She suggested this Ethiopian restaurant down the street from her place. I've never had Ethiopian food, so I was very curious. Bryan and Gayle went to get the food and brought it back... since we were pretty tired from traveling and workshopping.
This is Gayle explaining how to eat Ethiopian food. It was deeeeeelicious!
That night, Maz, Jason, and Courtney arrived in Philly. They stayed with Kathy and went straight there, so I didn't get to see them... but it was nice to know that they made it to PA safely.
MARCH 2, 2009
We woke up and were amazed at all the snow that had piled up! It was SO COLD!!!! I know, I know... we Los Angeles people say that it's SO COLD when it's like 60 degrees... but really, it was SNOWING and it was freezing!!!!
This was the windshield AFTER we scraped it off with a wrench... which is all we could find to scrape ice off.
We made our way to the Asian Arts Initiative for a quick TV media performance.
Then, we ate with some of the Kyo Daiko folks. The wonton noodle soup was so good! We were stuffed... and when we're stuffed, we get sleepy. So, we took naps.
After our nap, the girls (Tomomi, Courtney, Jen and I) decided to walk to the Liberty Bell.
This is a mural that's basically across the street from AAI. The portrait on the very right is supposed to be Gayle!
We walked in the freezing cold and finally made it to the Liberty Bell.... only to find out that it was CLOSED for the rest of the day because of the weather!!!!!! But... we were able to see it through the glass window they have on the side of the building...
So, we stared at the Liberty Bell through a window...
We heard that, out here in the East Coast... Dunkin' Donuts coffees were pretty good, so we went in to get some! We decided to get their "Dunkachinos" which was part coffee and part hot chocolate! YUMM!
Tomomi, Courtney, and Jen with their Dunkachinos!
It was perfect on this cold cold day.
We made it back just in time to workshop with Kyo Daiko again. They worked really hard to learn Omiyage for their upcoming performance in April.
We all went back to Gayle's place, talked through the school show for the next day, and called it a night.
MARCH 3, 2009
Jen, Courtney, Tomomi, Jason, and I had a school show to do at Holy Redeemer School.
Afterwards, we had lunch with the Asian Arts Initiative staff and got ready for a beginners workshop. The workshop was really fun and the people who came out were great. 95% of the people who came out have never played before, but left being able to play a mini-song with the first line of Renshu and Oroshi with Kiai's!
This is a group shot with some of the participants.
Afterwards, we decided we HAD to get a Philly cheesesteak in Philly...
MMM!!!!!!!
Tomomi enjoying her first bite...
TP eating Philly cheesesteaks!
March 4, 2009
I'll have to blog about this later... this is "Walking Around NY #2"
March 5, 2009
We had our final workshop with Kyo Daiko to put everything together for their version of Omiyage that they will play in April. They did awesome and learned a lot this week. It's so crazy to know that Omiyage will be played by a group in Philly... I think it's amazing that Shoji decided to write a piece that all groups can play and spread it across the taiko community. I can't wait to see Kyo Daiko's performance of it on YouTube!!!
March 6, 2009
Show day!! We went to the Annenberg Center for the Arts - Zellerbach Theater in the morning to tech and prep for the show.
Here's another set of pictures of us before the show!
Courtney and Jen... hair and makeup time!
Tomomi and me... ready to go!
The show went great and we QUICKLY loaded out, since we had to drive to Connecticut the very next day for another show.
And that's the end of our time in Philadelphia.
We had a great time... we experienced East Coast coldness... and ate lots and lots of food!
Here's a picture of Kyo Daiko and TAIKOPROJECT.
Thanks for reading!
Terre Haute is Awesome
Everyone is so nice here! We all have had an excellent experience with such a great theater house and crew!
Sent on the Now Network� from my Sprint® BlackBerry
Sent on the Now Network� from my Sprint® BlackBerry
Monday, March 9, 2009
Walking Around NY #1
I call this blog entry... "Walking Around NY #1" because a few days later, we come back to NYC and walk around some more. That entry will be called "Walking Around NY #2" :p
So, on 2/28, we drove from Stony Brook to NYC to hang out a bit. Bryan (aka Daddys) drove us to Chinatown in NY and dropped us off. He had to find parking and decided it wou ld be easier if he went straight to our last destination (Soh Daiko's practice space) and just hang out there to sleep get some work done.
First, we had to find our way to the restaurant.
So, we looked at maps...
and then Maz found the way!!
to Joe's Shanghai Restaurant! Yay!
It was so so so crowded in the tiny restaurant... and were told it would at least be 30 minutes...
Jason decided to get a haircut for $8 next door.
Jason came out looking fresh and clean!
The girls all got similar style hats, too!
see?
Then, it was our turn to sit down. Our turn to eat. Our turn to enjoy declicious shoronpo (I dunno how to say it in chinese, but that's what we call it in japanese)...
deeeeeeelicous!!!!!!!!!!!!!
everyone took pictures of it. :)
All we ate were the shoronpo's... the dumplings with soup inside. We were stuffed.
So, we decided to go eat some ICE CREAM!!!!!!!! YES!
I got the black sesame ice cream, but they also had almond cookie, durian, and ginger, too.
Tomomi, Maz, Courtney, and Jen enjoying their ice creams!
After some ice cream, we split off into two groups. Maz and Courtney went to the Sprint store because, apparently, Maz's cell phone had water damage and wasn't working. Jen, Tomomi, Jason, and I wanted to go to Times Square to get the NYC experience.... but it took us like over an hour to find the subway. grr.
We kept going the wrong way, but it actually ended up being kinda cool. Here's what we saw...
shops with colorful stuff..
A shot of the neighborhood.
Brooklyn Bridge
This is when we realized we were going the wrong way and turned around.
WE FOUND THE SUBWAY FINALLY!!!!! phew...
Most street performers were outside... this performer was inside where it was warmer.
We only had like 15 minutes to walk around Times Square (we woulda had more if we didn't get so lost).
Here's what we saw. :)
Here's us in the subway.
We met up with Bryan who was already at the Buddhist Temple that Soh Daiko practices at. It's incredible how much they did to their space in order to try to minimize the sound the leaks out while they practice. They built brick walls to prevent some sound and they also use drum pads ON TOP of their taiko drums. Space and sound is always an issue for taiko groups since the drums are just so loud.
We went out to eat with Soh Daiko folks and I had a chance to meet and get to know some of them. I've never seen them perform live and I hope that some day, I'll have an opportunity to watch them!
Anyway, that's what happened on 2/28!! :) Thanks for reading!!
So, on 2/28, we drove from Stony Brook to NYC to hang out a bit. Bryan (aka Daddys) drove us to Chinatown in NY and dropped us off. He had to find parking and decided it wou ld be easier if he went straight to our last destination (Soh Daiko's practice space) and just hang out there to sleep get some work done.
First, we had to find our way to the restaurant.
So, we looked at maps...
and then Maz found the way!!
to Joe's Shanghai Restaurant! Yay!
It was so so so crowded in the tiny restaurant... and were told it would at least be 30 minutes...
Jason decided to get a haircut for $8 next door.
Jason came out looking fresh and clean!
The girls all got similar style hats, too!
see?
Then, it was our turn to sit down. Our turn to eat. Our turn to enjoy declicious shoronpo (I dunno how to say it in chinese, but that's what we call it in japanese)...
deeeeeeelicous!!!!!!!!!!!!!
everyone took pictures of it. :)
All we ate were the shoronpo's... the dumplings with soup inside. We were stuffed.
So, we decided to go eat some ICE CREAM!!!!!!!! YES!
I got the black sesame ice cream, but they also had almond cookie, durian, and ginger, too.
Tomomi, Maz, Courtney, and Jen enjoying their ice creams!
After some ice cream, we split off into two groups. Maz and Courtney went to the Sprint store because, apparently, Maz's cell phone had water damage and wasn't working. Jen, Tomomi, Jason, and I wanted to go to Times Square to get the NYC experience.... but it took us like over an hour to find the subway. grr.
We kept going the wrong way, but it actually ended up being kinda cool. Here's what we saw...
shops with colorful stuff..
A shot of the neighborhood.
Brooklyn Bridge
This is when we realized we were going the wrong way and turned around.
WE FOUND THE SUBWAY FINALLY!!!!! phew...
Most street performers were outside... this performer was inside where it was warmer.
We only had like 15 minutes to walk around Times Square (we woulda had more if we didn't get so lost).
Here's what we saw. :)
Here's us in the subway.
We met up with Bryan who was already at the Buddhist Temple that Soh Daiko practices at. It's incredible how much they did to their space in order to try to minimize the sound the leaks out while they practice. They built brick walls to prevent some sound and they also use drum pads ON TOP of their taiko drums. Space and sound is always an issue for taiko groups since the drums are just so loud.
We went out to eat with Soh Daiko folks and I had a chance to meet and get to know some of them. I've never seen them perform live and I hope that some day, I'll have an opportunity to watch them!
Anyway, that's what happened on 2/28!! :) Thanks for reading!!
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