TP hits the East Coast!

Well, we finally had somewhat of a off-day today after a strenuous 48-hours--unloading all our equipment for a show in Philadelphia, then doing the show, loading it all back up, sleeping for a few hours, then driving 3 hours in the morning to Stamford, Connecticut, and doing the same thing there, then finally relaxing at a post-show reception and getting some decent sleep. Today, we only had a workshop with O-Tatsu Taiko, UConn Taiko, and Bowdoin Taiko booked, which Maz took care of, so I got to relax a bit more than usual and catch up with admin stuff and correspondence that needed to be caught up on--

Here are some photos from the trip so far from my viewfinder...


Ethiopian food with Gayle from the AAI in Philadelphia, PA


Rehearsal for school show in Gayle & Gary's dining room


Workshop with beginners at the Asian Arts Initiative


Really good, but slightly expensive ramen from Ippudo NYC


Napkin, Ippudo NYC


The troops digging in at Ippudo....mmm...ramen...


TP in the subways of NYC


TP walking the streets of New York


TP in Central Park


Alabaster Jen in Rask-Central Park


TP in Grand Central Terminal


Grand Central Station (duh)


My brother Wynn has a band called Happyfunsmile that coincidentally had a gig in NYC at the Forbidden City while we were in town and had a day off. We went to go see them and they were awesome. They're coming to LA this summer for another Obon tour, so check them out if they come to your Obon!


Happyfunsmile in action (albeit a bit blurry, my camera very clearly was not meant to shoot in low light)


My brother Wynn with his chindon rig, again, very blurry but you get the idea...

First Leg!

I’m surviving the TAIKOPROJECT tour! Currently we’re in Stamford, CT. So far we’ve had a school show in North Haven, CT, two school shows in Manhattan, a workshop and concert in Stony Brook, NY, a series of workshops and a concert in Philadelphia, PA, and a concert and workshop here in Stamford. I’m exhausted, but I’m amongst good company. The TP cast has been in good spirits even during rough stretches of the tour. Gotta keep your spirits up on tour… otherwise you will be miserable! We have to take care of each other.

We got to have some fun days too. We went to Joe’s Shanghai Restaurant in Manhattan two times already. They have the best soup dumplings ever. So good! Here’s a pic of us (Courtney’s taking the picture) on the southern tip of Manhattan. The Statue of Liberty was too tiny for a camera to pick up in the distance. It was really cold that day, but got to eat good ramen at Ippudo (Jason’s suggestion) which warmed us up. We also got to see Bryan’s brother (Wynn) perform with his awesome group, happyfunsmile. Good times…

Tomorrow is a relaxing day. We’re gonna do some shopping, maybe see a movie, and then cook for our hosts, Sandra and Dave. Then on to Pomona, NJ for our first (re)generation show of the tour. Byron, Darren, John, and Scott fly join us for the 2nd leg of the tour.

Stony Brook, New York - First show!!!

We had our first show last Friday in Stony Brook. Our first show of the tour.

Load-in was pretty easy, since we got it all finished the night before, which was the night we got in. Maz, Courtney, and Tomomi were giving a workshop and it was so nice to see familiar faces other than the 3 other people that I shared a van with for 4 days! j/k :p

The next morning, we got in early... we got everything done in terms of tech and prep... I even had time to take a quick nap! I love naps on the day of the show! :)

Then, we got ready for the show.

So, here are pictures of us from the first show...

Tomomi and me before the show. she's like... a decade younger than i am and is an amazing taiko player.




Me and Jason. We just wanted to show everyone we're from the wessssssiiiiiidddde. Don't we look threatening? yea right...




We all shared this dressing room... I swear it's not usually this messy, but I had to take a picture cuz it was such a mess!




A drink after the show. me and Jen




Courtney, Tomomi, and Bryan...




Jason with his pina colada. threatening, right?




Tomomi with her virgin drink. :)




and that's all the pictures I have from that day....

TP would like to thank Joan and Eva for letting us stay at their places!!!

Road Trip: California to New York!

We just started our East Coast tour!! It took us 4 days of driving to get from California to New York. It was Bryan, Jason, Jen and me, which just happens to be the Greece crew. Maz, Tomomi, and Courtney flew out the next day to NY just in time to facilitate some workshops.

Here's what our 4 days looked like...

DAY 1
We left Higashi in Little Tokyo, Downtown LA, CA around 10:30am.
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Nevada
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Arizona
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Utah
---Stayed in Richfield, Utah at an award winning Comfort Inn. It was actually really nice!




Day 2
Left the hotel and drove through the rest of Utah
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Colorado
---Beautiful scenery - Rocky Mountains
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Nebraska
---Stayed in Kearney, Nebraska at another Comfort Inn.




Day 3
Drove through the rest of Nebraska
---There wasn't much to see while driving through Nebraska...
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Iowa
---This is where I drove. WOOT! (that's for you, Tomomi!)
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Illinois
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Indiana
---Stayed in Fremont, Indiana at a Holiday Inn.




Day 4
Drove through the rest of Indiana
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Ohio
---It was really foggy driving through Ohio in the morning.
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Pennsylvania
---I ate at Arby's for the first time! :)
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New Jersey
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NEW YORK!!!!!!!
We met up with Maz, Courtney, and Tomomi in Stony Brook where they were giving a workshop. They also did some school shows while we were on the road.


I have to definitely say THANK YOU to Bryan and Jason for driving most of the time.
It was actually not so bad at all. My body got kinda stiff from doing nothing in the van all day long... but we did Yoga in the hotel room one night with a DVD that I brought. Jason, we'll continue with the rest of the DVD soon! :p


The scenery and the terrain changed a lot while we were driving. I know it sounds obvious, but it's pretty crazy to see it all change.


So, for today, I give you... pictures from our road trip. :) Most of these were taken with my point & shoot camera... and many were taken from inside the van (please excuse the reflection...)

I THINK this was Utah...







Colorado



Colorado



Colorado



Colorado... a rest stop. That's our van and our trailer.



Colorado







Nebraska



Nebraska



Bryan



Jen and Jason



Some snacks!



lotsa birds...



During a quiet moment in the car.



Indiana in the morning.



We stopped by... but it was closed/abandoned...



NEW YORK!!!!!



Thanks for reading!

TAIKOPROJECT is BLOGGING!

Hi everyone! In order for us to keep connected with everyone, we decided to start a blog! The blogs will be written by the members of TAIKOPROJECT!

Enjoy and thanks for visiting!