Monday, December 10, 2012

Random thoughts from day 4

Komban-wa!

Just came back from dinner in the hotel lobby here in Niigata.  It's cold outside, so we basically hung around the hotel today.  We arrived by plane around 1:15PM and after a 30-min bus ride at the Niigata Grand Hotel.  Very, very nice!

Before we left, we encountered an interesting background for the weather display:




Yes, that is a genuine Schulmerich bell (or soething quite close to it - the perspective isn't quite right) in the background!  The clapper head is distinctively Schulmerich.  Awesome, eh??

Before we turned in after our triumphant concert last night, we went out to eat as a big mob.  We turned down one of the innumerable alleys and gazed at the plastic food to see what we'd like.  There wasn't any place large enough for us, as most Japanese restaurants are mom-n-pop holes-in-the-wall with a few tables and a short counter.  So, we broke up into two groups.  There was much fun had in my group!



 Ensconced in a position of honor at the top of one of the counters was this little guy:


We couldn't make head or tails of him.  If you have any ideas, let us know. ;)  Like the Christmas poinsettia next to him??

Here's the route we took from Osaka (Itami airport) to Niigata:



Upon arrival we were greeted with snow!  Here are some marketing posters I liked in the airport:





While Niigata is no slouch (pop. around 800,000), it's practically the sticks compared to Osaka (2.2mil) and Tokyo (13mil).  It has a more rural and insular feel, regardless of the people.  There's nothing really around the hotel easily accessible, especially given how cold, trainy, and kinda miserable it was in the afternoon.  So, we just hung around the hotel.  Still, The company was quite enjoyable. :)






I had to have fun with the cool mirror, so we got this at the end:


When we first arrived in our room, it was COLD COLD COLD.  The thermostat presented itself like this:


Ack!!!  We had no idea whatsoever how to heat up the room.  So, we ended up pushing lots and buttons and finally going downstairs to ask for help.  (I actually took this picture to show to the front desk lady so she might point out to us how we could control the temperature... ;-D)  She didn't have enough English, and our Japanese is limited to short phrases, so there was no luck.  But, as it turned out, when we came back to our room the vent was putting out hot air... so someone was looking out for us. :)

And just to leave you with one of the many fun surprises in Japan, here is an advertisement in a Tokyo newpaper for one of our upcoming concerts.  It's all of an inch by a couple of inches in size, but it's still us and still cool!! :)


Yes, the little cameo to the right is Emil Miland, our fabulous cellist who's touring with us.  What a sweetheart! :)

Nighty-night!

--Jason

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