J-11 5/16-17 NBN Raku, Nijinsky, Utsunomiya
I swear, I will finish up these trip posts one day. The next time I'm not going to Japan for so long dammit.
5/16
These next few days didn't really involve anything interesting. On monday I slept and hung around until I got a text from a friend asking me if I wanted to do NBN raku demachi for their star and I accepted. Though when she texted me I was still in pjs and had about a hour to get to where I needed to go. To my luck thankfully my friend's star was taking forever and I was able to get there half an hour before she came out. Hah.
I would say seeing raku demachi was fun, but I really couldn't see anything since I was short and it was a smallish club. But, I did get small glimpses of the tadainsha and that was really nice. My friend's star came by eventually and we handed off our letters and kind of formed a weird shape so she could see everyone, hah. She was incredibly cute.
Afterwards I walked my friend to the Takarazuka JR station and rode with her all the way to Amagasaki, I then kept on going to Osaka station and met up with ohtori_tsuki at the station closest to her and went out for sushi.
Overall it was a nice day :)
5/17
I left Elise's massively early so I could get into Tokyo by noon. Nijinsky was at 1pm that day. There was no way I was gonna try for irimachi. Really, I still can't believe how crazy I was with my traveling. This time though I went to the Setagaya station which had previously eluded me and made me realize I just wasn't walking in the right direction to find it. I left my backpack there (my luggage had already been takyuubined to my friend in Utsunomiya) and walked to my favorite spot in the park near the theatre.
I met up with and her twin sister about half an hour before the show. I picked up my ticket and we walked around the area and talked until the show started. I was so glad that they had very distinguishable bits like different hair color/styles/glasses or else I would have been hopelessly confused.
This time around I was front row center on the second floor and that was quite an experience. It would have been my first time seeing the show from the second floor (since there is non in bow hall and the last time I saw it was on shonichi from the first floor). I really think group scenes just benefit far more from a higher perspective. I was able to appreciate the ballet scenes and group numbers a bit more than usual. Also, I got to chuckle when Chigi had to point up in my extract direction to show Ayu where the Southern Cross was, heh. Would have been funnier if I were Argentinian.
Also this day I had the good fortune to see the after talk with Chigi, Ayu, and Seshi. I really don't remember everything that was said, expect for the rather mean ragging of Seshi for her osaka-ben. Chigi had asked Seshi a question and Chigi interrupted her and imitated her accent and Seshi started to correct herself then gave Chigi a very 'screw you' look and finished her answer in a very heavy accent. I was beside myself with laughter. Also, Ayu had the baby doll that served as Nijinsky and Romola's baby with her. Chigi also had a kewpie doll to represent the baby, because both Ayu and her couldn't hold the baby at the same time. Okay then Chigi.
After the talk, I waited with Sam while Steph did demachi for Kitarou. I also had a letter handed over to princess and everything was good. Everyone looked wonderful and cheerful.
I didn't stick around for dinner with the girls or anything for I had to head back to Tokyo station cause I was leaving for Utsunomiya. Also I had to find a soft bank store before they closed so I could charge my phone. Cause I was a genius and left my phone charger in my main luggage. Thankfully I was able to get in 5 minutes before the store closed and the lady was perfectly kind enough to let me charge my phone for as long as I needed.
So then I got on a late shinkansen to Utsunomiya (after being utterly confused as to where I was supposed to go. I fail so hard at military time. I arrived around 10pm and my friend Ku-chan picked me up and we drove to a nearby restaurant in the boondocks. I was beside myself being so close to rice paddies. It was too dark to take pictures, but I was cracking Ku-chan up by trying to see into the muck.
The restaurant was a very nice italian place with stylishly arranged food. Ku-chan made me order in Japanese because she wants me to be more confident. Thankfully, the waitress was incredibly patient and very kind. It was very nice seeing Ku-chan again after a year. For of those who don't know the story, Ku-chan and I met on the plane to Japan the first time I went back in 2008 and a year later she ended up living only 30 minutes away from me in the USA. She ended up having to move back to Japan after a year. When she found out I was going to Japan, she insisted I come see her and we would sight see!
Afterwards we went back to her place. I was also spazzing out over her car. I had never been driven around in Japan, so it felt really weird being on the wrong side of the road, heh. Also, her car talks. I shouldn't have been so amused at the car telling me to put my seatbelt on. Her place was also very nice and traditional. We chatted some more over tea and I did some laundry before going to bed. It was actually quite cold that evening so I was grateful for Ku-chan piling like three covers on me.
The next day would be Nikko!
5/16
These next few days didn't really involve anything interesting. On monday I slept and hung around until I got a text from a friend asking me if I wanted to do NBN raku demachi for their star and I accepted. Though when she texted me I was still in pjs and had about a hour to get to where I needed to go. To my luck thankfully my friend's star was taking forever and I was able to get there half an hour before she came out. Hah.
I would say seeing raku demachi was fun, but I really couldn't see anything since I was short and it was a smallish club. But, I did get small glimpses of the tadainsha and that was really nice. My friend's star came by eventually and we handed off our letters and kind of formed a weird shape so she could see everyone, hah. She was incredibly cute.
Afterwards I walked my friend to the Takarazuka JR station and rode with her all the way to Amagasaki, I then kept on going to Osaka station and met up with ohtori_tsuki at the station closest to her and went out for sushi.
Overall it was a nice day :)
5/17
I left Elise's massively early so I could get into Tokyo by noon. Nijinsky was at 1pm that day. There was no way I was gonna try for irimachi. Really, I still can't believe how crazy I was with my traveling. This time though I went to the Setagaya station which had previously eluded me and made me realize I just wasn't walking in the right direction to find it. I left my backpack there (my luggage had already been takyuubined to my friend in Utsunomiya) and walked to my favorite spot in the park near the theatre.
I met up with and her twin sister about half an hour before the show. I picked up my ticket and we walked around the area and talked until the show started. I was so glad that they had very distinguishable bits like different hair color/styles/glasses or else I would have been hopelessly confused.
This time around I was front row center on the second floor and that was quite an experience. It would have been my first time seeing the show from the second floor (since there is non in bow hall and the last time I saw it was on shonichi from the first floor). I really think group scenes just benefit far more from a higher perspective. I was able to appreciate the ballet scenes and group numbers a bit more than usual. Also, I got to chuckle when Chigi had to point up in my extract direction to show Ayu where the Southern Cross was, heh. Would have been funnier if I were Argentinian.
Also this day I had the good fortune to see the after talk with Chigi, Ayu, and Seshi. I really don't remember everything that was said, expect for the rather mean ragging of Seshi for her osaka-ben. Chigi had asked Seshi a question and Chigi interrupted her and imitated her accent and Seshi started to correct herself then gave Chigi a very 'screw you' look and finished her answer in a very heavy accent. I was beside myself with laughter. Also, Ayu had the baby doll that served as Nijinsky and Romola's baby with her. Chigi also had a kewpie doll to represent the baby, because both Ayu and her couldn't hold the baby at the same time. Okay then Chigi.
After the talk, I waited with Sam while Steph did demachi for Kitarou. I also had a letter handed over to princess and everything was good. Everyone looked wonderful and cheerful.
I didn't stick around for dinner with the girls or anything for I had to head back to Tokyo station cause I was leaving for Utsunomiya. Also I had to find a soft bank store before they closed so I could charge my phone. Cause I was a genius and left my phone charger in my main luggage. Thankfully I was able to get in 5 minutes before the store closed and the lady was perfectly kind enough to let me charge my phone for as long as I needed.
So then I got on a late shinkansen to Utsunomiya (after being utterly confused as to where I was supposed to go. I fail so hard at military time. I arrived around 10pm and my friend Ku-chan picked me up and we drove to a nearby restaurant in the boondocks. I was beside myself being so close to rice paddies. It was too dark to take pictures, but I was cracking Ku-chan up by trying to see into the muck.
The restaurant was a very nice italian place with stylishly arranged food. Ku-chan made me order in Japanese because she wants me to be more confident. Thankfully, the waitress was incredibly patient and very kind. It was very nice seeing Ku-chan again after a year. For of those who don't know the story, Ku-chan and I met on the plane to Japan the first time I went back in 2008 and a year later she ended up living only 30 minutes away from me in the USA. She ended up having to move back to Japan after a year. When she found out I was going to Japan, she insisted I come see her and we would sight see!
Afterwards we went back to her place. I was also spazzing out over her car. I had never been driven around in Japan, so it felt really weird being on the wrong side of the road, heh. Also, her car talks. I shouldn't have been so amused at the car telling me to put my seatbelt on. Her place was also very nice and traditional. We chatted some more over tea and I did some laundry before going to bed. It was actually quite cold that evening so I was grateful for Ku-chan piling like three covers on me.
The next day would be Nikko!