Amagasaki #1

We pulled into Tokyo on Friday around 3pm. We were starving and Robb, Merritt and I went to eat some noodles at the place we found on our first day. The weather wasn't great. It was rainy and windy but not too cold. A warm bowl of noodles is the perfect recipe for a day like that. The three Gaijin (foreign) dudes were the ONLY ones in the street with raincoats and not umbrellas. Navigating these thousands of umbrellas carried by the typically short Japanese people on narrow sidewalks is a bit difficult. It's compounded by the American guy's natural inclination to move to the right when approaching oncoming people. You drive on the left side of the street in Japan. I nearly lost an eye several times! After we warmed ourselves at our favorite noodle shop, we made our way back to the hotel. Ken was meeting us in an hour or so.

Ken took us to a small British pub right off the bat. Well, it was called the Rose and Crown but they didn't have any Bass or Guinness and the fish and chips were a bit suspect. But who cares when you're in great company?? I haven't seen Ken since our families met in Hawaii seven years ago. He looked the same as he always has. I told Ken that I supposed he had the opportunity to use his English because it was in such good form. He told me he hadn't spoken it regularly since living in Sweden over a year ago. I guess when you're a neurosurgeon, you retain more than the average guy!

We wore that bar out pretty quickly and decided to find a proper sake bar. We didn't go far before we found what we were looking for. In the last three hours, we had noodles, fish and chips, and some roast beef. Ken asked if we wanted sushi. I remember saying I wasn't that hungry anymore. Well, within 20 min. we had an entire tray of sushi in front of us.

Over the course of the next two or three hours, the four of us devoured six or seven trays of sashimi and 10 or more large bottles of sake! Ken kept ordering more and more until we stuffed silly. We were laughing so hard we were crying! Ken took me down memory lane and gave Robb and Merritt an hilarious glimpse of my upbringing. We were all roaring when it was revealed that I spent a giant portion of my childhood writing the sentence "I will mind" thousands upon thousands of times. Whenever I misbehaved, my Mom would yell to me,

"100!"

"But Mom..."

"200!"

"I don't want to clean my room!"

"300!"

And on and on and on and on and on....

We eventually stopped eating and drinking and called it a night. The first Tokyo show was tomorrow.

The Tokyo International Forum is a gorgeous concert hall. It holds nearly 6,000 people. We sold out both nights. Ken came the first night and I showed him all the ins and outs of the stage. We did a fun thing before sound check. I gave Ken an IEM (in-ear monitor) pack and Merritt set him up on the keyboard rig. Ken and I used to play together back when he visited us in the States. Now it was time for our reunion gig!!! I got up on the drums and we played together for the first time in 15 or more years. First tune? Jump of course. We played many a Van Halen tune together back in the day. He was a bit rusty but we spent a good half hour playing. Loved it.

For the show, Ken sat with me on stage left and he listened to exactly the same thing that I listen to when I engineer the show. I loved being able to show him a day in my life. He was incredibly curious about the technical aspects of operating the show. I was more than delighted to give the lesson.

After the show, Ken, Merritt and I went out for some more sushi and sake. We tried a different place and once again, the sushi was phenomenal. We were a bit tired from the shenanigans the night before so we called it after that.

The next morning, I went out and explored my little area of Tokyo. I had some time before the show because we didn't have to load-in. I spent some time in a couple of Japanese shrines and got some good pics. I even saw a wedding at one of the shrines. These shrines were about 700 years old.

Our second show in Tokyo, Ken brought his mother, brother and sister. I had met Ken's parents in Hawaii but never his brother and sister. It was great to be able to finally meet them after knowing about them for over 23 years. I showed them backstage a little bit and introduced them to Huey. Then it was time for me to go to work. They all sat in the audience for the show. I went out and watched Chicago with them in the house after Huey. There was a guest guitarist that played with Chicago. His name is Hotei. He is apparently a huge Japanese rock star and he brought the house down. I took the Amagasaki's backstage afterward and we all took pictures with Hotei. They loved it.

After that, Ken's family was gracious enough to take me out for dinner. Guess what we ate... They were impressed with my chopstick dexterity. They couldn't believe that I eat sushi at least once a week at home. I learned at that meal where wasabi came from. It's a ground up root. It came in root form with a grinder and you made it fresh at the table. I don't know if I've ever had real wasabi before but this stuff was incredible. I could have sucked on the root itself! It was a wonderful time and we all actually communicated pretty well considering Ken was the only bilingual person at the table. They understood a lot of my English though. I had my computer with me so I was able to show them pictures of my family. They were particularly interested in Matthew and Molly my nephew and niece. They were all impressed that we had two Doctors in the family now - David of course but now Dad has all but completed his PhD. The Amagasaki's send all their love to all of the Teeds and Bendures and Baumwarts. They want to know who is going to visit next!!

We finished up dinner and it was time to go. Ken paid for my cab home and gave me some tips for shopping. It's my day off today and we're going to be out on the town. As always, Ken and I had so much fun together. As I've been telling everyone here, he's my brotha from anotha motha. I hope it's not too long before I see my Japanese brother again.

I'm off to explore Tokyo with my crew. It should be a fun day. We play Yokohama tomorrow and then head home on Wednesday. See ya!