A Beginner's Mind

Birthday Love Again....

2009-04-18T09:10:00.000-07:00

A quarter of a century old.... Sounds pretty old doesn't it? I can't say that I was looking forward to becoming 25. Unlike turning 18 or 21, there are few benefits that come with that age. I believe that you are allowed to receive some kind of discount when renting a vehicle, but other than that, it's really another year toward being "old". In Korea, there's actually saying that says you're "over the hill" when you become 25. So...as you can see, I wasn't exactly looking forward to becoming 25.

But...today I was reminded of why turning a year older is so great.

It's not because of the presents, the free booze, or the 25 punches that come with it. It's because of friends. Friends who remind you that your life is worth while to them. Friends who remind you that turning a year older is a time to celebrate your life and who you are. Friends who remind you that there are people who care about you, and cherish your friendship. I was reminded of all of these things today.

I started my day just like any other typical weekend. I woke up at 7:00am and went to work. I work as an English teacher for Berlitz, a language school that is quite well-known in Japan. I work an odd schedule- Friday through Tuesday- with Wednesday and Thursday off to accommodate my taiko practices.

Work was, as one might imagine, quite tiring. Teaching English for 8 hours straight is no easy feat, even if one considers that English is their native language. Talking in your native tongue is one thing, but talking in your native tongue and ensuring that people are understanding and learning something is another. Work ended at about 4:45, and in short, I was relieved- freedom at last.

A party was planned for me in the evening in Ikebukuro, one of many popular restaurant and hangout spots in Tokyo during the weekends. I met what I thought would be a small group of friends for dinner that evening. To my surprise, I was lead to a room full of friends in Japan- friends from all different years of the ALC program. I was shocked. I was surprised. I was altogether delighted. Seeing so many faces wishing me a happy birthday was an unbelievable feeling. Even though I've been a performer with thousands of eyes on me, having a room full of friends all looking toward you is a completely different feeling. The knowledge that you know each person and that each person came for you is really an unparalleled feeling. I was happy.

The evening was filled with a lot of laughter, a lot of drinks, and a lot of great food. There were many thank-you's made all around, even gifts received in the form of gum, candy, and personal notes written on a cork board. I couldn't have asked for anything else.

I'm blessed to have so many friends, and to have so many people that (for lack of better words) just give a damn. I don't ask any of my friends to give a damn for me, but knowing that they do just makes me realize how lucky I am.

To everyone who has sent me an email, an e-greeting, an MSN message, the ever-popular facebook wall post, dialed my phone number, or even just passively thought about me (regardless of my birthday), I owe you thanks.

I know it's not enough, but I hope you can understand how much truly mean it when I say thank you. So, Thank You.

Chapter 2: Japan

2008-09-19T20:07:00.000-07:00

"You are one crazy a** son of a b..." That's what's what I said to myself as I waited in the airport terminal for my Narita-bound flight out of the Los Angeles International Airport. The realization that I'd be leaving the country for the better part of my post-college life was dawning upon me. This would be my last time in the US for a very long period of time. Few words can describe the feeling of simultaneous excitement and sheer panic when one comes to such a realization. I was mentally torn in two opposite directions, and I all I could do was continue walking toward my plane. There's no turning back, and you know what...that's a good thing.

I'm beginning to embark on what must be the biggest (and craziest) move of my life- an indeterminately length stay in Japan with a perceived minimum number of years to stay and no maximum; a move to a country that I spent a maximum of 5 months in; a move to a culture I am only vaguely familiar with and with a language I haven't effectively spoken in 3 years; a move to a place where I have no job and no visa; and a move to a place where I am welcoming all of these challenges with a beginner's sense of confidence, excitement, and optimism. The number of possibilities and the unpredictability of my future is incredible- scary, but incredible. There are so many opportunities for failure, misdirection, personal decline, and yet opportunities to succeed, learn, and grow.

When I tell people that I'm going to Japan they say that's great. When I tell them I'm going without a job, without a visa, and not much more than a place to stay, the smile wipes from their face and they call me crazy. While I do admit that this move is pretty crazy, it's something that I've wanted and looked forward to ever since l ended my study abroad in Kyoto and Tokyo 3 years ago. To me, my next several years in Japan might be among the most meaningful in my post college life. Rather than list the seemingly endless number of possibilities of why, I'll just focus on two- culture and taiko.

I've wanted to study abroad in Japan ever since I was in high school. I finally got the opportunity to do it my junior year in college through Stanford's Kyoto SCTI study abroad program- a 5-month-long experience filled with Japanese studies, complete immersion into Japanese culture, and an internship in Tokyo. I gained so much from the experience and to this day, consider it the best experience of my life. It sounds melodramatic, I know, but it's in all honesty, completely true. However, there was one problem with the experience...it was too short. As quickly as I had boarded the plane, the experience ended, and I could only think of how I wanted to go back. Living in Japan gave me the unparalleled opportunity to experience the cultural part of me I only knew through hearsay and speculation. Growing up as a fourth-generation Japanese American provides a serious handicap to staying in touch with one's cultural roots. Exposure to Japanese culture is minimal, and that which is experienced has been filtered and watered down over four generations of brewing in America's melting pot. However, my experience in Japan only scratched the surface of my cultural understanding and my Japanese was only beginning to become comfortable. Living in Japan will be an opportunity to finish what I started and to fully discover and immerse myself in the cultural part of me long unknown and longing to be known.

The second reason probably seems like a no-brainer. Taiko. Duh. Japan is the birth-place of the art form I know, love, and want to pursue professionally. If taiko weren't a reason to go then this blog wouldn't even exist in the first place- this is, afterall, a blog about my experiences and trials toward "taiko enlightenment". But my reason for going to Japan to study taiko isn't quite as simple as just learning from the masters who helped shape the art form or gaining the necessary skills to feel comfortable pursuing this as a profession. While, yes, those reasons are included, one of the big reasons to study taiko in Japan is perspective. Yes, perspective. My taiko experience up until now has been primarily limited to kumi-daiko, the ensemble form of taiko most commonly seen and developed only 50 years ago. While I did have the fortune of experiencing some of the traditional and neo-traditional aspects of taiko while in Hawaii, really seeing the full view of traditional taiko that has influenced so much of Kenny Endo Sensei's music will give me the big taiko picture. I want to see and understand the broad spectrum of taiko that exists to map out where I can take the art form.

Having worked as a graphic designer and visual artist for many years (both professionally and not-so professionally), I've come to realize that researching what else exists in the realm of your art and design is an essential part to creating new ideas. Inspiration comes from many sources and often times existing work in your field can spring board new ideas or even more successful ones. Taiko is no different. As a musician, I've realized that the music I create is heavily influenced by the music I know, listen to, and understand. Having the broadest range of music that falls under such a category gives me more influences to draw upon for inspiration- ultimately giving me many colors to paint an expression of self through music that is new and unique.

So...this brings me back to the airplane, the plane ticket, and that simultaneous feeling of excitement and fear. Japan represents both of those to me. Fear of failure, of what I may discover, and of the challenges ahead, And yet... excitement for all of them and what I can learn from every failure, every discovery, and every challenge. Now, more than ever, I'm going into my next adventure with a beginner's mind.

Birthday Love

2008-04-19T03:28:00.000-07:00

Well, April 18th has come and gone, and while it seemed really short (as all good things do), it was great! Now, when I begin to tell you exactly what my birthday consisted of, you're going to probably be thinking, "you're birthday was great?" Don't believe me? Well here is what my birthday primarily consisted of.

Work.

Yes, work. Me sitting in front of computer all day and currently now at night. Of course I did get up, eat, take a nap, check my email, and do some other stuff, but it mainly consisted of me working. Now...its not totally bad. Working means that I'm making money, because my job does, afterall, depend on how busy I am to be making any sort of real money (because I work as a freelance designer). So...being not busy is not really good (even though its good for relaxation) because it means that I'm in the poor house. But of course, working on your birthday isn't all that great either.

So...you're probably asking now, "You're birthday was great?" I told you, you would. And no, work did not make my birthday great. But I will tell you what did. Friends. My birthday doesn't so much remind me of how old I am, but more of how many friends I have, and how grateful I am to have so many friends. I received an unbelievable number of facebook wallposts and messages, emails, text messages, and phone calls from friends I speak to often, and those who I haven't spoken to in a long while, and everyone's well wishes really reminded me of how lucky I am to have so many friends in my life. My friends are really what made my birthday great (not the work), so thank you to everyone for sending so much aloha my way.

Of course...there is also one other thing that made my birthday great...dinner with my landlord. Now unless you know Andy, you're probably really thinking, "okay, this guy has been spending too much time in front of the computer. Dinner with your landlord?!?" But that's right folks, my landlord Andy, probably the best landlord I will EVER have, took me out to a fantastic dinner at Alan Wong's "The Pineapple Room" in the esteemed Ala Moana shopping center. To roughly sum up the expensive meal, I ate a fantastic Kiawe grilled steak, a pear salad, some sort of chocolate desert I can't remember the name of (but was incredibly delicious), martinis, wine, cognac, and some awesome Kau coffee. The dessert was actually compliments of the restaurant because it was my birthday, and they even wrote "happy birthday Adam" on the plate!" All in all, a fantastic meal, with my fantastic landlord, and my (of course) fantastic housemates (David and Kelsey).

So, even though I spent most of my day working, I really couldn't have asked for a whole lot more on my birthday. (okay...maybe I could've asked for no work to do) Thank you everyone!! I really appreciate and love you all!

P.S. I really need to start getting some posts with pictures, don't I? =P

The 56th Cherry Blossom Festival Ball (aka, Cherry Blossom Festival Ball Round 2)

2008-03-24T01:48:00.000-07:00

So...my last really eventful post (before this past one), was about the Cherry Blossom Festival....and strangely enough, a full year has gone by and we're here again- The Cherry Blossom Festival Ball.

To my surprise, if you type "Cherry Blossom Festival Ball Hawaii" into your Google search window, my blog post from last year comes up 2nd!!! One of the contestants from this year actually mentioned to me that she read my blog post from last year to get an idea of how formal the event is so her boyfriend could dress appropriately. Incidentally, she also also read about my mismatching shoe debacle from last year. =P

But that was not to occur this year!! I checked, double-checked, and triple-checked those shoe bags to ensure that I had the proper shoes with me, and I even came extra prepared with a change of watches, hair gel, toothbrush, and cologne. I was completely ready for the event this time. But before I begin my explanation of the event itself, a little backstory is needed. Gather 'round my children, papa has a story for you.

When I arrived in Hawaii in January one year ago, I was not only greeted by the humid Hawaiian weather, but also a whole group of beautiful young ladies. Okay, okay, so it's not exactly as picture perfect as you are probably imagining, but its not too far from the truth either. On my first evening in Hawaii, I was picked up from the airport and taken straight to taiko practice, where the 55th Cherry Blossom Queen Contestants were receiving an introduction to taiko.

So, one year later, its already come back to that time of year. Starting in January, the new group of 15 Cherry Blossom Queen Contestants began their 10 workshops of taiko training for the opening number of the festival ball. Its really "natsukashii" (Japanese word meaning something close to "nostalgic") to be going through this experience again and to be teaching Sakura Mikoshi (which I admittedly had forgotten despite having helped write it).

The girls began their taiko journey in mid January through a series of weekly Wednesday workshops (10 total) to (in very crash-course fashion) learn some history about taiko, the basics of playing, and learn the piece which they would perform in front of their friends, family, and an audience numbering in the hundreds as the opening number for the Cherry Blossom Festival Ball. The girls were all very dedicated, and great to teach because they were so eager to learn and to improve, even if they would never play taiko again after the end of the workshops. Even though our lessons technically were supposed to go from 8:00pm to 9:15pm or so, we would frequently stay until around 9:45, not because we forced the girls to, but because they wanted to run the piece one more time, or wanted one more chance to get a part right.

The workshops flew by quickly, and before we knew it, it was the end of March and we were rehearsing in the ballroom where the festival ball would be taking place. The festival ball took place at the Sheraton Waikiki, the flagship hotel of the several Sheratons throughout Waikiki, and one of the largest hotels in Waikiki. The ballroom was among the largest in the hotel, with high ceilings, and chandeliers with red accent lighting. The stage was very prominent at the back of the room (and also very wide), and draped with black curtains. It was simple, and even more minimalist than the previous year, but very elegant for the most elegant and grand of Cherry Blossom Festival events.

Now, before I continue any further, I'm sure you're thinking to yourself, "yes, this story is nice, but where are the pictures of the girls?!" Unfortunately my friends, I didn't bring my camera (which has now been replaced with an older version of the model I formally owned) to any of the events or practices, but you can see the contestants on the Cherry Blossom website here

As you can imagine, the girls looked stunning for the evening of the ball. Each of the girls was decked out with professionally done hair and make-up, and had a lineup of western formal evening gowns and Japanese Kimono to wear for the evening. However, despite looking so beautiful, the girls were nervous (and rightfully so given the lineup of things they had ahead of them for the evening). So, before we got on stage for Sakura Mikoshi, I held a short focus session as I had done one year prior to calm the girls and get them mentally prepared for the big evening ahead of them.

After a wait (which seemed like forever) we finally got on stage, the lights went up, the announcer began his introductory speech, and we began the piece. Despite having only had 10 practices to learn and perform the piece, despite their nervousness, despite all of the things that were running through their minds, despite the crazy club-esque lighting going on, and even despite a couple dropped sticks (which were recovered very well), the girls performed beautifully. Everything came together with so much energy and enthusiasm that I can really only say as their teacher that I was proud of them for what they accomplished in such a short time.

It was great getting to know the girls over the course of the 10 weeks, and really see them for than just a pretty face, but as deep people with great ambitions and cute, unique personalities. Its unfortunate that only a select number of them can make it to the court (because I'm rooting for all of them), but for their effort and growth, and I think they all won.

Its been great getting to go through this process a second time, and it'll definitely be something that I'll remember for some time to come (...and not just because I was working with pretty girls...although that does help jog the memory). Congratulations to the new Cherry Blossom Court! ..and for my readers...sorry for the lack of pictures. =P

I'm Aliiiiiive!!!!!!!

2008-03-23T01:11:00.001-07:00

Yes folks, this blog has just been resurrected from the grave like a zombie out of (insert favorite zombie movie title here). Its been a long, long, looooooong, time in coming, but this blog is out retirement and back in action like Rocky Balboa and Michael Jordon (but hopefully a better comeback than the previously mentioned names). So enough with the analogies, what's been going on since the last time I wrote?!

So...I'll do this in as brief a manner as possible. Which may or may not be possible given that its really hard to put a whole year's worth of events into a single (hopefully concise) post. But here's my attempt:

Since my last uneventful post, quite a bit has happened. I've acquired a moped out here in Hawaii, which has been a very very good investment. I purchased the vehicle from a store only a few blocks toward Waikiki from our house for $650. Unfortunately, after purchasing the $120 lock (because moped theft is one of the highest crimes in Hawaii), the vehicle registration, etc, etc, the cost of the machine went to somewhere around $800. After a few early problems, its been great! Its great to have a means of getting around the island. It provides an unbelievable amount of freedom and independence, even if I can't go on the freeway or go faster than 33 mph. =P

As you can probably guess, I've also played a whole lot of taiko since my last post. I'm a teacher of the Beginning II class at the taiko school here, and I also assist the Beginning 1 class that Sensei teaches. As far as performances go, I've been to quite a few places now. I've actually now been to every island in Hawaii except for two, one which used to be a military bombing site (and thus no one lives there), and the other you can only go to by invitation (and they only speak Hawaiian on this island). So...where have I been? Let's see...Oahu (I live here, so...duh), Kauai (beautiful place, rainiest spot on earth is here), Maui (great Chocolate factory here called "Maui Specialty Chocolates" and also a great youth taiko group called Zenshin Daiko [whose leader runs the chocolate factory]), Molokai (there's only one stop light on the entire island, famous for "sweet bread"), Lanai (two very, very, very exclusive hotels here. Bill Gates "rented" the island for his wedding...yes, the whole island), and the Big Island (has every major climate zone in the world, yes...even snow). I was actually just on the Big Island for the much referred to Big Island Tour that I went on last year. I was also on Maui for a short corporate gig, and on Kauai for less than 8 hours for two school performances.

KETE (Kenny Endo Taiko Ensemble) had a big concert in front of the Hawaii State Art Museum on Nov. 2, 2007, where we played a slew of 20 minute sets in a span of less than 3 hours. It was a great concert, and we even played one of my pieces, which you can view by clicking here .

We actually another big concert coming up on June 27th at the Hawaii Theater (big performance venue in Hawaii) that we'll be sharing with a group from LA called Taiko Project . It should be a great show with several new pieces, and a new arrangement of my 3 Sizzlin' Beets piece with...4 people!

I'll also be going on my first Mainland tour from April 20th - 28th in Ohio, Illinois, and Michigan! I'm really looking forward to the experience, and preparing as much as much as possible for the concerts we'll be doing over there. I'll hopefully have the chance to actually perform "Symmetrical Soundscapes" (you can view Taiko Project performing the piece by clicking here ), one of my favorite of compositions of Sensei's since I was a child. Its always been my dream to perform this stage, and I will hopefully have the opportunity to do so on this tour.

Outside of taiko, I spent a lot of time with activities related to a non-profit called Volunteers in Asia (VIA) . I spent the past two summers involved in a program called American Language and Culture (ALC), a really great language and culture exchange program for students from Taiwan and Japan. These students spend a month at Stanford living in the Stanford dorms and taking English and American culture classes, while Stanford students (or ex-Stanford students like myself) plan activities for them and act as "hosts". I visited students from my ALC experience in Taiwan and Japan in June last year for two weeks, and I spent my July and August participating in the program again as a senior staff member with my good friend David Wells. I'll actually be participating in the program again (which most people can't believe) for my third and final time this summer as a senior staff member again.

As far as work related activities are concerned, (which aren't terribly exciting), I've actually started my own business as a freelance graphic and web designer (so let me know if you need web or graphic design work done). Its great working for myself- I get to wake up at noon and go to bed at 4am. =P I also get to do every taiko activity out here possible (which is the whole reason why I came out here). The only problem is that I have to spend most of my waking hours working on projects when I'm not playing taiko (which makes the experience feel a lot like school), and I'm not really making any sort of regular income.

To assist the regular income problem, I actually started working as a part-time after school teacher at a local high school in Hawaii through the Pacific Asian Affairs Council (PAAC). I never, EVER thought I'd be a teacher (especially when I was still in school), let alone a high school teacher. I've always had a great deal of respect for teachers, but after being a "real" teacher I must say that I have infinitely more respect than I already had for all teachers out there. It is NOT easy work. And its quite stressful (even though I only teach on Mondays and Wednesdays!). You have to constantly think about the material that you're going to teach your class, and worry about the effectiveness of your teaching, and if the students are actually learning or being receptive of what you're teaching. The experience was really stressful for me at the beginning, but now that I've been doing this, its starting to get a lot easier. The experience is definitely a great learning experience for me though, and I have sooooooo much respect for teachers. So, so, so much respect.

Still with me over there? So that's what I've been doing and have been up to in a very, very small nutshell. My apologies for the lack of pictures. My camera was unfortunately lost on my last Big Island Tour, but I'll try to make more "visual" posts in the future for those of you who (like me) don't have the attention-span to stare at a page full of letters and words.

So...I'm back in action now!! Look forward to my next post on the 2008 Cherry Blossom Festival pageant ball! Yay for pretty girls!

This Blog Needs an Update

2007-05-12T18:19:00.000-07:00

Yes folks....this blog indeed needs an update. I would say that I've been super busy with things, which is partly true, but the other part is that I've also been super lazy. =P However, I do have lots of stories to share and exciting things to talk about, like my two sets of spring break visitors, my (now month-old) moped, my performance on Molokai, my trip to Stanford, my new job, and of course...the ever elusive...ever on-going post about my Big Island trip back in January. =P Don't worry, it'll all eventually be up here in very exciting, witty, and entertaining fashion! Keep checking back! :)

The Cherry Blossom Festival Ball

2007-04-02T17:35:00.000-07:00

Many months ago I started teaching taiko to the Cherry Blossom Girls as part of the Cherry Blossom Festival and for a performance they would be giving at the opening of the Festival Ball- a black tie affair where the girls would be decked out and the Cherry Blossom Court of 6 would be chosen.

The girls received 10 workshops that were lead by Kelsey, Yoko, myself, and sometimes Sensei- workshops that taught them the basics of playing taiko but were geared heavily toward preparing them for the opening number they would be playing for the festival ball. Kelsey, Yoko, and myself wrote a modified version of a piece called Mikoshi Daiko for the girls and named it "Sakura Mikoshi" in honor of the festival and the girls.

The workshops met on Wednesday evenings...at first just every other Wednesday, and then every Wednesday as the festival ball neared. It was great fun working with the girls and they made quite a bit of progress in those 10 weeks, especially in the last two weeks before their performance. At one point we (and the staff of the ball) were a little concerned about their progress, but they really stepped it up in the end, and like any college student, pulled it all together for the moment it all counted.

Which brings us to the Festival Ball itself.

Held in the Molokai ballroom of the Sheraton Waikiki- the flagship hotel of the numerous Sheratons throughout Waikiki- the event played host to hundreds of guests from around the islands, as well as the mainland, and Japan. The extremely high ceilings adorned with chandeliers coupled with the white tablecloth-laden tables, created a grand atmosphere for the grandest of the Cherry Blossom Festival events.

The stage created for the event was simple, but created a nice backdrop for the girls. Black curtains hung around the stage and along the wings, while contrasting silver branches held strings of silver origami cranes that danced over lights of red, yellow, and blue. A blue Kimono highlighted with a spotlight was laid out high above the stage and just below a large projection screen. There was quite a bit of lighting around the stage which changed colors depending on activity happening on stage and which girl was on stage. Overall, the presentation was quite nice.

That night the girls wore our blue dragon Happi with a pink hachimaki for the event while we wore a special set of costumes created by a famous designer in Hawaii that I have not only never seen before (and didn't know we had) but have only been worn a few times total. The costume was pretty neat looking, with very long MC-Hammer-esque pants and a sleeveless top with the KETE logo in gold in the center. The sides of the top were held together with two pieces of reddish-orange kimono fabric, creating a stark contrast against the black pants and top.

As one would expect, the girls were nervous. I was nervous for them. And if I were in their shoes, I probably would've been hiding in the bathroom. And for good reason.... They had quite an evening lined up ahead of them. Not only did they have to perform an art form they had only 10 practices to learn, but they also had to impress the judges with walks and speeches in Western and Japanese formal wear. All eyes were on them that evening, and to have that much attention on you for 5 hours is really nothing short of (as I would imagine) nerve-racking.

Before the performance, I had all of the girls focus (the same way we would in Stanford Taiko) to help calm everyone's nerves and get everyone in the correct mindset for the performance and the evening ahead. We stood in a circle, eyes closed, holding hands, taking deep breaths. I led the focus, by giving the girls a short, motivational speech about the importance of the evening and the taiko performance, and also how proud myself, Yoko, and Kelsey were of the girls for their progress over the past few weeks and how ready they were for the evening.

And the girls performed wonderfully. All of the worries of the previous weeks just went straight out the window when they went on stage. The girls, as my first taiko teacher Hongo Sensei would say, went for broke- performing with energy and purpose. In fact, I think the girls actually did a better job than KETE that evening. =P For our set, we played Yodan Uchi, a piece from the Oedo Sukeroku Daiko group in Tokyo. And while nothing disastrous happened, three people dropped their sticks during the performance (including myself). The crowd was also a little difficult, and not as responsive as I hoped they would be...which may or may not have been correlated with the fact that we dropped our sticks so many times.

After our performance we changed into nice clothes and watched the event from a table that was right up near the stage. We had to bring our nice clothes with us, and unfortunately the nicest thing I have is a pair of khaki's and a business shirt and tie, so I had my friend Brett (who was visiting me at the time from Arizona...more on that in another post) bring me a suit, shirt, and tie from home. All I had to do was provide the socks and shoes... Yes, that's all I had to do. And I screwed that up. Despite careful planning the night before and remembering to pack my shoes, I actually packed the wrong shoes because they were in little shoe bags. Instead of bringing my black shoes that I wear with slacks, I brought my brown shoes I wear with jeans. So...I was wearing my friend's nice gray suit, black shirt, and white tie with a pair of brown shoes that didn't match in the least bit.

Despite my mismatching shoes, the event was fun to participate in. Complete with a great meal, we also got to see the girls giving speeches and anecdotes about themselves in beautiful western evening wear, and even more beautiful Japanese Kimono. I'm normally not a fan of pageants, but I was particularly fond of this one because I cared about each of the contestants after having the opportunity to get to know them over the past few months. Each person wasn't just a pretty face, but a person that I knew (although not well) and wished the best for.

Unfortunately, knowing the contestants makes the final decisions on who makes the court simultaneously more joyous and painful. I was definitely happy for those who made the court, but also sad for those who didn't. Ultimately, however, the girls gave their best that evening, and as a friend and their teacher, that's really all I could ever ask for. They should definitely be proud of their accomplishments because in my mind, they all already won before the decisions were made.

I'm hoping to keep in contact with the girls after the event, because it's been great getting to know them, I would love to get to know them further. I suppose we'll see what happens...

This post has been a little shy on pictures (in fact...I had none because I forgot my camera), so I hope my elaborate story-telling painted the picture for you. =P

Da North Shore

2007-03-18T04:18:00.000-07:00

Wild, untamed, and vastly unpopulated, the North Shore is truly the picturesque island paradise envisioned by minds seeking a tropical escape. With it's astounding 40-foot waves during the winter, it's also heaven for elite surfers and casual onlookers. Divided from the bustling, urban, hotel and tourist-filled Honolulu by sprawling green mountains, the North Shore is really like being in another world. No Zippy's on every other corner (the Hawaii equivalent of Denny's), no plate lunch places on every street, no mess of hotels and tourists, no bars and late-night eateries, and quite frankly not many roads. However, pineapples, lush greenery, beautiful beaches, and astounding sites are plentiful.

But, my story of the North Shore begins in the most unlikely of places...a place that, if anything, is the antithesis of the North Shore. My story begins in the Ala Moana Shopping Centre between Waikiki and Downtown Honolulu. The massive shopping complex is the biggest (and probably most expensive) shopping center in Hawaii- complete with 3 floors of shopping ranging from Japanese department stores, to Macy's, to Armani and Gucci, and the fast-food of McDonald's to the fine-dining of Alan Wong's "The Pineapple Room". The size of the shopping center is quite massive and the number of Japanese tourists within the shopping center is even more incredible. But...i didn't come here to shop.

The largest mall in Hawaii and home to tourists from around the world, the Ala Moana Shopping Centre

Nope, I was there for taiko. And...actually, unless I was wearing a wig, I couldn't be in this performance because it was an all female performance for the Cherry Blossom Festival. I went as a roadie and to watch (something I don't do often enough) the performance with a new friend of mine by the name of Aya, who recently moved to Hawaii with her husband to open up a Tonkatsu (Pork Cutlet) restaurant in Waikiki. I actually met Aya through Kelsey and Kaoru (the one who sold me the fue) because Aya also plays taiko. In fact, Aya played taiko with the same group that Kaoru started playing with in the United States- St. Louis Osuwa Daiko.

All girls performance. First set of pieces, Oroshi, Shiraume, Matsuri (OSM for short), three pieces that are always played as a set.

It was great getting to watch a performance for once, and it's definitely quite different being the audience. All in all, (despite having to make some last minute changes to accommodate an equally last minute request for a shorter program) the performance went pretty well.

More OSM, a piece of the Oedo Sukeroku Daiko group in Tokyo.

Introduction of Yodan Uchi, another piece from Oedo Sukeroku Daiko that features solos played on both sides of the center drum. Sensei played with their performing group for several years when he lived in Japan.

Yodan actually means "four sides" in Japanese, so all four hitting surfaces are used in the piece.

Kirsten, a member of KETE (Kenny Endo Taiko Ensemble), soloing in the piece. This piece actually involves hitting both drums simultaneously.

Ai-chan (on the right) taking the final solo of the piece. I actually knew Ai-chan from when I was a kid because she played with another group in Hawaii that my LA group was really close with.

This part is called the "Bridge", and as you can see, it's aptly named.

The ending to the piece involves four people jumping around the center drum and changing directions. it's really cool to watch and it's definitely quite scary because it looks like people are always about to crash into each other.

So...from the hustle and bustle of the Ala Moana Shopping Centre, I went slightly north to Aya's apartment, where we would meet the other people going to the North Shore with us, Greg (member of the intermediate TCP classes), Matt (member of the beginning II TCP classes), Cara (member of KETE), Kelsey, and Yoko. Aya's apartment is actually in a high-rise on a hill overlooking downtown and the Waikiki hotels, so the view is pretty incredible. I stood on the balcony for quite awhile taking pictures and admiring the scenery.

Incredible view from Aya's apartment

Views of the Waikiki hotels from Aya's apartment

And now the real journey begins....but in the rain. What started off as a beautiful sunny day in Honolulu, turned into a monsoon as we headed out of Honolulu and north toward Wahiawa (where the pineapple plantations are) and eventually the North Shore. It was luckily only slightly monsoon-like on the North Shore, but still not the beach-perfect weather I envisioned (especially a downer because I was in my swimsuit).

Oh well...so the weather was kinda rainy, but that didn't stop the North Shore from impressing. First stop was Giovanni's, a shrimp truck (yes you read right...truck) that the North Shore is famous for. In fact, the North Shore is famous for many of these mobile shrimp providers, and especially the deliciousness (and garlickyness) that is the shrimp they serve. We ordered several massive plates (I actually shared a plate because I ate lunch only an hour and a half earlier) of garlicky goodness- each had 12 jumbo shrimp, two scoops of rice, and cloves of garlic everywhere! Despite being full from lunch, it was delicious! And I somehow still managed to eat in the double digits of shrimp.

The famous Giovanni's Shrimp Truck. The scribbles all over it are actually the names of people who partook and enjoyed the garlicky goodness

Greg and Aya about to enjoy their shrimp

Me and Cara fighting for a piece of garlic soaked deliciousness

Next stop, Cholo's, a Mexican restuarant known for their Margaritas. So, we partook in their specialty, each having a pretty exotic Margarita with some chips and salsa as an after lunch/dinner treat. To give you an idea of the Margaritas they had, I had a peach and strawberry margarita, Aya had a pineapple and lilikoi (passionfruit) margarita, and Yoko had a (prepare yourself) li hing mui margarita (li hing mui is a plum powder that Hawaiians basically put on almost anything). Pretty incredible and pretty delicious.

Enjoying some Margaritas at Cholos (which to my understanding is the Spanish term for "gangster"[?])

Up until this point, it had been raining pretty much non-stop, not always heavily...but never really stopping. However, after finishing our margaritas, the rain stopped and the clouds were beginning to clear, perfect timing for a most beautiful sunset. We drove to the beach to go watch the sunset, and we stopped at a beautiful and quiet beach well-known as a haven and resting spot for sea turtles. We made our way onto the beach surrounded by trees and coconut trees and were greeted by nothing other than...well..sea turtles!! Three of them...all sleeping on the beach.

Sea Turtles!!

Me, Aya, and Mr. Sea Turtle

This turtle had some kind of tracking device attached to his back. Kind of sad in a way, but I guess its so they can ensure their survival, they are endangered afterall.

Yoko and Kelsey enjoying the beach

A close look at our sleepy friend

So...with our new sea turtle buddies, we watched the sunset from the sandy shore. Actually...none of us actually sat down because we would get all sandy, and actually the sea turtles didn't watch the sunset with us because they were asleep. =P But we did watch the sunset, which was nothing short of beautiful. Glowing orange and casting a faint orange and yellow glow on everything. It was really amazing, and even more amazing to be watching this amazing sunset under the shade of coconut trees next to sea turtles!! Yes indeed, quite amazing.

Incredible sunset

I don't think words are necessary for this one.

Orange and yellow glows on everything.

beautiful colors from the beautiful sunset

Yup...

Paradise indeed.

From left to right: Kelsey, Matt, Yoko, Aya, Me, Greg, sunset, and of course...the sea turtle. By the way, it's a federal offense to touch a sea turtle so we couldn't take any pictures riding the turtle. =P

After watching the sunset..which unfortunately anti-climatically ended behind some clouds, we drove to Waimea beach, home of professional surf competitions and 40 foot waves. The big wave season is (also) unfortunately coming to an end, so the waves at Waimea beach didn't even come close to hinting the greatness that was only a few months before. In fact, the ocean was unbelievably calm! But I could see how the bay itself played host to surf competitions and best surfers in the world. As a looked at the bay from the highway which went above and around the beach under the waning moments of sunlight, I could picture the giant waves and crowds of people watching in amazement and awe at both the power of man and nature.

Waimea Bay is not only famous for it's surf, but also for a giant rock. Okay, okay, that sounds kinda dumb, but it's not just any giant rock, it's a giant rock that you jump off of into the ocean. And while that seems kinda crazy (especially given the height of the rock and how close it is to shore), the water in Waimea Bay gets very deep, very fast. In fact, it drops off like a cliff only a few feet from where the water hits the sand. It's a bit of a daredevil thing to do, and you have to muster up a lot of courage to do it, but I'm definitely all for the challenge.

I didn't take this picture, but this is THE rock at Waimea Bay

Unfortunately, however, it was getting pretty late, and I was so full of shrimp that if I did jump in, I probably would've sunk straight to the bottom without the slightest chance of being able to swim back up. So, I never did get to the put the swim trunks that I was wearing all day to use. :\ But, I did see some amazing sights and eat some great food. In a way, it seems almost absurd how much amazing stuff you see out here, but as my Uncle Bob put it (not actually my Uncle by blood, but), "In Hawaii you just see amazing things all the time." And you know what, he's right. You see amazing things all the time. Like the following:

I saved the best for last, this is my favorite...the money shot. Simply amazing

Officially a member of KETE

2007-03-17T00:45:00.000-07:00

This is gonna be a reeeeeally short post, but I just wanted to announce that I am now officially a member of the Kenny Endo Taiko Ensemble!! You have to be invited to be a part of Sensei's performing group by Sensei himself, and he'll only ask you if he thinks you're a capable player. Anyway, last week Sensei invited myself, Kelsey, and Yoko to become official members of his performing ensemble, an invitation we gladly accepted. So now I'm officially a part of Sensei's group! Quite an honor! Looks like my taiko career is off to a good start!

HLC 2

2007-03-08T14:53:00.000-08:00

So not long after my first visitor (in fact, the day my first visitor left), I had my second visitor to Hawaii...also from Japan, and also from the ALC program.

So Chika left on Monday last week, and my friend Yujiro arrived on...well...Monday. So, HLC 2 began right where HLC 1 ended, but this time with more participants because Yujiro was here with his college ceramics club. Unfortunately, I didn't have as much time to spend with my HLC participants because I had to go to work during the week and Yujiro left on Friday morning (5 am in the morning). But we did get together twice, once on Monday evening and again on Thursday, which I actually have off every week. I was able to go meet him down in Waikiki that afternoon and spend some time at the beach and along paradise.

me and Yujiro in Waikiki

Waikiki is only a 30 minute walk from my house, and an even shorter drive (about 10 minutes). It's really a whole different world down there. For one, there are a lot of Japanese...A LOT of Japanese in Waikiki. So much so that there are signs everywhere in Japanese, Japanese ads, and every person that works in every store speaks Japanese. It almost feels like being in Japan...except the pace of life is a lot slower and it's not quite as crowded (by Japanese standards). Waikiki is filled with vacationers, honeymooners, and fun-seekers, so the area has nothing but things aimed toward tourism and the people staying at the huge number of hotels along Waikiki beach. So, in way, it feels kinda like Las Vegas...but a tame (and much cleaner) Las Vegas. There are plenty of bars and clubs in the area, and all of the stores from DFS to Gucci, to Prada, and Armani are present in full force to get the tourists (mainly the Japanese ones) to spend their money. Something is going on basically every night because everyone there is on vacation, and as you'd expect in a tourist-filled area, prices are high and often unreasonable compared to other places on the island. Waikiki isn't really a place for "locals" to go, as you can probably imagine- just like the Strip in Las Vegas isn't exactly where Las Vegasians(?) go all the time either (I actually found that out from a friend who grew up in Vegas).

Yujiro's friend trying to look like a tourist...I think he succeeded quite well

But...given my in-between status of a local (because I live here) and a non-local (because I grew up on the mainland), I hung out in Waikiki with Yujiro. While there are better beaches and more beautiful places in Hawaii, to say that Waikiki isn't beautiful and isn't itself paradise is a far cry from the truth. Being that Waikiki is on the "low" end of the beach tier in Hawaii really just goes to show you how high the bar is set over here and how many awesome beaches they have. So, on my Thursday visit to Waikiki, I met Yujiro on the Japanese-tourist-filled Waikiki Beach and then went to Dukes, a bar and grill along Waikiki Beach, for lunch.

Relaxing at Duke's

I think Yujiro's enjoying paradise

It was great to relax in the semi-outdoor restaurant (it's covered but 3 sides of the restaurant don't have any walls) and sip on a nice (but pretty pricey) tropical drink. I really could feel a much slower pace of life as I sat there, and although I live here, it felt like I was on vacation. And while I sat there talking story with Yujiro, drinking my tropical goodness, and nibbling at a tuna melt sandwich, it suddenly hit me....I live in Hawaii. This is Hawaii. I live next to a vacation. And I began to realize how awesome that is- a 30 minute walk to a vacation. ...I'm not sure how much better it gets than that.

You could be drinking one of these too

Yujiro looking pretty pimp with my sunglasses and tropical drink in hand

But of course (and not to make you jealous) it does get better than Waikiki, and Hawaii has some pretty amazing things to see here. In fact, amazing things to see are quite the norm here, which in itself is pretty incredible. But to find out what those amazing things are, I'll have to leave you hanging until my next post. For now, I'll give you a hint...the North Shore.

P.S. Thank you to all of my HLC participants! It was awesome hanging out with you! I hope I get to see you again (either in Hawaii or in your own home country). For all you other prospective HLC participants, it's not too late to join. We have a rolling admission policy. =P

My First Visitor

2007-03-04T00:53:00.000-08:00

So, I had my very first visitor about a week ago!! And...she's not from the US...but from Japan!!! Yes folks, my first visitor was someone from a different country entirely! So in the spirit of the program I worked on this summer (American Language and Culture...or ALC for short) and met her in, I decided to dub her visit part of the HLC (Hawaiian Language and Culture) program. =P

Me and Chika at the Sheraton Princess Kaiulani (where she was staying)

As I mentioned above, I met my friend (her name is Chika) in the ALC program mentioned above. The ALC program is a culture and language exchange program that takes place on Stanford campus as part of the VIA (Volunteers in Asia) organization . Over 70 students from Taiwan and Japan are invited to participate in each ALC session (there are 2 sessions) for the month of August, where they live in the Stanford dorms, take English classes on Stanford campus, and go on field trips and participate in other events planned by the 8 Stanford hosts. I could go on and on about how awesome this program is, but that's an aside that isn't completely related to my topic- my visitor.

I gave the above aside to give you an idea of what I wanted to try and do for "HLC" during my friend's visit. Basically, I wanted to show my friend a good time in Hawaii minus the English classes (not to say that English classes aren't a good time). I was able to borrow a car for the weekend from a very generous friend, and thus was able to show Chika and her friend, Niyou, a tour of an island that I didn't really know myself. =P Not having a way to really get around ever since arriving here meant that I didn't really know what was in Hawaii other than the supermarket across the street from my house and the chapel where we practice in at Kapiolani Community College...neither of which make for a very exciting tour. Additionally, the only places I've been to outside of these places are the office I work at and various schools around the island- which also don't constitute an interesting tour.

So...after consulting my tourist guide to Hawaii, Google Maps, and the knowledge of my Hawaiian friends at Stanford, i was able to determine a suitable tour to the beautiful Hanauma Bay followed by lunch at Boots and Kimo's (strange name, I know), a great brunch place known for their Macadamia Nut, Banana Pancakes with Coconut Syrup. Mmmmmmm...

So at 9:30 am, I picked my friends up from their hotel and gave them each a lei to officially welcome them to the Aloha state. We then proceeded toward Hanauma Bay, a bay (duh) on the east side of the island that is a famous spot for snorkeling and seeing all manner of tropical fish. The bay was beautiful, with crystal clear water and a nice walk down from the cliffs above to the sandy (but also tourist-filled) beach below. We unfortunately didn't have a whole lot of time to spend there, so we didn't rent snorkel gear and instead watched fish from the shore (which was vaguely successful) and skipped rocks in the ocean. Overall a good time.

Beautiful Hanauma Bay

Yep...

Like I said, lots of tourists

Chika with her friend Niyou...who is wearing MY sunglasses. =P

Chika posing with the rock she is about to attempt to skip

In the motion of skipping a rock

Not sure why I look so angry in this picture

Ah...

and "ah..." again

Next leg of the trip, a nice drive up the Eastern shore of Oahu, passing more beaches, rocky cliffs, and...underwater caves! Yes folks, underwater caves. Of course...because the caves are underwater...you can't actually see them, but...the underwater caves on the rocky shore do have something exciting which I'll explain. The waves the pound the rocks on the side of the island gradually make underwater caves that keep eroding inside the rock from the force of water being pushed through them, until eventually the force makes a hole on the top of the rock. The result, is a geyser that juts out streams of water whenever a substantial wave hits the shore and forces water into the cave and out of the hole above. Its a neat site to see and was definitely attracting quite a few tourists at the spot we were at.

It's like Old Faithful...just not quite as faithful

The destination of our scenic drive was Kailua, a small town (all towns outside of Honolulu are small) that is home to the awesome breakfast place known as Boots and Kimo's. But, it was closed. Closed despite the sign outside the door saying, "Open till 2:30 pm." "We closed early for equipment maintenance," said the guy who was moving the waiting benches inside and cleaning up the tables when I asked him why they were closed. The worst part was that they were closing early for just THAT day. They were open till 2:30 the next day and even the following Saturday.

Although we didn't get to have the much-hyped macadamia nut, banana pancakes with coconut syrup (just writing that makes me hungry), I wasn't gonna let that ruin our empty-stomachs. So, we drove across Pali Highway through the jungle-filled mountains (also scenic) back into Honolulu and went to a great and famous Ramen shop called Gomaichi. This ramen store specializes in Tan Tan Mien, which is a soup base made with Japanese sesame seeds. My friends enjoyed the salty goodness, which we followed up with a trip to Cold Stone Creamery across the street. :)

Mmmm...Ramen

It was definitely great to see an old friend from Japan, and even nicer to know that the friends I made during the ALC program are really life-long friends that I'll continue to be in contact with and get together with when I'm eventually living in Japan. For all you mainland folks, you could be in these pictures on a beautiful beach somewhere making all of your friends jealous too. Make your reservations and apply to HLC today!

This could be you in this picture

A Brief Post But...

2007-03-02T18:28:00.000-08:00

So I realized that I've been pretty lazy about posting updates lately, and that's not to say that nothing exciting has been happening in the past two weeks...in fact, I've had quite a few exciting things happen, and I've been so busy with these other things that I just haven't had a chance to post any updates about them.

So, just to give you a preview of things to come we have (pretend this in the movie trailer voice) a trip to the beautiful Hanauma Bay, Adam's first visitors, a trip to the North Shore filled with sea turtle sightings and garlic shrimp, and... the much-anticipated, long-awaited Big Island tour. Of course these stories will be accompanied by more pictures and plenty of witty and hilarious commentary for your enjoyment. =P

Stay tuned folks...

Working Woes

2007-02-16T00:34:00.000-08:00

Ah...work. Making money to spend it on other goods and services to fuel the economy- The ultimate goal of every responsible person in modern society. It is the culmination of years and money spent on pre-education, education, higher education, and everything in-between. It is the crowning achievement of our work through the days of our youth, and it is what the majority of our lives will be spent doing. Ah...work.

...but if my current job is the culmination of my Stanford years and my $180,000 education, then shoot me now. Unfortunately, because I'm just starting my taiko career...it's not quite off the ground yet. In fact...it's far from that. I'm not really getting paid yet for what I do, so I actually have to have a "real" job on the side to support myself until taiko can be my means of living. And that real job is quite a source of anxiety in my life.

I'm currently working at a law office in downtown Honolulu, and I thank Yoko (not sarcastically) for getting me this job (she works there too). The three lawyers that work in the office are all young and (for the most part) friendly, and the work itself isn't hard...it's just mundane. It's boring. It's repetitive. It's tedious. There are lot of things I have to remember (and I'm always forgetting) with every task I'm given. Copies need to be made and then initialed by the lawyers, and then copied again for filing. But only certain copies get the stamp that says, "file copy", and not all files get hole-punched to be filed away. Some copies get sent out and some copies get scanned and emailed. And for all the copies I make, I need to put in the times at which I made the copies for record-keeping. But when I stamp, email, send, fax, or file the wrong copy, I ruin the whole system. I'm sure you're having a ball just reading about all of these copies.

Work does consist of a lot of copying, but I also answer the phone and deal with crazy people (I work for divorce lawyers) that have such messed up problems that they really ought to be looking into the services of someone other than a lawyer. Ah yes...work.

So...in word, work kinda...sucks. But it is paying the bills, and to be honest, it has given me such an increased appreciation for taiko and for the pursuit of my non-conventional, currently-non-paying job. Perhaps some people like filing, making copies, and dealing with crazy people, but it's not for me- enlightening me more to how important it is to find a job you love. Do something you love, because having a job you truly enjoy makes for an enjoyable life. Work is, afterall, what we do for most of our adult lives. Why spend most of your life doing something you don't enjoy?

Impulse Buy

2007-02-11T02:14:00.000-08:00

So in my last post, I mentioned a workshop with the principle fue player of Kodo, Kaoru Watanabe. Now, I mentioned him, my workshop with him, and my interest in buying a fue. However, what I failed to mention was that he was also selling fue from a very good fue maker in Japan...

Now before I go any further, I know that you may be asking yourself, "What is a fue?" And that's a good question. A fue, is a Japanese bamboo flute, which is actually known as a shinobue (I believe "fue" is an abbreviation). The shinobue comes in a variety of sizes, each with a number on it. The higher the number, the higher the pitch. The most commonly used shinobues with taiko are sizes 6 and 8. The 8 happens to be in a C major scale, while the 6 is a whole step below that. Each number is actually a half step difference between the shinobue's with the next incremental and decremental numbers. Now, I may sound like I know what I'm talking about with all of this music talk, but I honestly don't really know much about notes, scales, and all that jazz. (no pun intended)

So...back to my story. Because I wanted to learn how to play the shinobue, or fue, I was completely set on purchasing one from Kaoru. However, the fue he had for sale were not cheap. The cheapest was $140, and they went up pretty high in price. Now, most fue that you find in Japan range between $50 and $100, so the "cheap" fue that Kaoru had were still great instruments. But of course, I wanted better. I was actually originally set on purchasing the $140 fue, but after hearing the difference between the $140 fue and the next level up, it was hard to justify the purchase of the cheaper fue. Additionally, I wanted to have a really good fue so that I wouldn't have to buy one in the future. I wanted one good one that would last me (hopefully) forever.

So, I went for the gusto.

After a lot of talking, trying out the different fue, and blowing the only two notes I could make into every size 6 fue he had, I subtracted $300 from my checking account, and I now have a very expensive piece of bamboo with holes in it sitting on my bed. =P Impulse buy indeed.

Now I really have NO excuse not to learn how to play the fue. I have a really nice one, and I also have a limping bank account. Indeed, it's time to practice.

Note: For those of you who I informed of my possible visit to Stanford for the Kenny Endo concert on the last weekend of February, that won't be happening now because the money that would've been used for the flight ($300) went to the purchase of this instrument instead. Sorry about that. And no, I did not choose a piece of bamboo over you. =P

Big Island Tour Update Coming Soon

2007-02-08T02:14:00.000-08:00

So it's been awhile since my last post, and that is largely because I wasn't around for 5 days. In fact, I was quite far from any sort of internet access because I was on the Big Island of Hawaii (which is named, Hawaii). I was there not for vacation, but for a 5-day performance tour, which had a whooping 9 performances and 4 workshops on two sides of the island packed into a very short time. It was tiring, but fun at the same. I started writing my epic post describing my tour, and I reeeeally wanted to have that posted before any other post to keep things in Chronological order, but I realized that the amount of time it's going to take me to finish that post would just mean that you guys won't have anything to read for quite awhile. =P So, I caved in, and decided that I'll have smaller postings while I work on the big one, and just put that up when it's done.

So, things are getting busier over here. And it's actually not for taiko (unfortunately), it's with work. Yes, I finally have a real job of sorts, and I just started three days ago. I'm working at a law office, and it's in fact the same place that Yoko works at. I work part time (just three days a week on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday), and I honestly I couldn't take much more than that. My work consists of such enjoyable pleasures as filing, answering phone calls, making copies, shredding documents, and mailing documents. Joy. The saddest part is that I began contemplating to myself on the FIRST day how much of this sort of work I could stand before just totally losing it. Honestly, after having experienced this great taiko lifestyle for the past month (where I had no real job, and thus also no real income =P ) it's harder to entire the "normal" world. Especially doing this kind of work.

Despite the work being...well...(to put it bluntly) not fun, the three lawyers in the office (my bosses) are all really cool. They're all pretty young (probably in their mid thirties), and they're also really chill. They're relaxed about work, and even about showing up to work. They're very accommodating to my crazy taiko schedule and all of the performances I have, which is a real plus. They also buy me lunch sometimes too! =P

As far as taiko things are concerned. Taiko has actually been quite relaxed this week. We have two performances on the weekend (one being for the Pro Bowl), and Sensei has a concert on Friday with guests from Japan. I'll be helping out with the concert, which promises to be pretty awesome. It's being held at a small venue called the rRed Elephant (yes it has two r's in it), which seats about 150 people or so.

Flyer I designed for the concert

I actually had a fue (bamboo flute) workshop with one of the artists who will be playing in the concert on Friday, Kaoru Watanabe. Now, if you know me, I can't play a flute of any kind to save my life. However, I really want to learn, and since he was offering lessons for any skill level, I thought I'd give it a shot. So, I had my first lesson, and I was actually able to make sounds out of the instrument (definitely better than any of my previous attempts).

I had to sit seiza (the uncomfortable way of sitting where your knees are touching the floor and the lower part of your legs are under your thighs) during the whole lesson, and my legs not only fell asleep, but actually lost motor control and all nerve sensations because they had absolutely no blood in them. =P In fact, I could not physically move my left foot for several minutes after the lesson.

I learned that there are a lot of nuances to playing the fue in my lesson (including how to sit seiza for a long time), and although I'm terrible at it, and I've never done it before, I'm excited to learn and try it. In fact, I'll be purchasing a fue from Kaoru (a very nice one) so that I can practice on my own and really get proficient with the instrument. It's a way of putting myself in a position where I'm certainly not the strongest, and I'm willingly embracing that challenge- a challenge that will make me a better taiko player and a better musician.

And...Something that WON'T Make you Jealous

2007-01-26T21:14:00.000-08:00

Note to self...remember to always clean out the rice cooker of all the leftover rice after each meal.

So not everything is perfect in paradise, and here's one. In order to get all of those lovely palm trees and lush green mountains everywhere, there has to be a lot of rain here. And it rains quite often in Hawaii. And of course, lots of rain means lots of humidity. Lots of humidity means more moisture for fun little buddies like mold, mildew, etc, etc. (you may see where this is going).

So we forgot to empty out the rice cooker after one meal, and before dinner the other day, we decided to make some rice. Yoko put me in charge of making the rice, so like any other person would do, the first thing I did was open the rice cooker...

..big problem...

Instead of being greeted by a clean stainless steel surface, I was met with a monstrosity so horrible not even the contents of Pandora's Box (for those of you familiar with your Greek Mythology) could compete. As soon as I opened the lid, a poisonous fume exploded into the air like I was in the movie Backdraft. I quickly clammed the lid shut on the Mr. Hyde of leftover rice, a sight that looked like a concoction of broccoli, mashed potatoes, blue cheese, and Fido's fur- ingredients I don't recall being in our last pot of rice. The monster had nearly quadrupled it's original leftover rice size, and I swear if I had left the lid off long enough, the moldy corpse of our once scrumptious starch would've been alive enough to jump out of the pot and assimilate me into it's rotting mass. In short, it was disgusting.

So...not all is perfect in paradise. For those of you in much drier parts of the world, be thankful that your leftovers won't turn into monsters breathing poisonous gas. =P

(Note: I didn't take any pictures because the sight of the beast would've turned you into stone or cracked the lens of my camera. Believe me, it is for the better, and for your own safety)

The Post to Make you Jealous

2007-01-25T01:45:00.000-08:00

So, as the title says, this post is here to make you jealous. I'll let the pictures do the talking rather than my words (cause my words aren't gonna make you jealous). Anyway, these were taken this past weekend on a trip to Diamond Head Beach (near where we practice taiko), and just east of Waikiki. Me, Yoko, and Grover (Yoko's boyfriend who was in town for the weekend), spent the afternoon relaxing, playing in the water, and doing all manner of beach-related fun things. Enjoy and be envious. =P

I don't think this one needs any words

You enjoying paradise Yoko? Yeah I am too

No paradise would be complete without these

Exposed reef at low tide

Close look at the reef

Water running through a reef

Water draining out of a reef after a wave

Nature's Fury

Man and his best friend

I've got my thumbs up for a reason

The happy couple, can't you tell?

Awww

Paradise wouldn't be complete without the obligatory jumping picture

Obligatory jumping picture #2 (Um...Grover, why aren't you jumping?)

Yoko looking pensive

Fishing at Sunset

Leaving the Surf

Talkin' bout the big one

Jealous yet?

I'm just gonna say, wish you were here.

Cherry Blossom Girls

2007-01-25T00:30:00.000-08:00

So, paradise just keeps getting better and better. I found out very recently that myself, Kelsey, and Yoko (the three fellowship recipients) will be leading taiko workshops for Hawaii's Annual Cherry Blossom Festival. Now...the important thing is who these workshops are for...they're for the Cherry Blossom Festival pageant contestants!! Yes, that means I get to be with a group of fine young ladies (if you'd like to see them, click here ) in a series of workshops teaching them how to play taiko for a performance they are doing at the opening of the Cherry Blossom Festival Ball, where one of them will be crowned queen of the event. We'll be composing a simple song for them, and be teaching them the song and the basics of playing taiko over a series of 9 workshops (the first of which was this evening) up until the event at the end of March. Normally Endo Sensei leads these practices, but the responsibility was given to us. Believe me, I'm not complaining in the least bit. :)

So, the first workshop was tonight (each is an hour and a half long), and it was fun getting to teach them. I definitely enjoy teaching and seeing other people have fun doing what I enjoy doing so much (especially if they're cute girls. =P ). Most of them seem to be enjoying themselves, and although they feel and look a little awkward now, they'll hopefully all be comfortable with what they're doing by the end of these workshops. I'm definitely eager to see how this all turns out, and to see what we can accomplish until their performance.

And NO, I'm not allowed to date any of them until after the Cherry Blossom Ball. =\ And NO, that's not the reason why I volunteered to lead these workshops anyway. =P

A short post, but if this isn't making you jealous, my next post will...

On (brief) Tour in Kauai

2007-01-18T20:17:00.000-08:00

So it's only been a week since I got here, and I've already been in 6 performances, one of which was a full-length concert!!! I've learned so much since coming here- including a whole slew of new pieces and arrangements to pieces I've played before. And, certainly the biggest highlight of my time here thus far has been going on tour (even though I just got here) in Kauai!!!

I mentioned in my last post that I received confirmation that I'd be going on the brief performance tour on Kauai...Well one thing that I failed to mention was that I'd be leaving two days after writing that post. So, that meant I had a lot of learning to do so I could participate in the concert (yes a full-length concert) that would be taking place there. The two day tour would start on Wednesday morning, and there was one...ONE practice before then on Tuesday evening.

I spent most of Tuesday afternoon studying notes on the possible pieces that I'd play in on the tour, and I was actually able to "learn" two new parts before practice Tuesday night. I put learn in quotes because I didn't really learn the parts per se, which was evidenced by the practice later that evening where I botched up all of the new parts in the one chance I had to play them. In a way, I feel like I'm just cramming for an exam (a fun exam mind you) where I don't really know the material at all and about to fake my way through the entire thing. It's pretty crazy, and quite stressful in many ways, but I am learning a lot and I definitely want to do my best in everything taiko-related.

So after my one practice session, we went to Sensei's house (Kenny Endo's house) to pack up the equipment for the trip. Practice ran late, and packing ran even later. I didn't get home until after 1 am, and after that I still had to work on putting together instructions for the lighting for a full-length concert that we were having on Kauai. Interestingly enough, I got put in charge of the lighting earlier that evening at practice. So, I was up until 4 am working on the lighting details and I had to get up the next morning at 7. Believe me, when I got up the next morning...I definitely was not a happy camper.

The flight to Kauai was really short, only 23 minutes. Ai-chan, another member in the group told me the good side of the plane to sit on to get a good view of Kauai as we began landing, and I was able to take some pretty nice pictures of the island on our approach to the airport.

Hello Kauai!

Indeed lots of green on this little island

We got in to the (very small) airport, and got rental vans to haul around some of our equipment and the group. Carol (don't know her last name), who was our main contact on Kauai and the person who setup the main concert we were putting later that evening (which I found out was only set in stone a month prior to our arrival), met us at the airport and helped load some of the larger equipment (including a very large Odaiko and stand) in her van. She also recommended a place for us to get lunch near the airport. (We got lunch, but I was so tired that my stomach wasn't awake yet, so I barely was able to eat, and my lunch ended becoming part of my dinner).

At the airport, we split up into two groups, one which went to check-in at our hotel (the Kauai Inn), and other went to go pick up some drums that we would be borrowing from Taiko Kauai, a local taiko group on the island. Kelsey, myself, and Sensei went to pick up the taiko on the west side of the island at a Buddhist Church where the group practices.

I'm gonna tell you right now that they don't call Kauai the Garden Island for nothing. It's green and it's really beautiful.
Coming from LA, green is a really foreign color. Brown is more of an LA color- it's color the landscape, the buildings, the sky... Kauai was so green and very jungle-like at times. The mountains, like those on Oahu, are also very green, and in some respects even more so (if that's even possible). Kauai actually has the rainiest place on earth, which I could spot because it was a mountain top that was continuously covered by gray clouds my entire time on Kauai. =P

greeeen!

Paradise Baby!

We arrived at the Buddhist church and selected the drums that we would use, all of which were made by members of the group, and thus had their own personalized looks to them. Some of the drums had little carvings in them, such as a gold gecko on one, a family crest on another, and some of the stands even had hibiscus flowers painted on them. Very Hawaiian. We met the group's leader, Ray (I don't remember his last name either), who actually is very accomplished carpenter. He built many of the groups drums, and even built his own house and 90% of the furniture in it!!!

Picking up some drums with Sensei

We spend most of the afternoon prepping for the concert, including doing sound checks, spiking (marking where the drums would be for each set with small pieces of tape), and running through some of the songs. Yeah...there's not a whole lot to tell about that.

Deciding which drums to use

Unpacking the equipment

Figuring out how to transition between pieces

Discussing the nuances of a piece

Sensei taking a moment to rest

The concert itself actually went pretty well despite my serious lack of preparation. I didn't have any huge screw-ups in pieces I was in, and the solo I performed in Yodan Uchi (a piece where you hit two different drums simultaneously) was well received by the crowd (I got applause during my solo =) . Carol even commented that I was like Spiderman during my solo....which I'm not sure is necessarily a good thing. I wasn't exactly sure how to receive that comment.

There were a lot of people that talked with me after the concert, and the wife of one couple I met said that her maiden name was Toda! She said that she had never met another Toda before and was wondering if we were distant relatives. She took a picture with me because she said that I looked a lot like her grandfather. Hmmm...I may have relatives in Hawaii.

After packing up most of the equipment, we headed out to our hotel for some well-deserved rest. The hotel was actually in a strange area because you had to go past a very large recycling center to get there. I was a little worried about what this hotel would be like, but it actually turned out to be not too shabby. Large rooms, pool (which I didn't get to enjoy), nice landscaping with coconut trees all over... Definitely felt good to shower and sleep after a very long day.

...But, my rest didn't last long. After about 5 hours of sleep, I had to get up at 6:00 am (I actually woke up at 6:35) to make a 6:45 meeting time to prep for our next two performances the next day. The performances were just me, Kelsey, Yoko, and Sensei, and they were lecture demonstrations at two schools on Kauai. Even though our itinerary said that we were supposed to be at the school at 7:30, Sensei wanted to eat breakfast beforehand, and we actually were eating breakfast at the time we were supposed to be at the school! That definitely made for an interesting experience because we arrived at the school 25 minutes before the show started- which meant that we only had 25 minutes to unload the drums, setup the drums, and change.

Now, coming from LA, I definitely haven't experienced what it's like to live in a small town. I definitely discovered the small town syndrome while in Hawaii at the place we ate breakfast at because our waitress had gone to the concert! Even other random people in the restaurant would come up to us and say they went to the concert. It was pretty amazing, and in a way it makes you feel kinda famous because people know about what you and what you did. Kinda weird...

As a performing artist, I really thought I would be a starving artist, however, it's been anything but that thus far. Before and after both school shows that day, I had some kind of meal. by the time it was 2:00, I had already eaten 3 meals!! All I can say is...that's pretty awesome. =P

The performances themselves went well, although Sensei was getting sick and so he lost his voice. So, we actually gave the lecture parts and he did more of the demonstration. It was pretty amusing to hear him try to tell us what we would talk about because he was so limited on words. He would say things like, "Yoko....Kabuki. Adam...audience participation." At times his voice was so inaudible that I just didn't understand what he was saying, and he would have to repeat himself. Of course, that didn't help his voice any.

A little gift from one of our school shows

Our brief Hawaii tour came to an end with our 4:00 flight back to Oahu. Despite being exhausted from waking up really early that day and performing twice, we still had to go taiko practice in the evening....and then after that, I had to get up early today to go to another performance. *phew*

As you can see, my schedule has been hectic; and that really is the best way to describe it. I've played taiko almost everyday I've been here. If it's not practice, it's a performance- lecture demonstrations at various schools, kick-off events, commemorative events...the list goes on and on. In a way, I really am beginning to experience what it's like to live the "professional" taiko lifestyle. It's busy and it's tiring. Gigs meet early in the morning, and many times, and you really have to rely more on your ability as a performer to take over during a performance because you may not be comfortably prepared for what you're about to do, but you have to do your best to (at the very least) pretend that you are comfortable with what you're doing and that you do know what's going on...even if you have no clue what you're playing (which has already happened to me on more than one occasion). I remember at my second performance, which was for the University of Hawaii's Centennial Celebration, another performer in the event was talking to me as I was getting dressed. I told her that I was nervous about my parts because I wasn't well-aquainted with them and they were in songs I hadn't really learned yet. In response, she told me, "When you go out there, everything will be okay. You're a performer, and when you get on stage, your performer instincts will just take over. You won't even have to think about anything. You'll be fine." I'm really beginning to realize the truth behind those words with so many performances and learning so many new parts. I have to rely on my instincts as a performer, and although preparation is important, being a performer is as important, if not more so.

This has been another novel-esque post, but I assure you that these things will start getting shorter during my stay (mainly because I'll start getting lazy). I just want to leave you with a little taste of paradise with my last picture. I took this on my outing to Waikiki this evening. Enjoy, and much Aloha!

Don't you wish you were here?

And So it Begins...

2007-01-15T18:00:00.000-08:00

Hawaii. Some call it paradise, some call it a vacation spot... for me, it is all of these things, and in addition to that, it is now home. Now that I've officially graduated from Stanford University (receiving confirmation of my degree conferral through email), packed up my things in my room, moved out of my room, and purchased a one-way ticket to Hawaii, I've now moved to beautiful Honolulu, Hawaii- a place which I'll be calling home for at least the next year or so.

And so it begins...

Now in case you don't already know, I've decided to pursue taiko as my career. Not exactly a money-making career, which comes as a shock to many who know I come from Stanford and with a degree in Symbolic Systems- one of the highest paid majors right out of Stanford (and also one of the least known majors). Believe me, it's not easy to pursue a performance art as your career, and it's definitely not easy to tell your parents that you want to do something that's gonna make you broke, especially after graduating from Stanford. My reason for pursuing taiko is really quite simple. I love it. I love it more than you could possibly imagine, and the joy I receive from other people loving taiko after one of my performances, especially if they've never seen taiko before, is really quite unimaginable. So, Hawaii is the beginning of my taiko career. I applied for a year-long fellowship with a group called the Taiko Center of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii under the direction of Kenny Endo, one of the most renowned taiko artists in the United States, and guess what? I got it! (Cause if I didn't get it, I wouldn't have a story to tell). So, back to the story...

The journey to Hawaii on my $130 one-way flight on Hawaiian Airlines began with a rough start. I brought three successively smaller rolling suitcases with me, one of which ended up being 10 pounds over the allowable weight limit. I ended up stuffing a bunch of books from that suitcase into my carry-on, and paying the $25 oversize fee for my (after removing the books) 70 pound bag. After saying goodbye to my parents and heading to the gates, I made the mistake of putting my boarding pass in with the rest of my stuff through the conveyer belt at the the security check. So...when the guard at the metal detector asked to see my boarding pass, all I could tell him was that I had sent it through with my carry-on items. He subsequently made a face, and told me to stand aside, where I stood for the next 10 minutes until another security guard happened to see my boarding pass on the other end and asked who it belonged to. Waiting at the gate wasn't much better. There were so many people swarmed around the entrance that there weren't enough seats. So, people were sitting and sleeping all over the floor with luggage everywhere, and everything in general chaos. I felt like I was in the airport of a third-world country. I took a seat on the floor near the boarding entrance thinking that I could get a head-start on everyone else when they called my section of people, but instead, they called my section of people and by the time I got my things together, the line already stretched beyond where I was standing. So...instead of being the first person to get on, I was the last.

Yep...lots and lots of people.

there are people sleeping behind me. I took this picture from the floor.

So far so bad...and I'm not even on the plane yet. The ride over wasn't terrible...but wasn't great. I luckily had reserved the window seat, but unluckily sat next to a rather large man who took his space and most of mine. As a result, I was confined to a single pose the entire 5 and half hour flight over, else I'd be rubbing elbows with him. However, we did talk during our one meager meal on the flight, and we was a really nice man...just...rather large.

Beautiful sunset over my final glimpses of the mainland. Goodbye Mainland!!

With all of these events happening, going to paradise doesn't seem very pleasant....and it wasn't it. But, I eventually did make it to Hawaii with all of my baggage (thankfully), and I got picked up at the airport by Chizuko Endo, the wife of the Sensei (teacher) I will be training with for the next year. Chizuko took me to the practice space, an old chapel on the backside of Diamond Head (for those of you from Honolulu, this should mean something to you), and I watched the Cherry Blossom Festival Queen Candidates having a workshop with my teacher, Kenny Endo. I am indeed in paradise.

Afterwards, Chizuko gave me a short tour of the area, and took me to my new home in Honolulu- Yoko and Kelsey's apartment. Both Yoko and Kelsey are fellow fellowship recipients (what a mouthful) and were nice enough to let me stay with them, at least for now. I'm living in the living room (how fitting), and on that first night we completely rearranged the furniture to give me a private space and separate the "living room" and "kitchen" portions of the room from my "room".

The apartment is not too bad. There are 2 bedrooms, one rather narrow bathroom, and a large living room. The living room contains the kitchen area as well as my "room". The landlord actually lives upstairs (his name is Andy), and he's a really nice guy (he gave us champagne on my second evening in the house). We have WiFi internet which Andy pays for and free utilities (Andy pays for that as well). There's also a washing machine downstairs in the house, as well as a cute little BBQ outside with chairs and a table.

There are...however...some unwanted guests (the occasional roach and gecko), which get caught in the "Trap-A-Roach" traps we have scattered about the house. Other than these buggers, things aren't bad in my new home.

As far as the rest of paradise is concerned...the weather is warm. It's consistently 80 degrees here and only goes down to about 70 at night. It rains at some point almost everyday, not in downpours like in California, but for a few minutes or even just a couple of seconds in light showers. Often times the sun will be completely out when it rains, and it makes for almost daily rainbow sightings.

I've been to the beach once so far, and they are just as I remembered them being from my trip several years back with Stanford Taiko- white sand, clear water, and big waves. It's beautiful. There's always a nice breeze at the beach, and there are postcard-esque scenes everywhere- light breezes causing the palm trees to gently sway and waves of white foam crashing against the sand. I've been fortunate enough to go snorkeling and kayaking on my second day here with my roommate Kelsey and her father (who is visiting the area). Just simply awesome experiences all around.

I'm sorry I don't have any pictures to show you, but I will get some up when I get a chance. I want to get them up as quickly as I can so I can make all of you jealous. hehe.

But of course I didn't come here for the beach (believe it or not), or the waves, or the ocean, or the island breeze, I came here for taiko. As far as the taiko side of things are concerned, I've already performed twice (small parts, but still twice), and in my second performance I played auxiliary instruments for pieces I don't even know. =P I've actually only had one practice so far which I didn't really participate in because the practice was for a concert that the group will have on Kauai later this week (Which I just found out moments ago that I'm participating in). We have practices on Mondays, Thursdays, and Sundays, and no practice is more than 2 and half hours, making it a little shorter than practices with Stanford Taiko. It definitely isn't less of a time commitment than Stanford Taiko, however, because there are more performances as well as classes to teach and equipment to upkeep. Although I haven't been to a real practice yet, I hear that pieces need to be learned on one's own time. So...I need to start studying up so I can be ready to perform.

Sensei (Kenny Endo) is a nice and funny guy. He's so famous and respected in the taiko community that (for taiko players at least) it creates this amazingly intimidating aura around him. However, he's very down-to-earth, and downright quirky at times. Yesterday, we were performing a yearly cleaning of the practice space and somehow he got his feet trapped in one of the super sticky rat traps lying around the space. I saw him in the doorway shaking his legs to no success trying to get off the rat traps that were stuck on each of his feet. Sensei also puts you into parts of songs he thinks you'll be capable of doing, regardless of you having even heard the song before or not. So, at the second performance, I was thrown into 3 parts about 10 minutes before the performance. Yes...I have lots of work to do.

It's scary to be just thrown into parts you've never played before or pieces you've never heard before, but in the end, it's these things that make you stronger. If I ever want to get better, I need to put myself in the position where I'm not the strongest...where I'm least comfortable. In the end, that's what will make me a better taiko player. So...even though it's pretty darn scary to be thrown into something you've never done before, it's really a challenge you should take. I'm hoping to embrace those challenges in the coming year with an open mind, a beginner's mind...