Most Auspicious Aficionado of Outdoor Onsen

  



Zenkoji Temple in Nagano

So I descended from the mountainous terrain of rice fields of the northern countryside where my world was pretty much off the radar…. no cell phone or wireless connection and my daily concerns centered around breakfast sencha tea and enjoying the sensation of tiny flakes of snow melting on my nose and forehead while submerged to my neck in the warmth of an outdoor onsen. 
I was a bit surprised to find that I would have limited to no wireless access in the Tokyo area either, but I was also too relaxed to care.  Besides, the paper weight called laptop that fits in my purse is shiny and attractive. 


Osaka Jo Koen


I have a friend, Natsuki , who owns a dance studio in Tokyo and over the weekend I had the opportunity to teach 2 Haitian dance workshops.  There's a community of drummers in the Tokyo area who study Haitian music and they came out to play for the classes.  Watanabe, Gaku-san arranged the class schedule and all of the percussion.  Tanoshikatta!! It was incredibly fun….  There are several kissatens in and around the Tokyo named Caffe Haiti, one is off of Omote-Sando near Harajyuku station.  They serve coffee drinks and Japanese style curry rice, but are adorned with Haitian art and pictures of drums painted with veves.

I don't know what is more shocking, that gas is now cheaper than a can of milk tea from a vending machine or that I came into contact with Manchester United fans on the Yamanote Line the other day.  It's true, there they were with those large soccer scarves that read "UNITED TILL I DIE." Does anyone think that it's a coincidence that I'm here at the same time as the FIFA Club World Cup? (not THE World Cup, but the World Cup of regional club teams)  I nonchalantly moved to another car, not so much to avoid being associated with a rowdy group of foreigners, but more so to avoid anyone getting confused in thinking that I'm a Manchester United fan.   I caught the Man U – Gamba Osaka (love them!) match on TV from an izakaya the other night.  Gamba Osaka lost 5-3, but the match frickin' rocked!

   
 

The Drummers



My Dance Class