web site

Nothing to see here, just linking to my web site, Adrianne Jeffries -- Freelance Journalist, to increase ranking for my name, my articles, and my resume.

Go on and read the rest of the blog about our ventures and adventures in the land of Japan.

new post on Inhabitat

My new post on Inhabitat:

http://www.inhabitat.com/2008/10/09/is-it-green-frank-mckinney-megamansions/

Excerpt:

What would a house look like if you spared no expense to make it green?

This one includes $120,000 worth of solar panels that generate as much electricity as two average-size homes consume. The residence’s water system treats and recycles enough gray water to fill the average swimming pool every 14 days. There are enough indoor pools, ponds and misters to reduce the interior temperature two to three degrees below that of neighboring properties and enough reclaimed wood was used in construction to equal 10.5 acres of Brazilian rain forest. During construction, over 340,000 pounds of debris and trash was recycled. Additionally, the home has an automated bio-feedback system that will calculate its energy efficiency in real time.

But is it green? It’s impossible for any homeowner to justify such luxury. But as McKinney points out in our interview, these houses are being built anyway. Why not direct some of that big money to energy efficiency and responsible site maintenance? And who else can afford to use solar panels extensively?

Please digg!

Back in New York!

We are back in NYC. I am so, so happy to be here. I have been overeating, sleeping, and reading the news online. We fell asleep around 2PM and woke up 8 hours later yesterday and the day before. Today we have shaken the jet lag.

We uploaded pictures from the trip to Facebook:

1 http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2094777&l=62d21&id=7601885
2 http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2094778&l=ad41f&id=7601885
3 http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2094782&l=e8609&id=7601885
4 http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2094784&l=aeb5d&id=7601885

Ueno Park

We met some Canadian couch surfers for joint exploration. First we went to a big park in Tokyo. We had a picnic and then walked around. Miriam is a poet, wind-energy expert, freelance writer and teacher of English to Japanese adults. Mark is a vigilant vegetarian, practicing Buddhist, and exchange student.




We wandered around until we found the exact street in Asakusa where Doug wandered last year during his 14 hour layover in the middle of the night. Asakusa is a neighborhood in Tokyo with a lot of temples and merchants selling traditional wares. It's also where we are sleeping tonight -- in dorm beds at a very comfortable and inexpensive hostel, because Miriam doesn't have space for two.


For dinner, we got okonomiyaki. It's somewhere between an omelet and a latke. You choose your filling and cook it yourself.

Couchsurfing!

We stayed with Teru and Sandra in Tokyo.

Ryokan

We stayed in traditional Japanese accommodation in Hakone. The hotel has a communal hot tub sort of spa room with two steaming hot pools. You also get served meals in your room and the attendant sets up a futon on the floor after dinner (before that we had no bed). It was too restrictive for us and we checked out a night early. Not to mention they served the same sea snail that made me sick in the first course of dinner. And all the food was VERY Japanese and mostly served cold. Breakfast was fried fish (served room temperature) and rice and pickled vegetables and cold salad with pieces of cold meat in it.

We spent a lot of time daydreaming about cheeseburgers and making plans to get pizza in New York THE DAY we get back.

But then we went to the open-air museum which was sweet.

Kamakura

Doug and the Big Buddha in Kamakura.

We also went to a temple called Hasedera. It was extra green because of the rain. Takumi was our guide. He answered many of our questions with "I don't know." But I didn't really care about the answers anyway.

It's hard to use just a few pictures to show how beautiful the place was.

Hakone

Wandering around outside Tokyo. We explored Kamakura with Takumi and had dinner with Nujabes. Now we are in a mountain town called Hakone that is very beautiful with good weather. We are going to the open air museum and then back to Tokyo tonight. Only thing is internet is expensive and there is literally only one place to use it. Hence the short post.

Food poisoning

We went to a small fair in Fukuoka yesterday and I was intrigued by this shellfish snack that everybody was walking around munching on.

Three hours later my stomach was wretched and I was shaking with fever. Doug took care of me and I think I'm better now.

Doug at O/D

A fan posted this video from the club in Fukuoka. The audio is pretty bad.

New photos!

Yoshi updated the Redbook blog with new pictures. Click it:

New column on Inhabitat

My column, "Is it green?" debuted on Inhabitat:

http://www.inhabitat.com/2008/09/25/is-it-green-fiji-water/

Please digg, and comment. I wrote it in the hotel in Tokyo.

Wandering

Doug needed to tweak his set so I was banished to Tokyo for the afternoon. I decided to take the circle line and get off at each stop. I made it three stops. I didn't bring the camera because the weight of my bag increases as a function of time.

By this method, I made it to the business district. Shinjuku is made up of tall, quiet buildings. It looks like the city the Star Trek crew comes home to. Some of the skyscrapers had perfectly smooth sides so that they looked like they were made out of paper and mirrors. Some had geometric designs on their faces that could easily be silk ties. One building looked like an outright space ship. One had satellite dishes sprouting out of the top like mushrooms.

The homeless people in Tokyo are bizarrely high-functioning. I stopped in a park and passed a man sitting on a low ledge, intent on a book. He had tied trash bags of aluminum cans to his cart. A little while later, I saw a similar scene except the man was reading the paper. I passed a woman who was dressed neatly and carrying baggage that was as spotless as if she'd just come from Narita. Except she was talking to herself.

Under the bridge at Shibuya station, there is a long row of neatly-ordered living stations, accessorized with furniture and stocked with food. Like an apartment block, each person has a standard-size lot, separated by traffic cones. What drove these people to homelessness?

This site says it's a choice people make when they are ashamed to go home -- http://www.cliostraat.com/tokyo/homeless/01.html. I also read that many of them were victims of gambling addiction. They never ask for handouts.

Food photos

I hope this will demystify some Japanese food for you hungry American readers.

Left: fish cakes, right: mackeral sashimi. Tokyo.

Ikayaki (squid pancake) and mango juice. Osaka.

This restaurant in Osaka was featured on No Reservations.

Left: egg omelet with minced radish, right: raw horse meat. Osaka.

Takoyaki (octopus doughnuts). Osaka.

Left: assorted sashimi, right: calf's tongue. Sendai.

Left: grilled shark, right: chicken parts on a stick. Sendai.

Volcano ramen. Sendai.

Ready to eat.

We were directed to do a "Usain Bolt #1" pose. Sendai.

Scenes from Tokyo at night

Excerpt from the skyline

Bus depot

Home under a bridge

Local train stop

Moving walkway

Yebisu Tower

Puma -- Harajuku

Yuuki, Brand Management, and Oatska, Retail Management, general heroes of the Japan Emancipation Tour.

Takumi from Hydeout Records. Another beloved hero of the Japan Emancipation Tour.


That is Emancipator's video being played on top of the Red Bullmobile.

Sendai

The opening act was a Japanese hip hop collective called Sound Market Crew. They were five MCs and four DJs but their act took less than 20 minutes. It was impossible to tell if their rhymes were tight, but the crowd was lovin' it.

SMC were lovely people. Very friendly and fun. They must have said every word of English they knew to us.

Peace one day

Doug played at an event in Tokyo called Peace One Day. This was an outdoor area at an upscale mall.

Couchsurfing

My story came out: http://www.dailypress.com/topic/dp-gl_travel-couchsurf_0921sep21,0,6942439.story

Osaka food

Since arriving in Osaka, we have eaten:

1. Lotus root　++
2. Various raw fish　++
3. Various pickled vegetables
4. Boiled pork
5. Raw horse meat　++
6. Fried octopus (at a restaurant that was featured on No Reservations)
7. Squid pancake
8. Spongy potato
9. Tofu
10. Osaka version of calamari　++
11. Chadamame, which is a high quality version of edamame ++
12. Little whole fried fishies
13. And more!

Most of it was in the good to delicious range. I put plus signs next to my favorites. The boiled pork was not a hit with me but Doug liked it. The octopus doughnuts were not bad but our friends ordered a huge quantity at the end of the meal and we just weren't up for it. We had to play rock, paper, scissors for who would eat the last three.

Puma store

Doug played the 30-minute version of his set in a Puma store in Osaka yesterday evening. The audience was made up of two very enthusiastic fans + a legion of Puma staff. It wasn't an ideal setup by any means, but the people there enjoyed it. Especially the two Japanese Emancipator fans, who took photos and video and got his autograph. I expect to see some Emancipator videos on YouTube soon.

Useful Japanese

This might give an idea of Life on Tour in Japan for Adrianne and Doug. I am guessing at some of the spelling.

Nanji desu ka -- what time is it
Hajimamashite -- nice to meet you
Mizu kudasai -- water please
Oiishi -- delicious!
S'goy -- super!
Mai do -- we don't know what this means, but people get a huge kick out of it when we say it

Photos

These are Masami's photos from the press party and the first gig at club Loop. Masami is the man with the mustache in the last few pictures with Doug.

http://picasaweb.google.com/masami0730/EmacipatorJapanTour?authkey=Z3y3bGQ5uGE

Day 3

Yoshi and Takumi were still asleep so we went to see Doug's CD with Yoko, another staff member from Base. She took us to lunch and then to Tower Records, which is the number one CD store in Japan.

The Emancipator signed copies for two staff members and we listened to his CD. We went to another CD store that is associated with Doug's label and listened to records. We were in a dense area of music stores. We kept seeing the Emancipator promo poster with the picture of Doug. We laughed a lot. We visited a Shinto temple and prayed, and got fortunes.

We napped for three hours in sensory deprivation and then went to dinner with Yoshi, Takumi and a DJ from the press party who is either Tanataki or Takanami or something in between. We drank beer and ate Japanese food in a hole in the wall where the door was a curtain. Scrumptious. One cook made all the food for the five of us.

Doug soundchecked at Loop and we went back to the hotel for another quick sensory deprivation nap. Then we headed to the show.

The Emancipator worked the small crowd. One of his patrons, a man in a business suit named Adam, was there and he and I cheered loudly. Some friends from the night before also showed. The music stopped a few times during one song. Afterward the Emancipator signed 10 Puma t-shirts and we drank for a few hours and made lots of friends. I was drunk and bought noodles at 7-11 and we ate them in bed.

This morning we woke up at 7 and couldn't get back to sleep. We are schedule to check out at noon and go to Osaka for the next gig. Now we are caught up to the present time. I am in Kinkos. The internet is expensive here but the Japanese internet cafe was too confusing. I am about 5 posts behind for Inhabitat. I am very tired again. I have lots of photos but no opportunity to upload them yet. A new friend, Masami, took pictures at the two shows with his extremely nice camera and promised to email them to me and I'll post them as soon as I can. There has been very little free time for internet.

This trip is the coolest thing I have ever done. I told Doug that if John McCain wins the election, we should expatriate to Tokyo.

Love to all, email me postal addresses so we can send post cards.

Press party

At some point the surreality began to multiply exponentially.

Before lunch, we went to the Puma store and Ko, whose business card says BRAND MANAGEMENT, escorted Doug around picking out hip clothes, including a $300 jacket.

After a brief repose, we went to the Rolling Stone Cafe by taxi. We were told it was famous for American food. It's in the Roppongi district of Tokyo, which is a popular area with foreigners.

Being halfway between a groupie and a roadie, my role involves a lot of waiting, some slightly awkward introductions to people who aren't expecting me, and carrying stuff. At this point we were both exhausted. I chatted with a publicist from Puma while Doug set up. He was wearing his new gear and he looked like a new man.

After the setup, Doug was interviewed by the EDITOR of ROLLING STONE JAPAN. I eavesdropped. The editor was very professional and asked good questions. Doug's answers couldn't have been better if he had been prepped. He made the interviewer and translator laugh several times. I particularly liked this one:

EDITOR OF ROLLING STONE: What do you think of Japanese girls?
DOUG: I love the way they dress, and so does my girlfriend.

They took photos for Rolling Stone and the photographer invited me to be in the shot. It was awesome but I played it cool.

Then we waited for hours as the place filled up. We were introduced to one million people. Doug went on late, at midnight.

The performance was unbelievable. I was floored. The sound system was excellent and the music was perfect. No technical difficulties. The Emancipator (pronounced E MAHN SHE PAY TAH) bantered minimally. The crowd swayed and bobbed their heads. Afterward, some fans had their pictures taken with him. We collected one million business cards. I brought 50; I am almost out. But naturally the train stations have machines that can copy your card and produce new ones.

In the taxi on the way back to the hotel, I looked back on the long day through the haze of exhaustion and wine and wondered if it would seem any less surreal in the morning. We slept for 12 hours.

Noodles

For lunch we went to Yoshi's favorite ramen shop. It was a small place with a kitchen bordered by an L of benches. The patrons were all Japanese and they were slurping intently.

"Everyone is really focused on the noodle," Yoshi said. "It's a battle with the noodle."

Protocol and procedure:
1. Order and pay at a machine that dispenses a ticket, which you give to the cook.
2. Wait for a spot to open up.
3. Sit and receive plate of room temperature noodles and bowl of hot spicy soup.
4. Liberally dust noodles with powder and dump diced onions into soup.
5. Dip noodles into soup and slurp.
6. Repeat without interruption.
7. Belch.

We had odd appetites and hadn't eaten much in the past 24 hours. The noodles were delicious. We ate too quickly and too much. We couldn't finish the noodles; we lost the battle. It was heavenly.

Soundcheck

The first gig is a press party at Rolling Stone Cafe. Doug is scheduled to play at 11PM.

Very jet-lagged, we head to the club Loop in the morning for soundcheck. Doug's external sound card failed immediately. The laptop showed a black screen with a fatal-sounding error message about dumping all physical memory. I think we were too tired to react at first, but after two more crashes the panic was palpable.

I don't know how many minutes later because the time was agony, but the adaptor was isolated as the cause and replaced. Doug played a song and a half before the sound card failed again. The pressure was immense. Yoshi got a call reminding us that we had to leave by 12:30. It was 11:55.

Doug restarted and the sound was uninterrupted for a while. Doug discovered ingeniously that the sound card would fail if the cable were jostled. Electrical tape was determined to be the solution and the Emancipator hastily practiced a few songs. We were shuffled out.

Landing

Tokyo, 6PM.

Takumi from Hydeout Records and Yoshi from Base, the company that coordinates concerts for Puma, are slated to meet us but we don't know where. I change money at a terrible rate thanks to Lehman Brothers and I look over my shoulder and Doug is talking to two round Japanese men. I wave and Takumi sees me and bobs his head.

We get green tea frappuccinos at Starbucks and take the train to the hotel. Yoshi and Takumi are friendly and put us at ease. They takes us to eat and drink at Las Chicas, a restaurant / lounge that is the location of the final show.

We sleep like rocks for four hours and then wake up at 3AM and toss and turn until the morning.

Test test

We leave for Japan in three days!