Eric Clapton concert at the Budokan

We were fortunate to get tickets to see Eric Clapton and his band Thursday night at the Budokan in Tokyo.
We must say Slowhand can still lay it down. They played about 20 songs including,I shot the Sheriff, Cocaine, Crossroads, Why does love, Wonderful tonight, of course Layla(heavy version) and several of his longer bluesy songs that I cant name.
The Budokan has been the host to many famous groups over the years and is a cool place to see a show. It is located in Kudanshita which is a really nice area of central Tokyo. It is actually a Judo arena, and only holds about 10,000, people, so all of the seats are close to the stage.
The Japanese fans can be pretty strange to experience a concert with though. The place was packed, but like everything else here in Japan with the exception of baseball and soccer they are a very very subdued crowd, almost afraid to clap between songs, let alone, dance around, scream, party excessively, or any of the other crazy shit you may see at concerts in the states. As soon as the show starts the beer and food stands close down for the night. At times it seemed like what I would guess an opera crowd would be like, with the crowd only becoming remotely excited at a few of the bands more popular tunes. We had the same experience with The Who concert a couple of months back at Saitama Super Arena. But, i guess if the arenas are full the bands don't mind, and they give them what they came for. Clapton is very popular in Japan and he does like 8 shows between Tokyo and Osaka.
Anyhow sorry that we only have the one lame dark photo of the entrance to the Budokan as we were getting our drink on before the show and arrived at the arena just in time for the first song.

Saipan Final

After lounging at the pool a bit more on Sunday, yesterday evening we departed Saipan and returned to the cold of Central Japan. We were greeted not only by the cold but severe winds which made it seem even colder. The high winds had the Shinkansen shut down allowing us time to really enjoy the cold in Tokyo station and delaying our arrival to home til around 11pm.
Anyhow our final days in Saipan were much like the first, just relaxing and enjoying the awesome weather and scenery. We did get a bit of rain Saturday night which moved our visit to the resorts cultural show/BBQ indoors. It was still enjoyable as we were seated with a couple from nearby Saitama area with whom were were able to communicate fairly well with and enjoy the show. Heather and myself along with a Russian family were the only westerners(maybe Russians arent westerners?) at the show out of about 200 people. In fact i would say in a resort with over 400 rooms, I believe we were the only Americans in the place all week.
If your looking for a good place to relax we would recommend Saipan as a place to go.
Outside of diving, a couple of golf courses, and a bit of sight seeing, there is not a lot else to do. There are a few western restaurants/bars, and a bit of shopping but it is pretty minimal. The Island is small and definitely caters mainly to tourists from Japan, Korea, and China. So if you need lots of shopping and interaction with other westerners, you may be better off with Guam, but given the choice I would go back to Saipan for its simplicity and Heather would choose Guam for the shopping and restaurants. For families Guam would definitely be the better choice.
The rest of our trip photos can be found here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/8953511@N05/sets/72157613495604409/

Saipan Day 3

Sure there was a day 2 on Saipan but it was spent relaxing on the beach, by the pool and tiki hut. For pictures just have a look below at day 1.
Actually today we got out and went around the Island to see some of the tourist spots and war memorials. The Coast line is lined with cliffs and caves which are absolutely beautiful and surrounded by clean clear blue sea. The left over ordinance and war memorials are kind of a somber reminder of the heavy fighting that happened here so many years ago. Driving through the forested areas and along the cliffs can be kind of eerie as you see hundreds of little rock memorials marking the lives of killed Japanese soldiers. We visited Banzai Cliff, Marpi Point, The Last Outpost, Bird Island, and several other sights of interest. We were able to cover the whole Island by car in about 5 hours including lunch and some shopping. As far as the local villages go Saipan is inhabited by mainly Chamaros and has the same look and feel as Guam but on a much smaller uncommercialized scale.
We have found some good spots for eating, drinking, and some live music as well so the nightlife has also been enjoyable.

Saipan

Not sure about the weather where you are, but it was 86F (29C) here in Saipan today. We chose Saipan for a bit of a winter break and the first day was not a disappointment. Saipan is a lot smaller than Guam and a lot more laid back, I think we are going to enjoy the next few days of not doing much but soaking up the sun and maybe a killing a Lite beer or 2. Saipan is about 5x20 miles in size, so not as much sightseeing, shopping, or the other tourist trappings you usually find in these spots, and the main draws are diving, golf, and relaxing. I think you all know where Heather and i fall in that scenario. We will try to drag ourselves away from the Tiki Hut, maybe rent a bike and get around the island for a look around and a few pictures, but thats lookin like it might be a stretch at this point. You all try to stay warm.

A stay at Akasaka in central Tokyo

This weekend for Heathers birthday we stayed in the Akasaka area of central Tokyo where we had dinner with our good friend Takahira and his wife at Lawery's Prime Rib.
Its a bit upscale and dinner was great and we would definitely recommend you visit for a great meal or special occasion. As the name implies their specialty is Prime Rib, but they have a full menu and the food and service is all very good.
Not a lot of pictures as we really didn't do a lot of sightseeing and just visited a few bars to celebrate Heathers birthday. We visited Omotesando for some shopping before returning on Sunday. For lunch we found our way to one of Tokyos BKs in the stop at Kanda which was fantastic. I know your thinking "BK" whats the big deal? Trust me after 2 years of Hamburger Steki, even the occaisional whopper moment is golden, as is evident by the pile of empty wrappers in front of the birthday girl.
To all the Smorkers out there we would like to point out that after all of these years they have officially banned Smorking on Takeshita St. in Harajuku. Beautiful.

Sports weekend............

Last weekend we again caught some local sporting events by going to a Tochigi Brex basketball game Friday night and a Nikko Icebucks game on Sunday afternoon.
The Brex who are have now moved from the JBL2 to the top level JBL league won handily over Osaka Panasonic 91-73. This year they have 3 American players on the roster and probably what is Japans premier and only Japanese player to get drafted to NBA team Yuta Tabuse, who really had some excellent skills.
Sunday brought the last home game of the year for the Nikko Icebucks. Its been another long season for the Icebucks even with the addition of the Canadian players. However we weren't disappointed as we finally got to see them win a game, and win it quite handily at 5-3. Good to see them give their rabid fans a victory to finish out the year.
Whether you live in Utsunomiya or just visit on business you really should try to get out and see these teams play if they are in town, you would probably enjoy it.

Not sure what this was...........

Heather and I drove down to Omiya/Saitamashintoshin on Sunday for some shopping and a Kua' Aina cheeseburger fix. In the station at Saitamashintoshin, we encountered this thing.
Not sure what it was, but it sure was creepy as hell and damn good at scaring children. If anyone could identify it, please let us know.

Smoking Manners

Japan like America is struggling with the right to smoke issue.
In an effort to improve the public image of smoking, over the years Japan Tobacco has created several public service announcements and posted them on public ashtrays, in smoking areas etc. This happens to be one of our personal favorites. The funny(or disturbing part) is that the sign doesn't tell you not to put the cigarette in the kids eye. It just says that's where you carry it. And the helicopter? Not really sure what the relevance of that is. Anyhow these have been around for a couple of years, and there are about 70 or so of them in the series. Take a look at Japan tobaccos website to see the rest, some are pretty intriguing. http://www.jti.co.jp/sstyle/manners/ad/gallery/index.html

RecipeZaar Chef Of The Day!

Heather is truly a celebrity! She is the RecipeZaar Chef Of The Day January 2nd 2009! We're not real sure how she acheived this prestigious award in the world of online recipe trading, but hey heres the proof!

http://www.recipezaar.com/

謹賀新年 Happy New Year to all!

あけましておめでとうございます! This year we stayed in Utsunomiya for New Years Eve.We had dinner at "Chanko" which is a chain of restaurants founded by the famous sumo wrestler Wakanohana. Great traditional Japanese menu of things that a sumo would eat on a daily basis to get big and fat, so of course we were right at home. Most of the businesses including bars and restaurants in Japan roll up the carpets for Oshōgatsu which is by far the largest and traditionally celebrated holiday of the year. After dinner we rang in the new year at a local pub and then went for a few hours of Karaoke. After finally becoming obviously out of our minds from alcohol consumption we even managed to stagger onto the dance floor at Birdland for a bit. All in all a fantastic evening/morning and no better way to bring in the new year with the traditional Jan 1headache. Everyone have a wonderful new year!
Lots of other December 2008 photos here!
Here's a link to Wakanohana's Chanko restaurant if you want to try some good traditional Japanese food. Reservations are a must.
http://www.chanko-waka.jp/store/utsunomiya/index.html