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How is everyone's jet-lag?  I am finding it much worse here than on the way out.  Still I enjoyed watching the birds in the garden this morning at 6am!  Good to be back home now and already Japan seems but a distant dream.

Tuesday was our final free day and we all enjoyed various outings to Nikko and Kyoto amongst others.  Do the Geishas in Kyoto know when the ROH are visiting as they seem to have made an appearance every time!  Nikko was a few degrees cooler than Tokyo and really beautiful with its huge cedar trees enclosing gorgeous temples and shrines.  Kyoto sounds amazing and I am very envious of those who went so hopefully in 2015 I can visit.  Last minute shopping and return visit to my favourite area , Yanaka.  I even bumped into Tamsin, Luke and Dominic there - how weird is that in such a huge and strange city!  Last Traviata was fab with Anna Netrebko on sizzling form.  Final drinks party afterwards and then a quick dinner in TGI Fridays (how sad is that!!!) and then packing for our early start on Thursday.  A few worried faces at the check-in with regard to over- weight luggage  but I think we all got away with it.  Long flight on Virgin with the worst food ever, I hope the BA lot fared better.  Pouring with rain and much cooler when we left Tokyo and it would seem this is the end of the hot spell.  How lucky we were there.  This has been the most amazing trip and we have all had a wonderful time.  It has been good to socialise with different groups of people and also good to get to know the orchestra a little better.  A huge thanks to Steffi, Ruth and Cormac amongst others for all their efforts in making this trip so enjoyable.  I still can't believe no-one got lost or was late for any rehearsal or show.  That must be a first!  Hope everyone enjoys the long weekend as it will be the last for a long time.  See you all on Monday for a double rep whammy!!  X

Traviata 3

Around Tokyo

Messiah

Karaoke at Koneko (aka The Pink Pussy!)

Sponsors Reception

what day is it?

Am I alone in not knowing what day of the week it is?  What a long and tiring past few days but I think we all enjoyed the Messiah experience and actually feel rather proud of the good job we did on the piece!  Like all of us, I enjoyed the gallon of beer consumed in the Pink Bar afterwards.  Luke had sourced a lovely Indian restaurant which took a bit of finding but worth it.  Well you can't live on raw fish for the whole visit!  A large party went to Andy's for dinner on the recommendation of the Ballet company and had a lovely time.  Lots of shopping done by all and god knows how many Kimonos George has bought by now!  When is he going to wear them!!!  Hope Virgin and BA are going to be lenient with the luggage weight on the way home.  Some of us made a return visit to the Onsen spa last night and took Steffi with us and it was good to see her relax and get away from the rather stressful evening she had last night.  A late night at the Karaoke bar again for some, I gather.  I do hope someone managed to video Renato's performance there the other night as we won't be letting him away with anything!!! I had my first decent cup of coffee yesterday in a tiny cafe in Yanaka.  The owner roasts his own beans (ouch!) and I had coffee from Yemen which was really delicious and left not a trace of nasty aftertaste.  Quite expensive at 850 Yen but as the ROH was paying it didn't matter.  Am busy drafting my letter requesting that we get a per diem throughout the year.  Feel sure it will be met with a positive response!  Must dash to the shops now. X

No more Messiah!

Sorry the blog`s been quiet for a few days, but we have all just been busy with performances and concert rehearsals. Everyone is still having a great time, but the whole company is over the early-tour excitement, and feeling pretty tired. With much of the sightseeing done, spare time seems to be increasingly devoted to shopping for gifts to take home. Any of the shops selling traditional Japanese things I`ve visited around the city is invariably also well-stocked with ROH personel!
The Messiah performance yesterday was a great success, and a very moving piece of company music making. Soloists, orchestra and chorus did a really great job, and Tony P couldn`t have hoped for better. Ji-min Park deserves special mention, as he had been to hospital the previous night with acute suspected food poisoning, but still managed to turn out a passionate performance of the tenor arias. Several tenor choristers were reported nervously warming up during the morning...

Messiah day 2

Nigel turned 50 today, and celebrated with a stage and orchestra of Messiah! It was good to hear the soloists and work more on this great piece. Andy Macnair turned 42 yesterday and arranged a performance of Manon to mark the occasion-nice! A group of us celebrated Nige`s birthday with a visit to Andy`s Shin Hinomoto - the greatest restaurant in Tokyo!! Andy from Leicester has been in Tokyo for 25 years and runs a marvelous joint, recommended by the ballet, with top-class sea food. Probably the best group evening I`ve ever had. Happy Birthday Nige....

messiah day 1

Messiah rehearsal 1

the view from the stage

dom, sue, anne, jon, the weary troops make their way home!

Amy explains the menu in a japanese restaurant

arigato gozaiMASU!!!!!!

fed and watered!

luke, tamsin, amanda, amy, john,yvonne

this is yesterday's group shot of everyone who went

on the trip to Mount Fuji and Hakone

the first grumpy japanese person!!

Well, it has taken over a week for us to encounter the first grumpy and unhelpful japanese person!  We have all been met with such kindness and helpfulness so I guess it was time we experienced some good old-fashioned Western hostility as opposed to hospitality!  We were in Kamakoura trying to find the hiking trail to the Giant Buddha and our requests for help were not met well.  Anyway Big B was there waiting for us and very nice he was too.  Three of us intrepid gals walked over the hill through the mosquito infested woods with only four rice crackers as sustenance and only just made it to the Buddha.  It was absolutely boiling hot and sticky too.  The most enormous butterflies, black with feathery wings and also giant swallow-tails.  Lots of insect noises but everything very well-hidden so nothing to see or photograph.  We had to brave the giant spiders to find a loo "au naturel" only to find a beautiful, clean public loo literally round the corner.  Kept meeting ROH people in Kamakoura all day.  It is so weird to go on the public transport or out of town and keep bumping in to people you know.  How often does that happen in London?  Everyone seems to have had a fantastic day off and the trip to Fuji was a huge success with the old chap showing himself magnificently!  It was a long day out but everyone has been overwhelmed by the experience.  Lovely Gavin went bird-spotting (not of the extra-chorus type) but didn't see much so he is off with Simon Keenlyside soon to a bird sanctuary to find some proper birds!  Hope he gives us some photos.  A small party went to Nikko which sounded fab and the Famous Five went to Kyoto on the 6am train and had a wonderful day.  They were lucky enough to spot 3 Geishas out for a stroll and were able to take some really amazing photos.  Close-ups of the make-up from front and also back of neck were very interesting.  Hey it is only midnight and the spelling oll korrect tonite.  X

First night of La Traviata