Played baseball against Tokyo Symphony/Japan Philharmonic. Chris Deviney is decked out in his red and white uniform for this at-bat pic. We killed them 18-6, by the way. :)
Watched sumo in Tokyo! The day's winner was actually Bulgarian, not Japanese.
Had dinner with Roger Bobo in Ikebukuro, Tokyo. Roger is a famous tuba player who was in the LA Phil for 25 years before becoming one of the world's first tuba soloists--he played twice on Johnny Carson! Nowadays he teaches at the Musahino School of Music in Tokyo.
Played in Suntory Hall. This place was packed during the concerts!
Rode the Shinkansen (bullet train). Our super-smooth Nozomi line reached speeds of over 130mph on our trip from Tokyo to Osaka.
Climbed Mt. Fuji with Don Liuzzi (timpani), Phil Kates (violin), and Nitzan Haroz (trombone). This trip was absolutely incredible. We didn't quite reach the summit, although you can see it in the third picture above. The snow was just too much. Note that Phil is wearing shorts, and didn't put on long pants until after several hours of trudging through the snow (!).
Picture of Mt. Fuji from Kawaguchiko, the nearby town where we stayed on this side trip. It was an amazing and beautiful place in traditional Japanese style, complete with tatami mattress and slippers that were way too small for my non-Japanese size 10 feet.
Our back yard at the inn in Kawaguchiko, with the hot tub where we spent a lot of our time recovering the evening after the hike.
On the way back to Tokyo, we caught the Thomas train!! This thing was totally decked out, inside and out. It was so cute to see little kids smiling at us when we rode by in it!
We played soccer against the Seoul Philharmonic. We lost, but I think we did so respectably at 5-7. Seen here is Jeff Lang (horn) with his battle scar from the game. I guess at some point he took an elbow to the face and got his nose broken, but he took it like a real champ, still playing every concert!
Went biking along the Han River in Seoul with Marc Rovetti (violin). After we stopped at a 7-11 for ice cream, his back tire was completely flat!
Ate authentic Peking duck in Beijing. Dick Woodhams (oboe) is telling a funny story in this pic. From left to right: Hai-Yi Ni (cello), Dick, Kiyoko Takeuti (piano), and Angela Cordell (horn).
Climbed the Great Wall in Beijing! Tamara Nuzzaci, our personnel manager, found a place that gives tours of the "wild" part of the Wall. It started with an hour uphill hike to the wall, then we had lunch on the highest watch tower on that part of the wall, seen in the second photograph. Then we hiked for a while on the deserted part of the wall before descending the 463 steps that start the restored Mutianyu section of the wall. Seven watch towers later we ran to get out of the rain and catch the gondola back down to the bus.
Our hotel in Guangzhou at night. Check out the indoor waterfall.
We have a concert tonight in Guanzhou and concerts in Shanghai the following two nights before we head back to the States, so it's a mad dash to the finish from here! I hope you enjoyed the pictures!
-carol jantsch (tuba)
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