A travellers philosophy ;-)

Travelling looks to me as stepping out of the normal life, of being trapped by TV, Radio, newspapers and all stuff of phony propaganda which influences you in the worst way. Like now I am riding on a train from Hakodate to Sapporo. First following the coast and then up northbound Hokkaido. Still snow on the mountains in the mid of April. I sit in the first car with a free view out of the panoramic windows in front. So you actually see the tracks in front of you, and you see the land passing by, and the houses, and the lives you will never know, and whilst you are riding, time goes by, and your life is running. And you could easily hang on to a dream. Dreaming with eyes open. And you don´t care about the things you´ve left behind. No news since you can´t read japanese, and that´s the start of feeling free. What can news tell you anyway? Is it really that essential for you to be informed about a hurricane somewhere far away from you? What does it matter anyway? You can´t change such things. Politicians pumping out their piss, those people make me sick. Too much informtion so you can´t see clearly anmore. Those who think they are well informed aren´t. Manipulation starts with information. You are not clever and classless and free. You think you are, but no. And even the manipulator is influenced by somebody else, we are all wired whilst we are wireless. And this train roles on, the tracks now straight for miles and miles, it´s a clear direction, so simple. And it will bring me to my destination, passing these villages with these houses and the people living in them, which I never will meet, and they will never know about me. And it´s all good. Tomorrow I will enjoy another concert of Bob, the song and danceman, more than ever. And she will be there too. So much for tears, so much for that long and wasted years.

To live outside the law you must be honest ?!

Riding on the Super Hakucho with Tim and Che and Shiobhan heading from Shin-Aomori to Hakodate. Interesting talking about fast trains, Sake, hotels and the crime scene in Japan. In fact Tim told me about a guy who was arrested in a bar the other night. Police came in and they didn´t care about handscuffs. No, they just put the man into a bag! Just only his head looking out, he was trapped in a bag, can you imagine? They just carry him out to the police station this way. A friend of Tim was selling tickets in front of a venue where the mafia was in control. Since he didn´t want to deal with them they grabbed him right away and brought him to cage so small, that he just could sit in it. Then they left him alone there for few days, just water and rice. Coming in from time to time, yelling at him, kick him and so on. No one talked english. He did not understand anything, they scared him to death. After a few days he was put in a van and got kicked out somewhere in the streets. So don´t get in trouble with these guys. On the other hand it´s really safe in Japan. As long as you live according to the rules. But as we all know, to live outside the law you must be honest :-D Tim stayed in a capsule hotel, these places where you have just a bed in a box, some of you maybe reminded of Mr. Skinner. Of course he would highly recommend such an accomodation :-D The restrooms are shared with all the other guests, but as Tim says, it´s really quiet since the japanese guests are so gentle and respect privacy. So do it there way and everything will be fine. This is a perfect way to keep your travel costs low, just around 18 Euros a night. Fair trade! Arriving in sleepy Hakodate, which for sure is a nice little old town, but nothing really going on, checked in at the Hakodate Grand Hotel and went for a wals through the deserted streets. A bit of San Francisco touch, up and down you know. The waterfront docks has turned into tourist spots with restaurants and gift shops, the usual stuff nowadays. Nothing catchy for me. So went into a grocery store and bought me a sushi box. few cans of beer and a bottle of sake. Back in my hotelroom it was dinner time.

Later that night Julia and Alrik arrived from Tokyo and we just went out to have a drink. Talking about past travels, music, Bob and Bob and Bob. Alrik had a burger as big as a shoe, too much for him so Julia has to he take over.

We three agreed that following the Bob tour in Japan was much easier then we first thought. Even you´re lost in translation, the gentleness of the people is overwhelming and keeps you out of trouble. This together with the perfect transportation system, the cheap hotels and food is making our journey a very pleasant one. So, tommorow isn´t been a long time, we walked back to our hotel, empty ancient streets. Unfortunately I woke up that night shattered by nightmares. Too much ghosts of the past filled my dreams, not funny at all. Maybe I should stay away from the sake? And maybe I shouldn´t stay away from the women whom I given lots of room in the past as you know :-D Travelling alone is easy at daytime, but in the night it´s a totally different story. Laying awake and listen to the sound of pain, that´s what it is. In need of company, sometimes a man must be alone. Yeah, sometimes, not all the time. Well, I better getting used to it. Or I better have to stop these dark thoughts. Monologues are lonely conversations, aren´t they? Well, let´s see what tomorrow brings?! We are bound for Sapporo.

Shinkansen experience and Akita Hotel

On my way to Saporro I decided to make a detour to Akita on the north-west coast of Japan. With splitting the journey it ain´t such a long ride up to Hokkaido. In fact the Shinkansen Bullet trains are great super speed trains. What a way to travel. If you ever have the chance go for it. Smooth and fast, very clean and comfortable. It´s way better to use this railways instead of flying. You will be not stucked in airports terrorized. They are 99% reliable in schedule, can you imagine? Wonder if there´s another place on this earth were this is possible. Definitely not in Germany with the Deutsche Bahn!!! And it´s available at a fair price for foreigners, too. Buy your Japan Rail pass before you travel to Japan and on you go!

Riding on this trains is relaxation at it´s best. You can enjoy an Bento. That´s a box with variations of local food products, very tasty and reasonable. You may get it in the stations, on the platforms or in the train itself. Don´t you dare miss it!

Akita is just a small town with not much going on. But that was what I was looking for after the busy Tokyo area. Got myself a fantastic hotel, the Dormy Inn. What a place! For just 7.300 Yen you stay one night in a japanese style room, which actually turned out as a small appartement. Small entrance room, beside a seperated toilet. Then entering the bed- and livingroom. Great comfortable bed, man I slept so good there! The living room part is absolutely japanese, sitting on the floor, low table. You will get the right local feeling, even more when you wear the Pyjama which is offered for free, too. Between bed and living room is the massage chair, could easily become my favorite place. A clean little bathroom with shower and tub makes everything complete. And yes: the huge breakfast buffet is included in the room rate, even it´s quite tricky to eat eggs sunny side up with Chopsticks, well give it a try! The Ramen noodle soup which is served in the evening is free of charge, too.

And if you stay there don´t miss the top floor: there´s the Onsen, which means the hot tub. These Onsen are seperated in female (red flag) and male (black flag) sections. Best way to go there is wearing the pyjama and the slippers you have in your room. There are lockers in the first room to put in your belongings. For sure from now on you are bare naked. Please notice: You are not allowed to enter if you have a tatoo!!! In Japan tatoos are worn by gangs! You may cover yours if you have one with a plaster. So just take one towel and on you go. You first have to sit down in the next area and wash your face. After that you go to the Onsen room but don´t you jump into the tub, never ever! On the walls surrounding the Onsen there are little seperated showers and you just sit in them on a little chair and start to wash yourself from tip to toe. Of course there´s soap, shampoo and conditioner in each shower. After finished that kind of ritualprodedure, shower again to remove all soap from your body. Now is the time you can enter the tub. And everything you´re doing quiet and slow. The water comes from a natural hot spring and it´s really hot. So go for the heat buddy! Always fold your towel and leave it outside the tub or put it on your head folded. Here they have an outside tub also, so that keeps you a cool head ;-) It was damned cold on April 10th, I tell ya! The interior is kind of Zen style and above that all, there´s a sauna also. I did use the Onsen in the evening and the morning, either way, it´s a relaxing experience you should not miss.

Review of my Tokyo shows!

The shows in Tokyo are over, and looking back, the second night, which was Bob Dylan concert number 100 for me, impressed me the most. Of course seeing Bob a hundred times is something special, that night will still be remembered because of the kind of strange things that happened during the performance. Getting into the venue the japanese way, which means you have a section and a number on your ticket, and there´s an anouncer outside who counts you up. Soon your number is told you are allowed to move in. Funny though if you don´t have a clue of japanese. Could get it managed someway anyhow. Found a good spot in row 3 right behind Julia and Laurette who made it to the rail, right in front of the grand piano. Lucky gals!

But I was satisfied with my place, free view on the stage, very close. Have to say a big thank you to Masato who got those Tokyo tickets for me! Arigato Masato! After Stu noodeling his "Noodle" the band and Bob appeared, greeted by loud welcoming of the crowd, starting up with the usual "Things Have Changed" , setlis wise they haven´t ;-) A nicely new arranged "She Belongs To Me" followed and "Beyond Here Lies Nothing" were getting on it´s way with Bob hammering the keys of the grand piano. The first 2 songs he performed standing center stage. Close to the end of the song the incident happens: It came with a loud bassy noise out of the monitors, and it stood for minutes. George jumped away from the drums, he obviously felt painful since he got that noise into his earplugs which seems to be connected to the monitoring system. Same with Tony, who definitely looked hurt. Bob kept on playing, so did Donnie and Charlie. Stu tried to keep the rhythm, but failed like everybody else after some more seconds. The sound engineers already occupied the stage, in a state of emergency. Everybody seems to be really confused, and the noise kept on and on and on. Jules the stage mixer finally decided to cut the monitor system and so that noise were turned off. But the problem wasn´t found yet. Anyway, since Tony and George had left the stage, Bob, Charlie, Donnie and Stu came closer together at the grand piano and started a nice little bluesy jam-session to satisfy the crowd while the engineers were still looking for the troublemaker. I have to say, for me, this jam could have last forever, but those 10 or 15 minutes will stay in my mind a long time for sure. Since the stage crew finally decided it must be something wrong with the cables under Bob´s piano, the band had to stop and left the stage accompanied by huge applause. While the technicians doing their job under the piano, a kind of burlesque show took place: first it was Stu who came back on stage earning a big hello from us spectators. With a little grin on his face -you know that cool style of Bob´s guys- he walked around, picked up a drumstick and hit the cimball at George´s drums a few times, loud ovations from the crowd. Then he walked farther to the left givin' Tony´s double bass a try, very funny, turning his face to the audience when picking a few notes. After that he disapeared backstage again. Thus of us who may have thought that this was just little joke of Stu were surprised again, when Donnie came out, just acting as if he were checking the amplifiers, all that whilst the boys are still working under the piano. Donnie got his clapping too, went off the stage, but shortly after he had left there was Charlie appearing on the scene with Bob in his company. Powerful yelling, screaming and clapping from the crowd. But the both act as if they don´t mind, walking to the guitar lying in front of the drums, always waiting there for Bob, if he ever decides to play the strings again. The audience turned crazy. But of course, all this was another kind of joke, but definitely did entertain us perfectly. Lots of Bob-yellers as they were heading into the dark again. In the end it was George who took a glimpse, grabbing the double bass and picking a few notes, facing the lucky ones at the rail with a bright grin. But then there was an anouncement that it will take some more 15 minutes or so to fix the problem. The lights went on and we had some time to talk things over. Maybe the ordinary one-time-to-a-Bob-show spectator felt bad because of all this what happened. For us followers it was big fun! Besides Jules, Jason and all others of Bob´s crew may felt that all this wasn´t funny at all! Meanwhile they found it was a problem of the monitors, so Jules decided to keep them off during the rest of the show and to use the big speakers on both sides of the stage as monitors instead. After all that worked out perfectly, plus we had a much better sound in the first rows! Thanks Jules, you´re best! (Well he always is, just remember that hot day in the sun in Lyon 2012, when we were drying out at the rail and he past by handing us bottles of water for free!!! Don´t we know the sun can burn our brains right out?!) After the show I talked to Jason at the main soundboard, and he told me, if they could solve a problem like this, he´s not afraid of any problems in future. But he was looking for an extended shift he added, they must get the monitors working again. And they made it as we know by now, good job folks! After about 25 minutes the lights went off, the band hits the stage a second time and Bob delivered a phenomenal "Huck´s Tune". Okay, it was the third performance of this beautiful song, but for me it was a premiere!!! And what a performance, soft, intense, totally in the song, I was almost crying, believe me. For me the highlight of an evening with lots of top notch songs. "Duquesne Whistle" drove the crowd nuts, the japanese Bobfans added a kind of "wohooo" sing-a-long in the instrumental part. Very funny, even the band, especially Tony and Bob had a laugh! "Love Sick" as always these days, a cool rocker we all love. Bob ended the song with thanking us in japanese "arigato"!!! Exploding applause of course. During the intermission we decided to name the jam-session a "new and unexpected" song, and maybe "Everything was broken" could be the right title :-D Second part of the show with the static setlist, but a warm and powerful "Scarlet Town" the place where we all were born, right?! Then line-up in the end addressing the audience, and no autographs were give this time :D Too bad for me, since I handed my harmonica to lovely Julia at the rail. But Bob decided to keep cool and left us behind with given us another fantastic show and concert this very night on April 8th 2014 in Tokyo!

Arigato Bob, Tony, Charlie, Stu, George and Donnie. We´ll meet again stepping down the avenue! Next stop will be Saporro, see you all there, I´m already on my way.

First thoughts

As you may know by now it was Bob Dylan & His Band Live & In Concert for me tonight! And besides that it was a special one with that break caused by Monitor problems. So Bob and his Boys filled that gap with nice pantomime sketches and finally started a little jam, and guess who was playing the harp: Tokyo Joe, the one and only (in fact, just 3 meters away from the stage) So much for tears!!!

A New Morning in Tokyo

I´m still not sure if I am dreaming, well, to be here it´s kind of a dream for sure. After yesterdays running start in the morning I went for a 16 KM walk across the Rainbow Bridge into the big city. What can you say: it´s an adventure for a western guy walking thru those busy streets, never knowing what will be there behind the next corner :) Accidentally I ran into an old part of the town right at lunchtime. I took the advice some friend gave me: follow the natives when they choose a restaurant. Well, so many to choose from! Hundreds of soup and noodle kitchens were waiting for those hungry souls. Like me :) Finally I made my decision and walked into a dark but cozy place, only japanese people at the tables, good atmosphere, loved it from the second I went in. The waitress brought me to a table with one seat left, and there I was. Couldn´t understand a word, did not know what was on the menue, just took my pick and was wondering what it would be. Maybe I picked hard-boiled eggs :-D The waitress came back, white shiny legs, I know my Bob ya know?! The food was excellent, kind of pork mish-mash with vegetables, very spicy! It came together with som pickles, spicy too, a noodle-soup and a roll with minced meat in it. Free green tea was served too. Beside it´s kind of an experience to eat the soup with chop-sticks, the food tasted like heavens. Here I was, speechless, stranded in that little dark place, surrounded by locals, enjoying my lunch, and forget about the rest.

After having paid my bill, so cheap I couldn´t belive it, I stepped out in the busy streets again. Just run around for a few hours, taking pictures and yes: walked into a drugstore to buy me some masks. I want to look like a local a bit, hiding my "longnose" :-D

Late afternoon I crossed the bridge again and went back to my hotelroom. A little nap to fill the gap :-D And then it was time to meet all the friends at the ZEPP. So they were all already there: Julia, Laurette, Mangala, Alrik, Tim, Rainer, Hollis, Masato, Shioban, Che and many more. As usual I played some Bob songs for the waiting crowd, but couldn´t perform too much, since the hosts started to organize the line with their megaphones. Very strange, but it worked out well, everybody behaved so gentle, great experience. I did not have a ticket for this first night, but with the help of Laurette I found a guy who gave me a spare ticket for a very cheap price. Thank you man, whoever you are!!! Laurette got her ticket too and the show could start. Found my way in Section A, in front of stage, but too late to get a close-up. Anyway it was good for me, could see the stage clearly, not so many tall people around here, good for me ;-) So, my Bob show # 99 could start. And it turned out to be a great one! Nevermind the static setlist to which His Bobness seems to be glued these days: it´s the performance that counts. The band is as tight as can be, best band in the world, after all those years touring with Bob. And the master himself, focused, in great shape, his voice top notch, and so much heart and feelings in the songs. What Good Am I, it left me speechless. So did Forgetful Heart. The whole performance was simply beautiful and topped with Long And Wasted Years, a crowd pleaser definitely. After the encore Bob kneeled at the edge of the stage and signed some lucky guys Rolling Stone Magazine cover. Can you believe that??? Wow, the show is history now, like my 98 shows before, on we go!!!

Just arrived in Tokyo

Well, after an average flight from Germany via Amsterdam to Osaka, I took a domestic flight with StarFlyer! I tell you, it was really flying like a star. Those flight attendents, why are they called so nowadays anyway? What´s wrong with the name Stewardess??? These 3 girls who were serving us were actually Sky Angels directly from heaven. 3 japanese beauties, gentle and fair, I thought I must be dreamin' :-D ....no, it was a very pleasant flight. I nearly forgot my jetlag. Now I´m in my hotelroom, relaxing, wonder what to do tonight. Everything is possible, bit no Bob concert today, so it´s free flowing.