Shin means New

Shin means 'New'... now I know that. After a good hour of walking the streets of what looked like a business suburb of Kansas City or La Defence we decided just to give up on Shin-Yokohama and go to the mall...where we browsed in the mega-Muji and admired the strange and novel ways that the English and French languages are used and abused....



Then we sat in a Starbucks and listened to Nat King Cole singing Carols while Japanese commuters napped at the tables around us. (This country just seems more and more surreal.) Perhaps tomorrow evening we'll hop the metro and go to the heart of Old Yokohama with its historic Chinatown and the cemetery where the first foreigners to visit (or to force their way in) to Japan are buried. Meanwhile I'm going to hole up for the night with a whole pile of amazing Sushi and fresh made Tofu from the take-out in the mall and Green Tea from the dispenser in the lobby and get some work done... and maybe take another look at the Tap number that's been plaguing me for the last month.

The Japanese production company has been flawless so far, but the minor (MAJOR!) snag is that they painted the tap floor with a paint that is steadily getting more and more polished by the steel of the tap shoes. Last night it was literally like tapping on an ice rink.... our dance captain has said we'll cut the number unless they change the floor.... but just in case they don't, and we do it anyway then I want to be really sure I'm comfortable on my feet...

Tomorrow night we take the bullet train to a theatre and do another afternoon show. The theatre last night was more like a stadium than a theatre - 3000 seats maybe... 2500 at least and packed to the rafters. People are loving the show and I think its just getting better and better... the Big Band is tighter and we're having more fun on stage. It lasts almost two hours, but it races by. We do a costume change for each number and change in and out of our tuxes constantly... by the end of the show the backstage changing room is just a litter of clothes - they get thrown right left and centre as we're desperately getting into the new outfits.


And new Yokohama obviously needs a new hotel, so we're staying a 40 story circular tower with a hollow centre (thank goodness only on the 11th floor..) Later this evening I'll head up to the 40th floor cocktail bar and take a look at the view... see if I can recreate that 'Lost in Translation' feeling...