Christmas, Dichterliebe, Osaka…

Hi there! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas. I was busy preparing for the concert in Nagoya, where I finally sang on 24th Dicheterliebe and Brahms quartets. On 25th I came to Osaka where I have been since.

The concert went really well, and I really enjoyed working and making music specially with my friend and pianist Sakichan. The concert venue was Nagoya City Chikusa Cultural Mini Theater. The hall was small and intimate, with a octagonal shape, so the audience can be all around. Its acoustic is not so easy but it was good enough for a piano and singers. I loved seeing the people that came to enjoy the concert and I was really glad all went well and the audience was really warm. Singing Dichterliebe in Japan for the first time was a very special experience, it was really a nice challenge to sing for a Japanese audience German repertoire being a Mexican singer. Definitely singing in the summer Dichterliebe in Mexico, then few weeks ago in Germany and now in Japan has been a nice run and everytime I get to find more little colors and ways to interpret this wonderful Schumann.

Now, changing topic, eating and drinking coffee in Osaka is really nice. Definitely the best coffee I can find probably in Japan and definitely in Osaka is Lilo Coffee Roasters. This time I tried for the first time their latte, and the coffee beans are from Colombia and they are fermented with raspberries, which it gives it a very nice fruity taste and the aroma is just amazing and the taste is incredible. Normally I do enjoy only pour over without milk for a specialty coffee or this kind of fermented coffees but this Latter was just amazing. This year my 2 favorite coffees are this one and one from Mexico this summer that I tried at the city of Puebla when I was also preparing Dichterliebe. I believe it was a batch from Guadalajara.  

This time I am walking around a lot and visiting new temples and shrines. For example I took one morning and afternoon to go to Kyoto and see the Heian Shrine and the Sanzen ji temple, mostly all by walking so I walked until my legs almost got destroyed but it was well worth it. Also visiting Nishiki market (Kyoto) and Kuromon (Osaka) markets is always very entertaining.

I also went to the Expo Ramen here in Osaka where I tried Miso Ramen, Karaage, Gyoza. I also ate here the delicious Okonomiyaki (Osaka style) and some other traditional dishes and everyday I get my Daifuku and Mochi. As you may already noticed, I love being in Japan and discoverying coffee shops and finding where to eat, visit and see.

I am enjoying very much this trip to Japan and now that I have sung the concert, I can focus on doing all the wondering I want.

I am also very grateful I can stay at Aki’s mum. She is really welcoming, and I have stayed several times before and we get along really well. The difference this time is that I will be staying alone because Aki has a lot of work in Germany and could not come this time.

The challenge of Japanese is big but thankfully we have google translate and with the little bit that I speak then it is possible to communicate with my Japanese Family. I am also glad Aki’s mama is trying also very much to use the English that she knows and also using google translate and she does it very enthusiastically. Thank you Akiho’s mama.

I keep my exercise routine and my daily reading and my morning pages. It is always more challenging while travelling but it is possible as long as I am flexible a bit with finding time to do all that.

Take care and see you here next week.