Greetings, With nearly a week to marinate the memories, and aided by a healthy glass of sake (SHIBOOOOOEY!!) - the time to write the trip report has finally arrived.

For starters (assorted tidbits): Maria Paula reports that each train station has its own special music that is played when the doors are about to close… She enjoyed a special dance with each one, often accompanied by Dirk, and LESS SO by me. I’m sure the commuters were greatly entertained.

Elizabeth learned a valuable train rule: “NEVER FALL ASLEEP ON THE TRAIN…” On one occasion, our entire group managed to get up, EN MASSE, and change train cars. The look on her face when she woke up COMPLETELY ALONE - priceless. We tried really hard to convince her that she was a sleep walker… REALLY, NONE OF US MOVED AN INCH!

And finally: “How do they do that?” Everything in Japan is quite clean, but where the Hell are the garbage cans? No, REALLY, where are they…?

Day One:
The trip begins in Düsseldorf, Berlin, and Minneapolis as contestants make their way to Tokyo. From this end, I boarded the 12 hour non-stop flight to Tokyo, full of anticipation. Arrived in Tokyo (Narita) about 30 minutes ahead of schedule and sailed through immigration and customs. Took the train to Tokyo central station and hopped in a taxi for the first pit stop, destined to be the last “team” to arrive. (Good news, ALL of the stops along the way were non-elimination rounds.)

Day Two:
And it begins…. First stop, Hard Rock Café Narita.

Daver and Maria Paula find great humor in the “special of the day.” The locals call it: “Moco Loco” (¿Or loco moco? - I forget which) - In Spanish this translates to: “Crazy Booger” (as in “snot.”) Somehow, Maria Paula (hereby refered to as Mapita) managed to order this dish, which she swears is actually quite tasty. The staff were all very, very friendly. Upon leaving, we were each presented with a gift bag… (The rock star treatment begi ns…) We each received a Narita Grand Opening tee shirt - very thoughtful!

From there we headed for the Hard Rock Uyeno-Eki to meet up with Pilar.

From there, we all headed off for an evening out with local hosts Pilar and Rob.
We enjoyed a VERY local restaurant and were introduced to several new and exciting items of food and drink, notably “plum sake.” For some inexplicable reason, “plum sake” and “Daver” have become synonymous / mutually interchangeable.… From there, it was off to karaoke. (Did I mention that there was A LOT OF PLUM SAKE, and regular sake, and mango tangerine sake, and beer, and…….?) One of the most memorable nights ever - just wish I could remember more of it. Or maybe not.

Day Three:
Train to ferry to the Hard Rock Café Yokohama. This was the day for the Yokohama monthly pin trader meeting. The very first pin that I traded for was the *ONLY* pin that I absolutely, POSITIVELY, demanded myself to find while in Japan. I couldn’t have been happier. The traders in Yokohama were all very friendly and helpful.
The Yokohama HRC produces a special laminate each month for the trader meeting attendees - another special memento of the trip. From there, some folks went to the top of the Yokohama Tower, others went to a fu-fu tea house for outrageously expensive “high tea.” In the evening, dinner at a tasty Italian restaurant near the hotel. (Elizabeth even managed to score a special gift from the kitchen staff.)

Day Four:
We meet Gutti at the HRC Roppongi. (aka: TOKYO, the original.)

It had been 13 years since my previous visit to this Hard Rock. TIME FLIES! Fast and furious trading, additional “Asian menu” items. (For the record, the HRC’s in Japan have special “Asian menu items” which aren’t available anywhere else - after this trip, I can recommend all of them.) We were then presented with special gifts - (Does the Rock Star treatment never end?) - Sake and special fruits (treats) from Gutti. I can report that both were quite delicious.


Then, time to leave Tokyo behind for a while. We hop on the first of MANY bullet trains to Osaka.
Our hotel for the next four nights is literally across the street from the train station.
(Technically, it is down a long flight of stairs and across a few paths, exits lanes, a bike path, and past a mile of vending machines - easiest to traverse SANS luggage.)

Day Five:
A long, but very enjoyable, memorable, and eventful day. We head out at 06:00 AM for Hiroshima. Wow. I can hear some of you thinking: “That’s a downer…” I was more than a little apprehensive about going to Hiroshima. Much like the Narita “Ramp Agent Teddy Bear” pin, it was also very much anticipated. - although, most would argue, slightly more IMPORTANT.
There’s no easy way to explain this. Hiroshima is a gut-wrenching, extremely difficult, disturbing, painful experience. At the same time, I wish that every single person on earth could experience it. Maybe, just maybe, that would ensure that it never happens again. EVER. Not anywhere. For any reason. Ever. There. Done talking about it - quite sure that I will NEVER forget it.


From there, the day took a slightly less dramatic tone. We hopped a ferry to Miyajima - a delightful island filled with mystical temples, pagodas,
and hungry, hyper aggressive reindeer that Santa will NEVER ask to lead his sleigh. (Mercifully[?], they had all been “de-antlered”)

On a side note - I found some delightful “Hello Kitty” gumball machines…. But - I digress…. From there, we headed off to HRC Fukuoka where we met Brian Grabow, a “local” US collector who lives in Japan for 11 years now, and enjoyed a special birthday celebration for ML. From there, a bullet train back to Osaka to crash.

Day Six:
We were met in the hotel lobby by Kenji and Yukie. First stop: HRC Osaka City Walk.

Yukie was kind enough to provide each of us with a button with our names written in Japanese. Mine will forever stay in my trader bag. Like MANY of the HRC’s in Japan, this one is spitting distance from a train station. Like City Walk in Hollywood, it is at the entrance to Universal Studios. Of the 10 Cafes we visited, this was one of the ONLY two at which we did *NOT* eat… there was no time. We had to hurry off to the HRC Osaka for the monthly trader meeting… a much anticipated event. Words escape me. The reception by the traders in Osaka was truly phenomenal. At first, I think they were a bit intimidated by us - but as the afternoon progressed it took on the feel of a full scale Vegas (old style) or PIN March *EVENT.* I know that I traded for over 80 pins - which I haven’t done in a single day for YEARS and YEARS. We also got many special gifts from the local traders - DOMO ARIGATO!


The Hard Rock prepared a special buffet for our group… a unique and tasty treat. I can’t emphasize enough how special we all felt at the HRC Osaka – Marie-Luise even got to have a SECOND birthday celebration!

Special thanks go out to Kenji who had arranged this meeting, and to Yukie who took so good care of us. Both have posted a report about our meetings on Kenji’s website http://osaka.cool.ne.jp/yoriai/Yoriai2x6.htm and http://yoriai.blogspot.com/


At what seemed entirely far too early, we headed off for dinner at a Japanese buffet restaurant where they, ONCE AGAIN, forced plum sake on me.

Day Seven:
No major travel, no Hard Rocks, huh? A slow, relaxed, at times slightly confused tour of Kyoto.
Somehow we also had hordes of school children on field trips who were out to “practice their English.” Several “interviews” and photos later (again with the paparazzi) we headed off to have dinner with Yukie and Ohno.

Here’s a big surprise - They forced me to drink plum sake again! And again. And again! One word: SHI-BOOOOOOOO_I

Special thanks to Yukie and Ohno for sharing the real Japan with us. Here’s a link to her report on this special night: http://yoriai.blogspot.com/

Day Eight:
Once again, time to move on. Once again, entirely too soon.

We headed out to Nagoya where we managed to store all of our luggage in lockers (easier said than done…) throughout the station. Then we hit the subway and made it to the Hard Rock. This was our second of two “no time to eat” Café visits. Rush, rush, back to Tokyo. Here Dave and ML picked up “stored bags” and headed off to a Narita airport hotel to unpack, and repack everything. The rest of the crew returned to HRC Roppongi to meet Thomas Daugaard who was joining the happy tour group.
Day Nine:
Dave, ML, and Thomas leave for Guam. The rest of the group hangs out in Tokyo. Guam was, for me, a mixed bag. The last time I visited Guam and Saipan was with Carol, Nancy and Aub in late 1998 - WOW, almost 10 years ago! The weather, never a disappointment. Warm and sunny. A bit humid, but delightful none-the-less. Oh, and they had real, live DIET COKE. Not with lime, mind you, but DIET COKE none-the-less. The three of us had 24 hours to soak up all things local before the second and third waves hit from Tokyo.
Beach, Pool, Hard Rock (Not necessarily in that order.)


Day Ten:
The group, MOSTLY reunited (Mapita stayed behind in Tokyo), did Guam.

Day Eleven:
Off to Saipan

Back row (from left to right): Thomas Daugaard, Dirk Muenster, David (Daver) Zopfi, Thomas Knorth
Front row: Elisabeth Muenster, Henk and Els Cattenstart, Marie-Luise (Malou) Pross

This was a truly unique and special day. We were met upon arrival by some of the staff of the HRC with a banner welcoming Thomas Daugaard ‘and company” and the local media, taking pictures…
They very graciously offered us a ride to our hotel (surprise, it was across the street from the Hard Rock.)
Again, mixed feelings for me. A very happy occasion with many special friends… On the other hand, the HRC Saipan was Carol’s FAVORITE Hard Rock in the whole world… She asked them to play Beatles music all day long, and they did - just for her. So, GOOD memories.
But it’s 10 years later and time for a party. Leave it to the HRC Saipan to make sure it was special!

A special cake…

(or two…!)
And the most warm welcome ever by everyone.

SALAMAT PO KAYO - MAHAL KAYO LAHAT!

Bernita, the only local pin collector, joined us for Thomas’ party in the evening and for some nice trading. Thank you, Bernie. It was nice meeting you!

Day Twelve:
The “first timers” to Saipan took a tour of the island, arriving back at the hotel in time to check out.
We had lunch at the Hard Rock, I was able to get my last “Chamorro Burger” (at least for awhile…) This is a special menu item available only in Guam and Saipan - I HIGHLY recommend it. The Staff of the Hard Rock insisted seeing us off at the airport, where we boarded our afternoon flight back to Tokyo. Sadly, upon arrival in Narita, our trip began to come to an end. Thomas D, Malou and I were spending the night in Narita. (Thomas still had to run to the Narita Café, as he couldn’t go BEFORE the islands or Saipan would not have been #100.) The rest of the group returned to Tokyo, so it was time for our first good-byes…
We had just enough time to retrieve the luggage we had left in Narita, unpack everything, rearrange and REpack for the flights home.

Day Thirteen:
Shuttle bus to the airport, where Malou and I are temporarily “separated” (Two different airlines on opposite ends of the terminal with separate departure areas.) Luckily, after a delightful walk down the “Ho Chi Minh trail”, I found ML at her gate. After seeing her off, I was able to pick up a couple bottles of sake, find a “completely normal” computer with internet, and eventually board my flight to Minneapolis.

Hmmmmm…. Anyone who has ever read one of my earlier trip reports may be wondering: “Hey, nothing went horribly wrong!” That’s right, all flights were on time (or early) and completely uneventful. The trains and subways, and busses, and ferry boats, and hotels were all perfectly planned. For that, we all have Els to thank. DANK U ZEER! To everyone else:
Thanks, danke, takk, gracias, salamat, domo arigato!

And with that, the last of the plum sake (only for a while…) is now gone. (SAYONARA!)

Thomas

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Ever wonder What the Hard Rock would be without all the great memorabilia that adorns the walls ?? Your right, just another restaurant. That's why whenever we stop at a new cafe we always check out the cool stuff they have to offer. So I've decided and hope a few others will take the time to contribute to a new feature called "Classic Music Hero's".

Sure we all know Clapton and Beck are masters of the guitar and Hendrix and Eddie Van Halen were both innovators, ahead of their time, some would say from a planet far away.

My first hero is the much under rated Axeman from Belfast, Northern Ireland, Gary Moore. Gary seems to put his own trade mark on every things he's done from originals to the covers. He always plays with passion and has a lot of soul that comes through in spades in his blues numbers. To borrow a quote " Gary didn't invent things, but he DESTROYS most players regardless.

After searching for the right three songs to share, I think I came up with the perfect trifecta nothing to over the top so that everyone can enjoy , perhaps while you peruse the rest of the newsletter.

All three are live performances that, from my point of view, are as good as they get. No studio work with the nice "clean" version, just a man, a guitar and what could be the closet thing to sounding like heaven on earth.

My first offering is "Still Got The Blues". Soulful Gary makes the Les Paul cry

Next up "Over The Hills". Who else could take a classic Irish folk song added a drummer driving out a steady cadence and Gary's vocals and guitar kick it up a notch. Yet the song doesn't lose any of its folksy feeling. This one is more than a great tune, with all the chops Gary plays it's a lot of fun !!

Finally, I saved this for last, Gary's old mate from the Thin Lizzy days, Phil Lynott joins him on stage for the very bluesy rock "Parisienne Walkways". What a treat to see them together one more time. With Gary's slick licks and Phil's vocals just another great song I hope you enjoy.

Let The Music Live On !!!
Trevor
 

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I liked Puerto Rico from the moment I first saw it. The plane broke through the clouds over San Juan to reveal a city of uncluttered expressways and neat, orderly houses. After three weeks in South America, it was like home. I was back in the USA, or was I? Technically, yes. You have to go through US Customs and the currency is the US dollar; however, once you leave the airport and head into town, you begin to realize all is not what it seemed. The signs are mostly in Spanish and my cab driver certainly preferred that language to English. From the time of Columbus to 1898, this was the strategic heart of Spain’s colonial empire and while over a hundred years of American control has made it more prosperous, Puerto Rico remains very much a Spanish entity.

Customs House

Most tourists with limited time confine themselves to San Juan’s Old Town. It is an area of well maintained historic buildings, the centrepiece of which is the El Morro fortifications. For years, the Spanish controlled the harbour from here and were able to withstand endless attacks from French, British, and Dutch forces. While it may not be too much different than many of the other Spanish forts spread out over the world, it has to be said these are in a much better state of repair.

El Morro fortifications

Vince Wanner
 

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After a wonderful two weeks or should I say and life altering two weeks in Thailand it was time to head toward home. But one more stop in Hong Kong was on the list.

First impression had to be wow, is this place busy. A mass wall to wall bunch of humanity which seemed to go non stop 24 hours a day. This has to be the city that never sleeps.

Keep on Rockin
Chris

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NIAGARA FALLS, NEW YORK
333 Prospect Street, Niagara Falls
716-282-0007 Janet-Retail Supervisor
AND
NIAGARA FALLS, CANADA !
5701 Falls Ave. Niagara Falls, Ontario
905-356-ROCK Tara-Retail Manager

Sunday, June 8, 2008
8:00AM – 12:00PM Niagara Falls, NY and
1:00PM-4:00PM Niagara Falls, Canada

We will have a free buffet breakfast (Niagara Falls, NY) and the release of new limited edition pins as well as a new Great Lakes pin traders pin, raffles and much more! We are also having our 3rd annual firefighter motorcycle run at the cafe. Can’t wait to see you there!


Niagara Falls, Canada will host lunch at a discounted price of $10.50+tax!
Menu attached.

There are also special room rates available for our pin traders: see below!
Skyline Inn : Standard rooms - $89.00 June 6 & $129.00 June 7
Crowne Plaza Hotel : Cityview - $99.00 June 6 & $129.00 June 7
Fallsview - $129.00 June 6 & $159.00 June 7
Guests to call in by May 26th to receive these rates by using
1-800-263-7135 and asking for the HRC Pin Collectors rate.

Please RSVP to the Niagara Falls, NY cafe by e- mail to niagarafalls_merch@hardrock.com or you can call the cafe at 716.282.0007 by June 3, 2008.

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Next meetings of the Motor City Pin Maniacs: Sunday June 22nd @ 10am
Monday June 23rd @ 6pm

It's worth it to mention that the word is on Mondays the folks are having a great time. A bit more relaxed then a Sunday. The cafe as always has bent over backwards for the pin collectors with a great selection of complimentary food and drink specials. A big thanks goes out to the management and staff at the Detroit cafe for all of their continued efforts and support of the pinheads.

Latest pin releases: Sorry no scans yet for the Rock Culture and Stars and Stripes Guitar Case but if you have them could you please pass them on so they can get entered into the pin catalog.

Tigers Opening Day

Till Next Time
Paul

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