Destination Hanoi

Blog entry 25th of February 2009

Hanoi

I am sitting by the pool at the most wonderful hotel here in Hanoi! The weather is a bit cloudy though (and even raining a bit), so it looks like my tan still will be non-existing by the time I get home… Hopefully the sun will show up tomorrow. It is really hot here, and very humid, so I still get a little bit of summer.

We arrived very late two days ago, and yesterday was a day to rest a bit and explore the hotel. Sofitel Metropol Hanoi is like a small city (very small, more like tiny maybe…) with shops for all you need (if you have a lot of money… Louis Vuitton and Hermés is not completely my style, but wonderful to do window-shopping!). Four restaurants, fitness centre, spa and pool. Amalie has already been out there twice. We have been outside the hotel also (of course...), but there is one tiny problem. It is almost impossible to cross the street! They are driving their cars and motorbikes in their own system, real anarchy. Red light doesn’t mean much, and it feels a bit like Russian rulet. Okay, maybe I am exaggerating a bit, but it is quite terrifying when you come from a completely different culture when it comes to traffic and driving. Later today we are going to a water-puppet show, so then we have to cross the streets… You will here my report tomorrow… lol ☺

" My view from my table at the café on the hotel"

I have my first rehearsal with the orchestra tomorrow; the concerts are Saturday and Sunday. This is a project that’s managed by Transposition, and it is an exchange program between Norway and Vietnam. To let Vietnamese and Norwegian musicians play together, I am very happy to be part of the project. The conductor is French, Pierre André Valued, and I am looking forward to meet both him and the orchestra tomorrow.

My Jasmine-Green tee was just served, so I think I have to say goodbye for now. My tee is waiting, I do want it while it is still hot ☺
Lời chúc tụng, Tine

Destination Tokyo

Blog entry 23rd of February 2009

Tokyo

I am in Tokyo. We arrived on the 18th but my Internet connection at the hotel has been a bit limited, so therefore I have not gotten a chance to write a blog entry before now.

The flight was comfortable, and the movie and game selection on the plane was nice. Finnair from Oslo to Tokyo via Helsinki. I am on this two-week tour (and a little holiday…) to Asia together with my mum and little sister. I really like having them with me, it is so nice to experience all of this together with my family. We did have a little incident on the first flight from Oslo to Helsinki though. Our jackets were in the overhead compartments and when we arrived in Helsinki my mother’s coat was completely soaked on one side! It turned out our neighbour had a bottle of water, one of these with sports cap, outside his bag and it was leaking. The compartment was full of water… The coat was almost dry when we arrived in Tokyo (thanks to a lovely stewardess!). But that was really all the drama, and I would say that was quite little.

Tokyo is so full of people! 33 million inhabitants (we are 4.5 million in the whole of Norway!) and the main city centre is huge. Our hotel is located in Musashino, about 15min by train to the nearest part of the centre, Shinjuku. At the left side you see me in Shinjuku and on the right side in Asakusa.

The city is so clean! And most places there are not allowed to smoke on the streets, they have their own small painted squares on the streets were you can smoke. You should have your phone on silent mode and not talk in your phone while you are on the train or the subway, and the line and queue system everywhere is remarkable! I also love the way they greet eachother, with all the bowing and give things with two hands. There is just something with the respect they give and show one another.


The people from the Musashino Cultural Foundation is so nice, especially Mr Wada, and the concert on the 20th were so much fun! It was sold out and such a lovely audience. I played with a great organist, Naomi Matsui, and my first concert in Tokyo was a great experience.
The two last days has been spent as tourists, taking a lot of pictures and trying to see as much of Tokyo as possible.

Tonight we are leaving for Hanoi, so right now I will finish my practising and then do some last packing. It is 30 degrees Celsius in Vietnam, so I think I will try to work a little bit on my tan (which at this moment is non-existing…).
You will hear from me when I arrive in Hanoi!
Sayonara, Tine ☺

Arendal-Oslo by train

Blog Entry 14th of February 2009

Train is a comfortable way of travelling. Today I am on my way home to Oslo from Arendal. It is so much beautiful nature around me, I really get to refresh my love to the nature here in Norway. It is terribly cold outside, but the sun is shining, and you know how everything gets even more beautiful when it is cold. It is something about those cold degrees that makes the air shine in a special way.

I will not bore you with my romantic nature talk. (I do get like this when I watch and read romantic comedies, and that is the best way to get time to fly by!) Instead I actually have a really dramatic story to tell you.

It has been over a week since I last wrote a blog entry. If I remember right I were in Stavanger, enjoying my great hotel room very much ☺ Since that I have done a lot of things and concerts. I had a project going on with “Stabsmusikken” (the national band of armed forces) with a world premiere. That was a great experience, but here also comes the drama.

On Wednesday, three days ago, I had just arrived in Lillestrøm and was on my way to the dressing rooms backstage. Then the most surprisingly horrible thing happened; I slipped and fell on my way down the stairs. And I fell right on my trumpets! (Yes, this is the place where you should scream!) First I thought everything was going to be okay, but then I checked my C trumpet… The trigger got stuck and the second valve was a bit shaky. One and a half hour to the concert, what do you do?

Well, we tried to call everywhere and everyone to find someone who should fix my trumpet before the concert was supposed to start. But we didn’t have much time so it needed to be a place near Lillestrøm. We drove in to Oslo to fix it, but I had bad luck and my trumpet only got worse… it felt like my little baby was sick and I just wanted to hold her and tell her that she would be okay! Luckily one of the trumpeters in the orchestra had a C trumpet that I could borrow. The same brand and model as mine, but as you know; your own children are always the best. But, I am glad to say that everything turned out well! I got through the concert with my “stand-in” trumpet, and the day after I went to Sarpsborg and Hans Gunnar made my baby good again! He is a real lifesaver ☺

That was all the drama for today. Tomorrow I go to Trondheim and on Tuesday I am leaving for Asia. First stop: Tokyo!

Until next time, be careful when you walk the stairs…

Stavanger

Blog entry 3rd of February 2009

I have this great hotel room here in Stavanger, it is huge although it’s only supposed to be a single room. I do get kind of a royal feeling, thank you to whoever arranged this. You do know how to make a girl feel welcome!

I arrived here yesterday and played a concert last night together with Stuttgart Chamber orchestra, the same orchestra I played with in Tromsø last week. Great orchestra and great audience. No crazy photographers snatching hundreds of photographs for the local newspaper (seriously, sometimes you would think they believed they where invisible!), and I didn’t fall on my way on to the stage. So all in all it was great experiences.

Sunday was another long visit to Heathrow. First I must tell you that I had a wonderful time in Belfast, and the orchestra and conductor Roy Goodman was so great to work with. It was an all-baroque program, and I think I have completely fallen in love with playing this music. I mean, I have always liked it, but lately I get this amazingly content feeling when I play it. I get all excited about hemiols and small rhythmic patterns and twists, I hope this is a good sign. (But maybe if I start to talk too much about it in this blog, someone should warn me…)

I updated my profile picture, you see me standing outside the city hall in Belfast.

Well, I have to leave you then. I am on my way to rehearse a little bit, I go home to Oslo tonight. (No food on this flight though, SAS do not serve food on domestic flights that are as short as Stavanger-Oslo, and especially not on my Happy-prize ticket). I am working on a new piece, a commission, by Wolfgang Plagge. I am premiering it on Thursday in Oslo. First rehearsal tomorrow, looking forward!

So, until next time…

Destination Belfast

Blog entry 29th of January 2009

Some people have already asked me when I will write a new blog entry. I am greatly surprised that someone has already discovered this blog, and of course I now want to update as regularly as possible. So, here goes.

I am back at Heathrow, this time terminal 1. I left Tromsø too early this morning (flight departing 6:50) and I am on my way to Belfast. My breakfast was eaten on my flight from Tromsø to Oslo, my early-lunch from Oslo to Heathrow, and who knows, there might be a little bit of eating on the last flight for Belfast. We do that a lot; eat on flights. Sometimes the flight attendants run through the plane and almost throws the little snack at you, along with a cup of coffee or tee, and some minutes later they hurry past you again and tries to throw your food in the trash before you have even eaten it. And then the plane lands. The flight may not have taken much longer time than you use on the bus every morning to work, but you have to eat. Flying and eating is somewhat connected. I wonder who decided that?

Ooo, have to go to the gate, my mother is calling my name. Will write more when I arrive in Belfast.

Hilton Hotel, Belfast:
So here I am. It is a bit late in the evening here now, and I have just practised in a conference room at the hotel. Trumpet is not always so popular with the other guests (especially in this hotel I would imagine, I can practically hear what my neighbours are talking about!), and there is almost always a possibility of finding another room at the hotel to play in. The people at the reception here at the Hilton in Belfast are extremely nice, and I got a room right away where I could play as loud as I wanted! But I must admit I am a bit tired, I always get so sleepy after a long day of travelling.
You will hear from me soon! So stay tuned…

Thoughts on the road: Airports

Blog-Entry, 19th of January 2009

You can observe so many unbelievably different people at an airport. You have the business-type, with his PC-bag and important look on his face. Like “I am on a mission, for work, I am important”. And of course they get really annoyed with the family of four in front of them in the security line. The family of four (mom, dad and two children, the boy pulling the hair of the girl, you get the picture), who are going on a long awaited family vacation. It always starts with arguing and stress through the security check. Shoes, jackets, belts, mums computer, dads blackberry, trying to get everything in the boxes, with a LONG line of business people behind them. All of them checking their watches, breathing heavily and looking extremely bored and stressed at the same time.

You may wonder why I am telling you this. Well, I do spend quite some time at airports. And there is a lot of waiting, so you might as well have some entertainment while you wait. Watching and observing all those different people is actually quite entertaining. You should try it yourself next time you have some spare minutes at an airport.

Heathrow, Terminal 5. I have installed myself with my laptop in a little café called “Prêt a Manger”. I like this place, they have good and easy food. Today it's a sandwich with chicken and avocado, chips (yes I know….), orange juice, sparkling water and carrot cake (yes, yes…). I spent almost the whole day in London, and I am heading back home for Oslo this evening. I have another hour until my flight is departing. And, that is why I am sitting here and writing to you (and a little bit to myself). There is a lot of funny stuff going on in a life as a travelling musician. No day is the same, and you do experience so many different situations, countries, people, food, you name it. I don’t know if you will find it particularly interesting to read about, but I will give you the chance. This is my “Blog on the (trumpet) Road”.

So, how do I spend my time at the airport? First I visit all the incredibly expensive shops. Window-shopping. Looking at all the bags and clothes I would love to by if they where ten percent the price they are. Then I check out the bookstore(s), check outs for books and magazines. There are no way getting time fly by like reading a book. Then I get some food, or at least something to drink (since I left my bottle of water at the security check). And if I still have time left, I rest, I check my laptop, or I just simply watch the people around me. Which was exactly what I was doing when I started to write this blog-entry.

So, now I have to eat my food, and then probably walk a bit around before I head for the gate. Oooh, well, my flight is delayed. I just checked the screen, delayed with 30 min. Well, my plane to London was delayed with 45min (a LOT of snow in Oslo today) so lets hope it's not so much more delays. My flight is landing very late in Oslo as it is. I am already longing for my bed ☺

Until next time, hopefully not too long,
Tine