Kellie Pickler ~ AFE Tour ~ Japan

TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 8-9, 2023: KELLIE PICKLER ARMED FORCES ENTERTAINMENT TOUR TO JAPAN

Kellie Pickler will be entertaining our service members at U.S. Military bases in Yokota, Yokosuka, Atsu­­gi, Camp Zama, and Misawa on mainland Japan and then at Camp Foster in Okinawa.  All the shows are tied into the upcoming Veteran’s Day holidays.  If you know anything about Kellie, you know she has been a long time supporter of the U.S Military.  It’s going to be a great tour!

Seem to have jumped right back in to my “former” touring life!  Did not go to bed last night because I had to leave for the airport at 4 am. Lindsey was sweet enough to offer to take me and help with getting the group checked in. Guess it’s pay back for me picking her up in the wee hours of the morning on her last flight back to the USA.

Most of the guys arrived on time at 4:30 am but a couple did not get there until almost 5 am.  Since we had to check in as a “group” to avoid excess baggage charges, I wanted everyone to arrive at 4:30 am.  I was able to go ahead and check in 4 of the group and then check the others as they arrived.

Our flight to Atlanta was on time and we landed on time.  Had a few minutes to go into the lounge and then it was time to board.  I took Kellie into the cockpit to visit with the flight crew and they were very appreciative.  She is so sweet and “engaging” with everyone she meets.

As soon as I finished the meal (which was surprisingly GOOD for airplane food!), I went to sleep.  Slept for about 2 hours and then got up to answer a ton of emails that had arrived while I was sleeping.  It was a very smooth flight (thankfully) but I worked so hard the entire time that I didn’t even watch a movie or read any of the book I was hoping to finish on the flight.  I’m reading “Operation Pineapple Express” by retired Lt. Col. Scott Mann.  If you have any interest at all in what happened with the Afghanistan “withdrawal”, you need to read this book!

Right before we landed, the flight attendants came by with masks and an announcement said that we all needed to put them on.  I didn’t put mine on because I already knew Kellie was not going to want to wear one.  The flight attendant came by giving out masks and asked if I needed one.  I said “no”. She asked if I already have one and I said “yes”.  She said “you need to put it on” and I said “no” and she walked away!  I had already researched that while several places in Japan might “ask” you to wear a mask, they have no way of “enforcing” their “request”.

We landed on time and I was feeling “good” about the 3 hours of paperwork we had done in preparation for our journey through Japanese Immigration.  Lindsey had filled out all the paperwork for Kellie and I had her login info for her account plus I printed all 3 copies of the QR codes for Quarantine, Immigration and Customs.  Lindsey thought all 3 QR codes “might” be the same but we didn’t take any chances.  I like a physical piece of paper in my hands.  We had talked to all the guys, walked them through the process and told them they should print it out and take a screen shot.  I breezed right through the multitude of Japanese employees waiting in line for us as we exited the plane.  They gave me a blue card and directed me to a lane to proceed.  I did not proceed.  I waited for Kellie and all the others.  Kellie also breezed through by showing her printed QR code but the did not give her a blue card and directed her to a totally separate lane.  I knew I would never see her again.  I asked her to wait for all the other guys and we would go through together.

As the guys came through one by one, if they had a printed copy or had a screen shot, they breezed right through.  If they were fully vaccinated, (and most of them only had two vaccinations and for Japan to consider you fully vaccinated, you must have two vaccinations PLUS the booster!!!!), they were given the blue card.  If they were not “fully vaccinated”, they were not given a card and told to go to the other lane.  One guy had taken a “photo” of his QR codes and they would not accept the photo!  How in the world they could tell the difference between a “photo” and a “screen” shot and why it made a difference can only be explained by the “Japanese way”.  One guy had planned on pulling it up on his phone but he could not connect to Wi-Fi.  Ultimately, we all gave our blue “get out of jail free” cards back and went through the other lane together.  Along the way, we were all stopped by a multiple staff members and each time we showed our “LOA” (an official letter showing we have SOFA status and exempt from taking a PCR test prior to arrival) plus our ITO’s (Official Military Travel Orders).  The LOA was submitted electronically by AFE to Japan Immigration so that it would be in their system when we went through Immigration.  The problem is, there are about 100 agents in a “Quarantine” area that you have to get past first and they know nothing about SOFA status.  All they know is you have THREE QR codes and they need to see the one that says “Quarantine”.

The guys who could not show their QR codes had to fill out the entire application again on their phones – trust me, it takes a LONG time as there are pages and pages of information.   I helped as best I could by answering the same questions we had answered before we departed the USA.  An hour and a half later, all but one of the group had been cleared.  They gave him a PCR test kit and I thought they were going to make him test but instead the staff member said, “take the test in 2 days”!  What?  There is no way to “track” him so he’ll just toss it.

Next stop was FINALLY immigration.  Again, we had all filled out the Immigration info online and we all had a copy of our QR codes by that time from the nightmare experience in quarantine.  But, on no, Immigration did not want a QR code.  All the information was already in their system when they pulled up our name because as I said previously, AFE had submitted it weeks ago.  However, we were giving an “arrival card” on the flight and told to fill it out before landing.  I knew we had already filled it out digitally and the QR code would pull up the info, but Kellie and I filled it out anyway.  We also filled out the yellow Customs form which had also been submitted electronically when we filled out the online forms.  Didn’t matter.  The Immigration officers made anyone who didn’t fill out the white arrival card stand in line and complete all the info before we were finally allowed to exit into baggage claim.

Obviously, all our bags were waiting for us.  We loaded everything onto carts and headed to Customs. As we were walking, an announcement was being made over the speaker system in English and Japanese stating that we either had to show our Customs QR code or the yellow Customs card that we were given on the flight.  Nope.  Customs officers would not accept the QR Code and once again made everyone fill out the yellow cards if they had not done so already.  They also asked to see everyone’s passport which has never happened at Customs.

We finally made it out and Spike and VG were waiting for us.  I’ve known Spike for decades but first time I met VG.  He is Lithuanian and moved here from JBER in Alaska.  He remembered some of my shows from JBER but we never met.  Really nice guy.

We were finally able to load the bus and head towards the base – two hours after the flight had arrived and just in time for rush hour traffic which we would have avoided had we not encountered the nightmare arrival procedure.  We stopped at a beautiful roadside rest area that was on a “tiny island” enroute to the base.  There were 3 levels of restaurants and we all ended up on the top floor at a “sushi” restaurant.   The prices are incredibly in Japan, especially with the Dollar being so strong against the Yen. And it was a lot of food.  I only had half a bowl of Udon soup because I had eaten a frittata prior to landing and was not hungry.

We had almost a 2 hour bus ride to Yokota Air Base. Everyone slept.  No issues getting through the gate but an officer did have to come on the bus and inspect each passport.  Then when we got to lodging, the bus driver seemed to have a problem figuring out “where” to drop us and he was unable to “back the bus” up.  We circled a couple of times and finally stopped in front of the door to the DV Quarters where Kellie and I had rooms.  The guys were in an attached “main” building so they had to walk down a long corridor to access their rooms.  Rick – who I have never met either – met us with our rooms keys.  Everyone was dead tired and immediately went to their rooms as far as I know.  I dropped my bags and walked downstairs to make sure no one was having a problem.  I checked out the front desk, exercise room and vending machines.   There is a small “café” in the lobby and Starbucks coffee.  No one seemed too excited about being able to find breakfast and the Officer’s Club is next door and they can go there for lunch.

Once back in my room, I made sure I had Wi-Fi and then realized the heat was not working and it was freezing.  The front desk advised that the building had just shut off their air conditioning for the season and it would take several days (or weeks Japanese style!) for the heat to begin working.  I was able to secure a small space heater from the front desk which has about as much effect as a cigarette lighter based on the size of the rooms. I took it into the bathroom and was able to at least take a shower and not be covered in ice once I stepped out.   Slept in my socks and there were no extra “blankets” anywhere in the room.

I answered a couple of emails, checked in with Lindsey, and then went to bed at around 12:30 am.  Slept for a couple of hours but text messages kept coming in and waking me up.  I forced myself to stay in bed until 6:30 am but again, it was an off and off 6 hours of sleep.

Thank you Armed Forces Entertainment and especially Frank Tagatac for this wonderful opportunity to thank the men and women serving in this Region.  And special thanks to Kellie and all her guys for being so patient with the extremely long flight and “arrival” process!

You can check out photos on any of my 3 Facebook sites and “eventually” on my company websites:

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Judy Seale

Judy Seale International

Stars for Stripes

Websites:

www.judysealeinternational.com

www.stars for stripes. com

 

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 10^TH – FIRST SHOW IN JAPAN AT YOKOTA AIR BASE:

Up at 6:30 am to answer some text messages, work out and dress for the day. Lobby call for Kellie and me is at 12:45 pm.  She has a live interview with AFN radio.  The guys have a 1:45 pm call time to load in.  Very full day with only a one hour break between the end of sound check and lobby call for the show tonight.

They sent the huge bus that picked us up from the airport to take us on the 10 minute drive to AFN.  Kellie was charming, articulate and made lots of new friends/fans at AFN.  Every time there was a “break” between her interview and the station playing live music, the control room would be flooded with AFN staff asking to take a photo with Kellie.  We were supposed to finish at 2 pm but of course, we ran longer than scheduled because she is so engaging with people.  A smaller bus had picked up the guys at lodging at 1:45 pm to go to the venue for load in and to get their levels.  Only problem was, all their equipment was on the large bus with us at AFN.   We stopped at the venue and let them unload the instruments but it meant sound check for Kellie was delayed by about 15 minutes.

My dear friend – George DeGrella – is working at Yokota again and came by to say hello.  He was the AFE rep for all of Europe for years and was so awesome.  Really miss having him in place over there.

They finished sound check close to the scheduled time, went upstairs and grabbed some food from the Green Room and went back to lodging for about 2 hours.  We are not going to have a VIP M&G prior to the show because word did not get out to leadership about this opportunity.

We went back to the venue at 6:30 pm and the show started on time at 7:00 pm. George came to the show and brought his son Luke with him. Zac and Zoe met Luke when I brought them to Tokyo in 2019 and he remembers going to Disney Tokyo with them  Had 286 people in attendance which was a great turnout for a Thursday night and all the “competition” of having downtown Tokyo so close by.  Kellie and the guys did a great show and the audience was definitely pumped up.  She brought a guy (reluctantly) on stage during “My Red High Heels” and he turned out to be quite the “dancer”.  She took photos with everyone in a very long M&G line after the show.  The Flight Chief came by to say hello right after her show.  Really nice man and said that this was his 3^rd deployment to Japan.  He loves it here.  Who wouldn’t?

The guys had dinner in the Green Room while Kellie was taking the photos.  She and I got our meals “to go” and were back in our rooms by around 9:30 pm.  We have a 10:30 am lobby call so going to bed very soon.

Jude

 

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 11^TH, 2023  – CAMP ZAMA – CELEBRATING OUR FEARLESS HEROES PERFORMANCES!

I forgot to mention how nice it was to see so many families with young children at the performance last night.  And they were dancing along to Kellie’s music.  The line for photos with Kellie was predominantly families with young children as well.  So good to see the all enjoying the show and getting the opportunity to meet Kellie! Here’s the “official” figures — Total Audience attendance = 289;  Adults = 200;  Children (17 and under) = 89;
Meet-n-Greet = 104 + Staff Photo.

Lobby call was at 10:30 am and I had been up since 5:30 am by then.   At least getting in quick workouts and answering some of the multitude of emails that come in overnight! Our POC for Camp Zama is Randy and he’s as awesome as the Yokota Staff.   We left the base at 11 am and it was a 1 hour drive to Camp Zama.  It’s been a very long time since I’ve visited Camp Zama but I started remembering things about it when we arrived….like the awesome Golf Course.  It’s the headquarters for all the Army bases in Japan.

We are staying in the DV quarters in awesome rooms here as well.  After dropping our bags, Randy treated us to lunch at the Country Club.  Amazing food.  The Community Center where the show is being held is right across the street from lodging.  We walked over for sound check immediately after lunch.  It’s a really nice venue.  The production company already had everything set up and ready for the guys as usual.  Kellie isn’t even going to participate in sound check today because we have all the same production and backline for all the shows on mainland Japan.  The guys thought they could finish in 1 hour instead of 2 hours and Randy hooked them up for a round of golf.

I was able to get quite a bit of work accomplished since the show tonight doesn’t start until 8 pm.  We had to go over at 7:00 pm for Kellie to do an interview with the base newspaper.  Rick – MWR Director – along with Randy, so a great job of keeping everything running on time! She had 15 minutes for the interview.  Then we met with base leadership and other VIP’s.  Major General Vowell (U.S. Army Japan Commander) and Colonel Tomlinson (Garrison Commander) and their wives were kind enough to come by to meet Kellie.

There are over 100 Japanese in the audience and they belong to the Japanese Country Music Organization “Longhorn Saloon”.  The show started with the Color Guard marching into the concert room.  Then a nice gentleman whose name was too long for me to remember sang the Japanese National Anthem.  SSG Staff Sergeant Lance Boston sang our National Anthem and then Colonel Garrison welcomed Kellie to the stage.  It was very moving ceremony and reminded me how thankful I am for our men and women serving – not just today but everyday.  What a wonderful, memorable way to spend Veterans Day!

It was such a wonderful show with the Japanese fans line dancing to every song.  There were children attending and dancing along, too.  Kellie really has a fantastic voice and takes the time to talk to the audience about her life and the songs she sings.  She loves traditional country music.  At the very beginning of the show, a Japanese lady came up to me and I immediately recognized her as someone I had met at Country Gold.  She remembered me and we took photos together and then, of course, she had a gift for me and Kellie!  The Japanese are a gift-giving country.  The only thing I had to give her was my coin.  I sometimes wonder if they carry around backpacks filled with gifts just to be prepared!

Watching the Japanese line-dancing was bittersweet because it reminded me of the 31 years I spent working side by side with Charlie Nagatani to bring Country Music to Japan.  It made me miss him so much, I left the room and called him.

The line for photos for Kellie was really long and my tiny knowledge of the Japanese language came back to me.  “Ichimasho” means “let’s go” and “chotto matte kudu Sai”  means “wait a minute”.  Very helpful in a M&G line.  LOL.

We had preordered our meals and took them to our rooms.  I had ordered miso salmon and it was great.  Trying to get in bed before 2 am…..

Jude

 

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 12^TH – PERFORMANCE AT YOKOSUKA NAVAL STATION, JAPAN:

We are now at the point in the tour where I have no idea what day of the week or date it is.  Can’t believe that after tonight’s show, we will be at the half-way mark of the tour!

Met in front of the building at 10:30 am for our drive to Yokosuka.  Gregg – our POC – showed up with two vans instead of a bus.  I’ve worked with him for decades and was surprised that he did not bring the bus. However, he explained that the bus broke down yesterday and he had to hustle to come up with alternate transportation.  Neither van had a cargo area, so we had to put everything inside in the seats.  Thankfully the Japanese Production Company has been transporting our large pieces of equipment for us from base to base.

We arrived at the Gateway Inn at around noon, dropped our bags, and headed into the town in search of Sushi.  I was so happy to learn that they have a Hamazushi here….my favorite.  After the others ate there, it became their favorite as well!  There were 4 people at our table and we ate dozens of pieces of sushi (photo on Facebook) and the total cost was $44 U.S…..that’s $11 per person.  Crazy!

Kellie and I ate so much that we decided to walk down to the Base Exchange – which was quit a hike.  Had about an hour before we needed to leave for the show because the show time had been moved from 7 pm to 6 pm.   Show started on time and there were 300 people in attendance and once again there were LOTS of families.  A Navy audience is generally more “rowdy” than Air Force and Army and this one did not disappoint!

A girl that Kellie knew from high school was at the show with her husband and 4 good-looking boys.  They came backstage and spent some time with Kellie after the show.  The M&G line was really long tonight and parts of it were “rowdy” as well but also lots of young children.  A lady showed up with her husband and two children and had a photo of Kellie from a Rota, Spain visit many years ago.  Kellie was holding her youngest son who was only a few months old at the time.  She recreated the photo by holding her son again but he’s much older now!

Everyone is looking forward to our only day off on the tour tomorrow.  Rick and his wife from Camp Zama are meeting us in the lobby and will be our “guides” into Tokyo via train.

Jude

 

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 13^TH – DAY OFF IN YOKOSUKA:

Got up at 7 am after getting 6 hours of sleep….a record and definitely much needed.  Was able to get a lot of work done before I planned to meet everyone in the lobby for the trip into Tokyo.  At around 8:30 am I got a text from Kellie saying she needed to stay here today and take care of laundry and spend time with her friend from high school.  Then I started getting text messages from some of the guys saying they were just going into Tokyo on their own.  I didn’t want Rick and his wife to drive all the way to Yokosuka (an hour drive) and then no one would be here to go with them so I called him and cancelled our trip into Tokyo.  I really hope the guys understand how difficult the train system is to navigate.  They may spend a lot of time just getting to where they want to go!

I decided to stay here and try to get caught up on a lot of work – especially the upcoming Gary Sinise Foundation Comedy Tour to Mississippi bases in just a few weeks.  Russell also decided not to go into Tokyo and asked if I wanted to grab some lunch off base.  We walked down near the train station and found a small restaurant that looked good.  We both had the vegetable ramen and gyoza and it was great.  Less than an hour after we got back to the hotel, Kellie called and asked if I wanted to grab some lunch.  LOL.   I told her I thought she was out with her girlfriend and Russell and I had just gotten back but that I would walk into town with her.  I asked Russell if he wanted to walk some more and the three of us headed back into town.  Kellie is a vegetarian but eats fish.  I thought it would be simple to find something she could eat but it wasn’t.  We went into one place but it was so hot inside that we left without eating there.  We walked around for a long time and saw a lot of the city including a really pretty temple.  I told them about the ceremony to say a prayer.  Wanted to buy them a Japanese fortune but the little shop was closed.

We finally ended up going back to the same place Russell and I had eaten earlier in the day.  Russell got some more gyoza and fried rice but I just watched.  It was after 5 pm by the time we started the walk back to lodging.  We stopped at a 7-11 and I got a sandwich for later on.  The bread here is incredible!

Trying to get in bed by 1 am.  We don’t have to leave for the airport until 1:45 pm tomorrow for our short flight to Misawa.  I logged 16,980 steps today. LOL.