A Perfect Pear

Our friend Mike Makihara brought us some perfect pears from Tottori. Watch this video and you'll understand why ...

Mmmmm ... Plastic Food

On a tip from our friend Momoko, we hopped the subway to Asakusa in search of the plastic food that's displayed out in front of the average Japanese restaurants. We found the motherload in Kappabashi! When you don't know the name of what you want to order, just point and soon you'll have an edible version. Lori now has a tempura shrimp on her keychain that looks so real, it's hard not to eat it. (An urge not unlike the one I used to have to eat the cherry-flavored Chapstick. Out-of-the-blue, irrational, and overwhelming!) These pictures don't do the stuff justice. Enjoy!

American Executives

A few weeks ago, we landed acting gigs as visiting executives in a DVD being shot by Nikko Chemicals. (The president of Nikko went to USC and he throws work our way whenever possible.) Actually, we were just the lowly assistants to Pete's classmate Scott, who played the part of the "shacho." We put on hard hats, toured the factory, and tried not to laugh.


We loved being the talent! Our host from Nikko, Sakurada-san (below with me, next to the statue of Gyoza Boy - more on that later) treated us like royalty: providing us with bullet train tickets (a very cool way to travel), plying us with iced coffee in our very own star lounge/dressing room (okay, office reception area), lining up a fabulous multi-course meal (okay, lunch in the company cafeteria, but still!), and acting as all-around warm and welcoming host. The "work" consisted of nodding our heads on camera while employees from Nikko gave us a tour of the plant with requisite hard hats, as our brilliant director (in hard hat and plaid shirt below) caught every nuanced reaction on film for posterity and future Nikko clients. The scene at the conference table was a hoot, with us trying to look serious as we negotiated where in town to get the best gyoza with the three "actors" from Nikko, who had been roped into the assignment minutes before. You may be wondering why gyoza keeps coming up - well it's because Utsunomiya is known as the gyoza capital of Japan. Sadly, because of our busy celebrity schedules, we were whisked out of town before sampling goods. This was a fun chance to see another part of Japan, meet some friendly folks, and find out how the other half lives. Now if we could only get an agent....

"The King and Us"

Wat Phra Kaew (a.k.a. Temple of the Emerald Buddha) and the Grand Palace seemed to be the nexus of Thai king worship. The temple complex in Bangkok is mind-blowing -- colorful mosaics, gold stupas, bejeweled statues, the works. The Thai people clearly adore king Bhumipol Adulyadej, and he's been ailing recently, so there is an obvious a wave of support for him throughout the country: most people seemed to own, and wear, yellow shirts embossed with the royal emblem, and the king's image is absolutely everywhere.

Koh Tao -- "Turtle Island"

So, during the hedonistic leg of the trip, we took an overnight train, a bus, and a 2 1/2 hour ferry to the island of Koh Tao (a.k.a. Turtle Island) in the Gulf of Thailand. We stayed at the Thipwimarn Resort, which we struggled to pronounce for the four nights we were there. Koh Tao is known for scuba diving and wasn't bad for snorkeling, either. (Pete thinks he watched too many Jacques Cousteau specials and/or "Finding Nemo" because he doesn't think he has realistic expectations of what a good coral reef should look like. Koh Tao was nice, with lots of colorful fish, but didn't seem to have anything on St. John.) Very relaxing time!

Sukhothai -- "Rising of Happiness"

During the conscientious leg of the trip, we visited Sukhothai. According to our trusty Lonely Planet guide, Sukhothai is/was: one of Thailand's most impressive World Heritage sites, the first capital of Siam, built during the 13th century, marked the "golden age" of Thai civilization, occupied by a dynasty of nine kings spanning 200 years, features ~45 sq. km. of ruins ... many of which we criss-crossed on our rented bicycles. We enjoyed our day in Sukhothai (although we still haven't figured out how to use our digital camera, so check out these real photographs).

"One night in Bangkok ..."

"... and the world's your (stinky, smog-choked, and sizzlingly hot) oyster." Here's the first wave of pictures from our voyage through Thailand -- starting with (putrid, possibly-tubercular, and best-not-ingested) Bangkok. Pictured here are (a) shrine-ette at the our friend Jim Thompson's house, (b) fast (Vietnamese) food at the mall ... yummy, (c) Thai ties (and cheap, too), (d) lyrical Thai graffiti, (e) orchids as far as the eye can see (in this big bowl, at least), (f) our best buddy Jim's garden, (g) sky-train in trendy downtown, (h) slums & highrises.
We spent a few days in Bangkok before heading north to Sukhothai. More on Bangkok to follow ...