Sunday, August 31, 2014

Tokyo Trip part 8

The neighborhood we were in could not have been better. We stayed in Shibuya, which is famous for shopping and food, but our apartment was on a quiet street away from all the excitement. We were only a few blocks away from everything, but once you turned onto our street, life immediately moved slower. It was like being in a quiet residential neighborhood right next to all the downtown action.

We were an easy walk to the Shibuya JR station, but we were also pretty close to the Harajuku station. I think our apartment might have been right in the middle of the two, but we mostly used Shibuya because it was a bigger station that went to more places.

I'm not really sure what is south of Shibuya, but just north of our apartment was Yoyogi Park and the Meiji Shrine. The first time we went there, we took the JR from Shibuya to Harajuku, but then we quickly found out that we could easily walk to the park. The front entrance to the park was about the same walking distance as the Shibuya station.

The Meiji Shrine was very interesting. Ryan thought it looked like a Chinese temple, but I thought it was completely different. Chinese temples seem louder. Not only in the noise made by all the people, but in the design. This shrine was calm and relaxing. Chinese temples are rough and jagged. The Japanese people at the Meiji Shrine were far more reverential than I have ever seen anyone at a Chinese temple. You can easily walk around a Chinese temple without being the loud American because Chinese people are, by and large, far noisier. At the Meiji Shrine, we were effortlessly the loud Americans, even though half of us were Canadian.

It's interesting that Canadian's have no bad reputation anywhere when most of the world probably looks at Canadians and assumes they are American. I wonder how many obnoxious Canadians have wandered around, letting everyone assume they were American.

Friday, August 29, 2014

Robin Williams

We heard about Robin Williams when we were in Tokyo. Celebrities die all the time. Usually it's cancer. Sometimes they simply live a very long time. Every once in a while, there is a celebrity death that takes everyone by surprise. The only thing more shocking than the fact that Robin Williams is dead is how he died. I'm rarely surprised when rock stars overdose, but I'm still surprised that someone who made so many people laugh could end his life the way he did.

More often than not, when a movie star gets their start in TV, everyone remembers the movies and forgets the TV. Especially if it was only one show. Everyone knows a hundred Tom Hanks movies. How many people talk about Bosom Buddies anymore? But even after Robin Williams played hundreds of memorable characters, and was a memorable character on his own, people still call him Mork.

His movies were not all classics, but look at the directors who wanted to work with him. Robert Altman, Mike Nichols, Francis Ford Coppola, Woody Allen, Barry Levinson x3, Paul Mazursky, Penny Marshall, George Roy Hill, Kenneth Branagh, Steven Spielberg, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Harold Ramis, Ivan Reitman, Danny DeVito, Harry Shearer, Christopher Nolan, Peter Weir, Gus Van Sant, Barry Sonnenfeld, George Miller, Lee Daniels, Michael Ritchie, Chris Columbus x3.

He played Theodore Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower, Oliver Sacks (more or less), Adrian Cronauer, Patch Adams, TS Garp, Alan Parrish, Euphegenia Doubtfire, John Keating, Jakob Heym, Rainbow Randolph, Parry Sagan, Osric, Popeye, Peter Pan and John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt.


Popeye
directed by Robert Altman
written by Jules Feiffer
produced by Robert Evans
music by Harry Nilsson
starring Robin Williams, Shelley Duvall, Paul Smith, Paul Dooley, Richard Libertini, Linda Hunt, Ray Walston, Klaus Voormann, Dennis Franz, Bill Irwin, Sharon Kinney, Van Dyke Parks

The World According to Garp
directed & produced by George Roy Hill
starring Robin Williams, Mary Beth Hurt, Glenn Close, John Lithgow, Hume Cronyn, Jessica Tandy, Swoosie Kurtz, Amanda Plummer, Jenny Wright, John Irving

The Survivors
directed by Michael Ritchie
starring Walter Matthau, Robin Williams, Jerry Reed, Kristen Vigard, Annie McEnroe, John Goodman

Moscow on the Hudson
directed & produced by Paul Mazursky
written by Paul Mazursky & Leon Capetanos
starring Robin Williams, María Conchita Alonso, Cleavant Derricks, Alejandro Rey, Savely Kramarov, Elya Baskin

The Best of Times
directed by Roger Spottiswoode
written by Ron Shelton
produced by Gordon Carroll
starring Robin Williams, Kurt Russell, Pamela Reed, Holly Palance, M Emmet Walsh, Dub Taylor, Kathleen Freeman, Kirk Cameron, Anne Haney, Tracey Gold

Club Paradise
directed by Harold Ramis
written by Chris Miller, Harold Ramis, Brian Doyle-Murray
starring Robin Williams, Peter O'Toole, Rick Moranis, Jimmy Cliff, Twiggy, Joanna Cassidy, Eugene Levy, Andrea Martin, Brian Doyle-Murray, Joe Flaherty, Robin Duke, Mary Gross

Seize the Day
directed by Fielder Cook
starring Robin Williams, Jerry Stiller, Glenne Headly, Richard Shull, Jo Van Fleet

Good Morning, Vietnam
directed by Barry Levinson
starring Robin Williams, Forest Whitaker, Bruno Kirby, Robert Wuhl, JT Walsh

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
directed by Terry Gilliam
written by Terry Gilliam & Charles McKeown
starring John Neville, Eric Idle, Sarah Polley, Oliver Reed, Uma Thurman, Jonathan Pryce, Robin Williams, Valentina Cortese, Jack Purvis, Charles McKeown

Portrait of a White Marriage
directed by Harry Shearer
written by Martin Mull & Allen Rucker
starring Martin Mull, Mary Kay Place, Fred Willard, Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, Conchata Ferrell, Robing Williams

Dead Poets Society
directed by Peter Weir
starring Robin Williams, Robert Sean Leonard, Ethan Hawke, Norman Lloyd, Kurtwood Smith, Lara Flynn Boyle

Cadillac Man
directed by Roger Donaldson
starring Robin Williams, Tim Robbins, Pamela Reed, Annabella Sciorra, Fran Drescher, Lori Petty, Lauren Tom

Awakenings
directed by Penny Marshall
written by Steven Zaillian
starring Robin Williams, Robert De Niro, Julie Kavner, Penelope Ann Miller, John Heard, Max von Sydow, Anne Meara

Shakes the Clown
directed & written by Bobcat Goldthwait
starring Bobcat Goldthwait, Julie Brown, Adam Sandler, Blake Clark, Kathy Griffin, Robin Williams

Dead Again
directed by Kenneth Branagh
starring Kenneth Branagh, Emma Thompson, Derek Jacobi, Robin Williams, Andy García, Hanna Schygulla

The Fisher King
directed by Terry Gilliam
written by Richard LaGravenese
produced by Debra Hill & Lynda Obst
starring Robin Williams, Jeff Bridges, Mercedes Ruehl, Amanda Plummer, Michael Jeter, David Hyde Pierce, Harry Shearer, Kathy Najimy, John de Lancie, Tom Waits

Hook
directed by Steven Spielberg
starring Robin Williams, Dustin Hoffman, Julia Roberts, Bob Hoskins, Maggie Smith, Gwyneth Paltrow, Phil Collins

FernGully: The Last Rainforest
directed by Bill Kroyer
starring Samantha Mathis, Tim Curry, Christian Slater, Robin Williams, Grace Zabriskie, Cheech Marin, Tommy Chong, Robert Pastorelli, Kathleen Freeman

Aladdin
directed, written & produced by Ron Clements & John Musker
starring Scott Weinger, Linda Larkin, Robin Williams, Frank Welker, Gilbert Gottfried

Toys
directed & produced by Barry Levinson
written by Valerie Curtin & Barry Levinson
starring Robin Williams, Michael Gambon, Jack Warden, Joan Cusack, Robin Wright, LL Cool J, Donald O'Connor, Jamie Foxx, Yeardley Smith, Wendy Melvoin, Debi Mazar

Mrs Doubtfire
directed by Chris Columbus
produced by Marsha Garces Williams & Robin Williams
starring Robin Williams, Sally Field, Pierce Brosnan, Matthew Lawrence, Mara Wilson, Harvey Fierstein, Polly Holliday, Martin Mull

Being Human
directed & written by Bill Forsyth
starring Robin Williams, John Turturro, Bill Nighy, Vincent D'Onofrio, Theresa Russell, William H Macy, Lorraine Bracco, Hector Elizondo, Ewan McGregor, Lindsay Crouse

Nine Months
directed by Chris Columbus
written by Patrick Braoudé & Chris Columbus
starring Hugh Grant, Julianne Moore, Tom Arnold, Joan Cusack, Jeff Goldblum, Robin Williams, Ashley Johnson, Alexa Vega, Kristin Davis, Zelda Williams

To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar
directed by Beeban Kidron
starring Wesley Snipes, Patrick Swayze, John Leguizamo, Stockard Channing, Blythe Danner, Chris Penn, Melinda Dillon, Alice Drummond, Robin Williams, Julie Newmar

Jumanji
directed by Joe Johnston
starring Robin Williams, Bonnie Hunt, Kirsten Dunst, Bebe Neuwirth, David Alan Grier, Jonathan Hyde

The Birdcage
directed by Mike Nichols
written by Elaine May
produced by Mike Nichols & Neil Machlis
starring Robin Williams, Gene Hackman, Nathan Lane, Dianne Wiest, Calista Flockhart, Hank Azaria, Christine Baranski

Jack
directed by Francis Ford Coppola
starring Robin Williams, Diane Lane, Jennifer Lopez, Fran Drescher, Michael McKean and the evil Bill Cosby

Aladdin and the King of Thieves
directed by Tad Stones
starring Scott Weinger, Linda Larkin, Robin Williams, John Rhys-Davies, Gilbert Gottfried, Jerry Orbach, CCH Pounder, Frank Welker

The Secret Agent
directed & written by Christopher Hampton
starring Bob Hoskins, Patricia Arquette, Gérard Depardieu, Christian Bale, Jim Broadbent, Eddie Izzard, Peter Vaughan, Robin Williams

Hamlet
directed by Kenneth Branagh
written by William Shakespeare
starring Kenneth Branagh, Derek Jacobi, Julie Christie, Richard Briers, Kate Winslet, Nicholas Farrell, Michael Maloney, Rufus Sewell, John Gielgud, Judi Dench, Robin Williams, Gérard Depardieu, Jack Lemmon, Brian Blessed, Billy Crystal, Charlton Heston, Rosemary Harris, Richard Attenborough

Fathers' Day
directed by Ivan Reitman
written by Lowell Ganz & Babaloo Mandel
produced by Ivan Reitman & Joel Silver
starring Robin Williams, Billy Crystal, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Nastassja Kinski, Bruce Greenwood, Charles Rocket, Patti D'Arbanville, Mary McCormack

Deconstructing Harry
directed & written by Woody Allen
produced by Letty Aronson & Jean Doumanian
starring Woody Allen, Paul Giamatti, Mariel Hemingway, Hazelle Goodman, Kirstie Alley, Amy Irving, Judy Davis, Elisabeth Shue, Caroline Aaron, Eric Bogosian, Richard Benjamin, Tobey Maguire, Jennifer Garner, Stanley Tucci, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Robin Williams, Demi Moore, Billy Crystal, Bob Balaban

Flubber
directed by Les Mayfield
written & produced by John Hughes
starring Robin Williams, Marcia Gay Harden, Clancy Brown, Wil Wheaton, Edie McClurg

Good Will Hunting
directed by Gus Van Sant
written by Matt Damon & Ben Affleck
produced by Lawrence Bender
starring Matt Damon, Robin Williams, Minnie Driver, Stellan Skarsgård, Ben Affleck, Casey Affleck, George Plimpton

What Dreams May Come
directed by Vincent Ward
written by Ronald Bass
starring Robin Williams, Annabella Sciorra, Cuba Gooding Jr, Max von Sydow, Rosalind Chao, Werner Herzog

Patch Adams
directed by Tom Shadyac
written by Steve Oedekerk
starring Robin Williams, Monica Potter, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Harold Gould, Michael Jeter, Richard Kiley, Peter Coyote

Jakob the Liar
directed by Peter Kassovitz
written by Peter Kassovitz & Didier Decoin
starring Robin Williams, Alan Arkin, Bob Balaban, Liev Schreiber, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Hannah Taylor-Gordon, Michael Jeter

Bicentennial Man
directed by Chris Columbus
written by Nicholas Kazan
starring Robin Williams, Sam Neill, Embeth Davidtz, Hallie Kate Eisenberg, Oliver Platt, Kiersten Warren, Stephen Root, Bradley Whitford

Get Bruce
directed & written by Andrew Kuehn
starring Bruce Vilanch, Whoopi Goldberg, Lily Tomlin, Billy Crystal, Bette Midler, Carol Burnett, Robin Williams, Elizabeth Taylor, Shirley MacLaine, Lauren Bacall

AI Artificial Intelligence
directed & written by Steven Spielberg
starring Haley Joel Osment, Jude Law, Frances O'Connor, William Hurt, Brendan Gleeson, Robin Williams, Ben Kingsley, Meryl Streep, Chris Rock

One Hour Photo
directed & written by Mark Romanek
starring Robin Williams, Michael Vartan, Connie Nielsen, Gary Cole, Eriq La Salle, Nick Searcy

Death to Smoochy
directed by Danny DeVito
written by Adam Resnick
starring Edward Norton, Robin Williams, Danny DeVito, Catherine Keener, Jon Stewart, Harvey Fierstein, Vincent Schiavelli, Robert Prosky

Insomnia
directed by Christopher Nolan
written by Hillary Seitz
starring Al Pacino, Robin Williams, Hilary Swank, Maura Tierney, Paul Dooley

The Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch
directed & written by Eric Idle
starring Eric Idle, Neil Innes, Ricky Fataar, John Halsey, Bill Murray, Catherine O'Hara, Robin Williams, Carrie Fisher, Steve Martin, Mike Nichols, Kevin Nealon

The Final Cut
directed & written by Omar Naim
starring Robin Williams, Mira Sorvino, Jim Caviezel, Joely Collins

House of D
directed & written by David Duchovny
starring David Duchovny, Anton Yelchin, Robin Williams, Téa Leoni, Erykah Badu, Frank Langella, Orlando Jones, Zelda Williams

Noel
directed by Chazz Palminteri
written by David Hubbard
starring Susan Sarandon, Penélope Cruz, Paul Walker, Alan Arkin, Robin Williams, Chazz Palminteri

Robots
directed by Chris Wedge
written by David Lindsay-Abaire, Lowell Ganz, Babaloo Mandel
starring Ewan McGregor, Halle Berry, Robin Williams, Mel Brooks, Greg Kinnear, Jim Broadbent, Amanda Bynes, Stanley Tucci, Dianne Wiest, Paul Giamatti, Chris Wedge, Lowell Ganz, James Earl Jones

The Big White
directed by Mark Mylod
starring Robin Williams, Holly Hunter, Giovanni Ribisi, Tim Blake Nelson, Woody Harrelson, Alison Lohman

The Aristocrats
directed by Penn Jillette & Paul Provenza
starring Lewis Black, David Brenner, George Carlin, Tim Conway, Phyllis Diller, Carrie Fisher, Whoopi Goldberg, Gilbert Gottfried, Richard Lewis, Bill Maher, Martin Mull, Kevin Nealon, Don Rickles, Chris Rock, Rita Rudner, Bob Saget, Harry Shearer, Sarah Silverman, David Steinberg, Jon Stewart, Rip Taylor, Dave Thomas, Bruce Vilanch, Fred Willard, Robin Williams, Steven Wright

The Night Listener
directed by Patrick Stettner
written by Armistead Maupin, Terry Anderson, Patrick Stettner
starring Robin Williams, Toni Collette, Bobby Cannavale, Sandra Oh, Joe Morton

RV
directed by Barry Sonnenfeld
starring Robin Williams, Cheryl Hines, Jeff Daniels, Kristin Chenoweth, Joanna Levesque, Josh Hutcherson

Everyone's Hero
directed by Christopher Reeve, Daniel St Pierre & Colin Brady
starring Rob Reiner, Whoopi Goldberg, Robin Williams, William H Macy, Brian Dennehy, Mandy Patinkin, Forest Whitaker, Robert Wagner

Man of the Year
directed & written by Barry Levinson
starring Robin Williams, Christopher Walken, Laura Linney, Lewis Black, Jeff Goldblum, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler

Happy Feet
directed by George Miller
starring Elijah Wood, Brittany Murphy, Robin Williams, Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman, Hugo Weaving, Anthony LaPaglia, Miriam Margolyes

Night at the Museum
directed by Shawn Levy
written by Thomas Lennon & Robert Ben Garant
produced by Shawn Levy, Chris Columbus, Michael Barnathan
starring Ben Stiller, Carla Gugino, Dick Van Dyke, Mickey Rooney, Bill Cobbs, Robin Williams, Owen Wilson, Steve Coogan, Kim Raver, Ricky Gervais, Paul Rudd, Anne Meara

License to Wed
directed by Ken Kwapis
starring Robin Williams, Mandy Moore, John Krasinski, Christine Taylor, Peter Strauss, Grace Zabriskie, Mindy Kaling, Wanda Sykes

August Rush
directed by Kirsten Sheridan
written by Nick Castle & James V Hart
starring Freddie Highmore, Keri Russell, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Robin Williams, Terrence Howard, William Sadler, Marian Seldes, Mykelti Williamson

World's Greatest Dad
directed & written by Bobcat Goldthwait
starring Robin Williams, Alexie Gilmore, Henry Simmons, Morgan Murphy, Toby Huss, Bobcat Goldthwait

Shrink
directed by Jonas Pate
starring Kevin Spacey, Saffron Burrows, Robert Loggia, Gore Vidal, Robin Williams

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
directed by Shawn Levy
written by Thomas Lennon & Robert Ben Garant
produced by Shawn Levy, Chris Columbus, Michael Barnathan
starring Ben Stiller, Amy Adams, Robin Williams, Owen Wilson, Steve Coogan, Ricky Gervais, Hank Azaria, Christopher Guest, Thomas Lennon, Robert Ben Garant

Old Dogs
directed by Walt Becker
starring John Travolta, Robin Williams, Kelly Preston, Lori Loughlin, Seth Green, Rita Wilson, Bernie Mac, Matt Dillon, Luis Guzmán, Ann-Margret, Amy Sedaris

Happy Feet Two
directed by George Miller
starring Elijah Wood, Alecia Moore, Ava Acres, Robin Williams, Hank Azaria, Sofia Vergara, Anthony LaPaglia, Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon

The Big Wedding
directed & written by Justin Zackham
starring Robert De Niro, Diane Keaton, Katherine Heigl, Topher Grace, Susan Sarandon, Amanda Seyfried, Robin Williams, Christine Ebersole

The Butler
directed by Lee Daniels
written by Danny Strong
starring Forest Whitaker, Oprah Winfrey, David Oyelowo, Terrence Howard, Vanessa Redgrave, Cuba Gooding Jr, Lenny Kravitz, Robin Williams, James Marsden, Liev Schreiber, Nelsan Ellis, Jesse Williams, John Cusack, Alan Rickman, Jane Fonda

The Face of Love
directed by Arie Posin
written by Arie Posin & Matthew McDuffie
starring Annette Bening, Ed Harris, Robin Williams, Amy Brenneman, Jess Weixler, Linda Park

Boulevard
directed by Dito Montiel
starring Robin Williams, Kathy Baker, Roberto Aguire, Bob Odenkirk

The Angriest Man in Brooklyn
directed by Phil Alden Robinson
starring Robin Williams, Mila Kunis, Peter Dinklage, Melissa Leo, James Earl Jones, Sutton Foster, Richard Kind, Jerry Adler, Louis CK

A Merry Friggin' Christmas
directed by Tristram Shapeero
starring Joel McHale, Robin Williams, Lauren Graham, Candice Bergen, Oliver Platt, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Jeffrey Tambor

Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb
directed by Shawn Levy
produced by Shawn Levy, Chris Columbus, Mark Radcliffe
starring Ben Stiller, Robin Williams, Owen Wilson, Steve Coogan, Ricky Gervais, Ben Kingsley, Dick Van Dyke, Mickey Rooney, Bill Cobbs, Andrea Martin

Absolutely Anything
directed by Terry Jones
written by Terry Jones & Gavin Scott
starring Simon Pegg, Kate Beckinsale, Eddie Izzard, Joanna Lumley, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Michael Palin, Terry Jones, Robin Williams

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Tokyo Trip part 7

Tokyo was amazing. I can see why Americans like it so much. Japanese culture seems a lot more accessible than Chinese culture, from an American perspective, at least. I'm not saying Japan is like the United States. They are very different places in a million different ways. But from what little I have seen, I think it would be far easier to be an American adapting to Japan than to be an American adapting to China. I would love to know how Chinese people feel about adapting to life in Japan, or about Japanese people in China.

Going to another country with Ryan, Lily and Kevin was more than interesting. I have gone to a few countries with Ryan, so there were no surprises there, but this was my first trip with Lily & Kevin. We have all known each other for a few years, but we never really thought about taking a vacation together until now. We talked about it, but not seriously.

Staying together in a hotel would have been interesting. We have all lived together, more or less, but a hotel is different from an apartment. Unfortunately, I can't say anything about that experience since we stayed in an apartment on this trip. It was not someone's actual apartment, but one of those apartments that travelers can rent for short stays. There's a name for it, but it escapes me right now.

The great thing about staying in an apartment is that you have a lot more room. We had two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living room and a small kitchen. We could have had the same amount of space in a large suit at one of the better hotels, but that would have been far more expensive. Tokyo is not the cheapest city in the world. The apartment we rented was beyond reasonable. I think they charged less because most people don't know about it, unlike a national hotel chain that everyone knows about.

Sunday, August 10, 2014

Tokyo Trip part 6

We are going to Tokyo tomorrow. The plane tickets are confirmed and the hotel/apartment is finally booked. We have some idea of what we want to see and where we want to go, but we are also leaving plenty of room to improvise. The last thing I ever want to do on a trip is plan every little thing down to the last hour. I want to know how to get around, but where I go is often open to last minute choices. Luckily, I'm traveling with people who pretty much feel the same way. The four of us have never traveled together to a different country, so it should be interesting.

As if that's not enough traveling, I'm also going to Los Angeles next month. That trip is easier for me since I don't really have to plan anything. My agent already booked the plane tickets. I'm not even sure which airline it is. I should probably look into that. I don't know if he has found a hotel yet. I'm going with three other girls, whom I don't know. Hopefully, he will book at least two rooms. I should probably look into that as well. Right now I'm concentrating on Tokyo. I will deal with Los Angeles later.

Friday, August 8, 2014

Tokyo Trip part 5

We finally decided on a hotel. That's good news since we are leaving on Monday. I was a little worried that we would still be arguing over hotels when our plane landed in Tokyo.

We went with Shibuya for a few reasons. The Shinjuku hotels are probably more luxurious, but we all decided that we are not going to spend all that much time in the hotel anyway. Since none of us have ever been to Tokyo, we want to see Tokyo, not some hotel. In Shibuya, we found a place that is more like an apartment than a hotel. It will not have all the room service and housekeeping that you get in a hotel, but it seems like a nice apartment. Hopefully, it will give us a better experience, more like the way people live there instead of tourists staying at a hotel.

Shibuya seems to have more for all of us. From what I can tell, Shinjuku is a business and party area, with a lot less in between. Shibuya seems to have a little bit of everything. We also had to consider our luggage. Lily & Kevin don't know how to travel light. I'm not really sure why that is, but they always bring more than they ever need on trips. The Shibuya apartment is close to the train station. The Shinjuku hotels would require some extra walking time, which is always more of a chore when you are unfamiliar with the neighborhood and have to drag along suitcases on choppy roads. For whatever reason, the luggage companies design their wheels for the smoother airport floors, not for the uneven surfaces beyond the sliding glass doors.

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Tokyo Trip part 4

We have narrowed our hotel options down to the Shibuya Excel Hotel in Shibuya and the Hilton or Hyatt in Shinjuku. The two Shinjuku hotels are right next to each other and very expensive. We can get a suite at either one and have a very nice time in Tokyo. The Shibuya hotel is less expensive and does not have suites, but I think it's in a better location.

The Shinjuku hotels are farther away from the metro, though they are probably an easy enough walk. They are in a business area and I'm sure it's a great place to stay if you are on a business trip. Your meeting would probably be close by, if not in the hotel itself.

Ryan and Kevin want to be closer to the non-stop Shinjuku nightlife. The neighborhood they want to stay in is northeast of the metro station, but the better hotels are west of the station. The station itself seems to be massive, so just getting from one end to the other might take a while. I don't know how long it would take to walk from either hotel to the red light district, but in August, even thirty minutes might be too much.

The Shibuya hotel is right next to the train station. It's literally across the street and connected by a walkway. You can probably walk from one to the other during a typhoon and never get wet. I think that's terribly convenient. Typhoon or not, I'm sure we will use the trains a great deal, so the closer we are, the better. We could also avoid the famous crosswalk, which probably gets pretty old pretty fast, especially if you have to walk through thousands of gawking people just to cross the street.

There are practical considerations we need to think about. Tokyo, unlike Hong Kong, has Krispy Kreme. Needless to say, I'm sure I will go there at least once a day. The Shinjuku hotels are eleven blocks from the nearest Krispy Kreme. The Shibuya hotel is about a block away from the nearest Krispy Kreme, with another one six blocks in the opposite direction. Clearly, Shibuya has the advantage.

Ryan likes to get as much authentic American food as he can when we travel. Most people don't go to Tokyo for American food, but most people who were raised on American food probably don't live in Fuzhou either. There's nothing close to real American food where he lives and very little where I live. Tokyo should have more options.

So far, we know about a Sizzler in Shinjuku and Outback in Shibuya. Sizzler is terrible. It has killed people. I don't know why they want it in Japan. There's a Hard Rock Café, but that is farther away from Shinjuku and Shibuya. McDonald's is everywhere, but I'm not counting that because, while authentically American, it is also as appetizing as a giant plate of dog shit. Hopefully, there is an independent restaurant owned by an American expat somewhere. Authentic food should not have to be garbage.

Monday, August 4, 2014

Tokyo Trip part 3

We have narrowed our Tokyo hotel search to two neighborhoods, Shinjuku and Shibuya. Shinjuku is one of the main entertainment districts with a lot of food and shopping. It also has a famous park and a famous temple. Shibuya is one of the main entertainment districts with a lot of food and shopping. It also has a famous park and a famous temple. If they sound exactly the same, that's because what little I have seen describes both areas in the same ways. The big difference seems to be that Shinjuku has one of the red light districts and Shibuya has a famous crosswalk.

When Ryan finds out about the red light district, he is going to vote for Shinjuku. He loves going into red light districts, for some reason. He does not do anything in them he is not supposed to do. He just likes to look around. He spent way too much time in Amsterdam's red light district, as far as I'm concerned. I don't want him to miss the rest of Tokyo.

No one is going to vote for the famous crosswalk. It's in every movie set in Tokyo, but that's not enough of a reason to stay there. I think a crosswalk is about as exciting as a street lamp.

The bad news, or maybe it's good news, is that both neighborhoods have far too many hotels. We have narrowed our search, so we can ignore most of the hotels in Tokyo, but we still have about a million options.

Sunday, August 3, 2014

And Yet Another Trip

We are still trying to find a good hotel in Tokyo, and now I have another trip to think about.

I had a meeting with my agent and he seemed more frustrated at my lack of work than I am. He thinks I should be going on more auditions and getting more parts. I don't disagree with that, but I have a steady job, so I'm not so worried about it. I like my job and it pays the bills, but my agent had nothing to do with getting it, so he does not get a cut. As far as he's concerned, he has not really done enough for me. He has gotten me more auditions than I ever would have found on my own, and I'm satisfied with the job he's doing overall, but he is not.

So he went full thrusters and got me an audition for an actual motion picture in development at MGM. That sounds pretty good, but MGM is in Los Angeles, not in Hong Kong. That's where the other trip comes in. My agent wants me to go to Los Angeles in September to audition for this movie.

Ordinarily, I would have to think about it. Do I really want to fly to the other side of the world just for an audition? Getting an audition is a good thing, but most of the time they never actually lead to getting the part. Even if you get the part, a million things can happen that keep you out of it. Your scene can be cut, your part can be cut, they can recast with someone else, the movie can linger in development for years or never be finished at all. Even major international movie stars lose jobs in this business. A long time ago, some celebrity said it's never guaranteed until it's in the theaters. Even then, it can get pulled right away if it bombs.

The odds are always against you in the entertainment industry. You have to accept that and just roll with it if you want to survive. Since I have a steady gig, I'm luckier than most. A lot of people wait tables and work retail while waiting for something to happen. For most people, nothing will ever happen.

I already know all of this and I try to take it as it comes, but when I moved to Hong Kong, I assumed whatever work I got would be in Hong Kong. Flying out to Los Angeles for every audition would be insanely expensive, but my agent is either so confident or feels so guilty that he is going to pay for the trip.

I could hardly believe it when he told me that part. Hong Kong to Los Angeles is not a cheap flight. I had to ask him what he was thinking. That's when he told me that I will be going with three other girls. He set up auditions for all of us, though we are not all up for the same part, and he wants to send us all out there at the same time. That's certainly a less expensive way to do it, but how often can he afford such a thing? If he keeps sending his performers to the United States for auditions, he will go broke in no time.

Friday, August 1, 2014

Weekends in China



My latest book, Weekends in China, is ready to go. It is mostly about adapting to life in Hong Kong with a lot more information and details than this blog. There is also plenty about going back and forth between Hong Kong and Mainland China and how different they are from each other.

I have seen some of my books in the weirdest places and on websites that I have never heard of, but the main place to buy it is at Amazon.

Weekends in China in paperback
and e-book.

Tokyo Trip part 2

Finding a hotel is a bigger challenge than finding a flight. The flights are all about timing. With hotels, we have to think about price, location and what we want from the hotel.

Tokyo has thousands of hotels, from the most luxurious suites to tiny boxes the size of coffins. They have “capsule hotels” where a bunch of beds are lined up and stacked on top of each other. It's like you have a bunk bed with a hundred roommates, except there's a little bit of privacy in your own little coffin. You even get your own little TV. I don't know where the bathroom is. Each floor probably has one or two that everyone has to share.

Obviously we are not going to do that. Between the four of us, we can afford something a little better. We just have to decide what kind of hotel we want, and more importantly, where.

Tokyo is an enormous city. I think that rationally, the best thing would be to pick a neighborhood and just spend all of our time there. There's no way we are ever going to see even a fraction of everything Tokyo has to offer. You probably have to live there for years to see half of the city. It's never a good idea to try and cram too much into one trip. With a smaller city like Amsterdam, we could probably get to know the place very well in the amount of time we have. For a city the size of Tokyo, there's just no time.

Since none of us have ever been there, sticking to one neighborhood is not going to happen. We all have things that we want to see and do and everything seems to be in a different neighborhood. Tokyo is supposed to have a good MTR system, which I'm sure they call something else, and I know we will be using it often. Ideally, we should see one part of the city on this trip and other parts on subsequent trips, but if none of us have been there in all these years, how long will it be before any of us ever go back for a second trip?