Wednesday in India

Our first day in India had some twists and turns. We met with Dr. Rajagopal (Raj) at the clinic and the early afternoon and met our interpreter Sajiv. Everyone here has been so lovely and helpful. We’ve had to adjust our schedule a bit due to some “hiccups,” as Raj put it. The President is visiting Trivandrum Wednesday and Thursday so there are some road blocks around town, there’s a bank holiday Thursday, and a political strike on Friday. We’re not all together sure what the political strike entails. Raj said that the city usually shuts down but hospitals stay open. 

So, yesterday, we went to a local beach and did a few man-on-the-street interviews. The setting was very cool – waves crashing, sun setting, kids playing the beach, fishing boats. Everyone was really willing to talk to us. People actually gathered around while we were doing the interview. Even better, a local news station was there and filmed us doing our interviews. Claire and WIlson were both interviewed. We think we’re going to be on the news today and in the newspaper. Here are some photos.

Beach Interview

Beach Crowd

Claire’s Interview

Wilson’s Interview

Today, we’re going to a rural village to do some home visits with Raj and his team. This afternoon, we’ll do more man-on-the-street interviews at a local museum.

Our Last Night in Tokyo: A Traditional Japanese Meal

After a long, successful day of filming at the Wellness Community, Kenichi and Nanako kindly  took us out to a traditional Japanese meal. It was very fancy and quite a treat – eight courses. The place they took us seemed to be reserved for special occasions. Here’s an overview of our experience.

Course #1: Raw fish and marinated plum. I liked it. Wilson just said: “define like.” No photo for this one.
Course #2: Whole fried baby fish (eye intact) with baby bamboo and seaweed wrapped in tofu skin. All eyes were on Wilson. Nanoko was encouraging him to take a little bite. He managed a bite of the tail. When he did this, Nanako screamed, “Ouch!” I didn’t try it. 
Course #3: Raw beef sushi for everyone else, tuna for me. 
Course #4: Raw squid and fish on ice. We all ate the fish, which was good. We also tried one piece of squid each. Wow! The experience of trying to eat the squid was a rough one. It was super chewy yet pasty and sticky. Wilson thought there might be tape in it. I thought it tasted like paste. We chewed that one piece for over five minutes but it just wouldn’t get smaller. Finally, we all just swallowed it with a big gulp of water. 
Course #5: Tempura fried veggies and fish
Course #6: Soup with full-bodied sea life. This one had a wee octopus in it floating around. At one point, Wilson said,  ”Guys, I got to be honest. I don’t think I can do this.” I couldn’t do it either. We both drank some broth though.
Course #7: Beef for everyone, shrimp for me. We all agreed this was very good but Claire and Wilson said the beef was very rich.
Course #8: Dessert.  Yahoo! Wilson had fruit and some jellied thing. The rest of us had the jelly too but also soy bean ice cream.  

Course #2

Course #2 – Fish Profile

Course #3 – Beef

Course #4 – Das Squid

Course #5

Course #6 – Wee Octopus

Course #7 – Shrimp

Course #7 – Beef

Course #8

Japan Crew

Lovely Nanako

Eek…A Wee Octopus

On the cab ride home, we talked about what was going through our heads throughout the dinner.
- Claire: “I can do this, I can do this, I can do this.”
- Wilson: “Am I on Survivor? Where are the hidden cameras?”
- Anne: “Be brave, be gracious, be brave, be gracious, be really brave.” 

It was a truly amazing, one-of-a-kind experience – fun and memorable with wonderful new friends. We got to try so many different and new kinds of food. A real treat! Claire was the trooper and ate everything. Way to represent, Claire!!

Monday in Tokyo

I’m writing from Trivandrum, India. We arrived late last night after more than 20 hours of traveling. Sheesh! We flew from Tokyo to Singapore, had a several hour layover, and then took a second flight into Trivandrum. We’re staying at an amazing bed and breakfast -  Graceful Homestay. I’ll post photos of our current home later. We’ll be doing some interviews here during our stay. Our last day in Tokyo was a good one. We interviewed two cancer survivors in the morning – Mr. and Mrs. Endo (prostate cancer) and Mrs. Saito (kidney cancer). They both had amazing stories.

When Mr. Endo found out that he had cancer, he didn’t tell anyone (not even his wife). He just did a lot of research so he could learn more about the disease. He didn’t want to have surgery so he found several institutes in the US that offered proton therapy. He booked two tickets to the states and told his wife when they arrived why they were actually there. He told us that more people in Japan are just starting to share their cancer story with others. Wilson filmed Mr. Endo and several other cancer survivors in a Prostate Cancer Support Group earlier in the morning. Mr. Endo said they had a newcomer who was very anxious to learn what everyone else had done regarding treatment. At the end of the interview he said, “Unity is strength, knowledge is power, and attitude is everything.”

When Mrs. Saito was diagnosed, she told her family and thought that her husband would be able to support her emotionally but it was too much for him (though he supported her financially). While she did get support from her friends and children, she decided that she had the strength to get through this by herself. (We’ve heard a lot about inner strength in Japan). Since her diagnosis, she started to appreciate every moment in life – whether it was good or bad. She had an amazing attitude.

After those interviews, we went to a yoga session for cancer survivors (one of the Wellness Community’s programs). Wilson shot the session. In the middle of the session, the instructor turned up the heat in the room. Needless to say, it was toasty in there and Wilson came out glistening. It’s possible he lost a pound or two. When the class was over, we asked each of the women a couple of questions about their cancer experience as well as perception of cancer in Japan. In total, we spoke to 35 people in Japan about cancer. 

We went back to the Wellness community to interview Kenichi (their program director) and got some footage of him running a support group through an Internet chat program they sponsor. It’s similar to Second Life. Each person can design their own character. The online support group took place in an outside setting with each person sitting on a bench in a circle. Kenichi said that the program had been very successful for them and that people are much more open about their experience since it’s all anonymous. Here are some photos from the day. 

Mrs. Saito

Cancer Survivors at Yoga Studo

Wilson at Yoga Studio

Kenichi’s Interview

 

Sunday in Tokyo

Yesterday, we did our Japan man-on-the-street interviews. We talked to 25 people and visited four different parts of the city. We started in Sugamo, known as Grandma’s Harajuku. It’s a shopping center where most of the people are elderly and middle-aged women. Sugamo is also known for the Togenuki Jizo temple which is believed to remove the cause of many illnesses. Kenichi and Nanako thought this would be a good place to start as many people come here to seek help with their health issues. They were right. We talked to five people in this part of town, and ALL of them had a connection to cancer. Everyone was really lovely. We had a traditional Japanese lunch in Sugamo before moving on to our next location. It was delicious.

After lunch, we moved to Akihabara, also known as “Electric City.” There were so many people here, mostly in their early 20s, shopping and visiting electronic shops. Our next stop was Ginza, a very upscale shopping center. Everyone was dressed to the nines – in western garb and gorgeous traditional kimonos. Our last location was Shibuya. We went there at night to get the full experience. In two words – mind blowing! There were people everywhere, bathed in light and noise from huge multimedia screens and advertisements. It was like Times Square on crack. Nuts, sensory overload…but so cool! This is also the site of a famous scene from Lost in Translation. There is a six-way intersection in the center of Shibuya that alternates between cars and a sea of people crossing. Wilson got some awesome timelapse of people crossing the street and got up in the middle of the chaos.  We also did a few more man-on-the street interviews here.

It was a great day – the city has so many different looks and feels and we got a really good sampling. Here are some photos from our second day in Tokyo.

Entrance to Sugamo

Golden Girls of Sugamo

Lunch in Sugamo

Wilson in Slippers

Anne’s Lunch

Interview in Akihabara

Interview with Lovely Ladies in Kimonos

Anne Looking Like a Slob

Shibuya

Ozowa, Wilson, & Anne

Today, we spend the day at the Wellness Community. We’ll be filming some of their programs and interviewing several cancer survivors.

Saturday in Tokyo

On Saturday, we met with our Tokyo contacts: Ozawa (our fixer) as well as Kenichi (Program Director at the Wellness Community) and Nanako (Kenichi’s wife). We started our day with a meeting at the hotel to talk through our time in Japan. Then, they took us out for a sushi lunch followed by a tour of Tokyo. The sushi was amazing! Apparently, I use too much soy sauce. Kenichi, Nanako and our sushi chef found it quite amusing. “You just need a little,” they said.

From there, we took the subway to Asakusa. It’s an area of Tokyo most famous for the Sensō-ji, a Buddhist temple dedicated to the bodhisattva Kannon. It was very cool. The site of the temple has been there for over 1000 years (though there has been some rebuilding since WWII). It was founded in 628, one of Tokyo’s oldest and most significant temples. Asakusa is also a huge open air market. There were tons of people walking around. We did the same – got some great b-roll and sampled some Japanese sweets. They were pretty good – two little pancakes with sweet red bean paste in the middle. Sadly, I dropped mine after the first bite. 

After Asakusa, we took a boat tour of Tokyo in this crazy space-age looking vessel. We later learned that it was designed by an artist/animator who created a cartoon about three space travelers. The boat looked like it would submerge any minute. It also had a pretty goo replica of the Saturday Night Fever dance floor – complete with changing lights. Here are some photos from our first official day in the city. 

Sensō-ji Temple in Asakusa

Space Boat

Wilson Enters The Unknown

Anne & The Space Travelers

Mexico: The Tour Kick Off

So, I forgot to mention that the first leg of our World Tour was Mexico City. The project actually covers five countries – Mexico, Japan, India, South Africa, and Italy. The shoot in Mexico was awesome and took place April 8th and 9th. Mat will write more of our adventures and the wonderful people we met along the way. But, in the meantime, here are a few pictures from the trip (a la Wilson). 

Metropolitan Cathedral

Zocalo Square

Dinner at Villa Maria

In the first photo, we’re in front of the Metropolitan Cathedral in Zocalo Square at the end of our first day of shooting. The second is a self portrait of Wilson. Finally, we have our Mexico City crew after a lovely dinner at Villa Maria – me, Mat, Devon, Nathalie, Karen, Wilson, and Maria Elena. Devon is from the LAF. Karen, Nathalie, and Maria Elena were our AMAZING Mexico City folks that made it all happen.

World Tour ‘08

Wilson and I left yesterday (Thursday) for a quick 19-day trip around the globe. Here’s a photo of us leaving the Austin airport with all of our luggage. You’ll notice my suitcase is in close competition with our Pelican case, which is usually the biggest piece of equipment/luggage we take on any shoot. I’m thinking I may have overpacked a bit.

Bon Voyage

Anne Can’t Pack Light

Why are we traveling around the world, you ask? Well, we’re extremely lucky to be working with our long-time partner, the Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF), on an exciting project. They invited us to help research the state/perception of cancer internationally. To accomplish this, we’ll be doing man-on-the-street interviews as well as scheduled interviews with cancer survivors, healthcare providers, and non-profit leaders in each city. Claire is joining us from the LAF.

Here’s our itinerary. My plan is to post stories, photos and video along the way. We hope you’ll  join us on this grand adventure.
- Tokyo, Japan: April 25th – 29th
- Trivandrum, India: April 29th – May 3rd
- Cape Town, South Africa: May 3rd – 7th
- Rome, Italy: May 8th – 11th

Day 1 & 2: Our flight from Austin to Dallas went without a hitch. Once we got to Dallas, our flight to Tokyo was delayed 5 hours. So, we sat in the airport and entertained ourselves with trashy magazines. We arrived in Tokyo at 8pm (instead of 3pm) after a short 13-hour flight and made it to the hotel by 11:45pm – wiped out. We’re 14 hours ahead of Austin so that was 9:45am Austin-time. I think I got about three hours of sleep on the flight. I really hope my body learns to sleep sitting up over the course of this trip. Wilson got more than I did but Claire was the clear winner coming in at eight hours of sleep. Nice one, Claire. 

Day 3: It’s Saturday and we’re having lunch with Kenichi, our host at the Japan Wellness Center. We’ll be spending Monday with them but he’s graciously offered to take us on a tour of Tokyo today. We’re really excited and will be shooting some b-roll throughout the day. I’ll try to post some photos of Tokyo when we get back to the hotel.