Fear Factor Food

Our friends Mike and Jen came to visit recently. Seeing as they biked here from Kazakhstan (that's right, across Asia, use your mental globe), we knew they were hardcore. So we took them eat freaky food:Frog porridge can be sticky, Mike liked it more than me. He was also a mild fan of turtle soup, supposed to help you swim better.

In a final show of hardcore, here's Mike eating Durian Jam (Jen's dislike not shown).

Everyone was a fan of Tulang, bone marrow curry, (birthday version shown) but who isn't?Mike & Jen thought we were being nice, so they cooked us a delicious dinner! Thanks guys!

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Tokyo Speaks to Us

Japan is a fabulous travel destination: safe, clean, friendly, very easy to manoeuvre and yet culturally and linguistically exotic. The joy is in trying to figure out what it all means. Here are some examples for you to try:

My guesses, and more examples.

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Where Fish Comes From

I was told that more than 3 fish market pictures was boring. So if this applies to you, you're done now. For bigger fish fans, the Tsukiji fish market, the biggest in the world, is my favourite Tokyo attraction. Between 5 and 6:15am (yes, we made it), you can witness the tuna auction:Once auctioned, the tunas get cut with huge knives.We'll skip some steps, but here is what's offered for breakfast. If your attention span can handle more, it's here.

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Tokyo Fashion and Barry

When it comes to fashion in Tokyo, there's a lot going on. Below is picture of me pondering it all (I'm on the right).

For Barry, however, there is no need to ponder. He's all over it. You say animal ears are in?

Barry's immediately got himself a tiger hat.

Special socks?
Barry got himself panda socks because, he says, "socks with ears are cool".In fact, Barry's so stylish that the Japanese have started copying Canadian fashion! More.

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Laura in Tokyo

Tokyo provides photogenic nights, above, and days with big-eyed green freakdolls. Upon arriving in Tokyo we immediately went to the Tanuki & Plastic Food Store neighbourhood, wouldn't you? I just couldn't get these darn raccoon dogs to look for the picture.The restaurant district also sells the biggest and most expensive knives I've ever seen (Look at Barry's reflection in the glass for perspective).How do you like your squid? Perhaps white, dried and on the street?Tokyo, one of the world's biggest cities. 4-digit license plates.
More of Tokyo's oddities are here.

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Canada's Olympic Victory

Laura prefers the U.K.'s Olympic Medal standings, which show, as I've been explaining, that we won the Olympics!

http://winterolympics.external.bbc.co.uk/medals/2010-standings/index.html

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Wedding in India

I travelled from Little India to Big India for a wedding. If you ever do the same, you should dress appropriately, but note that a post-sari sunburn causes a shoulder of pain.
It's a good opportunity to accessorize.Don't be surprised if their is a horse for the groom.There will be lots of music, but your dance moves will likely be insufficient. Either way, you'll still have lots of fun and be glad you attended.

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Gong Xi Fa Cai Tai Wan

Laura in Singapore wishes you a belated happy year of the Tiger, as celebrated by this lion dance put on in our condo. Sadly, it was a pretty lame lion.

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Thaipusam Festival Returns

Thaipusam 2010:

Thaipusam 2009:

The second time at Thaipusam, Hindu festival of unusual piercings, is much like the first. We answered some important questions such as:

Does one re-use one's cheek piercing stick? Yes.

Do you mix it up by moving limes around one year to the next? Indeed.

To be clear though, Thaipusam is my favourite Singaporean festival, try to plan your trip around it. It's part Carnival, part National Geographic, and entirely fascinating. In case you forget from last year, it involves piercing yourself,

hanging stuff from yourself,

and/or wearing a souped up Kadavi pierced into you and walking 4km with it. More.

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