The show must go on!

Cirque du Soleil and Fuji Television finally agree that Kooza will re-open April 9th in Tokyo.  Scott is heading back to Japan tomorrow morning to start working asap while I will be in route to Minnesota to visit with friends and family for a bit.  As far as we know, the tour will still stay in Tokyo until July then we'll head to Osaka until November, Nagoya until January 2012, Fukuoka until April 2012 and sadly we believe our last show in Northern Sendai will be removed from our schedule.

We have had a wonderful time in Wyoming!  Eating home cooking, relaxing, reading, fishing, manicures & pedicures, coffee talks and visiting with the nieces has been a nice change of pace to city living.  Somehow those girls get taller and cuter every time we see them.  A shout out to Kortney's Club Utah 16 Black volleyball team playing in California this weekend!  And a huge "thank you" to Bill and Sandy Freeland for taking us in last minute!  Their hospitality well exceeds our previous 5 star resorts.

Thanks again Bill and Sandy!

 Emily and Kortney Freeland

Kaytlen Freeland on left

When we started this blog we figured the "adventure" part would entail new Japanese experiences and baby Peanut postings.  Never in a million years did we think our updates would include natural disasters and staying in 3 countries in under 2 weeks time.  Scott and I both look forward to getting back to our original plan of enjoying Japan and preparing for Peanuts arrival this July.  Thank you again for all your love and concern during our time of chaos and limbo!

Home sweet home

In the States

24+ hours later by boat, planes, trains and automobiles and we have safely arrived Scott's home town in Evanston, Wyoming!  We just woke at his folks from a 14 hour slumber and are feeling great.  It's so nice to see his family and enjoy their tasty home cooked American style dishes.  I can smell breakfast now.

Unfortunately, my US cell phone along with most our stuff is still in Tokyo but after Scott's update from Cirque on March 30th we will book tickets to Minnesota for a visit as well.

We look forward to seeing you all.  Got to run, pancakes are ready!

Back to the States for a break!

Our specific travel dates and details are still up in the air but we will be leaving Macau within the next couple of days and flying to Salt Lake City to visit with Scott's side of the family.  We haven't seen our adorable nieces since the wedding!  All depending on the break duration either both of us or just myself will also go to Minnesota.  Then back to tour life.

As of now, the show in Tokyo will not resume on or before April 9th.  We will get another update from Cirque on March 30th.  Cirque du Soleil and their Japan partner, Fuji Television, need more time to work out the details of the situation and some artist need added time to clear their heads before performing.  However, Scott and all the technicians are ready, willing and able to go back to Tokyo and start working asap.  Some folks are even electing to take their "Golden Ticket" paid by Cirque to anywhere in the world back to Tokyo to wait out the break.  It truly is a fabulous city!

While waiting to hear this action plan we went and visited the panda bears at Coloane Park.  These clumsy cutie pies, Kai Kai and Xin Xin, were so much fun to watch!  We're hoping to see the show "The House of Dancing Water" tonight which was produced by the Cirque "O" show creator.

Panda bears at play

We look forward to making the most of an awful situation and visiting with our dear friends and family before returning to Japan!  We love and miss you all.  Please stay tuned for our flight information.

23 weeks (5 3/4 months) along

Attack of the plastic panda 
(As you can see, Scott is going a bit nutty not working!)

23 week (5 3/4 month) doctor check-up in Macau

We finally left our 5 star Refugee camp to have a 23 week prenatal check up in downtown Macau.  Thankfully, baby Peanut and I are both healthy and growing normally.  Scott finally got to see Peanut since our appointment in Miami at 8 weeks along.  Dr. Luo YiFan was extremely friendly, spoke decent English and her office was very nice despite the building entrance and elevator looking a bit suspicious.  Insurance was not accepted so with our consultation, ultrasound and testing the total came to 750 MOP (about $93 USD).

Facial profile view of Peanut at 23 weeks

We also walked down the main drag of Macau with a ton of jewelry stores, designer boutiques, food stores with unique items like dried fish fins, and many more unidentifiable products.  We stopped into Pizza Hut to grab a quick bite and realized it is a little more fancy here, like a Ruth Chris but with Italian dishes.  It was better than we remember Pizza Hut being in the States but that may be due to the fact that it has been a while since we had good American style pizza.  Soup, garlic bread, personal pan pizza and "Pecsi" (Pepsi) all for about $12 USD.  Items and food outside the hotel cost about 1/3 of the price.

Where the heck are we...

Downtown Macau

Alley way off main drag in Macau

Our days within the 5 star camp have also been wonderful!  Yesterday I got a long Swedish massage followed by lunch, lounging and reading poolside.  Scott has had a few meetings, however we both got to enjoy the resident Cirque du Soleil show ZAIA here at the Venetian Hotel.  It was spectacular!  Fabulous costumes, colors and performances with a twisted combination of Asian cultural.

Heaven

Canal inside the Venetian Hotel

We're hoping to have an all company meeting tomorrow to get more information on our future plans.  We'll continue to keep you in the loop.  Miss you all!

The Refugees have safely landed in Macau...

at the World's largest casino, The Venetian Macau!  We haven't seen much of Macau yet but it seems like an Asian Las Vegas set on an island.  Tons of lights, shows, casinos, hotels, restaurants, shopping and more.  Our hotel and room are spectacular!  The hotel has everything and more: designer stores, spas, outdoor pools with multiple temperatures to fit your needs, fitness center, room services to accommodate all cultures (American, Japanese, Chinese, Italian, Korean, Indian), bars, indoor cancels for gondola rides, movie theatre, STARBUCKS, and you can even get a face lift in their cosmetic center in between poker games.  Our room is also rock star status!  We have a suit with 2 huge beds, 2 TV's, open living room with an office, dining room table, couch and a bathroom larger than our bedroom in Minnesota.  Cirque really knows how to treat their employees in a time of crisis.

Living the rough life.

Outhouse

The latest update is that we will for surely be in Macau until March 25th and then possibly heading back to Tokyo.  However, anything and everything is possible after the 25th so we will continue to keep you updated.

We are currently working on getting a prenatal check up in either Hong Kong (only an hour ferry ride away) or in Macau while we are here since we are going to miss your 1st appointment in Tokyo.  Thankfully, I am still feeling great and Peanut continues to be an active little guy kicking up a storm.  

Lots to do and see in Macau so stay tuned...

Ferry ride from Hong Kong airport to Macau

Off to China!

Good news, we got our Japanese reentry permits today in Fukuoka and will be flying to Macau, China tomorrow!  We will be staying at the Venetian Resort along with the other Cirque du Soleil folks.  We plan on flying out to Hong Kong around 2 pm and then taking a ferry ride over to Macau.  Should be a long travel day and we are not sure if our Japanese phones will work there but we will try to update you all on our safe arrival as soon as possible.  

We are also not sure how long we will be in China or when the shows in Japan will presume, but we are happy to avoid making a radiation Incredible Hulk baby in the time being.  Unfortunately, we only packed for a 3 day trip so most our stuff is still in Tokyo, but thankfully I managed to bring my maturity bathing suit (thanks Laura Kottke)!  Hopefully Scott can find some fishing spots because I plan on being a beached whale at the Venetian pool.

Thank you again for all your continued love and support!

Fukuoka stay extended...

Have no fear friends and family, Cirque du Soleil has our best interest in mind and has extended our stay in Fukuoka, Japan until at least March 21st.  There is talk of pushing our Tokyo return date out even further, however that is not official news at this point.

We have been enjoying our mini vacation!  Our resort along the East China Sea is fabulous with 8+ restaurants, spa, pool, shopping and an even larger mall around the corner with more restaurants, movie theathres, bowling alley, arcade and STARBUCKS!

View from our room

Main lobby and restaurant/bar of resort with 75+ ft ceilings lined with windows facing the sea and mountains.  We love having breakfast here!

It's a little windy and chilly here but we enjoyed kite flying on the beach.  Our resort is in the background.

The indoor pool is a nice relaxing area.

Please know that we are staying on top of all recent developments and have contacted both our doctors in the USA and Japan to get their professional opinions on pregnancy in Tokyo.  We will take every step necessary to ensure the health and safety of Peanut.

Stay tuned for more updates.  We love and miss you all!

Fukuoka bound

Cirque du Soleil is taking extra safety measures and sending us to Fukuoka, Japan which is around 500 miles West of Tokyo along the East China Sea and away from the Pacific tsunamis and earthquake epicenter near Sendai.  Some Cirque members are heading to Macau, China where there is a permanent Cirque show called Zaia, however a group of us do not have our re-entry permit so we can not leave and return to Japan.  Scott will be leading our group of about 20 people to Fukuoka by plane tomorrow morning.    


There is fear of the nuclear power plant exploding in Fukushima (about 200 miles north of Tokyo), additional "big" earthquakes in the making since the aftershocks have been growing in size and frequency, but most of all they need to calm down the artist and clear their heads.  Their acts are already challenging and death defying on stable ground so they can not possibly run shows on a shaky stage with possible power outages on the way.  


Only mother nature can answer most our questions so in the meantime we're going to go and enjoy the beaches of Fukuoka at the Hilton Sea Hawk Resort.  We're hoping to be back to Tokyo by this Thursday to resume a more normal life and running shows.  We will try to let you all know if anything else changes.  Miss you all!

Little Japanese "Grease Lighting" dude dancing in Yoyogi Park.  He has nothing to do with this blog topic, just thought he was cute :)

Earthquake

Thankfully Scott and I, along with the whole Cirque tour, are safe and sound!  

Scott was at work in Harajuku (ward within Tokyo) assisting with artist rehearsals when the "big" quake hit.  They have a digit computer tool at site that allows them to see if a quake is coming but it only reads a few seconds before it strikes.  It alerted him that a level 3 was on it way.  He warned the others but they've experienced mild level 2 earthquakes at work before without half the people even realizing it so no one cared too much at the time.  Little did they know that a high level 5 or low 6 was on it's way.  Then the stage, chairs, lights and major overhead equipment all started to shake.  Everyone finally started to take Scott seriously and cleared out of the Big Top.  Luckily no one was hurt and site seems to be relatively unharmed.  The show is cancelled for today but he is doing detailed inspections of site to confirm it's safely.

I was in a coffee shop near our apartment in Shinjuku when the quake hit.  I've never experienced one before so I was naive on the effects and ill prepared.  It started slowly but then kept on going and going, and growing in strength.  I was informed that the locals stay cool and calm during an earthquake since it is a big part of Japanese life so I knew there was something majorly wrong when the women started screaming and everyone hit the floor.  I didn't yell (mostly because no one around me would have understood :) but followed suit and hit the ground to hide under a table.  It is an unsettling feeling to have the ground, walls, lights, people, really everything all around you shake uncontrollably.  However, baby peanut must have enjoyed my adrenaline rush because he was doing some serious Kung Fu moves in my belly!

After the "big" one hit the phones lines were down, internet was nonexistent or slow, power outages, nuclear power plants shut down, train and subway stations stopped, and people frozen in the streets, but reliable facebook was working smoothly!  I messaged my friend Liz who was on site to find out how Scott was doing and relay to him that I was fine.  After I heard that Scott was okay, I calmed down and sat in the coffee shop riding out the larger aftershocks.  Poor Scott had to stay on site to make sure everyone and thing was at least "fine" and then had to walk 3-4 miles home in the crazy traffic because all 13+ million folks were on foot.  We spent the night in our 14th floor apartment swaying, shaking and listening to the cracking noises all around us.  The aftershocks are still going even now as I type.

It was a scary experience but we feel very fortunate that we didn't see the worst of it like the 8.9 level earthquake and tsunami in Sendai.  Our hearts go out to the folks in Northern Japan!  We are scheduled to be in Sendai for a show next year but we shall see what happens.

Thank you for all the kind notes of care and concern.  We are doing fine.  Just a little shaken up, literally :)

Grocery stores were cleared out.  This picture was take this morning, 20 hours after earthquake.

Nagano Trip

I returned from an amazing overnight trip to the Northwest part of Japan in Nagano (where the 1998 winter Olympics was held).  I went with my new friends Liz (her husband works in the tour services department), Kat (she is the tour accountant) and 2 of her friends from Canada in town visiting.  Poor Scott had to stay back and work late.

We took the Shinkansen (a.k.a bullet train) that travels over 150 mph 2 hours Northwest of Tokyo into Nagano then another train into the small town of Shinano to stay at an adorable Ryokan (like a Japanese bed and breakfast).  

Kat by Shinkansen "bullet train"

At the ryokan we enjoyed wearing the traditional style Yukata and were served local Japanese cuisine for dinner and breakfast, on the floor of course, and my adorable husband had my new friends surprise me with a birthday cake and song after dinner!  Brought tears to my hormonal pregnant eyes!  Afterwards I had an amazing 1 hour massage and then we ran around the small snowy town to all the hot spring bath houses known as Onsens in just our Yukata and wooden clogs.  Clothes and bathing suits are not allowed in the hot spring baths.  When in Rome, do as the Romans do!

Amazing strawberry with chocolate birthday cake

Kat, Groen, Me, Veronica, Liz at dinner in our Yukata's

Gorgeous dinner.  I could identify about half the food.

When we returned to the ryokan our room was switched over from a entertaining table in the center to futon beds on the ground for sleeping.  Other than being a little drafty in a 200+ year old house, the beds were very comfy and the hospitality by the Japanese family was out of this world!

Room in ryokan

In the morning we went to Jigokudani Snow Monkey Park to see the monkey's in their natural habitat.  You have to walk around 1-2 miles in the snowy uphill path to reach the park, but once there it is incredible to see the monkey's all around you just inches away!  Playing in the hot springs, jumping in the rivers, cleaning each others backs, eating from the ground and roaming about.  I especially loved the baby's just staring at you with their adorable huge round eyes and head tilted to the side in confusion.  Priceless!  But you have to watch out because mama normally isn't too far away keeping any eye out.  My friend Kat nearly got smacked in the face.

My new stinky buddy sitting on his own poo.

Went I returned that evening Scott had made me a dinner that I have been craving since arriving Japan but had not yet found anywhere...PANCAKES!  It was the perfect birthday dinner.

Scott has been a busy bee at work.  He is working on hiring a new rigger, dealing with the awful Japanese mail services to get deliveries on time, getting things set for the Japanese pop band SMAP to produce a video at Cirque with some of the performers and over all working hard to keep his entire crew happy and motivated to put on a great show.  Ticket sales have been great in Tokyo.  The Japanese love Cirque du Soleil and are especially nice to you if they know you're involved with the company.  

We have our first doctors appointment in Japan coming up on March 22nd.  We will be 24 weeks or 6 months by then.  Please keep your fingers and toes crossed that it goes well and the doctor speaks fluent English!  


Our little bun in the oven has been kicking up a storm and Scott felt him for the first time last week.  Thankfully I am still feeling great at 21 weeks.

Me at 20 weeks or 5 months along

Stay tuned for more updates to come.  Please keep us posted on your lives too.  We miss you all!

Arrived Tokyo safely

I landed a couple months behind Scott at the Narita, Tokyo airport on Feb. 24th.  20+ hours after departing Minneapolis St. Paul airport.  Thankfully, the weather is a bit warmer than Minnesota this time of year.  I went from below freezing temperatures to 35-55 degrees in Tokyo.  

We're living in Hundred Stay Apartments which is in the Shinjuku area that is a ward within Tokyo but about 30 miles West of the "downtown" city.  Shinjuku has the largest and most traveled train station in all of Tokyo with 2+ million riders a day.  Sometimes even up to 11 million people go through Shinjuku station in one day!  The shopping is extravagant, there is great people watching all around and a ton of wonderful restaurants right out our door.

So far Japan has been wonderful and the people are fabulous!  Few things I found interesting:

• They are tall!  Only a few are really short and they are normally the elderly.  I would say the woman range from 5' 2" - 5" 10" (plus they all wear high heals or lifted boots) and the men are 5' 6" - 6' 5".  I feel normal height at 5' 9".  
• Finding a shoe over size 25 (US 7) has been difficult.  Plus they run on the narrow side.  But my boot mission continues...
• Everyone is super nice and helpful.  They keep to themselves and avoid direct eye contact but still manage to be very observant and always willing to assist.
• Everyone smokes, but there is a smoking section inside and outside on the streets.
• They don't eat or drink on the streets.  It is cleaner than the states and recycling is a huge deal.  You must separate your plastic and paper everywhere.
• It is so quiet despite being surround by a population of 13+ million people.  No one talks on the train or on the streets, and that includes their cell phones.  Or if they do speak then they are at a whisper.  Even the trains, subways, cabs, cars and cell phones are silent like mice.
• No one wears sunglasses even though it is sunny outside.
• You must walk and stay to the left on the street (not the right like in the States or zig zag in New York).  They also drive on the left hand side.
• It is very orderly.  There are distinct lines for getting on the trains and people move for one another.  Very courteous group.
• You can buy anything and everything you ever wanted here.  We're only blocks from one of the biggest department stores, Odakyu.
• There are venting machines everywhere for soda, coffee, water, cigs, really anything you want.
• Their toilets are very elaborate with heated seats, water sprayers from every direction and music.  However, some have the original old school toilets which are literary just holes in the ground and you have to squat over (no thank you!)
• Not surprising but their meat is awful!  Tough and gamy.  However, their traditional Gyoza and Ramon is out of this world!
• Few speak English, but thankfully most signs in Tokyo have English or pictures so I can order food by pointing and smiling.
• They dress either very nicely or oddly depending on age.  The younger kids love the bright, flashing clothes and the adults enjoy their designer outfits from head to toe.
• Their magazines open opposite of ours and go left to right
• Setting up this blog site has been extremely challenging because not everything will translate from Japanese to English online for our internet.  So please bear with me!
• MOST IMPORTANTLY: Do NOT separate the bananas at the grocery store!  I got scolded in Japanese by both the cashier and stock boy for ripping 3 bananas off a group of 5.  I've learned to smile and nod a good deal lately :)

Our adventure has just begun so stay tuned for updates.  Love and miss you all!

Scott and I on the bridge above Shinjuku Station