Anthony was approached by a local news crew about taking him and another American player, Michael Crotta, around town to create a personal interest piece on the life of a 'Fighter'. They asked to do it while I was in town so they could also ask me a couple questions. After learning they would take us to a local restaurant and the zoo on their dime we quickly agreed - couldn't ask for a better way to see the city!
The day started with a quick visit to the Hokkaido Television Broadcasting Co. to get the necessary equipment and film a quick opening piece introducing the players and me. The filming was done in front of the stations mascot, On-chan, who can be seen at the top of their building (right). They sure do love their anime characters here!
After getting mic'd up - weird! - we packed into a van and drove to a local fish market. They filmed us during the ride but we later learned the GoPro in the van was never turned on. Oops!
Once at the fish market, the team explained they wanted the guys to partake in a competition - bargain with the locals to see who could get the best prices on their purchases. Let the games begin!
Crotta learned a couple Japanese phrases but Anthony just flashed that handsome beard and won by a landslide - not exactly fair as a woman bought him a 3,000 yen melon (1,000 yen is equal to $10) and another owner gave him a microwavable squid filled with rice (ick!) he got to count in his discounts.
Though most of the food there grossed me out, I branched out and decided to try them anyway - when in Rome right! This included salmon eggs, dried sardines (eye balls and all!), sea urchin, crab (now this was good!), eel, and squid.
The trip wouldn't be complete without first playing with our food! Couldn't get over the size of these crabs.
Before heading to lunch for my first Japanese meal, we said good bye and thank you to the locals. The guys also signed final autographs and took a couple pictures - still can't get over his 'stardom' here. Already noticed that the most common questions asked of Anthony was in regard to that crazy beard of his and when he was going to shave it!
At lunch, we learned that salt is left outside of doorways for good luck. We also were expected to take off our shoes and kneel at the table - traditional Japanese style. They were slack on the guys sitting like this since their legs were too long to sit in this position for an extended period of time! During lunch, the crew interviewed us more and made fun of me as I attempted to eat my crab bowl with chopsticks. Anthony of course got a sushi arrangement and ate with his chopsticks like a pro.
Next stop, the one I had been waiting for all trip, you guessed it - the zoo! As you can probably tell from the pictures, unfortunately the weather wasn't the greatest but we were still determined to have a good time. Before heading into the zoo, the team filmed the guys getting out of the van and stating (in Japanese) that it was too small. Michael is 6' 8" while Anthony is 6' 4" so it was a hilarious scene getting them to crawl out of the tiny van.
Had some fun to start and Crotta became very popular with a particular monkey. It wouldn't stop chattering it's teeth and him like they were carrying on a conversation. It even reached out his hand to him. ha!
My favorite part of the day was the surprise arrangement the camera crew had in store for us - a close up with an owl and a falcon! They even let the falcon fly from a trainer at one end of the stage to our arms at the other. I was so excited - we used to watch bird shows whenever we'd visit animal parks and I always wanted to go up on stage and assist but was never brave enough to speak up.
The visit was finished shortly after that due to the rain, so we filmed closing remarks in the zoo classroom and the guys signed final autographs. Below are some of the animals we saw that day - very similar to American zoos, but always enjoyable to see!
Watch the finished video here!
We spent the rest of the evening inside after first stopping at a KFC for some good 'ole American food - I think I had met my quota for different foods that day! Hard to tell - but the below picture shows our total cost in Japanese on the register. Such an interesting language!
No comments:
Post a Comment