In People’s Square, thousands of aging Shanghainese parents gather every Sunday to try and fix up their unwed sons and daughters. When we heard about this, we knew it was something we had to witness — and we also knew it might be wise to bring along a bonafide Chinese bachelor to introduce us to […]
WHAT WE SEE TODAY: BIRTHDAY WOMAN
Since 1991, when I first met her, I’ve gotten a front row seat to watch Jen grow older and more beautiful. There is no more fabulous view a guy could have. She is an extraordinary wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend, adventurer, writer, director, travel companion, taskmaster, collaborator, and muse. Jen is fierce and opinionated, and she […]
FRANNY AND FINN PRESENT THE FORBIDDEN CITY
Your two young guides take you on a private tour of one of the world’s most legendary landmarks.
AN ARTIST IN KYOTO
Never have we witnessed more love and attention put into a single cup of coffee. Twenty-five years ago, Ishihara transformed his home into a small coffee shop on an unassuming block far off the beaten path in Kyoto. His clientele is almost one-hundred percent regulars. Six days a week, he makes between fifty and sixty […]
SHIBUYA CROSSING!
Everybody’s favorite game show at Tokyo’s busiest intersection! Now you can play along! (TIP: Put on your glasses, play video full-screen, and focus, focus, focus!)
TOKYO MORNING COFFEE RUN
When traveling for a whole year, we like to find apartments that give us the experience of actually living someplace — as opposed to being tourists in hotels. In Tokyo, a series of random google searches and obscure links led us to a small (normal by Japanese standards) two-bedroom apartment in a part of town […]
FRANNY REPORTS: CHRISTCHURCH, NEW ZEALAND
A year and a half ago, Franny helped organize a school fundraiser to aid the victims of a substantial earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand. For this reason, we made sure that Christchurch would find a place on our itinerary. When we got to the city, we were all shocked, saddened, humbled and inspired by what […]
SHE JUST BREATHES
We all measure our lives in years, decades, generations. What if you had to measure your life in months, weeks, days? What would you do? This movie is about Kelly, our former nanny, our cherished friend, a truly remarkable and inspiring person. Please take just a few minutes and watch.
FITZROY, A LOVE SONG
When we were living in Australia a few years back, we regretted that we never made it down to Melbourne. We were told it’s the most European of the cities in Australia (kind of true), and we were told it’s a “grown-up city, not really for kids” (kind of false). What we weren’t told about […]
THIS IS WHAT TOMORROW LOOKS LIKE
It’s September 9th in Los Angeles, but it’s September 10th in Australia. Here is a sneak preview of tomorrow. On an overnight train from Sydney to Melbourne, we woke up before dawn — still jet-lagged from the flight from South America. The assignment for each of us was to write a short poem with the […]