Prangster in Chicago

100% tragedy

So damn cute

This munchkin was playing in a park we were filming at last week. She's so cute, with her little juice box and the typo on her vest that says, "Lilttle Momo Boys."

The start of my campaign to bring Mu.Bread to Chicago

My old DDG coworker Everett is part owner of a bakery in Shanghai called Mu.Bread. Congratulations, Everett! I stopped by to visit on my last day there. We had cakes and tea, and I bought a couple boxes of pineapple cakes to bring back to Chicago. They are so damn good. Everything is made on site by the awesome Taiwanese baker.


These look tasty. I should have tried one. If only Mu.Bread was in Chicago. Cough, cough.





This is the packaging. It's all dark and shadowy and crinkled cause I just took this photo in my apartment. The "Mu" part of the name is for Micha and Una, two crazy romantic kids who met in Shanghai in 2005. They kept in touch through letters, which are printed on the packaging of the bags and boxes.

When I asked Everett how they got permission to print the letters, he replied, "They're made up."

That's branding, folks.


A couple of nights earlier we had a pre-dinner snack at Paul. What a waste of time and chewing! Paul has nuthin' on Mu.Bread.

Shooting in Shanghai

I just got back from a video shoot in Shanghai for an online annual report. Easily the best experience of my job so far. Learned so much and saw a lot. I'll be back at work on Monday morning with a new appreciation for the work the videographers -- and the entire crew -- do. The amount of effort that goes into producing a three-minute clip is pretty unbelievable.

This is the previous GE feature we made with the same director. I could watch it over and over.

Below are some photos from the week in Shanghai. More to come this week.


Pudong before sunrise. The bottle opener in the middle is the world's tallest building (for now).



Sausages hanging outside a restaurant the crew was filming near. You don't want to know what else they had hanging outside. Okay fine, I'll tell you. Vegans and pet lovers turn away now! They had dog meat.


Awww. Panda cigarettes. Puff puff!


Condiments that went with my breakfast rice congee.

Excellent weather for a downtown walking tour

Snack attack in Tokyo

Janice holding the baked sweet potato we split from the street vendor in Shinjuku. Hi Janice!


We said we would stand in line for one thing in Tokyo and ended up waiting 20 minutes or so to get into this fancy cake joint called "Harbs" in Roppongi Hills. This cake was called "Queen of Cakes." I'm so in love with that cake. Also saying "Harbs" with a Japanese accent is fun.


Hot damn. Look at those cream mochis! I had a green tea mochi because it was number one on the bestseller list up on the counter and I have a motto: don't screw with bestseller lists. Ever.


This was the beer that I ordered from a ramen noodle place in Omotesando Hills called Mist. That logo is so cute it kills me.

Christine, this was the New Year's Day lunch you missed

The soup is missing from this shot. It was so damn delicious.

A morning run to the traditional market in Taipei

Knick knacks for your hot pot.


Noodle shop.


Taiwanese fruit is seriously delicious. This is one of my faves, called "lien wu" in Chinese.


This is how seafood is sold at the traditional market. It doesn't look very appetizing, but most of it comes straight from the seaside, so it's meant to be fresh. If you made a face looking at this photo, be glad I didn't take a photo of a meat stand. Or one of the chicken stand, where the chickens are so fresh they're not even dead yet.


Just some funny looking vegetables.

Wearing our uniforms

This is my dad in his company work shirt. He has a handful that he rotates through every week. I'm wearing my life uniform: a stripey top. Here we're eating Korean BBQ with my uncle. Looking at that menu makes me so hungry.

How similar are we looking these days?