Just a quick update

Quite a challenging day yesterday, for a change. We started out by going to Bollywood. Our tour guide seemed to lose track of the fact that we are shooting a TV show. When we got there and found out we couldn't shoot we said we wanted to leave. He got quite hostile. I remained calm believe it or not. He kept on me on our way back on the bus. Allan said it was like he was continuing to prod me with a pointed stick.

However....we caught up with the other tour company I had been arranging things with. Our guide Sandhya took us through the Gandhi museum, the laundry and the Gates of India. Very worthwhile and very interesting. We felt like we had been saved.

Mumbai is a huge city. We left the south downtown area at 6:15 and finally rolled into our hotel at 7:45. The traffic is unbelievable - horns blaring constantly, terrible roads....

We're looking forward to today - a quick shot of Shea on the tuk tuks and then we're headed to the airport. Today is houseboat day and we're very hopeful for something fabulous there plus a nice recovery time without the blaring horns and congestion.

WOW - first blog with a regular heartrate!

This has been unreal. Very excited to be in Mumbai with a whole evening to just BE.

We have a phone - we have internet - my gosh - what is the world coming to?

This will give me a chance to catch up on the Picanteria - a very troublesome worry - not that I have any doubts about the magnificent Amanda and the amazing Shannon - but I DO feel I've left them in the lurch.

As for the trip?....well,,, if you've been following along , you know we've had challenges. Our time in Jaipur was very interesting. Got some great stuff.

Flew to Mumbai today and had to pull the plug on the pre-paid hotel. It was just a bit too low-end for us - actually - a lot too low-end...and we're not that fussy. But we definitely needed internet access handy - that's for sure. So we moved to a sister hotel and are feeling a lot better.

Going to do some Bollywood interviews tomorrow. Hopefully interview a band in the evening. And then we head to Kerala to the houseboat. We're really looking forward to that because it should be slow paced. We do need a break.

Marnie's had a tough day - feeling pretty sick - Shaun, Denise and yours truly are teetering on the edge of not well.

Shaun and UD are out right now trying to find us some dice so we can relax tonight and enjoy a YAHTZEE tournament - yes the SRWT crew got hooked on Yahtzee on the overseas flight. It's a wild bunch I tell ya.

The kids are great. Carrie's been awesome. Road her first elephant - that was fantastic.

Funniest moment - Carrie and MArnie on the elephant ahead of Allan and I. Marnie's shoe falls off - our elephants rescues Marnie's shoe and hands it to her with its trunk. Don't have it on video - dang. But Carrie really relaxed on the elephant after that moment.

Cheers to you all from Mumbai India. Hot and sweaty on our end.

Sorry no updates!

Very tough to get online and we've really been on the move.

We're now in Jaipur - did Agra and the Taj yesterday....very good bits with Shea - you'll love them.

Going on elephants this morning. Camels tonight. Just another day in SRWT land.

Everyone on the crew is amazing. Holding up well. Getting along perfectly under some straining circumstances.

Sorry Pablo - hard to find a phone that works. Ezi is fantastic!! A joy to have around and loving every minute of the trip. Doesn't find too much he likes to eat but we're making do. He's such a darlin'.

We're off to Mumbai tomorrow and still will get to do the houseboat which is making everyone happy.

Unky Duck will have a much more entertaining update and great photos if he can get his router working.

In the meantime, know that we wish we could communicate more. We're thinking of you all always - we're doing great - everyone healthy and happy - no illnesses of any kind. Everyone bonding big time.

Love ya all!

Another drum roll moment...

Packed up and heading for the Indian Embassy. Either we get good news - that we're able to leave today or less good news that we're leaving tomorrow. If we're not able to go til tomorrow we're going to visit the Batu Caves - supposed to be really a great attraction. So...we're intending to make lemonade out of the lemons if need be - but we sure hope we're going to be on our way today.

Stay tuned my friends.

Mr Rao comes through!

Our contact at India Tourism Toronto has been working his magic behind the scenes. I've adjusted the time table. We'll miss the houseboat but other than that I've squeezed almost everything else in.

We still may be able to get assistance to return to India to fill in some gaps. In the meantime we are very excited to be going to India to get our show and we're having a productive time here in Malaysia in the interim.

Good news all 'round

Had a fantastic day hosted by Sun Ray Hotel and Resort in KL. Today we did skating and bowling (UD will have photos of bowling experience extraordinaire a little later on his blog I'm sure) Hard to express what a howling good time we had at the bowling.

Tomorrow is theme parks galore, petting tiger cubs and more great stuff.

Then....drum roll please...apparently we will be getting our visas and will be heading to India.

We are tremendously excited and owe so much to Mr. Rao at India Tourism in Toronto. Marnie and I were lucky enough to have dinner with this gentleman the night before we left. He has been working very hard to secure our visas. Not only are we likely to get them on Monday, we may be able to return to pick up more adventures and footage at a later date with the help of Tourism India.

We are very, very pleased. Our day today was pure magic, other than Shea's slight injury on the skating ice and we are still mega exhausted.

Hopefully our internal clocks will reset for tomorrow - just in time to be totally off for India.

For those of you following along at home...

Well, this is one for the books. I'll try to sum up quickly.

I guess with all the details with all the countries we were exploring the possibilities of travelling to, I made a serious error. We DID require visas to enter India and we were not able to make the arrangements in time to catch our flight to Delhi. Somehow I confused the requirements for India and Bali (Indonesia). In the flurry of making all the other arrangements this was missed.

It has been a labour and stress intensive 24 hours but things are looking up now.

Thanks to Sandra at Tourism Malaysia e have found an outstanding theme park here in Kuala Lumpur. We will stay there for 2 nights - they even have an ice skating rink - and we will shoot like crazy.

Then on Monday we will find out how quickly we will be able to get visas. If quickly we will head immediately to India. If not quickly we will have to abandon India (for now) and we'll likely head to Borneo to see the Orangutans. We'd really like to try to get back to India in May if we can't do it now.

Our Malaysia tour begins April 2 and we will maintain that part of the itinerary exactly as before.

We are still hoping for Indian visas but I must admit, I'm not that hopeful.

The crew has been amazingly tight during this crisis. Everyone is pulling together and staying happy.

Ken got some real interest from Family Channel - that was certainly welcome news during a highly stressful time.

Keep your fingers crossed about the visas on Monday and thanks for checking in.

Where's the theme?

Challenging Unky Duck to come up with a theme name - Mine was Asian Party of Nine but that's neither funny nor descriptive.

We're more organized than ever - we've learned some things from past trips and have nifty bag tags (thanks Ken) individual power packs (Allan) gear is identified and organized (Unky Duck and Allan) a dandy production book (Shaun) I think some great bands (Deepa and Denise) and the host is gonna look like a million bucks (Carrie and Marnie).

Shea is really enthusiastic about this trip (Ezi) I KNOW that will be easily detected on camera.





Amanda and Kath will keep the home fires burning at Picante. We SO appreciate that guys!

Marnie and I are meeting with a gentleman from Tourism India this evening. We'll be sure to give them a true SRWT thank you. Last Canadian rabies shot this morning.

Costa Rica is coming together really well. It looks beautiful. The beauty of the country really chokes me up.

I believe we're going to have a powerful experience in India and Malaysia. We'll see amazing sights and probably some sights that will disturb. But - our most amazing adventure yet kicks off tomorrow. And I am looking forward to sharing it with an awesome team. (We will miss Robin - won't be the same without him.)

Saturday and counting down

Deepa has been in touch. She has set up interviews on the 29th with two bands.


www.shaairandfunc.com and Kailash Kher. (you can check them out on their own website or on wikipedia.)

Pretty great stuff. Two different bands on one day though. Quite a challenge for wardrobe and hair chicks but particularly for the Sheaster.

Anyone doubt she can pull it off? I didn't think so.

Kudos to the crew all 'round

Great job Denise securing Pop Shuvit in Malaysia - they look like a really hip, energetic group and Shea loves 'em. Way to take some pressure off me. Well done Shaun on the production book. It's going to go a long way towards keeping things on track. Hair and wardrobe chicks have been busy in pre-production. Congrats on the Joico sponsorship and Carrie, Shea's new hair looks great and thanks Marnie for all the fab new outfits for Shea. Allan - you've got it all together with power and commmunication - wow - I'm glad it's you and not me! Unky Duck I'm sure you're prepping as well....I just can't actually see you.

We're nearly ready!

Shea's new hair

Whew! We're getting close.

I received the new Malaysia itinerary tonight and when I went through it I became pretty worried. It looked like we were going to be seeing a lot of sights but we were quite short on activities and adventure. I think it was going to be difficult creating a kid-fun show out of it. Sandra at Tourism Malaysia has been terrific and really worked hard to add some of the destinations and activities I requested.




So - we've added Langkawi Beach which gives us a cable car ride, Kilim River Safari with eagle-feeding and lizards YAY!! I'll keep checking on Langkawi to see if we can add more.





Full itineraries will now be ready tomorrow.

Might have some challenges with the band so I'm on that tonight.

Rabies prevention experience was fun. 5 shots into the wound at the back of my leg - one in the arm. Another on Friday and Tuesday. And...they are sending the shot that I need to get in Jaipur on Day 14. Now I have to be sure that if a dog runs at the crew I dive in front to be sure I'm the one that's bit. Of course, I would have done that anyway.

Shea's hair looks absolutely amazing. We're definitely getting down to the crunch now.

Send in the violins

Well, as those of us who dropped by Skylark Medical Clinic on Saturday for our new round of travel innoculations know - apparently rabies - is ...bad....like in terminal for those who contract it.

As of tomorrow, I am starting an aggressive anti-rabies strategy - shots tomorrow, friday and tuesday and then again 14 days later in Jaipur. Hmmm, who knew? I thought when I was bitten in Costa Rica that I was covered, but apparently not.

It sounds quite unpleasant. But I'll be brave ...I know Denise and Marnie and Shaun and Ezi are still feeling the results of the shots on Saturday - and today is ....Malaria Monday - don't forget to take your pills everyone.

In the meantime, our fearless crew has had our accommodation upgraded to a Taj Mahal view in Agra and a suite in the Shahpura House in Jaipur. Nothing but the best for us high class tv people. No itinerary from Malaysia yet, but it's coming...so they say.



Lots of little details being figured out - Allan's done a lovely job of analyzing power needs and providing for us and Shaun's been slaving over itineraries and flight schedules. Longest will be a 19 hour flight from LA to Kuala Lumpur via Taipei. Sounds exotic and...exhausting. Marnie took Shea shopping for a great wardrobe on Sunday and Carrie's got Shea down at the hairdresser as we speak restoring our blonde star back to her traditional look.



Ken's continuing to nudge the broadcast powers that be ....could that be a teeny opening in the door I see? Stay tuned.

Quick update from Regina

If you check out Triple Flip . ca there are very excited about joining the SRWT generation. They are a girls' fashion spot out of Alberta and are excited to be providing clothing plus cross promoting the show on their website. We're moving ahead with talks with Global involving sponsors and either western Canada or full national broadcast.

The SRWT gang will be converging on the Hawkins residence on Saturday eve to discuss potential sore arms from the needles and other stuff and to give Ezi's parents a chance to eyeball the crew that is stealing their son.

Nothing yet on an itinerary from Tourism Malaysia. Looks like they are planning to cover all our on-ground costs including hotels and meals and transportation. YAY.

Heard from Tourism India. Permits are in process and shouldn't be a problem. Hope it works out that way for Malaysia or I'm in deep do do. I'm meeting with the Tourism India gentleman for dinner the night before we leave. He's been super supportive and is excited that we're going.

Marnie's onto new SRWT gear design. And we're going to be so darn organized with SRWT luggage tags for ease of inventory and constant transport.

Everyone should please submit a description of all bags (gear and otherwise) asap.

Marnie and I are enjoying the sights of downtown Regina and will be back on Friday.

India tour highlights

There is a really exciting and detailed tour itinerary but some things are still being worked out. Thought I'd briefly include the highlights.

Delhi tour - including India Gate War Memorial and Lotus Temple (amazing)
4 hour drive to Agra - Taj Mahal and Red Fort

Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary - Rickshaw ride - lots of birds (obviously)
Ranthambore National Park - Canter ride (big truck) game drive - tigers and so much more

Jaipur - lots of shopping (Marnie are you listening?) Mirror Palace, Elephant Village (complete with elephant ride) Theme Dinner - camel ride, puppet show, magician, fortune teller and more
Fly to Mumbai
Two days of stuff including Bollywood (possibly) 2 different band interviews, dance lessons and much more - this part is still in planning
Fly to south of India for overnight on a Kerala Houseboat. Backwater river tour to experience rural Indian life.

I suggest that every morning we gather for a SRWT cheer! No matter how worn out we are....it's a once in a lifetime event...we'll sleep when we get home.

Whew. The trip is fully booked!

For those of you following along at home ....our flight itineraries are booked.

Quick summary of the highlights...

We leave at 9 am on Wednesday, March 21. Fly thru Salt Lake City to LA. Get in around one pm and hang around all day. (We're thinking of taking in the Movie Stars homes tour for fun)

Leave LAX just after midnight on the 22nd. Fly through Taipei to Kuala Lumpur and then on to Delhi. Arrive in Delhi at 10 pm (54 hours after leaving Winnipeg.)

Tour though India for 9 days (2 episodes) and then leave Mumbai on the 1st of April. Arrive early morning (7 am April 2) in Kuala Lumpur. Leave KL at 9 am April 9. Arrive in LA at 1 pm. Allan will head straight home and the other 8 of us will remain in LA until 10 pm. Then we fly the redeye to Toronto and into Winnipeg at 9:45 am April 10.

Saves quite a bit of money if the 8 of us who don't absolutely need to be back for work wait the extra time.

Now we can concentrate on the finer details such as episode planning etc. Lots going on in the "sell the show" category as well. Things are looking very positive.