Big. Bright. Modern. On the 9th & 10th floor of a highrise.

Standards are high at all official Hosteling International branches. But they have “rules” — midnight curfew, for example.

KOOZA tomorrow. Assisting with a Cirque audition the day after.

I’m staying on in Tokyo, hanging out with Marceline Goldstein from Montreal. I’ll be assisting her with a Cirque du Soleil audition. And then a second audition in Osaka.

From there … I have a 21-day all-you-can travel rail pass. It will be like the old Eurorail travels of my distant past. I’ll be hiking everywhere the train will take me, happy to be part of the revitalization of the Japanese tourist industry.

Following that, I’m fairly decided to go over to Hong Kong for a week or so. Hiking — and taking in a big domestic Chinese gymnastics competition. Coach Jun Chen has invited me.

And back to chilly North America Nov. 22nd.

Sunday (today) – depart for Seattle
… hike & bike with Doug Davis out of Port Townsend

Thursday – depart Seattle for Tokyo
… Jr International in Yokohama
… World Gymnastics Championships
… assist with 2 Cirque du Soleil auditions
… travel Japan

Nov. 22nd fly back to Seattle
Christmas in Parksville, B.C. with my folks

My main concern, I’m allergic to smokers.

My review on Gymnastics Coaching:

… I was going to write a review … but Heath McCoy in the Calgary Herald pretty much nailed it:

… as in most Cirque shows, the storytelling plays a distant second to the spectacle, and, happily, the latter aspect of OVO is grand.

The staging, with its vibrant ecosystem, complete with giant-sized webs, cocoons and a monolithic egg (a thematic symbol of the bugs’ life cycle, ovo means egg in Portuguese) is spectacular.

The dazzling costumes — an inspired hybrid of superhero spandex and historical suits of armour — are suitably outlandish.

And the stunts — played out to the Brazilian electro-pop sounds of a cockroach band, which run the gamut between romantic and sizzling — are nothing short of stunning. …

Magnifique! Cirque du Soleil’s OVO must be seen to be believed

Click PLAY or watch the Calgary preview on YouTube.

OVO IN CALGARY …

Overall … the highlight of this show are the costumes. (That caterpillar is enough to give you nightmares.)

The weakest element, as usual, are the clowns. … Though I somewhat liked Flippo. He grew on me as the show progressed.

I’m flying to Tokyo on Sept. 22nd, hoping to see the Cirque show there called ZED. I’m assisting at Cirque auditions in Tokyo Oct. 18th and 22nd.

At least 20 friends from Cirque told me I would, and they tend to be very critical of their own product.

TOTEM is great. Weird, but great.

Normally I go to see the acrobatics. The more flips and twists, the better.

This show does not have as much acrobatics as usual. But I still loved it. Our group, mostly women’s judges from World Championships, enjoyed a backstage tour.

Themes: evolution, physics, indigenous peoples … Totem has plenty of monkeys. … I assume that’s Darwin juggling flourescent balls in the big plexiglass cone. (Why didn’t I think of that act! I’d be rich.)

The hoop dancer, Nakotah LaRance, is fantastic. He does a traditional act straight up. It’s awesome.

In another act, First Nations peoples are on roller skates! … And it’s intensely sensual. Only Cirque would conceive something like this.

Sometimes the shocking costumes are a distraction. But they really work well in this show.

Not shown there is the best of all, the Crystal Man, a human disco ball. That suit has 4,500 mirrors, costing $15,000. And they have 3 back stage!

The music is wonderful: Bollywood, First Nations drumming, ambient, world beat, didgeridoo, throat singing, even flamenco.

As in all the new shows, the computerized lighting effects are critical. Click PLAY to watch a feature on how they were created.

Robert Lepage created this show, a mad genius. I never attempt to decipher the plot lines of Cirque shows. Better to let it wash over you.

Click PLAY or watch Lepage on YouTube.

Last shout out. Everyone loves one comic character, an oddball Italian tourist. (Or something.) That guy is hilarious, perhaps my favourite Cirque clown yet.

If you get the chance, see it. TOTEM is an astonishingly mature show for one so new. I doubt they’ll tinker with it much. It works.

Disclosure: Cirque du Soleil paid for my ticket. But I rave about their shows even when I’m buying. The disclosure is that I love CdS. I’m a bloody fan boy. You can’t trust my opinion.

Off to see the Cirque du Soleil show TOTEM in Amsterdam.

We’ve got Cirque du Soleil, Randy Bachman and Fred Turner, Regis and Kelly, Great Big Sea …

My hosts Jim and Lea Rand put on a tub of mussels for us. All you can eat.

Cirque du Soleil co-founder Guy Laliberté is orbiting the Earth. He spent $35-million to become only the 7th “tourist” to leave the planet. …

His space trip is part of a huge campaign to raise awareness of the need to provide clean water to everyone in the world.

The main event is happening this Friday though the specific details are not yet revealed. You can get some hints on what to expect from the OneDrop.org website. …

details – why is Guy Laliberté in space?

Astronaut tourist Guy Laliberte – The Right Stuff

My personal favourite charity causes are Clean Water and Education of Girls and Women in the developing world. So I’ll be all over this latest stunt from Cirque.

The setting cannot be beat, outdoor on the esplanade of Edinburgh Castle. Images are projected on the castle ramparts. Wonderful.

Over 217,000 people see it each year. About half get rained upon, I reckon. Luckily it stayed dry for my show on the last night of 2009.

I loved the flyby salute by jets. And the fireworks.

This year the the Swiss Top Secret Drum Corps stole the show as they did, I assume, in 2003 and 2006.

I doubt you could find anyone who left the show unhappy. It’s more poignant right now because U.K. soldiers are dying in Afghanistan. Mothers and Grandmothers were protesting on the High Street during the festival.

All that said … in my opinion the Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo was better. More variety. More humour. Better.

Edinburgh needs to hire a consultant from Cirque du Soleil. Their show easily be improved. … On the other hand, it’s been sold out for the past 10yrs.

Flying on a Wednesday I had no long line-ups at any of the usual bottlenecks.

The self-service check-in kiosk for United Airlines worked. (You need a zip code and hotel name destination to do it on your own.)

The U.S. border was friendly and efficient.

Security check brisk.

Two Tim Hortons greet you in the departure concourse.

It’s easy to find an electrical outlet for your laptop. And — best of all — there’s 2hrs free WiFi.

You still much flip through some log-in pages. But it’s easy to use your Facebook credentials to speed that process.

I’m flying to Lincoln, Nebraska for the NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Championships.