Strolling the streets of Tokyo...

Free of business today (as much as an assistant can be free, ha!) so I
enjoyed a day in the village of Harajuku. The area is known for great
street fashion. We shopped and took the culture in. It ended up being
a really nice day also, no rain... it's been wet since we arrived, but
no worries, Japan is the most unique place I've ever been.

Tokyo Imperial Palace grounds

This is the view from my hotel room overlooking the Tokyo Imperial
Palace. The slivers of light-whiteish color within the trees just
below the skyline are the roofs of buildings on the grounds. Amazing
history in this small area of Japan that during the height of the
1980s Japanese property bubble, the palace grounds were valued by some
as more than the value of all of the real estate in the state of
California.

Make.Believe

Sir Howard Stringer and Kenny Ortega launch Make.Believe for Sony in
Tokyo today. Inspirational! After press we met with Masahiro Nakai
from SMAP and had the most amazing sushi dinner with Masato Nakamura
and Miwa Yoshida of Dreams Come True... arigatoo everyone :)

Crossing the Pacific

Here in Tokyo now. Great ANA flight... 11 hours, wow! Happy to be
here, the culture is so amazing and the food is beyond! Enjoyed an
teppanyaki style dinner with amazing views 50 stories above the city
last night.

Just off the PCH...

Surfing just North of Malibu today, great spot, thanks Mike! Enjoyed a
great dinner with friends at Casa Vega last night. Glad to be back in
LA this weekend... off to Tokyo on Tuesday!

I'M IN MIAMI BLEEP!

Spent the last week in South Beach - Miami, Florida. This would be the most 'tropical' city in the continental US. As far as the food goes, don't miss the Green Eggs at The Front Porch Cafe, Prime 112 Steak House and the amazing Cuban food at Larios On The Beach, they also have the best Mojito in the city! For night life, Bongo's Cuban Cafe, the Nikki Beach Club on Sunday and LIV Night Club on Wednesday are the places to be. The Cordoza Hotel (pictured above) at 13th and Ocean Dr has been my home away from home. This Estefan-owned hotel is wonderfully located right in the middle of the action. I had an unforgettable evening on Star Island with some amazing people including a 7-course meal at a private residence where both Cher and De Niro, among others, have called home. Flying privately into Miami from Vegas on Ralph Lauren's old G5 was the icing on the cake!

JEFF & JAMES PHARES MAKE CNN HEADLINES

Yep, that's me and my Dad just behind Kenny Ortega and Paula Abdul at the MICHAEL JACKSON'S THIS IS IT movie premiere in Hollywood back in October 2009. This pic circulated the press about a month ago with rumors of an Ortega / Abdul TV project in the making. You can still find the article on The Marquee Blog on CNN.com - copy and paste the link below to see it online.

http://marquee.blogs.cnn.com/2010/03/23/yet-another-gig-in-play-for-paula-abdul/

Queen Victoria Building

Here in Sydney... rainy and overcast so I spent some time in the Queen Victoria Building. Great architecture and great shops all in the same place! You can read a little more about the history of the building at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Victoria_Building

Paris to Dubai

This was my flight path from Paris to Dubai. Started in Paris in the
top left of the pic and flew South-East to Dubai where you can see the
airplane near the bottom right corner of the pic.

Ladurée Macaroons

Here's a look inside the famous macaroon shop Ladurée located on the Avenue des Champs-Elysées in Paris. The Rose flavor is hard to beat... mmmm :)

Indiana Tex-Mex Café

Walking the streets of Paris I discovered the Indiana Tex-Mex Café. Interesting, huh? Well I did a little research and evidently in the 90's a Tex-Mex craze swept through France. This café menu offers everything from quesadillas to tacos as well as burgers to steaks, hmmm? Anyways, I can't explain where they got the idea that Indiana was the place for great Tex-Mex, maybe Taco Bell, haha! Always fun when I see something that reminds me of home, my real home... McCordsville, Indiana :)

Café de Flore on Saint-Germain Blvd

Enjoying a café au lait at the famous Café de Flore in Paris... in
other words, espresso with hot milk. I followed it with my favorite
breakfast dish: a thin slice of cooked ham (jambon) below 2 fries eggs
(oeufs) topped with melted cheese (fromage fondu). Délicieux!!!

Paris

Arrived here in Paris... can't wait to get out and about around the city!

Fish & Chips with Mushy Peas

Couldn't have left London without enjoying an order of Fish & Chips with Mushy Peas and a Coca~Cola in the bottle, mmm what a treat :) I'll be taking the Eurostar from London to Paris today, my first time! Let's just hope I don't get stuck somewhere under the English Channel, oh my.

Sky News

This is a privileged shot of the Sky News studio floor. We started the
day here with a a couple interviews. Good to be in doors today, rainy
and gloomy outside... that's London.

SOHO HOUSE

Here I am outside the entrance to the SOHO HOUSE on my way back to my
hotel after shopping in Covent Garden. This is where I enjoyed an
espresso martini in the company of Hugh Grant last night, fun guy!

Ship Pub

Just had a pint of Londons Pride at a pub called Ship, a local
watering hole behind my hotel!

Carnaby Street

The white arch reads 'Welcome To Carnaby Street'. The blue lit windows
in the back ground belong to the store Liberty. This street is one of
my favorites for shopping. Gstar Raw, Diesel, Hugo Boss and many more!
Liberty is more of a department store, reminds me of a small Barneys.

Big Ben

Big Ben stands tall at the Palace of Westminster in London. So happy to be back in the UK! I'm here on a publicity tour for the DVD release of our movie Michael Jackson's: This Is It. The BAFTA Awards are tomorrow night so the SOHO Hotel is packed with celebs, awesome! Tonight will be fun ;)

Go Colts!!!

Nice catch Garcon! Colts and Jets in Indianapolis!

Mammoth: Day 2

Me and Mammoth... quick shot before tearing up the mountain!

Mammoth: Day 1

The fearless crew that took on the slopes today! Kyle rides a board
and Shirl and I were on skis. Great day!

Skiing in Mammoth...

Here we are 7,000 ft above sea level... at chair lift 25 about to head
up to 10,000 ft here at Mammoth. See you at the bottom!

56th Wedding Anniversary

We celebrated my beloved grandparents Kenny and Wilma's 56th
anniversary upon the Carnival Dream on New Years Eve. We had a
champagne toast and listened to them tell stories of how they met,
their wedding and all the goodies in between. After dinner my
grandparents hit the slots in the casino before ringing in 2010...
that's my dad just behind them.

Belize

Here's the group that toured Belize by horse and carriage. Godfrey our
guide kept us cool with ice cold Belikans, the official beer of
Belize. We ended our tour with a traditional meal... black beans and
rice, jerk chicken and plantains... mmm :)

Departing Roatan...

Dad and I on the Lido deck saying goodbye to the Isla of Roatan. The
family spent time on the beach and enjoyed a tropical rainstorm while
we were swimming. Dad, my brother, sister and her fiancé Jeff stayed
at Fat Tuesdays for rum runners and shots of tequila before getting
back on the ship... good times!