38th country: India.  When I say I went to Bollywood, I don’t mean I went to Mumbai.  I REALLY went to Bollywood, including multiple film sets and meetings with some of the top producers in India.  This included UTV, Yash Raj Films, Shemaroo Entertainment, B.R. Films and an amazing afternoon on the set of a new comedy being filmed by Ravi Chopra.  Hard to describe in print, but let’s just say it was pure CHAOS.  Over 100 people on a small film set, most doing nothing but getting in the way or hanging in the rafters holding fabric for lighting control.  Crazy.  Check out the photos for a better taste…

     

 

Even better had to be the sights in Mumbai – my favorite was the laundry.  Mumbai is over 20 million people and almost the whole city’s laundry is done in one place, DAILY!!!  Yes, someone comes to your house every day to pick it up, it is sorted, washed, dried, ironed and returned to your house by 6pm.  Cost: about $8/month!  Most of the workers in the laundry system are illiterate and use an elaborate system of symbols to make this work every day.  Even crazier is the Tiffen system which you can read about here.  I haven’t witnessed this part in person, but it is really unbelievable…

Yikes – what a crazy night in Hong Kong.  Started so innocently, but I knew something was up when our costume shopping trip (the night before) ended in a bar at 3 something in the morning.  Anyway, check out the photos and enjoy, taking time to note the following themes: