Japan

They're quite striking.

Um, we saw some in Japan last year, uh, which I took a photograph of.

Uh, this was with clouds, because clouds kind of reveal where they're taking place.

But these have now been seen in the atmosphere of the Sun.

For those who are not Washingtonians, uh, you gotta understand, uh, these are old trees.

Um, and, uh, trees down in that part of town are kinda special, like some of them were gifted by the Emperor of Japan, though those have already been removed actually for legitimate reasons.

But there's, um, you know, some of these trees are, are...

It's not just like cutting down a tree in a backyard or something.

...

in Japan.

No, no, no, I, I didn't.

I didn't.

We gotta get you one of those.

[laughs] We'll get you one of those.

Japan exclusive.

Um, all right, and you're sipping on some Grindin' juice.

Trey is just shopping on his own and he's wearing, like, wife and he's wearing, um, like- Corridor and Visvim.

And Visvim is like very, you know, high-end, artisanal Japanese-

Mm

... uh, you know, they make, uh, you know, boots that are all hand-sewn and, like, made in Japan and very limited drops and natural dyed.

[upbeat music] Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we need the folks who did the math on Taylor Swift making it from Japan to the Super Bowl to log back on and tell us how Trinity Rodman made it from her 1:00 PM Spirit game in DC to catch the end of Ben Shelton's 2:00 PM US Open match in New York.

If cloning is, like, a real thing now, and none of you told me, I'm gonna be pissed.

It's Monday, September 14th, and on today's show, US professional runner Jess MacLean joins us to discuss how she handled getting led off the course while in the lead at the US Half Marathon Championships last spring, why working two, quote-unquote, "normal jobs" helps her as an athlete, and goals for her upcoming races, including the World Road Running Championships later this week.

We also discuss award timing, why relying entirely on award search tools can actually put you at a disadvantage for identifying award flights on some Asian airlines, the value of learning how to search for award flights manually, and some routes and airports that might be hiding opportunities you wouldn't necessarily think to look for.

Whether you have family in Asia that you wanna visit regularly, you're planning your family's first big trip there, or you have four business class seats to Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, or elsewhere in Asia sitting squarely on your points travel wish list, this conversation is going to give you a completely different way to think about how you prepare for and approach that award planning.

So let's dive into it.

Maria, thank you so much for joining me today.

[laughs] Citibank has a lot of wonderful airlines partners.

So within the families in the States, of course, AA is the big one.

AA also get us, like, Japan Airlines, Cathay Airways.

Yes, it is good, but the secret here is the EVA because EVA is the Taiwan-based carriers, and they have, I would not say all of the routes, but at least the North American routes.

The end of the book does have a, a f- two interesting like, "And there's a world out there beyond me" chapters, which like speak to even as he's telling us about how important it is to be the best line cook ever, because that's really what is gonna guarantee somebody has a good meal.

There is an introspection where he spends a chapter on a guy who is entirely different from him as a chef, and on a time he went to Japan and like experienced like kind of the proto No Reservations, Parts Unknown experience.

Yeah, yeah.

Like g- given, given, uh, the benefit of hun- of hindsight, we can see how-

There has been a commoditization at one end and here you have matcha at the other end busting out of the sort of traditional ways.

And I don't think it's any surprise that it's an Asian version or an Asian tea, Chinese, Japanese.

We'll stir a little bit of discussion about who owns it.

It's

And I worked in many different countries.

I've worked in India and in Japan.

I studied abroad in South America.

Eventually, I came back to the United States.