Episode 18: Worlds & Stars on Ice!

[Music] Hello and welcome to Unlaced with Chalk & Bates. I'm Madison Chalk. And I'm Evan Bates and we're Olympic Ice Dancers for Team USA. If you're into sports betting, bet online is the fastest and easiest way to bet all your favorite sports. Head to their new updated desktop or mobile website to sign up today and receive your 50% welcome bonus on your first deposit. Just use our promo code "Believe50" to receive your bonus. We are coming to you from beautiful Tokyo, Japan this week. One of our favorite cities. And right in the middle of Cherry Blossom season, one of the best times to visit Tokyo or Japan. It is. Actually, we've been so busy. We've got a lot to catch up on. From worlds and France. Then we went straight to Osaka. We're hersels for stars on ice. Couple shows on Osaka. Then we just came to Tokyo a few days ago. We've been crazy busy like 10 hour days at the rink, learning new numbers, putting the show together. Having so much fun with the cast when we're not on ice. And it's just been such a blast to explore Japan, not at a competition. We're so much more relaxed. We're able to sightseeing. We don't care if our legs get sore when we're walking. Yeah, it's a very different feeling. And when I'm very grateful, we have the opportunity to explore. Indeed. It's been so fun. I mean, there are a lot of highlights that come to mind right away, but. So many. It's like a highlight reel in my head. So excited. Should we go over worlds? So last episode was a good, bad and ugly recap of the Olympics. Which I think we need to dive a little deeper into the Olympics because that was a long time. Absolutely. There's a lot more there. That was the culmination of this whole journey starting the podcast. And we should definitely do a deeper dive on the Olympics. And we will. Maybe next week. Eventually. But let's go back to worlds. So we were in Montpellier, France. A couple of weeks ago for world championships. And how did it go, Maddie? I would say it went really well. We got the bronze medal. What? What? It's been six years since we were last on the world's podium. Which is a record. It's the longest that any team has ever gone between world medals. And I don't recommend anyone try to break that record because. We're breaking records, but it's a really interesting one. It's not necessarily a record that you might aspire to achieve. But I'm glad that we did it. I'm happy about it. It's better than having never achieved it. Right? So yeah. Well, let's talk about France. So not often do we get to experience the world championships in a lovely southern kind of location. We're on the sea. Great weather. We're staying at a resort. That's usually closed because it's the down season. So it was just a resort full of figure skaters, which is always a good time. And it was beautiful. The weather was sunny. I had to remind myself I was at a competition. Wasn't the forecast like rain always going to end up being beautiful? Yes. There were palm trees. We could see the water. The weather is so fickle. It's hard to pack correctly for a trip like that. You can say that again. So we left for France and now we're on the road for basically two months between Japan and then US stars after this. So packing for two months is extremely difficult. Different climates, France, Tokyo, down to Florida. It's like. I literally don't have enough suitcases to accommodate all of my. I don't know, different climate clothes and all the clothes that I'm acquiring on the road. Now that's something we should also talk about because since we've had a little bit more free time, we've done some shopping. Well, if you've heard the vintage shopping in Tokyo, not just the vintage shopping, but the shopping scene in general in Tokyo is fantastic. Not just Tokyo though. Osaka. It was great. And so I'm a huge fan of vintage pieces. Well, let's be real shopping in general. And yeah, Japan has proved to be one of the most incredible places to find really unique pieces and just dive into these little cute stores. There's just tons of them. And did you expect to. Did you go on to. When you came here? No, I had no idea when it was getting in for. Right. It's essentially been like a vintage shopping trip with a little bit of skating on the side. I mean, I guess you could say that, yeah, we've been shopping with our friends almost every day. And it's been wild. It's been really fun. It's been so fun to just bond with the group here in the environment where the seasons just ended. And we just got through the Olympic season. It was stressful for everybody. And now it's just like the weight of the world has been lifted. And we're in Japan for these shows. We're just having so much fun. I mean, it's a lot of work, especially rehearsals with Jeff Buttle. Not the Jeff Buttle is the reason why it was hard work, because he's amazing. He makes it so much easier and he's such a pro. And it's just an honor to work with him. But I mean, just the amount of work that goes into these stars on ice shows is incredible. I mean, just three days, we have to learn like four or five new group numbers that are four or five minutes long. Each sometimes six minutes long. It's a little step out here and there. Yeah. And then for each skater. Like keep all the steps straight. And like, which. Remember which program they go to? The formation that we're in. Yeah, like skating with a group too. Oh, it's so fun. There's a bunch of other skaters on the ice and having to make shapes and formations. And it's just a completely unique experience skating in shows. And I have so much respect and appreciation for professional skating. And how popular it was in the 90s and the touring back in the day. I remember going to watch stars on ice back when I was a kid and just being blown away by the lights and the music and the spectacle of it all. And now like we're part of the show and it's just such an honor and such a privilege to be here. And especially in Japan. It's the first time we've ever done shows in Japan. It's just great to skate in a kind of a different environment than competitive skating. And it's one thing when you're skating just two people. And there's a unison that you have to think about there. But then you add 11 or 12 people and you've got to match 11 or 12 people. And it's a really different experience and just been loving every minute of it. Absolutely. Highly recommend that people come see the show. We're going to be touring. It's so awesome. We have three shows in Tokyo this weekend, four shows in Tokyo this weekend. I think it'll be available to see online at some point. Some of them are live streamed. I know this weekend there's a lot of media for each show. So one of them is being recorded to air on television across the world at some point. I think one or two of them are being live streamed. I don't know the links. Sorry, I can't provide that information. But if we find it, we will put it up on our social media. And then we'll be traveling to Florida and starting a tour going to 24 different cities between April and May. And probably coming to a city near you. So if you are interested, please come out and watch Stars on Ice. It's going to be so much fun. We've put a lot of work as well as everyone on the cast has put so much work into the show. And it's just a wonderful celebration of the Olympic year. And this group of skaters, this generation of skaters who have grown up together. And yeah, it's going to be amazing. Yeah, you can get tickets at starsonice.com. Or if you follow them on Instagram, the link is right there in their Instagram and their Instagram handle is starsonice. And that's awesome. Yeah. So, okay. So let's see, do we talk about, I mean, I feel like we just kind of buzzed through everything as we have been doing on these episodes. Because we just haven't had a lot of time to like structure out or podcasts. But let's see, we talked about France. How about, let's just like say a few of the, like our favorite experiences thus far on our starsonice trip here. Okay. So let's start with Osaka. Hmm. I mean, we, it's so beautiful this time of year. Cherry blossoms everywhere. It's gorgeous. It doesn't seem real. It's so gorgeous. And. I would say the hotel we were staying at was right along a river. And along the entire river, the whole, both sides of the river were just lined with cherry blossom trees. And we were able to take a walk and take some fun photos and just enjoy the ambiance of Osaka. I would say Osaka was a real highlight for me because I think we've been there before. But not nearly as many times as Tokyo. And getting the opportunity to explore it a little bit more. The. And maybe it was just where we were staying. But it just seemed like the balance of nature, it's kind of like embedded within the city was really beautiful. Like we could look at our window and see the river pond. the parks and the trees and cherry blossoms. And now we're in Tokyo, which is different, also amazing, but it kind of feels like more like a big city, more, I don't know, bigger buildings and more kind of people and bright lights and things like that. But again, it might just be our specific to like where we're staying and what neighborhood we're in, but it's just been great to be able to explore a little bit more and not be consumed with competition and having to like be totally disciplined with bedtime and diet and all of those things and just kind of let loose a little bit. Honestly, it's been so fun. - Yeah, we had a great dinner with a bunch of our castmates in Osaka. We got really fresh authentic Japanese food, lots of sushi. - The dinner was so amazing. I mean, the sushi was so fresh. - John Luke, we were eating oysters and he bit down and found a pearl in his oyster. His tooth is fine. He didn't have a harmony teeth, but he has a nice little souvenir. - Is that a lucky? - I mean, I would count that as lucky. I'd say it's lucky. - He kept it. - Yeah, I think he's a lucky guy and I think that just was another omen of his good fortune. - We're lucky to know him, that's true. - We're lucky to know him. - He's a great guy. - Oh yeah. - What was your highlight? I kind of said in a talk up. - I just named two. - Okay, the dinner. - Is it the walk and the dinner? - I'd say maybe when you cut my hair. - Oh yeah, I'd try. - So another thing, when you're on the road for two months. - There were a lot of haircuts. - You kind of have to like, there are a couple things that you don't think about. They were like, wow, I kind of need a haircut. It was only week two and I was like, I need a haircut. And we didn't really like plan. So you didn't necessarily have haircuts. - You did not have the right scissors. - Well, where are those scissors? - They're little scissors that you usually use to trim your eyebrows or like, trim any like, yeah, any eyebrow hairs that are out of place. They came in like a little kit that I got in Korea a long time ago. And yeah, so I use those and they're not meant for cutting hair. So I did pull his hair and they got caught in the scissors a couple times and he was like, out, out. But for the most part, I think it went really well. - It came out very nice. - I mean, I think your hair looks great. - Honestly, I was like, mm, like good job. Like I was. - Thanks. - I don't know, like you just, you did a great job. - Thank you. - I don't know what to say. - And it was great. - I trust you with my haircuts from here on out. I mean, maybe not every time it's like this. - Oh boy, I better get some better scissors than that. - There's miniature scissors that are like for eyebrows. - No, that took much longer. - It was tedious and painful. But sometimes beauty is pain. - The whole thing wasn't painful just some moments though, right? - No, you're right. It actually wasn't painful at all. It just embellished the story a little bit. But no, it was kind of comical to see you like with little baby scissors like cutting my hair. - Well, I was so confident because I knew that if I had somehow messed it up, Brandon was super confident that he could fix it. - Brandon Frazier cuts his own hair. - And he was 100% confident in his skills. So I was like, you know what? - Safety net. - Safety net. I will do my best. And if it's something goes right, I've got a backup plan. - But we didn't need to call Brandon into action. Fortunately, you crushed it. - Well, thank you. - So anyways, I say getting the haircut from you is actually kind of a fun little adventure. - Amazing. I think I could open maybe a salon in the future. I cut poodles and now I cut humans as well. So. (laughing) - Chock. Chock. No, I don't have a name yet. I don't have a name. - Shhh. - Yeah. - I got it. - I'm on the bottom. - No. (laughing) - Let's see. What else, Madison? - Chock chops. There it is. - That's good. - Chops by chalk. Okay, I'm gonna keep working on it. That's not official. - It's a tank booster. - So. - Tokyo. - Tokyo, I'd say, I mean, obviously. - A bullet train. - Oh, we took the bullet train. - Oh my gosh, the bullet train was so cool. - A soccer. It was like two hours. We were right there in Tokyo. We saw Mount Fuji out the window to our left. It was glorious. Bigger than I thought. I mean, I knew it was gonna be like a huge mountain, but from the train and so far away, it was still incredible. - If you had to describe in one word, what would it be? - Majestic. - That's what I was gonna say. - Oh my God. - It was majestic. - It was majestic. - It was majestic. - Definition. - Oh, yeah. Love that. And you know what's funny is, my mom was telling me that when she lived in Japan, she would ride the bullet train from Osaka to Tokyo back and forth like once or twice a week. So I was like, wow, this is really cool. I'm seeing all the same things that my mom saw. - That's so cool. - When she lived in Japan and it was just like a fun little moment like we were on the same path, but just like decades later. - That's beautiful. That's poetic. Maybe you should give the listener just a very brief backstory as to why your mom lived in Japan for a while. - Yeah, okay, yeah. My mom is an incredible singer and she used to sing in Hawaii and Japan and she lived in Japan for a couple of years as a singer. And yeah, that. - She speaks Japanese. - She sings in Japanese. She sings in Hawaiian. She's a very, very talented lady. - Did she pass on those singing skills to you? - I mean. - Let's hear it. - No. Definitely not. We're not hearing that tonight. But I have, I don't know. I've never trained my singing, but just from raw talent, I would say no if you did not pass it on to me. - But you didn't hear it on artistic ability in your drawing and your design and your fashion. We can't just say you're a slouch. - Oh, well thanks. In the vocal. - In the vocal. - Everyone has their own kind of niche. - We we. - We we. - Oh, I miss Montreal. I do love Montreal. - So yeah, we're on the road for another six weeks, which is probably two more haircuts for me. We're gonna be traveling a lot, living out of a suitcase, but honestly, it's been fun thus far. - Yeah. - And it's been so nice to skate again and just to do our free dance in particular in a different environment and just kind of skate for the audience, skate with cool lights, and effects going and just enhances the whole atmosphere and the vibe of the program and it's been so fun. And also seeing all of our other castmates programs as well, like seeing their competitive programs out of a competition setting and seeing the fun creative show numbers that they've come up with. I know Caitlin and Jean-Luc have a really cool number. - And the one. - I haven't even seen in its entirety and I'm excited to see under show lights because they've got some LED action going on. So I'm really looking forward to seeing that. - Yeah, no spoilers, but it looks real cool. Apart from the little hints at the costumes. - Yeah, and the group numbers are amazing. I mean, Jeff Buttle is like, he's so good. I can't imagine that we're-- - I don't know how he does it. - This guy puts into putting the show together and choreographing all these programs, selecting music. It's a really great show to be a part of them. We're so honored. - Mm-hmm. - Well, I would say that about wraps up our trip thus far. - You think so? - I would say so. - Okay. We've been babbling for a sufficient amount for one episode. - Yeah, I mean. - Great. - I'm sure we'll have much more to talk about by the end of this trip and-- - That about does it. It's been so nice catching up with you, Maddie. - Oh, and you too, Evan. - We've been so busy, it's nice to just sit and talk. - Oh my gosh, we just don't do this enough. - Just us and our microphones. - Wow. Oh. I'll talk to you next week. - Yep, talk to you then. This has been an episode of Unlaced with chalk and baits presented by Bet Online. Make sure you subscribe for future episodes and you can follow us on social media at chalk baits. - Talk to you soon. - Bye. (upbeat music) (upbeat music)