I've Got Wheels...2 of them!

The summer heat is upon Eastern Ontario and Damn...it's hot! I suppose that this summer I won't have any ocean breezes to cool me down and a heat wave is predicted for most of this part of the world...fun!!!

Well, in order to enjoy my first summer of unemployment in many years, I've decided that I need to get back to nature. Well, at least closer to nature...maybe not frollicking in it, but at least driving past it. What better way to drive past nature than on 2 wheels...so...today I bought 2 wheels and luckily there was a bicycle attached to them.

Kevin and his current mode of transportation...

I chugged along a bike trail for a few km's along the St. Lawrence River and I know that I'll be in agony in the morning. Hopefully I'll be touring the local countryside in a few days, watching nature fly by. What a difference from trying to drive a bike in Korea! Today as I drove along, not a single car or truck was driving on the bike path behind me honking their horn at me to get off the path. No uncoordinated young women drove their bicycles into me and I didn't see one drunk old guy weaving around on the path...what a difference!

Kim Jong-il's popularity slumps???

If you're farmiliar with The Onion...well they have some great videos too!

Headline: Kim Jong-il's Popularity Falls to %120


In The Know: Kim Jong-Il's Approval Rating Plummets to 120%

Tokyo Pooch Abuse

It was a frightening scene, but when Mai and I were in Tokyo earlier this month, we witnessed some brutal pet abuse. It was very sad and traumatic for both us and the dogs who were made victims. Victims of women who have far too much time on their hands and the resources to purchase clothing for their dogs....it was ugly!!!

Nara, Japan....video time!

This is my first video (just threw it up on youtube) from my recent trip to Japan. After my years in Korea, I toured around Japan for 2 weeks on my way back to Canada. This one is from Nara, Japan. Nara was the original capital of Japan, before Kyoto and Edo (Tokyo). It's home to crap-loads of sacred deer...wandering through the streets of the city terrorizing anyone with food!!!

Genuine Cock Flavoured Noodles!!!!

Ok...I admit this is pedestrian humour, but who cares!!!! I'm a pedestrian sort of guy!

So...even while back in Canada, I seem to be able to find humour in packaging and signs. This one is a gem. My brother showed this to me. He found it in a dollar store and had to own it.

Invented in China, perfected in Japan and loved by people throughout Asia (not to mention poor college students throughout North America), it's ramen!!!! Ramen noodles, your MSG packaged snack and staple of life for many Korean office workers and children have been perfected in the Carribean.


Cock Flavour noodles are straight out of Jamaica according to the packaging.

Yes..."Genuine Carribean Taste"!!!!

Bumps of Chicken and Expensive Ales!

Canada is still the place it was when I originally left, but I'm certainly not used to so much of it. Understanding what everyone is saying around me will take some getting used to. I suppose I just tuned everything out around me in Korea. I'm sure that there where often some painfully unintelligent conversations going on around me on a regular basis in Korea, but I didn't know it. I just liked to imagine that everyone around me was a card carrying member of MENSA and as they stood around me, discussed incredibly innovative ways to improve our world (in Korean of course). Now that I'm in Canada I have the pleasure (loads of sarcasm inserted here)of listening to bumpkins and rednecks talk about things that make my head hurt...soon i will be numb to this...or so I hope.

So...in the tradition of showing the strange sights and sounds of Korea on this page, I would like to share a strange sight from Japan. On my recent 2 week, pre-canada tour of Japan, I spent a few days in Kyoto. As Mai and I weaved through the tourist-trap filled alleys and streets, I couldn't help but notice a store selling posters of Japanese pop groups. This is my FAVORITE.......


What does it mean??? Does anyone know? What is a Bump of Chicken?? (obviously this group of young Japanese men!)

Am I Still A Tourist???

Ok Ok....here we go. Sooo...the trip to Japan was great, even though it was something of a whirlwind. Osaka was the base of operations since it is Mai's hometown. From Osaka we first went to Himeji. Himeji has, argueably, the most splendid castle in all of Japan...it's all original...not remade like Osaka-jo. It was great. From there we ended up in Tokyo for a few days. It was a harrowing and somewhat stressful trip, but we came out the other end relatively unscathed! I have no idea how people can successfully navigate that city on a daily basis. Al I can say is one thing...SHINJUKU STATION is EVIL!!!!!! From there we went back to Osaka and the Kyoto. Kyoto is AMAZING!!!! I loved it there. it is such a gorgeous city that needs at least a dedicated week of your time to do it justice (I was a wimpy cry-baby for this leg of the journey...tired and with sore feet).

Oh yeah...we also went to Nara which was soooo great. The fact that they have 1200, mildly aggressive deer as national treasures is a treat. Don't eat anything in public cause you're liable to be mauled by a pack of roving fawns!!!

Ok...I left Asia after my wonderful trip with Mai. Last weekend I landed in Vancouver and met up with Greg and Arin. They work at CDI's emmersion school in Vancouver called CSI. EEEEK....I got there just in time for their class pageant (Wizard of Oz) and graduation ceremony. One of my old students from Busan was even there. We both almost had heart-attacks when we saw each other. A few days in Vancouver and then I was off to Ontario.

Jeez...I feel like a tourist in my own country. I've been away for so long that I still have yet to feel like this is home. I suppose it isn't. I may be a citizen of Canada, but Korea has been home for years and still feels that way. Soon I'll be back in the game though. Timmy Ho's has been tasting pretty good and sooooo cheap compared to the coffee I'm used too! The Sens may be out this year, but I'll be in Ottawa this Fall to cheer'em on...oh yeah....and Canadian beer does taste GREAT!



In Vancouver with Greg and Arin...


Golden Temple in Kyoto with Mai...


Granville Island in Vancouver...


I am the keeper of the fire...ugh!

Hello Canada...Eh Ok!

I'm in Canada and feelin' fine!

Well...a quick update...I'm now in Canada. Just outside of Ottawa tp be precise. I just got a new driver's liscence and will eventually slide my way into a non-Korea kind of life. Next task....acquire apartment in Ottawa.

I'm not sure if it has really sunk in yet that I've left Korea for good, but I'm sure it will soon.

recent pics from my Japan trip with Mai will be up soon.

Tokyo...A City on Crack!

Ok Ok Ok...pictures will come in due time...at leat a week...more like two.

Im back in the safety of Osaka after three harrowing days in Tokyo with Mai. Damn....I think they have argueably, the worlds most confusing public transit system. Man...it makes the brain hurt unlike any form of K-pop or J-pop music! Even with my handy dandy Japanese guide...life was difficult. We constantly ran into lost Tokyoites....if residents of Tokyo cannot maneuver about the transit system...who can?

we hit up all the sites...the Imperial Palace Gardens, Ginza, Ryponggi Hills (not the nast skidsy Ryponggi of Tokyo nighttime fame), Shibuya, Harajuka and Shinzuka. Too Many People In Tokyo! Aside from that it was damn cool.

Like I mentioned previously, Im back in Osaka tonight. Actually for the next 3 nights. On Tuesday mai and myself are off to Kyoto and then one night back in Osaka. After that, I will head back to Busan, Korea for one night and then Canada.

PICTURES TO COME SOON....and lots of YOUTUBE goodness...of course my camcorder has been perilously strapped to my arm!