Goodbye warmth, hello cold

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Well well well...look who it is

It seems that with travelling the less you put into it, the more you get out. I cant tell you the amount of countries I have gone into without doing a seconds research, yet have left with nothing but great memories. But frankly this has little to do with the countries themselves, and far more to do with the people you meet, and that in itself is the key. There are people in this world, who it seems, are here simply to spread good times, and if you are luckily enough to find these people they will bring you along for one hell of a ride. Luckily I have been able to find them in nearly every country I have ever been to, and thus have enjoyed some great trips.

Dec 5th, 2008
With T-minus 20 hours before I was set to leave for South Korea, I found myself by chance sitting across from a guy named Sam while tucking into a burger in Hanoi. Though I had never met him before it turned out, after a short conversation, that we knew many of the same people from back in Toronto, where we both grew up. If this wasn't weird enough he was living in South Korea, teaching english, and was set to return only a few days later. Upon hearing that I was going to leave for Seoul the next day Sam insisted on changing his flight, while setting me up at his friends place for the following day. This turned out to be a godsend as I was about to discover. Korea it seems is the only country I am aware of that couldn't care less about the tourism industry...frankly there is no tourism industry in the country. If you are a newly arrived foreigner and cant speak Korean....god help you. Though the people I was staying with did not know Korean, they had all learned basic phrases that would help them get buy...such as "what kinds of beer do you sell", and "where is a good place to party". Korea was also a shock in another way. Though it had been 25 degrees Celsius in Vietnam, it was a balmy MINUS 8 in Korea...this was all the more painful as I was wearing board shorts and flip flops....not the best idea.

Now a word to all Koreans or people thinking of visiting Korea....YOUR FOOOD SUCKS!!! Never before have I been to a country whereupon I instantly disliked all the food a country had to offer. It seems that Koreans like to add a slightly spicy red sauce to everything they make. This sauce is far from subtle and comes to the forefront of any meal. If you don’t like this sauce, as no westerner I met did... you are in for an annoying time in the country. I actually found the food so disagreeable that McDonalds made up more then half of my meals during my 8 day stay in the country....gross!

The week spent in Korea was actually one of the craziest I have ever had in my life. For the English teachers I met were the hardest partiers this world has ever encountered. These guys often missed meals and slept as little as possible, just so that they could keep drinking at local pubs and clubs. That they could do so and still function as teachers showed me that I had a lot to learn in the world of partyin. I finished off my week with them destroyed and tired and wondered how they kept this up for the year long contracts they had in the country.

Dec 17th 2008

Japan....well what can I say other then, if you have the money to go...for the love of god go! Though on the surface this little country may seem very straight laced and hard nosed....I assure you there are some of the most interesting people on the planet hiding here.

Frankly I never would have made my way over here at this point had it not been for 2 of my friends, who were living here for the year. I had met them in, surprise surprise, new Zealand and just knew that our paths would cross again. Not only had they promised me a place to stay, thank you!, but they had also taken several days off from their busy schedules to show me the sights and sounds of Tokyo...a place I had dreamed about for years.

Dec 18th 2008
If we find ourselves in several years asking the question "Where the hell did all the fish go" the answer will invariably take you back to the Tokyo fish market....for without a doubt this place houses and sells every fish ever known...and I am sure many many thousands of fish that Scientists have yet to catalogue. When whale meat is as easy to find here as crab or cod, you know that the worlds oceans are in for some hurtin. But truth be told I was in awe of this place.. I loved it. The fact that a warehouse the size of 3 Wallmarts, was full of fish and other creepy crawleys, yet didn't smell told me how fresh the seafood was, and how quickly they moved their stock. Though Lyndon and Sheryl had seen this place several times they, much like me, were stopping every few steps to check out what was for sale that day. Though I was expecting to have lost my appetite staring at workers cleaning and gutting fish, I actually found myself far more ravenous after we left the market then before.... maybe there something wrong with me?....I will leave that question up to the Philosophers.

We ending our tour by going to a sushi bar right beside the market...though it was definitely the freshest sashimi I have ever tasted, I found myself far less in awe then I was 2 days later when we went to a sushi train restaurant, where I was met with food too magnificent for any word to describe....but i will try....umm, yummy.

Dec 21st, 2008
Google Dictionary defines a subculture as: the name of a single released in November 1985 by New Order. Though I feel this to be a poor definition, I can undoubtedly state that I have found an amazing plethora of subcultures in Japan...each more interesting then the one before it. The first, and frankly the only group I could sort of understand, was the Rockabillies. I had heard of these guys years before from a few friends who had come to this country, and I was quite excited to see them in the flesh...or in this case...leather. These guys…and girls, came out in Elvis' or Grease's finest each Sunday to do nothing more then drink and dance along to good old fashioned American rock and roll. Now I didn't feel much like ruining their fun, but in actuality they were listening to 80's rock not the far better 50's-70's bands that fit more with their dress... but hey, they seemed to have fun regardless. These guys were a riot and they danced their heart out for no one but themselves. Right beside these guys were another group...possibly their rivals, known simply as the Street Rockers. Dressed right out of American Graffiti these ladies had choreographed routines, while listening to music from Grease. All these guys needed was a few classic American roadsters and the scene would have been perfect. Less then 100 meters from these guys were several groups that made no sense to me. Dressed in everything from Goth clothing, to the latest scary movie costumes, these ladies would shuffle in around 10 in the morning, with a suitcase in hand, and spend the day standing and chatting with each other. These ladies were far less fun in my eyes once you realized that they were simply there to be noticed and photographed...though they acted like they hated the attention. Even going so far as to hire their own photographer who was the only person "allowed" to take their picture.

Jan 3rd 2009
China...dah dah dah!!! If you want to see this country... please spend more then the month I did here...there is just too much to see and frankly not enough time to do it all in one go. Oh and go during the summer... the winter in the north is very similar to Canada's, not really a problem until you find that many of the hostels are not heated...well except for your room. I hope to never again have a shower in a bathroom with no windows or doors when it is minus 10 again...it sucked.

Having just weaned myself back onto solid foods, after suffering from food poisoning in Japan, I decided that a leisurely stroll would probably do me some good. And what better place to do it then along the Great Wall of China outside of Beijing. But frankly I didn’t feel much like doing this on the normal beaten track. Luckily I found myself a Canadian who was in China learning Chinese, and he promised to take me on a trail that few visitors ever saw. After catching a bus to god knows where, and then renting a driver for the day we found ourselves several hours later at a ticket office for the great wall. For a couple of dollars Canadian we were presented with a view of the great wall that could only be described as stunning... aided more by the fact that NO ONE was there. Now we have all seen pictures of the great wall...we have probably all seen videos of the great wall...but never once had I ever stopped and thought this could actually be a somewhat difficult trek... well let me set the record straight...it is. The great wall follows the contours of the mountains and so at points is incredibly steep, a problem when steps are missing, or one has a stomach that frankly could be "set off" by a speed bump while driving. But after a few close calls, I found myself eating half a pack of Imodium, thus making a stomach no disease on earth could hurt. The great wall was in magnificent shape, despite being partially eroded in a few places. Some places looked as if it were built only a few years before...simply remarkable. After 10 kms, we were down to our T-shirts and more then happy to finish one of the most memorable walks I have ever done.

Jan 6th, 2009
Having walked past a notice board in my hostel, I immediately came to a stop. As I returned to the notice board a smile came across my face. For behind several flyers selling pub crawls and trips to Tibet I saw a poster with the two most beautiful words in the English language, SKI TRIP. Having not aged intellectually since the age of 10, I sprinted down the hallway looking for the woman who handled bookings, hoping against hope that the trip wasn't sold out. When I found her, I must have been far too excited as I had to repeat myself several times before I calmed down. To be honest I don't think anyone had actually booked this trip for years as she actually had to track down the right people to be able to organize the trip....but by the end of the day the tickets were in my hand. Now in my mind I was envisioning a huge bus picking me up, filled with equally enthusiastic skiers, but as it turns out I was in the wrong country for that. At 6:30 the next morning I woke to find a man in the hallway...I walked passed him at first and looked out into the street only to find a run down van covered in dirt. "Couldn't be him" I thought to myself, but he must have known a skier when he saw one, for he walked right up to me and without a word of English just put his feet together and moved imaginary polls with his arms, while making a 'wooshing' noise with his mouth. I had to laugh and said that I was the man he was looking for. After waking my friend Amy, who was going with me, we shuffled into the van and set off. After a two hour drive passed mountains without a dusting of snow I saw it, a white diamond in the rough. Though one of the saddest looking ski hills I have ever come across, I still couldn’t help but smile. Without a cloud in the sky Amy and I changed into out ski gear which was supplied to us from the man who had driven us up...but frankly we could have done without, as the day was gorgeous, weather wise. Though the runs were blues at best...I had to say that this was one of my favorite skies, simply for where I was, and how well they groomed the trails. I felt like I was right back at blue mountain in Collingwood, and for most of the day there was only a handful of people on the runs, most of them instructors. Suffice it to say I was happy boy.

Jan 7th, 2009
As a boy I was a picky eater... frankly picky wouldn’t even be the right word, I was down right annoying, as statement I am sure my parents can attest to. So over the past decade I have worked hard, exploring the glorious world of food... and China has been one of my greatest teachers. I am more then confident that I had dog in this country on a great many occasions....though I assure you it was never by choice. Frankly everything you ate in this country was somewhat suspect...when asked what I was eating I was more then once met with a shrug of the shoulders...I only hoped on these occasions that it was simply because the waitress didn’t know what I was talking about...I hope. But despite this I actually went out of my way to try some truly interesting food and in Beijing we found it all. On a strip just outside the financial district, the girls and I found a street lined with street venders hocking every animal you have ever been dared by others to eat. We saw snakes, seahorses, cockroaches, beetles, scorpions, centipedes, rabbit hearts, goat testicles, sea cucumbers...and yes even starfish!! Obviously this place was entirely tourist oriented because the prices were ridiculous. After walking the strip several times I made the first move, which was deep fried scorpions. I was slightly worried about eating these simply because their stinger was still attached when I ate it, and for some minutes after I ate them I was waiting to go blind or fall down dead. To tell you the truth they were really good, and tasted like french fries...though its pincers did stab me in the tongue. Not to be outdone a New Yorker we met had snake, and these disgusting cocoons which he said were pretty slimy. But the winner was Amy who ordered Cajun goat testicles... I laughed and dry heaved at the same time when she took her first bite and 'water' poured out of it. Though I regret to say I took the next bite. It really reminded me of water baloney... probably not something I would try again.

Well I am tired of writing, so I must head off

Catch ya on the Flip side
Ryan

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Photos

My korean son*
not actually my son

Fish Market in Tokyo
this b octopus

scary
This lady was dressed up on sunday like this becasue......... ummm she could